7 Principles of Parable of Talents

Cell Group sermon
29 August 2008

7 Principles (Matt 25: 14-30):

1. Stewardship (v. 14)

Air stewardess, for example, is to serve the plane passengers on board
The same thing, we are also called to serve, to manage what God has entrusted to us.

2. Distribution (v.15)
Distribution of talents from God is fair.
Everybody gets something but nobody gets everything! It is so that we need one another to complement one another. No selfishness and pride is in us. Therefore, we can honor and show concern to one another.


3. Accountability (v.16-19)
Be responsible of what has been given to us!

4. Fruitfulness (v.26)
It is followed by faithfulness.

5. Faith (v.25)
It is the same as motivation and fear is the hindrance for us to step out in faith. As written in Heb 11:6, do not let fear stop us!



6. Application (v.28)
Use our talents because if we don't use it, we'll lose it!

*7. Rewards (v.23)
- Rewards of affirmation (pat on the back, "well done!")
- Rewards of promotion (greater responsibility is given)
- Rewards of celebration (enjoy the 'fruits')

Use our talents wisely.. then, the rewards will come automatically!

Here is a video of a 6-year-old who has got a talent to sing at a very young age. See, how God distributes talents to everyone and it's been used to bless others.

Great Story

-extracted from Ellinda's e-mail-

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: 'I am blind, please help.' There were only a few coins in the hat.



A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, 'Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?'



The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.'
What he had written was: 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.'

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.


Great men say, 'Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness.... In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.'

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling...
And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!

Our Dominion Mandate

OUR DOMINION MANDATE

History of Our Dominion Mandate

Dominion Theology began on the first pages of the Bible
Human beings are created based on the image of God. This enables humans to have personal relationship with God. God created humans as Free Moral Agent (FMA), which enables humans to make their own choice. God also gave Adam the authority over the earth, which leads us to our second point.

The enemy had attacked the dominion mandate since day one
Satan has power, but he doesn’t have the authority since God had given that authority to Adam. Therefore, satan wants to take away that authority over the earth from Adam. Since humans are created as FMA, they have their own choices and Adam made the wrong choice. He gave the authority to satan. Because Adam had given the authority to satan, the rest of his generations have to live under the authority of satan and lost the personal relationship with God. Until one day, Jesus came into the world.

The second Adam reversed history
Jesus Christ came into the world as a human being. He’s the second Adam. When Jesus died on the cross, the history changed. The purpose of Jesus died on the cross is to bring back the Kingdom to us (humans) so that we can reconcile the world back to how it was supposed to be.

Jesus delegating His Kingdom to us
Our roles in this dominion processes are by being Jesus’ witnesses. By doing so, we act and say on behalf of Jesus Himself. We will also spread the good news of the gospel to the world. When Jesus reversed history, He didn’t just regain the authority from satan, but He also created a new Kingdom. In this new Kingdom, we’re not just going to bring back the lost to Jesus, but also have a dominion over the nations.

Verses: 1 John 3:8 Luke 19:10 Colossian 1:19-20 Acts 1:8 Luke 4:18

Lessons of Failure

Regarding the CG sermon last week about attitude, here is POSITIVITY which I find it AMAZING of how you look things from different perspectives =) It turns out really different, it makes you feel better and alive!

P.S. I got this from my school's learning site in the 'inspirational story section'

Failure does not mean I'm a failure;
It does mean I have not yet succeeded.

Failure does not mean I have accomplished nothing;
It does mean I have learned something.

Failure does not mean I have been a fool;
It does mean I had enough faith to experiment.

Failure does not mean I have disgraced;
It does mean I have dared to try.

Failure does not mean I don't have it;
It does mean I have something to do in a different way.

Failure does not mean I am inferior;
It does mean I am not perfect.

Failure does not mean I have wasted my life;
It does mean that I have an excuse to start over.

Failure does not mean that I should give up;
It does mean that I should try harder.

Failure does not mean that I will never make it;
It does mean that I need more practice.

Failure does not mean that you have abandoned yourself;
It does mean that you must have a better idea

I hope it's useful as whenever we fail, we usually tend to give up. See now, we shouldn't! =D

My Attitude Determines My Altitude

CG Sermon, 22 August 2008

WE = vessels of God
Some are used for honor while some for dishonor. Why?

to success : Attitude

It is NOT external, but internal. God knows the 'inward' of our hearts.


WE = our heart + mental + spiritual attitude
No one can rule over our attitude! Our attitude in life determines our altitude in Christ, how far we can grow in God.

Attitude is the real us and the best attitudes are in the 'BEATTITUDES'
They are the 'being-attitudes', NOT the 'doing-attitudes'

As the tree is known by its fruit,
we are known by our attitudes.

In school, we are taught..

not MOTIVATION



not HUMILITY


not GENEROSITY



not SERVICE



not JOY


not CONFIDENCE

And... the greatest attitudes we can have are...
Submission (1Tim 5: 17, Phil 2: 3)
Willingness (Matt 23: 11, Isaiah 1: 19)
Positivity

Lastly, let us work on them deeper! Yeah?

N.B.: Any inquiries regarding the sermon for greater understanding or other purposes could be asked through posting comments (and most probably would be answer by Rayvin =))

7 Qualities of Servanthood in Rebecca's Life

10th of August 2008

1) Servanthood is WILLING (Gen 24: 18-19)
It is a reflection of our heart with no expectation of reward/ blessing. Willingness makes us energetic, enthusiastic.

2) Servanthood EXCELS (Gen 25: 19)
Excellence means done until it is finished well, exceedingly abundantly above what is expected/ imagined.It is the attention given to details that leads to superior performance.

3) Servanthood is SWIFT (Gen 24: 18, 20)
The degree of our servanthood is measured by the speed of our willingness.

4) Servanthood is NEVER CONVENIENT

5) Servanthood is HONORING
It is manifested in our tone, body language. Thus, be a lover of hospitality to show honor to others!

6) Servanthood is WORK
It determines our destiny which later brings prosperity and blessings. This is a way besides sowing and reaping.

7) Servanthood is CARING ABOUT PEOPLE
Strangers we serve might be the messengers of God like Eleazar.

Servanthood's meaning won't be known unless we start serving people! Yay =)

Things Aren't Always as They Seem

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead, the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied..."Things aren't always what they seem".

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel "how could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him," she accused.

"The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied.

"When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave her the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."

Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way you think they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not know it until some time later

"He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well - even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly."

- B.C. Forbes -

"Enough"
Summarized by Michael (JPCC, 10th of August)
with some grammatical corrections from me =)

Nowadays people don't aim their goals too high, why? It is because when they have a high expectation they are afraid to become disappointed, especially when they feel things are not going to work out for them. So these people will usually lower their target and this will lead to an even lower achievement they get in the end, as we assume that the real achievement that we got in the end will be lower than our target.

Keep your goal/ target high and don't be afraid to be disappointed because nothing is impossible in HIM. If things seem to become worse, don't give up, give thanks for the things that you've got and keep praying for your goal/target for HIS time is never late but always on time.

Prov. 30:1-2 Salomon said that he was a stupid man, this verse is contradicting with the verse in 1 Kings 4:29-34 which said that GOD gave Salomon wisdom and understanding exceedingly. He felt emptiness in his heart. Although he was so rich (probably the richest man that has ever lived), he was trapped in his everyday routine. In the end we know that he backslid against GOD.

His frustration is described in Prov. 30:8-9. He said,"God why don't you make me not so rich and not so poor, because if I'm rich I'm afraid that I will deny YOU and if I'm poor, I will steal other people's money and profane YOUR name." The point here is that no matter how much money you have, you can't buy peace and happiness.

We have to learn to be grateful for all things that we have. Don’t act like the leech who gave its 2 daughters names Give and Give. This reflects the people who is never satisfied (Prov. 30:15)

Prov. 30:15-16.

There are 4 things that are never satisfied :

1. The grave/ hell
Grave never says enough of dead people and as we enter the grave all things become dark and hopeless, that's why we have to say enough/satisfied for what we got BUT keep having faith for a great breakthrough

2. The barren womb
Gen. 30:1 ---> a barren womb will lead to an envy
If we get jealous easily with our neighbors because of their riches/ promotion/ school rank, we will not be productive in everything we do. Instead of doing the best we could, our focus is on how to "knock" them out.

3. The earth that is never satisfied with water
People who never says enough will become dry. they will become unproductive and lose their purposes of life

4. The fire
We can be the fire which consumes everything or we can be a fire that light the darkness and be a blessing to others. Learn to think that life is not just about "me" but "us".

So, we have to give thanks in everything (1 Thes. 5:18). and it is also important to say enough

Phil. 4:6-7

BY prayer, repetition and THANKS GIVING, ask GOD what you want and you shall be given what you want as well as the peace of GOD

Sermon from JPCC

Day and Night

Summarized by: Michael and Ellinda

Ecclesiastes 1:1-10. This verses are written by Salomon while he became the king in Jerusalem. He wondered about so many things; for example: why the rivers flow into the sea but the sea will never full (v. 7), one generation passes then another generation comes (v. 4). He felt that nothing’s new in this earth (v. 9). In another word, it’s repetitive. If we notice from the verses we will realize that these are the fact. All things in this earth, including our life are moving in a cycle.

Guys, let me give you an example on our real life, there are 7 days in a week, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday all the way to Saturday, then we go back to Sunday again. For the students; We attend class from Monday to Friday. On Saturday and Sunday we enjoy our weekend, go to the church..go to cell group; then you have to think about going back to class on Monday. Don’t be confused by these things, like it or not this is how GOD created the earth. We have to make sure that we are not trapped in our everyday routine. Many people lost their directions in their life, they feel that there is no point of working if we are going to dead anyway? They start to backslide and lost confident in their life.

Our life is like opening a bottle of mineral water. If we spin the cap in the right direction, the bottle will be open but if we spin to the other way, we will actually tighten it, there is a possibility that we will even break it. Guys, GOD has many purposes in our life, let us spin it in the “right” direction so that we can maximize our potential and be the person which GOD wants us to be.

Recently, I’ve read an article written by a Prof. from one of the famous university in Indonesia, She mentioned something about life cycle. Everything in life is in a circle, including human. We kill animals and plants to keep us survive, to satisfy our need and to absorb the energy from the nature. But, when we die, we give back everything to nature; Animals will eat your body and the scrap will be the fertilizer to the plant and transfer back to the earth. GOD created human as the most hi-end creation, but human are the only creature who will kill their coequal for money and reputation. Aren’t we shame on this? Remember that we are not going to bring money and reputation to the grave but only our soul. What about reputation? It will be gone by time.

GOD also created day and night. All of us, believers and non believers will experience these and so does our spiritual life. We experience day time when we know what to do, when everything is fine and we feel that our future is so bright. In John 9:4 GOD wants us to work at day and rest at night. Therefore, at this time we have to “work” by spreading the seeds of love, time, money, attention to the people around us. And when night comes, when all things become “dark” and there is no light to lighten our path, seek HIS face, rest in his presence (Mat. 11:28), and pray that the seeds that we spread during the day will grow. Do good things and you’ll gather good things.

Another example given; Time will pass faster when you are asleep compare to when you are awake at night. Am I right? People who has difficulty to sleep at night will realized this, counting down the time and wondering when he/she can fall asleep and rest seems like ages. Linking it with our spiritual life; by resting in HIS presence our night time in our spiritual life will pass quickly too. Let GOD work during this time, our God is God that never sleeps even when we fall asleep. In Job 33:13-18 it is written that GOD gives us visions while we are sleeping. So besides the peace that we feel while we rest in HIS presence, GOD will also give HIS visions to us. Treat this moment as you are dreaming and the moment you wake up you will start working again.

Notes: GOD creates day AND night. The day is not forever and so does the night, For all of us who experience the day time right now, remember to work and spread the good seeds, and don’t forget to be prepared for the night to come. And for those who experience the night time, ask for GOD’s guidance to lighten our way, rest in his presence, and the night will pass us quickly. Don’t backslide or being heartless when you face difficulty, life is a circle… we will not forever in the darkness. The day will come and you shall receive what you have plant during the night.