Be Careful with My Heart

Ezekiel 36:24-27 (New International Version)
[24] “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. [26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws

The Human Heart, the organ that provides a continuous blood circulation through the cardiac cycle and is one of the most vital organs in the human body.

The Spiritual Heart, the internal, invisible centre of our spiritual being that needs continuous work that only God can do.

Heart Problem

Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV)
[9] The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? [10] “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

In the natural body there are a lot of reasons why we may have heart trouble.

1. Physically, we may have inherited some Bad genes. Our genes contribute to some heart trouble.

Spiritually, the “Old self”

John 8:44 (NIV)
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2. Another factor that contributes to heart trouble is something called Diabetes.

Physically, we often call it sugar diabetes because it is the result of either too much sugar, or not enough sugar in the blood.

Now in the spiritual realm we can develop diabetes also.

It’s caused by an imbalanced diet the truth of God’s Word or the word’s of a worldly wise man preacher who does nothing but feed you sweet things.

We need to get some meat of the Word. We need to eat some vegetables, even though sometimes they are like swallowing bitter herbs.

2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

3. Another cause of heart trouble is something called “hypertension” or high blood pressure.

Physically, high blood pressure is called “the silent killer” because it often causes no symptoms for many years, even decades, until it finally damages certain critical organs.

Causes: Genes, stress, lifestyle, bad eating habit.

Lifestyle adjustments in diet and exercise and compliance with medication regimes are important factors in determining the outcome for people with hypertension.

The Cure for Heart Problem

A. Diet

What kind of diet do we need to have? What are some things we need to watch so we don’t clog our spiritual arteries?

Watch out for FAT

Revelation 3:14 – The church at Laodicea had just grown fat.

Luke 12:21 (NIV) “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

The rich fool was FAT!

The Point is: It’s not necessarily a sin to be rich.

There’s nothing wrong with having plenty of money — but if my lifestyle is marked by excessive and outrageous consumption of material goods and I no longer care about spiritual things — then a hardening of the heart will take place!

We must watch what we eat! Our spiritual diet must be monitored at all times.

The saying “We are what we eat” is true in spiritual matter as well.

B. Exercise

Do the FAITH STRETCH!

Spiritual exercise is tough because I really only want to do the things that feel good.

As anyone who has ever exercised will tell you, if you don’t stretch first, you can injure yourself. All of your muscles have to be stretched properly.

So we stretch
…our “patience” muscles
…and our “understanding” muscles
…and our “love” muscles
…and our “godly living” muscles.

How do we stretch those particular muscles?

We say, “God, I’m going to trust in You and do what You want me to do, period!”

SPIRITUAL EXERCISE: TEACH, SING, PRAISE

Philippians 2:12 (NIV)
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

SHARE Jesus, to a friend, a family member, co-worker. We can lead at least one person to the Lord.

SING a song from your heart — not necessarily the song that has notes — but the song that comes from our hearts because of our relationship with God.

PRAISE the Lord every day — This is probably our weakest area.

Conclusion/Question
What kind of heart do we have? Maybe it might help us if we could see what kind of heart we have.

OUR HEART IS PRECIOUS — IT IS THE CENTRE POINT OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

Luke 10:27 (NIV)
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Ephesians 5:15 (NIV)
15 Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise,

I DECLARE: I WILL BE CAREFUL WITH MY HEART

Contributed by Ps Tim

See also:
Messages

Mission Possible Youth Protocol

It was an idyllic Saturday night. One could not fault the sun in all its ethereal glory in the afternoon and the slightly cooler breeze of 6.30pm onwards. A perfect weather for a perfect night.

On the 10th of November, we hosted a Benefit Concert entitled “Mission Possible : Youth Protocol” under the organization of its youth ministry, the Activ8ed Youth and the Missions Team.

This Benefit Concert was run as a fund raising event to support a mission trip to the Philippines in 2013 which will be led by the Evangelism and Mission’s ministry in continuation of the drive to “Reach Out to Reach In.”

With the reins handed solely to the younger generation, it was a task that was met with eager anticipation and excitement. The line-up for the night was an extraordinary mix of people from various ages of various musical interests and abilities that all wowed the audience.

The night was opened by the Activ8ed Youth band followed by high-school graduates and soloists who performed covers of pop songs and powerfully-performed contemporary Christian music both from volunteer performers and members from our church. Several original songs were also played by a local band, Unique New York and a former VCE music performance student that was adored by the crowd.

But the acts didn’t stop there! Christian rapper and passionate musical evangelist Vee Syjongtian invited the crowd to the mosh as he performed his two original works while a local dance crew, Kus Crew, led by an Activ8ed Youth member also centred the stage performing a hip-hop collaboration; the only dance act of the night.

The crowd was pumped and the smiles and shouts of encouragements were proof of one great night. A game was even played, inviting participation from the crowd to come at front to dance Gangnam Style; a fun break to the usual custom as viewers to being the performers themselves.

Food was served throughout the night too, with the traditional Filipino dish lumpia (spring rolls) as the hero of the night.

All in all, it was a great night of music and fellowship centred on the goal of raising funds for the Philippines. The feedbacks from the volunteer performers and the guests set the stage for more to come from our church. It truly was a night where the mission became possible.

Contributed by Cassie C and JanPaul M

See also:
Activ8ed
Evangelism Ministry

Anniversary Day 2012

This year, we had a different kind of anniversary. While celebrating 15 years of God’s work, we are kicking off our drive to “Reach Out to Reach In.”

We started the first Sunday of August by distributing around the community invitations to two separate events on the Sundays that followed.

On August 12 we opened our ministry house at Albanvale to an afternoon tea for the community to come and talk to us about the ministries of our church.

On August 19 we conducted an Open Day at our worship center at Derrimut. There was a barbeque sizzle, kids’ activities like face painting, cup cake decorating, and colored sand arts. A ministry showcase video was also shown to give visitors a quick glance of what our church is composed of.

Lastly, August 26 was a day of celebration of God’s grace to the church for the past 15 years. The Praise and Worship was uplifting and we were blessed by God’s message through our guest speaker Pastor Joel Pinga of Philippine International Christian Fellowship.

The day ended with fellowship and blessings from people in and out of the church. We are so thankful to God and to everyone that celebrated with us.