Rock@One North

Tomorrow we be having a combined service at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. A rare treat where we can all meet in one place.

But the day will come when we will not have to meet up at SIS just to be in one place, because the plans have been laid to have our own home. New Creation Church has been experiencing explosive growth. The Rock Auditorium has been literally been bursting at the seams just to contain all our members. A conservative estimate would put our attendance on Sundays to close to 12,000 worshippers. So obviously a venue with only 1,200 seats will not do. We had to acquire floors 4 and 6 as well, and even that was not enough. Then we struck an agreement to get a hall at the Eng Wah cinema next door, and still that was was not enough. There are also halls at Suntec Convention Centre rented on Sundays to make up the numbers.
We also have 2 chinese services on sundays, and Bible Study on weekdays and all the various ministries that meet up throughout the month. All in all, it was obvious we had to find a bigger place to contain all the joy therein. Our cup literally was running over. It took a while to find a place that was both big enough and yet be economically viable.

Until now only the Singapore Indoor Stadium was available as a venue that was big enough to contain our church. It was amongst some of the other alternatives considered:

- Build a new church building on a plot allotted for institutional use in a suburban location.
- Continue to hold services at the Rock Auditorium, the Rock overflow rooms, Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre and Eng Wah Cinema.
- Hold services in Singapore Indoor Stadium.

each of the above had certain disadvantages which I will explain in brief below:

Build a new church building on a plot allotted for institutional use in a suburban location

Cons: small area (typically 4,000 to 6000 sqm),short lease (30 years)
Which meant we would need about 5 or 6 venues to contain about everyone in satellite churches all over singapore. Talk about a logistics nightmare.

Continue to hold services at the Rock Auditorium, the Rock overflow rooms, Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre and Eng Wah Cinema

Cons: high costs ($477,000 per month currently),no control over availability of venues,subject to price hikes and inflation, due to location inaccessible during events (marathons, IMF,World Bank Meeting etc)

Hold services in Singapore Indoor Stadium

cons: costs ($163,000 per meeting),available only once a week,No ownership of property ,No control over availability of venue, also subject to inflation and price hikes

So it became imperative to find a meeting place big enough to call home yet still be financially sustainable in the longer term. So when the opportunity came up NCC seized the opportunity to invest in Civic & Cultural Zone (CCZ) of the Integrated Hub @ one-north project.

Here are the pictures of what the new Rock is gonna look like:

A joint development by Rock Productions Pte Ltd (Rock) and CapitaLand Retail Limited (CapitaLand Retail), the Integrated Hub is designed to provide an exhilarating civic and retail experience with endless opportunities. Combining the laid-back charm of Holland Village and Rochester Park with the cosmopolitan beat of Clarke Quay, the 54,000 sqm (gross floor area), 15-level complex will be home to numerous popular retail brands, food & beverage outlets, leading names in wellness and lifestyle, an outdoor cinema on Level 3, a basement amphitheatre and a performing arts venue, the only 5,000-plus-seater, state-of-the-art concert hall in Singapore. Expect an infinite range of world-class entertainment options that will support the needs of shoppers, foodies, arts enthusiasts, music lovers, culture mavens, students, families, executives and the community-at-large.

As usual there will be naysayers and critics. As with our highly successful investment in Marine Cove, people are bound to come out of the woodwork to say how unviable such a project on this scale is for a church to undertake. Then there will always be the critics who find it un-christian for a religious organization such as New Creation Church to undertake such a so-called commercial endeavour.

Which brings me to this parable, The Parable of the Talents.

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

A parable that vividly illustrates how the church is to widely invest to increase their monies. A well known parable of Jesus yet how many churches (or believers for that matter) exercise godly wisdom to maximise returns on their investments? Not many it seems. And when a church such as New Creation Church sets out to do so, they somehow face a wall of derision within the ranks of the Body of Christ.

Anyway as with all things of this nature let God's word have the final Word:

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

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Yellow- Not by Coldplay

This indian dude spoofs Yellow by Coldplay.And sums up quite well how it feels to beun-yellow in sunny Singapore.
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~DO LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS~

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

"...For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21

Just take a moment to think about what you just read.

The kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU. The kingdom of God is not just some place that you will one day be find yourself if you live a good life. The kingdom of God is not just a place you read about in the bible. It is within you!

Sounds profound and a tad bit abstract at first, but what is it to have 'the kingdom of God within you'?

In the bible the term Kingdom of God is loaded with any number of meanings:
- the time of the fulfillment of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants.A time of a restored earth where the faithful will worship and serve their God
- the seed that must be sown in the hearts of men.
- the destination for the righteous in the end of days.

In the context of the above verse it is pretty obvious that it is not referring to the fulfillment of the covenants nor to the final destination of believers. What then about this seed that has to be sown in the heart of all believers? In the Parable of the Sower the seed that had to be sown was the Word of God.

The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand."

We see here that the seed that fell on good ground represented a man who HEARS the Word AND UNDERSTANDS it. And the man who understands the Word produces a bumper crop!

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

But what exactly is this Word that produces such dramatic results? And what are rewards to the man who takes the Word to his heart?

Charles Spurgeon described it thus:

The ground is described as "good": not that it was good by nature, but it had been made good by grace. God had ploughed it; he had stirred it up with the plough of conviction, and there it lay in ridge and furrow as it should lie....In some cases it produced fervency of love, largeness of heart, devotedness of purpose of a noble kind, like seed which produces a hundredfold. .."

Love....a heart that gives...and a noble sense of purpose... all without effort from the man (who is represented by the seed), on good ground only by reason of God's grace.
Bear in mind that all these (love,big heart,noble purpose) are the fruits and not the seed. So we can surmise that the Kingdom of God can be the state wherein a believer listens to the Word,understands the Word and then the man grows in the Word, and then exhibits all the virtues mentioned.

But then you may ask how does one reach that state where one starts to display all these good deeds. Secure and grounded (no pun intended) in the Word. How exactly does one have the Kingdom of God fully manifests in his thoughts and deeds?

As is often the case in all matters of things concerning the things of God, it is so simple yet so few fully comprehend it. The key lies in first listening to the Word and then understanding it. But how many of us really make an effort to just listen. The key to understanding the Word is through listening first.

One of my favourite verses is this:

"what is the breadth, and the length, and the depth, and the height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge"- Ephesians 3:18,19

Therein lies the dilemma that every believer has to grapple with to get the Kingdom of God manifest in him and through him. We all read the same Bible. Read the same scripture and memorise the same verses. Yet it seems that some of us seem more blessed than others. Some of us have favour in all we set our hands to do, yet others seem to be toiling seemingly without any gain.

So what is the breadth, the length, the depth and the height of your perception of the love of Christ? Everyone is familiar with how we should love Christ et al. But the part that is often overlooked and is key to unlocking the Kingdom of God in the lives of every believer is Christ's love for us! In your heart and mind how do you think Christ perceives you? As a dirty sinner whom God is displeased with and whom you have to make things right to? Someone whose holiness you dare not dream to partake and whose standards of righteousness who can never hope to reach? Or as someone so beloved of God, that God himself came down from heaven in human form to die for every sinful thought and deed you ever did, to fully pay the price of sin and redeem you fully from the wages of your sin? A God filled the love of a father upon his children, who wants for his children every good thing within His power to give?

An analogy I like to use here is to liken the blessings of God in our lives to water flowing in a hose pipe. The tap is on and the water is flowing through the pipe. Yet nothing seems to be coming out of the other end of the hose. It is because the end of the tube is blocked or closed. Or other times the flow out of the tube is slow and like a trickle for much the same reasons. And then you find a hose with water flowing freely and forcefully being expelled out. With this hose you can water your plants and fill up the water dishes for your dog.
Likewise in the hearts and minds of the believer, are the waters of God's blessing favour flowing freely? How do you release that power to overcome your inner struggles and outward circumstances? The answer is simple: the flow is only as slow or as fast as you believe it to be.

As Jesus in his ministry on earth often said to those who displayed their faith,"Your faith has made you well", "..as you have believed so be it unto you.." and "never have I seen such faith...". The answer to every situation is what do you believe God to be. Do you think that God loves you enough to find a life partner fit for you? That God has bestowed upon favour in that job interview for that job you really want. That God has provided the financial breakthrough that will give you the standard of living you aspire to have. Do you feel that God cares enough to let that cancer inside of you remain there, or to remove every trace of it?

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows;Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

The part of the believer is to rest in the finished work of Christ at the Cross.
At the Cross blood was shed to wash away our sin. Not to just cover our sin just to be uncovered later on, but washed away for all of eternity. But still many believers still maintain a consciousness of their sin, yet have little or no revelation of their right standing before God.
At the Cross, our healing was provided by Jesus stripes. Yet many amongst us still show the effects of the curse. We see sickness and disease as our just desserts for some sin in our lives or some manner of discipline imposed on us by God because we have failed Him in some manner.
At the cross our griefs and sorrows were carried by Jesus, yet many believers choose to still carry their pains and their sorrows with them wherever they go. We just find it hard to let go of our pains and sorrow. Ironically we refer to them as 'or crosses to bear'.

The question every believer has to answer is where is his or her sin now? Was sin paid for at Calvary, or is a sinner still found accountable for his actions. Does sickness and disease have any right of place in the body of the believer? Does grief,sorrow and disquiet have any place in the thoughts of the christian after the Cross?
The answer to all those questions were answered in the verse above. His blood paid for our sin, His stripes paid for our healing, At the Cross all our worries and anxieties,concerns and pain were carried by Jesus so that we do not have to carry them ourselves anymore.

What releases righteousness,healing and a sound mind is our faith in the finished work of Christ. And what inhibits our standing in righteousness,healing and a soundness of mind is our lack of faith and lack of rest that God is both willing and able to deliver on what He said he has already done.

How do we inhibit God's plan for us? By allowing worry and fear to rule our hearts and minds. We circumvent God's ideal for us by allowing a medical report or a runny nose to dictate that we are sick or beset by some incurable disease. We fill our thoughts with thoughts of the what-if's of life. The news reports of terrorism, natural disasters and accidents consume our thoughts. Everywhere around us we see people overwhelmed by their circumstances and their lot in life. We allow insecurities and the fear of the unknown an unmerited place in what we believe our future to be. We let our physical appearance, social status, financial situation and academic achievements be the indicators of how successful(or not) we will be.

The key to having the Kingdom of God and all its fruits is to let go, and let God. To see what God has already done for you and that your only part is to claim the righteousness, healing and peace of mind that was already yours to begin with. To see yourself as what you really are: righteous and favoured before God, healthy, strong,favoured and blessed in the sight of men, financially secure, filled with wisdom, peace of mind, blessed in your working and family life and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?-Roman 8:35

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~DO LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS~