Duty Allocation (16 Aug)

This sunday's allocation:

4S5: Internal (IC: Chai Huat / Natalie)

Others:
94 Alpha: RenJie / Melvin
SOF: Jeremy
Stage 2: Ernest
Alpha 2: Ray
Echo 1: FM
Int Traffic: Kean
Logis: Karami
Logis Usher: Yu Ting

Please remember to come in formal.
All ushers to stay back for recycling after svc.

God Never Sends You Out Alone

When you place your faith in Christ, Christ places his Spirit before, behind, and within you.
Not a strange spirit, but the same Spirit: the parakletos.

Everything Jesus did for his followers, his Spirit does for you.
Jesus taught; the Spirit teaches.
Jesus healed; the Spirit heals.
Jesus comforted; his Spirit comforts.
As Jesus sends you into new seasons, he sends His counselor to go with you.

God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy.
She didn't like the thought of Timmy walking to his first-grade class unaccompanied.
But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother.

"Besides," he explained, "I can walk with a friend."
So she did her best to stay calm, quoting the Twenty-third Psalm to him every morning:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..."

One school day she came up with an idea.
She asked a neighbor to follow Timmy to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, lest he notice her.
The neighbor was happy to oblige.
She took her toddler on morning walks anyway.

After several days Timmy's friend noticed the lady and the child.

"Do you know who that woman is who follows us to school?"

"Sure," Timmy answered. "That's Shirley Goodnest and her daughter Marcy."

"Who?"

"My mom reads about them every day in the Twenty-third Psalm.
She says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life.'
Guess I'll have to get used to them."

You will too.

God never sends you out alone.
Are you on the eve of change?
Do you find yourself looking into a new chapter?
Is the foliage of your world showing signs of a new season?

Heaven's message for you is clear:
when everything else changes, God presence never does.

You journey in the company of the Holy Spirit, who "will teach you and will remind you of everything I have told you" (John 14:26 NLT).

Fearless
(Max Lucado)

Happy Birthday to our Aug Babies!

4SF.I.V.E would like to wish the following ushers a very happy blessed birthday!!

Chin Fa Xing Benjamin (1 Aug)
Sim Hian Boon Darren (27 Aug)
Loh Suat Hui Joey (28 Aug)

We are so proud of you, and will be praying with you that 2009-10 will be the best year for you yet!

Our Birthday Babies!

Due to our tight schedules, 4S5 was not able to meet up to celebrate our June & July babies...
UNTILL last Sunday!!!

And we had a good time getting to know the new ushers, and to really celebrate our babies (late) birthdays,.,...

well.. like what they said.. late is better than nothing.. and at the end of the day,
its the friendship that really matters...

so once again...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABIES!!!

June:
Ernest Soh (7 June)
Jansen (9 June)
Samuel Chin (21 June)

July:
Brandon Liu (3 July)
Ray Chua (7 July)
Eunice Wong (27 July)
Cephas Lim (29 July)

Allocation for FOP & CHC Anniversary Celebration

Please kindly note our section's allocation for this weekend at the Indoor Stadium.
All ushers are encouraged to report early for all duties.

Fri FOP Session:
Reporting time: 5.00pm
4S5: South (IC:MeiZhen / Wan Yi / Yong Wei)

Sat FOP Session:
Reporting time: 4.00pm
4S5: South (IC:Yong Wei / MeiZhen)

Sun CHC Anniversary Celebration (Both Svcs)
Reporting time: 7.00am
4S5: East (IC:RenJie / Xue Li / ShuZhen)
* Ushers will be required to serve both svcs.
Please inform the Section leaders / Team leaders beforehand if you are unable to serve for the 2nd celebration svc)

Sun FOP Session:
Reporting time: 4.00pm
4S5: East (IC:Eugene / RenJie / ShuZhen)


OTHERS DUTIES:
Fri Support: 7.00pm
Sat Support: 10.00am
All ushers are encouraged to help out for at least 1 support.


Reporting Venue:
All ushers to report to the SOUTH EAST entrance for all duties.
If you are taking bus, walk toward the SISTIC ticket booths.
You will see the south east entrance once you reach the ticket booths.

How a burnt out star can step out of the fire, victorious!!

Stars do burn out.. but leaders are more than stars..

Leaders have been annointed, appointed, and called.
Called into greatness,
But also called into the fire places.

And how a burn-ed leader responsed determined how he/she will come out of the fire.

Like sugar, we can turn black and harden..
we can start blaming everyone else for the things that didn't happened, nor what should happened..
we can be angry, and start to lash out at people, thinking that they didn't care..
We can form a wall against the very people whom we need to find comfort in...

OR

Like stones, we can remain lifeless..
we can start to be routine-ly...
without passion, without interest, without a desire to influence & impact..
we can still stay in the race, but its following the crowd.

there is no more stepping out.
everything that we can do is "safe",
but before long, we start to lose interest, and begin to look for greener pasture, usually outside the kingdom of God.

OR

Like bread, we can allow bitter yeasts to be fed into our lives, and help us grow..
we can be accountable, and allow our leaders to speak words of guidance.
words that may not sound nice, but surely, words that are Spirit-led.
words that like yeasts, help us to grow in our character.

there are times that i know i have to allow my leaders to speak to me..
to be more accountable,
to be more humble,
to be more willing to be invisible and let other lead,
to be more Christ like in my ministry,

to die to myself.

it wasnt always easy.
dying to my own desires or even feelings when i am feeling real bad, lousy and unappreciated.

even though my leaders may not be there for me, i MUST still share.
i MUST still listen to them, and pray through their words.
i MUST still serve, even though there is no fruits, becoz i MUST remain ready when God bring in the next harvest.
i MUST still seek God, even though God didn't answer my prayers, becoz i MUST remember that God is always bigger than my problems.

the heat may not decrease, but like bread, when i allow God to move, the yeasts will grow, and out of the lump of flour, bread will start to form.

Bakers don't bake the bread in fire for the whole day.
God know how much heat we can take.
And when we are ready, God will surely take me out of the fire, and prepare me for the next level.

Leavened bread are life giving.
How?

Your personal stories & testimonies will encourage others.
Your personal victories will inspires others.
But more than your victories, how God was able to bring you out of your defeats will motivate others to keep trusting God, even when all fronts are lost.

Do you enjoy bread?
I do.

And every time I enjoy bread, i can't help but remember how God will use the fires of life to make me better,
as a leader,
as a minister,
as a friend,
as a husband,
and soon, as a father.

May this bless you!

My Salvation is About Him

Who would look at the cross of Christ and say,
"Great work, Jesus. Sorry you couldn't finish it, but I'll take up the slack."?

Dare we question the crowning work of God?
Dare we think heaven needs our help in saving us?

Legalism discounts God and in the process makes a mess out of us.

To anyone attempting to earn heaven, Paul asks,
"How is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?
Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? ....
What has happened to all your joy?" (Galatians 4:19, 15 NIV).

Legalism is joyless because legalism is endless.
There is always another class to attend, person to teach, mouth to feed.
Inmates incarcerated in self-salvation find work but never joy.
How could they?
They never know when they are finished.

Legalism leaches joy.

Grace, however, dispenses peace.
The Christian trusts a finished work.
Grace offers rest.
Legalism never does.

Then why do we embrace it?
"Those who trust in themselves are foolish" (Proverbs 28:26 NCV).

Why do we trust in ourselves?
Why do we add to God's finished work?But the truth is, we don't.

If we think we do, we have missed the message.
"What is left for us to brag about?" Paul wonders (Romans 3:27 CEV).

What is there indeed?
What have you contributed?
Aside from your admission of utter decadence, I can't think of a thing.

"By his doing you are in Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Salvation glorifies the Savior, not the saved.Your salvation showcases God's mercy.
It makes nothing of your effort but everything of his.

"I--yes, I alone--am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again" (Isaiah, 43:25, emphasis mine).

Can you add anything to this salvation?
No.
The work is finished.

Can you earn this salvation?
No.
Don't dishonor God by trying.

Dare we boast about this salvation?
By no means.

The giver of bread, not the beggar, deserves praise.
"Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:31).

It's not about what we do; it's all about what he does.

Max Lucado
It's Not About Me

My Message is About Him

The request came when I was twenty.
"Can you address our church youth group?"

We aren't talking citywide crusade here.
Think more in terms of a dozen kids around a West Texas campfire.
I was new to the faith, hence new to the power of the faith.
I told my story, and, lo and behold, they listened!
One even approached me afterward and said something like, "That moved me, Max."
My chest lifted, and my feet shifted just a step in the direction of the spotlight.

God has been nudging me back ever since.

Some of you don't relate.
The limelight never woos you.
You and John the Baptist sing the same tune:
"He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less" (John 3:30 NLT).

God bless you.
You might want to pray for the rest of us.

We applause-aholics have done it all:
dropped names,
sung loudly,
dressed up to look classy,
dressed down to look cool,
quoted authors we've never read,
spouted Greek we've never studied.

For the life of me, I believe Satan trains battalions of demons to whisper one question in our ears: "What are people thinking of you?"

A deadly query.
What they think of us matters not.
What they think of God matters all.

God will not share his glory with another (Isaiah 42:8).
Next time you need a nudge away from the spotlight, remember:
You are simply one link in a chain, an unimportant link at that.

Remember the other messengers God has used?
A donkey to speak to Balaam (Numbers 22:28).
A staff-turned-snake to stir Pharaoh (Exodus 7:10).
He used stubborn oxen to make a point about reverence and a big fish to make a point about reluctant preachers (I Samuel 6:1-12; Jonah 1:1-17)

God doesn't need you and me to do his work.
We are expedient messengers, ambassadors by his kindness, not by our cleverness.
It's not about us, and it angers him when we think it is.
We who are entrusted with the gospel dare not seek applause but best deflect applause.

For our message is about Someone else.

Max Lucado
It's Not About Me

God is Cheering for You

If your God is Mighty enough to ignite the sun, could it be that He is mighty enough to light your path?

God is for you.

Not "may be,"
not "has been,"
not "was,"
not "would be,"
but "God is!"

He is for you.
Today.
At this hour.
At this minute.
As you read this sentence.

No need to wait in line or come back tomorrow.
He is with you.
He could not be closer than he is at this second.
His loyalty won't increase if you are better nor lessen if you are worse.
He is for you.

God is for you.
Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run.
Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps.
Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name.

Too tired to continue? He'll carry you.
Too discouraged to fight? He's picking you up.
God is for you.

God is for you.
Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled.
If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper.
If there's a tree in heaven, he's carved your name in the bark.
We know he has a tattoo, and we know what it says. "I have written your name on my hand," he declares (Isa. 49:16).

Max Lucado
Let the Journey Begin:God's Roadmap for New Beginnings

The Cure for Disappointment

Don't ask God to do what you want.
Ask God to do what is right.

When God doesn't do what we want, it's not easy.
Never has been.
Never will be.

But faith is the conviction that God knows more than we do about this life and he will get us through it. Disappointment is cured by revamped expectations.

I like that story about the fellow who went to the pet store in search of a singing parakeet.
Seems like he was a bachelor and his house was too quiet. The store owner had just the bird for him, so the man bought it. The next day the bachelor came home from work to a house full of music. He went to the cage to feed the bird and noticed for the first time that the parakeet had only one leg.

He felt cheated that he'd been sold a one-legged bird, so he called and complained.
"What do you want," the store owner responded, "a bird who can sing or a bird who can dance?"

Good question for times of disappointment.

Max Lucado
Let the Journey Begin