Be The One | Pr Isaiah F. (Singapore)

Hello and welcome to the Generations Church podcast. We're so excited to have you

here today. It is our prayer that God's word will inspire and help you

grow in your faith. Now let's get right into it. Good afternoon,

Good afternoon, Good afternoon. Am I on right, thank you again,

past the and d thank you again. Generations Church is interesting. You know.

It's interesting that the first ministry or the first youth ministry that was involved

in it's also called Generations, right. And what's amazing is that the story

of Generations Singapore, which is was a youth ministry of Connerstone Community Church,

started with forty nine young people who have eventually exploded to become seven hundred.

You know, what I want you to know is that God loved to do

the great things. He likes to take the small thing, and he likes

to bless it, and he likes to grow it. So I believe that

if I even as I'm standing here, I sense in my spirit God is

going to explode Generations Malaysia, you know, and I think that this place

is going to be too small for what God is going to do in your

life. Amen. Amen, thank you again for the privilege of inviting me

here. I brought with me my wife who travels with me, my wife

Carol, and together we have three beautiful girls. Three beautiful girls. And

what's interesting is that their names are interesting. The first girl is sixteen years

old and the youngest is actually ten years old. The first girl has a

name that is German, right, and my second and my third child are

Hebrew Hebrew names. And one day someone asked us, you know this question.

It says, why a Hebrew name for the younger one and why German

name from the I mean the oldest one. So we could not understand.

I know, we cannot find a reason. But God gave us the wisdom.

So we answer this particular person and says, maybe God is trying to

reconcilet the Germans with the Jews. Right, that's the So we came to

that conclusion. That is the answer why God gave us the name for our

children. Three beautiful child amazing. My eldest daughter hope to one day become,

you know, a doctor. You know, if you are praying for

my family, please pray for my daughter that she one day become a doctor.

She's like like a teacher, that she's a student, like any teacher

that would love. Okay, I have a problem with my eldest daughter is

that one of the problems is to stop her from studying. She loved to

study. She she spends most of the time studying and I have to stop

her from studying. So what a beautiful daughter to have. Amen. But

today my sermon for this evening isn't about my daughter, my family, but

it's about you guys. You know, I have a word that God put

in my heart, you know, and the word is be the one.

You know thirty your neighbors says, be the one. Interestingly, even as

we talk, I shared the story of how Generations Singapore from forty nine exploded

to become seven hundred in matter of you know, of years. You know.

I want you to know that God wants you to be that one that

will bring change. Someone says this. In fact, Mark Twain says this

that the only person who like change in the world or in their life is

a wet baby, right, a wet baby. You know. I have

three children. I go through the grind. I mean, I remember how

you know, when they were young, you know, when they are wet

in their diapers. The first thing that they want to do is cry because

they want to be changed. And here Mark Twain says, the only person

who likes change is a wet baby. But the thing here is this has

Christian or has the Church? One of the things that we should love is

change. We should love change. Act Chapter seventeen is the testimony of the

Church, or the Book of Acts, and the Bible says that the early

Church loved to change things for Jesus. The Bible says this does. In

fact, the testimony of the Book of Acts was this, that this who

had turned the world upside down has come here too. And I believe that

God has put you here because God is about to turn things upside down on

the right side up for Jesus here in Malaysia. Amen see, someone says,

is the truth is this? You either make history or your history.

If you have your Bible, please turn to Second Kings, chapter five,

verse one to verse ten. It's a very famous, familiar story for most

of us. I'm not gonna read. I'm just going to put the word

on the slide, but I'm going to give you a paraphrase of what the

whole story is all about. It's a story about a very famous general his

name is Namon and he was known to be one of the most successful Syrian

general in his days. But at the end, not only he was a

good commander, but he was also a person that had a problem. He

was a leaper. And if you know anything about leposine in the days that

they were living in, you know what what happen is that you are you

are cut off from society. Can you imagine he had a lot of success,

He has a lot of look I mean positions, a lot of power.

But yet one problem with him is this he cannot be where he wants

to be, and that's with the people that he is appointed to and he's

cut out from society. His start history says this that what happened is that

if you are a person with leposy, you are supposed to stay far away

from all the rest of community because leposie was considered something that was contagious in

that time. If you come into contact with someone like with like Nayman,

who is a who is a leaper, chances out maybe you may even get

leposi yourself, and then he would then he what happened is that he is

told to be away from the people that he loved. Can you imagine a

well known general, full of successes, full of victory, but the only

problem is this he cannot enjoy the fruit of his victory. Can you imagine

having all the wealth, all the victories, but yet not enjoying every single

moment of it. And that was a problem for Naemon. There was no

solution in those times. But the story of Second King's chapter five had a

very powerful conclusion. We know that at the end of the day they found

a solution, and the solution was given to him, and eventually he met

the prophet Elijah, you know Elijah. And then the next thing you know

that he was deeping in the river and he got well, right, all

his leaposy. This is the cure. Right, you go and dip yourself

in the lone time, seven times, but in the word of God.

You must have listened to the instruction from the Word of God. And that's

what happened. He went into the river that was one of the dirtiest in

that region, and he went into the river and he dips himself seven times,

and seven times at the word of God, he stands up and he's

now completely healed. Wow, what a story, what a miracle. In

fact, the Gospel mentioned of how Naymon was hell off his leprosy. But

today I'm not going to talk about Naymon. I'm gonna talked about someone that

is found in this passage of scripture that doesn't even have a name. But

she is the one that brought change in the society and in the life of

Nayman in those days. The Bible calls her, in fact, the Bible

calls a young girl from Israel. That's all her name. For all that

she did in the Bible, for all that she did for the kingdom,

for this well known man. The Bible just mentioned her to be just a

young girl from Israel, a young girl. Can you imagine where she was

in a place that is so foreign. She was a captive. Let me

just give you an idea what this this girl or the background of this girl.

She She was a captive. She was taken, you know, as

a rap, as a captive when the Syrian came came over to the land

and took all the possession of the land. And what happened was that through

the raids and or the looting, they brought her back to the kingdom and

to become a slave girl. Two, Naman's miss wife. That was a

that was a story. In short, she was a nobody. Let me

just give you very quickly what her situation looked like. Number one, she

was a captive. Can you imagine being young and being a captive. I

don't know, but the last time I read about some people who are in

captivity, it can actually make you live in a place where you're traumatized.

You lose your rights, you have no opinion about the circumstances because you are

a prisoner. You are forced to do what you don't want to do.

You're a captive. The Bible also described this girl to be just a nobody.

She was not an intelligent person. If not, the teacher would have

loved her and call her teacher's pet. She was not someone from the best

colleges of Israel. She was nobody. The Bible described her just as a

young Jewish girl, a girl Jewish girl, so no background, where the

father is, somebody who owns this? And that it wasn't. She was

just a nobody. Nothing was mentioned about her, about her past or where

she's been. There was nothing. All we knew in plain she was just

a young girl, nobody, not only that she was ordinary. There was

no special skill. She can't jump from one mountain to the night mountain.

She doesn't have special move you know. She doesn't have ability. The Bible

says, doesn't have ability that is extraordinary. She just normal, ordinary girl.

The Bible calls her young. I want you to know, young in

those days can be perceived as someone that is inexperienced, maybe if even foolish,

not of good use. What can you do when you bring someone from

another land to be a slave? No ability? Young, don't know anything?

Right? You remember once upon a time, maybe your parents are angry

with you, and their description of you is you don't know anything. Have

you heard that before? At last I have when you're young, don't know

anything? Her idea, her knowledge and wisdom was limited because she was young.

The next thing called from a land to be a captive. Not only

that, to be a slave to Nayman's wife. That means she belongs not

only she's taken out of a comfort. She now belongs to the lowest bracket

in all society in Syria. A slave. Her job was to do what

nobody wanted. To do. Anything that is asked for her, she will

need to do whether she feels like it or she don't like it. She's

a slave. Can you imagine for a few moments being taken away from home,

from your family, from your community, for your country. He was

forced to work. He was still young. Maybe she had dreams For many

of us. The conclusion is this, Maybe what we'll do is that when

we end up in that whole new place, a new new environment, we

will spend many years or many months crying, afraid, distress and feeling homesick.

But what's amazing is the story of this young girl who the Bible don't

even give a name for. And instead of feeling sorry about herself and upset

about what had been gone, that her life has gone, the things that

she has gone through through her life, at that point of time, she

changed the situation around She became the one that changed the nation and changed the

life of Damon. Can you imagine must be very challenging. Came from a

place where, maybe in Israel, where God is something that is well converse.

From young you hear about people talking about Torah, talking about the Lord,

talking about Richeal, And here you come to Syria, where the culturally

is anti God. Grew up in a culture that the law of God governs

people's life, and now comes to a culture that's totally different. He worshiped

the God of Israel, and here he comes to this place, and now

she no longer am able to identify what she worshiped before. All these things

could have destroy and hurt a young lady, but instead she turns it all

around. This evening, whatever that we have been through, God is asking

us to be the one to change the things around. If you have your

Bible, as we read Second Kings chapter five, I'm just gonna read two

verses, and these two verses will give you three points of how we can

become that one. Second Kings chapter five, verse two to verse three the

Bibles. Now the band of raiders from Aram has gone out, has taken

captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Nayman's wife. Verse three.

She said to her mistress, if only my master will see the prophet

who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy. Two words,

two verses that change the whole Kingdom of Israel and the situation between two

nations, two scriptures. Church, It's time to be the one and to

be the one. We need to do three things that the Bible tells us

that the girl did. Number one, we need to act from the place,

from the current position that we are in. No matter whether you are

in the mountain right now or you're in the valley, whether you're the top

in your organization or in the bottom of your organization, it doesn't matter,

because this girl know how to act from her current position. The Bible says

in verse two, she was taken and she served as a slave, but

from a current position, she changed the whole nation around. She acted even

though she was small. She was just a slave, she was just a

youth, was just a foreigner. She had no power or position. She

accepted her situation without any sense of bitterness. You see, I want you

to know all these things doesn't stop us from changing what the world is putting

on us if we learn how to act from our current position. You know.

First timately chapter four, Us' job is a very famous scripture that we

always use in you Can, You Can. But it's not just for you

can. But he's the He's a scripture for our life. He's a scripture

that was given from Paul to his spiritual son Timothy, who took over a

church from an apostle John, And can you imagine the kind of shoe that

he had to fit in. And as he was trying to fit into that

whole shoes of leading this church, all of a sudden, Paul gave Timothy

an instruction that we all should learn, because he says this to Timothy in

First Timothy chapter four, bust job, to not let anyone think less of

you because you are young. Sometimes we limit what God has given to us,

we belittle ourselves. Well, God look at us and says, well,

I put enough in you to change the world. And here was Paul

telling Timothy, do not be afraid. Don't let anyone think less of you.

Don't let anyone think less of you. You are more than what you

think you are. If that girl decided that day that all she is a

slave for the rest of your life, let me tell you that she will

not even open her mouth to give that suggestion to the wife of Naman.

She could accept that she's a slave, and that's it. A slave.

I have no rights and no influence, no words to say to Naman.

So what I would do is this, I'll just keep my mouth shut and

continue on with my life and just be like everyone else instead of being the

one. Paul begins to say, be an example to all believers in what

you say, in the way you live, in your love, in your

faith, and your purity. She retained the faith in God. She does

not curse God for placing her in that situation. In fact, the Bible

said that she displayed God's strong faith, knowing that God is going to turn

the situation around with her action. The question at the end of the day

is that are we willing to make lemonade of the lemon that's been thrown at

you? A lot of things can be thrown at you. My journey of

faith has so many things, and I believe Pastor and you will share a

lot of things of his own personal journey at the age of seventeen, having

a knife on my throat saying renounce Jesus, h I kill you. That

was my journey of faith and living seventeen years old with ten dollars in my

wallet, ten dollars in my will, two pairs of follow things, one

pair of jeans, and the mocazins was opening his mouth. Was my journey

of faith to follow Jesus for the rest of my life. But God can

use that ten dollars in your wallet, and God can use that knife on

your throat, and God can use that choose that was opening up to bring

you to places that you never imagine. The story of Joseph was a story

that inspires my life. God use him while he was in prison. God

use him when he was in Partifir's house. God uses him because he was

willing to work or to be God's God's vessel wherever or whatever that's been thrown

at him. Church, God wants us to take our position. Maybe today

you are in school, something might have happened. But if you trust God

and you allowed God to use you and be that one, you will never

know what can happen in that school. Maybe you are in a company and

you look around. Everything is just difficult and everything is just going south.

But if you allow God to use you as the instrument, you will never

know how He can open doors and bless you and see how the company can

turn around and your life can be transformed. My question to you is this

what you do the things of God even at your current position. The second

thing that the girl did was this, she acts, even if the action

was small. Sometimes we like the big things, right, we like the

big things. We like the big stage, We like the big thing.

We like to do the things so big that everybody will know what we are

doing. But the Bible tells me this that all she did, or she

said to her mistress one thing, one small thing. She said to her

mistress, her boss, And she said this to her boss. If you

could only tell my master where she can find her healing, he's healing,

he will, he will be healed. If only, ma'am, you tell

master to go and find that profit, he will be cure of his leparsy.

One action, simple action. All she did was sin when she could

just give me in quiet, she acted even when she should should not.

Oh just could have just minded her own business. Christine Taught white Man says

this. Anyone who think that they are too small to make a difference has

never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room. Can you imagine?

Most of ours have sleeped outside. And I'm not an outdoor person.

Maybe Jake is because he comes from New Zealand. I'm a city boy.

When I go holidays from shopping center to another shopping center, I know might

have friends who would hike up a heel. I would rather see a video

or a picture of it, thank you very much. Part of that reason

is I don't want to find myself in the situation when I'm in a room

with a small mosquito. I had no choice. I have to serve my

military, and to serve my military in the nation I come from, we

have to go to the jungle. And when let me tell you this,

when the mosquitoes are around, it's not a pleasant experience. Well, you

don't need a lot of mosquito, you just need one that as you close

your eyes, he's always talking to you in your ears, and you slapt

yourself right instead of the mosquito hegg and you slap yourself again. Somehow,

you will never get the mosquito until it bites you. Then you know it's

that he's completed. Then comes another mosquito. That small act from that mosquito

is enough to keep you awake the whole night. What more, a small

act from this woman changed the world that she lives in. But the question

that we all have to ask is this, why would the high level officer

listen to a slave? If you ever wonder why would a high level listen

to a slave, right, he would be listening to the wise man in

his cabinet or the people around him. The generals is lieutenant, people who

have proven to him to have been loyal to his projects and is an assignment.

But why would you listen to a slave woman? Let me tell you

the answer is simple. There's something about this slave girl that's worth listening.

I believe the word is credibility. Something about her life that may not be

mentioned a lot, but I think the way she has lived her life with

the mistress and in the house of naymen that causes Namen to want to listen

to this woman and something that we all need to think about. The small

thing that we do must be credible. It makes a big difference when you're

credible one word from this servant having the position of a CEO or a manager.

Yet again, the top official would listen because this woman had proven herself

to be worth listening, trustworthy. His action was so remarkable that a general,

a five star general, would listen to a slave to find a solution

for his problem. Think about that, but we must act small. Even

though the action is small, we still must act on it. The third

and the last point is this, she acted at all costs. She acted

at all costs. Verse three says this not only she said to her mistress,

But the sentence go on by saying that if only, my master,

if you listen to that word that was said by this woman, if only

refers to a suggestion, that it can and it will happen if you take

this solution that I'm suggesting. She basically was giving Naman a guarantee. Can

you imagine she was basically giving Naman a guarantee to his problem. If you

only you go to that prophet, you all your problems will be gone.

If only, my master, if only let me tell you why it caused

her why the cause of her suggestion is expensive, For a reason, both

countries were at wars. Seria was at war with Israel. The stake was

not small. Can you imagine if what she said and was listened by name,

and and it was not fulfilled, what would Naman do? Definitely destroy

her village right, definitely destroyed. But the the suggestion wasn't small. He

was a guarantee that this woman gave to Naman. The stake was very high,

though the action was very small. He might have caused more harm if

he didn't come to pass. But somehow this woman had faith in God and

she knew that her suggestion would bring solution in both countries. Can you imagine

Naman after getting her getting himself healed from leprosy. I think he would think

twice. He would think differently when he approached his enemy Israel, because he

has seen the God of Israel healing his condition. I think the situation is

very similar to as four verse sixteen. In this book, we hear how

Esther was put in a place, and her response was, this is go

together together all the Jews who are in sussa fast for me, do not

eat, drink for three days and night. This was what will happen.

But when we go and read further, this is what happened. When this

is done, I will go to the king. And even though it's against

the Lord, if I perish, I perish. Her action was all in,

There was no holding back. Can you imagine the kind of responsibility and

risks that she was putting in for the sake the only of the fire of

the solution for Naman, but for her country too. And she put it

all there, and she said to naman mistress or the wife, if only

my master would listen and go to the prophet, then he will be a

leper. Normal think for a moment that is high rich, high rish.

I don't know why. I think credibility is one, but I think the

sentence that the woman said to the mistress had more than just a suggestion,

but it also reflects her desire to see her master be well. I think

her concerns and her love that was displayed in that conversation with her mistress convinced

that great general to go and see the prophet. If you look at the

sentence carefully, and you find if only my master and he will cure him

of his leprosy, there is the desire of that servant girl. Her desire

was to see her master get well. And because of the love and the

concern that the servant girl had for her master, the Bible tells me this.

The respond of Nayman was that he took that solution and he went to

see that prophet. It's interesting sometimes we look at people who are very significant

to make a big difference, But throughout the whole Bible, I found out

that people with no names, who are faceless who only have a few sentences

to acknowledge that they ever existed. Are the people who make big changes and

history for the Bible and for the Gospel. Today this afternoon, my question

to general this, would you be the one that will bring change in your

school? Would you be the one that bring change in your community? Would

you be the one that will transform your officers for Jesus Christ? Would you

be the one you don't have to have all the cvs behind you, because

this woman did not have anything except when she was young. Love to be

young. I'm forty four. I love to be young again. In fact,

I'm getting younger. The truth is we all think that sometimes because our

gender, whether you're a boy or whether you're a girl, they have advantages

and disadvantages. Oh that will limit me because I'm a girl. I cannot

do it because I'm a girl. My boss only listens to men. I'm

a boy, because my boss only listen to women because at home she listened

to the women and then come to office, so so listen to women.

Men cannot he bully men, but submit to women. You know, it

doesn't matter what your gender might be. At the end of the day.

The Bible tells me this that you can make a difference. It doesn't matter

what race you come from, whether you're Chinese, Chindian, a more,

where you're tied. What are the race is here representative you're Filipino, whether

you are my race, which I'm not gonna mention. At the end of

the day, it should not limit you to bring change where God is need

you. I love what Mother Teresa say. You say that we can do

no great things. I mean we can do no great things, only small

things with great love. Mean can do no great things, but we can

do what smoth things with great love. Thank you for joining us on the

Generations Church podcast. We trust you've been blessed by the message today. Remember

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