Sera speaks: "So that others can do the same."

Sera is a theatre production student from LaSalle, she never fails to inspire others around her with her deep convictions and carefree expression of God's love. She's blessed with a beautiful singing voice too!

I actually read the whole of Galatians to refresh my memory a little hee hee. But i'll be sharing from Galatians 1 today. =) In Galatians 1:9 it says,"As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let that person be under God's curse!" I gulped when I read the word Curse. Usually you would see this word a whole lot more in the old testament then in the new. But it really made me realise how even with the new covenant that we've made with God, God is still very firm with the purpose He gave us from when we were first made. Even after Jesus had died on the cross for us and our lives are fill with grace, God still expects us to be firm with ourselves. How we speak, how we act and who we are needs to reflect God's words and how He has transformed us.?

What do people learn from us? How do we portray ourselves to others? Do we inspire them to think about their lives, or better, inspire them to change their lives?

I appreciate Paul when he shared about his life before and after his conversion from verses 11-24.

Paul consistently praises God and gives credit and glory to Him. He always portrays himself as someone unworthy of the grace shown to him by Jesus. But with that attitude, Paul doesn't wallow in his unworthiness. He uses his changed life and the grace given to teach and to inspire others to do the same.

In verses 23-24 it says,"They only heard the report:'The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.' And they praised God because of him." Personally, I am very inspired by Paul's attitude to his changed life. He was a murderer of christians and a destroyer of churches. I don't think any of us have murdered or destroyed lives. It's definitely humbling for me because I used to wallow and be guilty of the things I've done or have not changed. I didn't have godly sorrow. If Paul could embrace the fact that Jesus was enough to wash away all that he has done in the past, then Jesus is enough to wash away mine. =)?

I can deal with my past and I can be an inspiration to others.?

Let our change help others to do the same. =)

Love you all,

Sera

Alfred speaks: "The Poor Widow"

Alfred is our very cheerful, zealous and fired up brother. He loves children and is always inspiring others with his soft heart towards the word of God.

 

Luke 21:1-4 “¹As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ²He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.^[a] 3"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

1) 

 M 1) More than All the others

In church, we give 10% of our allowance or our income as our tithes. If you have $1000, you give $100 and have $900 for yourself. If you have $200, you give $20 and have $180 for yourself. However, for this poor widow, she gave 100%... everything to God.

The bible said that she put in two very small copper coins. How much is that two small copper coins worth in today’s context? If you check the footnotes at the bottom of the page, you will see the Greek word two lepta... How much is two lepta?

According to the World English Bible, Lepta are very small, brass, Jewish coins. Lepta are worth less than 1% of an agricultural worker’s daily wages.

According to another reference, a book title “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah” written by Edersheim, he stated a denarius is the common pay for a day's work in Jesus' era, a letpon is just a tiny, tiny portion. If a laborer can earn US $100 to $200 in our day, then two lepta is 1/128 of it, that would be US75¢ to $1.50. Due to the recent economic, the US dollar becomes weak. You convert US$1.50 to Sing dollar, it is around S$2. The Widow had only S$2! $2 is all she had! She gave everything S$2 all to God. Can you relate with the poor Widow? I believe many campus students can relate with the poor widow? I believe some of you were in the situation where you only left $2.

Bro & sis, you got to see that the poor widow is different from us... Cause we know that for us, the following month, we will surely get our next month allowance. But for the poor widow, she had no idea where to get the money from... She probably had to beg or loan. She didn’t have a constant income. She lived by faith... She gave all she had and... She trusted the Lord...

2)  

Sa2) Saving up to Give

According to the book, “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah”, it stated that Two lepta appears to have been the minimum lawful amount of a temple contribution. In other words, in the past, it seemed like 2 lepta, 2 small of copper coins was the minimum amount to give to God. From this, it shows something... it shows that the poor widow didn’t give any small amount... she probably have to SAVE UP to 2 small of copper coins in order to give the Lord.

Bro and sister, our special con is coming. Are you saving up for your special con? Most of us have already pledged of the amount to give for your special con. That is awesome... I really want to encourage everyone to save up and to give of whatever amount that you have pledge. For those, who haven’t pledge, I really want to urge you to pledge. I understand that some of us are financially tight. If we have financial difficulties, the amount of money that we pledge is not the most important. Most importantly, is the sincere pledge to God and try our very best to give to him.        

 

3) Faith Filled giving.  

During my Temasek Poly days, I know of this brother. He was a student like every one of us here. He had savings. Many years ago, when the church announced that they are going to build the church building, he was so excited that he gave $1000 to the church as a campus student. I remembered that the leaders advised him not to give so much as he was young and he may need that money for his future. However, that bro insist on giving. Looking back, the bro did realise that that was an impulsive giving. Because after giving $1000, his family faced some financial difficulties and he had some hard times. Nevertheless, he never regret giving... because he learn something valuable... he learn about faith... He learnt that during his financial low times, God still takes care of him and God has a plan for him. He is still in church. He is a happy man. God has blessed him tremendously. He is grateful to God and he tries his best to help bro and sis who are in need financially.

I will like to end of the poor contribution by asking everyone a question. Have you ever wondered what happened to the poor widow after that? What really happened to the poor widow after she gave everything that she had? If I would ask some of you now, to narrate of what happened to the poor widow after she gave everything that she had... what would that story be? 

I don’t know exactly what really happened to her after that... but I do know that God surely take care of her.

In Conclusion:

Let’s us imitate the incredible faith and sacrifice giving of the poor widow. To God be the Glory.