7.6 Encounters | Pr Steven Soon

You're listening to a message to go from X Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

I'm going to start off with a story. Alright, you

can put up the picture. Thanks, Wes. Some of you

may already know. Some of you old enough may know

what this is. I'm going to share a little story

that some of you may not have heard of. On

April 14, 1912. This is April 14, 1912. there's a

ship called SS Californian, all right? SS Californian was sailing

and it went into ice. So they basically stopped, right?

Went into ice, just miles from other ships that were around.

They were the first to come across this piece of

ice and they were stuck, right? So at 11 p.m.

on April 14, 1912, There's a wireless operator. So they're

the ones that are manning, basically, communications, right? They're manning communications.

And the wireless operator on the Californian sent a warning

out to basically everywhere. They were sending out and saying,

we are stopped and surrounded by ice. Basically telling every

other ship that is in proximity, careful, or rather, you

may not want to come here yet. Or maybe you

need to divert your course. So Jack Phillips, there's this

guy called Jack Phillips. He's the senior radio operator on

this ship, which is not the California. What is this ship?

The Titanic. So there's this radio operator, Jack Phillips, who

was just only managed to fix up their radio. It

broke down, right? He managed to fix up the radio.

And what happened was there was a backlog of messages

from the passengers. One thing, a lot of different things, right?

And he was stressed out and overwhelmed. Oh my gosh,

I need to answer to every of this message by

the passengers on the ship, right? So there was a

backlog of Telegram, not the app, right? In case you

guys wonder where the telegram comes from, it's not from

the app, okay? The app is named after a prehistoric device.

Back then, they used telegrams to communicate. That was their radio, right?

So he was exhausted. He was buried under all this

backlog of telegrams to be sent or sent by wealthy passengers.

And then suddenly, the radio came through because this ship

Titanic was nearer to SS Californian than it is to

another radio station on shore. So I won't go into

detail the technicalities of how the radio works. Basically, when

the message came to Jack Phillips, it was loud. It

covered all the other messages, right? It was loud. It

came in and he heard it loud and clear, all right?

And this is basically the message from SS Californian, but

he was so overwhelmed that he snapped back at the

radio operator of the Californian and say, DDD. DDD means, basically,

don't talk anymore. Okay, don't talk. It's a very quick message.

It says, stop talking. DDD, keep out, shut up. I'm

working Cape Race. Okay, Cape Race is actually a place

where the station, the radio station is on shore. It's

getting all the telegrams. All right. So, shortly after, The

California operator, I think at that time he was also

changing shift. He didn't hear that message from Jack Phillips.

He went to sleep. Went to sleep. That was 11pm.

At 11.40pm, the Titanic struck the iceberg. And you know

the rest of the story. Jack Phillips, poor guy, he's

now known for this. So overwhelmed by messages from passengers

that he did not hear the most important message. They

would have saved the ship. They would have saved a

lot of passengers from drowning. And probably would not have

given our director Cameron a movie to make. For those

who know your movies. How many of us are so,

sometimes so caught up with the noise of life that

we forget to actually, that we forget that we have

a message, a very important message that we need to

send out to people or we need to receive. And

today I'm going to talk about sharing the gospel. Just

a very quick show of hands. How many of you

here think it's important to share the gospel? How many

of you here? I think it's important. Majority, I'll take

it some of you are shy, not raising your hands.

We know, right? It's important, right? Why is it important?

Have you thought about it? Just throw out your reasons

for you personally. Why is it important? Take some time

to think about it. Anyone? It's the good news, okay? Anymore?

It's Jesus' last commandment. Actually, by the mere fact that

it's Jesus' commandment should be full stop already, right? Oh,

Jesus says so, right? Anymore? Yeah. Yeah. Only Jesus can save, right? Yeah. Yeah. Amen. Yeah.

Only Jesus can save. How many of you are thinking

about people you know that have yet to receive Jesus.

And there may come a day if they don't receive Jesus. Actually,

it's not there may. It will come a day if

they don't receive Jesus that they will never have eternity

with Christ on the other side of life. I don't

know how many of you recognize or think about that often.

I don't think about it enough, I admit.

Right?

Right. But it's important because there are many people out

there who have yet to receive salvation, who have yet

to receive the abundant life that Jesus has for them,

even here on earth. And here we are enjoying it, right?

And I hope that we'll be able to recognize the

importance of sharing the gospel, not just from the point

of Jesus said so, I think that's important, but recognize

your stake in it. Because there are people in your

lives who are not experiencing the freedom you're experiencing. There

are people in your life that cannot surrender their burdens

as we can. When we're overwhelmed, we can just say, God,

you take it. Then we can go to sleep. People

who don't have Jesus can't do that. They carry their burdens,

they carry their heartaches, they carry their guilt, their shame.

all themselves, and to them it's like, I need to

sort this out myself. Right? But if only they knew

or they know that there is Jesus that can help

carry all those things for them and they can be

set free and live a life of freedom. Yeah? So,

I'm going to change up the mood. I know it's

a little bit solemn now, but I'm going to change

it up a bit. My goal by the end of

this message is to help you see that evangelism is

not rocket science. And that it is possible for you. Extrovert,

introvert aside, whether you can speak a language well aside,

I just want to, I hope by the end of this,

you'll be able to see that it is possible. The

title of my message, for those of you taking notes,

is 7.6 Encounters. It's not 6-7, it's 7.6. And You

may be wondering why this title. It will make sense,

so you can just write that down and let that

be at the back of your head. Okay? 7.6 encounters.

So I want to share about how we can share

the gospel. All right? And this is based on my experience, okay?

There may be better ways. You may have a better

way of sharing the gospel. Share it with me, please. Okay?

But what I'm going to share is things that has

worked for me, all right, in helping me share the

good news with those around me. Okay? So there are

four levels. You guys ready for this? Okay, level one.

Be a decent person. Easy, right? So, my first question

to just rephrase this, to let it hit harder is,

do people like you or not? Hello? People like you

or not? Okay, you see, it's not about trying to

get people to like us. That's not what I'm saying.

But the Bible teaches us in Matthew 22, 39, Jesus, again,

one of the commandments of Jesus is to love your

neighbor as yourself. To love your neighbor as yourself. So

do people like us or not? Are we pleasant to

be around with? Do people have a chance to see

the love of God in your life or not? Alright?

I know it's a bit strong, but it's common sense.

People will only sort of listen to you if they

like If they don't like you, at least they respect you.

Correct or not? But do they? Do they like you?

Do they respect you? Right? And I do have to

also put, I have to clarify one thing. Loving doesn't

mean conforming. Okay, there's a line. Loving doesn't mean accepting

everything that everyone else does and following along. You can

agree to disagree. Okay? yet still love. Because we as Christians,

there are things that we ought to do, there are

things that we shouldn't do. We know what is right,

what is wrong. The Holy Spirit helps us to discern.

There's the Word of God, the Bible that teaches us

what we ought to do, what we shouldn't do, that

will break or not break God's heart. And we follow, right?

But that does not mean we cannot love those who

are different from us, who stand in a different position

from us. In fact, Jesus has always loved those that

stand in different positions from him. If you read the scripture,

he's always spending time with people that are in sort

of like opposite values. You realize? So much so that

the religious leaders had to say, how can Jesus spend

time with these people? But Jesus recognized, hey, I gotta

love them. But did Jesus conform to their way of life? Never.

In fact, they conformed to Jesus after they saw that

Jesus' way of life is the way of life. Right? So,

do people like us? That's a very good question to ask.

Especially in today's society where there's a lot of self-preservation

in mind. Just mind our own business. Don't go and

gacha people. I just walk in my lane. But do

we care enough to love those around us? Do we

care enough to be pleasant to those around us? Throughout

this whole message, I'm going to be sharing a lot

of stories. Some of it, you guys will have heard before,

those of us who are here in XBU long enough.

But do bear with me, all right? Do bear with me.

When I was in uni, university, one of the ways,

I was the only Christian in my group of seven people.

I was the first batch in the course that I

was taking my degree in. in film production. There's seven

of us. So we do everything together. In between classes,

we go for snacks together. In between, during lunchtime, we

go for lunch together. It's always together. So I studied

in Sunway University. We would go to Rock Cafe very often.

Rock Cafe is not a cafe. It is like a

hawker center of sorts. We would go there. And then

one thing I would do, and this value I learned

from X Church. X Church is, I learned about generosity. generosity,

even when we don't have a lot, just bless. And

I was a recipient of that. People bless me a lot.

I'm like, wow, this really showed God's generosity. So I

tried to do the same. I'm like, okay, how do

I love my classmates? Okay, one thing I can do,

I can't buy all of them meals, no money. I

can buy them Chinese tea. So I did that, you know.

And then there are some days, some will order coffee

and I'm like, oh, A bit more expensive. Some, I

still remember, would order watermelon juice. Large size. RM7. But

there are some days that I just told myself, you

know what? I'm just going to do it. So lunchtime,

I would pay for the drinks. Right? I remember my

best friend from uni. Some of you may have met

him at my wedding shop. He's one of the groomsmen.

He just looked at me, brother. I pull her. you're

also poor. Come on. We pay for our own. Why

do you pay for us? He really said that. Yeah,

I'm poor. You're also poor. We're all poor. It's okay.

We pay for our own drink. I just say this.

This is what I can do. I bless. A meal,

maybe not yet, but drinks can. That's how I could.

One of the ways I could express my love for

my classmates. Are they open to the gospel? Not really.

Not really. So I can't just outright preach Jesus to them.

But I could love them. I could love them in ways.

Was it costly at times? Yes, it was. It was

costly at times. But again, freely I've received, freely I give.

It's mentioned in Scripture. So that's one thing I would do.

And I hope when I share these stories, I hope

that you will also start thinking, what can you do?

So I'm sharing examples of what you can do. What

I did and maybe what you can do also. All right?

Maybe buying a meal is too much. Buy a drink.

All right? Whether it's your colleagues or whatnot. One day just,

you know, show up with coffee and say, hey, this

is for you. Just thought of getting it. And the

person may go like, why suddenly? But trust me, the

person will be really blessed. Okay? All right? So, yeah. Just...

Take notice also whether the person is lactose intolerant or not.

Just a quick tip before you get iced latte, right?

But yeah, anyways, love. Love in ways that you can.

Think about it. It doesn't have to be rocket science.

You don't have to get expensive stuff. You don't have

to do big things. What are some small ways that

you can show love? And it is through showing love

that people will open up. People will open up and

ask questions like, bro, you're equally poor as me. What

are you doing? Then you can say like, you know,

I've been blessed. God bless you too. Right? And we're

not doing it for performance. I also want to say this.

Don't do it out of performance. Do it really as

a way of wanting to bless and to love. And

I really believe when you do that, God's love will

shine through. It will eventually. It will shine through, right?

Some of you have heard this story before. I was

convicted in my heart throughout my uni years. Remember seven

of us in class, right? That means group assignments are fun.

You don't get to choose who you get to group with.

usually we do all our shoots because film production, right?

We do our assignments all together, seven of us, right?

At most, we break into two groups. How to run

from your classmate? Cannot run. And have you guys had

classmates or colleagues that you go like, I'll never want

to do a project with this person? Wow, a lot

of nods, very fast. Very fast, very fast, right? We

all have that. Even in your current workplace, maybe there's

someone like that. No, no, no. Never, never. Never want

to be in the same project. Never want to be

in the same meeting with this person. I don't want.

And you may have a legitimate reason for that. Maybe

the person is a freeloader. Maybe the person claims credit

that is not his or hers to claim. And you

did the hard work. Right? Maybe the person just don't work. Right?

And you have to pick up the slack. My class

had people like that. In fact, we had someone... that

will shadowbox in the middle of class. You know what's shadowboxing?

Just in thin air. Just like, oh, do that. Okay.

In that person's defense, he is a Muay Thai champion.

I have to say, if six of us gang up

on him, we will die. He will beat us up.

All right? I do have to say it. He is

a Muay Thai champion. But we also recognize he does

have special, he is special needs. Okay. Okay. So he

is in the spectrum. But nobody wants him in the

group assignments. Why? Imagine you do a shoot halfway emotional scene.

He comes up and shadowbox. Actress trying to cry. Real story,

by the way. My assignment. It happened. But I remember this.

I'm on scholarship, so there's a certain result I need

to maintain. So I'm like, better not have him in

my group lah. Better not. Better. Then the Holy Spirit

spoke to me. Steven, you can choose not to be

Christian in class, is it? God. My results, how? Did

I tell you that you can choose who not to love?

I was convicted. You know why I did? Okay lah.

Include him into my assignments lah. Did he magically became

very tame and quiet? No, man. He was still equally chaotic.

But I did that. But let me tell you what

happened after that. That same friend, my best friend, who

told me, Stephen, you are equally poor as me. He

also said, bro, I respect you, bro. Or you put

him in your group. I cannot. Cannot. I cannot. So

he was taking on another group. I was taking on

one group. Yeah, he... I took on this classmate who

nobody wants to work with him. But let me tell

you what happened after that. there was one time he

posted a very nasty remark on facebook this this student

that shadow boxes i was very not at peace with

that statement i could have ignored it i could have

not but i cannot i just cannot i lovingly actually

messaged him and say brother what you posted is not

right and then he went all freedom of speech on

me lah I've got freedom of speech. I can say

whatever I want. People want to respond whatever way is

their problem. I say, bro, it's quite irresponsible that people

get hurt because of what you say, even though you

have freedom of speech. Right? I still think you should

take this down. It's insensitive. And then he said this

to me. I still don't get what you're saying. I

don't understand. Now, honestly, if anybody else were to tell me,

I wouldn't have cared. But because you told me, I

would take it down. He said that. It may not

mean much, but I think he sees that I care

for him. And actually, throughout the three years of degree,

I was the only person he would listen to. And

even the lecturers recognized it. And to get through to him,

they would get me to talk to him. Was it easy? No.

Was it a lot of trouble? Yes. But hey, I

get to love on him. He knows I'm a Christian

at that time. He was a Christian, but came from

a very broken background. Cannot reconcile faith and the brokenness

he was going through. But I really believe and I

hope that I've sown some seeds into his life. And

nobody showed him love. There was at least this one

guy that also bought him sweet tea. Someone who cared enough.

And let me tell you this, the people around can

see you. I never thought about it, but after that,

lecturers came up to me, Steven, you're like a, almost

like a father to this guy. And this lecturer, Muslim.

I can see how you cared for him and you

didn't have to. You did it. Did I do it

intentionally just to get that praise? No. Didn't expect it,

wasn't looking for it. But I really believe God's light

shone through in those moments. And also as an encouragement,

maybe this is something we may want to do a

little bit more, is that when we have pre-believing friends,

and I hope we have, that our circle is not

just Christians. If our circles are only Christian, I think

good to ask questions of like, okay, who can I reach?

Because God has never meant for us to just stay

within the Christian circle. And this is one thing I

start practicing when people ask me, Stephen, how are you doing?

Last time, I would always ask a Christian, right? Things

are great. God is good. Because how can a Christian

go through hard times? Cannot, people have to see that

God is real and God can move. You already hear

how funny this statement is, right? Just earlier, I just said,

life does not get any easier. So I've learned when

people ask me how I'm doing and if I'm really

not doing quite well or if I'm really having a

hard time, I would actually say, wow bro, actually, Not great, huh?

That best friend of mine that I told you about,

when we meet up, he'll ask me, how are you

being a pastor? Nice, right? Bro, I tell you, bro,

being a pastor, not easy, bro. I will share. Not easy,

not easy. Really, there are challenges and all that. But

you know the crazy thing? When a testimony happens, he

gets to see it. Hey, bro, remember last time I

told you I was going through this? Guess what happened?

If our life is all perfect, to other people, where

you got space for testimony? Can be honest. Be real lah.

Be real and just say, but I pray that you

in those moments still see that God is real and

you get to actually share that, hey, I'm going through this,

but it's okay lah. I've been through something like this before.

God has, God came through for me. This time round,

He will come through for me lah. Right? This same brother, uh,

he took Sharon and I's pre-wedding photos. I still remember

at that time, it was this best friend of mine. He,

at that time, the weather was dark. The clouds were

coming in. And the crazy part, I just told him, brother,

you just watch. Last time you seen it, seen it before, right?

I prayed. You guys remember that testimony? I prayed for

the weather during a shoot. I was the only Christian,

remember this, only Christian in class. I prayed, the weather changed.

They mind blown. Until today, they're still talking about that.

Every time we got shoot, I get Stephen to come.

I'm like, dude, I'm not a bomo. But same thing,

because of that, he saw that journey, I had a follow-up,

get to have a follow-up with him because during our

pre-wedding photo shoot, he was a photographer. Close to that,

I said, bro, I pray. Just now you prayed with

us some more. I purposely, we purposely had an opening

prayer before the shoot. He was a photographer. Opening prayer,

we prayed. I said, bro, I pray. You just watch.

We will watch. The weather will change. And then you

know what he said? I'm sure, bro. I'm sure weather

will change. And you know what happened? Weather changed. Only after,

as we were taking the final one or two shots

of our pre-wedding photo shoot, the clouds came in and

it started drizzling. That was, what, five hours later? He

was there to see it. He lived through the testimony.

Can you see that? Allow people to have an opportunity

to live through our testimony. Right? So it's okay to

share when sometimes you're going through a hard time. I

think sometimes we are, maybe Asian culture or being Christian,

we have this thing where, let me share, let me share.

But there is power in sharing and letting people into

your life. I pray that we will do that. Have

more opportunities of that in your conversations as you hang

out with your friends, family, share. If not, they always

think that this guy is always okay. Always okay. But

you know for a fact that it's not true. It's

okay to be vulnerable, right? So number one, be a

decent person. And I really believe when you start being vulnerable,

people will also open up to you. People will not

open up to you because they think you don't understand.

Your life is all perfect. Share, share. Be a decent person.

I pray that people will like you and like me.

To the hotel staffs. Thankfully, no mic now. I cannot hear.

Hotel staffs like you or not? Yeah, not friend. But humans.

People God has asked us to love. When they see you,

do they enthusiastically say hello? Or do they go like,

they just don't? Or do they just say hello out

of obligation? Reflect a bit. These are the nearest to us,

you know, literally at our doorstep every Sunday. It's the

same people, you know. Have you said hello to them?

Do they know you or not in the past few years?

If they don't know you, that's actually quite telling. Sorry, ah.

Can be honest, right? Do they know you or not?

If you were to come in on a weekday, not

on a Sunday, will they recognize you? Same hotel. Good

questions to ask. Good questions to ask. All right? Just

helping us open our mind to how we can love people.

Level one, be a decent person. Level two, be self-aware.

All right? That's number two. Are you giving God a

chance to shine His light through you or are you

just wanting to mind your own business? I touched a

little bit about that. Matthew 5, 14-16 says this, You

are the light of the world. A city that is

set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they

light a lamp and put it under a basket, but

on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who

are in the house. Let your light so shine before

men that they may see your good works and glorify

your Father in heaven. We've got to be aware that

there's a light within us. And I've shared a message

on this before. Keep your shop open, if you guys

remember that message. About that time, how I was at

the gym, I really didn't want to care about other people.

I just want to put on my earphones. I was discouraged.

I just want to do my workout and not care

and finish and just go. But God said, you can

choose when to close shop, man, is it? And then

I'm like, no, cannot, cannot. Yeah, this is the gym

I used to go to. And I'm like, okay, God,

you say so. Okay, very quick. I'm just going to

share this testimony really quick. So what happened was, I said, God,

okay lor. And then I saw a guy. I'm like, okay,

that guy, maybe that guy I'll talk to after I

finish my workout. Crazy thing, the guy came to me. Right,

he came to me. It's a long story. I'm going

to cut it short. There are funny parts to it.

I won't share. All right, some of you remember. He's

the one that told me, first thing he says, can

I correct your form? Imagine wanting to love on a guy.

First thing he said, can I correct your form? Okay, anyways.

But anyways, yeah, this is the guy. You may have

seen him before. Some of you, he came to church. Okay. Once, okay?

But basically, what happened was, one, he came, correct my form,

we didn't talk much about that. The following time, two

weeks later, saw each other again, he came, and then

we talked, and then he said this to me, Steven,

can I be honest with you? Actually, the real reason

why I came up to you is this. I don't

know why, I saw you came in, normal, like everyone else,

but suddenly I saw a light coming out of you. Weird.

I saw a light, and I just can't stop, but

come to you and to talk. And right after that,

we were at this mamat downstairs and he was pouring.

his life out to me and I got to pray

for him. And today he's attending church. Not our church,

he got to visit. He wanted to visit just, you know,

to say hi to me. But he has been attending church.

Been going to church. I just want to share this

truth to you that we need to be aware that

there's this light within us that in a Christian setting,

This is like bright lah. That's why we can't tell

the difference. We're used to the light. But people who

don't have the light will recognize light when they see it.

I can't explain this. I've never experienced it because I

grew up in a Christian household. But from what people

tell me, it seems to be real, you know. And

I really believe if I go by timeline, by the

timing of when he saw the light, it was when

I said, okay lah, God, okay lah, I'll keep myself open.

I didn't even do anything, you know. All I did

was keep myself open to the possibility of loving others.

And the light just came through. And from this scripture

that we just read, it seems like we can keep

the light under a basket if we choose to. That

means the light is there, but we can choose to

hide the light. And as Christians, we are very good

at this. So we need to be aware of that.

And just keep your light there. Keep it open, alright?

For people to see. And let me tell you this.

God knows where you're at. That day I was discouraged.

He knew that it's going to take a lot out

of me to go and approach that person. You know

what he did? He brought the person to me. You

see that? God works and all we have to do

is be available. Be aware, self-aware. There is this light

within us that others who don't know Jesus, they don't have.

Can we do that? Just be aware, self-aware that we

have a light within us. And again, disclaimer, being self-aware

doesn't mean being self-conscious. Self-aware, knowing you have a light,

but don't be so self-conscious. Aiyo, but I introvert lah.

I tired lah. Don't let that become a reason someone

doesn't get touched by God's love. I think it's very

sad lah. Yes, is it real, the challenges we have?

Finding it hard to talk? Yes. But let, you wait

out and see which one more important. Then you'll have

to answer already. Okay? Are we okay so far? Yeah.

And yeah, just be open. Yesterday, we were at a

plant shop, Sharon and I, to buy a plant, right?

We went to a plant shop, buy a plant. We

spoke to the owners there. And then after we finished buying,

Sharon just told me, oh, I just spoke and I

shared that actually we are part of a church and

all that. And we'll share, you know, in terms of

your business, if people want to get plants and all that.

And Sharon just made known to the owner that we

are Christian and we're part of church. And I was

also taken aback because I wasn't even thinking about that.

I just come to get blunt. My children are sensitive

enough to share that. Maybe to her, it's just a normal. Maybe, yeah,

I didn't learn from her. But for me, I'm like, wow,

I didn't even think about that and she shared that.

And I pray, I hope, because they know we are

Christian and because point number one, level one, we are

decent people. Maybe, hopefully, a little bit nicer than other people.

They will make some connections. Wow, Christians, huh? Quite nice. Actually,

they're quite pleasant. Can we be open to that? Be self-aware. Right?

Be self-aware. Okay? When God gives us an opportunity, don't

waste it. Be there to shine your light. Are we

doing okay so far? Okay. All right. Okay, I have

to say this. I'm seeing your faces slowly changing as

I share. Don't judge yourself, okay? It's okay. It's okay. Again,

my goal at the end of the day is to

tell you that it's possible. to convince you that can what?

Can be done. Okay? Can be done. All right? So

don't worry. Don't worry. You'll end well. You'll end well.

So level one, be a decent person. Level two, be self-aware.

Level three is this. Be Holy Spirit aware. Be sensitive

and obedient to the Holy Spirit. Now this story, again,

I've shared before, but I want to share again in

the next picture. These are my relatives. My mom's side.

The lady is my mom's older sister. All right? Not

a believer. The whole family, on her side, my mom's side,

not believers, except there's one cousin of mine that came

to know the Lord after my mom prayed for close

to 20 years. That cousin of mine came to know

the Lord. But the rest of her family, not Christian.

So I still remember this. This family is the hardest

towards the gospel. They don't want to, they say, don't

you talk to me about Jesus. And my parents don't dare.

That's how scary it is, huh? My parents can really

share gospel one, but they don't there. This is a

bit hard, they'll say. Right? Can be hostile one, potentially. Right?

But then God put into my heart one day, Stephen,

next week you're going back to Penang, right? Go and

share the gospel. I'm like, my ma, like me? Send

my mum lah. Me? God said, you ah, go ah.

So I was speaking at a camp. So I just

excused myself during one of the afternoons where I'm not

taking a session. And I went. Went to their house

and shared the gospel, shared testimony, all that in Hokkien.

Oh my word. Never done it before. Shared the gospel

in Hokkien. Shared. And what happened was, this cousin of mine,

his sister, not in the picture because she's immobile. She's

physically and a little bit, she had some mental challenges

at that time. Um, As I was sharing, so she

was in a daze. She was taking all medication. So,

not there. Physically there, but head not there. Not there. Suddenly,

when I was sharing halfway, she just became like sober

and looked me straight in the eye. She was sitting

beside me and said, Let me translate that for you.

How do I solve this situation of mine? In that

moment of soberness, she looked me in the eye and

asked that question. And I had the opportunity, that window,

to just share to her and say, every time I pray,

Jesus hears my prayer. When you pray, Jesus will hear

your prayer as well. I had that window because after that,

she went back in the days already. That short little window.

After that, we went out for a meal. Just my

aunt and my cousin. And guess what? In public, busy.

For those from Penang, this is a gelato market. Rocking food,

by the way. Anyways, besides the point. We were eating. Busy, yeah?

And I just asked this question. What is that? Can

I pray for you? Guess what? They said yes. First

time in their life receiving prayer. Eyes closed, head spout.

And I got to pray. Two months later, I received

a call. that my cousin's sister, the one that was

sober for that period to hear about Jesus, died suddenly. Suddenly.

Not expected. She was going through surgery for something else,

something minor. But complications, she died. Last one. But I

thank God for the opportunity. And I really believe it's

God's timing. I really, I don't know if she received

Jesus in the end. I will never know until I

go to heaven. But I know that it was in

God's control. Because the fact that God sent me two

months earlier. And I hope, I can only hope that

because God had a plan for her, that in her

final breath, she shouted Jesus. I hope. I can only hope.

And pray for the best. But man, can you imagine

if I didn't obey God? God, send my mom. Of

all the siblings, you choose this family for me to

share too? The others are milder, milder a bit. But

God knew the timing. I was a fluent in Hokkien.

Did it anyway. And you know the crazy thing? My aunt,

she's not smiling here, but trust me, she was happy.

She actually said this, please come back again. After sharing

the gospel to them, you know, When I shared this

with my mom, she shocked. She was shocked. I did

tell them, pray for me. I'm going to go share

the gospel to your sister. Pray for me. Oh, you're

going to do it? Yeah, pray for me. Okay, we

pray for you. I went back to them. Oh, by

the way, I got to pray for them. You got

to pray for them? Will you be aware of the

Holy Spirit and where He's leading you? And I pray

you won't be resistant It's going to be difficult, yes.

But I pray you won't be resistant. And be open.

Just be open. And know this, when you do it,

it's not by your own strength. You think it's you.

But it's the Holy Spirit within you that's doing the

most work. I just want to tell you this. You

are but a vessel. So you can just relax and

leave the outcome to God. You just go on it.

Go on it. Are you going to be the most

fluent speaker? No. You won't be. But hey, the Holy

Spirit works in ways that We cannot imagine. How would

I have known my cousin sister will pass on two

months later? How would I have known I had a

short window, one sentence I can put in and that's

all she hears? I wouldn't have. All I did was

go lah, obey lah. Right? Let the Holy Spirit do

the rest of the work. Because in Acts chapter 1, 8,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

it says this, but you shall receive power when the

Holy Spirit has come upon you. and you shall be

witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and

to the end of the earth. Do you realize the sequence?

The power of the Holy Spirit shall come upon you,

and you shall be my witnesses. That means it is

by the Spirit's power that we go, not our own strength.

So if you think you can't speak well, good news.

Doesn't matter. Introvert? Good news. Doesn't matter. Scared? Good news

doesn't matter. It's all the Holy Spirit. All you got

to do is go. Obey. Next picture, you will recognize

this person. Who is this? It's Kaven. Right there. I

want to share a very real story that happened. I'm sorry, Kaven,

I didn't ask your permission. This happened maybe a month

plus ago or two months. I lost track of time.

where he came out for prayer for the very first time.

How long ago was that? Two months? Two months ago?

So very recent. For the first time, he came out

in prayer. Wow, very brave. Very brave, right? And at

that time, not a believer, right? Haven't received Jesus. He

came out of prayer, okay? And he said, Pastor Steven,

pray for my job. The boss said they will get

back to me in two, three days. It's been a week.

I have no no response from the boss. I prayed.

And in that moment, the Holy Spirit dropped something in

my heart to prophesy. I was scared. Sorry, Kaven, I'm

telling you this for the first time. But, Holy Spirit

told me, tell Kaven that the boss will respond to

him this week. I'm like, God, more one year, all

these kind of things. People's job, what if? Funny, right?

We will ask God, what if it won't happen when

God says it will happen? Me of little faith. So

I just very boldly, I just tell, Kevin, you will

hear from your boss, this company, within this week. And

when it happens, I remember very clearly what I said.

When it happens, I want you to recognize it's not

a coincidence that it is Jesus. Well, guess what happened?

Sunday night. Sunday night, right? Boss replied. Sunday night, guys.

Not working. For some reason, the boss replied on Sunday night.

He got the job. Recently, yeah, praise God. Recently, there

was a transition as well. Same thing, right? Prayed. Next day, right?

Got a response. And you know, I really believe because

I obeyed. In fear and trembling, guys, it's not easy

to say stuff like that. If it doesn't happen, God.

But when we operate by faith and trust in the

Lord and just be obedient to the Holy Spirit, there

will be power and there will be signs and wonders.

Miracles will take place. It will because it's the Holy Spirit.

And that's, I praise God, I think that sowed a

seed in his heart, probably just confirming a little bit

more that God is real, that He doesn't play-play on

these kind of things. He does what He says. And today,

he has received Jesus. Now he's part of the family.

And of course, there were others that also sowed into

his life that led to his salvation. But are we

sensitive to where the Holy Spirit is leading us? Because

when the Holy Spirit asks us to do something, actually

99% of the time, we won't be ready for it.

We will be a bit scared. It's like that. But

will you do it? And what's the worst that can happen?

If that didn't happen, Kevin will be like, Pastor, you

told me. Then maybe I can go, yeah, let's continue praying.

Correct or not? That's the worst that can happen, right?

But I'm also saying don't simply throw out prophecies if

you want. Please, ah. Don't simply go to someone, eh,

you're bound to marry this person. Please, ah. Please don't

do things like that. If you catch prophecies like that,

please check with me first. In BU, okay? Please check

with me first. But when the Holy Spirit moves, can

we move with Him? Because He's very eager to move.

We are the ones that are usually hesitant. Okay, level one.

was be a decent person, level two, was be self-aware.

Level three is to be Holy Spirit aware. Level four,

and I'm going to close this soon, is do work.

You realize the first three is be, the fourth is do,

because we got to be first. We got to be

a child of God. We got to learn to be

before we do. All right? So number four, now that

you know, you learn how to be, The doing should follow.

James 2, verse 14-18. I'm going to read this very

James 2:14–18

quickly to follow along. What does it profit, my brethren,

if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Can faith save him? Catch that? I'm going to read

that again. What does it profit, my brethren, if someone

says he has faith but does not have works? Can

faith save him? Huh? Faith is not enough to save

a person? Eh, not I say one. Our brother James

say one in Bible. But I want you to catch

the context, okay? Okay? If a brother or sister, verse 15,

if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of

daily food, basically poor, okay? And one of you says

to them, depart in peace. Be warmed and filled. I've

prayed for you. I add my own words there. But

you do not give them the things which are needed

for the body. What does it profit? Thus, also faith

by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Verse 18. But someone will say, you have faith and

I have works. Show me your faith. This is what

James said. Show me your faith without your works. I

will show you my faith by my works. Here, James

is suggesting, proposing, and may I say this, teaching, that

if you say you have faith, you must have works. Must.

It is a product of faith. You cannot say, I

trust in Jesus, I have faith in Jesus, and not

love people. You cannot say, I love God with all

my heart, mind, soul, and strength, but not love your neighbor.

Does not work that way. If one of it, there

is a disconnect, that means the other is not right really.

So if you are saying you have faith, but there's

no work to show it, that means you actually may

not actually have faith. You catch that? So we need

to have a heart check. I know it's a tough message.

but a hard check whether our faith is producing work. Now,

work will not earn you salvation because the Bible says

also that we are saved by grace through our faith for?

For good works. That is the scripture.

Right?

So friends, it is only natural that we will want

to bless others and love on others and share the

good news. If it doesn't, we have to backtrack a bit.

Where is our faith at? Is it right before God?

Or are we a little bit too confident that we

have faith, but actually we don't have the works as

a fruit? Don't get the order wrong. It's not working

for your salvation or working for your faith. It's that

faith produces work. You see that? You got to get

the order right. Okay? Okay? So I just want to

end by saying this. If you're saying, ah, Pastor Siva,

I've not done it. I've not opened myself to share

the gospel. What do I do? Create opportunities. Create opportunities.

And not just invite. Okay, I've got to say this.

I used to think like that. Hey, I'm going to

invite my friends to church. And my job is done. No.

What we are doing is we are seconding the sharing

of the gospel to the preacher. and hope the preacher

does a good job. If my friend comes to church

and didn't pray the salvation prayer, preacher's fault. Pastor's fault.

Hey friends, we are all called to share the gospel.

Not just the pastor, not just the leaders. Alright? So

it's not just about inviting church. Right? We are running

Alpha now. Alpha is an opportunity, right? Gather friends to

pray for people. Can you do that in your offices?

Are there Christians with you? One lah, maybe one lah.

Pray for one. God revealed to me that one Christian

colleague that maybe lunchtime, we take 10 minutes. Can we

pray for our company? Can we pray for our boss?

I hate my boss lah. But pray lah. Bible says,

pray for your enemies. Right or not? Pray. Are there

needs that your colleagues have? Maybe they're going through a

hard time in their marriage. Can you pray for them?

You can. Low hanging fruit. Low hanging fruit. If no

one in your company is a Christian, then you pray lah.

And let me tell you, that's an opportunity if you

fast and pray. Usually you go lunch with them, right?

Fast and pray lah. They say, huh? kenapa tak makan

puasa you pun puasa our the majority faith colleagues will

have that question lah you can share lah yeah saya

pun ada puasa I also fast why I'm praying for

this friend of ours wow don't you think that's powerful

And you know what? When a miracle happens, wow. Isn't

that powerful? Create space for dialogue and honest talk. Think

of friends that you can ask out and just have

an honest conversation. And let your being of a Christian

do the talking. Don't need to force things on. Just

speak of your life lah. Alright? Two short stories and

we'll close. Next picture. The middle girl here, you may

have seen her before, Si Xian. She goes to Ex Nilai.

She's a teacher. When she was a student in IBG,

there were a group of people, a group of students

that prayed for her. She wasn't a believer then because

she had very bad scoliosis, in constant pain. They just

gathered to pray for her. She wasn't even there, but

they just prayed for her and said, Lord, heal her,

heal her. Pray for her. Every time. Pray, pray, pray.

Guess what? She got healed miraculously of her scoliosis. After that,

she cannot deny God really. And hey, she became a Christian,

accepted Jesus. Today, she's running this small group with the

teachers in her school that she's teaching in to pray

for the students. It all started with just praying for her.

Praying for her. Next one, next picture. This is the

Monash post-grad small group. Again, you may recognize the girl

in the middle, Carissa. This just happened not too long ago.

This guy is Ruben. For the past six months, so

Carissa and the girl next to her, Janice, they both

attend Subang Giant 1330. They started a small group for

the post-grad students just for a space to do devotion

and have dialogue. The rest is not Christian, actually. A

lot of, actually, this picture is not even a full picture.

There have been others that are not Christians coming. And

all she did was just, let me tell you, she's

also scary, want to talk about faith or what. I

don't have all the answers, but she did it. Carissa

did it. What happened? These people came, started becoming quite hungry. Actually,

what's this whole faith thing about? Actually, what's life about?

What's the point of life? And then they started having, wow,

very deep theological stuff. Maybe I also would be scared lah.

They start to ask, how can there be evil in

the world? How can there be so much suffering? Those questions,

popular questions, came out because it was a safe space

for them to express. Three weeks ago, one month already ago,

Reuben accepted Jesus. Praise God. I think God deserves a clap.

From joining this small group to attending homes, to coming

to church, to coming for prayer service, because suddenly he

realized he has this hunger. who want to know this God,

or rather, hunger for truth. And you know, when you

go searching for truth, you will find the truth. He found.

He received Jesus on his own. Said his own salvation

prayer and called Pastor Dr. Daniel Kong. Can I meet

up with you? I just received Jesus. Just happened a

month ago. I share this to say again that it's possible, friends.

Create opportunities. Seek the Lord. What can you do with

what you have, your resources? What can you do? Can

be done. It can be done. Now you must be wondering,

what is the 7.6 encounters? What does that mean? There's

a survey that states that it takes a person an

average of 7.6 encounters. This is the most recent one.

Last time I remember, I said 21, right? Based on

the Billy Graham ministries. Wow, praise God, it's shorter now.

This is a recent one. On average, a person has

to hear the gospel 7.6 times before they receive Jesus.

7.6.

Last time was 21. Now 7.6. Hallelujah. Right? So if

someone rejects you the first time, don't worry. It still counts.

In the 7.6, you're one out of 7.6. Maybe you

are the 5.6. You're the 6.6. And if you're fortunate enough,

you're the 7.6. They reap the benefit. Maybe you share 7.6.

I don't know how you can quantify statistics. You share

8 times. Haven't received Jesus. You say this statistic is wrong. No.

Some people that accept Jesus the first time they hear.

So you have to balance out. Correct? So sorry. You

have to share 10 times. It's okay. But every time counts. Alright?

So my encouragement to you is don't be discouraged if

you are rejected. Be one of the 7.6 encounters. Be

part of the statistic of someone coming to know the Lord.

Be that person and one day you go to heaven,

they look at you. They go like, hey, you. And

then you probably go, who are you? Ah, that colleague.

You remember that colleague? You shared to me about Jesus once.

40 years ago. Whoa. I did it. Yeah, and today

I'm saved. Wouldn't that be amazing? Final story and we close.

Short one. See if you can recognize me or not.

The middle. This one is me. Doesn't look like me, right? Yay.

I look better now, right? Yes. Yeah. This was National Service, BLKN.

I was part of it for three months. You know

something that God asked me to do, which I think

was quite crazy back then? God asked me to do

daily devotions with the Christians there. Daily, ah? No Bible plan.

Just come out with it. God put that in my heart.

I think God was crazy at that time. I didn't

think it was crazy, so maybe I was crazy too.

So I did it. And I led worship. No projector,

no laptop. So how, lyrics how? Write ah. I will

write in four or five pieces of paper per song

to hand out every day. I think quite crazy lah.

Now I think back, you ask me to do now,

I think I'll die ah. I don't know how I

did it. I did it for every day. Every day

I did it. And I was still going through a

difficult time. I was actually quite persecuted during that time.

Religious and racial reasons. You know already. You fill in

the blanks. Really persecuted. Even by one time, a Christian

brother brought a group of people who wanted to beat

me up. Not made up. True story. And then God intervened.

The pelate pelate heard about it. The adults, they came

in the right time before I got beaten up. Because

out of a care for a brother, the brother said

he's insulted. Okay? That happened. Awesome. For the longest time,

I tell you, I came out of National Service thinking, God,

why in the world you send me to this place

to go through all of that? No fruits to show.

I did devotion every day. But guess what? I want

to tell you a little story.

This girl, some of you may recognize her. Girl, girl, girl.

Carmen. You may recognize her from XPJ. Same NS. Let

me tell you this. She was a Buddhist. I came

to X Church 2016. Saw her. I'm like, what are

you doing here? And she looked at me. What are

you doing here? I said, I'm Christian. That's why I'm here.

What are you doing here? Oh, I'm Christian also already.

She joined some of the devotions that I did. I

could be one of the 7.6. Who would have thought

years later I would see her in church saved? This guy...

devout Buddhists. Good friend lah, we're a group of friends.

I didn't go out to share the gospel to these

people because I already very tired ministering to the Christians

at that time. Every day do devotion. So I didn't

even think about sharing the gospel, you know. But they

would tell me, because at night is the, they will

have their class agama. So everyone would go lah, the

Buddhists would go. Some of them don't want to go

to the Buddhists. They say, Stephen, you also look quite fun,

I'm going to sing a song. Can you come or not?

Come ah! Come! Come! Come. So they joined. They come

here and there. I didn't even take count. I didn't

even care. It wasn't even my focus to talk to them.

I was just ministering to the Christian. When I studied

in Sunway, he suddenly dropped me a text. Stephen, I

just want to tell you this. I accepted Jesus. Accepted Jesus.

I didn't even care about him during that time. He

just joined. And I was just being a friend. That's all.

That's all I could do at that time. That was

my capacity. Took him to the Lord. This guy here,

his name, not a Christian yet, but living for his salvation.

Just a few months ago, I shared this with Sharon.

I received a text from him. He congratulated me for

the wedding. He sent a text to me, Stephen, I

always wanted to share with you this, I never got

to share with you. There was one time in National Service,

back then, when you came back from church, at that

time I was being bullied. In that season, you came

back from church on Sunday and told me that you

and the other believers prayed for me. And I remember

until today, I'm still deeply touched by it. This was what,

13 years ago? 13 years ago. I really believe I've

sown a seed. And you know what? I took my opportunity.

You say this, I say, hey, you should go to

church more. Then you get to experience peace more. And

I just say that. We have that kind of friendship

that can be direct really. I end with this by saying,

you could very well be the one encounterer one of

the 7.6 encounters. You never know. You may go through something.

You're like, why in the world did I have to

go through that? Why in the world did I have

to go through three months of persecution? Because of this, oh?

Worth it or not? Worth it. I'm glad. I'm glad.

Be one of the 7.6 encounters to those around you. Amen.

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

information on our church, please visit axechurch.org. We are also

active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week

is going to be a good week ahead for you.

God bless.