TIMES OF REFRESHING

Times of refreshing
Here in your presence
No greater blessing
Than being with you
My heart is restored,
My mind is renewed
There’s no greater joy, Lord
Than being with you.

Indeed, thank you, Lord for such a great time of refreshing… thanx for making me realize the things I never seemed to realize before…
(worship led by eddie quay)

1st service message:
A NEW WINE SKIN
Matt 9 : 16 - 17
V16 – “…and who would patch an old garment with unshrunk cloth? For the patch shrinks and pulls away from the old sloth, leaving an even bigger hole than before.
V17 – and no one puts new wine into old wineskins. The old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine & ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. That way, both the wine and the wineskins are preserved.”

· The church is experiencing new things; new life, new ministries, new opportunities, new wine… as the years go by, there will be new things coming into our lives… it all depends on us to grab hold of the opportunity.

· It’s a total waste if you pour new wine into old wineskins. If you wanna experience new things, PREPARE YOURSELF, because old wine cannot contain the new wine that is coming. You cant advance into new things or a new level unless you change your thinking.

· What’s the point of us knowing the Word of God, but not putting it into pratice? Start THINKING DIFFERENTLY!!

1. GET RID OF OLD NEGATIVE MINDSETS
If we don’t change our negative mindsets, God cannot work a change in our lives. Not only should we change our mindsets about ourselves, but also about others.
What you perceive in your mind, you receive it in the natural. What do you see when you look at yourself? Why don’t we start looking at ourselves positively? Focus only on the positive side?

2. MAKE ROOM IN YOUR THINKING
Start thinking big… increase, promotion, move on ahead. God is a progressive God, he keeps on growing. God will keep on prospering you (amen!), so you gotta make room for the big God. Rise up your level of expectancy. If your level of expectancy is little, he will make it little. But if you expect much, then he will give you much. Jesus said, “Let it be done according to your faith.” Psalm 23:6 says, “…surely goodness & love will follow me all the days of my life. David expected the best for himself. God loves us not bcoz of what we do, but bcoz of who we are.

3. DEVELOP A HEALTHY SELF-IMAGE OF OURSELVES IN OUR MIND
Don worry about what others think of us. We should be sensitive to what God wants to speak to us, not be influenced by what others say about us. Begin to agree with God. Judges 6:15 says, “Gideon felt weak, but God still see him as someone strong.” Focus on God, not our weakness; on God, not ourselves. Don’t believe little, don’t expect little, don’t look down on ourselves.

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2nd service message:
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SEE
Jn 6 : 9-14
v9 – “there’s a young boy with 5 loaves & 2 fishes. But what good is it with this huge crowd?”
v10 – “tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus ordered. So all of them – the men alone numbered 5 thousand – sat down on the grassy slopes.
V11 – then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanx to God, and passed them out to the people. Afterward, he did the same with the fishes. And they all ate until they were full.
V12 – “now gather the leftovers,” Jesus told his disciples, “so that nothing is wasted.”
V13 – there were only 5 loaves to begin with, but 12 baskets were filled with the leftovers from the crowd!
V14 – when the people saw this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “surely he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”

· God is not looking for an army. He is looking for only ONE person who is WILLING to RESPOND!

· When he asks, “who is willing to go?” it is a general call… so, the one who says, “here am I, Lord… send me” is the person who answered that call. Are we someone who will rise up & respond to that call?

· He is not bothered about what you do not have; rather he is more interested in WHAT YOU HAVE. Are we faithful in the little things he has given us? How can we handle big things when we cant be faithful in little things? The little things that we have, are we willing to bring it to Him & let him use it for his glory? Are we willing to sow our LIVES?

· Be that man/woman who will MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!! (haha… sounds familiar? ehehe)

· What you see is what you get!! If we see faith, we will be filled with faith, and vice versa… so, be wise & choose what we feed into our minds…

· When the disciples gave out the 5 loaves & 2 fishes, the miracle of abundance was evident (the multiplication)… similarly, when we start GIVING, we will also begin to receive… and he will flow a river of blessings into our lives!!
(message by ps frankie khoo)