Saturday, December 27, 2008

Dear Church,


Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus!

On behalf of the Board Members and the entire leadership team, I would like to wish everyone a happy and blessed New Year!

Well, 2009 is just 3 days away and we only have 72 hours left to do anything that still needs to be done before 2008 comes to an end. I hope there isn’t much left to be done. As we reach the closing moment of the year, and since Monday, Dec 29, is a public holiday, I really would like all of us to take some time out to evaluate our year. Where there are achievements and blessings, give thanks to God. Where there are mistakes and failures please ensure that we learn from them and don’t repeat them again. It wouldn’t be very wise if we keep making the same mistakes again and again. Church, I want to see you grow stronger and firmer in the LORD in the coming year. Not only that, I want your love for Jesus to grow deeper as well!

In 2009, there are 5 areas that I want you to focus and build on, and there are your HEALTH, FINANCE, MARRIAGE/FAMILY, CAREER, AND MINISTRY. I want you to take time to seriously pray and ask God for a vision for each and every one of them. After that, stay focused to achieve them. A lot of people do not achieve their dreams and goals in life because they constantly change them or worst still forgotten about them. If we are not persistent, we will never see our dreams come to pass. Friends, remember, what we focus on will grow and what we starve will die. If we treasure the dreams of our lives, then we will value the days of our lives. We only have a lifetime to prepare for eternity. Honestly, it is not that long. Number your days and make them count!

Armed with this preparation, I am sure 2009 is going to be your best year yet!

See you on the other side!

KEV

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Dear church,


Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus!

On behalf of the Board Members and the entire leadership team, I would like to wish everyone a happy and blessed Christmas!

Christmas! WOW! What a wonderful season it is – a time that remind us that life is all about love and giving. Truly, what is the point of living if we cannot love and we don’t give! Life would be miserable if we cannot share our joy and achievement in life with people we love. And it would be even worse if we do not know how to give and who to give to. God proved that importance to us in that more than 2000 years ago, God showed His love to us by giving us His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. That one act of giving by God has transformed the face of this earth upside down! And the effect of it has lasted for more than 2000 years!

It is often said that love is not love till it is given away and we may be able to give without loving but we can never love without giving! The personification of love is expressed in our ability to share. So church, I want to take this opportunity to invite all of you to share your life, your love, your time and your energy by being a part of City Care! City Care is our church’s new initiative to encourage all our members to be involved in humanitarian work. The Bible makes it very clear that true religion is when one cares for widows and orphans and is not contaminated by the world. City Harvest, when we extend our arm to look after someone, when we take the time to care for somebody, even a task as simple as giving someone a drink, Jesus said we are doing it for Him. Church, doing humanitarian work is practically extending God’s love to the world we live in. We may not have much experience in doing this, but let us give of our best and shine for Jesus!

There will be booths outside the lobby this weekend so make sure you sign up!

Let’s build a city that cares!


KEV

Saturday, December 20, 2008


Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus!


Well, as of this weekend we have arrived at the 2nd last weekend of the year… and we have approximately 10 days to end the year 2008! Phew! Time flies in almost the speed of light! Church, because of that, I want you to take the last days of this year to take stock of all that you have done or failed to do. It is important for us to do this as we learn to count our blessings and see how far we have gone as a person. Our achievements reflect our hard work, discipline and excellence. On the other hand, it is also crucial that we learn from our mistakes. The most costly lesson is the one we never learned from. I don’t mind if we make new mistakes. It shows that we are doing something new, something different. However, if we keep making the same mistakes, then it is a matter of stubbornness and having an ‘un-teachable’ heart. And this is a serious problem… it will lead us into denial and the inability to grow further in the LORD. With this in mind, I want us to take some time out to tie up all the loose ends of this year and finish all the things that we are supposed to do. And also, please do a really good evaluation so that in 2009, you can go all out in full steam unto the LORD.

I have a very good feeling on the inside of me that 2009 is going to be our best year yet. As a church, we will venture into many new territories and individually, there will be many ‘firsts’ in our lives. And it is because of this that I want all of us to let go of all of our heavy baggage unto the LORD. Make sure that we are lightweight, flexible and maneuverable. This way, we will find ourselves be able to do a lot more in the days to come. Well, as the sayings go, we are only young once. So let’s use this season of our lives to build a super strong spiritual foundation in the LORD, so that we may leave behind an influential spiritual legacy for the LORD and our family. Church, let’s arise and do something meaningful and purposeful!

Let’s believe God together for an awesome 2009!

Amen!


KEV

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus!

First and foremost, I would like to warmly welcome Ps. Rob Buckingham into our midst. I believe all of us would be so greatly blessed and our lives so transformed by Ps. Rob’s message. I still remember when I visited a family earlier this year. I was so happy to know that the family came to know the LORD through Ps. Rob’s ministry in our church last year. I know it will be even better this year! Amen!

Well, as we all know, Christmas is just around the corner. As per our church tradition, we will be sending our Christmas greetings through our Christmas-In-A-Box program. As your pastor, I want to say a big thank you and how proud I am of all of you guys for contributing more than 100 boxes of gifts and prayers. I heard some of the boxes worth more than RM200!!! I believe when your box reaches a child, it will bless them not just materially but also emotionally. Earlier this week, a team of our City Care volunteers visited 30 single mothers and 40 children. One of the mothers was so touched that she decided to come to church this Christmas. Later on, we found out that the center actually wanted to get presents for the children but due to the lack of fund they had to shelf the idea. So when Eunice gave them a call, we were like the answer to their prayers. Amen! Church, I want to encourage all of you to bless and serve beyond the 4 walls of our church building. We have been so blessed by God and it is about time we step out and be a blessing to those who are less fortunate. Let’s put this desire close to our hearts and let’s do this as often as we can, not just during Christmas! Amen?!

Lastly, we will be having 2 special Christmas services this year. It will be on Dec 24 at 9pm and Dec 25 at 1030am. It is also a good opportunity for us to bring our family and friends to catch this year’s Christmas production entitled Christmas @ CHANG’S.

So, see ya and mari ke gereja beramai-ramai!


KEV

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus!


WOW! Arise & Build! What an exciting time to be alive!


This is the one season where all of our faith is stretched and put to the test, all at one go! Still, it is a happy season because we are building God’s house. I must admit that all of you guys, KL City Harvesters are just simply amazing! With only 1281 people who pledged, we raised a total of RM3,403,160.10!!! Hallelujah! And over the years, I have not come across anyone who is more generous and sacrificial than all of you! Thank you so much for being a part of this great vision to bring change and revival to our generation! I know we will build a great and magnificent house for the glory of God. Amen! So in the next 5 months, let us aspire to fulfill our pledge and honor God with our possessions.

And you know what… Christmas is just around the corner! As we all know, Christmas is about giving - a reminder of a God who loves us so much that He gave us His only begotten Son. So, as His children let us take this opportunity to give and be a blessing to all those around us. Our church, through City Care will organize ‘Christmas-In-A-Box’ once again and we will be visiting orphanages and homes. Church, I would like to encourage you to volunteer yourself to serve and reach out to our community. Help them rebuild their houses and redecorate their homes. Apart from physical assistance, let us also avail ourselves to meet their emotional and spiritual needs. It is about time that the church of Jesus Christ leaves the 4 walls of its comfort zone and goes outside the camp to touch lives! Yes, it can be risky but pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the word – James 1:27. City Harvest, let’s rise up and engage culture to fulfill the cultural mandate.

Running with you,


KEV