Just ONE Generation Away | Olivia Leong

You're listening to a message to go from X church. We hope this message

will light up your team. The title of the message today is just one

Generation Away, all right. Also on the theme of our church this year

about heaven rules, towards the finishing Line. I'm not if you read it,

don't don't read it as like towards the finishing line is the next generation.

Ah. Okay, So that's that's just the theme for today. Okay,

just one generation away? Wow? Okay. So yeah, we're gonna

read about the Book of Judges chapter nineteen. All right. So Judges chapter

nineteen, Yeah, it's it's found in the Old Testament, okay. And

in Judges chapter nineteen, that's this topic about, or rather the chapter is

mainly about the Levites, the divides, concubine and ghibbas a crime okay,

and in this story okay. Yeah. So just for some little definition a

concubine. Today, we don't really have concubine and maybe they have, we

have, but I don't know. I don't hear a lot about it.

But in the Bible, when you read about the concubine, concubine means a

female slave or mistress who became a man's wife, okay, and she has

often remained in her father's house and her husband visits her occasionally in the father's

house. Okay, right, So just just some context, okay. So

in the Book of Judges chapter nineteen, This book very interesting, Okay.

This book is actually m place in a way where if you remember the Israelites,

right, Remember Israelites, they're from Egypt, right, they came out

of Egypt. Moses led them out of Egypt. And then we have Joshua,

the next generation. Joshua led the Israelites to conquer the Promised Land,

remember, yeah, So then after that Judges, this is the Book of

Judges. After Joshua, Joshua led the people into the Promised Land. So

they are like in the Promised Land already. So this is the season that

the period of time the Book of Judges, all right, And in this

yeah, so this Book of Judges. Then after the Book of Judges is

the monarchy, the kings and all that. Right. So in this Book

of Judges, all right. It's also divided into three parts, the prologue,

the Deliverers, and the epilog. Okay, Judges chapter nineteen is in

the epilogue, the ending part of Judge, the Book of Judges. Okay,

so the prologue you have, Yeah, the the place where we hear

about we hear about Joshua who died. All right. Then in the Deliverers

we hear stories of Samson and and different judges being raised up. Yeah,

Deborah, Yeah, So the epilogue this now we're going to study or we're

gonna hear the word of God. In chapter nineteen, it's the epilogue,

the ending part of Judges. Very interesting book, Okay, very interesting work.

Okay, so let's go straight to it. Judges, Chapter nineteen,

Verse ten to thirty. I will be reading this. Uh you can turn

your Bible and I will be reading from the New King James version, all

right. And on the screen is also the New King James version. Okay.

We're gonna read from verse ten to thirty. All right. Okay,

so before before I read before we read verse ten on words. So before

verse ten, it's about this levite, Okay, a certain levite who has

a concubine. And this concubine, uh yeah, went back to the father's

house. Okay, he Yeah, the concubine went back to the father's house

and she has been staying there. So this levite wanted to invite the concubine

back to his house, all right, So he ran to the father's house

and yeah, stayed with the father's house, the father in law's house,

and the father in law love the levites of Marshal invite. Think, we

invited him to continue to stay, you know, stay, he's okay,

Then next day you can travel. So I think a couple of days,

I think about three four days, and on the fifth day, because he

wanted to live already, but but the father in law loved him so much,

ask him to stay. You know how hospital hospital live. Sorry my

words. Yes, he's very hospitable. Okay, the father in law was

very hospitable, and I wanted the levite to stay. Yeah, but on

the fifth day said it's okay, it's okay, I really need to live

al radio Okay. So so the levite are left together with his concubine.

All right. So now it's verse ten where we continue this story. Verse

ten. However, the man was the man was not willing to spend the

night, which is the levite. Okay, so he rose and departed and

came to opposite Jabus, that is Jerusalem. With him were the two saddled

donkeys. His concubine was also with him. Verse eleven. They were near

Jabos, and the day was fast spent. And the servant said to his

master, So this levite has a servant, male servant. Also. The

servant said to the master, come, please let us turn aside into this

city of Jibuos site and lodge in it. Right, that means the day

it's getting dark already. So there's the servants said, come, let's just

stay the night here at Jiboo's verse twelve. But his master said to him.

The levite said to the servant, we will not turn a site into

a city of foreigners who are not of the children of Israel. We will

go on to Gibea. Okay. So basically Jabus is also a place where

it's do not have Israelites there. The people of God are not there.

Yeah, it's mostly foreigners. So you want to go to a place where

of your people they will welcome you, give you a good hospital, will

welcome you and give you food, give you lodging and things like that.

Right, so let's continue us thirteen and yeah, so he said to his

servant, come, let us draw near to the one of these places and

spend the night in Gibbea or in Rama. So Gibbea or Rama has the

people of God there, so he would prefer to stay that verse fourteen.

And they passed by and went their way, and the sun went down on

them near Gibea, which belongs to Benjamin, the tribe of Benjamin. Right

verse fifteen. They turned aside there to go into lodge in Ghibbea. And

when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the city,

for no one would take him into his house to spend the night verse

sixteen. Just then and old men came in from his work in the field

at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ifhraim. This old man

from Ifreim, he was staying in Ghibbea, whereas the men of the place

were Benjamites verse seventeen. And when he raised his eyes, he saw the

traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said,

where are you going and where do you come from. So the levite said

to the old man, we are passing from Bethlehem in Judah towards the remote

mountains of Ephraim. I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah.

Now I'm going to the house of the Lord. But there is no

one who will take me into his house. Although we have both straw and

father for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your female

servant, which is the concubine his concubine, and for the young man,

which is the levite servant who is with your servant, which is he himself,

there is no lack of anything. So basically, he said, I

have everything. I just need a place to stay, all right verse twenty

And the old man said, peace be with you. You are welcome.

In other words, he's saying, you are welcome to my house. However,

let all your needs be my responsibility. Only do not spend the night

in the open square. Wow, okay verse twenty one. So he brought

him in. The old man brought the levite and all his servants and his

donkeys into his house and gave the father, gave father to the donkeys,

and they washed their feet and ate and drank. It seems okay, right,

the story like okay, looks cool verse twenty two. Now the action

begins as they were enjoying themselves. Suddenly certain men of the city, perverted

men surrounded the house and beat on the door. They didn't just knock on

the door, they beat on the door. They spoke to the master of

the house, the old men, saying, bring out the man who came

to your house, that we may know him carrently in translation, we want

to have sex with him. Gave us then the tree. But the man,

the master of the house, went out to them and said to them,

no, brethren, I beg you do not absolvictly. Seeing this man

has come into my house, do not commit this outrage. Look here is

my virgin daughter and the men's concubine. Let me bring them out. Now

humble them. You can use them and do with them as you please.

But to this man, do not do such a vile thing verse twenty five.

But the man, but the men would not hit him. So the

man took his concubine and brought her out to them, and they knew her

and abused her. In other words, in translation means they raped her and

abused her all night until morning, and when the day began to break they

let her go. Then the woman came in came as the day was dawning,

and fell at the door of the men's house where her master was till

it was light. When the master arose in the morning and opened the doors

of the house and went to go his way, there was his concubine fallen

at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. And

he said to her, get up, let us be going. But there

was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey, and the

man got up and went to his place. When he entered his house,

he took a knife, laid whole of his concubine and divided her, meaning

to cut cut her into pieces, into twelve pieces, limb by limb,

and sent her throughout all territory of Israel, versetty. And so it was

that all who and all who saw it said, no such deed has been

done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the

land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer and speak up.

Wow, what a story, crazy, right? I mean this We're talking

about a people. We're talking about the people of God, the Israelite,

the Toosen people, this group of people that God loved so much, the

one where God declared his promises over Abraham that he will bless this people.

These people, what happened to them? What happened? How can they be

like the people around them? Is what happened to them? Next light?

Right, we can see from this story that the Israelites, um, you

know, there's fragmentation of the community. When we say fragmentation of the community

means the community is not a wholesome one. It's it's broken, it's it's

I don't know, it's that's yeah, it's fragment, it's broken, right,

And we can see that's in the community. That's homosexuality. Reminds us.

Reminds us of the situation of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis.

Remember where where Lot right, Lot was in this house and in in

Sodom right, and the the people of the land also wanted the guests of

Lot in the house. Right. They knock, they bang on the door,

so can't bring them out so that we can have sex with him.

So that's homosexuality, reminding them of Sodom. That's gang rape, there's abuse

and violence against women. I mean, I mean, what on earth,

what on earth is this story in the Bible. World, is God trying

to tell us in this Bible? I mean the Bible is supposed to like,

wow, you know, uh, speak to us about something. But

why this story is so like a nightmare, this story, Why there's abuse

and violence against women in those times? That's male chauvinism, right. The

Oxford dictionary for chauvinism is the excessive of prejudice, support for one's own cause

or a group, in a particular male prejudice against woman. Right. So

it's a prejudice. I mean, I can we can never think of today

there is such a thing, right, It's it's it's unbelievable right that the

men would even give their own daughter or their own wives. I mean it's

just unbelievable. Right, that's male chauvinism. That's even murder, right,

I mean thinking about it. Also, the man, the man can actually

sleep at night, I mean they had, they were markening, they were

drinking. They can even sleep at night while their wives is like being abused.

And yeah, I mean it's wow, it's beyond beyond me, Okay,

it's it's unbelievable. How can the Israelites, the chosen people of God

descent into such depths of evil. Right, and let's let's study about this,

right, yeah, so in here, Yeah, so we were reading

about Judges chapter nineteen. But if you continue to read Judges chapter twenty,

the body parts of the concubine were cut up into twelve business distributed around our

Israel, and the people were saying, how can this thing even happen in

our amongst us? The Israelites they were also saying, this is unacceptable?

What can be? Of course they all concluded and they went to seek God

for advice? Right is in verse a chapter twenty verse twenty eight. Yeah,

we just want to say also that they were in this time in chapter

nineteen is a generation where it's not it's not like many decades after or many

thousands of years after the Israelites left Egypt. This wasn't like like many many

thousands of years, but it was just very recently. So it happened after

Joshua. It happened after the generation of Joshua. Let's read Judges chapter twenty,

verse twenty eight. Right. Judges chapter twenty, verse twenty eight says

here the yeah, so here in verse twenty seven to twenty eighty says,

so that Israel so the children of Israel inquired of the Lord. The art

of the Governant of God was there in those days. And finn Has finney

Has, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, stood before in

those days. So finniey Has is the priest of those days. In chapter

nineteen, chapter twenty, right, so if you see the next light,

you can see that Finnie, Moses and Aaron was in the same generation.

They were the generation that brought the Israelites out of Egypt, together with the

next generation, which is Joshua and Eliezer. Right, the generation of Joshua

and Eliezer, I truly believe were also part of the exodus from Egypt to

Kenan. They were in that journey. They were in the same They saw

the miracles, they saw the ten plates, they saw the ritzy pattered,

they saw all these wonders of God. They saw everything. They saw Manna

fell down from heaven. They saw quill came in when they were walking in

the desert. They saw water came in. I mean miracles after miracles.

They have experienced it. This generation, the generation of Moses and Joshua.

However, in Judges chapter nineteen that we read just now it's the generation of

Finney has right, it's just the next generation. What happened, what happened?

What happened? Yeah, what happened? Yeah, it just takes one

generation. Yeah. And it was the generation of Joshua that said, as

for me, in my house, we will serve the Lord. Right.

Joshua also had a fervn, fevn heart, a devoted heart to the Lord.

And he also like he was very fervent. But what happened to the

next generation Israel was canaanized. How can this happen next life? Right?

Yeah, so another generation grew up. Okay, So yes, So let's

read this Judges chapter two, right, Judges, chapter two, verse eight,

to the thin right here, Now, Joshua, the son of None,

the servant of the Lord died. Joshua died, and he was one

hundred and ten years old, okay, verse nine. And they buried Joshua

within the borders of his inheritance at Timna Haras in the mountains of Ephraim,

on the north side of Mount Gash. When all that generation had gathered to

their fathers, meaning to say, when Joshua's generation all died, so that's

a new generation that came up. Another generation arose after them, who did

not know the Lord nor the work which he had done for Israel. Whya

why the Joshua generation didn't share to the next generation. Why you know?

Verse eleven. Then the children of Israel did evil in the side of the

Lord and served the Baha. And they forsook the Lord of their fathers,

who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they followed other

gods from among the gods of the people who were around them, and they

bowed down to them, and they provoked the Lord to anger. They forsook

the Lord and served Baal and Ashtarras. Wow, so the Bible says this

right, Okay, yeah, so Israel canaanized. How can this happen?

Right? Another generation grew up neither knowing the Lord nor what he had done

for Israel. All the wonders that I mentioned just now, all the wonders,

amazing site like never before in history, amazing history, amazing miracles.

They don't know God. Okay, next sight. Yeah, they let personal

experience, experiential knowledge. They know about God. Probably they hear their fathers

tell them the stories of the exodists, but probably not uh, you know,

having a personal relationship. We got next, Like, right, how

can this happen? Yeah? So no God, but they did not know

God personally, right. They followed various gods of the people around them.

They adopted cultures, cultural gods that's around them. Yeah, meaning to say,

they are compromising theological theological compromise. There is theological compromise that led to

moral decay. They followed, or rather they unfollowed God and they followed other

gods. You know how Facebook you can unfollow someone, right. Similarly,

the Israelites unfollowed God and they followed other gods. Right, we are just

one generation away, brothers and sisters, right, next life, can this

happen again? Right? Can this thing happened again? Yes? So,

if this can happen again, if our faith and we do not have a

personal relationship with God, really yeah, we can read about everything about the

Bible. We can follow our parents to church. We can yeah, obey

what pasta jack or our home leaders tell us to do, Okay, come

for horse, come to Sunday service. But we when we don't have a

personal relationship with God, meaning to say, we don't have a personal walk

with God where we talk to God on a daily basis where we experience miracle

after a miracle, like you know, even in our challenges, you see

God move on your behalf, that personal next life, that personal um,

personal touch or personal walk we've got, or you hear God literally from the

Bible or from what from around you, when God speaks to you right knowledge

without first hand faith, that can this can happen again when we do not

have knowledge, when we have knowledge without first hand faith, right and from

without substance. Example, when the national anthem is sung. Okay, when

you hear the sound of your national anthem, you will everyone will stand up.

Correct, yes, everyone will stand up. Some will stand because it's

a duty, it's an obligations. Then it's right, it's the right thing

to do. Is then. But some people when they hear the national anthem,

they stand up. And when the song is being played, there's a

feeling that's that welves up within them and that's feeling of pride and pride and

like patriotism feels them. They will feel like wow, you know the song

with the words on the song will feel you will feel like every word means

something. Right. The Malaysian anthem speaks about pouring out a blood throughout the

nation. I mean those those kinds of feeling that that means form without substance.

Right, do we come to the house of God? When we talk

about the House of God, not just not just ore gathering today, but

also at homes are smaller groups, it's also the house of God. Do

we come to the House of God with that that passion, that that feeling

of like, wow, you know, I'm coming to the House of God.

I'm privileged to serve the most High God. Or do we just come

because of duty, you know, or obligation something to check our hearts?

Yeah? Yeah, next, like adopt, adopt cultural and godly practices.

Right, so in here, you know, in the world today, here

there's just too too many things that's that's screaming at us right our business at

work, or our studies. Materialism, consumerism, and every time we opened

up our we flip our phone. There's always adverts around us. Don't not

say only our phones when we drive out, all the big billboards are shotting

at us. Everywhere. There's adverts you know on commute Uh yeah, materials

materialism or commute consumerism, like new gadgets. We need new gadgets if not

what we were. No, okay, you know all these things, right,

we need a new gadget to complete us for example, right, God's

around us. The cultural of today, the culture of today, the LGBTQ

via social media or sex outside of marriage seems so normal or just hibernation slipping

with our boyfriends because we don't not know how will it feel if we uh,

you know, before we get married. And things like sex without outside

of marriage seems to be so normal in you even today, in our day

right there. Yeah, So it's it's just how we see this today.

There's this so much culture that's outside there that's screaming at us. To them,

it's normal, but to us, God has a higher standard, right,

Okay. So there was an incident a year pluss back where a youth

pastor shared that even amongst secondary school students that they will shared their phones,

right, and they were even shared like porn with their own friends. Right.

And when the teachers asked about this from their parents, right, the

parents would just do not know what to do. They just don't talk about

it because it's just too it's just beyond them, right yeah. And it's

it's the culture of today. Wow, scary, right yeah, and even

for power power, for example power. You know, many times we think

that when we have power, we can exert we can exert violence, or

we can we can demonstrate bully, or we can um you know, be

in that position where we can look down on them. No. I just

want to encourage all of us here. If you're in that position of power,

do to take that as a privilege to be an influence to the people

around you or your subordinates. Yeah? Are we better? And how do

we shape the next generation next? Yeah? Yeah? Allow me to show

some stats in Malaysia today, right, Okay, These are stats of nineteen

seventy in the most most left column right, nineteen seventy, nineteen eighty,

nineteen ninety one, two thousand, two thousand and ten, and two thousand

twenty. Wow, I can we can literally see that the generation before,

or rather this generation, seems to have that I don't know the peak.

I mean, the stats speaks for itself, the peak of the revival that's

happening during this period. Whereas come to the year two thousand and beyond,

Sims, the the conversion rate or right the people be living in christ becomes

stagnant at that level. Well, it's it's quite scary, right, Okay,

this stats is until twenty twenty Okay today, tiny tiny three? Right

in the next couple of years, do we want to see it dropped because

it's slightly dropping already, or don't receive it increase for the Yeah, we

are that we will make that difference. You know, brothers and sisters.

Though you may not think that you are not Malaysian. Hey, but you

have Malaysian friends around you. You can make that difference. Your place here

for a purpose beyond what you are called to do even today, right,

or you are studying or yeah, So this stat is the censors. There's

Christianity census in Malaysia by the year. Taken from yeah, the government website.

Okay, yeah, okay, next night, so we talked about Malaysia.

Now we talk we see these stats on the UK. We remember the

United States are United UK, United Kingdom. Right, Britain, Great Britain

was probably the place where the Christians missionaries came from. Right. So this

article is highlighted in yellow. Is taken from thirtieth of January twenty twenty three.

This year. It's only this year and the title of the article says

younger people in England. Sorry, the title of the article is census data

suggests UK faces non religious future, says campaigners. Right under forties in England

and Wales more likely to declare no religion than Christianity for the first time.

What for the first time? Wow, the world is changing. And then

on this stats the title of the stats says, younger people in England and

Wales are now more likely to be non religious than Christians. There were majority

Christians in the year days, right, so they were just giving the stats.

This is based on age from infant up to twenty years old forty years

or till one hundred, right. And this side is the Christian stats,

and this side is a non religious stat right. And we can see the

one with the line. This line is the year the stats of twenty eleven

and the blue shaded one is twenty twenty one, which is about ten years

after, okay, the gathering of the census of Christians in the UK.

And we can see a big drop, right, it's literally all generation throughout.

It's a big drop, right, It's a big gap. The twenty

twenty one is just a few years ago, right, And this is the

Christian sets. However, the non religious stats here also speaks about the line

is twenty twenty one, sorry, twenty eleven and the shade that is twenty

twenty one. Ten years after. We can see the gap. It's also

getting bigger at the age of thirty young working adults probably or campus students.

Yeah, campus students age, young working adults age around this part, you

see the gap seems to be widening. Further. Yeah, I don't know

about you. When I saw this, I cringed through my chair, Like

why God, UK, Thank God for our church in UK. Will continue

prayer that our our church will continue to grow in the UK. And further

amen, right, yeah, the yes, people are believing to lose their

faith because of the of what the people, the culture that's around them.

Next, like, right, there's a Barnard Research. Barnard Research is a

UK research conducted extensively. Okay, it's a conduct Barnard Research conducted extensive research

and surveys on various topics, particularly focusing on Christianity in the United States and

here. Barnard estimates that roughly seventy percent of high school students who enter college

as professing Christians will leave with little or no faith. This is in the

USA, I think everywhere also the same. I can I really feel so

too. Are we going to be that seventy percent seventy percent of high school

students? That means, out of ten high school students who enter a university,

out of ten of them, seven will leave their faith. Will you,

campus students, will you be the part of the seventy percent? Please?

I pray that you don't. That's why we have we have here.

We have a church here, we have homes to continue to keep up,

to keep on holding to the faith. Right, don't be that seven seven

percent? Seventy Yeah? Just a story every time. Every time when my

children comes home from school, the first thing they will do, because I

sometimes work from home, so the first thing that I hear when they come

back from school, they will come running. First thing they will come up

to my room and not at all and say, Mommy, mommy, I

came back from school. And they're just that's so happy to see me.

And you know the joy of seeing them expressing their their love and they they

are, you know, just seeing me after a day from school. I

mean, do we come to the House of God like these children? With

so much joy and while Mommy, I love you so much. You know,

do we love God so much when we come to the House of God?

Yeah? Or do we drag our fits? Yeah? So let maybe

continue to have that passion for the Lord, to have that passion even to

you know, serve God and to do all that He wants us to do.

So just a call out what can we do as parents, as the

church, as individuals next life? What can parents do? This is not

this is not to condemn anyone who's who's uh yeah. So this this is

what we are going to share, is not something that is condemning, but

something to encourage us or to remind us. In Deuteronomy chapter six, if

you have your Bibles, you can turn to it. Deuteronomy is six verse

four to nine. I don't have that on the slides, but I shall

read it to us. Deuteronomy is the sixth verse four to nine. Here,

oh Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your

soul, and with all your strength. And those words which I command you

today shall be on your heart, shall be in your heart. You shall

teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit

in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down,

and when you rise up. Verse it. You shall bind them as

a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

Verse nine, you shall write them on the doorpost of your house and

on your gates. Wow. And in efficients chapter six, verse four,

you can also turn to it. I do not have it on the slides

efficients chapter the six was four efficients Chapter six, verse four, it says,

and your fathers towards the fathers. Yeah, and your fathers do not

provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition

of the Lord. Yeah. The Bible teach us. God reminds us to

teach our children diligently, impressed on them, carved on their hearts, make

a mark, inscribe them, and do that, repeat, repeat it many

times. Remind them. You know, sometimes I personally have to confess as

parents that I feel so tired reminding and reminding, like, oh, but

the Bible tells us to remind them, don't stop. Teach them diligiently.

The word underliner deligiently. God help us. Yes, that's why I loved

our community here in the church. As parents, as young parents, we

sponge other in the Lord and we encourage each other. Yeah, to continue

to diligently speak speak the scriptures to them everywhere. Next, like everywhere and

all the time, especially at home at home. So what we do.

As as for myself, I try, I'm also not perfect. I also

try wherever we go, we try to put on kids friendly Sunday school songs.

I like the Donut Man. Okay, I just have to confess.

Donut Men's songs are awesome. Okay. They teach, they teach the word

of God really in a fun way, and it's just amazing, right,

Okay, for example, just for example, and also next, like be

the example, parents, be the example. I'm also this word is also

spoken to me. I have to be that example. Let's all be the

example. In First Peter, chapter five, Paul tells the elders to be

examples of the flock. Similarly, as as parents, let's be an example

because our parents, sorry, our children look up to us as like the

whole it is the our world, right, they see us as the our

world, you know, and if we live our lives right, they will

know what it's right to do. Yeah, okay, so it and and

being an example has to be hands on. It must not it must not

be kept in the closet. These examples cannot be just yeah, you know,

I know that I need to love the Lord my God with all my

heart. Okay, yes, it's one thing, but our actions speaks otherwise.

Let's not be like that. Let's show them what does it mean to

love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, giving our best,

giving our best in terms of our time, our talent, and our treasure.

Yeah, this, this is what is also for me, right,

it is also for me? Yeah? Yeah, why do we want why

do we want to be examples? Because examples inspire, Examples inspire. Yeah.

For example, the disciples ask Jesus, you know the there's a verse

that where Jesus teach the disciples to prayer right the Lord's prayer, Remember,

and and before the Lord's prayer, the disciples were the one asking Jesus.

Jesus teach us how to pray. And what led to the disciples asking this

question is because before that Jesus was already praying, He was exemplifying prayer,

his devotion to the to God, right he the disciples observed of Jesus praying

at night, praying for the sake praying, and he was praying almost every

time. So the disciples ask Jesus teaches us how to pray? So that

led to that, Yeah, I mean, can can we imagine our children

even asking us Daddy, mummy because they saw these examples that inspire them giving

God their best, loving God with all their hearts. The children sees all

these great examples, Mommy, can you teach me how you pray? That

would be an amazing thing when our children ask us this question, mommy,

can you teach us how? How do you love God with all your hearts?

How how do you do this? That's that's amazing, right. We

want to hear them say that, I mean before they can't even ask the

questions with their needs to be an example somewhere right right, Yeah, so,

and we definitely also tell them story is of how God has been so

wonderful in our lives, right, just just a story or so sometimes I

also like just don't know what to tell my children because I see them every

day. And at the same time, God tells us that we need to

impart, impart the Word of God to them inn and to impart Scripture.

So I'm like thinking, what else do I impart? So sometimes I just

sit down with them and just tell them about my day. Ah, you

know how to day, I also had trouble at work. I also have

to face some I made a mistake. I will share with them. Oh,

Mummy also make mistakes. I also feel so bad. I do share

with them, and I told them how I overcame that. I said,

I say, I'm sorry, I need to go. Yeah. So I

shared with them the struggles that I go through during my day as well.

And they hear how Mummy overcome these challenges at work, and they're like,

oh Mommy, it's not just happily everything is good at work, but Mummy

also goes through tough times and how Mummy overcomes it. So I do share

with them and they're like yeah, yeah, or their days when I help

someone at work, Yeah, there was one time, um, somebody needed

help to fix on their laptop. They couldn't you know, some Mummy went

to help them. Someone couldn't find their desk in the office. Mommy went

to help them to find the desk number. You know. It was so

difficult for them. Yeah, mummy, come and help them, so the

same for you. So I will just outshade them, so the same for

you. You can also help someone when they need then they will tell their

story. Yeah yeah, mummy. I also remember I also help somebody,

they tell their stories. So and then it becomes like a conversation of how

we live our lives to the glory of God. Right. Yeah, So

if you don't tell stories, if we don't have stories to tell, right,

if they were the days when I really don't have any more stories in

my bank story by our testiment money back, I will just I will also

ask myself, God, what what are you speaking to me today? If

we don't have a story to tell? What I do ask ourselves? So

what what God are you telling me? What are you speaking to me?

Like? What what testimonies do I have that I can share with my children?

Right? Because in every walk with God, in everyday, every every

time when we walk with God, there should be an evidence of the fruit

of the Spirit in our lives. Amen, there should be fruit of the

Spirit because the Holy Spirit within us every time. This is what I tell

my children when I send them to school every day, I will tell them,

Jesus loves you. Always remember to put on the full armor of God

and always have the Holy Spirit within you, because when you have the Holy

Spirit within you, you will have the fruit of the Spirit. And I

will say the love, joy, peace, patient, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, and self control every day every day out there, and

please remember to have the Holy Spirit with you. So it's so important to

have the Holy Spirit with you, so that it will because when you have

the Holy Spirit with you, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,

peas, patient, kindness, goodness, fitfulness, gentleness, and self

control. If we don't have the Holy Spirit, there is no fruit,

right, So when we have the Holy Spirit with us, there should be

the fruit of the Spirit should be evident in our lives. Because we are

one generation away. We are just one generation away. So that's for the

parents. Next for the church, what can we do, like we study

at homes, right, make disciples. Matthew chapter twenty eight, verse eighteen

to twenty. Let's turn to that. If you have your bibles. Yeah,

let's read the Word of God today. If your bibles turned to it.

Matthew chapter eight, verse Matthew chapter twenty eight, verse nineteen to twenty

it says here. From verse eighteen, it says, here and Jesus came

and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in

heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy

Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And

lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Amen. So the church is meant to make disciples inside or outside of church.

Do you know that we can make disciples out of church as well?

Yeah? So the friends or family members that we meet who are pre believers,

right, they we can also make disciples out of them. Right.

We can be the examples that I shared just now about examples. We can

be the examples. That is also part of discipleship. Right, we can

teach them, teach them why do we pray before we have partake of the

food? What do we give thanks? Right that these actions or these customs

that we have. It's also a form of discipleship to show them what what

it means to be a disciple of Christ. Right. A very good example.

What does okay, I want to hear somebody's voice or anyone. What

does KFC makes fried chicken? Very cool? What does Maggie makes? I

know a lot of products, but one of them. Tell me? What

does Mega makes? Instant nootels? Yes, instant noodels one of our favorite,

right, my cravings when I was bright? No? No, soga

me? Yes? Okay? But what does the church makes? The Church

makes disciples. Right, If we don't make disciples, what are we doing?

I do know? What are we doing? It should and making disciples?

This disciples should the mission minded and not maintenance minded. Why make disciples?

Because disciples make peace. Disciples uphold justice. Disciples pray. Disciples serve

the poor and needy. Disciples impact communities and nations for the glory of God.

So what that's why the world needs disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's just so lacking. Yeah, we need more God help us? Yes,

yeah, but what kind of disciples are we making? Are we making

maintenance minded disciples? I hope not? Yeah? The Church also can make

disciples that are word centered, Bible believing disciples, right, it should be

word centered. Of course, we also need Christ centered spirit. Lad Yes,

and we need the Holy Spirit to empower us to do what He has

called us to do. The Scripture the scripture, the Bible. The Scripture

speaks of Jesus himself in every part of it, including the driest part where

I'm still reading the Book of Lithicus. It speaks a lot about Jesus.

Write the Book of Numbers as well, speaks a lot about Jesus Christ himself.

The Scripture speaks of itself right in some chapter one one nine, verse

eleven. Your word, I have then in my heart that I may not

sin against you some chapter one nine, verse nine. How can a young

man keep his way pure by living according to your word? Second Timothy three,

sixteen to seventeen says all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and

is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for righteousness, as for correction, for

instruction in righteousness, that the Man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped

for every good work. Our spouses do not complete us. The word of

God completes us. Here in Second Timothy was that chapter three says this right,

the word of God completes us. God Jesus completes us. We must

raise the bar. We must raise the bar. We cannot. We cannot

comply ourselves to the pattern of this world. We cannot need to raise the

bar. Not just a mile wide, and we need to go deeper.

We need to raise the bar. Okay, Church, let's do this together,

shall we hey our next life? Yeah? The church must strengthen the

confidence and reliance of the Word of God because God's God's Okay, yes,

and we And also did you know that the Christian faith that we have right

now is from the Reformation. Yeah. Reformation is where scripture, scripture is

God breathed. The Reformation believed that the scripture, the literal scripture, is

God breathe, right, and it's and it therefore it has authority. It

is authoritative. The scripture is sufficient for life, for a life that is

pleasing to God. And the scripture is necessary for a life God. Wow,

this this the word of God. It's it's authoritative what the Word of

God says, it's like, it is what it is. Okay, don't

cannot cannot compromise, cannot like say, oh, but there's no but the

scripture is authoritative. It is as it is. The scripture is sufficient and

it's necessary for our lives? Is the scripture is the Word of God sufficient

for us? Do we still need to supplement it with other things? The

scripture is sufficient and the Scripture is necessary for a life that is pleasing to

God. Therefore, we want to encourage the church, also all of us

here, to continue to um read the Bible, to do Bible study,

to encourage. We want to encourage justice. It's a new word, new

word for me and for some of us as well. Yeah, next life,

we want to encourage exergesis gay. This word ex Jesus relies on the

original context of the biblical passage to determine that what the passage is trying to

say right itself, literally the scripture itself. There's another method, it's called

asa jerseis that uses things other than the original context of the biblical passage to

determine that passage. Meaning it is the process of interpreting the text in such

a way as to introduce one's own presumptions, agendas, or biases. Right.

Sometimes, yeah, sometimes that some people uses that method right to have

that biases. But let's have the word of God speaks for himself. So

when we do Bible study, when we do study in homes. Let's have

the word of God speak for itself. Speak for itself when you read your

Bible every day, your daily devotion. Let the would have God speak for

itself. Yeah speak yeah, Okay. Besides that, next light, we

can also encourage as as as songwriters. Right, I'm sure there are some

songwriters among us here. I want to encourage singing theological rich songs. Yeah,

you are inspired to write a song. I want to encourage you to

write a song that's theological rich, right, full of the Word of God.

For example. For example, I know of a pastor, pastor friend

back home in Penang. He's a grandfather. Also, he has two grandchildren.

So whenever he visits his grandchildren, he loves to introduce this song A

thousand reasons, right, some of us know this song A thousand reasons.

And he sings this song to his grandchildren and he puts it on the radio

while traveling. He loves this song and the grandchildren of custom of this song

because hearing Grandpa singing. There was one time this one of the elder grandchildren,

grandchild who is about five, then she asked the grandfather that and that's

this line. There's this line that says you're rich in love and you're slow

to anger. This five year old asked, Grandpa, Grandpa, what does

it mean to be rich in love? It's amazing that, I mean,

this is just so amazing that the grandchild would even ask this question, And

that's an opportunity for discipleship there. Yeah, it's amazing. What does it

mean to be rich in love? What does it mean to be slow in

anger? Well, this is amazing. Yeah, yeah, So that's why

introducing theologically rich songs do help everyone in thruding the youngest of all. Right,

it's amazing, right, So next, what can we do as individuals,

as all of us? What can we do individually? Yeah, we

may not worship but ours or astorage, like we may not worship a physical

statue, you know, we may not worship or bring sacrifices to them.

But beware, beware what you can accept or follow or subscribe to. Someone

said, the snare of idolatry is much more subtle and corrosive than former paitism.

We need to say it's more it's more subtle and corrosive, right,

the idolatry of these days, So do not flirt with the gods of this

culture. The world is telling us what to believe. But let's be that

disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ to have the Word of God tell us what

to believe, not what the world is telling us to believe. Our faith

must be the driving force, the center of gravity, the ground of every

choice that we make in the choices of our careers, the choices of our

spouse. Our faith must be that driving force, that center of gravity,

that ground of every life choices. God cannot God cannot be the back pocket

of like a credit card, you know. God cannot be like that,

like whenever we want to use him then or I we pull out the credit

card to use. We cannot have God like this. God must be in

everything. Always begin with the Biblical God. Our God is the Ancient of

days, and he exists even before time begin. He created humans in his

image. And if we were to take God out of this equation of life,

right, it's just going to be chaotic. Right. If you take

God out of the equations, humans are no difference than a lobster, correct,

lobster on a plate. Marriage is meaningless without God. If we take

God out of the equation of marriage, marriage will just fall away because God

has instituted marriage in the garden of Eden. If you God, if you

take God out of the equation of female and male, there won't be any

difference. God made male and female without the equation, without without God in

our lives. Or when we take God out of the equation of our lives,

the whole world collapses. Yeah. Yes, so much of this story.

And I just want to end with this very important point. Right.

You know, God, he is, He is good, he is faithful.

The Israelites then are in this very bad state, the depth of the

peat of hopelessness. Some people say it's like, yeah, surrendered hopeless,

No, no saving grace already, like that's the end, finish, cannot

help. But God was patient, and he is faithful in his covenant.

He is very faithful to his promises. In time, he raised Samuel David

and ultimately King, the ultimate King, King Jesus, one who would obey

perfectly. Thank God that he is our savior. He is faithful. He

didn't just leave us in the depth of hopelessness. So no matter how far

we have been, how far you have been, we are not encourage you

to call out to God. Right because he is faithful. He can be

found when we seek him with all of our hearts. What would you give

your life to? What would you give to your life? To give your

life? Would you give your life to be a faithful disciple of the Lord

Jesus Christ? Would you give your life in making disciples of each other and

to the next generation. We must pray that we are that kind of people

that is faithful to the next generation. It only takes one generation to descend

from faithfulness to unfaithfulness. We are that generation people. We are that generation.

Yes, without full devotion to God, we descend into the depravity and

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

our church, please visit us Church r G. We are also active on

Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week is going to be a good

week, a hit for you. God bless