Re: Discerning God’s Will in Your Life

I’m sorry for not updating recently, there’s no excuse: I’ve just been lazy, so I apologize.

This last Friday, Pastor Stephen Tan gave an insightful overview of not just knowing God’s Will, but the nature of God’s Will in general. Perhaps one of the most important principles he taught was that God’s will is not always revealed. Sometimes God wants us to trust Him before He reveals it; because a lot of the time, we only want to know God’s Will so we can pick-and-choose. He also stated that, while God is sovereign over all things (mentioning issues such as election, foreknowledge along with free-will), we should just acknowledge His sovereignty as a part of “mind-your-own-business” theology. This is ultimately God’s business, and to us, we only need to worry about what God reveals to us. 

Pastor Tan mentioned six things we already know about God’s Will (taken verbatim from his worksheet):

1. It is God’s Will that you be saved: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

2. Be Controlled by His Word and Spirit:

^“18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.¹⁹Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 ²¹Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph. 5:18-21). 

“¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col. 3:16-17).

3. Love God and Surrender to His Will:

“³⁷Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37) 

4. Live a Sanctified (Holy) Life:

“ ³It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; ⁶and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.” (1 Thess. 4:3-6)

5. Obey Legitimate Authority

“¹³Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. ¹⁵For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. ” (1 Pet. 2:13-15) 

6. Be a Thankful Person 

“¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Another important principle was given: God’s will will never contradict His Word. This is why we must know the Bible well.

There were 8 ‘road signs’ or guidelines for decision making that Pastor Tan mentioned. He noted that while these were good indications of God’s will, they were not necessary indications that something is God’s will:

1. Surrender–We must surrender and trust our decisions to God’s will, even if it isn’t revealed. 

2. Prayer–We must always pray to God for guidance.

3. Holy Spirit–The Holy Spirit will tell us and guide us.

4. Circumstances–If circumstances set before us seem to guide us towards a decision, or rather, reaffirm some decisions.

5. Peace in Your Heart–Even if some decisions may defy logic, God may give us peace to reaffirm a decision in line with His Will.

6. Your Own Desires–God designed us so sometimes our desires are an indication of what God wants us to do.

7. Godly Advice–Seek advice from Christian friends, or from pastors and elders.

8. Common Sense–Sometimes God’s will may contradict common sense, but more often than not, “God gave most of the guidance you need when He gave you a brain.”

Pastor Tan warned against the use of “signs” and other types of “tests” to see if something was God’s will, because this edged on what the pagans do. Doing things like “IF so-and-so happens, then it must be God’s will!” even if “so-and-so” might be a ridiculous condition. He instead encouraged praying for “faith-builders”, that is, circumstances that affirm our decision made in faith. So, rather than signs before we make decisions, circumstances that affirm our decisions.

He also warned against the thinking that God’s Will for our life is something like a “plan a” “plan b” type organization, especially in issues like marriage. God’s Will won’t contradict the Bible, so if you get married, God’s will won’t be for you to get divorced if there are troubles. For me, -girl- who I marry won’t be “plan b” for me, but rather, the moment I say the marriage vows, God’s Will for me is to stay loyal to that girl no matter what. 

Thank you for reading this, hopefully it was a useful summary!

 

Shalom Kairos Joint Event

Shalom and Kairos are meeting together this friday! 

Where: King George Park, Number 5 and Cambie

When: 7 pm

We are going to be playing some team-games, and hopefully everything will go well so please come and enjoy the fellowship!

 

Re: What is man?

In our discussion on this topic, we focused on the subject of dignity. On one hand, we learned that God is all-powerful, and that He created the Universe in all its majesty and unfathomable scale; what are we but tiny specks? On the other hand, we remembered that God Himself came down to Earth to save us, the ones He loves. 

The main thing we took out of the discussion was that we ought to have dignity in our position as children of God, loved and taken care of by our Lord.

 

Re: All I ever needed to know, I learned in Ephesians

Thank you again to Dwight for giving us a strong summary of the book of Ephesians. Most of these notes are directly from his power-point presentation.

Ephesians is one of the best books in the Bible for getting an overview of the Christian Faith. It can be roughly divided into two parts, chapters 1-3 discuss Christian Truth and Doctrine, while chapters 4-6 discuss Christian Practice and Living.

Christian Truth and Doctrine

Ephesians 1

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” (11-12)

We are chosen in Christ and we should respond with praise and thanksgiving. 

This chapter also brings in the relatively controversial topic of predestination. Dwight gave us a few points on how we can approach this often hard-to-swallow doctrine. We ought to think about the sovereignty of God and the grace of God in His choosing of His people.

Ephesians 2

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,…For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—…Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,” (6, 8, 19)

We are changed through grace. Through Christ we become citizens and children of God’s Kingdom.

Ephesians 3

“Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” (8)

As chosen people we are called to share Christ.

This links into predestination (Dwight mentioned it during Ephesians 1); we ought to evangelize because God not only chooses who He saves but also the method by which they receive the truth, furthermore, the Gospel itself is such wonderful news that we cannot keep quiet about it.

Ephesians 4-5:20

We are to model the character of Christ.

There are three things that distinguish the character and family of Christ:

 

1. Unity (1-13)
2. Maturity (14-16)
3. Purity (4:17-5:20)

 

Ephesians 5:21-6:9

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (21)

Our conduct must be worthy of Christ.

This chapter says that our relationships ought to have specific elements:

1. Respect of roles (i.e. Slaves and Masters, Children and Parents, Wives and Husbands).
2. Responsibilities (i.e. Husbands have to take care of their wives, Parents ought not to exasperate their children)
3. Reciprocity (i.e. submitting to one another)

Ephesians 6:10-24

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (18)

 We are to continue in Christ through His Word and through prayer.

All I ever needed to know, I learned in Ephesians:

 

• Chosen in Christ
• Changed by Christ’s grace.
• Called to share Christ.
• Character of Christ.
• Conduct of Christ.
• Continue in Christ.

 

 

 

All I ever needed to know, I learned in Ephesians.

This week our very own Dwight will be giving us a talk on the book of Ephesians, summing up what we’ve learned in our past Bible studies and giving us a nice overall view of what the book is about.

Meet us in the Kairos room for this week.

 

What is Man?

“What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?“

-Psalm 8:4

This week, we will get to truly know the meaning of the verse above–we will not only get to think about the majesty of the Universe and its Creator, but also to know how to put that knowledge into practice.

 

Re: Parable Night

Last night we discussed the different aspects of intelligence, or different types of intelligence, as researched in many different schools. The 6 different types that were given were: Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Spatial, Musical, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal.

We were then asked, based on our types of intelligences, to depict the parable of the lost sheep, coin and son in a unique way. For example, the Musically-inclined people were asked to write a song.

We learned the simple but important fact that God will love us and look for us even after we have failed Him many times. Praise God for His forgiveness.

 

Parable Night

We’re going to learn more about the parables in the New Testament through Multiple Intelligence test Activities!

Please respond to the email that Phoebe sent out to RSVP her. Or, if you don’t have it, contact me at philipallenmar@hotmail.com

 

Re: Ephesians 6:10-24–Power

The two main principles we learned from this Bible study were:

1. God equips us to stand firm against the Devil’s schemes.
2. We must pray on all occasions, but at the same time pray with what God wants in mind.

We went briefly through the different parts of the armor of God:

• Belt of Truth–Keeps everything together, the truth makes things clear and makes things coherent, allowing us to stand firm.
  
• Breastplate of Righteousness–Protects vital organs of our body; righteousness protects us from untruths hitting our vital parts.
• Boots-Readiness that comes from the gospel of peace–The gospel of peace, the Good News, is our firm foundation.
• Shield of Faith-By trusting in Jesus, we are able to repel any type of flaming arrows, or lies, from the evil one.
• Helmet of Salvation-Identifies us with Christ, keeps our vision forward, and protects the head (i.e. most important part)
• Sword of the Spirit- The Word of God, interpreted and used correctly. Bible verses can be our one way to ‘attack back’ against untruths, but it must be used in the correct context, we must look to God for enlightenment in this respect.

We learned that, to pray in the Spirit means praying with God’s will in mind, and not only our own desires. We know we should, at all times, be honest with God, but we shouldn’t just come to Him superficially; our prayers should be focused on God, not us.

 

Ephesians 6:10-24–Power

This Friday we will conclude our Bible study series on Ephesians, with Ephesians 6:10-24. This passage emphasizes the importance of readiness in spiritual warfare. It discusses how important it is to “put on” the armour of God (and knowing what each represents) and to know God’s will through prayer.