Coping with Setbacks

White gloved hands doing magic....

MIC Andrew the speaker

MIC Andrew the musician with his ukulele

Setting up

Scribing gig: three greats and a wish;

1 GREAT: scribing with white gloves: a first for me: neat: will repeat.

2: GREAT: started spreading of my new Graphic Recording careen

3: GREAT: icons starting to look sexy

WISH: to be salt and light in the market place even through graphic recording

Note my colour pastels on the chair.

Markers and speaker note on the second chair.

Harvesting: listening for nuggets

Coping with setbacks

Andrew

8 August 2014

Text Psalm 77

took my Neulands Number One Green for a test drive: liked it!

Response to Grief/ trauma / transition

Incident.  

Followed by confusion 

   Think there is no God

     angry

       Don't feel like praying

Followed by resolution

Joseph in Egypt many ups and downs

You meant evil against me

But God meant it for good

We at MIC are the walking wounded

run towards God

read rely on the Word

resolve 

Difficulty in negotiating with difficult client/ boss

Difficulty understanding why good men suffer

Time on earth is like the red tip of a long long rope.

Best seen in the light of eternity.

God often saves us 

Speaker enjoying the chart

The whole chart

Cam Scammer squaring & magic white

20140803 Trust Fall

The sermon tittle was "Trust Fall" and I thought of Niagra Falls, but instead of torrents of water pouring down, it was Trust and Grace that came pouring down.

But when I clarified with Wendy, it was one of those Human Resource/ Management games, where a person with eyes closed/ blindfolded falls backwards into the arms of the team members behind him/ her. This is a trust fall: you trust the person to catch you.

As a sermon illustration: Trusting God to do the needful, knowing no one else can!

Sunday 3 August 2014

Wesley Methodist Church Singapore

Bible text

1 Chron 29: 12-19

James 4: 13-17

Deut 33: 27

The images of crash site MH17 are horrific 

We here of a family all lost, save for a 17 year old son

Amongst the wreckage we see things people treasure

Laptops 

luggage

Also are things missing

That empty chair at the dining table

Unmet expectations

Unfulfilled dreams

Words that remain unspoken

I love you

I am sorry.

You do not know what your life will be tomorrow

IF THE LORD WILLS IT

WE WILL LIVE

The Lord is The Lord

You and I have little control of our destiny.

Case in point

25 years ago Wendy and her husband planned to migrate from UK to Singapore

Plans to do things themselves

God was not in the equation.

Gulf war broke out just as Mr Watson was flying BA thru Kuwait

Captured

Held hostage x5 months.

What do you do?

On her knees

Pleaded with God.

God if you are God

Release my husband and I will serve you for the rest of my life.

Fast forward to 10 years ago

At beginning of serving at Wesley Methodist Church

Sat in pew reflecting

God says

"It is not by mistake that you are here.

Remember:

It was I who delivered you.

It was I who walked alongside with you in the valley of the shadow of death.

Always remember who you are

always remember whom it is you serve"

And God says the same to each of us today.

Remember who you are

Remember whom it is you serve.

Yet we are control freaks

Either rooted in fear or

Rooted in worldly ways, earthly wisdom

bad ungodly advice!

We should plan

Then bring the plan to God

And surrender the outcome to God.

Neighbours burning incense, informs that she will use common area for temporary altar.

Fear? Don't know how to respond? Trust God.

We often don' t trust that God is there with us in our situation

we often don't trust that God knows what we are going through.

We often don't trust our future with God.

Today at the communion table, invite the Holy Spirit to come upon you.

Holy Spirit show me where I seek to control.

Holy Spirit give me the ability to do a trust fall with God.

Thinking for a change

The Eagles at football.

Rev Joel Yong

Wesley Methodist Church Singapore

20 July 2014

Anthem : Panis Angelicus 

Soloist Lauren Yeo

Panis Angelicus fit panis hominum,

Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum.

O res mirabilis, manducat Dominum,

Pauper, pauper, servus et humilis.

Obstacles to life change

Pygmalion vs Golem

Pygmalion effect: greater expectations result in better performance .

Golem effect: lower expectation result in lower performance.

Experiment

Students given IQ test.

Teachers given names of 20 said to have high IQ

After a year these 20 found to do well.

BUT their names had been choosen at random.

Thoughts determine deeds.

Rev Joel 

Bottom of class in Sec 2

Was told and believed

Unless you put your foot to the pedal you can't go

Studied and studied

Within a year reached near top of the class.

1) Don't let your yesterdays be a bondage

Eg Lot's wife

Longingly looked back expectantly at Sodom

"Good old times"

2) Don't let yesterday's give you an ingrained mindset

Having left Sodom and Gomorah

Lot lives in a cave with his daughters 

Isolated.

But the past licentious  incestous atmosphere of sexuality remained.

His daughters get him drunk in order to get pregnant by him.

They had an ingrained contaminated mindset, influenced by their yesterday.

3) Don't let your yesterday leave you with a narrow mindset,

Eg Israelites, free but hungry in the deser

Would rather be well fed slaves in Egypt.

Tunnel vision, microscopic view

Fail to see the big picture.

4) Don't let your yesterdays limit you:

Israelites saw the enemies as giants and felt like grasshoppers .

For their fear and failure , wandered in the desert for 40 years.

Fail to see, blinded, that you can do bigger things

One thing in common of these examples

FAILURE

Failure to reach destination

Failure to accomplish what God had wanted them to accomplish.

Our yesterday ended last night

"Yesterday" some church members were ugly

Late in registering for course/camp

Rude to staff/volunteers / Sunday school teachers 

Come with consumer mindset demanding to be served rather than wishing to serve.

Bury that yesterday

May there be a new tomorrow

Sermon Illustration

Rev Joel introduced football to a group of disadvantaged kids

Group of 28 grew to 100.

Team "eagles"

Entered under 16 competition

11+ year olds vs 15+

Held steadily to 0-0 at half time

Crowd cheered

Lost double digit but left field proud

Not influenced by their background but by what they decided to do.

The harvest is plentiful

Mission Sunday

13 July 2014

Wesley Methodust Church

Pastor Yeoh Seng Eng

Pasir Panjang Hill Bretheren Church

Text Luke 10:1-12

The "other disciples" were sent "two by two" to "prepare the way"

Jesus is coming soon

We are the "other disciples "

We are to prepare the way.

Three interesting points

A) Status update

B) Strategy

C) Strength

A) Status update

i) Harvest PLENTIFUL

ii) Workers FEW

iii) You may be REJECTED

iv) You may be ACCEPTED

Even if you are rejected, it is not you that is being rejected, but God.

B) Strategy

i) Go two by two

Or pair up with partners from other churches

ii) simplicity

Use what is in your hands

Moses used a stick

Seng Eng used dried flowers

Make greeting cards

Grew into a business to support 800 families

Agriculture

Goats

Odorless vegetarian pigs (feeding on  Azolla)

iii) seek man of peace

iv) heal the sick & tell of the kingdom of God

Care Channels used

Help them

Empower them

Dignified ways to get food on the table

These enabled connections with communities who are then willing to hear your message 

C) Strength

With God's power

All things are possible

Ministry to migrant workers in Singapore 

Lead to Telugu service

 15-20 baptisms a year

Some will return to Bangaladesh and serve as pastors/ missionaries.

On a trip to Dacca

Pastor Yeoh got seriously injured in a traffic accident

13 micro fractures and a haemothorax

Finally returned to Singapore: needed to be drained (twice)

During healing process felt an unsuall warm sensation on chest: touch of an angel.

Lord’s Day Hymn – “Facing a Task Unfinished”

By Frank Houghton, 1930

Facing a task unfinished,
That drives us to our knees,
A need that undiminished,
Rebukes our slothful ease,
We, who rejoice to know Thee,
Renew before Thy throne,
The solemn pledge we owe Thee,
To go and make Thee known.

Where other lords beside Thee
Hold their unhindered sway,
Where forces that defied Thee,
Defy Thee still today,
With none to heed their crying
For life, and love, and light,
Unnumbered souls are dying,
And pass into the night.

We bear the torch that flaming
Fell from the hands of those,
Who gave their lives proclaiming
That Jesus died and rose.
Ours is the same commission,
The same glad message ours,
Fired by the same ambition,
To Thee we yield our powers.

O Father Who sustained them,
O Spirit Who inspired,
Saviour, Whose love constrained them,
To toil with zeal untired,
From cowardice defend us,
From lethargy awake!
Forth on Thine errands send us
To labour for Thy sake.

(c) Overseas Missionary Fellowship

Church as community

MIC meet 

Friday 11 July 2014

WMC

Jason shared a summary of church camp teaching (Edmund Chan)

Church family 

Word based

Discipleship Community

United

Word based

Hearers and doers

Firm foundation

Foundation not seen except times of storms

The LKY tree stunted and unhealthy because roots could not grow

Church should be discipleship community

Salt to the earth

Light to the world

Discipleship needs to come from within

Unlike man who swam across shark infested pool only to ask

"Who pushed me"

Church united family

Three causes of tension

Boasting

Impatience

Envy

Need to work together

Think of one another 

Think of self

Think of responsibility 

Witness as a church family

Don't wait to go on mission trip

Taxi ride provides opportunities

PDA

Pray for Divine appointments

Take every opportunity

Not a parachute ministry 

But ministry in community

Be part of the community