Michael Jackson was not revered in City Harvest Church

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Roan Yong

City Harvest Church (CHC), who believes in engaging culture to bring Christ to the world, did not pray for Michael Jackson (MJ) – the king of pop – on its’ first english service on Saturday, 27 June, 3.30 – 5.30pm. The deputy senior pastor – Tan Ye Peng - joked about Obama and advised the members of the church not to worry about the pettiness in life, but did not mention about MJ’s death. Perhaps he is not a fan.

I was surprised not because pastor Tan’s indifference, but due to CHC’s failure to sympathize with MJ’s death, given the connection that the church has with the music industry – the founder’s wife (Sun Ho) is a singer based in the U.S. Furthermore, if I recalled correctly, pastor Kong once mentioned that we should rejoice for people who do good things in life even though they are not Christians. For example, pastor Kong urged us to rejoice for Oprah Winfrey.

Rev. Al Sharpton, a friend of MJ, was quoted in CNN saying, “Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama.” In addition to MJ’s gift in music, he was also a fashion icon. Many of his trademark fashion style was imitated back in the 1980s.

Of course other than renowned for his contribution in culture and fashion – the two things that CHC thrives in – MJ has flaws such as his involvement in child molestations. Whether those allegations are true or not, it’s hard to deny that he has done many good things (charity works). For full listing of his good deeds, please refer here. Regarding his faults, the bible (John 8:7) said,”Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Thus, we – the Christians – should not be the one who judges MJ’s wrongdoings.

As a follower of CHC, I would definitely heed pastor tan’s advise about not letting the pettiness of life to affect my devotion to God. I’m still and would always love the god’s church – the City Harvest Church. However, I hope that the church don’t mind her followers like me prayed for MJ, may God blesses his soul in heaven. R.I.P. the king of pop – Michael Jackson, and thank you for creating wonderful songs such as thriller, black and white, smooth criminal, billie jean, and beat it.

3 Things that Christmas can do for you

Posted on December 21, 2008 by Roan Yong

20 December 2008. City Harvest Church. Sermon by Rev. Kong Hee

Main Biblical passage: John I : 4 – 5 (NLT)

⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

There are three things that Christmas can do for you:

1. Let Jesus make you a person of Vision. Vision is necessary for successful victorious living. And Vision is given by God. In vision / dreams there are no limitations.

2. Let Jesus make you a person of Value. Diamond looks so glorious because it shines. If we apply this context to man, then we have to shine for God. In other words, we got to up our value all the time. If your value never go up, you’ll never got promoted.

Refer to 2 Corinthians 3:18. (NLT) So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Note: Reflect is the result of shining, while more and more like him means we need to increase our value.

3. Let Jesus make you a person of compassion.

Isaiah 60: 19 (NLT)

¹⁹ “No longer will you need the sun to shine by day,
nor the moon to give its light by night,
for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.

How to have the light of God?…The answer is in Isaiah 58

Isaiah 58: 7 – 8 (NLT)

⁷ Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸ “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

Isaiah 58 tells us to reach to the poor, the hunger, the afflicted.

Isaiah 61: 1 (NLT)

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.

Isaiah 61 tells us to comfort the brokenhearted, the lonely.

My Goals for 2009. Name: Roan Yong. CG: NA

8 Categories of your needs and wants	S – Specifically	M – Measure	A – Action Plan	R – Realistic	T – Time Frame	E – Expectation Management	R – Revelation
Spiritual Life	Join Cell Group	member for at least 2 monts	fill-up form in CHC	yes	12 months	busy work schedule
Family & Friends	Make 15 new friends	15 new friends added in Facebook	(1)Join Cell-Group; (2)Join Toastmaster; (3)Join Yoga	yes	12 months	busy work schedule
Health	No more than 2 days MC	Number of MC	(1)Take Vitamins regularly; (2) Eat Fruits regularly	yes	12 months	unexpected illness
Emotional, Psychological Growth	Handle Stress Better	Less Time required to recover from unexpected events	have time for leisure	yes	12 months	Job loss
Education, Intellectual, Professional	Contract renewed; Attend 80% of training roadmap	Contract renewed until 2011; apply new skills in work	Exceed my boss expectation; go for the extra miles	yes	6 – 7 months	working relationship deteriorated
Material	Invest in good index fund below fair market value	Investment portfolio increase by 20%	read financial news; invest in big index fund	yes	24 months	Market sink into severe depression
Leisure	Go for a week holiday	an overseas trip	thinking of the best place for holiday	yes	12 months	job loss
Creativity	Propose a dozen of marketing / publicity plan	4 working plans	learn Adobe CS3; imitate CHC marketing ideas	yes	12 months	job loss

Christmas Songs:

Silent Night

Joy to the World

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

Heaven as a Holy City

Posted on November 22, 2008 by Roan Yong

City Harvest Church’s Asia Conference Session 7 at Expo Hall 8.

21 November 2008, 7.30pm – 10.30pm. Sermon by: Rev. Kong Hee.

I attended the Asia Conference after work, and it is jam packed!. Kudos to CHC securities, ushers, and everyone else who work hard for this event. Here are some photos to illustrate the situation in session 7:

: Long Queue outside Expo, Hall 7

: Long queue in small alley outside hall 8

: The crowd within hall 7

: Petrina Fung Bo Bo

: Roan in front of Asia Conference entrance gate

The Conference-goers were immediately entertained with (1) Dance; (2) Fashion Fiesta – a Fashion show session; (3) Interview with Petrina Fung Bo Bo; (4) Music Video of Sun Ho (Rev. Kong Hee’s wife) ; (5) Testimonials of CHC’s humanitarian work.

City Harvest Church (CHC) can’t keep on expanding without reaching pop culture – Rev. Kong Hee

Main Bible passages: (A) Isaiah 60; (B) Revelation 21, and (C) Hebrews 13. These three passages suggest Heaven is a Holy City. The bible begins with Garden (of Eden) and end up with Holy City – Isaiah 60; or New Jerusalem – Rev 21.

All Christians are waiting for revival of the new city, the Holy City, or New Jerusalem.

A. Isaiah 60

verse 6 (NKJV) : ⁶The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall show forth the praises of the LORD.

verse 9 (NKJV) : ⁹Surely the isles shall wait for Me–and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee.

verse 13 (NKJV) : ¹³The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious.

Note: The glory of Lebanon (or cedars of Lebanon) is actually a very expensive wood material.

camels, ships of Tarshish, and glory of Lebanon are symbol of power, and they are also symbol of Pagan worship. But, why did God wants all these?…Let’s look at Isaiah 2

Isaiah 2: 12 – 13 (NKJV):

¹²For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up–and he shall be brought low” ¹³and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan;

The cedars of Lebanon is the symbol of those who are proud and lofty. God judgment will come upon them, and they shall be brought low.

Isaiah 2: 16 – 17 (NKJV):

¹⁶and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant sights. ¹⁷And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day,

ships of Tarshish is a symbol of military might, and this too shall be made low by God.

Notice that camels, ships of Tarshish, and glory of Lebanon all go to the Holy City. Why God wants such Pagan items, such a worldly items?…Here lies the key to understand how God deal with Pagan culture.

When God judge is it judgment of destruction or is it judgmen of construction?…When God sents fire, is it fire of annilihation or is it fire of purification?…

When we go through the fire of God, we will shine as gold! – Rev. Kong Hee.

The Judment is mean to purify and to redeem. God judgment is to destroy the proudness (pagan-ness) of the ships of tarshish or the cedars of Lebanon. Once these items are redeemed, they can be used for God’s work.

B. Revelation 21

Rev 21 (NKJV):

verse 2: ²And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

verse 5: ⁵And He that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said unto me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

Note: verse 5 is the emphasis that our God is a redeemer not a destroyer. His greatest desire is to convert, not to annihilate.

verse 24: ²⁴And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

verse 26: ²⁶and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

What is glory and honor?…This phase is repeated twice in Rev 21. Glory and honor is all the progress and development in human culture minus its corruption (pride, arrogance, vengeange) that will be carried to eternity. The glory and honor is man-made.

Understanding Heaven as a city has huge implications. We need to actively seeking for God, we must allow the vision of Holy City to captivate our heart.

C. Hebrews 13

verse 11 – 14 (NKJV): ¹¹For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. ¹²Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³Let us go forth therefore unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ¹⁴For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

Look at verse 11, it is referring to the old testament, where the body of a beast is rejected. While in verse 12, it is referring to the new testament, where Jesus – the Lamb of God – is rejected (suffered outside the gate).

Verse 13 – 14 are invitation for Christians to go outside the 4 walls of the church and become a redeemer. We’ve got to be like Jesus, who are willing to be abused, forsaken to save this world.

Isaiah 58: 10 (NKJV) says ¹⁰and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noonday.

Like Isaiah 58:10, Christians should serve the wounded and the afflicted. Remember:the way to become great is to be a servant. We shine when we satisfy the hungry people. Christians should penetrate every corner of society and make impact for Jesus.

Let Christians be the agent of redemption, agent of reconciliation.

The Secret of Biblical Manifestation: Unusual Response

Posted on November 2, 2008 by Roan Yong

1 November 08. City Harvest Church. Sermon by Rev. Kong Hee

Faith comes from (active) hearing, if you act on your faith, you can change your life.

Proverbs 13:12 (NKJV)

¹²Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when a desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

Biblical manifestation in its simplest form when Logos becomes Rhema. Logos is a written word of God, while Rhema is a living word of God.

John 1: 14 (NKJV)

¹⁴And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.

Biblical manifestation is getting out of the bible and operational in your life

When the word becomes flesh!? Let’s go to Genesis I, the beginning of time:

Verse 3.³And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. and continued to other verses about “Word become Flesh”

When you come to the first creation of species – be it fish, birds, animals – no more information available, but when you look at the first creation of man, there is too much information because Man is created in the image of God, and there is always not enough information about God.

Rev. Kong Hee also said that he don’t believe in the days of miracles, he believe in God of miracles. Further, according to him glossolalia is not equal to speaking in tongue. Glossolalia is one time event, but speaking in tongue is talent that still with us.

It is immoral to put a creature in an environment contrary to its basic nature. For example: you can’t put birds under water, Fish and sharks on land, and Satan can’t put man into poverty because Man is created in the image of God. The realm of God is abundance, riches, and success.

Rev Kong Hee further emphasized this point by saying Cow don’t care whether it has golden necklace, it can only say “Mooo”. But, Man like riches (for example: Golden Necklace) because we are created in the image of God. Therefore, It is atrocity for you to live in mediocrity.

Rev. Kong Hee shared with the audience, the hidden secret of biblical manifestation: Unusual Response.

Luke 1: 27 – 38. (NKJV).

Notice Mary’s unusual response in verse 38.³⁸And Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” And the angel departed from her.

This is unusual because Mary knew she will die (look at verse 34, when she said she doesn’t know a man), she will be stoned to death by the ultra-conservatives (The Pharisees) if she gets pregnant without a husband. But she still said YES to the Angel. How Unusual.

For every biblical manifestation throughout the Holy Bible, there is always first an unusual response.

Rev. Kong Hee gave further examples of unusual responses in City Harvest:

CHC choose to build church in Jurong West (at the heartland of Singapore), and built it during economic crises, and paid it in cash for $48 million.
When Rev. Kong Hee becomes a senior pastor, he didn’t “play it safe”, he preaches about cultural mandate, which can be considered risky preaching from the point of view of conservative denomination.
When Rev. Kong Hee becomes a senior pastor, he quit the church payroll and became a businessman, while his wife became a pop star.

If you do what you always do then only common events will happen to you

If you want to have breakthrough in your life – your career, your finance, your family – you need an unusual response. You need to be bold. For instance, how could you believe in supernatural if you don’t practice speak in tongue?…

Note: Breakthrough is a sudden burst of power that takes you past the previous point of resistance.

Three Pillars of City Harvest Church (CHC)

Posted on October 26, 2008 by Roan Yong

25 October 2008. City Harvest Church (CHC). Sermon by Rev. Kong Hee.

I feel that today’s preach is actually a disguised CHC annual general meeting (AGM). Since Rev. Kong Hee speaks about CHC’s organizational structure, CHC past achievements and the three pillars of CHC (or you could say CHC mission and vision – in terms of organization). Although, I have nothing against attending CHC annual general meeting, which I think is an important thing because it promotes transparency, I suppose Rev. Kong Hee should be more frank and tell the audience that today’s preach is not a preach but it is an AGM. Rev. Kong Hee should have known that not all the audience are teenagers/students who are unable to distinguish between AGM and sermon.

Anyway, here is the content of today’s “sermon” or should I say AGM Minutes of Meeting:

Three Pillars of City Harvest Church (CHC):

1. Great Commandment

Matthew 22: 36 – 40 (NKJV)

³⁶“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” ³⁷Jesus said unto him, “`Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹And the second is like unto it: `Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Rev. Kong Hee (RKH) said that CHC sought to love God wholeheartedly (as indicated by vertical beam of a cross), and to love people fervently (as indicated by the horizontal beam of a cross).

Rev. Kong Hee mentioned that according to a research, some of the reasons people don’t want to go to church are: (a) Anti-homosexual – 91%; (b) Judgmental – 87%; (c) Hypocritical – 85%; (d) Sheltered. Therefore, Rev. Kong Hee encouraged CHC to be more tolerant, and not quick to judge others who are different from us.

RKH expressed his disappointment that many Christians condemn Oprah Winfrey, who seems to promote New Age belief. (Personal note: see below video)

RKH said that we should rejoice because Oprah is a good person, she is helping the needy. We should not condemn her, not quick to judge her even though she is nonbeliever. RKH added that he is like Jesus, who never condemn nonbelievers but don’t like the religious person, The Pharisees – who quick to condemn nonbelievers.

To emphasize his point, RKH cited a book by Thorn S. Rainer that revealed non-christians shared Christians’ values. And:

95% unbelievers are open people.
80% will attend church if invited
Only 21% active church goers do invite nonbelievers

2. Great Commission

Matthew 28: 18 – 19 (NKJV)

¹⁸And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,

This passage suggested that CHC impact should reach all nations, not just Singapore. Rev. Kong Hee informed that one-fifth of CHC funds go to overseas mission; CHC sends average of 6 teams a week to do missionary work. He estimated that CHC influence in Asia has reach $3.3 million.

3. Cultural Mandate

Matthew 5: 13 – 16 (NKJV)

¹³“Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. ¹⁴“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. ¹⁶Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.

Look at passage 14, “a City that is set on a hill cannot be hid” this is the inspiration for the church’s name: CITY HARVEST CHURCH.

How to impact the society?…According to Kong Hee, CHC can impact the society through excelling in the marketplace (no 3 – 7 of the seven pillars of society).

7 Pillars of Society: (1)Family; (2)Religion; (3) Business; (4) Education; (5) Government; (6) Arts; (7) Media.

Kong Hee further explained that God wants us, humans, to impact society. We should be the shaper of values through pop culture. The list of influential pop culture (in order of impact) was: (1) Advertising; (2) Celebrities; (3) Music; (4) Movies; (5) Television; (6) Fashion; (7) Sports; (8) Arts.

Kong Hee informed the church that he wants CHC to be creative. He further emphasized that creativity requires risk-taking.

The most creative work that God did, was when God created the world. When God created Adam –> God is taking risk, since HE fully aware that Adam might fall into sin.
God is the one who planted the Tree of Knowledge. Genesis 2: 9 (NKJV): ⁹And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Should God banned Adam to be near the Tree of Knowledge?….So that Adam will never fall into sin?….Of course NOT. To God innocence is not a virtue, but virtue is innocence that is tested. Rev. Kong Hee cited example from parenting. Should parents lock up their children in a room so that they will never mix with bad company?….Of course NOT because the parents would end up in jail for child abuse. Rev. Kong Hee gave another example when Jesus was tempted, God the father let it happened. Maturity is not about banning a person from doing something, it is about when you give a person choices, that person can say NO to bad choice.

Fourth Dimension Living

Posted on October 19, 2008 by Roan Yong

18 October 2008. City Harvest Church. Sermon by Rev. Kong Hee

What do you think, visualize, believe and speak concerning:

1. Health: ____________________________________________________________________

Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed (1 Pet. 2:24)

2. Finance: ___________________________________________________________________

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that through He was rich, yet for your sakes He becomes poor, that you through His poverty become rich (2 Cor. 8:9).

3. Marriage / Family: __________________________________________________________

And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20).

4. Career: _____________________________________________________________________

This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way and prosperous, and then you will have good success (Josh. 1:8).

5. Ministry: ____________________________________________________________________

Jesus said to them, “For assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; <u>and nothing will be impossible for you </u>” (Matt. 17:20)

Today’s preach is about the Power of the Heart

Proverb 23 : 7

⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but hisheart is not with you.

Heart works on 4 levels:

1. Thinking

2. Visions & Dreams

3. Faith

4. Speaking

(1); (2); (3); & (4) connect & converse with Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 3:20

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.

Luke 17: 5 – 6

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

⁶ The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!

We already blessed by God, there is no need to increase what we already had. We should use what we have, and when you use your faith nothing is impossible.

=====

When you use your own strength to find success, you can achieve success but your success will be limited to this world’s constraint.

Let’s look at Genesis 30 : 30 – 43 (Jacob), he can find success. But without God, his success come with sorrow:

Cheated by his uncle, Laban
It took him 14 years to marry the girl he loved.

Look at Genesis 30 : 37 – 39

³⁷ Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them. ³⁸ Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated. ³⁹ And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

The flocks saw spotted branches –> had offspring that spotted.

What you see, think, speak affect your daily life.

Breaking The Curse of Debt

Posted on October 5, 2008 by Roan Yong

October 4, 2008. City Harvest Church. Sermon by Rev. Kong Hee

LOAN	DEBT
Loan is borrowed money that’s serviceable	Unserviceable
Invest in assets that appreciate	Invest in things that depreciate

Luke 16:13 (KJ21)

¹³No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Mammon is syrian God of Debt. The above verse means you can’t serve God until the power of Debt is broken down.

Deut 15:6 (NLT)

⁶ The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.

Deut 28:12 (NLT)

¹² The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.

Psalm 37:21 (NLT)

²¹ The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.

Deut 15:6; Deut 28:12; Psalm 37:21 have one message: IT’S BEST NOT TO BORROW.

Proverbs 22: 6, 7 (NLT)

⁶ Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.

⁷ Just as the rich rule the poor,
so the borrower is servant to the lender.

This passage also taught us about debt. Average child nowadays, live under the blanket of debt. For example: a child lives under a house which is under 25 years mortgage; driven around by a car, which is under 7 years loan.

2 King 6: 4 – 6 (NLT)

⁴ So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. ⁵ But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. “Oh, sir!” he cried. “It was a borrowed ax!”

⁶ “Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. ⁷ “Grab it,” Elisha said. And the man reached out and grabbed it.

What is “a borrowed ax”? It is a debt.

Debt will weight you down;
Debt is heavy;
Debt break up family, marriages;
Debt is a habit lifestyle, it can makes you addicted;
Debt will take control your personal life.

Notice the miracle in verse 6. How to cut a stick when the ax already fell into the river?…Also how can throwing stick into the water can make a heavy ax float?…This means that God will use little to deliver abundance. The important thing is to GIVE to the Lord – similar to the parable of Elisha threw a stick into the river. Eventhough we are in desperate situation , we still need to TITHE.

Neh 5: 3 – 6, 11 – 12. God use Nehemia to cancel their debt. Our God is a debt-canceling God.

Sonship

Posted on September 28, 2008 by Roan Yong

20 September 2008. City Harvest Church. Sermon by: Rev. Kong Hee

Main Bible passage: Galatians 4: 1, 4 – 7.

Characteristic of Sonship:

A Son carries the genetic code of the house. Genesis 13 –> Lot prospered under Abraham, but he has hiw own agenda. Lot is selfish, he doesn’t share the same vision as Abraham.
A Son serves the vision of the house. Genesis 14:14 –> All the servant under Abraham follow Abraham to save Lot. No question asked to Abraham, No objections!. These servants are serving the vision of the house. Phillippians 2: 19 – 22 –> you must prove your character. The only way to prove your character is through extreme condition. Example: 318 servants under the house of Abraham willing to go to war with 4 kings.
A Son shares the pride in their house. Proverbs 17: 6
A Son accepts discipline in the house. Hebrews 12: 5 – 7; 11. Psalm 51:17
A Son gives birth to children. Hebrews 12: 2

Why God Wants You to Prosper

Posted on September 28, 2008 by Roan Yong

September 27, 2008. City Harvest Church. Sermon by: Rev. Kong Hee

Song of praise: God of this City – by Chris Tomlin

10 Reasons Why God Wants You to Prosper

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Josh 1:8)

“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day” (Deut. 8:18).

God wants you to prosper because it is His nature (Gen. 17:1-2).
God wants you to prosper so He can establish His covenant in the earth (Deut. 8:18).
God wants you to prosper so you can provide for His church (Mal. 3:10).
God wants you to prosper to keep finances out of the devil’s control (Mal. 3:11).
God wants you to prosper so you can help the poor (Prov. 19:17).
God wants you to prosper so you can honor and glorify Him (Prov. 3:9-10).
God wants you to prosper so you can leave an inheritance for your family (Prov. 13:22).
God wants you to prosper so you can prove the sincerity of your love (2 Cor. 8:8)
God wants you to prosper so you can lead and influence society (Deut. 28: 11-13).
God wants you to prosper because He is a good God and He wants to bless His children (Ps. 35:27).

Matthew 25:14-15, 20 –> God’s kingdom work on fixed principle. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God works based on the principle of stewardship.

Question: What if God asked us to give everything?

First, you need to remember that He is giver not taker. Second, God never test you in the big things, He test you on the little things (Matthew 25:21, 23).

^{(NLT) 21} “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!

^{(NLT) 23} “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

And this message is consistent throughout the bible. Let’s look at Luke 19: 17

^{(NLT) 17} “‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’

(Luke 19:19) is the result of stewardship, which is success, wealth, and influence.

What God DOESN’T want is Riches control your life. (Luke 12:15 – 21)

We should become the steward for God’s riches. Because, God’s owns everything. (Haggai 2:8; Psalm 24:1)

The bible tells us of an example of a man who have the attitude of a steward –> King David. (1 Chronicles 29: 1 – 5, 10 – 12, 14).

Before God entrust His blessing and His riches to you, God wants to know whether you can be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2).

You should start faithful in little things, you should tithe. Tithe: One-tenth (10%) of your increase. (1 Conrinthians 16:2).

Luke 12: 21 – 31 –> When you are more concerned on “bread and butter” issue than the Kingdom of God, you are moving to the realm of proprietorship, instead of stewardship.

Many Christians stop tithing because they feel that blessing from God has stopped. But these people got their priority wrong. 2 Corinthians 9: 6 – 10 –> we should multiply our sowings, and trust God to add into our asset not the other way around.

Servanthood

Posted on June 22, 2008 by Roan Yong

The following article consists of several sermons by Senior Pastor Rev. Kong Hee of City Harvest Church in the year 2008.

Passage #1: Matthew 20:25 – 28 (NLT)

²⁵ But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. ²⁶ But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. ²⁸ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Notice the difference between verse 26 and 27, i.e. servant and slave: a servant can quit at any time, but a slave can’t. A slave is a stronger version of a servant.

Passage #2: John 13:13 - 17 (NLT)

¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. ¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Three Keys of Servanthood:

1. Servanthood is the key to Promotion. Philippians 2: 5 – 7; 9 – 15

2. Servanthood is the key to Authority. Matthew 25: 20 – 23. Especially verse 21 (NLT) –> ²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together.
3. Servanthood is the key to Destiny. Genesis 24: 19 – 22–> ¹⁹ When she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels. ²¹ The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission. ²² Then at last, when the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring for her nose and two large gold bracelets for her wrists. (Note: Drawing water for a camel is laborious and mundane job, by doing this seemingly thankless job, Rebecca fulfill her great destiny).

4 direction of servanthood:

Depth. We are to serve God. Psalm 84: 10
Height. We are to serve Leaders. 2 Kings 3: 11; Exodus 33: 11. Authority flows from top down, we all live on borrowed authority, the kingdom of God is a kingdom of a relationship.
Width. We are to serve one another. Matthew 20: 28.
Length. We are to serve the world. Daniel 1: 4

Andrew is a manifestation of a servant, his attitude is an attitude of a good servant. 3 Things about Andrew’s Life

The value of Invinsible service. John I: 40 – 42. Notice that when Jesus sees Andrew, HE did not say anything, but when Jesus sees Peter, HE got excited. Andrew knows that he will not become member of Jesus inner circle. But, Andrew still bring Jesus to Peter.
The value of Individual people. John 6: 8 – 9 –> Andrew is the one who recognize the boy who have bread and fish. John 12: 21 – 22
The value of Insignificant gifts. John 6: 8 – 9 –> Andrew knows that few (fish and bread) can become many if you put it on God’s hand.