My first 3-pointer...

I was asked to speak at a BB&GB Camp in the past few days. This is the full text:

The Chosen ONE

What is this 'chosen one' business that we are talking about today?

I believe everyone understands that life is all about choices. The making of choices, the suffering or the happiness that one finds as a consequence of making a choice. I made a choice to marry my wife, you made a choice to come here, your friends made a choice to study, or not to study. To do homework, not to do it; to make this phone call or to wait here. 

Life is full of choices. And God gives us that ability to choose. Imagine God making everyone as He likes them. THen Adam and Eve wouldn't have had the choice to sin. Then the earth wouldn't have to be like this. and we would still be living in paradise. 

But today, we are not here to discuss about whether we have a choice or not, we are here to talk about God being the first who chose us and called us into His will! 

So say to your neighbour, God put you here for His purpose!

If you believe in God being the ruler, maker, creator, sovereign God, the Almighty, then you need to understand the Sovereignty of God. Now what does it mean, the Sovereignty of God? It means that God is totally in control. There is nothing beyond His control, and He causes all things to work for His glory. That is His perfect and unchanging will. 

But that is all about God, and what does it have to do with you and me?

Well, if you believe that God chose you into His perfect will, then you must also believe that you are the Chosen one, because according to the bible, God first chose us. (2 Th 2:13 / Jn 15:16) 

Shall we turn to Matt 5:13-16 today and learn what it means to be 'The Chosen One'. 

Matt 5:13-16

Salt and Light

 13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

 14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

1. Stay Relevant

v.13 says when salt loses its saltiness, it cannot be made salty again. 

We, as followers of Christ, the chosen people of God, need to stay relevant to the society we live in. We cannot say that because we are followers of Christ, we should stay away from the evils of society, and thus, we stay in our little comfortable church that we have worked so hard to protect against the evil of the society outside. I look upon people who tell me that they are proud to live in seclusion from the 'evil' people outside with scepticism and wonder if they are really seeing the world as they should. 

And then there are the Christian organisations who are sometimes holding too tighly onto their well worked traditions until they lose their cutting edge. When a church loses its cutting edge, it becomes irrelevant to the society it ministers to. People change. Times change. The only constant in this world is 'change'. Change never stops nor does it ever sleep. The world around us is ever-changing. What is the church doing to cope with this change? Hold on to our traditions? Hold on to the same winning formula that was relevant 15 years ago? NO! We are called to be the head, not the tail. We should lead, not follow. And as BB and GB today, what are we doing? Are we still the cutting edge organisation that God wants us to be? Are we offering our society with something that is exactly what they need? Or are we holding on to our time-honoured traditions and saying that we are used to doing this like this and like that?

Have we lost our saltiness?

2. Do not hide

You are the light of the world! If Jesus says that you are the light of the world, then why are you hiding? Are you hiding? Has feared taken over of you? Have you lost your pride in being a follower of Christ? The Bible syas that a city on a hill cannot be hidden. Are you a city on a hill or are you more like a small house on top of a big hill? When you are good, when you stick together for something which is good, you are like a city on a hill. People will see you from far away. People will say good rumours about you. We need to tackle 2 things in this verse. 1st is that we must be united. If we stick together, our collective light on the hill will shine ever so brightly. If you are just a small house, people will not be able to see you. How to work as 1 unit? FOr this, you must study football. How can you make 11 different characters of different skills to work as 1 team? How do you work as a team? 

1. Clear instruction

2. One direction, One commander - There can only be 1 decision maker. That's why God make us with 1 head and 2 hands and 2 feet.

3. Know your role in the organisation

4. Keep emotions in check - People tend to make stupid mistakes when they are emotional. 

5. Remember that you can never make everyone happy, but you must be able to make everyone sacrifice happily. 

6. 2-way communication: every part of the body must know what the other part is doing. If not, the body will not be able to function properly.If you finger is cut, isn't it that your whole body will move according to that hurt? Imagine if your arm doesn't know that your finger hurts?

7. Always be courteous. 

COmmunication is the key to unity.

3. Do all things for His glory.

16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Jesus came to earth to do the will of Him who sent Him. He said, in Jn 4:34  34"My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." So what is the will of God?

The will of God is for all creation to glorify Him. 

Are you glorifying Him in your life? 

How have you been spending your time?

Is my purpose in life in line with God's purpose for me? Am I glorifying Him in every decision that I am making?

Have I put my purpose above God's purpose?

Faith & Confidence should go hand in hand.

Faith is a funny thing. How much faith do you have in the chair that you are sitting on? Will it not collapse? How do you know it will sustain your weight? 

The only way to know is to try it out. Sit on it first, and then you'll realise that it can and will support your weight. The same goes for God.

It takes some experience. You need to put in that little step of faith in order for your faith to grow.

Shall we pray.