Zion Church Online Bulletin

Week No. 18 | 2 May 2021 Lord's Day

LORD’S DAY SERVICE ORDER

ANNOUNCER: Elder William Ng
*Silent Prayer
*Confession of Faith
Hymn 56
Responsive Reading:
39. Isaiah 55 (39. 以赛亚书 55)
Prayer by Elder William Ng
Scripture Reading:
2 Corinthians 5:14-17
(歌林多后书 5:14-17)
Choir Anthem by Sharon Choir
(pre-recorded):
Worthy Is Jesus
(耶稣配得)
Sermon by Pastor Samuel Kim
New Creature in Christ
(在基督里新造的人)
Hymn 210
Offering Prayer by Elder William Ng
Offering Song:
Hymn 468 – There Comes to My Heart
(奇妙平安由神而来)

(Sharon Choir)
Announcements
*Hymn 6
*Benediction by Pastor Samuel Kim

*Congregation Standing

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Let us continue to pray for the growth of our church and for the work of evangelism.
  • Please refer to the following for our online service times and locations:

    • Wed service @ 7:40pm – *On YouTube
    • Saturday Dawn prayer service @ 6am – Special study series *On Zoom
    • Lord’s Day service @ 10:45am – *On YouTube
    • Lord’s Day bible study @ 4pm – *On Zoom

    *YouTube link: http://live.zionchurch.sg
    *Zoom link: http://zoom.zionchurch.sg

  • There will be an “Online History of Redemption Global Webinar” held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 17-22 May (Mon-Sat). It will be broadcasted via YouTube over 6-Days daily. It is organised by YDSU, supported by R.Center and HORA Ministries. The 6-Day Webinar will feature 11 renowned international speakers and lecturers (such as Dr. Warren Gage, Rev. Dr Philip Lee, Rev. Dr. Samuel Kim and more) on the “History of Redemption Book Series” ranging from Book 1 to Book 11.

    All lectures will be available in English with translations into Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesian.
    Please register at: https://sejarahpenebusan.com/webinar/en/

  • There will be a special Online History of Redemption Seminar hosted by our main church on
    15 May (Sat) at 1-4 pm (SGT). There will be two lectures by Senior Pastor Philip Lee on the 6th Book (The Eternal High Priest of the Covenantal Oath). Lectures will be broadcasted via Pyungkang live YouTube channel. The lecture notes will also be provided in PDF format.

    Please pray that God’s glory will be proclaimed and that all who attend will be blessed through the Word.

  • As part of our missions work to proclaim God’s Word and to support the publication of the 6th book in the series, “The Eternal High Priest of the Covenantal Oath,” Zion Church will be doing a BOOK DRIVE .

    Your missions offering given for BOOK DRIVE will be used to purchase History of Redemption Series books and Bibles (where needed) to be sent to schools, institutions, and individuals who otherwise cannot buy them to read.

    You may participate by indicating “book drive” on the offering envelopes or sending direct bank transfers to: LI JIA TSUEY at POSB / DBS Savings Account number: 312-00458-5.

  • The church is open for those who wish to attend Wednesday & Lord’s Day services from the start of Phase 3. There will be 2 zones allocated for the main service times up to 100 people: 50 pax in the sanctuary (zone A) & 50 pax in the fellowship hall (zone B).

    Please register your attendance at http://LD100.zionchurch.sg
    More details at http://zionchurch.sg/covid-phase3

    And please follow Government’s latest requirement to download the TraceTogether mobile app
    or to collect the physical token in preparation to this only Safe-entry system at the church.

  • Pastor Sam will be speaking at Hinghwa Methodist Church’s Zoom service on 15 May (Sat)
    at 5pm
    . Please support him in prayer, that God will be glorified and all will receive grace.

    *Zoom link: http://tiny.cc/HMCC5zoom *Zoom ID: 870 7141 1007, *Passcode: 070707

  • Month of May is ‘The Month of Family’. Let us remember to appreciate and honor our family members as well as our church family.

UPCOMING PRAYER DUTY

Wednesday 5 May: Deacon Louis Loy

Lord’s Day 9 May: Elder Tan Pau Soon

OFFERING & TITHE

Via Internet Banking

You can give an offering electronically by transferring to the following account:

1. For regular, tithes, thanksgiving, special, and missions offerings ONLY
OCBC Bank Account: ZION CHURCH
Account#: 621835867001
PayNow UEN#: T00SS0141D

NOTE: Please specify Name, Purpose and Date (ddmmmyy) of the offering in the MEMO or Bill Reference Number section. See Example 1.

2. For Building Offerings ONLY
DBS Bank Account: ZION CHURCH
Account#: 047-903777-2

NOTE: Please specify Name, Purpose and Date (ddmmmyy) of the offering in the MEMO or Bill Reference Number section. See Example 2.

Use the following acronyms to indicate Purpose (offering type):

  • RO = Regular Offering
  • TH = Tithes
  • TG = Thanksgiving
  • SP = Special Offering
  • MO = Missions Offering
  • BO = Building Offering

Example 1:
JohnDoe TH 05APR20
SamMiller TG 05Mar20
JaneSmith RO 03May20

Example 2:
JohnDoe BO 05APR20

By Mail

You may mail your offering cheques to Zion Church to below address:
“Finance Department”.
2 Gambas Crescent, Nordcom 2 Tower 2 #10-13. Siangapore 757044.

By ATM

You may transfer via ATM:
BUT PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO SPECIFY TYPE OF OFFERING if you use this option.
Please inform any Finance Team member if want your offering to be recorded.

  • Eldress May Ling
  • Deaconess Leh Tieng
  • Elder Steve
  • Living Manna

    Sermon Summary
    Ark of the Covenant and the Cross

    Scripture: 1 Samuel 4:1-11, Galatians 6:14

    The ark of the covenant was the centre of the Israelites’ life and their walk from Egypt to the Promised Land. Likewise, the cross has become the centre of the church. The question I want to ask today, to ask ourselves: What happened to the cross in my life?

    This was the battle when they lost the ark of the covenant to the Philistines. The Philistines are the people God used from the time of the Judges to judge, punish, and teach the Israelites for turning away from God. (1 Samuel 4:1-2) In the bible, we see the people of God try to follow the ways of the Gentiles or idol worshippers, when that happens, God turns His people into the hands of the Gentiles and they get destroyed by the Gentiles. (Judges 13:1) But Israel’s solution was 1 Samuel 4:3-4. Their first question was “Why has the Lord defeated us?” They perceived the situation as God’s obligation to help them. In the wilderness, when the ark of the covenant was with them, they gained victory, so they thought to bring the ark of the covenant to them to win this battle. Rather than repenting, they used the ark of the covenant as an emergency measure for their loss.

    Why did Israelites treat God like a Gentile idol?

    It is due to Israel’s syncretic faith. Syncretism is a mixture of different beliefs, practices, and philosophies, mixing it up like the knowledge of good and evil. The Israelites thought there is nothing wrong with bringing the ark of the covenant. Yet no one thought to pray to God and return to the Lord. Israel’s faith did not dwindle away overnight. The seed of unbelief began from Egypt. They came out of Egypt but Egypt was still in their hearts. That was expressed through their grumbling and complaints, that it was much better in Egypt. Once in Canaan, God said to destroy all their idols but they didn’t for convenience and for humane reasons. Canaanite influence grew and grew and they assimilated into that kind of life to a point where they not only worshiped Baal and Asherah, but also burnt incense to the bronze serpent made by Moses. (2 King 18:4) Their focus was on the physical visible things, the rituals, that they forgot and didn’t care where God actually was.

    Such things happen today as well when people fall away from spirituality. They fall away from the actual spiritual relationship with God, and only hold on to the system, institution and tradition. They are not concerned about God, where He is, what He wants, more for their own position, status and gain. They sought God just like others sought idols for their needs. (Deuteronomy 7:16) We learnt in the History of Redemption, that Satan uses these seeds (Egypt, Canaan, both descendants of Ham) during that time to annihilate the lineage through which Messiah will come. Satan uses their culture and influence to destroy God’s people. Example: Pharaoh wiping out all the boys, Amalekites trying to kill all the Jews, Haman trying to kill all Jews during Esther’s time, Herod trying to kill all the boys in Jesus’ time, etc.

    Canaan in Mesopotamian language means carrier of heavy loads. When the Israelites prevailed against the Canaanites, they didn’t wipe them out of Israel, but instead, they started to use them as slaves and servants. The Canaanites were known for trading, good with finance, stocks, business, industry. They were good marketing people. Canaan was a modern developed people and country. When life became more comfortable, the Israelites said let us make for ourselves gods who will help us and make our life more pleasurable and convenient. There came Baal, Asherah, idols for different purposes. These gods were very convenient, very practical, all for us humans. They had different gods for different purposes – god for farming, rain, fertility, riches, health. Very convenient because you don’t have to bring an animal all the way to the temple and sacrifice it in a complicated manner.

    This is why God commanded Israel to destroy their idols. (Deuteronomy 7:2-5) But the Israelites intermarried with Gentiles, did commerce with them, followed the idols. As a result, all of Israel started to be filled with idols.

    Today let us think about what idol God told me to get rid of in my life that I still had not, because that might hurt me, or hurt my children and their children after them. Jeroboam went up to northern Israel and set up his kingdom and started to worry that his citizens will want to worship in Jerusalem in the south. To prevent them from travelling south to Jerusalem to worship God 3 times a year, he set up a temple in the north in Samaria and brought in golden calves into the temple and told the people to worship that instead. One in Bethel and one in Dan. (1 Kings 12:25-31) This was also Canaanite religious influence. Throughout the generation of kings, they worshipped idols. The 7th king Ahab married Jezebel the daughter of King of Sidonians, a Canaanite. Jezebel killed the prophets of God and established Baal as the official god of Israel. Canaanites are now ruling over Israel, and Canaanite gods are now ruling over Israel. That is how the seed of Satan through idolatry and adultery causes the people of God to perish both physically and spiritually. This is how scary syncretism is, mixing up different religions.

    That is why God spoke through Jeremiah that He wants a relationship, He wants His people back to Him. That is why there will be no more ark of the covenant but still God will be there with us. (Jeremiah 3:11-16)

    What about the cross and our faith?

    People think putting up the cross will keep them from an accident. Are you wearing a cross or a talisman? We carry the bible, we put up a name Christian, but that is nothing unless we live the Bible. Bringing the ark of the covenant was useless, they lose it, it is useless if God is not there. Memorising and preaching the Bible is useless if I don’t live the Bible, there is no power to it. Calling ourselves Christians and going to church, where is the power if I don’t live with God? What’s the use of asking for prayers and praying to God only when we have trouble when we don’t have a relationship with God?

    I pray sincerely that you and I may experience the power of the cross. It is not about the title “Christian” or the title “Pastor, Elder, Eldress, etc” it is not about wearing a cross or a robe. Authority comes from the Word and not the robe. The cross is not about wearing it or carrying it. The cross is about living it, about recognising who Jesus is, the owner and master of the universe, forgiving your enemy and praying for him. That is the life of the cross.

    I pray that we would never treat the cross or the name of God the way the Israelites did in today’s passage. May we instead honour God truly, by showing the power of His presence in our life, by having a relationship with Him daily.

    Amen

    Pastor Samuel Kim

    2021-05-01T17:19:25+00:00
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