Let me share some lessons I learnt during my church’s 70th anniversary celebrations as we recounted God’s goodness and mercies to Yio Chu Kang Chapel (YCKC). Part of the celebration was to bring forward our yearly Berean Conference to coincide with the anniversary. We invited Pastor Benny Ho From Faith Community Church in Perth Australia to address the topic – Thrive! YCKC has been on a journey of disciple-making for the past 10 years and so this topic Thrive was most apt. Pastor Benny spoke on how YCKC can thrive as disciples and as disciple-makers!
Pastor Benny encouraged and edified us through 4 messages, and I personally was truly recharged and revitalized and invited the Holy Spirit to once again do his deep work in my life, to use me for his greater glory for the time he has given to me. Throughout the messages some key words and phrases, very familiar to Christians, were reiterated. I realized how important these basic fundamentals are for us to thrive as followers and disciple-makers for Christ & his kingdom. The fundamental principles of Persistent Prayer, Hunger for God’s Word and Reliance on the Power of the Holy Spirit are disciplines we all are so familiar with. Yet these are the very things we replace with our own wisdom, new learnings, our gifts and talents. But it is the faithful perseverance of practicing and applying the fundamentals that will enable us to thrive as his children and thrive for his kingdom.
We struggle and strive to want to be a follower and a fisherman for Christ through our human efforts and through our man-made structures, programs and policies. But we forget that it is all about enjoying the presence of God and feasting on his Word, depending on the power of the Holy Spirit, applying his Word by trusting and obeying him, and keeping one’s self pure, humble and pliable in the hands of the Holy Spirit to carry out his good and perfect will! So simple isn’t it? Yet it is so difficult to make it a daily habit where it naturally flows out from our inner lives! The Lord also used Psalm 92 verses 10-15 to speak into my life at the conference:
You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
You have poured over me fresh oil….
The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
They flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall bear fruit in old age;
They are ever full of sap and green….
The Spirit of God moved within me and that morning I renewed my life afresh to the LORD, asking him to anoint me with fresh oil so that I can be lifted up like a wild ox and be fresh and green, flourishing like the palm tree and
growing like the cedar of Lebanon! Beloved alumni, I pray that this very personal sharing will resonate with you,
and that you too will ask God for a fresh oil of anointing so that we all can continue to thrive as disciples and disciple-makers for Christ and his kingdom. I close with this song as my heartfelt prayer:
This is my desire, to honor You,
Lord with all my heart I worship You.
All I have within me, I give You praise,
All that I adore is in You.
Lord, I give You my heart,
I give You my soul,
I live for You alone,
And every breath that I take,
Every moment I’m awake,
Lord, have your way in me.
