Now if you are new with us, we have been going through in a series as a church, called "From Your Pastor's Heart". Really, this is about apostle Paul, sharing his heart to the Christians at Rome in Romans chapters 15 and 16. Last week Paul shared his heart as to the importance of obedience, what it means, how it came about and what it signifies. So we looked at the subject of obedience, last Sunday. Today, we are going to look at a separate subject which is about ministry. If you are a Christian for some time, you have served God before or you're serving God today, this is the message for you. Because Paul is right here going to share with us about his philosophy, his attitudes, and his mindset about serving God.

You know when it comes to serving God, we all have our ideas. When I say serve God, maybe, these are the thoughts you have Wah, very difficult, wah, it's very tiring, wah, it demands a lot of me, wah I have experienced burn out before. These are some of the thoughts you may have and I we are going to to look at Paul and look at his attitudes and how it compares and contrasts with ours. Now in order to do that, to see the beauty and the balance of Paul's mindset, we're going to show you a little video clip, it's a lighthearted video clip, any resemblance to living people, is purely coincidental. We are not trying to say that they are like but it's just a way for us to see ourselves in it and then subsequently see the beauty and the balance of Paul's philosophy. So let's look at ministry doing it our way.

Video clip plays.

Don't take myself too seriously, alright. (Laughter in the congregation). Serving God and all of us have mindsets like this, right? We may say with our, this brother here, Sigh! serving God is so "kang kor", so difficult. And maybe that's a groan you have uttered before or maybe, we feel that nobody appreciates what I do for God, you know how hard I serve, how come no one ever says, thank you, nobody appreciates what I do. Maybe we may be lifted up in selfish pride and think that we are God's gift to human humanity, I am better than Spurgeon, and I am the best teacher alive, blah, blah, blah. You know serving God is a tremendous privilege but it also comes with all kinds of misconceptions.

You realize that when I struggle or when you are proud of yourself, you are very self-centered, isn't it? You are thinking about yourself, wah, how difficult it is for me. How come nobody notices me, you know how good I am and is very self-centered and that's the problem in ministry. But when you look at Paul, in 5 verses, Romans 15 verses 15 to 20, just 5,6 verses. We read Paul's heart in ministry. You don't hear of him complaining about how "kang kor", how difficult it is, neither do you read Paul's saying, hey, I am the great apostle Paul. It seems like when you look at Paul's writings, his focus is never about self, Paul's focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Time stamp in audio 0:04:26.5.

So look at this, it says here, I'm a minister of Christ Jesus. He says in Christ Jesus, I have reason to be proud of my work. It's not me but it's in Christ Jesus that I'm proud. He says look at what Christ has accomplished. It's all the Spirit of God, it's the Spirit of Christ, and I'm giving the Gospel of Christ, the good news of Jesus Christ. It is not about my intellectual delivery, it's about the Gospel, the good news of Christ and he saying, this is all about Christ.

…...I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the Gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the Gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the Gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation,
(Rom 15:15-20)

When I look at this passage. I realized Paul is sharing from his heart about what it means to have a Christ centered life. You see many of us, we serve God out of self-centeredness. Yes, we can be seen to be serving God but really at the bottom of it all, it is about serving self. But when I look at Paul, he really demonstrates what it means to serve God in a Christ-centered way. It's like if you cut Paul, he bleeds Christ, he is full of Christ. So this morning, I want to share with you the marks, the characteristics of a Christ-centered life. Three marks, three characteristics that are very simple.

Marks of a Christ-centered Life

1. Precision

Number 1. I think in Paul's life, he demonstrates amazing, precision. I was privileged to work with different kinds of surgeons in my medical days. There are some surgeons who are very, very skilled, there are some surgeons who are not very skilled. I worked under a very skillful, surgeon, he is an aged man. I think is probably 70+ when he was still operating and I was assisting him. Now he talks slowly because he is already aged. He moves slowly and when he does, he picks things up, it's just very slow and stately and you would expect that if you were to be in his surgical theater, it would take a long time to complete, in the surgery, it's so slow. But amazingly whenever you assist him in the surgery, he ends earlier than most other surgeons, even though they have the same number of cases, or rather, same difficulty. Why is it so, how come a slow mover, completes the surgery faster. The answer is very simple, he demonstrates to me what is surgical precision, he is very precise.

You know in surgery, cutting is not just take a knife and cut. Like pork, like that, pok piak, ah okay, it's done. No, no, in surgery, you got to be very precise. You have got to know what to cut and what not to cut. You have got to skirt around the arteries otherwise the blood would spurt like a fountain. You cannot cut the nerve, otherwise he is paralyzed forever. And so you got to be very careful what to cut and to cut through things carefully. You have got to deal with it layer by layer and by layer. It is not one big piece like your tummy. You have got your skin, then your fats and you have connective tissue, then you muscle, right? You cannot and you just cut, cut, you you may cut the intestines, so you layer by layer, you separate, and you separate and you separate.

So in surgery, the knowledge of anatomy, the knowledge of the planes, you know what's a plane, a plane is a kind of a separation between the skin and another layer and another layer, there are different layers, like kueh lapis (a local layer cake delicacy), you know, when you eat your kueh lapis, or the the multi-colored kueh, what is it called, (sounds like chien chen kao - a form of two colored layer cake) when you eat chien chen kao, you peel one layer by layer right. Once you get to the layer, it is easy to peel, but you don't get to the layer, Wah, jiat lat (colloquial for you are in deep trouble ) your chien chen kao is going to be mushy and so on.

So there are surgeons who are very skillful, they get to the right plane and they separate the layers. So neatly and bloodless. Junior doctors like myself, we can't see the plane, so we create the plane (Laughter in the congregation). We cut enough and there will be a plane that comes out lah. So, we do a lot of actions. We muck around and we mess around. It bleeds, it's ugly and paradoxically, you take more time because you are not very precise. This Prof, his name is Prof Joseph. I don't think he is working, he is not having surgery anymore. I think 80 plus now but he was excellent. When I assist him in the surgery, he is very calm, very collected, he doesn't move very fast, he doesn't move a lot, but every movement is precise, it's very purposeful. Wah, the tissue just separates so nicely. It is as if he peels the kueh lapis for me to eat like that. Very enjoyable process and when I assist him, I don't feel stressed. When you assist the junior doctors, you feel very stressed, because they keep shouting, hey, how come you can't give me this, the blood is, and they are very nervous, because they just don't get things done the right way. Of course, when I assisted him, he reminds me of a kung fu master, you know, those lousy kung fu, young upstarts, he yuh, yuh, yuh, yuh, yuh, they do a lot of things and all kung fu sifu (master) tok and the other guy goes, you know, you just got to get the right move.

Time stamp in audio 0:09:26.5.

When I see Paul's life, I see a man who is a master. He doesn't muck around, he doesn't mess around, he doesn't touch everything and get himself so distracted, he is a man who knew what he was supposed to do and stuck to the task. He was extremely precise. He knew that God wanted him to be an apostle to the gentiles. He knew that his ministry was a ministry of the Gospel. He knew that his ministry was to help Gentiles turn to be obedient unto the faith. He knew exactly what he is to do. One of his secrets I think, is that when he knew it was Jesus who appeared to him on the road to Damascus, the very 1st question he asked when he knew it was Jesus was this, Lord, can you complete it for me? Lord, you see, you all don't know, that's why, cannot be precise. He said to the Lord, Lord, what, what in the world (Laughter in the congregation) he said Lord, what will you have me to do? Great question right? After he encountered Jesus, he knew of Jesus as his Lord. Lord what will you have me do and from that time to the time he wrote the epistle, the letter to the Romans. He still stuck to his task. Here was a man, who was unflinching and absolutely clear about his ministry, his calling, his giftedness. Therefore he was maximally effective in what he's to do and we need to learn to ask that question: "Lord, what will you have me to do."

Time stamp in audio 0:11:07.0.

Because, you maybe someone who is extremely tired. You are, you are involved here, there, everywhere you have stuck a finger in every pie. You feel tired, you're burned out and there is a sense of frustration because you are so distracted into so many places you, you can't quite say this is my sweet spot. This is my area of calling, this is my area of giftedness. You are struggling on the inside because you're not getting right where God has called you to be. When you play tennis or badminton, it's important to hit the shuttle with the racket right? But it is very frustrating, if you hit the shuttle with the racket frame, pong ..aiyeh. Hit very hard but the shuttle cannot fly. It's very limp but when you hit the shuttle in the ...., you all not very very sporty. When you hit shuttle in the sweet spot, tung, piak, wah, the sound, the opponent is scared, because you got the right sweet.

Have you asked God for the sweet spot of your life? Maybe some of you today are at a crossroads of life, you're wondering, what is God's will for me. Maybe you're looking for a job, you are at a stage of life, you're considering growing in Christianity in the things of God, but you just seem so distracted or maybe you just tired, burnout. Paul lived a full life of ministry. You know something I never read of him having burnout.

Time stamp in audio 0:12:40.2.

God, I am so frustrated with what I am doing, no, he experiences great tribulations on the outside, he has great concerns for people on the inside, but he knew his calling and it's so important. Maybe you say that's for Paul, that's not for me. But you know what Paul says about all of us, he says we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(Ephesians 2:10 ESV)

The word workmanship in the Greek is Poiema, which you could translate as masterpiece of poem, we are a work of art, if I may put it that way. We are unique, every single one of us is unique. None of you is alike with another person. You're uniquely gifted, talented, enabled and equipped in your life with unique experiences, networks, and so on. Every single one of us is unique. That's because God says you are His masterpiece. He works on you and the reason why He works on you is so that you may be able to do good works and notice everybody focuses on part one of Ephesians 2:10. But notice part 2, which says, not only does God fit you for the work, God also has prepared the work that is fit for you. Do you realize that? You are his workmanship, and at the same time, the good works are what God has prepared before hand that you should walk in them. So every single one of us, before us is not a big wide open field. Before us is a path and it is so important that we are walking in the right path. God wants you to be in that right path. He doesn't want you to wander to the thorns and briers. He doesn't want you to get lost, He wants you to walk in His path of good works, which He has prepared before hand that you should walk in them. You say, how can I know this path? Pastor, how can they know it, can you lend me your crystal ball in the pastor's office. Eh number 1, I don't have a pastor's office, number 2, I don't have a crystal ball, but most Christians imagine seeking God to be a crystal ball thing where I asked a man and a man tells me some secret mumbo-jumbo and here it is, God's will, but no. I believe seeking God's will for the path of good works, is found in a very popular verse we all should memorize, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not unto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct or make straight your path.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

(Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

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The Bible tells me that He's not going to give me my grand plan of life today for the next 40 years. The way God is going to lead me is in all your ways acknowledge Him, He would direct your paths. So today's ways, I acknowledge, tomorrow's ways, I need to acknowledge. 10 years from now, I need to keep on acknowledging because when I walk in such a communion with Him, I can walk in the life of precision, surgical precision. I want to encourage you today that, a mark of a Christ centered man, is a man who knows his calling. He's not easily distracted, you know, there are thousand voices in your life, will tell you what to do, what not to do. By all means receive wise counsel, factor all that in, but at the end of the day, be careful to do God's will and not just man's desires for you. Otherwise, you are very tormented soul.

I'm a pastor and I will hear 1000 opinions and and I'm grateful for every opinion that comes my way. But I also have to be responsible, to ask God, "Lord, what will you have me do." Otherwise I will not be serving in the sweet spot of life. I'll be frustrated, I will burnout and that's not God's will for anyone of us as well.

So, let me say this, number 1, a mark of a Christ-centered life is that he's precise, he is walking exactly where God wants him to be, he's not mucking around in life, he is not saying, I try a ministry there, try ministry there and my whole life is about trying. No, he knows because he has sought the will of God.

2. Proud

But let me move on. Besides precision, a 2nd mark of a Christ-centered man is that he is proud. Whoops pastor, you, you got something wrong here, is it? No, I didn't say anything wrong, it's doubly confirmed with the words that I put up on the slides. I say that a Christ-centered man is proud. Huh? I thought it's humility, no, no, it's pride, a Christ-centered man will have pride. You say, I need to have more Ps, no, no that's not the reason, but it's true, a Christ-centered man, will be proud, because, let me tell you something. We all are made to be proud, we all have to be proud, we all must be proud. You say, why? I thought the Bible teaches us to be humble and meek? Yes, but let me tell you this first, you are made to be proud, you are made to boast, you are made to glory, and you are made to worship.

I suggest to you that this is the way, we are made, we are made to be proud and to boast, and to worship and to glory, the problem is not pride, the problem is the object of pride. You see, we are made to boast but God made us to boast in Him. God made us to glory in Him but sin came in, twisted our minds, so now we are proud about unworthy things, ie, myself.

Time stamp in audio 0:18:38.7.

Pride is not a bad thing. Being proud about myself is a twisted thing. So I say to you a Christ-centered man is going to be proud and you are made to be proud, let me, let me just commend you?? Wah Lao this is dangerous, okay, let me just show you a few verses that you made me proud, the Bible says, "Thus says the Lord, let not the wise men boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty men boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches", sin twisted us to be proud of what I am, what I do, what I have, God says, let him who boasts, boast in this, that he understands and knows Me that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, declares the Lord."

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
(Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV)

God delights in us boasting in who He is. He wants us to, He made us, we are deeply satisfied when we can boast about God's love, justice and peace. We are made to boast in Him. Paul takes this verse and says, in 1 Corinthians 1

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:30-31 ESV)

And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification and with that's big word, by the way, but it's everything to do with your life. God gives you knowledge of Himself, God gives you a right standing with Him. God gives you a progressive holiness and God gives you one day, that glorious total deliverance from sin and he says, who accomplishes all this in my life? He says, Christ Jesus, therefore, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord, glory in Jesus, you are made to glory and a Christ-centered man glories in Jesus Christ.

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
(Galatians 6:14 ESV)

Again, another verse, but far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what we boast in, in what Jesus has done. The fact that He is our wisdom, our sanctification, our redemption, is accomplished because of what He went through on the cross. Therefore, I glory in the cross. I realized I could do nothing to bring all these spiritual benefits but He did it all, I owe it all, he is full of love, justice and peace. I glory, I boast in Jesus Christ.

Time stamp in audio 0:21:19.7.

So, Paul in Romans 15, he is very consistent, he says in 1 Corinthians, he says in Galatians, he says in Romans, in Christ Jesus then, I have reason to be proud, not because of who I am, nor what I've done, but because of who You are and what You have done. I boast, I am proud. Let me say this, you are, if you don't get it already, you are made to boast, you are made to be proud, of God. Problem, we are twisted by sin. Therefore, we can't boast about God, we boast about ourselves. But a Christian man, who has tasted God's love in Jesus Christ and is living a life, centered in Jesus Christ, he keeps boasting, huh, he keeps glory in who?, In Jesus. So you say, Paul you are such a great guy, you are such a great apostle. No, no, no, it's not me, but Jesus, I boast in Him, I glory in Him.

If you think about it, if there's any man on this earth who deserves to be praised and adored, it will be apostle Paul. Even the unsaved know it. There is this book published in 1972, by Michael Hart that ranks the top hundred most influential people in the whole of history. Now this is not written by Christian man. Of course, if it is a Christian man, Jesus Christ is number one. But this guy is not a Christian man, but this man, he ranks the top most influential people in the whole wide world, and he puts apostle Paul, as number six. Now that's quite something right. Most influential people throughout history. Then, there is another man, Michael Borodin, he is not a Christian, he is a communist, who discipled people like Zhou Enlai and he said this, I used to read the New Testament again and again, I read it, it is the most wonderful story ever told that man, Paul, he was a real revolutionary, I take my hat off to him.

Time stamp in audio 0:23:32.0.

Paul is a phenomenal character, even if you're not a Christian. And if you look at the Bible, the amount of work he has to do. I mean, the amount of travels he had to make. This is hard work by the way. I think if Paul lived in our day and age, he will be an air miles champion. If you are his friend, he can give you a lot of free flights, he travels a lot. In those days, you have no aircraft, you don't have speedy cars and he has to travel first journey, second journey, third journey and then a journey to Rome, he, he traveled extensively and tirelessly. I think apart from Jesus, very few of us would doubt that Paul is probably the greatest theologian to ever walk on the face of this earth. Single-handedly he gave us at least thirteen epistles, he planted churches all over his travels. He established them. He installed elders. He made sure churches are growing and thriving. He was a man who was brave and courageous. He didn't go to the backwaters of this territory, going to villages where it is easiest according to human thinking. But he went for the jugular, he went for the city, he went for the citadels, he went for the capitals. Why did he want to go to Rome? I suspect, because Rome is the political city, political stronghold that day. Why did he go to Corinth? Because it's the commercial center of the day. Why did he go to Ephesus, because that's the religious center of the day. Why did he go to Athens, because that's the intellectual power of the day, but he went for all the jugulars because Paul was a remarkable man.

Time stamp in audio 0:25:08.9.

I mean, if you look at it from the human perspective, he is remarkable. If there's any man who has every, maybe, better reason to boast in himself, it might have been Paul. But look at what Paul says, he says,

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God…..
(Romans 15:17-19 ESV)

It's nothing, I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me. He says, He taught me. When I spoke at Mars Hill to the Athenians, about the God who is unknown to them, those words, those brilliant words, those convicting words, it's not me, it's Christ.

For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience
(Romans 15:18 ESV)

When I was at Ephesus and was about to be killed, my deliverance, it's not me, it's Christ. The church at Corinth, that, that, that pagan sexually crazy and idolatrous land, there is a church there, it's not my work, it's Christ. It's all Christ. I don't want to talk about what I did, it's what Christ does to me.

Eugene Peterson, who wrote the message paraphrase of the Bible, he, he puts it this way, interesting

“I have no interest in giving you a chatty account of my adventures, only the wondrously powerful and transformingly present words and deeds of Christ in me that triggered a believing response among the outsiders.”

Eugene Peterson (The Message)

He says, I have no interest in giving you a chatty account of my adventures. Huh, what a way to write it, right. You know how we are, when we serve God, we we love to give chatty adventures, wah, you know how much I suffer or not, wah, you China this, China that, you know, Philippines this, Philippines that, aiyah, you know aiyah, you know ah, this AV ministry, jin siong (colloquial for meaning very tough), we give chatty accounts. Not Paul, no, nothing about, it's all Christ, it's all Christ. I am proud, but I'm not of myself. I'm proud of Jesus, my Lord.

I think this week and last week, you would have been familiar with this post. Wah somehow, you're more interested in this than when I talk about Paul (Loud laughter in the congregation). News headlines right that they post historic moment as God says sorry to Kong Hee. By the way, this post is not, the video is taken off but there are other posts that I think they replicated video. This particular one is not on the YouTube anymore but you must have heard of this, that there was a kind of a furore, there was a kind of a wow, a spirit of anger and disbelief. When they saw a video whereby Kong Hee says, he heard from God, that God said, sorry to him, for all the sufferings he has to go through.

Time stamp in audio 0:27:59.6.

Now, let me clarify this, I am going to show you a video. But the purpose of me showing you the video, is not to kick a man, when he's down, that's not my intention. I do not want to do that. Neither am I trying to make a judgment of his life and entire ministry based on something like this, I just make it known, that's not what I'm going to do. You, you probably have to make your own judgments, I'm just trying to, to, to let you hear what he said, and to just point out one thing. So let me clarify, I'm not here to beat a man when he is down. I'm not here to run him down. I'm just using this, as an example because we all could have been like this as well, so, let's look at this video, straight from the horses mouth.

Time stamp in audio 0:28:39.3.

Video plays:

He says, my son, I'm so sorry, you need to go through this alone, but you need to die, you need to go through this to be the savior of the world and God the father, heartbroken and he wept, as he turned his face when his son took the sins of the whole world. I was saying all these and I'm hearing myself behind the pulpit and I froze. I couldn't utter another word, and I sobbed, and I shook, because those were my exact sentiments, Father, Father, why my God, my God, why have you forsaken me and threw me to the dogs and for the first time in eight months, I heard the voice and it's not the voice of a strict angry judge, that only want me to perform and build a big church and nothing I do is ever good enough for him, no it's not a voice of an angry judge, it's not the voice of a slave driver, that just wants to take and take and wring me dry. It was a voice of a tender, loving, brokenhearted father.

“For the first time in eight months, God—I heard Him cry, and He said, ‘My son, Kong, thank you. Thank you for going through this. I need you to go through this alone so that you and City Harvest Church can be the man and the ministry I call it to be. I’m so sorry, but you need to go through this by yourself to bring a change to your generation,’”

Applause. Oh come on, give the Lord a big hand, tonight. Applause.

Video ends.

So this is exactly what he said and of course after this post was made known, people examine what he said it and in particular, they were concerned about which word? Huh, which word ? Eh, you all don't dare to say, (Laughter in the congregation) Hi, I, oh, no, no, I, yai, er, I ah, er, okay, I can be as, the problem is always I, alright, sorry, the word is sorry. They were concerned, they were very upset that God would say to Kong Hee, a man, I'm so sorry. Now let's get this clear. Theologically, God never has to say sorry to anybody because He never makes a mistake and He is always good. We say sorry all the time because we are so flawed and we are full of errors, but God is perfect. He is immaculate, He doesn't need to say sorry, because there's nothing that would ever be wrong that comes from God.

Time stamp in audio 0:32:16.3.

So we were upset that he said that God said to him, I am sorry. Now, subsequently, there was a clarification from City Harvest, in the news, July 30, God apologizing to Kong Hee section was taken out of context, according to the church and so they issued this official statement that goes like this,

“As anyone with a basic education in the English language ought to be able to tell that the use of 'I'm so sorry' here is not in the context of an apology, but a word of comfort, for example, 'I'm so sorry about your mother's suffering,' or 'I'm so sorry you need to go through chemotherapy,'” say Pastor Kong's spokesperson, whose statement was emailed via City Harvest Church's corporate communications department.

“It is in no way an apology or admission of guilt as has been suggested. The message God gave Pastor Kong was that it is necessary for Pastor to journey through this painful experience because it is a refiner's fire, meant to prepare him for the work God has in store for him and the church for the future,” the statement continues.

Now, so that's the clarification they make about the word sorry. So, he saying, God is not sorry, in a sense aiyah, I made a mistake, but God, is sorry, in a sense, I feel for you.

Time stamp in audio 0:33:35.5.

Now, everyone focuses on the word "sorry" but actually I am not upset about the word "sorry" if that's the way they try to to explain it, but I'm upset by another word, what's the word. Aiyah, so clever, this group, the word is thank you, why, why is, why are you so upset when he, when he says thank you. Yup, I'm upset about that word thank you. I, I, I feel there is something missing, something really wrong when, when he says, my son Kong, thank you, thank you for going through this. Again, let me say, I am not trying to kick a man when he is down, neither am I trying to make a judgment on his life and ministry, but I think we can have errors in our theology, understanding at times. If that is the case, then, I'm really upset about this, why ? Because if I am correct, if you can, you can correct me if I'm wrong too, when I read the entire Bible, I never read of God saying thank you to man. I don't. If you can think of one please let me know. I don't read of God saying thank you to man, but I read of God saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

When we have finished our task and when we see Jesus, He says, " Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into my rest". But I don't read of the Bible saying, God will say to me thank you, I need you so much, without you I will die. You see the, the idea here is almost like God needs me to do something or else He's done for, He's inadequate, He cannot do this, He needs me to do this, therefore He needs to thank me.

At the heart of this issue, is not about semantics, it's not about what sorry means, what thank you means, a heart of this is who is the center of the universe? Who is the of life? If you think it is you, no wonder you say God has to say thank you and sorry to me. But if God is the center of life, then I'll say the words of Jesus in Luke 17,

So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

(Luke 17:10 ESV)

so you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say we are unworthy servants. In the King James, it is "We are unprofitable servants. We have only done what was our duty to do". When I serve God, it's not because God will now owe me something, it's not because He needs me, as if He's desperate, as if I am, I am able to fulfill Him in any measure. When I serve God, it is a privilege and I'm glad if you would say, Well done thou good and faithful servant. He is the center, I am not the center.

I was told that, Kong Hee started as a zealous, good man in his early days, I'm not his friend, I do not call him on the phone and say, "Hey, Kong Hee, how ah, why you like that ah?" I never ask him that, I have no personal relationship with him. But from what I hear, he started out fine and that's the dangers isn't it? When you and I, we start out in serving God, we, we start out with a great humble heart that says God, anything, anywhere, anyone, I will serve, I'll do it for You. But you know when you're not careful, we are not, when you're not living a Christ-centered life, a servant can easily become a celebrity. He becomes a superstar, it can be the case for me, I mean, I look at those days, I am willing to do anything and there will be a day, maybe, if and I'm by, I'm not trying to say that he's a .., I may be in the same shoes, given the right circumstance.

Time stamp in audio 0:37:13.4.

I'm vulnerable, and given the right conditions, I may be absolutely lifted up in pride and say absolutely the same things. And you can too. You see we are not looking at this to say, hah, hah, hah, we are looking at this to see, it could be me and it may be me today. How come, nobody is appreciating what I'm doing? How come, I'm so tired and nobody says thank you to me. You know what ? Be careful, it's, there's something missing in the motivation to serve. Ha, I am the greatest if I'm not serving, the church collapses and no one would have food, and no one would know where to go, and there will be no PowerPoint slides blah, blah, blah, blah.

You started off as a humble servant, you can end of as a mega superstar, we can start to pat our backs on our achievements. You know what I did, you know what ministries I am involved and we start to collect out accolades. Hoh, what a dangerous thing this is? Paul says, I'm not going to talk about these things, I'm going to talk about what I have done, I am talking about what Jesus has done.

Ray Stedman, he, he is a pastor, who has since gone on to be with the Lord, I thought, as he explained this text, he gave a very good pointer.

“Not a week goes by but half a dozen posters and pamphlets across my desk promoting the work of some man, telling me how much he has done for God. I get them all the time, and so do you, these boasting, promotional pieces trying to convince you they are God's gift to earth. I have learned to throw most of them into the waste basket unopened

You never hear that from Paul. You never hear him telling how much he has done for God. Everywhere it is how much God has done through him, and that is the secret of a truly effective life.

It took the apostle ten years to learn that secret. Like many young Christians, he started out with a great amount of zeal and desire to turn the world upside down, and he thought he had the equipment and the gifts to do it.

It took God ten years to show him that his brilliant mind, his mighty gifts and great personality and influence and contacts were of no value in the service of God. All God wanted was the man himself; he would work through him. And when Paul learned that secret, he launched upon this great ministry that changed the history of the world.."

Ray Stedman

He said this, not a week goes by, but half a dozen posters and pamphlets across my desk promoting the work of some men, telling me how much he has done for God, I get them all the time and so, do you. These boasting promotional pieces, trying to convince you that they are God's gift to us. I've learned to throw most of them into the waste basket, unopened. You never hear that from Paul, you never hear him telling how much he has done for God. Everywhere, it is how much God has done through him and that is the secret of a truly effective life.

It took the apostle ten years. By the way he was in the desert for some time, to learn that secret. Like many young Christians, he started out with a great amount of zeal and desire to turn the world upside down and he thought he had the equipment and the gifts to do it. It took God ten years, to show him that his brilliant mind, his mighty gifts and great personality and influence and contacts were of no value in the service of God. All God wanted was the man himself, he would work through him and when Paul learned that secret, he launched upon this great ministry that changed the history of the world.

Paul, I would use you only when you're empty as a channel, when you realize, it's not I, but Christ. By the way, Moses had the same experiences isn't it, forty years, David had years as a shepherd. It seems to me that great men are great, not because they are great, but because they realized, God is great. The secret to a truly effective life, is when we boast of God, not myself.

Time stamp in audio 0:40:27.2.

True Humility is not
thinking less of yourself;
it is thinking of yourself less.

CS Lewis.

CS Lewis, he said this," True humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less." Most of you must have heard of this, seen this on Facebook, whatever, True humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's not beating up yourself you see, Aiyah, I am, I am useless one, I cannot one lah, aiyoh, and, and you always like a false humility. Hey, God has gifted you, alright, God has given you talents, your natural abilities, you don't have to hide and say, no lah, those are nothing lah, nothing lah, no, no, no. He saying, humility is not thinking less of yourself, God made you the way you are, but humility is thinking of yourself less.

So, my question is how can I think of myself less, because I am obsessively made, to boast. I mean that's what I started off with right, we are all created to be proud, we all created to boast. So, how can I think of myself less? Hah, I think the answer is this, when I boast in God more. You see, I believe, it is worship that drives selfish pride away. You stop your worship, you become proud, you worship God for who He is, it humbles you to the core. That's what it is, true worship is the antidote to selfish pride.

You're made to worship and so Paul says, this is what I do, I mean, the mark of a Christ-centered life is number one, he is precise, he knows what God wanted him to do. Number two, he is proud, not in himself, but proud of Jesus Christ, the message of the Gospel, you read of this again in 2 Corinthians,

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV)

I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You read this in Romans 15 and 17 and 19, he says I, I'm always boasting of Jesus. No wonder Paul, you can be humble. You did not make yourself humble, by the glimpse of God humbles you and when you boast of Jesus often, when you worship Him in your life, it humbles you. You see, it's paradoxical, but a mark of a Christ-centered life, is that his great pride, pride in the One who alone is worthy of worship, he boasts in Him.

In GLCC we have a mission statement. This is what we are to do, we want to bring glory to God by leading generations into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. Such a mouthful you know, okay, let me ask you to save it with me, can you stay with me, let's try together, 1 2 3, leading generations into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. Okay, faster ah. Okay, you get the point. It's such a mouthful. What if I change the mission statement to be this, Changing Lives, would it be great, same right? The mission of GLCC is to be changing lives. Wah, so easy, so fast. Pastor, you very "cheong hei" (colloquial for long-winded) everything you write so long one, why did we insist on a phrasing like this? Very simple, it comes from the fundamental belief, we can never change lives. Can we say that again? We can never change lives.

Life change is the work of God, not the work of man. Remember the story of the four friends and the man with palsy. The man who is paralyzed, who healed the paralyzed man, Jesus. What did the four friends do? They just brought him to Jesus, the four friends had no power to restore health the the man's born, or not born, but the man who is paralyzed. Only Jesus could. That in a nutshell, is a picture of the church, there are lots of needy people, wounded people around us, hurting people around us, the church has no power to change them, but Jesus has and our ministry is to be leading people that they may connect with Christ so that Christ may change their lives.

Time stamp in audio 0:44:44.0.

It reminds your pastor, it reminds I hope the church, let's not to be too caught up with ourselves. Hey, at the end of the day, we are unprofitable servants, we just did that which is our duty to do, we just brought people to Jesus but hallelujah, praise God, every change is the work of God.

3. Passion

A Christ-centered ministry therefore, has great precision, a Christ-centered life therefore has great pride in Jesus Christ. So, these are the two marks, precision and pride, but the last mark because my time, I think, is almost up, is that of passion, so obvious.

Time stamp in audio 0:45:35.0.

Passion looks like this (shows a bored youngster with tilted head, sitting on a church pew) (Laughter in the congregation)

No, doesn't look like this, all right, but that's how you look, frankly, on Sunday, mornings, except your head is not so tilted, but you, really, I mean I'm from this, I wish I could film you and huh. Hey, Christian living is not like that, it's to be one with passion, ambition and drive. You see, Paul, Paul I mean he is such a great guy. Look at the grace of God in his life. He says,

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God.
(Acts 20:24 ESV)

I do not count my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, this is amazing speech, I dare not say, what he says, but he said, what he said. He says, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord, great precision, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God. He says, this is all that I want, amazing passion.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
(1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV)

He says: But by the grace of God, I am what I am and His grace towards me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them. This is an honest assessment of his life. He says, when I compare to Peter, James, John and so on, I worked harder than any, not to say that they are lazy hah but I really worked harder. He didn't say this in a prideful, selfish prideful way but he said, this is because of the grace of God that is with me. So he is not thinking less of himself, he is thinking of himself less. He goes on to say,

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
(Colossians 1:29 ESV)

For this I toil, struggling, these are words of labor alright, these are words of action, of energy, of passion, of activity and then he says, therefore, in Romans 15, which is our text,

and thus I make it my ambition to preach the Gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written,
“Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”
(Romans 15:20-21 ESV)

and thus I make it my ambition, to preach the Gospel, where? To anywhere, it has never been heard.

Isaiah 52, he takes this verse, it's almost his life verse and say, I will go tirelessly preaching the Gospel. Here is a man of amazing passion, fire and drive. You see, some of us, may think aah, pastor, I am so thankful for your message of precision. So when you asked me to serve, I will say, I want to be precise, don't touch me, precision ah, I will only do one thing and that is a convenient excuse to be lazy. Paul says no, no, no I'm want to be precise, but I want to be all on fire, ambitious. What's your ambition today? What a great question to ask if we really stop and look inside, what's my ambition? Would it be lined up as that of Paul? Let me close with an illustration.

There was a Scottish preacher, hundred, two hundred years ago. His name is Robert Moffat and he was a missionary to Africa. He decided to go back to Scotland to recruit more missionaries. In a cold rainy night in a small little church. He wanted to preach but he realized all of them were women and in those days, women don't go out as missionaries alone. Nevertheless, he delivered a message and, and, and in that message, he said something like this, "Every morning, when I wake up and look at the horizon, I see smoke from the thousand villages that have never once heard the name of Jesus." That statement stuck in the mind of a teenager who was cleaning the organ pipes that day. Unknown to Robert Moffat, this young man named David, he heard what was said. And he said this continued to haunt him, continued to speak to him, "The smoke from a thousand villages that have never heard the name of Jesus".

He endeavored and desired to be a doctor and so he studied hard for it. He got his doctor's license or skills and he set off to Africa. When he went to Africa, he did not want to stay in South Africa, where there were few native Africans, he wanted to go inland. He wanted to go to whether tribes were. He was an extraordinary explorer missionary because he covered huge territories. He covered like 50,000 miles. That's a lot. By the way, this is an entire continent, this is not Singapore, this is an entire continent, it's huge. This is the Atlantic Ocean, this is the Indian Ocean and he traversed the breadth of Africa, the continent of Africa, he covered, he mapped out 1000 square miles. He was tireless in reaching the people in inland Africa.

By the time right now, you probably know this is who? Dr. David Livingston. David Livingston was a man who had deep passion for the Gospel, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And everyone who mentions David's name would remember this story. Of how he said, when he started out in Africa, there were tribal people who were warriors. They were cannibals, they were angry, they didn't want the white people to come to their place. And so, earlier on, there was a ploy, a scheme hatched to kill him. So there was a warlike tribe that tracked him down and his camp down and they were waiting till the sunsets, to attack the camp and to kill him. The news leaked out, Dr. David Livingston got wind of it and he was fearful. I mean, wouldn't you be, that these tribal people were out to get your life and so he began to journal.

I read to you what he wrote in his journal and he said this, On a night on January 14, 1856, it is evening, I feel much turmoil and fear in the prospect of having all of my plans, knocked on the head by savages, who are just now outside the camp. And people who studied his handwriting said, that they could even see the fear, in the way he wrote the letters, he was scribbling. He wrote, but Jesus said: All power is given unto me, in heaven and earth, and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the ends of the earth. This is the word of a gentleman of most strict and sacred honor. So that's the end of my fear. I feel quiet and calm now and it is said, his letters are straight now.

Time stamp in audio 0:52:18.7.

That night when by, with no incidents. Strange, they were all there, but nobody attacked. In fact sometime later, the tribal chief and people in a tribe, came to know Jesus through the Gospel that is preached by David Livingston. So David Livingston asked the tribal chief: Did you intend to encamp around us, ambush us and to kill us that night? And they said, yes, that was our plan. And why didn't you do it? Because we saw the tribal chief said: forty-seven men, holding swords, guarding your camp.

David Livingston said, You must be mistaken. We have no one, bearing swords, he couldn't quite figure that out. Some years later, David Livingston went back to Scotland for a furlough, which is to have a break, as it were and he was preaching in a church and he recounted the same incident and right after the service, a man walked up to him showed him in a journal and said, sir is this the date you are talking about: 14 of January 1856, look, I have recorded this in my journal, it's a special day, a group of us, we gathered together to pray and I wrote it down. We had forty-seven men pray with us that night.

David Livingston, was a man who was spared there, in a, I would say quite a remarkable supernatural way, but eventually he succumbed to death. When he was sixty years old, people heard some noise from his camp, they rushed in and discovered at 3am, he was kneeling in prayer, dead. He succumbed to malaria, he didn't, when he knew that he had malaria, when the people in Scotland was saying, come back home to receive treatment, he says, I will not go back, I will all be in Africa. He died on his knees praying to God. Today if you go to England, London and you go to Westminster Cathedral, on the floor, would be the ground where David Livingston's body is buried. But few people would know that, whilst his body's body is buried there, his heart was not there. It is said, and it is true, that his heart was left in Africa, because that was his last words and that was his written will. This is what he wrote, I'm a missionary heart and soul. God had only One Son and He was a missionary and a physician, a poor, poor imitation of him, I am, always to be in this service, I hope to live in it, I wish to die, and in his last words, he says, my heart has always been here, Africa and this is where I want my heart to stay.

Here was a man, who did what he did, not because someone told him to, not because a missionary organization forced him to, but because he wanted to. Wherein, is this passion in Christ, he saw Christ, God's Only Son, who came to be a missionary, God's Only Son who came to be a physician, God's Only Son, who came to be a Savior. He died to save us from our sins. David Livingston says, if Christ lives in me, my heart stays here.

Where is your heart today, marks of a Christ-centered life.

Let's bow for a word of prayer, I want to give you just sometime, today's sermon, today's message from God, is about your precision, about your pride and about your passion. I want to ask you to take this time, just to be quiet and silent and to be silent before the Lord and to consider what God has said to you, it's important, it's really important that you do not just come and listen, but you would choose, you would determine, you would commit before the Lord, a change in your life. After all, that's what God wants, a life of obedience. Maybe today, you feel dry, ministry to you is a routine, it's a rut. It's so boring. Is it because you are out of God's will, is because Christ who lives in you, is quenched by your disobedience, is it because you have stopped asking to hear His voice.

May His Word today, by His Spirit's help drive you nearer to Christ. You see folks, you can't conjure up passion, you can't, you can't make it up yourself, you can't produce it, you just can't will yourself to have that passion, it's got to be flowing from a life intimately connected with Jesus. Come back to the cross, come back to Jesus and the Gospel of Christ. May God bless your soul today, may you truly be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, not a servant of man, not a servant of church, but the servant of Jesus Christ. May you bleed Christ when you are cut.

I want to share, I want to speak to you also if you're here and you do not know Jesus. Don't get us wrong, this is not a message that says, if you serve God the right way, He's going to save you, no, this is a message that says, we want to tell you, if you have not received Jesus, we want to tell you, we serve Jesus, this way, because He first loved us and gave Himself for us and that is the message you need to receive, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. See how He served, see how He gave, see how He died. And whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, amazing love. I boast of God's love, justice and peace today, it's offered on the cross. Take a look at the Savior, believe in Him, Christ, amazing grace.

I know some of you are here, you do not know Jesus, my heart aches for you, my heart pains, it's in pain. Because, why wouldn't you come, turn from your sins and believe in Jesus today. So Father, we commit Your Word, and Your work of the Holy Spirit, again into Your hands, deal with us, work in our hearts and draws nearer to You today, dear Jesus, may you be indeed our greatest Jesus. We pray this, in Jesus Name, Amen.