Message on 24 Jan 07

Harlow everyone!!! It's me again every Wednesday... how has the week been for you all???

For me, it's been quite rough... running into some really difficult problems at the moment... Haiz... but need a lot of prayer and strength to overcome. Please continue to pray for me and my family... I believe that the Lord has His plans for us though we might not see it so clearly for the moment.... ;-(

Well, we had an excellent time this Saturday at Haoyih and Haoning's place, hadn't we? Their family was supremely hospitable... excellent cooks too!!! (Yum yum...) Thanks so much Haoyih and Haoning for your 'ai4 xin1 xing2 dong4'!!! It must have been a tough clearing-up!!! But you all have thought of very interesting methods for group sharing yah??? I enjoyed my 'Me' group's 'Jenga'-sharing method... very novel idea... might try that for some camps too... hahaha

Hm... but I certainly do hope that the earlier part of the fellowship (i.e. the worship and the conclusion to our theme of 'Fellowship') was not cast into oblivion.... There are definitely times for us to have tonnes of fun, but at the end of the day, I feel the need to impress upon us all that the fellowship exists not on the basis of fun, but on deeper spiritual principles.

Recalling what Pastor Hwang preached on Sunday, let us not neglect the real purpose of fellowship, which is to support one another in Christ! We exist because we are One in Spirit, in Faith, in our Lord Jesus. In essence, what I've been trying to emphasise to all of us since the start of this 2006~2007 year (despite my gross inept command of Mandarin), is this: The very fact that distinguish us from all other 'fellowships' or 'clubs' or 'street-gangs' etc, is none other than our Lord, Jesus Christ, the foundation of our faith and fellowship. He is the reason why we meet together!!!

It's hilariously amusing to note that Pastor Hwang described our fellowship as a vibrant group of youths, full of vitality!! And indeed, I praise the Lord for BLESSING our fellowship with these!!! BUT, I did catch myself pondering over another issue... would our fellowship still exist if the vibrancy dies away? Would we still treasure the need to come together and support one another spiritually when the fun is gone, when the days are dark and the front is bleak?

I'm confident, brothers and sisters of 1723, that so long as we get the fundamentals of 'why fellowship' right, there would always exist a reason for us to meet. We fellowship not only IN CHRIST, but also WITH CHRIST. Let us not, therefore, overright the command that we should not cease to fellowship with one another (Hebrews 10:24~25)

Why such a draggy round-about message, you may ask...(I must really sound like a debater by now!) You might have guessed already!!! We're transitting into a new phase of spiritual growth, now that we embark on our new fellowship theme of 'Worship'. This theme, as compared with 'Fellowship', is just as important an aspect of Christian faith. However, I can't say that we would have as much outdoor activities and fun during the course of learning this theme. In fact, the last 3 themes are meant to be of theoretical gravity, so while we continue to have fun, we must, must, must never lose sight of the goals that we set for spiritual growth.

Because, at the end of the day, when we all leave 1723 (for chronological reasons), I sincerely hope and pray that in addition to the extremely strong bonds of Christian love that binds us, we will take with us a baggage of spiritual lessons that has shaped our lives these 6 years, and will continue to direct us for the future walk with God ahead.

Having said my 2-cents worth, let me come to some announcements... We're still meeting at the choir room at 4pm on Saturday and Zhiqi would lead us in worship! After that, I'll have the honour to introduce our new theme of 'Worship' to us, the theme verse, the theme song, and the theme challenge (not easy this one, so brace-up!!!). Then, Biyao daoshi will lead us to do xiaozu xin1 ling2 wu4 yu3 for us to share our thoughts on the topic. Do come down early!!! We really hope to start at 4pm!!

And yes, fellowship committee, please check your emails for the finalised meeting agenda, which should be ready by tonight. Do take a look at the agenda before Saturday, especially appendix 2, which I intend to propose to the committee.

And yes, fellowship committee, please check your emails for the finalised meeting agenda, which should be ready by tonight. Do take a look at the agenda before Saturday, especially appendix 2, which I intend to propose to the committee.

Just reiterating a verse here: Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope, when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ---Ephesians 4:3~6

May we continue to fellowship in Christ for this reason.... that we are common in so many areas pertaining to our spirituality. May God continue to bless 1723 as we grow in understanding of His will for us all!!

In His Service,Zhaomin

Message on 18 Jan 07

Hello dearest brothers and sisters of 1723!!!

I've a piece of good news to share with you all on my part!!! A friend of mine has just accepted Christ recently!!! I've even brought him to our fellowship before during the April evangelistic outreach our fellowship had last year! His name is Kairong, currently also studying with me in medical school year 3. He's been my classmate since J1, and I've witnessed to him since J1 all the way till last year. In fact, I would have thought that he was earnestly seeking the Truth, just that he was unwilling to take the step of faith. Chatting over msn with him late on Monday night, I had a pleasant surprise when he told me that he had the joy of knowing the Lord! He was already reading the Bible on his own and praying too!!! My heart was full of praise to the Lord for His wonderful leading of my friend to know Him in such a personal way too!!! Hallelujah!! (I've invited him to our fellowship this Saturday... he's very willing to come to what he calls as 'the House of hs Lord', but he's gotta check his schedule) Wow!!!

And I'm certainly glad to hear that many of our fellowship members did pay a visit to Louise in NUH!!! Apparently, there was a 'scout party' on Sunday afternoon involving some of us, while the 'rear guard' went on Monday afternoon! Hahaha!!! I was part of the latter, and I'm very very glad to hear that both groups of 1723 members did manage to pray for Louise and her family! Indeed, I think that marks a certain degree of fulfilment of John 13:34~35! Here's the love that Christ wants us to display to the world!!! The love for brothers and sisters in God's family shines distinctly in our faith! Well done, prayer warriors!!! Keep up the work!!!

Right... so how are you all this week? Since our first Bible Study of the year on Saturday, have your appetite for fellowship been whetted? Hahaha!!!! Anyways, I've received feedback that our fellowship is still quite a far cry from the shao nian sheng jing fang. I guess we all still appear unfamiliar to each other and there's a whole lot of inertia for us to break the ice. Hm.... despite the many games that we had in the past weeks, most of us actually know little about our newest members, save for their JC, their subject combinations and their CCAs. This would thus, lead me to my next point regarding this Saturday's event...

Haoyih and Haoning's family has very generously offered our fellowship an opportunity to come over to their house this saturday! Their family is also treating us to dinner too!! (Very nice of them right??) Thanks Haoyih, Haoning and your family!!! After quite a bit of deliberation between the group leaders and myself, we decided that we could have the xiao zu activity at their place too!! We would still meet up in church at 4pm SHARP, for worship and for me to conclude our 2-month long theme of 'Fellowship' before we carry out our usual but essential prayer network activity. Only after that would we adjourn to Haoyih and Haoning's place.

HOWEVER, as I've mentioned before, the xiao zu activity's primary objective is to allow the group members to know each other more, with special attention on the newer members. I hate being a killjoy, but I certainly do hope that this critical objective is not omitted among the camaraderie! There would be alot of games and fun, but do make sure, my dearest group leaders, that we do not neglect this opportunity to get your groups together to have a deeper sharing? (I would personally suggest dinner time... when all of us would be sitting and mouthing food anyway. It's a good time for group leaders to have their little pep-talk!!^^)

After which, of course, we can have basketball game, watch movie or play some really interesting (but mentally-challenging games thought out by our hostesses). Basically, we'll have fun too!!!

Hm... some housekeeping matters to address here. With regards to our tuanqi T-shirt, we have yet to issue everyone with a set. This is chiefly due to a lack of T-shirts in our hands. Hence, we would be passing out a list again for fellowship members especially our newer members, to indicate the T-shirt colour preference and size this Saturday so Preacher Ruifu can make the orders early!!! We really hope to see uniformity in diversity when we go for da tang xian shi next!!! (Hahaha!!!)

Rebekah, our publicity IC for 1723 has been tasked as project manager for the booth that our fellowship would be setting up pretty soon! Pastor Hwang has mentioned before that each fellowship would be setting up booths to attract mere church-goers to be zealous fellowshippers! Of course, Rebekah would need a hand in this project, and she would be requesting a team of creative, artistic, resourceful, and most of all, COMMITTED volunteers from our fellowship to help her! Afterall, this is a fellowship mission, so why not? Volunteers anyone??? ^^

Okie dokie.... that's enough yakking for me today... hope I haven't bored you all to death!! ;-( Let me leave you all with a verse for this week:

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house fo the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.--Psalm 27:4

This is taken from one of the Psalms written by King David as he remarked how important the Lord's presence was to him. This verse really inspires me as I reflect on my own life. How often do I actually thirst after the Lord? Do I really enjoy the Lord's presence and yearn for His company everyday? While King David doesn't imply that we do nothing else but to loaf around in church, (mind you, he is the King and has a country to run!!!), he is actually indicating the desire of his heart to be one in Spirit with the Lord, to be ever more close to the Lord, to hear the Lord's tender whisper from time to time...

May we also learn to be like King David (also known as the Man after God's heart), to seek after the Lord's presence, to desire His company in our lives...Till we meet again, brothers and sisters of 1723, let the Lord be our constant companion, through good times and bad. May He be the REASON for living and for our fellowship to be bonded as one. God Bless!!!

In His Service,Zhaomin