Zion Church Online Bulletin

Week No. 51 | 19 Dec 2021 Christmas Lord's Day

LORD’S DAY SERVICE ORDER

ANNOUNCER: Elder Ridwan Dinata
*Silent Prayer
*Confession of Faith
Hymn 57
Responsive Reading:
57. Christmas Day (57. 圣诞节)
Prayer by Elder Ridwan Dinata
Scripture Reading:
Matt 1:21-23, John 1:9-14
(马太福音 1:21-23, 约翰福音 1:9-14)
Choir Anthem by Sharon Choir
(pre-recorded):
Go to Him in Bethlehem
(让我们去伯利恒)
Sermon by Pastor Samuel Kim
Reason for Christmas
(圣诞节的原因)
Hymn 120
Offering Prayer by Elder Ridwan Dinata
Offering Song:
Crown Him
(拥戴歌)

(Sharon Praise)
Holy Communion
Announcements
*Hymn 6
*Benediction by Pastor Samuel Kim

*Congregation Standing

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Let us continue to pray for the growth and revival of our church and for the work of evangelism.
  • Let us continue to pray for God’s protection of all nations in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic situation and for the situation to improve and be well-managed.
  • 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

  • The Precept for 2022: “A church that is devoted to making great advances in proclaiming the Word of redemptive history.” (Exod 36:3; Neh 6:15-16; Ps 18:29; 110:3; Col 1:6)
  • Please refer to the following schedule for the end-of-the-year services:

    1. (24 Dec, Fri) Christmas Eve Service & celebration @ 7:30pm – *via Zoom
    2. (25 Dec, Sat) Christmas Day live broadcast service from main church @ 9:30am, followed by Baptism service – in church and *via YouTube
    3. (31 Dec, Fri) New Year’s Eve Watchnight service @ 10:15pm – in church and *via YouTube
    4. (1 Jan, Sat) New Year’s Day live broadcast service from main church @ 9:30am – in church and *via YouTube

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

  • Please take note to do your seat bookings for special services (live broadcast from main church) on 25 Dec and 1 Jan. The seats will be opened for booking on Tues, 21 Dec.
  • There will be no Saturday Dawn services on 25 Dec and 1 Jan, and no Lord’s Day Bible studies on 26 Dec and 2 Jan.
  • Please pray for the ongoing recording works of the History of Redemption modular lectures which will last till March 2022. Please pray for all the lecturers, for the AV and video editing teams, as well as for this series of lectures to be greatly used for evangelism work in and outside of Singapore.
  • We will have all-church cleaning next Lord’s day, 26 Dec after service. Let us all gather our efforts to clean our Father’s house to usher in the new year.
  • Each Zion Church household or visitor will receive a jar of Christmas cookies with the compliments of the Church, for our Christmas celebration this year. Please collect it from the ushers at the exits, right after service on Christmas Lord’s Day, 19 Dec.
  • There will be a brief Women’s Ministry meeting this Lord’s day via zoom @ 3:30pm before the bible study.
  • Kindly submit your Ministries’ 2022 budget latest by 31 January 2022 to the finance department.
  • 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:
    HORA Ministries – DBS Bank Account 072-037508-4.
    Account Type: Corporate Multi Currency Account.

UPCOMING PRAYER DUTY

Wednesday 22 Dec: Deacon Sean Tang

Lord’s Day 26 Dec: Elder Steve Yoon

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
How Do We Receive God’s Grace?

Scripture: Psalm 116:12; 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

In today’s passage, the psalmist says, ‘How can I pay back to the Lord, for all that He has done for me?’ The Apostle Paul also says, ‘Do not receive the grace of God in vain. Realize that now is the time to receive God’s grace.’ In addition, James writes in James 4:14 that ‘You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.’ It seems that time zoomed by this year, and these scripture passages show us that time does indeed fly. Everyone is racing toward their individual ends, the times of which we do not know.
Noah didn’t know when the end would come, yet he stayed faithful to the work of building the ark in anticipation. God only told him of the flood without giving any proof. How was this possible? Genesis 6:8 tells us the answer: ‘Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.’ The word for favour also means ‘grace’. And so we can say that it is only because of God’s grace that Noah could remain faithful to God’s work. It is God’s grace that saved him and made him do God’s work. Those who did not have God’s grace, on the other hand, went to their destruction.
When we receive God’s grace, the consequence is that we please God. We thus need to focus on receiving God’s grace. The Apostle Paul encourages the church in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 that the time to receive God’s grace is now. Why? Because we don’t know the future. It was because of God’s grace that the Apostle Paul could let go of everything he had in order to pursue ministry (Ephesians 3:7-9). May we likewise receive God’s grace to do God’s work. So how are we to receive God’s grace?

We need to find God’s grace in small things first

The Apostle Paul could heal others, but he couldn’t heal himself. He came to God three times, asking for healing from his eye problem (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). However, God showed him that his eye problem kept Paul dependent on Him (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul’s weakness kept him humble. We also need to confess, like Paul, that God’s grace is sufficient for us. In this way, our problems, our hardships, and our dire circumstances are the manifestations of God’s grace.

Persecution and hindrances never got in the way of Apostle Paul’s ministry. He built and mended tents for a living, and did not demand financial support from his congregation. Even if he was persecuted, he never ceased his thanksgiving. Why could he give thanks? Because he found God’s grace in the small things. As we prepare for the end of this year, let us also prepare for the end of our lives by discovering God’s grace in the small things.

We must remember the grace we have received

God said to the Israelites to remember His commandments by acting upon them (Deuteronomy 8:11; 32:7). When we put God’s Word into action, we keep it and remember it. It confirms God’s covenant (Deuteronomy 8:18). We remember God’s grace by keeping God’s Word. Adam and Eve may have remembered God’s Word in the head, but they did not act upon it. We think we remember with our head, but our lives and actions need to remember God’s Word too. The ten spies forgot God’s Word because they spied out the land with their own welfare in mind, whereas Joshua and Caleb spied out the land with God’s promises in mind (Numbers 13). Rahab did not experience God first-hand and only heard of the work of God. But when the time came for faith, the Word of God within her activated and produced works of faith. We need to store God’s Word, hold onto it, and use it when the occasion arises. When we listen to God’s Word thinking, ‘I already know this’, grace is spilled. When the Word is not applied to our real lives, we lose grace. Grace is the free gift of God that we don’t deserve, but do we apply it in our lives? In other words, do we remember God’s grace?

We need to learn to render(return) to the Lord for all the grace we have received

When we come to understand the Word of God, we receive God’s grace. It is through God’s blessings, providence, and help. We realize that God is here with us. We realize that God has always been next to us, watching over us.
We have been saved by grace through faith, to do the good works which God has planned (Ephesians 2:8-10). We cannot boast of anything other than Jesus’ works. So when the psalmist writes, ‘How should I render God’s grace?’, it’s a rhetorical question: ‘I can never repay God’s grace.’ Parents don’t count their expenses spent on their children and demand everything back when they’re older. Parents only want their children to grow up well and to receive their love. God also has the heart of a parent. He wants us to realize that God is our Father, and to realize the depth of love which He has for us. God wants our thanksgiving, not as a burden or duty on our part, but as a natural fruit born out of receiving God’s grace. We render God’s grace back to Him through thanksgiving and love.

Conclusion: Grace leads us to life

Jesus, Himself is grace. An old Korean proverb says, ‘Watch out for small deaths.’ There are things that lead you to death, and these are small deaths. Laziness, gluttony, debauchery, hedonism, and grumbling are such small deaths. 1 Timothy 5:6 says that ‘but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.’ Revelation 3:1 says, ‘And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.’ There are huge trees which live for very long. However, some of them fall. The outside looks magnificent and strong, but the little insects inside have hollowed out its core. This is the impact of little deaths in our lives. Satan works in this way to destroy our spiritual lives. Satan is trying to eat us up little by little. But it is God’s grace that preserves us against this. Noah, because he found God’s grace, was preserved through the judgement. May we find the spark of grace that leads us all the way to the end, to the final victory.

AMEN.

Pastor Samuel Kim

2021-12-18T18:13:11+00:00
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