Youth Group Pride

Click photos to see more of Kitty’s take on youth group pride!

Youth Group Pride! We’re not just a random gathering of people, we’re all a part of a special family ; God’s special family.

Tags: chocolatatespicephotography

Reaching to the Lost

We have been called to reach out to the neighbors, to our friends, to our enemies, to our city, to our nation, to our world. To present the gospel of Jesus to them.

Where are you at with the global message of Jesus? How is your example to those that are lost?

Have a look at this video. I hope it comes as an encouragement to you as it did for me…
(NOTE: some images may be disturbing)

A poem

Lord, it belongs not to my care Whether I die or live;

To love and serve Thee is my share,

And this Thy grace must give If life be long,

I will be glad, That i may long obey

If short- the why should i be sad To soar to endless day?

Hey guys, this poem is not one that I wrote but one that I have read in the past and whenever I read it it encourages me. It reminds me of who I am living for. It’s not anything else but Jesus. He is the one I live for. I hope this comes as an encouragement to you as it does for me.

Romans 1:5

“Through him and for his name‘s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.”

Christian Hosoi

http://www.iamsecond.com/#/seconds/Christian_Hosoi/

The transforming work of Christ Jesus. Check out this awesome testimony.

Seven Thoughts on Suffering – Village Church Blog

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus

via Seven Thoughts on Suffering.

Missions and a call to the Lost

Hello everyone,

First of all, WELCOME to 2010! It’s another year, another one filled with New Years resolutions which have probably all failed so far (it’s only been a month and that – I’ll give up chocolate – has failed), another year of challenges, another year of joys and another year of C.Y.A. We’re entering into our second year of Youth. How awesome is that? (the answer should be – YAY…WOOT WOOT. AWESOMENESS or just a simple ‘I agree Carey, I agree!’)

It’s been a while since anyone has updated the blog. So to start the year of 2010 blogs, I thought I’d start one of the call to the lost. A bit of a weird one to start off with but since I just came back from Thailand to support Missionaries. I have decided to write this blog in response to the many thoughts that are flying through my mind.

Well I just returned back to Australia from a 2 week long trip in Thailand, first in Chiang Mai and then 3 days in Bangkok.  Whilst I was over there I was challenged by a slew of thoughts that constantly bugged me throughout the trip and it was this.

“What is stopping me from responding to God’s call in my life to bring the good news about Jesus to those at the end of the earth?”, “Why am I so comfortable with everything in my life, when in a instant, it could all disappear?”, “Why when at home, in Sydney, do I just constantly fail to uplift the name of Jesus in all situations?”, “Why are my desires so captivated by the things of this world, when the world around me is riddled with sin and a rebellion against the God who has given life?”

I don’t necessarily think these are bad thoughts, but they bugged me. The reason being is this, it reminded me of my failures to do those things. It reminded me of the times when I was silent when opportunities of the gospel message came up, the times when I didn’t speak words of truth that could save but spent my time speaking about the weather.

But in all that, I was challenged as well. Rather than staying with thoughts on failure, I started to think of, well “what do I do now?” and was challenged by the reminder of the call on me and on all those that profess in Jesus Christ. I was reminded by the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I think this was such a powerful reminder to me because of the call that God has placed on all Christians to call people of all nations, tongues and tribes to come into a relationship with Jesus. To be witnesses to everyone, to those at school, to those at uni, to those at home, to those at the supermarket, to those that don’t know Him wherever it may be.

It was an encouragement because it reminded me that my life, as I serve Him, is an act of obedience to wherever He guides me.

When I was in Thailand, we went to Chiang Mai (inland) to serve the Missionaries by giving them a rest as we took care of their children and we had three days in Bangkok where it was a time to rest and recuperate from the trip but also from the crazy 2009 year. Bangkok was suppose to be a time where I could just sit back, relax, shop, enjoy being in another country. But the call on my life never changed. This became especially true for me whilst I was in Bangkok when God open doors for me to share the gospel with a number of people.

I was able to share the gospel to a few taxi drivers whilst i was over there. Simple conversations, mentioning that I was a Christian, saying I know God and what He did on the cross because of Jesus. They were never long conversations, but they all resulted in me being able to give a gospel track (in Thai) to them and in one of the conversations I was able to pray with one of the Taxi drivers.

One of them, his name was Dang, and he told me that he use to go to church but left as a result of the people there at his church not respecting his daughter, I was able to remind him of the love of Jesus and the fact that Jesus was able to bring forgiveness to all, even when they denied him, even when they spat in His face. He showed the ultimate compassion, mercy and forgiveness and I challenged Dang to do the same and to remember Jesus. At the end of our conversation, I was able to pray with Him.

Now I don’t know if he accepted Jesus or not but being able to witness, share in his life, pray for him and give him a gospel track was such a great reminder that this is the call on all our lives. To be willing at every corner of the earth, to be witnesses of our Glorious Father, so that all may hear His name and call on Him.

But my encouragement to you is this. In every aspect of your life, display Christ as supremely valuable above all else. Let your light shine before men so that by your good deeds, by your words, by your conversations, by sharing your life as they share theirs, show them the love of Jesus and share with them what means most to you. This is a call to us all, wherever we are. This isn’t just for church, or when the opportunity arises in the church context. It is a call everywhere.

God showed and reminded me of this call on my life, even whilst I was away from Australia, away from my ministry to you guys (the youth at CYA), away from family, away from friends. He called me to people of different tribes and languages. He called me to Dang, He called me to the different taxi drivers, He called me to the homeless and needy in Chiang Mai and Thailand.  He calls you to your family, your friends, your enemies, your neighbours, your local check-out chick, the person you sit next to on the bus. He calls you to the end of the earth!

Till next time. I hope God will continue to place a burden on your hearts for those that don’t know Jesus and that you will be a witness to all people around you.

Your Brother in Christ,

Carey

Partnership in the Gospel

When you think of the word partnership, what do you think of? Do you think of WWE tag team champions? Or maybe you think of some sort of romanticized view of relationships, like Edward and Belle from you know where. Do you think of sport – ping pong, handball, relays, and stuff like that? Maybe you even think of commerce, where two parties pool in equity together, sign a contract, and form an entity called a ‘partnership’ where profits are split (business studies and commerce people know what I’m talking about)!! Whatever you may think of, the concept is still the same right? It’s when two or more people come together, work together, in achieving some sort of specific goal.

So last week, we looked at Philippians 1:1-11. Carey spoke specifically on the partnership that Paul had with the Philippian church and the unity that they had as a result of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We looked at the joys and struggles that Paul shared with the church (Paul was in prison!) We then in turn, looked at how this passage relates to us, and how our view of church and partnership should be.

Four key points about partnerships that were looked at:

1. The unity in Christ (v1-2)
2. The partnership resulting in joy (v3-5)
3. The partnership because of Gods grace (v6-8)
4. The partnership that results in prayer (v9-11)

You know, going to church is honestly one of the best things in the world that God has blessed us with. What do you think when I say that? Do you think… sif church is boring! Do you think… nah I have more fun at school or on Saturday. Let me explain what I mean when I say church is one of the best things out there.

Going to church beats going to school by a million miles. Just think about it for a second – what greater joy is there in life than to know God, have a personal relationship with him, to know that Jesus Christ has cleansed you of all your sins and filth through faith, knowing that the Holy Spirit now lives in you to make you more like Jesus, what greater joy is there in life than that?! And now think about it for a second, to be able to SHARE and PARTNER with someone in that joy! It’s crazy, it’s mind blowing. This joy that we have in knowing God, it’s one that we share with our brothers and sisters in Christ! When you’re at school, you’re with a bunch of people who don’t dig Jesus, who think Jesus isn’t king, who couldn’t care less about God… but when you’re at church! Now that’s a completely different story, you’re with a bunch of brothers and sisters who love God and want to give up everything to live for this God because they know who he is and love him so much because he is worthy!

I want to encourage you to really reflect on the joy of knowing God. It is only then will you truly understand the true joy in partnering with other Christians, brothers and sisters.

Encourage your brothers and sisters when you see them, ask them how their walk with God is going. Ask them how they are going, whether there’s anything you can be praying for. Let’s end superficial relationships in church. Let’s get real with each other. Let’s love each other just as Christ loved us and let’s share and partner with each other because of the joy we have in the gospel. Let’s continue partnering with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

I’ll end with a short passage from Philippians 1:3-6
3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

God bless

CYA Leaders

Seeing Light in Darkness

It’s amazing how in darkness, the light shines all the more brightly.

Last Sunday, we looked at the Biblical teaching of sin. The topical was ‘God and the depravity of man’, the first of a three part series. The verses we focused on were as follows:

Hebrews 11:6 – Without Faith it is impossible to please God

Romans 14:23 – Whatever does not proceed from faith is Sin

Romans 3:10-12

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
¹²All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”^[a]

I want to emphasise again that outside of Jesus Christ, noone can please God, nothing we do is good, and everything that we do is sin. A lot of people have this misunderstanding and misconception that sin is doing bad things like swearing, lying, cheating, lusting, getting angry etc. That might only be just a small portion of what sin actually is. Sin is dishonoring God. Sin is living for your own glory. Sin is living as though God doesn’t matter. Before you became a Christian, your whole life was sin, because your whole life was lived without faith in Christ and in rejection of God. Romans 3:11 tells us that we had no desire or motivation at all to seek God, we loved our sin, we hated God. We might not have said we hated God with our mouths, but we lived it with our lives. ‘God, I want to live life my own way, I don’t care about your way of living, and I want to rule my own life!’ That was our attitude before we became Christians.

Because of our total rebellion against God, we are totally deserving of Gods judgment. Wickedness must be punished. Just try to think of a society where murderers got away free, people that stole your lunch were not punished, bullies at school were able to beat up whoever they wanted without any punishment… It’s a society that won’t work right? In that same way, for God to be fully just, he MUST punish wicked sinners. And the sad truth is… we’re all sinners, we’re all wicked. There is no one righteous, not even one. The punishment for our sin is the full force of God’s wrath, the righteous anger of God, the full justice of God, Eternity in hell, separated from Gods love, but not Gods righteous anger.

So now… here’s the dilemma:

If we love our sin, and given the opportunity to either choose God or sin, we’d choose sin (refer to Romans 3:10-12), how can a wicked person, who is fully deserving of Gods wrath, be made right with God?

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

When we hated God, God loved us. When we were blinded by darkness, God opened our eyes. God sent the messiah, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in OUR place, for OUR sin, to drink of cup of Gods wrath that WE deserved. Jesus didn’t deserve it, Jesus was pure and spotless, yet because of Gods great love for us, Christ took the punishment in our place.

What can a dead person do to make himself alive again? Could Lazarus raise himself from the dead? If you saw a dead bird or dead animal lying on the street, what do you reckon are the chances of it jumping up onto it’s feet again? Probably zero percent right? In the same way, how can someone who is spiritually dead in sin make himself alive again?

Ephesians 2:4-5

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Salvation is a gift! We don’t deserve it. What we deserve is the righteous judgment of God on our lives. Read Ephesians 2:4-5 again! Just read it, read it over and over again, and just try to comprehend what you’re reading.

Some of you are possibly weighed down heavily with your sin… you feel a great weight of ‘guilt’ and sin on your heart, you often ask yourself questions like ‘how could God love me so much to send his son to die for me?’. You often tell yourself ‘I don’t deserve Gods love, I am a wretched sinner, I deserve to go to hell! I don’t deserve to see light’. It often plagues your mind that even though you call yourself a Christian, you’re constantly sinning against the one who you claim to be worshipping. ‘How can I be a Christian if I keep sinning?’ ‘I am unworthy, I am weak’ ‘I am struggling with a particular sin that I can’t ever get rid of and I feel as though I am a slave to it, and I know I shouldn’t do it but I always do, and afterwards I feel this great weight of guilt on my heart, am I really worthy of being saved?’

I want to say that you are right… you are unworthy, you are weak, you are a wretched sinner… and so am I. You don’t want to know how many times I’ve been broken over my sin, how many times I’ve wept over my unworthiness before God. I want to tell you brother and sister that there is hope!

Let me tell you a story, you might remember it as I tell it:

There was once a son who came from a wealthy family. His father was rich! The son could have had whatever he asked for. But because of his selfishness and evil desires, he told his dad to divide the property so he could take his share of the money… You could say he wanted his dad dead. How else do you get your share of an inheritance? The father has to be dead. The son wasted all of the money on prostitutes and other wicked things. He comes to his senses and decides to go home to his father. What does he say to the father?

‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Was the son worthy to be welcomed back? NO! He was not worthy, he was unworthy and the father would have been justified never to talk again to the son. Yet what does the father do?

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Read the whole story in Luke 15:11-32. It’s an amazing story.

We are unworthy, we are weak, but God loved us in our weakness. He sent his son to die for us when we hated him. Can we even begin to comprehend the love of God? It is beyond comprehension! Don’t be tied down with guilt of sin, Christ has paid the penalty and punish for our sin. God no longer declares those who live by faith in Christ as guilty.

Remember your unworthiness, remember your weakness, and then remember that Christ died for you in your weakness, and he rose again to give you new life. Are you beginning to understand the magnificent glory of Jesus Christ? Are you beginning to see the surpassing greatness of Gods love and mercy in our total depravity? Christ has the power to set you free from sin and slavery to sin, run to him.

I know I’m weak, I know I’m unworthy to call upon your name

But because of grace, because of your mercy, I stand here unashamed.

I’ll leave you with a prayer that the Apostle Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus

Ephesians 3:14-19

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom his whole family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I pray God will give you the power to understand the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge =)

God bless you my friend.

Derek

Have you ever done Pottery?

Have you ever had the opportunity to do pottery before? The opportunity to mold and shape and make and break it. When I was in year 8 I remember having art class with lessons on pottery. Always wondered why we did it and to this day never really understood the meaning behind the 13 weeks of pottery and theory that we did because I never had to use it. But I guess it does come in handy if you get into that trade later in life but for an asian kid in year 8 that was being encouraged to “go into medicine or become a lawyer”, pottery never eventuated in anything.

But that’s not my point. I was just reflecting the other day on Isaiah 45:9 and it says:

“Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?”

In the whole scope and scheme of things. This verse brings out so much. How ridiculous that notion is. The idea that the clay has anything to say to the maker. I mean imagine if you will. That whilst in pottery class, with the teacher standing in the front, other guys around you and you’re making something with the lump of clay put in front of you. The clay is never going to jump up and say “NO, don’t make me a pot, I want to be a cup”. That’s completely ridiculous! Is it not?
But that is exactly what all of us have done. We all have turned away from the creator God who has made and shaped us and we all have said “NO, I don’t want to live for you, you’ve made me into this, but I don’t want to be it, I’ll choose what I want to be”.

As ludicrous as the clay saying to the potter “No”, it’s the same with God and us. We have no right to say to God “No”, but we have.

Oh, we are such sinful creatures. We have all turned away from God and walked our own way and rejected Him.

But that is why it’s all the more confusing why God would ever send His son for us. The one who was perfect. He sent His one and only Son, the one who listened, the one who honored His Father, the one who did the will of God. He went willingly to the cross so that we could come back to God. Jesus was sent for US so that we could come back to God and live for HIM.

I want to remind you of one verse. I hope it brings out clearly what Jesus did. It comes from Romans 5:7-9:

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”

He did this so you could have life and life to the full. Believe in Him and live for Him. Let Him guide you and let Him be the one that follow and live by what you were intended for. For the praise of His glory

“No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and made us waste away because of our sins.

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD;
do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look upon us, we pray,
for we are all your people.”
Isaiah 64:7-9

A short sharing by Carey