10 Jan 2013 by Adeline Lum-
The young and upbeat literally or at heart assembled at KingdomCity on January 6 (Sunday) to worship God. Soaked in the Holy Spirit led by the awesome worship team, a silhouette of hands rose up to worship God against the brightly-lit stage.
Counting their successes last year, KingdomCity had close to 1000 new people stepping into their KL church, a total of 770 people who made a decision to follow Christ in both Perth and KL, and over 2700 people who are now connected with KingdomCity in both Perth and KL. In addition, there has been significant funds raised for their missional efforts in India, Cambodia, Australia and Malaysia.
Rise and Shine!
In this sermon entitled ‘Vision Sunday’, Mark referred to Isaiah chapter 60 which spoke about the prophet speaking to a nation under captivity due to disobedience. Nevertheless, the light of the Lord would still come! His light would shine.
Isaiah 60:1-3
1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Mark believed that this chapter is prophetic in our nation today. Although we are not exiles like the Israelites, we may be exiles relationally and emotionally.
“We are under other kinds of bondages. What I love about this chapter is that the glory of the Lord will come. (In fact) the glory of God has already come in!” said Mark.
Matthew 5:13-16
Salt and Light
13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
All promises in Isaiah 60 are possible with our God for those who believe. But we have a significant responsibility to trigger these promises – arise and shine.
“When we sing that in the worship song, it is not about Jesus rising and shine. He can’t rise anymore because He is already the Most High. This verse is for us,” said Mark.'
Stand Up in the Storm
Sometimes, in the middle of the storm, even standing up is a challenge. Arise! Resist! Stand up! It is powerful.
For example, Matthew 7:24-29 tells a tale of one who built his house on solid rock and it withstood the storm, while the other built his house on sand and it fell with a great crash.
Matthew 7:24-29
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
“I salute people who stay married and stick out through thick and thin.” said Mark encouraging those who stand in the face of difficult times.
“To stand is not a stationary pose, but it is progress in the middle of a storm that others would sink in. Standing is a testimony to God and a sign of perseverance.”
Ephesians 6:10-16
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Although we don’t put an amour to stand but to fight, Ephesians 6:10-16 said standing four times in fighting the good fight.
“The church does not want to be your crutch or knee brace but we want to help you stand. If we as a church help one another to stand in the storm, we will be positioned to shine” said Mark.
How to Stand in the Storm?
One of the practical forums to help you stand is the local church connect group. Mark, for example, hired a fitness trainer to be fit. By involving other people in your life and not only yourself, you will grow because growth happens when iron sharpens iron whether it is in a small group at the mamak, coffee house and other hang-out places.
Another benefit of joining a connect group is the privilege of having accountability. By having a fitness trainer, Mark was accountable and ‘intentionally submissive’ to him.
At that moment, the congregation asked Mark to do push-ups on-stage. Without hesitation, he dropped down on the ground and did more than 20 push-ups to the congregation’s cheer.
“Growth happens when you are challenged by the right people and you respond rightly,” said Mark. “Don’t misunderstand the purpose of pain. It is often a vehicle for God to grow you.”
Shining in your vocation and in your church
Arising, or standing positions you to shine. The bible wrote ‘shine’ and not ‘reflect’. ‘Shine’ means radiating light from inside but ‘reflect’ means merely being near a source of light. Why do we ask for things we already have inside? That’s why the Lord says ‘rise up’!”
We all have an opportunity to shine – in our vocation where the Lord has placed us. We are not the salt of the ‘church’, and the light of the ‘youth group’ – we are the salt of the ‘earth’ and the light of the ‘world’. Our jobs, our places of weekday involvement is the place to shine.
We should also serve and be a part of our local churches.
The church is like a petrol station that fills our spirits up. The New Testament church met daily in homes and in the synagogue. We meet weekly at church and fortnightly in homes – and we wonder why we don’t have New Testament results.
Relating to his fitness routine, Mark said that as a body of Christ, a body is generally made out of fats which are the weight the body carry, and muscles which carry the weight of the body. In other words, muscles carry the weight of fats. So, the question is… are you “fat or muscle?”
“There are reasons that some of us are ‘fat’ in the body of Christ, but imagine if all of us become muscle, God could do so much through us!” said Mark.
ARISE. AND SHINE. For the glory of the Lord is risen upon YOU.
With that, Mark closed the sermon with a prayer:
Dear LORD, I pray that there’s something burning in us waiting to get out. Help us to see. We want to change the world but some of us don’t even know it. We can stand. We can shine. There are limitless possibilities with you. We will not let fear crippled and bondage us anymore. And we dedicate ourselves to you, LORD. Amen!
To find out more about KingdomCity K.L. or listen to the full sermon, please visit their website at www.kingdomcity.com.my
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