The New Testament Church

Hey there all fireBRANDS blog readers. I bet you all are wondering and thinking to yourselves "What happened at fireBRANDS last week?" Well the wait is over cause here's the update on last week's youth service. 

First, pre-service prayer as usual

Then we have ice-breakers!!! 

Led by Vanessa Khoo 

Object of the game: Find someone with a fact that begins with A, B, C and so on

And finally we have someone who had the most facts about someone else. And that person is.........

Sarah Khoo!! 

Next, it was time for worsship.

We had a little surprise during worship, everyone get into pairs. Those above 17 prayed for their pair ( below 17)

And we continued worshiping 

Right before the preacher for that night was about to preach, everyone had to do a little exercise. To awaken yourself. And what better way to do that than to...........

Massage each others shoulder. Relaxing ain't it not?? 

Without any further delay, introducing the speaker for the night *drum-roll* 

Sharon Leow

The topic for the night:

The Church Aflame

We (the church) should be like the New Testament Church in Acts. It was difficult to teach in that time period but still, they did it. How did they do it and save millions?? 

They were : 

1. on fire for Christ

2. found true fellowship in Christ 

3. fully surrendered in Christ.

Here's a video to help you guys out

On Fire for Christ

Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Desire to Evangelize

This is how they were on fire for God. Not many people are keen on evangelizing their friends. The apostles desire to evangelize is for the Great Commission. They knew the importance of the Great Commission.   

Matthew 28:19-20(NIV)

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Passion to Evangelize

The apostles believe that there is a time:

- for prayer

-worship 

-time (or in short devotion) for God.

 Nowadays we're usually "compartmentalize" God. The apostles belief that prayer, worship and devotion to God was what made them grow and have the courage to speak and stand up! It made the crowd swell up form 120 to millions. The passion for God reminds us of the need to fulfill the Great Commission. 

 

Acts 4:31 (NIV)

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Acts 5:14(NIV)

¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

-Miracles will happen, lives to be changed- all that if we have the passion for God






True Fellowship in Christ

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Unity is something important.The apostles were bound by love and this is what unites them in whatever circumstances.

Love ---> Unity ---> Revival

Two Is Better Than One

Welcome to the firebrands' blog

A place for those that are young, 

And also for those that are young at heart!

Fun fact about being young - It doesn't care whether you're 5, 15 or 50 years of age :D

The young gathering for - 

- a time of pre-pre service prayer

"For where two or three people gather in My name, there I am with them"

So, we pretty much had someone pretty who pretty much came back from Australia and gave us a pretty good time of not one, but two icebreakers to make sure that we're pretty warm to each other :)

It's a finger, no, its a digit, no, its Super Numbers!

A game that is pretty much like Rock, Paper and Scissors, only that the number shown at the end must be totalled up and then multiplied by two. 

And, Icebreaker #2. If I'm not mistaken, its called . . . . . Wait for it. . . . . .

"Tookie Tookie". (George of the Jungle?)

Pretty much a game of "Tag-You're-It!" blended together with distractions that would be difficult to explain here

Tookie Tookie doing her thing 

Tookie Tookie doing her thing #2

Tookie Tookie doing her thing #3

(Where's a guy Tookie??)

And after all the hype and fun, comes more hype and fun + a time of praise and worship as we tell God to

Take, Take, Take it all

Take, Take, Take it all!

Of course, before going on to the next session we had this lady *points below*

To welcome a newcomer for that night.
Welcome, Er Xuan! *Picture was too pretty. Blogger experienced a problem.*

Oh, and remember the game in the firebrands' Facebook page where we are asked to identify three people whose faces have been blocked out? Well, Isaac does. And so do the winners of the game, which are Natasha and Justin. So now we know who's a CSI freak. Hmm.. 

Since the night is still pretty much young, this time, instead of one, we pretty much had two young people lined up to share on the Word of God which will never.. I repeat, NEVER get old! 

A white haired, depressed looking man with his hands constantly on his head, scratching it as though he's bound by a curse. That's what came to my mind when Shiau Ting asked about our opinions on worrying. Yep, that's what she talked about. Worries.

A worry is _____________.
- To fell uneasy about something.
- Nothing less than a mental burden.
- The exact opposite of trusting God.

Why worry? Because _____________.
- It accomplishes nothingness.
- According to science, worrying cause depressions (A not-so-fun fact).
- God doesn't seem capable of handling any situation.
- You want to waste your time.
So, unless these four is what you want, stop worrying!
Matthew 6:26-27, " Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? "

And when the worry worm strikes,

Giving worries and the like, 

You can show 'em you're strong and fight,

And turn wrong things in your life back to right. 

How To Fight Off The Worry Worm for Dummies You!

Worry → Stop → Pray

- God doesn't provide worries, but instead, solutions.

-Trust in God and have faith because He's capable of handling even the most complicated problems this world has ever seen

Give thanks

-By doing so, it help us remember His goodness to us, and it will help reduce our worries when we count our blessings :)

"Okay so... What do we need in our walk with God?" asked Ken-Jeen, speaker number two.
1) Faith. Trust. Belief. 
Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"
-Once again, the topic of not worrying is brought to light when he said that we need faith that God is there for us. Worry not!
- God does miraculous miracles, and if you're smart enough, you'd know by now that miracles aren't merely coincidental.

2) Have time for God
Luke 6:12 tells us that even Jesus went up to the mountainside to pray.
- No matter how busy we are, there's always a free time for us to spend with God. Its a matter of will. Think about it. If you have time for Facebook, Twitter, etc, why not God?
- Borrowing and slightly altering a phrase from a movie, one does not simply work for 24 hours and not spend time with God.

3) Strength
Isaiah 41:10, "So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
- Times come when we don't get what we want (After all, the world doesn't revolve around us, so stop sulking), and its times like these that we have to be strong to handle things like these.
-God makes certain decisions in our life for our own good. Don't backslide because you don't get what you want. Be strong!

4) Prayer
- Prayer is something like. . . . Talking to a friend on a phone. You don't see that friend, but you know that he/she is on the other end of the line.
- God listens to our every whine, praise, complain, requests and thanksgiving, and He answers all of them in His own way. Be alert to Him :)
- Again, borrowing and altering a tagline from a product, anytime is prayer time

5) Self-esteem (a.k.a. Confidence)
- People tend to bring your self-esteem down whether they notice it or not and when it happens, confront them in a nice way. Tell them that what they've done has hurt you.
- Seek God. He'll calm you down and as it is written in Ezekiel 33:16 that God forgives and forgets, learn from His ways. It brings about a better feeling too.

6) Have a clear vision in life
-How are you to serve the Lord in life?
-Have you even considered putting what God asks of you in your life's vision?
-Changing visions will confuse you, so pray about it before acting on it :)

Service ended with Sarah wrapping things up for the night. Do come again next week as we have someone special to speak ;) See you and God bless you! :)

Are You Set Apart?

A place where you get to know what happened in service,

A place to keep you updated,

A place to see all the familiar faces...

Where else can it be?

Yes that's right.*bingo* Welcome to fireBRANDS  blog. Guess what happened last week?

We had pre-service as usual at 7:15 sharp.

We prayed for one another., according to their needs

Next,it's ice breaker time! Ice breaker was led by our very own Natasha Gregory.

Each person is required to take a piece of paper and write three facts about yourself.( excluding the obvious ones).After finished writing, papers would be collected, jumbled up, and taken by everyone each.

Kelly: What to write? Teach me!

Vanessa: Nah,write like that..

 

Everyone should then find their *mysterious friend* who wrote on the paper.

Found you!

After that, 

Natasha: Please sit down with your partner in a circle.And pray for your partner this week.

Wait, don't go! That's not all. We got more! 

No more guessing people, but time to take out the thinking box!

Reach for any hand you can find and hold on to it. It isn't that easy!

Try untangling yourself without losing your grip.

The *ladies*

vs

the *gentlemen's*

 

Oops,quick!Their getting to an end !

Yes, and that ends ice breaker.

After that,we move on to worship,led by Eulene and her team.

After worship, we had someone special in our midst. Guess who!

No, not really.. 

Its none other than Chan Ming Yen!

So what did Ming Yen shared about?

Being Set Apart

Question 1: Did you know that you are set apart?

And what does it mean by set apart?

= a) To select or reserve someone/something for a specific purpose

b) Holy (to be blameless before God and man)

c) Made to be different

Question 2: How do we know that we are set apart?

=God Himself says that we are reserved for a specific purpose holy and made different.

- Timothy(2:20-22)

²⁰ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. ²¹ Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Question 3: How do we know that we are the noble utensils  and how do we know we are to fulfill His plans?

- Start from the very beginning and build up your foundations like..

a) Giving God the best- Put God as your number 1 priority

b)Love your neighbor as yourself- Love one another as God first love us

c) Thanksgiving- It has the power to change something bad to good

- It will make God move

- It will lead us to His presence.

Question 4: Who do we rely on if we are set apart?

= God and also the Holy Spirit

-The Holy Spirit is our friend, helper, counselor and comforter

  

Question 5: what privileges do we have if we are set apart?

-God will always support us in all things.

-We will be given confidence

Question 6: Why did God set us apart?

=To declare His praise and mercy to others.

= That you may give glory to Him.

* All things are possible if we have help. So if we have the Holy Spirit, we can do all things*

Come back next time to see and read more :)

regards

*unknown*