John 8:1-12
Pharisees
= leaders in church (religion)
= hypocrites, crooks
= cheat the people of their money
John 8:4-5
The Pharisees hated Jesus,
dint believe that Jesus is teh son of God,
they dont understand why a Holy Saviour would reach out to the sinners.
The Pharisees wanted to find fault with Jesus,
therefore asked Jesus what to do with the
adultery,
they wanted to set a trap for Jesus.
John 8:6
The oldest Pharisee thought that he can be the first one to cast the first stone on the woman who committed adultery, Jesus was writing commandment number 4 on the floor, and the oldest Pharisee saw it at the corner of his eye and the Holy Spirit confronted him because the old Pharisee did not honour his father and his mother.
The second Pharisee came along, wanted to cast the first stone on the woman and he saw Jesus writing the commandment "Do not lie" on the floor and the Holy Spirit came and confronted the second Pharisee, telling him that he lied, cheated the people of their money and was not worthy to throw the first stone.
Third Pharisee came and saw Jesus writing the commandment "Do not commit adultery", and the third Pharisee too, was not worthy to cast the first stone on the woman.
All the Pharisees tried and all of them was not worthy to cast the first stone on the woman and therefore the woman was not condemned.
John 8:9
We stand guilty in the presence of God,
if we say that we have not sinned, we are lyign to ourselves.
Romans 3:23
The woman was the scapegoat set by the Pharisees.
She was being framed and Jesus told her "Go your way, and sin no more!".
Only Jesus is allowed to cast the first stone on the woman,
because no one had ever not sinned before except
Jesus.John 8:10-11
The weight of sins was broken.
For the first time, the woman felt pure and sweet love.
Q. Why didn't Jesus fulfill the commandment of the law?[God is not going to overlook sin,
sinning is condemned and is a very important thing to deal with.]
A. Jesus was already on His way to the calvary to die for everyone's sins.(deepest meaning of calvary)
holes in your souls = holes on His hands
Building a life of faithWalk with God until you have a truth in Him.
1) Faith is the substance of and evidence of things hoped for.Hebrews 11:1
eg. pregnant women
you cannot see the baby in the woman's stomach,
but you know and you know that the baby is inside the stomach of the woman.
Be bold and courageous when God tells you something.
Step out in faith and do it.
2) Faith is a conviction.Conviction = "It will surely happen"
Conviction = "things will never change"
eg. if you study hard, good results will come forth.
dont be double-minded, and allow your faith to grow bit by bit.
3) Faith is not passive but very active.Faith is NOT praying, faith is work.
4) Faith puts Satan(devil) on the run.eg. bullies
when you bully people, you get excited,
and you would continue to bully that person.
but when you got bullied, you would run away.
Dont let the devil disturb or bully you,
but you go and disturb the devil,
and teach others who dont know how to disturb the devil,
make the devil run.
Be strong like David.
not everything is so smooth, so overcome the devil.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Living out God's best for youOur church is going up to a new level, which means our cellgroup is going up to a new level also.
God has set aside something for you, ask God what is it.
Mark 10:27With God, all things are possible.
Two truths about God:1st truth: Nothing is impossibleMatthew 19:26Jeremiah 22:26-27Luke 1:36-37Genesis 18:13-14God is saying that nothing is impossible for God.
Matthew 17:30Think from God's perspective.
We go through negative things but God is positive,
therefore all the negative things would become positive.
Negative kingdom -> Positive kingdomeg. sunglasses
We love to put on negative sunglasses, but God always takes them off us,
sunglasses like low-self esteem, no confidence, failure.
We should take all of them off us.
2nd truth: Whatever God says will be doneIsaiah 14:26-27No one can stop God's purpose for you.
Mark 4:35 - Mark 5:1Acts 23:11-12
Paul escaped the assassin who tried to kill him.
Act 24:27Everything has its own season and time, according to God's word.
Three things you need to do:1) Expect God to do something new in your life.Isaiah 55:8-9Make room for God, expect somthing from God.
How to make room for God?
Example: Setting away time to pray, etc.
Ezekiel 26:26Be open to new things
Try new things, God sees it.
2) Exchange your low life for God's high lifeMatthew 10:38-39Giving God a part of you, giving a sacrifice.
Jesus -> head of body
Exchange your life for something new.
Hebrews 2:6-7Hebrews 2:9No cross -> No crown
Disciples of Jesus exchanged their lives for something new.
3) Receive anointing of GodPsalms 23:5head -> mind
Our minds are to be anointed by the Holy Spirit.
1 John 2:20When we go through our lives with God, expect somthing higher from Him.
Luke 15:1-2The man was hurting the people who loves Him.
Luke 15:3"prodigal" = wasteful, wild, reckless
He squandered everything away.
Proverbs 16Luke 15:14-16eg. The "traffic" example
He suffered the loss of friends.
Luke 15:17He decided to repent and make a 180degree turnback.
Luke 15:20The father might be mocked at for being stubbornly waiting for his son to return but he never give up waiting for the son to come back by his side.
This speaks of God always humbling Himself to come and find us, cleanse us, clothe us with the clothes of righteousness.
Luke 15:24Parable of the Lost Son = God's love for the people
A TRUE STORYIn 1971, there's a man who would never treasure his wife. He would stole his wife's money, abuse her and would be involved in shady activities. In the end, he squandered the money away and even wrote fake cheques. The Court sentenced him 3 years of prison. In the prison, he thought about his wife and also longed for her but he did not know if his wife would forgive him. During the period when he was going be released, he thought and wrote a letter to his wife saying that if she would forgive him, then tie a yellow ribbon on an old oak tree in their old town.
On the day of his release, he will so nervous and anxious when he was on the bus towards the old town. Many of the people on the bus begged the driver to drive slowly when it is reaching the town or when it reaches the town. When they reached the old town, He was surprised as he did not see one yellow ribbon on the old oak tree, he saw hundreds and hundreds of them.
From this story, we could see that God is also always longing to tie the ribbons on the oak tree as long as we are willing to turnback and repent. Let's not forsake God as He does not forsake us nor shortchange us neither.
Friday, March 10, 2006
A man who amputated his legs years ago due to infection kept on praying for the day that he
will finally get back his legs. One day, a group of pastors n workers came to the village
on a mission to meet needs n bless them. The villagers brought the handicapped man forward
to them and told them all about his wishes
Then, the pastor told the man,"u've seen us come, go n buy a pair of shoes." Immediately,
the handicapped man went n came back with a pair of new shoes.
As all the pastors n workers closed their eyes n laid hands on him n prayed in tongues, and the pastor earlier on said,"oh god for u have seen the faith that this man has shown. We pray in Jesus Almighty name that he be blessed now"
And immediately aft they opened their eyes, they saw that the man had both his legs back!
So astounded n astonished were the passer-bys and onlookers that they knelt down n bowed
their heads to worship god. Even the handicapped man wore his shoes, got out of his
wheelchair n knelt down crying. News of this miracle spread throughout the village and
everyone who heard n saw went on bended knee praising god.
Frens, other than always seeking and requesting for it, faith is another impt element
in powerful miracles. Faith, as in this man who kept on praying for such an "unrealistic
fact" that he will get back his legs one day, without resigning to his own fate. Faith, as in this man who immediately went to buy a pair of shoes even though it seems "so impossible" that he will ever get to wear them. Faith as in the roman officer who asked that Jesus say the word only and his servant be healed (matthew 8:5-13). Faith as in lyk wad Jesus quoted about moving a mountain (matthew 17:20).
The reason y many christians do not see miracles in our daily society, is because they
did not have enough faith. Lyk wad Bro MJ said, ppl nvr really see the power of god,
because they did nothing. Likewise, ppl nvr really see the power of god, because
they did not have faith! No faith-No miracles-Disappointment-No commitment-Backslide.
Lets have faith frens, n so we shall grow spiritually stronger at the end of the day ^.^
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The man with the withered handLuke 4:18-19
Mark 3:1
There was a man with the withered hand.
withered = gk. "xeraino"
= shriveled up, dry up, burn and die
When your mentality shrink,
you start to move back.
Dont be diminished in your thinking.
When it's time to reach out, it's not difficult.
Apply the four things that Pastor Kong taught.
We have got to grow in our mentality.
With every problem, there is an answer attached to it.Every problem determines if you can go up to another level.
Turn
problems into opportunities.
Noah's ark = church
sometimes it will not be clean or good because animals live in the ark.
Three things:1) Hand of God = healingMark 16:17-18
Jesus = author and source of healing
Satan = Author and source of sickness
Jehovah Rapha = God, our healer
have a great attitude, that even though my God dont come true for me,
I will still surely stand strong for my God,
I will still surely trust in my God.
Dont be weak in your gaith.
2)Finger of God = casting our demonsLuke 11:19
Finger of God can set you free.
Mark 3:2
Mark 3:3
Mark 3:5
Stretch out your hand and step out of faith.
Go where Jesus is.
laying on of hands = impartation of grace into your life
Be ready to receive the power of God.
Step in the realm of God.
Step out of faith and step out by faith.
3) Arm of God = God's Salvationoften church have a withered hand.
when it comes to reaching out,
"No la, cannot la, difficult la!"
Come on guys, let's take all of these out of our lives.
Dont be passive.
Let's do something for the lost. Amen?
Isaiah 51:16
So guys, come on, let reach out to the lost together,let's have the energy, urgency and fire to reach out to the lost,Amen?
Matthew 8:1-3
Jesus heard the leper,
He did not preach the gospel, He demonstrated it,
by healing the leper.
Mark 5:21-23
Jesus cared about showing love and not only about healing.
Mark 5:43
Jesus Fed the girl with something to eat.
Jesus cared about her.
Mark 6:33-37
No matter who you are, you can make a difference in the people's lives.
John 8:10-12
Dont be a "mean" christian.
John 9:1-3
Jesus knows that we are living in a broken-down world,
therefore Jesus came and meet our needs.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
SEASONS
Acts 1:6-7 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying,'' Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'' And He said to them, '' It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everyting there is a season
Timing is everything, timing is the understanding of the season
Bless is the man that know the seasons of his life'
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart
Seasons will change. They will take charge of you.
When the time is there, it will come
Stay with the season, flow with it and be busy with the right things that brings fruition
Zehchariah 10:1Ask the Lord for rain, In the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds, He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone.
Grass in the field for everyone. This the season of fruition.You havent seen anything yet-Rev Pastor Ulf
The changing of season, you are going to do something you have never done in your life- Rev Pastor Ulf
"If it is gone, it will come, if it comes, it will be good, if it is good, it will last forever"Pastor Ulf