(Please refer to our website for more updates.) English Services in December Christmas is a good time to reach out to your family and friends! Invite them to our English services as guest speakers share with us in the month of December. 14 December What’s so Amazing about Grace? Speaker: Rev Dr Tan Soo-Inn 21 December Christmas Outreach Service What’s so Joyful about Christmas? Speaker: Dr Andrew Goh Testimonies: Lim Family and De Winne Family 28 December What’s so Hopeful about New Year? Speaker: Rev Edmund Chan Watch Night Service God is glorified not by our groans, but by our gratitude! This is the time for us to give thanks to the Lord for all His goodness and blessings. Let’s worship God together and hear about what He has been doing in our midst. As we begin the New Year, let’s consecrate ourselves and believe God for what He will do. See you there! Date: 31 Dec (Wed) Time: 8pm Venue: WDL Centre There will be no children’s programme. No Parking in BPJ Centre There will be no parking in BPJ Centre on 21 Dec because of our Christmas Family Lunch. Christmas Day Service Share the true meaning of Christmas with your family and friends by inviting them to the special Christmas Day Service. Guest Speaker: Ps Benny Ho Time: 9am Venue: BPJ and WDL Centres Filipino and Indonesian Christmas Outreach Bless your international friends, relatives, and helpers with an opportunity to know and celebrate God’s love this Christmas season. Invite them to these Christmas outreaches! Filipino Christmas Outreach Theme: Amazing Love Date: 14 Dec (Sun) Time: 3.30pm – 7.00pm Venue: BPJ Centre, Grace Sanctuary Indonesian Christmas Outreach Theme: Immanuel God with Us Date: 14 Dec (Sun) Time: 2pm – 5pm Venue: WDL Centre, Foyer Tech Crew Recruitment Would you like to be part of the Covenant Tech Crew Team? We need volunteers for both BPJ and WDL Centres to operate lights, sound, visual, and video cameras for our Sunday service, special programmes and events. If you are keen to learn and available to serve, please email [email protected] . ACKCentre: 2 Kallang Avenue, #10-26, CT HUB, Singapore 339407 WOODLANDS 7 December 2014 SERVICE LEADER Rev Dr Chua Chung Kai • WORSHIP LEADER Priscilla Samuel December Memory Verse And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12 (ESV) Come On and Celebrate Rev Tan Kay Kiong, Senior Pastor Diana and I spoke about the day when we would celebrate our daughters’ 21st birthday. This is the day to mark their young adulthood and their being responsible for their own decisions. It came two weeks ago with our eldest daughter. It started in the morning with Tim Sum, followed by an afternoon of shopping for some symbolic gifts. It went on with dinner celebration and ended with a movie at 11 pm. The next day, we continued with more food and conversation, then we finally surprised her with a celebration at home with the family and some friends. When Among all the people in the world, we are things settled down, we In my first sabbatical the ones who have prayed for her as a family in 1999, this principle more reasons to and presented her with of celebration was celebrate! meaningful gifts which will revived. While attending serve as lifelong reminders. a summer course under Ps Truly, it was surprises after Paddy Dukelow, a lecturer in surprises, one celebration after another. Regent College, Vancouver, Diana and I were reminded that we must take every As we enter the month of December as well opportunity to celebrate each other’s lives as the Christmas season, I want to remind and accomplishments, whether big or small. you of the joy of celebration. Among all the This made an impact in our parenting as we people in the world, we are the ones who make use of every opportunity to celebrate. It have more reasons to celebrate! need not be a big thing. It could be a special movie with ice cream or pizza. The Apostle Paul declares, “Let us celebrate…with sincerity and truth!” (1 Corinthians 5:8) Since life was hard for my parents with four mouths to feed and debts to pay, I don’t remember having lots of celebrations as I was growing up. Life passed on quickly and there was no clear memory of any childhood celebration. But with my conversion to Christianity in secondary two, life took a turn. Somehow, Christians knew what to celebrate and how to do it. Whether it was a birthday, a successful student’s camp, or an evangelistic meeting, our leaders and Christian friends would find time to celebrate. It was a good experience. Last Week’s Sermon Summary This Week’s Sermon Outline Scripture: Scripture: Scripture: 1 JOHN TOPICAL 1 JOHN 4:17-21• 5:1-5• • Sermon: Sermon: Sermon: REVREV REV EDMUND EDMUND TONYCHAN YEO CHAN Scripture: LUKE 15:1-32• Sermon: DR VINCE VITALE From Rules to Relationship: A Story of a Father and His Son 1-3 John Re-Visited Introduction 1. The books of 1-3 John issue a Wake-Up Call…!! 2. Difficult to structure – F. F. Bruce (1970): “Attempts to trace a consecutive argument throughout 1 John have never succeeded…” John is very Jewish in his thinking – Use of CONTRASTS – a. 1 John is built around the repetition of three main CONTRASTS: - (1) light and darkness, (2) love and hatred, (3) truth and error b. 2 John deals with TRUE teachers and FALSE teachers! c. 3 John is built around three men – Gaius, who is contrasted with Diotrephes; who is a CONTRAST to Demetrius! Another Key to unlock the books of 1-3 John – The use of repeated themes – Today’s Focus: “Walking in Truth” Main Points A. The Truth Must Be Practiced 1. “… practice the truth… we walk in the Light…” (1 John 1:6-7) “I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth...” (2 John 4) “… how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.” (3 John 3-4) 2. We must not just seek to KNOW the Truth; but to DO IT! 3. There is GREAT BENEFIT in Doing the Truth! 4. We must PRACTICE PRACTICING the Truth! Not Automatic!! B. The Truth Must Be Protected 1. Guarding against HERESY (Threat from Without) “Beloved, do not believe every spirit... for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1) 2. Guarding against IDOLATRY (Threat from Within) “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21) - Our inner values would either help or hinder the practice of Truth! (Focus - Love Not the World – 1 John 2:15-16) C. The Truth Must Be Propagated 1. “… and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life…what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also...” (1:1-3) 2. Do you have a vision of the importance of propagating the Truth? Do you see the need of grounding the NEXT GENERATION in the Truth? 3. The three kinds of Next Generation: Already Gone, Jump-Jump, the Remnant! Conclusion Walking in the Truth! Next Week’s Sermon Speakers 14 December - Rev Dr Tan Soo-Inn (BPJ and WDL) For more details, please go to www.cefc.org.sg.