Saturday, March 19, 2011

how to fish?!



This is the Spot-The-Difference Game.


picture 1.

picture 2.



- Service started off with prayer, lead by Sarah Khoo.

prayer points :-

- Japan, for the victims from the earthquake and tsunami tragedy.
- service itself.

- divided ourselves in groups of three, two boys and a girl :)




And of course.... Toilet break/Mingle-mingle time!


Right after that, worship began :)



Lester!
With our weekly announcements.

There is no youth service on the 26th of March, guys!
Youth Wave Challenge at Balik Pulau :D


Without wasting any time, our special speaker was invited.

It's none other than.....




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oh crap, wrong picture.
But this picture has something to do with her message okayyyyyy xP


the short "ice-breaker" before Tania shared the word

correction : the ever smiling Tania !

How. To. Fish.
yes, that was the title of her message.

Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day.
Teach a man how to fish and you'll feed him for life.

How often does our spiritual life seem to peak every Saturday night (when we get 'fish') but then becomes mediocre throughout the rest of the week.
Which is why we need to learn to 'fish' for ourselves - through daily devotions and constantly communing with God every day.

1. Choose a location, your bait, and your hooks. (Prepare!)

- DISCOVER God's truth, and you gotta prepare your surroundings.
Our perspective of our daily devotion shapes our lifestyle.

John 14:23

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

When we do daily devotions, we need to expect that God will encounter us, like how a fisherman expects to catch fish.

If you're struggling to have daily devotions, examine the reason you even have devotions. What do you really want from that invested time?


2. Choose the appropriate bait fishing method.

Be a PRAYER WARRIOR!

Intercession - telling God what He tells us to tell Him. But how do we know what He wants us to tell Him? By listening. If we are sensitive to God, the Holy Spirit will continually intersperse ideas while we pray.

And also through Bible reading. Reflect on God's word.

bible reading + prayer = Good combination.

they work really well together.

So remember, as you read your Bible, pray and talk to God as well! :)

3. Cast your line, wait.

Waiting is a way He tests our hearts. King Saul got impatient with God's ways, as a result he lost the battle (1 Sam 13:8-11)

Even as you wait, keep your finger on the line (like what you do when you wait for fish to bite). Be sensitive to God. Keep your ears and heart open.


4. Hook the fish, pull in the fish.

Like in fishing, there're always gonna be struggles in life.


5. Grab hold of the fish, remove the hook.

Devotion is taking delight in God, in knowledge of who He is to us.

What does it mean to die to self?

To be separated from the world, but alive in Christ.

We discover God's truth, are strengthened and we're able to discern the day.

6. Decide if you are keeping or releasing the fish.

When God speaks to you something, decide if you wanna live by it or not.

and last but not least...

7. REPEAT the process

Dont be satisfied with just ONE fish!

when everything changes, God remains the same,

what about your faith?


Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

- phillipians 2 : 12-13

And so Eunice Lee closed with an apt reminder:
If we don't even have spiritual food, i.e. fish, ourselves (if all we have are fish bones); how are we gonna reach out to others? Are we gonna be giving them fish bones too?

WELCOME PenHOP!!!





It was so GREAT to see PenHOP (Penang House of Prayer)visiting us here ,in firebrands.They started to practise worship about 7 pm. Then, most of us went in to sanctuary 2 to get ready for prayer.by the way,do you know that
the government is
holding 30 000 of Malay BIBLES???Do you know how important bible is to us?Bibles are the ones giving the answers to our questions! Okay...
then we started praying on and on and on and on.After prayer its ice breaking time!Players should be
grouped randomly according to their value.Fun right?Wait till
you see the photo's !
Then we started worship.
The theme is about consuming
fire.Its OBVIOUS ISN'T IT?
The LORD'S fire will never end! How amazing is that!!??Our spirit was lifted while we were singing.Some of us had an encounter with the Holy Spirit and some slained.All you got to do is to have big faith!You can do anything with it but you can't do anything without it.Actually, faith is the most important thing in ife.Do you know that people
?We worshiped with PenHOP for one and a half hour.Quite long right? But it's
still AWESOME!!!

well tht's all for now. we all hope that PenHOP will visit us again!So remember always believe in YOURSELVES!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Double Whammy!

McDonald's is going double! Two burgers in in one bun.

And so is this blog post! Two weeks in one post.

The difference is, one will give you heart attack because it's so unhealthy.

The other will give you the pleasure minus fat and calories. (Yes, I'm comparing this blog post to a burger. A double burger.)

The 26th and the 5th. Here.. we.. go!

...

On two-six and on five we started with prayer at seven at the place they call Two.


26th, Josh led prayer.

[Facebook can show you 627 photos of her and of hers.]
5th, Eulene led.

But here are photos you can't get on Facebook:






Okay then, five minute toilet break.

Two weeks' worth of five minute toilet breaks gives you ten minute toilet break.

Twenty-four weeks' worth of five minute toilet breaks gives you two hour toilet break.

Two hours is how long our service is. Twenty four toilet breaks.

(sorry man you really didn't have to read all that.)


Oh but wait, there's more!

We had icebreakers! on both weeks.

Led by the fun-loving Tania, on both weeks. Doesn't she totally exude fun?!

Okay on the 26th of Feb, we had, the get-down-on-your-knees-and-pull-each-other's-shoes-off game.





Oops. haha.

Not your cup of tea?

Well the Saturday after that was shooting-stars-and-UFOs!

Where only some people take part, and the rest of us laugh at them=D

Stuff a honey star into your stronger nostril..


There's no age limit!

Shoooot! (ever wanted to wish upon a shooting star?)


And oh my goodness, did it really go that far?

That icebreaker totally took your breath away, didn't it.

Now that everyone's warmed and loosened up with relatively empty bladders to top it off..


It's time to worship God through song:)

Worship was led by Yan-Y for one week and Sharon for the other.
But both were phenomenal. God was definitely moving. It's a you-just-have-to-be-there thing.





Right then, announcements, and heyy lookie here there's a new kid on the block! I mean pulpit. Okay, I mean boom stand.

it's Lester!

First up, "any newcomers tonight?" Yes to both nights!

Michelle (ain't she pretty)

and Max (ain't he handsome. oh btw he helps in out fireBRANDS' Reach project. more details can be found on fireBRANDS' official website!)

Also, two very special people, missionaries they are: MJ and David! (hmm yeah the ones you saw using their nostrils to propel honey stars through the air. serious men!)

And heyy look that's the blog you're reading right now!


Moving on, on the 26th of Feb, '11 we had:

Eunice Lee speaking to us.

She spoke on Depression. =/

Realise it or now, 120 million people suffer from major depression, and it is predicted to be the leading cause of death in 2020. Malaysia has a high percentage of people suffering from depression (9%; US has 10%) so it's not a faraway problem in a distant land.

Depression is a disease burden. It affects your whole body (thoughts, feelings, behavior, physical well-being).

But you see the God gives us a spirit of love, of power and of a sound mind.


So what to do when facing depression?
1. Renounce it in the name of Jesus.
2. Discipline our thoughts.
3. Put our hope in God.
4. Stand in the promises of God.
5. Rejoice in God.
6. Confess our sins before God.
7. Watch our health.

Depression is a gradual process if we allow the words of Satan to seep in.
If we're depressed, Satan's happy.

But remember if you're not facing it, keep an eye out for people who may be, and help 'em with the love of Christ:)


Okay now for the 5th of March, '11.

Sharing was different:)

First, find your group! Try not to look lost/confused.


So once everyone's settled in..

..well almost.

We watched a video of what people think church is.

And then, we discussed what we thought church is. In groups, facilitated by facilitators such as:

this guy! (now doesn't he look facilitating?)

So, what is church to you?
Groups sent their representatives up to share, and came up with stuff like:

...oh just watch a few videos! (they're only a few seconds long each)





Well the answer that nailed it was: Church is who we are:)

Okay (I hope the videos loaded well), next question was:

What is the role of the church?

Hmm, brainstorm!



And presenting, fireBRANDS' next preachers:




And the bullseye: The role of the church is to be salt and light!

So then a final video, "The Missional Church".


Simple yet inspiring, about how reaching out is no longer really about bringing people in for revival/evangelistic meetings and stuff, and more about showing the love of Christ wherever we go outside the building.

but wait, there's more!

Last, but not least (it was super duper awesome, actually), we got to watch a video made by fireBRANDS' very own Daniel Tan=) it touched on the fireREACH project at House of Hope; the volunteers who go there every week to give tuition or play football or just hang out with the kids:)

And it posed one serious question: If, for one day, you be anyone you could be, do anything you want to do, and money was no object, what would you do?

Alot of the kids at HoH answered: Main bola (Play football)

Eujin wanted to be a businessman, because a businessman can help many people.

Gary wanted to have a very big sports club, where anyone could come and play, to also reach out to people through sports.

Shaun wanted to be Superman.

Indy wanted an Iron Man suit.

Aunty Cheng See wanted to do God's will in her life.

What about you?

And after that amazinggg, 20-minute video, it was time to go home.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

www.myfirebrands.com

Yes, you heard it! We have officially launched out new website at www.myfirebrands.com
Do check it out! :)
As we are still in beta stage, we would like to heard your opinions/suggestion. Please send em to firebrands.irri@gmail.com


P/S: Please note this blog you're currently reading will still remain but would be use mainly for blogging purposes while our new website will contain all information about fireBRANDS.