Two Kinds Of Wisdom

This is from James 3:13-17

1. What is one thing you would ask for if God answers only one of your prayer requests?
2. What did King Solomon asked for? [ans: Wisdom.]
3. Why did he ask God for that? [ ans: He wants to have a discerning heart to govern his people.]

Introduction: [ 2 Timothy3:14-17.]

• In verse 15, what are the Holy Scriptures able to do?

Ans: Makes you wise for Salvation through Faith.

• All of Scripture is useful for...?

Ans: Teaching, Rebuking , Correcting and Training in righteousness.

• Will knowing the Word Of God help you do good works? Why?

Ans: Yes. As you walk in the ways of the Lord, he will guide you[:

Question and Answer Time[:

How has James described wisdom previously? [Hint: James 1:5-8]
Ans: James described wisdom as the ability to make wise decisions under difficult circumstances.

" Wisdom is the ability to discern God's hand in human circumstances and apply heavenly judgment in earthly situations." --John Blanchard

Searching for Evidence:
What is the evidence of wisdom in James, verse 3:13 ?
Ans: The democracy of his good life and deeds done in humility.

Earthly wisdom VS Heavenly Wisdom:
Earthly wisdom:

1. Envy
2. Self-seeking
3. Confusion
4. hypocrisy
5. strife
6. lust/ covet

Heavenly Wisdom:

1. humility
2. peace
3. gentle
4. willing years to yield
5. mercy

What does Earthly wisdom produce?
Disorder & Evil Practice
What does Heavenly wisdom produce?
Harvests righteousness.

Keyword Search:
Earthly wisdom

• A heart at peace gives life into the body, but envy rots the bones. [Proverbs 14:30]
• Do nth out of selfish ambition or vain conceit , but in humility consider others better than yourselves. [ Philippians 2:3]

• For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints.[ 1 Corinthians 14:33]

Heavenly wisdom

• To slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. [ Titus 3:2]
• Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." [ 1 Peter5:5]
• Love may be sincere. Hate what is evil,cling to what is good. [ Romans 12:9]
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. [ Matthew 5:9]
• No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. [ Hebrews 12:11]
  

Home blessing + last week's pics

Home Blessing

Hey all, there will be home blessing this Friday (22nd May) for those of you who can make it. We will go to one of the blocks near the church to distribute rice, along with Youth Alpha flyers. Let's meet at 7pm at church for a quick dinner before heading to distribute the stuff.

Don't worry about what to say when we go distribute the stuff, the leaders will be guiding you guys along. It's a great opportunity for you guys to learn and experience what our church has been doing for the community. We hope you'll be able to go!

Last week...

We celebrated the Birthdays of all the May babies last week during CG. Check out the Chocolate Truffle Cake below! Happy 14th Birthday guys... do you feel any older yet?



After that, we had our DIY pizza-making CG session. All you guys had to do was dump the ingredients on the prata/crust and have us toast them to perfection. The ingredients did not appear out of nowhere or cut themselves. Your poor leaders actually had to meet up on Friday night to go buy the ingredients, cut them up and lug the huge toaster there! You guys better appreciate the effort!!!

Well, the good thing was that many of you did turn up. Yay! At least our effort did not go to waste.

May Open Sunday Pictures!

May Updates

Open Sunday
A Big Thank You to all who helped out for the last open sunday. Especially Xin Ting, Amanda, Marcus, David, Hao Jie, JC and Ryan. We really burnt our weekends out, working all the way from Friday to Sun. Thanks guys. I really enjoyed spending that extra time with you. I had more fun planning open sunday than actually playing it every month! I think we were rather creative.

CG Steam boat
We will be having our CG steamboat after the 5pm service this week. (16th May 09) Do stay back for dinner if you can!

Youth Global Day of Prayer
Please make yourself available on 31 May 2009! Let's attend Youth Global Day of Prayer as a CG. More details coming your way...

It is a moment when Christians of all nations unite in worship, prayer, reverence and joy in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a moment for us as Christians to gather as a holy assenbly unto the Lord in prayer for our nation and world (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
It is a moment to worship the Lord Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords, a celebration in worship of Him - The King of Glory. That when our Lord Jesus is lifted up from the earth, He will draw all men to Himself (John 12:32).
It is a moment for us to set right our relationship with God, to set right our relationship with one another, and to repent of all sins (2 Chron 7:14).
It is a moment for us to recognise God's mighty hand in the spiritual dynamics of GDOP and to participate in humility for His glory.
It is a moment when unity matters. That you be counted in the number. For as Christians unite as the Body of Christ, it is there that God commands a blessing.
It is a moment to rejoice with the flow of the River of life.
It is a moment not to be missed. Make your participation @ GDOP Singapore your priority.
Come and stand together, and pray together in desperation and in expectation - that the earth (including Singapore) will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.
Your participation is crucial. Your prayer counts.

The Bible Versus Your Cell Phone

Can you imagine what would happen if we treated our Bible the same way we treat our cell phone?

If we always carried our Bible in our wallet, briefcase, on our belt, or in our purse?
And if we looked through it several times a day?
And went back to look for it when we forget it at home or at the office?
And if we used it to send messages to our friends?
And acted like we couldn't live without it?
And gave it as a gift to our young ones, for their ownprotection, and in order to stay in constant communication with them?
And took it with us whenever we travel, just in case of anemergency?

Unlike a cell phone, the Bible never loses it signal:
We can connect with it anywhere.
We don't have to worry about being low on minutes, because Jesus already paid the bill, and the minutes are unlimited.
And, best of all, there are no dropped calls, and the batterynever loses its charge.
"Search for Jehovah, you people, while he may be found. Call to him while he proves to be near." (Isaiah 55:6)

Emergency numbers:
When you are sad, dial John chapter 14.
When people talk about you, dial Psalm 27.
When you are nervous, dial Psalm 51.
When you are worried, dial Matthew 6: 19, 34.
When you are in danger, dial Psalm 91.
When God seems far off, dial Psalm 63.
When your faith needs strengthening, dial Hebrews 11.
When you are alone and afraid, dial Psalm 23.
When you are being harsh and critical, dial 1 Corinthians 13.
To find the secret to happiness, dial Colossians 3:12-17,
When you are sad and alone, dial Romans 8:31-39.
When you are full of fear, dial 1 John 4:18.
When you desire peace and rest, dial Matthew 11:25-30.

Notice to all[:

Notice to All: 16 May 09 [ Next Saturday.]

1.30pm= Youth service
2.30pm= Usual Cg session
5.00pm to 7.00pm= Steamboat at Cana Hall[:

*I found my posts always so boring.___. So put this picture[:

Celestine.

Controlling our tongues. 25 April 2009

This lecture[?] is extracted from James 3:1-12
Memory Verse:"Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers ,this should not be."
[James 3:10]

What are some things/words that you've heard this week that is an encouragement to you?

Think! Why is it wrong to curse man and praise God with the same mouth?

1 Ability to hurt
(Read v5-8) A few wors spoken in anger can destroy a relationship that took years to built.
E.g. You have a friend who is very close to you. I'm sure you both will share stories and secrets with one another which no one else knows right? So ya. Can you believe if one day, you both quarrel over a small matter and maybe this friend of yours is so mad that he/she shouts out your secrets to everyone. Won't you be very sad and paranoid? Hence, your relationship with each other might be destroyed just because of this moment of folly and to patch back would be pretty hard for some of us.

What do you think are some of your struggles in taming your tongue?[E.g. in school, home, church or even in your workplace..?]

2. The power to Direct
[Read v3-4] Although the tongue is a small part of our body, it has the power to control our whole body.

How can the tongue be used in the wrong ways?
Such as: Gossiping / Sarcasm[?] / Critisism / Cursing [Anger?] / Vulgarities and of course, there's many more!!!

3. Power through God
We must be desperate enough to want God to change us inside out. We can still learn enough to reduce the damage our words can do. Read v9-12

1. Be determined to change
2. Ask the holy spirit for help
3. Come to pleasing God in our speech

The things we say can direct people to God and at the same time it can tarnish the name of God. Therefore we have to ask ourselves 3 things before we use our tongue.

• T- Truth[?]
• N- Necessary[?]
• K- Kind[?]

Celestine.

Faith that Works!!!

Key verse:

As the body without the spirit is dead,so faith without deeds is dead.

[James 2:26]

Do you believe that you are going to heaven? Why?
A faith that does not demonstrate its work is authentic. There are many people today who claim they are Christians but you can tell from their actions that they aren't. James does not say"can Faith save him",but "can SUCH a Faith save him" [v14] He isn't talking about a real faith but a certain kind of faith that people profess.
What do you think it means to be a Christian?
True saving faith brings about changes in our lives. There must be evidence in our Faith.

1 True Faith is not something that we say.

Nice words without action won't benefit a needy person. There are lots of people who can say the right things,believe the right things and pray the right prayers and yet they don't show that they are Christians in their actions.

2 True Faith is not what we think or feel.

Agreeing to a set of doctrines or scriptures is not enough. Alot of churches focus on the believing part which is good. But that isn't enough. Even the demons believe that. [Mark 5:1-13] The Lord is ONE. That was what the people at the day held onto and came together to recite.

3 True Faith is something that we do.

A faith without works is useless. Obedience must follow. James used the example of Abraham and Rahab, 2 very different examples. One was a holy man, an example to all. Our faith and our obedience to God must tally. Even when we don't understand why God wants us to do certain things at times, we have to do it out of faith and obedience. Abraham was not saved by his disobedience , but he was obedient out of faith, which is what saves us.

Rahab risked her own life by protecting the spies. She did it out of faith. Our whole lives are our testing ground. Everyday we face temptations for disobedience.

Do we allow ourselves to get caught in it? Or do we let our faith guide our actions? We all know that when we die we will stand before God with the book of our lives opened before us. If we really believe that we are going to be judged, why are we not living our lives the way God wants?

Read Mark 5:1-13

What does Mark 5:1-13 tell you about demons?
The demons spend so much time tormenting people and yet even they revere God. Demons not only believe[head knowledge] but they also have emotions. They have real fear for God and tremble.

How then, are real Christians different from demons?
They fear and tremble God and even bow down. Why demons bow down,they do so in mere fear. They have faith without repentance, love, holiness, a hunger for God and spiritual things. They have a faith without a changed character. But just believing and having our hearts stirred or touched is not enough. True saving Faith involves a changed life.

Read Ephesians 2:8-10
Does this contradict to what James say?
What does Jesus say about Faith and works? [Matthew 7:26-27]

Cg activities from April to June!!

18th April 09 = 1.30pm Youth service
2.30pm CG
25th April 09 = 2.30pm CG event at Germaine's House
01st May 09 = 6.30pm CG dinner
8.00pm JPM
03rd May 09 = The Open Sunday planned by Us!!!
09th May 09 = 2.30pm CG
16th May 09 = 1.30pm Youth Service
2.30pm CG
5.00pm to 7.00pm steamboat at WEFC
30th May 09 = 2.30pm CG
05th June 09 = 6.30pm CG Dinner
8.00pm JPM
07th June 09 = Open Sunday!!!
13th June 09 = 1.30pm Youth service
2.30pm CG
20th June 09 = 2.30pm CG
27th June 09 = CG event [ to be confirmed...]

*Just to update you all*
Celestine(:

To recap...
on Saturday, 11th April 09.

Favourtism forbidden (James 2: 1-13)

- The way we treat other people indicates what we really believe about God. Discrimination is wrong because it causes us to honour what we value instaead of what God values.

Memory verse:

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love neighbour as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favourtism, you sin and are convicted by the law as law breakers.
[James 2: 8-10]

Celestine(:

Hi. I'm Celeste

Just to update and keep you all posted people(:

11th April 09 - CG at 2.30pm (as usual.)
*We'll stay back at 5pm after our Cg to plan for Open Sunday*

18th April 09 - CG at 1.30pm for Youth Worship

25th April 09 - CG at 2.30pm at Admiralty Event at Germaine's house till 8pm

Hello:)

CG on 21st feb!

Heyys!(:
Our CG is gonna have a frisbee-cum-captain's ball session with Ch'ng Yi's CG(e new p6's)!Its on the 21st of February during CG time.Please do come and have a time of fellowship together!(:
If you are going for service on sat, do remember to bring a change of clothes!(:
And remember to not come and play in jeans!hehes.That's all folks!Anything remember to tag!(:

,amanda

replies to tags

heyys.replies to tags!(:
Cheryl: dats wat came to my mind at first marhz.super sop.hehes.y raymund ray ray?weird ehs.hahas.miss ya!
zenas: where gt complicated?hahas.quite easy marhz.hehes.e old blog went through some construction n now dis is the new blog le lo.once in a while i will look for new skins n change the skin lo.new experince everytime marhz.i noe ur not critisin.i ask ur gif ur opinions de marhz.erms.gt e aka thingy den lik everybody gt their own alias lo.if u really dun wan den tag again.i can remove it.4 e youth ministry things n CG bs.i will leave it to germs barhz.tks btw 4 ur opinions.feel free to gif more!(:
YONGLING: tag more often ehs.hahas.get the other CG members to tag too!(:

,amanda

heyys.the new blog done by amanda and patrizha!(: hahas.hope ya guys lik it.pls tag!there will be no more comments but tag box so jux feel free to chat there(: if u tink there r places needed to be improved, jux tag n amanda or pat will do it.oh ya and if u guys haf ur own blogs, pls tag wif ur url so u can b linked(:
hehes.kaili's the 1st to tag beside mi n pat.hahas.

ppl....tag!!!dis blog is kinda dead man.hahas



,amanda and pat

Valentines Day

Hi all,

I'm sure most of you have received the little flyer we distributed with regards to Valentines Day. Youth Ministry is having its anual Valentines Day event again and this year, it will happen on Valentines Day itself - 14th Feb! This would be an excellent time to bring your friends to church and have them learn more about the God that loves you and I.

For those planning to come and bring friends, there will be a befrienders session you will have to attend. This is happening this Saturday at 3.30pm. It will basically teach you how to go about sharing with your friends about God. If you're not sure if you're brining friends yet, you can always just go for the course first just in case. I believe we all have alot to learn (:

For those who have no friends to bring (haha, I didn't mean for this to sound so sad), you can participate in the event by being a helper. In any case, do let the leaders know whether you're planning to go as a helper or a befriender.

Cheers!

Happy Chinese New Year

Dear all, have a wonderful wonderful Chinese New Year. I'm sure you all will give up school anytime to be able to go around collecting Ang Baos instead. At the moment, the only news I have is that Open Sunday next week has been cancelled. As for our next CG event, it has not been decided yet so I will update you all again when it has. Do continue to check the blog!

We had a Farewell CG thing for Caleb Leow last week. Yes, he will very soon be living our tiny city in pursuit of a new life and education in Australia. I know many of us will be missing him. I do believe he will continue to check the blog so anyone who wishes to leave messages to him can do so here:) As you know, he is one of the few who comments regularly. (Well... Cheryl too...)

Also, we have received our first batch of Effervescene T-shirts. It looks amazing in my opinion. (Thank you Amanda once again) Some of us have not ordered the shirts yet. Please do so by this week. Let Amanda know the size, name and number you want at the back. And bring $18 for the shirt itself. Please write clearly... (Zenas had his name spelt as Zens instead... haha.)

Other than that, have a great week guys!!!

Open Sunday

Open Sunday!

Once again, we are reaching the first week of the month- FEB. Which means only one thing... OPEN SUNDAY! How fast does time fly right? Last I remembered was the school holidays and very soon our first month of 2009 will be over. Can you believe that there are only 12 months a year?!

Anyway, this month's open Sunday is going to be conducted at Sentosa. Everyone should know by now that this will be our Leader Caleb's last open sunday with us so we sincerely hope that all of you will be able to turn up (or at least those who don't have anything to do on Sunday)

For those who are planning to go, you will have to submit your consent forms by next week so the commitee can start dividing us into groups. Remember to bring those forms.

CG T-Shirt

I also want to take this opportunity to announce that we will soon be getting our CG T-shirts with our huge logo in front and name & number at the back. There is one person I would really want to thank for making this happen - AMANDA! Thank you, Amanda, for being so faithful in chasing us all for our size, full name, numbers and payment. Thank you for going to the supplier to get it all settled so all we have to do is pay and get our Tees.

I'm extremely proud and thankful for having you around to do all these for the CG. Thanks!!!

First CG of 2009 - Obedience!

To celebrate the first CG session of the year, the leaders planned a series of games/activities to teach Effervescence "OBEDIENCE". For the benefit of those who weren't there, here's a weblog ofwhat we did that day...

EGGED!

As part of an act of obedience, groups were asked to carry an egg on a spoon. Out of the 3 groups, 2 broke their egges! This proves that despite our best efforts to obey, we can sometimes make a mess of it. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try!



SPIN YOURSELF SILLY

Everyone was made to spin 10 times around a broom and walk in a straight line afterwards. Below is a series of photos of their futile attempts.

In case you're wondering... Amanda fell... (:

Look at Pat lean on the wall for support.

As Noah Obeyed

In the old testiment, Noah was called to build an Ark. No one understood what he was doing and mocked him for it, yet he obediently did as God commanded. In this activity, members were asked to build a head and hand accessory. Embarrassing as it was, Nadia's group obeyed whole heartedly! Quite stylishly, I have to add.

Amanda's team took the easy way out (tsk tsk) thus proving that when no one is looking, it is sometimes easy to disobey! (:


A Dig Into Dirt

For this torturous game, groups had to dig their hand into dirty, disgusting water to find what they were asked to find: A coin, a piece of lettuce and a cooked prawn. If you think this was an easy feat, you obviously need to try it for yourself. Seeing the prawn come out of the muddy water was enough to make me feel queasy.

What we wanted to prove is that obedience sometimes takes bravery and involves getting out of your comfort zone and getting your hands dirty.

Memory Verses

What the leaders were proud to see was the different groups piece together the 5 verses from the bible we had cut our for them. Not only did they do that, they even had to memorise some of the verses. And they did it so successfully! well done Effervescence!



To end it off, the leaders hope you all had a good time bonding together with the games, and sharing the things you find being obedient for. As God's word says, Obedience is better than sacrifice. We know it is not easy, and Obedience comes in the form of so many things: Listening to our parents and teachers, loving the people who are difficult to love, spending time with God...

Being obedient is tough, but with God's help, we can do it. Let's not forget what we've learnt on Saturday and the point of the games. Decided to be obedient to God. What are some of your sinful ways or bad habits that God is telling you to change?