今天的圣文

我说：你们当顺着圣灵而行、就不放纵肉体的情欲了。加拉太书4：16

Some thought to ponder

If the call to Discipleship is not the call to Relationship with God than what is it?

Frredom in Christ

Today is Christmas day, a day commonly associated with snow, snowman, Santa and present. The true meaning might have long been forgotten in this capitalism world. Where it tells us to buy gifts for the one we love cos we love them. One thing they did not tell us is, the greatest gift cannot be brought, but was given to us freely. Christmas reminds me of the prefect gift to mankind, the ultimate gift that we long to have and need; "Freedom".
Yes, freedom is something everyone yearns for in live. We might not believe it but all the things we strived for in life, the goals we have were to acheive this goal. We want to be free from poverty, we work hard to earn money; legally or illegally. We yearn to be free to love, we does things to achive that; whether it's justified or not. These "freedoms" is only a mere shadow of the real thing that we need but are blind to see. The freedom we need is the freedom in life, which could only be found in God, who had been given freely to us. It's none other then Jesus Christ himself, who was born on Christmas day.
For those who had not receive the freedom and are still chasing mere shadows do look upon the object and not shadow to look for answer. For those who had the freedom, stand firm and do not let ourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery again.
May we be able to keep saying Merry Christmas to you and God love you, rather then happy holiday or season greeting.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galantians 5:1
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to induge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Galantians 5:13

Meaning of 12 days of Christmas

*saw this on a friend's page & just thought i'll share it with you guys...

"What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge that won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

Well.........
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

• The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

• Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

• Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

• The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

• The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

• The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

• Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

• The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

• Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

• The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

• The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

• The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed. "

Role of a Disiplemaker

我小子啊、我为你们再受生产之苦、直等道基督成形在你们心里。加拉太书4：19

The demands of discipleship

Discipleship demands the abandonment of self-preservation. To follow Jesus, we must get to that point where we understand doing the will of God is the important issue, not what happen to us.

Some thought to ponder

Qns: Do you find that you have fallen deeper or committed more sin since you had become a Christian?
Ans: It's not that we had fallen deeper or committed more, it's just that we are more aware of it due to the Holy Spirit in us.

今天的经文

既 知 道 人 称 义 不 是 因 行 律 法 ， 乃 是 因 信 耶 稣 基 督 ， 连 我 们 也 信 了 基 督 耶 稣 ， 使 我 们 因 信 基 督 称 义 ， 不 因 行 律 法 称 义 ； 因 为 凡 有 血 气 的 ， 没 有 一 人 因 行 律 法 称 义 。
加拉太书2：16

CYYAM (Chinese Youth and Young Adult Ministry)

Mission of CYYAM

To win true worshippers from the changing world with the unchanging truth of Christ through discipleship.

Disciples are

Followers and learners who desire to be like Christ. They are chosen by the Lord Jesus, to be with Him, (Jesus), observe His lifestyle, obey His words and continue the work He began among people. so that they will change other lives through Christ. In CYYAM, disciples are Christians who are willing to commit to the “BLESS” lifestyle.

Our Function

A church is not a building but a group of people saved by Jesus Christ with a purpose; that is to bless God and others. As the people of God, CYYAM exists to help Youth and Young Adults Build, Live, Evangelise, Share and Serve for Christ in their world.

Our objective

God has given CYYAM a clear objective for our existence. That is “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31); In our term, live to show Jesus is number one.

Our motivation

With the above objective, CYYAM also understand that the motivation to accomplish the goal is none other than the love of and for our Saviour. For God has loved us unconditionally, members of CYYAM are responding to His love by committing ourselves totally as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) and we believe that God’s unconditional love is our only motivation for doing it.

Our Responsibilities as Members

Build - It is the responsibility of every member to build themselves spiritually, mentally and physically into Disciples of Christ.

Live - It is the responsibility of every member to worship God by living a lifestyle pleasing to God and His people

Evangelise - It is the responsibility of every member to reach out to the unbelievers so as to fulfill the mission given by God

Share - It is the responsibility of every member to commit themselves to the big family of God so that they can love one another.

Serve - It is the responsibility of every member to involve themselves in ministry, using their spiritual gift to serve

今天的经文

基督照我们父神的旨意为我们的罪舍己，要救我们脱离这罪恶的世代。
加拉太书1：4

Some thought to ponder

"Don't take God's Mercy and Grace for granted and demand justice."

"How do we live on earth like we are living in heaven above?"

我的见证

我的见证

我相信人在这个世界上都向往两件事；被他人爱和被他人让同。为了得到这两件事人们往往会做出一些意想不到的事情。我在很小的时候很渴望父亲能爱我有如爱妹妹一样，可是他对我的爱和我想象的一点都不一样。我记得有一回因为我所说的实话使父亲下不了台，我们一回家我就被父亲打得很掺。父亲也因着他好赌不能好好的像别人一样照顾好他的家庭。因着这些事情我很恨我的父亲也做了很多不尊重他的事情。除此以外，我也会和同学一起去打架，欺负人，旷课和在考试时做避，就只为了能够让他们认同我。

当我到理工学院念书的时候，我的生活还有和父亲的关系都没有太大的改变。在这个时候，有一位朋友邀请我一起去打篮球。在那里我认识了南缗，也就是今天的南缗传道。我和他们打了几回篮球也参加他们所举办的夜游活动。在那次活动里，南缗传道和我分享了很多关于主耶稣的事情。他说我们都犯了罪，所以我们就不懂得什么是爱，也不懂得怎么去爱。因为罪我们不可能自己救自己，更别说可以去帮助别人了。夜游活动的终点就设在突破宣教之家，在那里我们和他们一起唱诗歌也听了一些人曾经被毒品捆绑多年的见证。神用他们的见证感动了我，让我看到神也爱这些没有盼望和前途的人。他们因信神有了从他而来的能力，摆脱捆绑他们多年来的毒品和罪。他们就好像圣经所说的“若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人，旧事以过，都变成新的了。”（ 哥林多后书5:17）他们给我的感觉就是这样，充满了喜乐和盼望。我多年在寻找的爱就在他们的身上！

在1997年8月9日，我承认我是一个有罪的人，并接受主耶稣成为我个人的救主。在信主后，我想像的改变不是我一接受主就看见的。我与父亲的关系和我的行为不止没改变反而变得更坏。我和父亲大打出手，甚至离家出走。那时我发现如果我们要有生命的改变，我们不止要接受主耶稣，也要成为他的门徒，学习他的样式。主耶稣在约翰福音13:34-35说到“我赐给你们一条新命令, 乃是叫你们彼此相爱, 我怎样爱你们, 你们也要怎样相爱 。你们若有彼此相爱的心，众人因此就认出你们是我的门徒了。” 所以真爱是从主耶稣学的。

我到今天还在做主的门徒，把主的爱告诉他人也学主耶稣的爱去爱别人。

这是我第一次用华语完整的写出我的个人见证。真是不容易啊！

p.s 谢谢晓玲为我改了我的错别字。