Making A Difference In This Generation—Alive ’15

 

The third and final installment of a three-part rally, Alive ’15 was held at SSMC (Sungai Way-Subang Methodist Church) on 4^th July with the purpose of encouraging young people to become alive in Christ. It all started when a group of individuals got together in 2012 and decided to organize an event for the younger generation to come together and intercede on behalf of the country.

“It felt right that the young people took ahold of their role in the destiny of this country; to labour, to pour out petitions, and to cry out on behalf of their people—their land,” said one of the organizers.

Isaiah 60:1-3 says:

 

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,

   and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth

   and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you

   and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light,

   and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

 

The promises found in these verses sparked the decision for Awaken in 2012, Arise in 2013, and finally, Alive in 2015.

The night started out with an energetic worship session led by Samuel Anthony, Jeremy Chew, and their team from various churches. Young people gathered on the floor in the front, singing and jumping, and giving praises to God with much joy and exuberance.

 

 

A time of prayer then followed, led by six leaders who brought the people through different topics and areas to focus on, from repentance, to renewal, to revival.

Joshua Liew from SSMC began by calling everyone to repentance, followed by Rosalind Chong, also from SSMC, who called upon the older generation to lay hands on and pray over the youth.

“Together as different generations, we want to be alive,” she prayed, “we want to be revived for the Lord!” She prayed that the young people would know the Lord wholeheartedly, that they would pursue the Lord, and that they will have a deeper desire to know Christ.

 

 

Moh Heng Ying from WMC Klang (Wesley Methodist Church Klang) then had everyone present to gather in their respective churches to pray for their own communities and their church leaders, before the pastor of WMC Klang, Rev. Ashok Amarasingham proceeded to pray for the future of the younger generation.

“We want this generation to be a community that reaches out in love to a world that desperately needs Jesus as Lord and Saviour,” he prayed, “so we cry out that you make strong families. We pray that in the years to come, you will bless the young people here in their marriages—that the men will rise up as husbands and heads of the family.”

He prayed that they will know the power of standing firm and secure in God—that they will not compromise that position of authority that God has given to them and that they will be courageous in leading their families in God’s ways.

“You are a good God and we want to see a generation of children rising up in families that know You, honor You, fear You, and love You,” Rev. Ashok continued, petitioning that a new generation of children will be raised in God’s ways and will not be compromised by the ways of this world.

 

 

Timothy Choy from Faith Methodist Church then took some time to remind the attendees that the real battle is in the spiritual realm. He warned them not to be ignorant of the things going on around them then everyone to ask God for a personal vision from God for the country of Malaysia.

“You were not born here by accident, and the things happening today are also not by accident,” he said. “Cry out to God that He would give each of us a vision for our nation. What can we do?” He admonished that the world will only know righteousness from “you who have known righteousness,” and love from “the church who has received love freely.”

Dr. Herbert Tan from EMC (Emmanuel Methodist Church) PJ then prayed for a tsunami of a sense of fear of the Lord to sweep throughout this nation and that God’s glory will fill this land as the waters that cover the sea.

 

 

“You have shaken the foundations we put our securities in so that we, as mere mortals, will realize that we cannot depend on anything but You and You alone,” he prayed, “so we ask that You will do a deep work of sanctification in our lives, in our families, in our churches and in our nation.”

To wrap up the events of the night, Ps. Jonathan Ngan, the youth pastor of SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo) KL delivered a sermon about becoming alive in Jesus by fully surrendering to Him.

“Do you know that you could be breathing but not be alive?” He began by asking. “Bad things happen, but just because we live in uncertain times does not mean that we have to live insecure lives because Jesus is alive.”

Ps. Jonathan went back to the beginning and explained the concept of sin. “Sin causes us to focus on the wrong things—the things that we cannot have—and makes us forget the things that we do have.” It is ultimately not about doing bad things or not following the rules, but about putting the ‘self’ in the center of all things instead of God. “Sin thrills you for a moment, then it kills you,” he said.

 

 

“But God,” he emphasized, “God is not done with you. He is not done writing your story. God who is great in love and rich in mercy has enough mercy and forgiveness to cover up anything and everything that we could possibly do.

“On the cross, Jesus took our past, and gave us His future,” he said. “Following Jesus is not about going to church or living by a set of rules, but about you becoming alive in your spirit.”

Ps. Jonathan went on to say that the saying, “God only helps those who help themselves” is a lie of the enemy, because God absolutely helps those who cannot help themselves. He said that God saw us in our weakness, saw that we don’t deserve His mercy, but gave it to us anyway.

“That’s grace,” he said. “None of us can make it on our own—none of us are worthy of Him. We are unworthy, but we are not worthless. If you ever feel like nobody wants you, remember that Jesus wants you. He bought you with a price. And when we accept Jesus into our lives, we have peace, joy, and love.”

 

 

Ps Jonathan then gave the reminder that God did not promise us an easy life, but He gives us His peace. “Peace is not the absence of trouble,” he said, “but it is the presence of Jesus in the midst of trial. When we have Jesus in our lives, we can truly be alive. We can truly be bold enough to face the next challenge.

“What is the point of life?” He asked. “There are two things: To know God, and to glorify Him. What’s important in life is, ‘Are we glorifying God? Are we expanding His Kingdom? Are we doing something for Him?’”

He went on to challenge the youth to do something for their generation—to stand out and not fit in—to change their school and their community. “All God needs to make a difference is one person,” he said. “If you think that you are too small to make a difference, you have never been in a room with a mosquito.

“God has a plan for your generation. All you have to do is trust Him. Are you willing to step up? Are you willing to receive this gift and be alive for Him?”

 

 

Ps. Jonathan closed by challenging the youth to dream big for God and to pursue whatever it is that God has placed on their heart so that they may glorify Him. “We don’t have to change our message,” he said, “but we can definitely change our methods. Jesus said to make disciples, not collect them.”

John 14:12 says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Ps. Jonathan used this verse as an encouragement to the youth to do great things for God. He concluded the night by praying first for anyone who never truly gave their hearts to Jesus, and then for those who have a dream to do something for God. “If you feel like you are not ready to follow Jesus, remember that you don’t clean yourself before getting into the shower,” he said. “All you have to do is acknowledge that you need Him!”

 

|Share The Good News| 

Esperanza Ng