Are You Ready For The New? | Pr Gloria Paul

You're listening to a message to go from at church.

We hope first message will light up your day.

Today's message, okay, I mean it sounds like a New

Year message, but it's not exactly a New Year message.

But it's more about you know, giving us the time

and spaces were for about a month to go, right,

to prepare ourselves for the coming year. Okay, And we

know it's not just a one day thing. Right, you

write down in your diary and say, Okay, these are

my goals, my resolutions, and again, I don't know how

effective would that be. We're just going to write it down. Yeah,

So we're going to talk about how God wants to

move in our hearts, right and the kind of respond

that it requires of us.

Right.

And so the title of today's message is are you

ready for the new?

Yes? Are you ready for the new?

Not just new Chinese new Year, not just a new

year that's coming up, but the new that God wants

to work in our lives?

Amen?

Right, So, if you have your Bibles, could you just

even turn with me to the Book of Mark chapter two. Okay,

Mark chapter two. If you don't know where Marcus is

in your New Testament one of the Gospels. Yeah, do

you all have your Bibles with you, right, Okay, It's

always good to bring God's word with us. So Mark

chapter two. We're going to read from verse eighteen to

twenty two.

Okay.

And for those of you may have read the Gospels,

which is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you will know

that these books are, you know, a testimony of how

God was on Jesus was on earth right, and so

he was here, he was moving with the disciples, he

was performing miracles, he was ministering to people. But was

it easy journey, Well not all the time for him.

He had different ones who were trying to bring him

down right to question, you know, Jesus, what are you doing?

Why are you going against the tradition or the religion

that is set right?

And so he was.

This was the time when you know, we had the Pharisees,

the Jews, Yeah, where they followed religion so staunchly right,

and so that was a certain time that they had

to to pray. There's a certain time that there's a

certain way of dressing to the temple, washing their hands, their.

Legs, their feet.

Well, it's just basically like how you know, our cousins

our majority faith, you know, where where they have a

certain custom to go to the mosque to pray it.

It's just like that, right, And that was how it

was even for the Jews, fast thing, you know, was

so important for them to follow religiously. Right, And so

this was the time that Jesus was there as well.

Was Jesus the one who followed all these rules religiously?

Well maybe not all the time, because it's not just

trying to be rebellious, yeah, but he was trying to

teach people something. Again, that is what we're going to

learn today. Yeah, to not just get so caught up,

especially if you've been a Christian for some time. We're

so used to some way of you know, of our

practice of faith. What time when I have to go

to church, you know, or okay, it's December, it's time

to prepare for Christmas. Right, we have a certain set

way in our minds.

Right.

But how many of you know that God is not

so big with just those rituals, right, But He's more

concerned with our hearts, because what's the point of us

coming In the outside we look so good, right, but

in the inside there are things that we've got to

deal with, right. There may be unforgiveness, you know, there

may be things that we've just got to say God,

I am I am broken. I am still thinking about

this situation that is pulling me down.

Right.

So, I mean, there's no point of us trying to

spend so much in the external where we don't spend

enough time in the insight. And so if you've read

the Gospels, you see time after time Jesus has been

teaching us why is it important to have a check

of our hearts our minds right? And don't just show

off that you're fasting, he tells the Jews. I mean,

as you read the different gospels, you know, if you

are fast thing you go, don't go and look like

you're fasting where you're tired, and you know you still

dress well, you know, you just still put a smile.

You know, you're not supposed to tell or if you're

giving helping in to someone, you don't tell the other person.

This is what I did, right, And so Jesus was

very big till today. He's big with what we do

with our hearts and not just in the external which

men can see.

Yeah, so let's read this portion here.

If you look at chapter two, the first part if

you're read it, you'll see that it's about how Jesus

forgives a man who is paralytic, and then the Jews

who actually question him and say, you know, what do

you say that your sins are forgiven? Who are you

to say that? And so he has a explanation. And

then there's the portion in in verse thirteen if you read,

it's about Matthew the text collector, and as we know,

Jesus actually win and have meals with them. Right, for

Jesus was nothing, It's just like, this is the people

that I came for, you know. But for the community

at that time it seemed to be not a good

idea because they are sinners, right, and so people put

them aside. But Jesus embraced everyone. So you can see

how Jesus was not just going with the ordinary.

Yep.

He was there to you know, change mindsets. You know,

he was there to help people. See what did I

come for? I came for you, right, God sent me

as his one and only son to bring newness into

your life. So why are you holding on to all

of this?

Yeah?

And then we see here in verse eighteen where Jesus

is questioned about fasting. Right, so remember at that time fasting.

In fact, the Jews they had particular days. If you

read the book of Luke, you'll see at least two

days in a week they would fast, right Monday. I mean,

if you look at the days, it's usually Mondays or thursdays,

you know, in their calendar. So it's a ritual that

they have. Yeah, so let's read this verse and try

to understand what Jesus is telling us. Mark Chapter two,

Verse eighteen. Right, it's easier. The disciples of John and

of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said

to him, why do the disciples of John and of

the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? Verse nineteen.

And Jesus said to them, can the friends of the

bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long

as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

But the days will come when the bridegroom will be

taken away from them, and then they will last. They

will fast in those days. Verse twenty one. No one

source a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment

or else the new piece pulls away from the old,

and the tear is made worse verse twenty two. And

no one puts new wine into the old wine skin

or else the new wine burst the wine skins, the

wine is spilled, and the wine skins are ruined. But

new wine must be put into new wine skin. Amen,

I don't there's a lot of parables. Yeah, okay, why

a patch cloth?

You know?

Why wine skin? Let's try to understand it little by little. Yeah,

So we're gonna just focus on this portion here. The

first thing that I like to encourage all of us

this morning is that Jesus came not to patch up

your own life, but it's here to do something new today.

Do you believe that? As the person next to you,

do you believe that? Yes, you've got to believe to receive? Yeah,

if you're here still doubting, like, are you sure not? Okay,

let's understand a little bit more. Okay, I'm sure God

will convince you this morning right that he is. Yes,

he is concern of your life, right, is concern of

your past? Maybe you know the heartache that you have

gone through, rite all those things. Yes, he is concerned.

He's there to heal to deliver you. But he also

doesn't want us to just hold on to it, right.

He wants us to say, God, you take me true

of what's the hit, right, and so not to just

hold on, but to also expect the new. But doesn't

mean that if he's doing something new. He wants you

to just you know, it's not telling you, okay, just

forget everything, right, but he wants you to trust and

surrender that he will bring you through.

Yeah.

In Second Quarantians five seventeen, what does it tell us there?

For if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

How many of us are in Christ this morning? Some

are still not convenience? Okay, at least I'm nodding, right, Okay,

we're all As long as you are in Christ.

We are made new.

Right, we are made you and our past cannot hold

this behind.

Yeah.

So you know, as we read this scripture here, you

will I just want to break things down a little

bit to help you understand it, okay, because there's a

lot of parables here.

The first portion.

As you read, you will see that it's a question

about fasting okay, and so, like like I said earlier,

it was a custom. It's like, you know, just take

for example, like like let's say the whole of extract

is fasting, and then right, you realize Richard just eating away.

You know, he's having his lunch and this snacking. Right,

I'm sure you'll be wondering what's going on? Okay, Richard

always can as the example. Yeah, I'm sure you'll all

be questioning, right, like, hey, isn't this something that we're

supposed to do as a church, right, We're all fasting,

but why isn't Richard not doing so it was like that, okay,

at that time where they were all the disciples, the Pharisees,

even John right, he was fasting, but Jesus and his

disciples did not. So it seemed to be something very obvious,

you know. And I'm sure they were eating something. That's

why they could actually take note of it, right, And

so it became a question, Yeah, why was Jesus not

following their tradition? Well, he was trying to get them

to understand something. And that's a beautiful thing about Jesus.

He always does it true action. And sometimes I would

think that maybe Jesus was trying to also create a

space where the Pharisees were questioned again, because they questioned,

Jesus could actually tell them something. Yeah, and sometimes, you know,

even in my classroom, I'm grateful that there's at least

one or two students whould like to ask questions, because again,

you don't know what's in their minds then, right, or

you can't carry on with a discussion, is the one

way thing. And I think sometimes you're glad with people

who actually ask questions. But of course with this Parisies,

they were questioning with a different intention. Right, they were doubtful,

So when they asked the question, Jesus was trying to

get them to understand that. Well, he's trying to show

them the difference between what the Old Covenant had to

bring to them and what the New Covenant had to

bring to them. Well, if you read the Old Testament,

you will see that we they used a lot of

animals to sacrifice to ask forgiveness.

Is when you can bring a sheep or a good right,

you bring.

Sacrifice, and then your forgiveness are a clean right, you're

you're forgiven. But in the New Covenant, which is the

new Testament, you will see that Jesus was actually sent

as our sacrifice, right, meaning we no longer need to

do all those rituals as long as we can come

before God because forgiveness, right, and we accept him as

our savior.

Yeah.

So you're trying to get them to understand that all

the old Covenant was centered on men's faithfulness, whereas the

new one was centered on God's faithfulness towards men. Right,

God's faithfulness towards men. So how did Jesus respond to

this year? The response of Jesus, the example that he

gives here is about a wedding celebration, right, a wedding

celebration where he says in verse nineteen, can the friends

of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?

As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they

cannot fast. So what he's doing here is that it's

referring to him as the bridegroom and the disciples as

the wedding guests, the disciples that were following him. So

he's asking them the question, well, I am here, and

how can they fast?

Right?

They're supposed to be enjoying the feasts when the bridegroom

is here. And so what he's trying to tell the

people here is that he is God and in fact,

is the long awaited bridegroom that has come for his bride. Yeah,

and that's how Jesus put it in the meaning of

an in an example. Right, and the same thing is

for us. Okay, Jesus is coming. How many of you

believe that?

You know that? Right?

He is coming, you know, and we're all preparing our hearts,

preparing our faith for that. He is our bridegroom, okay,

and he's coming to take us. But the question is

how many of us are prepared for that?

Ye?

Could we be like the Pharisees who are still questioning,

still wondering what is going on with all the things

that we see in the world, Or could we be

like the disciples who are faithfully following Jesus right and

waiting for his coming.

Okay?

And I think it's a good time for us to

ask us tells that question, because if we want God

to do something new in our hearts, we have to

first come to a place of being prepared right expectancy.

You know, if you have been in a wedding, you

will see that when you know, the bride walks in,

the guest waits in anticipation. Right, Well, the MC will say, okay,

everyone ries, you know, and then the focus is on

the bride, and Jesus uses that example here that are

we anticipating for his coming in such a way?

Right? Are we waiting?

Are you just saying well, yeah, every time the preacher

says God is coming, God is coming? When is he coming?

Let me just do what I want to do first?

But you know what, the scripture tells us that no

one would know when he comes. But we've got to

be watchful. We've got to be prepared.

Right.

Watchful and prepared doesn't mean we, of course just tends

to sit still, but it's about preparing our spiritual walk. Okay,

how is our relationship with God? How much are we

communicating with him? Remember Villain the other day about watching

and praying, Right, It's very important to watch and pray,

meaning you are watchful of the things that are happening

around you, because these are signs that God gives us. Right,

and at the same time you are praying about it,

So you're not watching and being worried about the situation

around but you're watching. At the same time, you are

assured that God has this in control, right, and these

are just a sign of Him coming very soon.

Amen. I pray that we become.

A church that we are just ready that when God comes,

when He comes to take us, none of us will

be left behind. Yeah, at the end of the day.

That is the reality, and that is what the scripture

tells us. You read the Book of Revelation. I know

it's a it's a book filled with a lot of

imageries and you know, examples, but it's a very good

book for us to wit that we understand what the

second Coming looks like. Yeah, and we're all going to

be going through that season.

Yeah.

So God knows the timing, right, God knows when that happens.

But our role here is to just be watchful, to

be prepared, to not question God about what's going on,

but to just prepare our hearts for what He has

for us men. Right, And so that's the first thing

that Jesus was telling them. You know, you are going

around questioning why are we not following these rituals?

Yeah?

And that, but I am here as the bridegroom, right,

and so why are you thinking of all those rituals,

and even for us, you know, let's not just get

so caught up with the rituals, if you know what

I mean, right, meaning we yes, we make it a

point to come to church.

That's good.

But it shouldn't be just a Sunday thing. It has

to be an everyday journey. Remember, it's a it's a

choice that you and I have to. We have to

see God's face every day. There's no break. Okay, just

because I went on Sunday, let me take a break

on Monday and continue on Tuesday. No, you have to

talk to him every day because you know what, he

is the source of our strength, right, He's the source

of our hope, and the Bible says that he is

our portion, right, our portion. So let's never neglect our

quiet time. You know, we can preach, you know, the

whole day. By the end of the day, you know

what's important. It's your quiet time. Nothing else matters.

You know.

You know, there a lot of people who actually know

the Bible in and out. There's so many scholars, but

they may not be believers of Christ. Do you know that, right?

So it's not so much about I can memorize this much.

I know the rituals, I know what's going on in

terms of the tradition. But what's the point of all

of it if I cannot recognize the voice of God

in my life?

Right?

If I cannot recognize the power of His word. So

it's not just about Okay, this is what the Book

of Matty tells me, but this is how the word

of God can work in me. Can I declare that

and make things change? Because that's how powerful God is?

Amen? Right?

So let's develop that. You know we have Like I said,

we're growing towards the close of the year. If there's

areas in our quiet time that we want to just

do better, why didn't you take that step? No point

just talking about it, right, It's about the action. It's

about what would we do today? Right?

God? I want to draw closer with you. Amen. Are

you're getting something here? Yeah? All right?

So that's the respond of Jesus towards the people, the Pharisees.

Especially, Okay.

And then as we read on in the portion you're

in verse twenty one, you'll see that he uses two

different parables. As you know, Jesus like to use stories

to help the people to understand and interpret things. Yeah,

So each of it has its own meaning. So the

first one he says about an old garment and a

new patch, And so he says an old torn garment

and a patch made of a new fabric. The basis

of this parable. And so what he tells you is

that no one can add a new patch to an

old garment because then it might ruin it. How many

of you have done sowing before if you realize it's

a patch, and if you patch it with a new

cloth on top, it can't hold on to it because

the old patch is already shrinked. It's an old fabric,

and if you put a new one on it, it's

just gonna not make it fit well, right, it's just

going to be shrinking. And that is what he's trying

to tell is here. And so the meaning of this

particular parable is that through Jesus life and that he

became the mediator of the new covenant between God and man.

Meaning Jesus has not come to be added to the

old forms and traditions, but he's bringing something new and

something even better. Right, something new and something even better.

How many of you are praying right for uncert prayers?

You're praying for a new job. You know, you're praying

for a salvation of a loved one or a healing.

God can do it, right, God can do it. And

in fact, when God does it, he does it in

a better way, better than how we as humans can

actually imagine or even expect.

Amen. Yep.

And so that's the first example that he uses. And

then as you read verse twenty two, Okay, what does

he say here? He talks about and all wine skin

and new wine. Well, sometimes it's a little bit difficult

to understand this because in the times that we live in,

wines are found in bottles, right, you go to the shop,

you see it in a bottle. But in those days

they would actually put it in I think I have

a picture here. Yeah, it looks like this. It's like

a wine skin. It can be very huge as well. Okay,

and this is where they stall their wine sometimes for years.

Yeah. And so what he.

Tries to tell us here in this scripture is that

in verse twenty two, and he says, and no one

puts new wine into all wine skin, meaning new wine

that you come up with. If you put into all

wine skin or else, the new wine bursts the wine

skin the wine is spilt and the wine skins are ruined.

But new wine must be put into new wine skins.

So if you look at it all wine skin, it

looks very you know, brittled. Okay, it looks like it's

because it has been there for a long time, so

it's gone through a lot of pressure. So if you're

gonna pour something new into it, it's more likely gonna

be it's just gonna bust. It may not be able

to contain something new and something fresh. Right, And so

that is when he says, if you actually use a

new wine skin and you pour the new wine into it,

it can actually expand, which is the job of that right,

it's supposed to expand, and then it can actually store

it for a longer time or the period that you're

looking for. Yeah, what does this passage actually mean? And

so he's using these examples because it's very much relatable

to the people at that time. That's how they store

their wine. And in this portion here, it's trying to

tell us that Jesus has come as the new wine. Right,

he is the new wine. What is new is not

to be added or contained within that is all. And

Jesus came to fulfill the promises of God and to

give form to the shadows of the old Covenant. So,

in a simple term, what he's trying to tell us

here is that imagine a person, for example, me and

standing here, and if I have things that I have

not dealed with, things in the past, right, unforgiveness, hatred,

and imagine the new one, which is Jesus who's coming

to fill in. Would it actually work? Well, Jesus is powerful.

It would work. But the question is whether would I

be ready to accept it. Would I be ready or

if I positioned myself to see.

God moving and working. Yeah, it's just like this.

Parisis because they were so concerned of like, you know,

the old rituals. They were like the old wine skin

basically right, they're brittle, they're so caught up bred. Life

cannot go on without this rituals and traditions. But then again,

because they had Jesus themselves, you know, Jesus himself was

front of him, but they couldn't accept him. Why because

they were so caught up with this is what I

need to do, this is what is right, and you

are wrong. And so that is why they were so blinded.

They were not able. They were not able to actually

accept and see what Jesus was doing right in front

of them. And as you read the passages before this

in the Gospels, you'll see that time of the time

he was healing the sick, right, he was delivering those

who are demon possessed. He was going around ministering to people.

But yet this pharises couldn't see right. They couldn't see

what was right in front of them. And that is

what we mean by the old wine skin. And you're

so caught up with that, I know, don't tell me

I know better, right, Or like I said, we sometimes

may have things that are stored up within us where

you don't have any room for Jesus to come and

fill you. And so that is why sometimes when we

pray for prayers or when we're praying for something to

come true, right, it takes time sometimes because you know why,

God wants to deal with other things first, and those

things may not be exactly that answered prayer. Yet you know,

He might want you to first go and forgive someone

that you have not maybe you forgot about it, but

He knows what's in your heart, right, and you're just

still having that in your heart. And maybe the person

may not exactly be in front of you for you

to go and ask forgiveness. But remember God is with

the intentions of your heart. So as long as you

can actually tell him, God, yes, I've chose to forgive

this person. Could you help me to move forward? Well,

he does that, right. So it could be unforgiveness. It

could be a disappointment that you were waiting for something

to happen, but something else took place, right, and you

are still upset about it. You're still struggling with that

whole thing. Well, God maybe telling you why don't you

let go? Because if you can let go of this

past disappointments, that is when I can feel you afresh,

I can feel you anew.

Yeah. And so this was the kind of message that

Jesus was telling the people. Right.

So a question for all of us this morning is

are there anything that we might want to first say?

God, could you renew me? Right?

The word God tells us, purify my heart. Come before

you we clean hands and a pure heart. And you

know who can do that? Only God, True God. Only

he can purify our hearts. Right, Only he can cleanse

our hands or even renew our minds. Sometimes there could

be things that are in our minds that could be

messing us around. Could be fear, could be worry or

a low self esteem sometimes right thinking that we're not

good enough. But when God's word comes into your life

is able to build your confidence. You know, He's able

to say, hey, my son, my daughter, you are enough.

You know why because I am enough for you. As

long as you have God in your life, that is

all that you need.

Amen.

Right, God is all that we need. He completes you. Okay,

you don't need another person and to complete you. We

just need God to be there, to be with you

and to journey with you.

Amen.

Right to the church is very quiet trying to understand. Okay,

very good, thank you.

Okay.

Yes, So that is what Jesus is telling us today, right,

that he has come as our new wine. But the

question is always back to us whether do we one

to accept this new wine into our lives?

Right? I mean I say accept this new wine.

I mean we could be already believe us we've been

journeying with him, but I always believe that our fate

is meant to be. Every day you know, we're renewing it.

We are growing it every other day and you're saying

God come afresh because every other day has its own

fast share of challenges, right as his own fair share

of concerns or things to be done, and meaning we

need God's strength every other day.

Amen.

Right, And so that's the next parable that he tells

us here. So now what can we learn, right? How

can we learn from these scripture? So I'm just gonna

share with you tree simple points so that as we

move on to the week and even more this this

final month of the year, let's do a hard check. Right,

So if you can turn your Bibles with me to

Collisions Chap the Tree Versus five to seventeen. Is it's

quite a long portion, but let's just read this anyway,

because this scripture here teaches us about, you know, how

can we experience God to the fullest? Okay, collusions, which

is right after Philippines in the New Testament. Okay, collusions

Chap the Tree Versus five to seventeen. So this scripture

here reminds us about how important it is to have

Christ in our lives. Yeah, Collisions chapter three, five two seventeen.

Y'all death, right, Okay, So let me read this portion here.

So it says, if then you were raised with Christ,

seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting

at the right hand of God. So what, as he

tells us, if you are raised with Christ, seek those

things that are which are above. Let's not just focus

on what we see in the physical eyes. Remember this

are all very temporary, okay, But focus on above Christ,

focus on the spirit. You're inner man. Yeah, God is

working with that.

Verse two.

Set your mind on things above, not on things on

the earth. For you died and your life is hidden

with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears,

then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore,

put to that your members which are on the earth fornicash, uncleanliness, passion,

evil desire, coveteousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things,

the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of

disobedience in which you yourselves once walked, when you lived

in them. But now you yourselves are to put off

all this anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of

your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you

have put off the old man with your with his deeds,

and I have put on the new men, who is

renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who

created him. How many of you are new men and

women here right, You're new in God. Right, so you're

renewed in Him. Verse eleven. Where there is neither Greek

nor Jew, circumcise nor circumcise, Barbarian, Scatian, slave, nor free.

But Christ is all In all this messages says about

how everyone is the same in the eyes of God. Yeah,

And verse thirteen. Therefore, as the lack of God, Holy

and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering,

bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone

has a complaint against another. Even as Christ wigive you,

so you also must do verse fourteen. But above all

these things, put on love, which is the born of perfection.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,

to which also you are called in one body, and

be thankful Verse sixteen. Let the Word of Christ dwell

in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and acknowledging one another,

in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing it grace

in your hearts. The Lord and whatever you do in

word or deed, do all in the name of the

Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Amen.

I mean we read about seventeen verses year right and

as a lord to take in And if you are

thinking of you know, okay, how can I prepare myself

to end the year and to start afresh, you know,

for the new that God is wanting to work in me.

I would encourage you to just take time to meditate

on this scripture because it explains to us that he's

always looking to do the newness. He's showing us what

to leave behind, even things like anger, lying to one

another right. And then he tells us what to have

within us right, and he says things like love, kindness, humility,

And if you want to set a certain goal, well

this could be your goal, and say, God, I want

to have more of this in my life. Can you

show me how?

So?

As a human it is difficult because we believe in

a fallen world, there's always going to be temptations and frustrations.

But with God with you, it is possible. And remember

we're all working progress. No matter what age it could be.

There's always room to grow, There's always room to learn

and to be better as long as crisis with us

human right, and so let this be our prayer. Let

this be our goal, that this is what I desire

a lot that you will work afresh in me and

for you know verse twelve towards seventeen onwards to happen

in our lives, We've got to first deal with worse

one towards eleven.

Right.

God wants to first get rid of all that. That

is why he uses the example of the old wine skin, right,

the old patch of fabric, you know, uses that example

because he wants to first clear off because you know,

you can get very heavy to carry things that are

not from God right, bitterness and forgiveness.

Right.

It can get very tiring in fact, and that is

not what God wants for us. He wants to give

us a liberated life, you know. He wants to give

us a free life. And if you're sitting here thinking

that life is just so hard, well it's not meant

to be that way. Even if it's hard, He is

there to carry you through.

You know why.

The Word of God tells cast all your cares on him,

because he doesn't want you to be carrying it on yourself,

and as you laid on him, he teaches you how

to live your lives. Right, So let that be our prayer,

our desire. And he brings you true He shows you,

you know, he brings the right people.

He opens the.

Doors, he reveals things, and that is how the Word

of God works. You know, every time you read, he

shows you something new that is so much more important

in your life in this very season.

Amen.

Right, So again, Jesus did not come to patch up

your whole life, but he came to make all things new.

In fact, as you read the scripture just now write

towards the ending, you will see that some of these

things we do in church singing hymns, meaning singing worship

songs right, singing praises, fellowshipping, and that is the importance

of doing church together. That's part of how we can

grow our faith together.

Right.

And so just three simple points here to help you

take this word back and allow it to be even

practical in our lives. Firstly, it's to remind us that

God sees your heart. Right, God sees your heart. If

you're here thinking that, yeah, people always sometimes it mis

understand me, you know, they don't seem to get me. Well,

God gets you. God understands you. He knows what's in

your heart. In Probaps four twenty three, as you really

is God your heart, because out of it springs the

issues of life. Right, God your heart, God your heart

can mean many things, sometimes the things that you put

into yourself, and sometimes maybe staying away from people who

may not be helping you.

Yeah.

I mean it's good to be kind, it's good to

be helping and being there for others. But if a

relationship or a friendship is just draining you, then maybe

it's time to ask or what do I do with this?

Right?

Because you've got to guard your heart? What do you

listen to in a daily basis your conversations? What are

your conversations like if you think about it from Monday

to Friday? Is it always negative? Or is it words

of life?

Right?

What kind of shows all be watching? What kind of

music I'll be listening to? All these matters, You know,

every detail matters because we are filling in. Remember, we're

filling in our heart, and as you do that, it

determines the way you live your life as well.

Yeah. So God sees your heart and we see this

in you.

Know in the Old Testament and the New Testament as well.

You know in U on Me six ' five it

says you shall love the Lord your God with all

your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

In Mark twelve thirty. In the New Testament it also says,

and you shall love the Lord your God with all

your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,

and with all your strength. So that doesn't change all Covenant,

New Covenant. We are called to love God with all

our hearts, right, and it doesn't just say heart, but soul, mind, strength,

meaning our entire being. It's all about him, right, It's

all about him.

So let's do that.

Yeah, let's have a heart check, you know, don't just

focusing on the external on how we look like in

front of people. And I think we're living in a

time and age where because social media is a big thing,

we want to keep showing something to people. Right, this

is how it looks like, you know, this is the

kind of life I'm living.

Right.

But God is not just concern about all that. He's

more concern on what's within you. So let's guard our hearts.

Amen.

The second question, the second point that I have here

with us is that what are you doing in the secret?

Right the secret? I think that's very important because in

the secret only God sees, only he knows. Let's just

look at a couple of examples here to understand why

this is important to Jesus. Okay, Mathew, chapter six, right,

it gives us examples of why it's important to please

in person. So Matthew six, verse three to four. Inkay,

some of you might have read this as well. It says,

but when you do a charitable deed, do not let

your left and know what your right hand is doing.

That your charitable deed may be in secret, and your father,

who sees in secret, will himself reward you openly. So

it says here that men may not see, but when

you do it in secret, he sees it, and he

will reward you. So whatever we are doing, whether it's

to help people, whether it's to make decisions or thoughts,

even always remember that God is watching. And that's the

reason when you make the fear of God to rule

your hearts, you know, even if you by yourself, you

know somewhere you know that God is watching my reaction,

even my thoughts. I'm going to be concerned on my

thoughts because every thought he knows, and I want to

leave to please see, meaning the thoughts have to be

pleasing to its holy right, And that's one, it says.

Yeah.

And then in verse six, it says, in the same chapter,

chapter six, verse six, but you, when you pray, go

into your room, and when you have shut your door,

pray to your father, who is in the secret place.

And your father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.

So he says that again, right, So, having your own

time in your own room, speak to him. And then

we have one more example here in verse seventeen, same chapter,

again right, verse seventeen and eighteen, it says, but you,

when you fast, annoying your hat and wash your face

so that you do not appear to men to be fasting,

but to your father, who is in the secret place.

And your father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.

So he says, he is in the secret place. You know,

I mean God is very big in working in church,

in the meeting conferences we go. I mean he's always

working as well. But it's also a God who is

very intentional, very personal, right, and in fact he's more

personal than how we know ourselves, right, because we're all

sated here. But we can be of different personalities, different interests,

and God knows how to get your attention according to

your interests.

Right.

You can even sometimes maybe speak to you because through

a video game you're watching, through a show, you're watching

through the person that you're speaking to. He knows where

to catch you. But if only you can have and

build that secret place with him, right with him. And

so let's have a heart check. Yeah, it says idea

over here God, your secret life, thoughts, your prayers, your dialogues.

Don't just take care of your behavior, take care of

your belief because behavior is external, right, it's your action,

But believe it's what's inside, not just the external, but

the internal. Not just the quantity, but the quality, right,

the quality. So let's have a reflection in our own times, right,

our own quiet time, take time, and just how am

I if no one else is seeing? Am I the

same person when everyone else is there?

Yeah?

My conduct, the way I speak, you know, I'm at home,

I'm church on the same person that we treat others. Right,

all these things matter to him.

Men.

And the last point that I have for us is

to just ask ourselves, where are you laying your treasure?

Right?

Where are you laying your treasure? And we can see

this in God's in the Book of Matthew, chapter six,

Let's read this year, verse nineteen to twenty one. It says,

do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where

moth and rusts destroy, and where teeves break in and steal.

But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither

moth nor russ destroys, and where tears do not break

in and steal. For where your treasure is there, your

heart will also be right. And you've been a Christian enough,

you would have heard this scripture many times. But what

this just means is not just in the form of money,

because it says treasure, but it's the form of your time.

You know, if if church, ministry, the things of God

mean so much to you, you will be laying your

treasure to death right. If you know, if even your focus,

if your focus is God and the way you live

your lives, then you'll be laying your treasure there. Right,

So where are we laying our treasure? All of us

have the same amount of time? Twenty four hours a day, right,

But out of that twenty four hours, how many hours

are we willing to lay it for God? You know,

unless you're so quick to ask God for God unswer

this prayer. I'm sure he listens as a father does.

But are we also quick to just go to him

to praise him, right, to seek his face, to spend

time with him or sometimes even learn a helping end

to someone, because you know, that's how God uses us

as well to help to minister. Right. So let's think

about it our time, okay.

And and when God speaks to us, he doesn't he

doesn't try to make us feel bad like, oh I

didn't do enough. No, he just wants us to realize

and maybe I can do better. Right, I can do better.

I can spend more time, I can serve him, and

I can do that out of gladness.

Right.

And and that's when the word of God says, is

where your treasure is there, your heart will be So

no point sometimes being somewhere where your heart is not

as well, right, you won't give your all? Right, And

if you're here this morning, I'm sure all of you

made a point to come to Chrish because your heart

is here, not this in this this building, this PRIs God.

But your heart is in God. You wanted to seek him, right,

You want to fresh encounter with Him, and that's why

you made the even if it could have been difficult

for some of you to pay the price, right, but

you came anyway. So where are you laying your treasure?

A man?

And before I close, I just like to end with

a testimony, right to to just share with us, to

share with all of you a testimony that God has

given to me, you know, speaking about laying our treasure

and how I've seen God working in my life.

Right.

And so for those who were in prayer service on Tuesday,

there was a halfway through, right. The testimony now is

the full one, Okay. So I was just sharing about how,

you know, I've been praying for a job for a

long time because I've been teaching for some years now,

and I just thought, okay, it'll be it'll be a

good time to actually take a break from teaching and

do something else. And so you know, I'm sharing this

because you know, to just remind us that you know,

when God puts a desire in your heart, and you know,

when he grows the passion, it doesn't just happen overnight.

You know, he takes time, he opens doors, and then

he leads when the time is right. And so I

mean maybe about three years ago, I've developed this passion

to actually help teachers. Okay, being in the education field

for some time, I realized that teachers sometimes we don't

spend enough time into them, you know, I don't not

just in terms of trainings and all, but emotional support,

you know, giving them the right guidance because of the

kind of demands we have in the education. And so

it was a desire. And so what I did in

my office is I started off a group, you know,

where we just give support for teachers. I initiated different

activities and all that. And then one year later I

wanted to take up a course to coach teachers, and

so there was a testimony. I reached out to an

institute in US and then they offered me a scholarship

and I took up the course and I helped they

got the certificate. By that time and I got it,

I was still teaching, and I was thinking, Okay, what

do I actually do with this course because I'm still

a teacher here and I don't have that much of

a capacity to utilize this. I mean, if you didn't know, Malaysia,

we don't invest much on coaching teachers yet. Yeah, we

don't really see the importance yet. But it was a

growing desire. I did what I could do in my

own capacity. And so as I've been applying for a job,

I know there's a lot of vacancies all the time,

and I kept applying, but in my heart, I knew

what I was called to do and what I wanted

to do, and so as I was searching the different jobs,

I realized that it's just there's nothing much about coaching teachers.

There was only that one job that I actually applied,

which is about working with government schools, you know, by

going to schools coach teachers and teach them, not teach them,

but guide them with teaching better, you know, giving them

support and things like that. And so I saw the

job quite act about it, and I applied. But it

turned out that when they wanted to offer, the timing

was just not right with the organization that I'm in,

and so I just left it behind. And then a

few months down the road there was another offer, and

so I wrote into the director and they called me

in for a follow up interview. I went for it,

and just two days ago I got the offer. Yeah,

I got the offer. And so I mean, for those

of you who have been journeying and praying with me,

you know, different ones to prayer, surveys and homes. Right,

I've been praying for each other. You have known that

it's been a long wait. Right, I've been waiting for

this for a while, and one of the reason is

because I just didn't want to settle with anything. Right,

I'm just trying to say that. I mean, it's easy

to get a job, but I mean, if you want anything,

you can just apply. You get it anyway. But you know,

when God is working in you, when He has a

plan and purpose in your life, wherever you go, it's

meant to be for something bigger. It's not for your

own goals, for your own increement and doing well. I mean,

God is all big with that helping you grow as well,

but it's to also help a bigger community. And I

believe that He was preparing me for that because this

task that I'm taking is going to be challenging.

I know for sure.

Because you're working with public schools, people may not be

as open all this kind of restrictions that are there.

But I can tell you that I'm ready for it

as well, because God has been preparing me all these

years as an educator, you know. And it's I mean,

if you've been a teacher, you know that it is

not easy to be a teacher. I mean, every profession

has its own challenges. But I know what it means,

what it feels like because as a teacher, I've learned

how you're not just teaching a lesson and get them

a and A, but you are dealing with lives, precious lives,

be young bit older ones, because these are the lives

that are going to be the next generation. And I've

always seen it that way, and I know God has

seen that heart in me that I've wanted to do

something more for the education, not just in the classroom,

but for teachers as well.

Right.

And when I shared this idea to many people, even

to my current boss, you know, they will always come

up with, well, it's not easy in Malaysia, you know,

la how it is. It's always going to be like that, right,

So it's always been are you sure not? You can't

do it? Okay, why don't you just stay hon as

a teacher.

Right.

But I'm just so glad that I didn't just hold

on to words of men.

Right.

People have bought it. I mean, it's their opinion. But

I'm so glad that I just took time to listen

to what God has and to wait, that I didn't

just settle, but I waited and God opened this door.

And so during the interview, I felt so assured. You know,

there are few things that were said and then I

felt that there's God's factor in. You know. One of

the interviewers said, I think, Laura, you have all the

skills that we're looking for, and I think we are

sold this is for you, right, and so and I'm

not saying this out of because I'm good, because I

know I am not. It's only possible with God, right.

And the other interviewer said, you know what, Laura, if

it's meant for you, the timing falls in place, and

true enough, serving my notice, I'm going in right when

the school reopens after the school holidays in mid February.

So if it's not God, then how right? How?

Only God knows. So I'm saying this out of gratitude, thankfulness.

It's been a journey. But it's been a good wait.

Sometimes it's okay to wait. Yeah, it's okay to wait

and feel sometimes, Lord, why so long? But he still

comes true. He still comes true. And so if you

are here waiting for an open door for testimony, God

never forgets. God never forgets. Even if it's a passion,

you have a desire, bring it to God. He hears,

and he opens the door when He first knows whether

you are ready for it, and when the people actually ready,

you know, for that change to happen. And so I

just want to encourage this testimony, and also to thank

everyone who prayed along with me and also believing for

the testimonies that you are all praying for that God

is waiting to do that.

New in us.

Right, he is working. He has a great plan and

purpose for all of us. But we've just got to

position ourselves and wait on the Lord. Right says, wait

on the Lord, and he shall strengthen you. He shall

strengthen you, And so just wait on him. Nothing goes wrong,

Nothing can go wrong if you wait on God. Yeah,

he comes true. And when he comes true, it's beyond

what you can even imagine, even better, even greater.

Amen.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

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this week is going to be a good week. I

hit for you. God bless