The year of Re-aligning for Re-assigning

15 January 2013 by Natasha Kim – CM

All Churches have their humble beginnings and it was no different for Grace Assembly. The past weekend I attended their Church Convention Centre located in Petaling Jaya. Looking at the Church itself, no one would ever have guessed that Senior Pastor Henry K. Pillai who was a student pastor then, initiated it in a humble shed located in Pandamaran, Klang.

In good times, they managed to secure this very location they are situated at today, and converted it from an old Limkokwing University into an ever growing prominent Church. In addition to that, they have a mission to reach out to communities, the nation and the world at large. The Convention Centre itself is able to seat thousands of people, so do not fret about space.

This particular evening service, we have founder Pastor Henry preaching. Beginning the service with praise and worship, Henry then walked up to the stage and showed a short video of the past happenings of 2012 that the Church has managed to achieved.

Right after, he also showed the congregation a video of the happenings of the world which included the good and the bad. This particular video overwhelmed me with emotion as I watched the events that contained the smiling faces of people and the others who suffered terribly.

Henry then began his sermon by talking about the importance of looking back at history when studying anything and said, “According to historical research, this will be a year of rebellion and many things taking place globally where God exposes the heart of individuals and nations.”

Closely observing scriptures, one can see that there were many events that took place on the 13^th, whether the 13^th day or the 13^th year. He then added that, “It’s a time where many things will disintegrate, many revolutions will take place and many selfish hidden agendas exposed on a global scale.” We need to prepare ourselves for great challenge but do not fret for the righteous shall prevail ultimately even if evil prevails for now, and this is according to God’s word.

This time of confrontation sees God doing a cleansing and soul searching in the life of many Christians. In life all the issues we have are concerning the issues of the heart! That is why Jesus came to change our hearts. What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean, what comes out of our hearts is what defines us.

Henry then goes in depth into the 13 sins of the heart that Jesus touches on:-

Mark 7: 20 -23 – ²⁰ And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,²² Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:²³ All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Evil Thoughts

Genesis 6:5-  ⁵ And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Our spirit, our soul and the heart of man sees evil thoughts. We need to bring any evil thought in our hearts and surrender it to the Lord.

Adulteries & Fornications

Both these sins of lust are listed at the beginning of the sentence. The difference between the two, is that adultery is committed by people who are married the while fornication is committed by people who aren’t. Henry said, “The more you keep reading about what’s happening in society, you’ll see that all these sexual sins are increasing unbelievably. We see it right before us in our fluent society.

Murders

“Most of the time when someone rapes a girl, they kill her. Why? Because of hatred of not getting the satisfaction that one thought he would get.” said Henry. He then talks about the recent news that happened to a Indian girl in a bus and how he was angry because some people are defending the rapists. What is good today is considered bad and what is bad today is considered good.

Thefts

The Bible says, “He that was a thief steal no more” Henry said, “Are we robbing from God? By not honouring our parents or vice versa.” Many cries are being heard by God as people’s dues are being stolen. Do not let your gold or silver be a testimony against you, always check yourself.

Covetousness

The Bible says, “Thou shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour.” Do not crave for things, especially the materials of others, knowing that if it’s yours God will provide it.

Wickedness & Deceit

All deceit and wickedness come with an element of truth. Some people keep thinking about how to lie or how to deceive and many of the poor suffer from it. Henry said, “Our yes should be a yes and our no should be a no. Anything more than is because there’s some evil behind it.” Do not play with words and do not deceive people with your words. Christians must base their speech on trust and in truth. 

Lasciviousness & Evil Eye

Lasciviousness talks about lustful desires while evil eye talks about envy. We shouldn’t be looking at things in a negative and destructive way, we need to be delivered. If our eyes are watching evil, then that is what it will always want. Henry said, “We should be careful with what we watch.”

Blasphemy, Pride & Foolishness

He said, “A lot of laws are being passed all over the world to blaspheme God.”

“What are you so proud of?” said Henry. It is all illusions and deceptions and foolishness.

All in all, these 13 things that Jesus spoke about come from the heart. Every day we can examine that God will purify us little by little so that we will be free from all of these things that corrupt us, defile us and gives us sleepless nights. These things that define us can be dealt with if you search within your heart and ultimately search for God.

Henry Pillai said, “God wants to give us a new heart”

 

For more information or to listen to the full sermon, please visit http://www.grace-intl.com