Growth in Thought, Word and Deed

Message by Peter Shankar

Compiled by Joel So

Mr. Peter spoke about the statement above revealing many interesting ideas throughout his entire sermon. “Growth in Thought, Word and Deed” combined together is actually Spiritual Growth. All of us Christians must grow spiritually and physically. We cannot grow without maintaining this balance, or we would be thrown of course of the path which God has set for each one of us.

Our earthly body can be divided into 3 sections, mainly the Spirit, Soul and Body. Spiritual aptitude, psychological aptitude and physical aptitude are all under these sections, they all play an important part during our walk on Earth.

Prompting Pull

Of God’s <<< Spirit <<< Mind <<< Will >>> Emotions >>> Human Nature >>> of the Spirit Lower Nature

While this diagram explains the battle of tug-of-war between the prompting of God’s Spirit and The lower nature. These forces pull against our spirit, mind, will, emotions and our sinful human nature. Conflicting, decisions, emotions, thoughts all play about all these areas. Whether we choose to follow God’s Spirit or the lower nature, that’s our choice. We MUST make the right decisions in our life, sometimes we are stuck in a sticky situation and are tempted to do wrong. Whatever the problem is… Remember the prompting of God’s Spirit. If you are still not sure or have doubts on your choice… Always PRAY… Prayer is your most powerful weapon in your fight against sin.

Mr. Peter also stressed on youth’s who think they are making the right decisions but to find out eventually that they were deceived by Satan to allow the Word of God to saturate their mind, so it will wash out thoughts which oppose the Scriptures. For the more you read the Word of God, the more you will be like Jesus for you have the Word of God hidden in your heart, and don’t just memorize the Scriptures, USE it in your daily life. Utilize it to the maximum. In doing this we shall reap the abundant life God wants us to have.

Lastly he concluded with a list of areas which the youth of today struggle with:

1. Self (Romans 6)
2. Dating (James 1:13-15)
3. Clothes (Philipians 4:19)
4. Money (Matthew 6:19-21)(Malachi 3:10-11)
5. Knowledge (Collosians 2:8)
6. Friends (Matthew 5:11-12)(1 Peter 3:10-14)
7. Music (Collosians 3:16-17)
8. Future (Hebrews 12:1-4)
9. Health (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
10. Reputation (1 Cor 8:4-13)(James 1:1-4)
11. Time (Romans 14:16-23)

That concludes Mr. Peter’s sermon for that day.

Mind Your Language

Message by Lee Bee Teik

Compiled by Denise Lee

Introduction

• Ephesians 4:14-16
• Colossians 4:5-6
• Self-research: Proverbs, James, Colossians

A. Why discuss speech?

Three reasons

• Genesis 1:26; 3:8-9; 18
• Exodus 3:6

B. 3 Factors Influencing Speech and Relationship

Temperament + Character = Personality

C. What shall we do then?

• Psalm 141:3
• John 2: 24-25; John 3:16-17
• Revelations 3:20
• Exodus 3 and 4
• 1 Samuel 3:10; 3:19-21

 

Unpacking God’s Word

Message by Michael Gong

Notes compiled by Sarah Chen

The Bible
What use is a gift box left unopened?
Unpacking means opening the box, and finding the gift inside it. Just like the Bible.

3 Ways To Unpack The Bible

1. Learn some Jewish history and culture

• To know something, we gotta know the background first.
• Jonah 1:1-4 = Jonah ran away to Nineveh to "get away" from God, because if he didn't he afraid he might suffer at Nineveh.
• When we have more choices, God becomes only ONE of those choices.
• If we want the application, we must unpack it! Then the bible comes in, as reference.
• The more we do, the more chances we get to hear His voice.

2. Look up and look down!

• In short, read up the whole passage when we read the bible.
• Do not just pluck out verses out randomly, just because its related to a situation your facing at the moment.
• Verses come together, connected from top to bottom.
• By just plucking out one verse, the meaning could be totally different when it's put together with the verses before after it.

3. Irony

• Sometimes what we expect it not that we get.
• There are many things we have yet to know about.
• The book of Jonah shows some similarities of Jonah's situations and Jesus.
  

So in conclusion, the Bible is a gift to us, but many don't use it in full yet. One of the way to grow is through God's word.

Growth/Maturity

Message by Christopher Chan

Notes compiled by “Kenny” Chan Ee Ken

Key Verses

• Hebrews 6:9-10
• Hebrews 5:12
• Hebrews 6:1
• 1 Samuel 17:14

Quick Notes

1. God will use young people’s energy to do great things
2. Let God speak to us
3. Don’t miss out on what God is doing right now
4. Even the simplest of actions has a great affect
5. God lives in us
6. God can use even the “insignificant” ones to do great things in the future
7. Everyone has their own special talent
8. Inspect the Word of God
9. Steps – prayer, sin confession, promises, examples to follow, commandments to obey, traps & temptations to avoid

Excerpt of Louie Giglio's "How Great Is Our God" message