MARCH is a special month set aside for prayer for the Uighurs. Right now there is a special prayer initiative going on (March 1-21) to raise up 500 hours of prayer for the Uighurs. This initiative leads up to March 21st with the Annual Day of Prayer for the Uighurs on March 21st! Please go to: www.pray4them.com for more information or to sign up for a prayer slot.
There is a big difference in the atmosphere in Urumqi (the capital of Xinjiang province in China) since the horrific events of last July. The streets are empty, thousands of Uighurs have left Urumqi to return to their villages and there is much fear. And yet…this could be the perfect environment for God to move! The political situation for the more than 10 Million Uighurs in China is very similar to the political situation that Jesus was born into 2000 years ago. And yet, He came into the midst of that tumultuous situation with peace and hope and salvation. He is the same today and wants to come to the Uighurs with the same promise of peace, hope and salvation! Please pray for God to move amongst the Uighur people in a special way, drawing many to Christ! Praise God for recent reports of Uighurs in the villages coming to Christ! Continue to pray as well for Alimjan who has been given a 15 year prison sentence for his faith.&n! bsp; Pray for God to do a miracle and for this court decision to be overturned. Pray for Alimjan and his wife and children to be strengthened and encouraged during this very difficult time.
Thank you for standing in the gap for the Uighurs!
Prayer plays a key role in the Christian’s life. It is through prayer that we speak to God. As we present our requests to God we are admitting that we are too weak to do things by ourselves, and that we can only depend on God for everything.
We have seen in the past 3 sessions that evangelism is very close to God’s heart. He desires that all people to be saved, as 1 Tim 2:4 will tell us that “(God) who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”And who does He choose to use to share this wonderful gospel by which all man can be saved? Us, the unreliable human beings. Rom 10:14-15a tells us, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”
Evangelism is definitely something we must depend on God for since it is Jesus who gave us the responsibility. And there are 2 things specific to evangelism that we should be praying for:
1. Pray that God sends people out
2. Pray for opportunities and that the speaker might be clear
Pray that God sends people out
“When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.’ ”(Matt 9:36-37)
Jesus saw that there was a need for people to be saved. His instruction regarding this need to the disciples was to pray 
that God would send people to reach out to them. This instruction is very applicable to us today. There still are lots of people who are yet to know who Jesus is, and many of our friends, schoolmates and colleagues still do not know Jesus. We should pray that God would send people to reach out to them.
Pray for opportunities and that the speaker might be clear
“At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison– that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” (Col 4:3-4)
This passage shows us that we should also pray for opportunities to share and that those who share would present the good news clearly. Right opportunities could be the time like when your friends are considering a religion or pondering about life. We’re told to pray that for such opportunities for our friends to be open to the good news. And once they are open, someone must tell them properly what Christianity is all about clearly.
I remember the first time I was doing street evangelism. The person I chose to share the gospel to happen to speak only in Chinese, and I was struggling to find the right words. Sometimes other things can get in the way of sharing the good news, like nervousness, forgetting certain details, our poor explanation skills, etc… It’s natural for people to make mistakes here and there; hence we should pray that those who share the gospel to do so in as clear a manner as possible. Like you can pray that those sharing won’t be nervous, that they’ll understand the good news sufficiently well, and that the presentation would be understandable.
Conclusion
But as to whether these non-Christians will believe in Jesus, that is not our role. Changing hearts is God’s job. We just make the environment conducive for the change through making friends and living wisely to those outside.
And as we pray for evangelism, we are changing our perspective to become more like God’s. As we pray, we would go out and share, we would be the ones seeking opportunities, and we would be the ones seeking to be clear in sharing the good news.
We’ve looked at the reasons for evangelism and the purpose of making friends. Perhaps some of us would be thinking: “God is crazy. How can I spend every waking moment with my non-Christian friends talking about God? They will think I’m a nutcase! God did create everything else for our enjoyment right?” That might be true. But on the other extreme, if we don’t tell others about Jesus, how will anyone be saved? Let’s see what the Bible tells us about how we should relate to those on the outside. “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone”. (Col 4:5-6). This passage addresses 2 areas that Christians need to work on in their relationship towards non-Christians:
1. In the Way We Act
2. In the Way We Talk.
In the Way We Act
Non-Christians generally apply higher standards to Christians than to normal people. For example, last year when an elder from a church here was convicted of having sex with a prostitute here, there was a big hoo-ha in the media.
We know that we do not have to live according to their standards, but according to Christ’s standard. And we try our best to live under Christ’s law without offending them. We need to show them how a Christian should live in the way we make our choices, and in the way we work. There are many things that limit the time we have with our friends. I’ve not seen most of my primary school friends since I left my primary school. That means that while I was there, I only had those few years to show my friends then how a Christian should behave, before we part ways. Of course God can bring other people into their lives, but we too can contribute to their impressions of what Christians are supposed to be, and perhaps the next Christian would have an easier time sharing the gospel.
“Making the most of every opportunity” refers more to our time rather than that of non-Christians. We are the ones striving to live a life that pleases God, and should strive to live for Him at every moment. The way to live for God is to live in a self-controlled, upright, and godly manner (Titus 2:11-14). Also, during the days that Paul wrote the letter, “making the most of every opportunity” would have meant not passing up on a good deal. Let’s not pass up on a good opportunity to please God by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ!
In the Way We Talk
Paul tells us to add one main thing to our conversations for one main purpose.
The One Main Thing
The ingredient we’re to add to our conversations is grace seasoned with salt. Grace would mean that our speech would be acceptable to others just like a gift would be. A Christian should then strive to let his words be acceptable to his friends, speaking in a way that would not cause them to get offended. And seasoned with salt would mean that the way we talk must be different from non-believers, and should be influenced by our understanding of who God is. So while those outside the church can identify with the way we talk, how we talk is also influenced by the good news, and if we can, to bring God into the conversations. Like we can talk about whether God was fair in allowing earthquakes to happen, or why God created some people to be smart enough to get A’s although they didn’t study, all to stir their interest in talking about God. We do not have to bring God or the gospel into every conversation. But I think most of us fall into the other extreme. When was the last time we talked about God to our friends, Christian or non-Christian? Since the good news of Jesus Christ is so important to us Christians, we should be telling others about Him.
In Singapore, we have more difficulty because once we offend those from other religions, we just might find our faces plastered on the front page of the local newspapers for running afoul of the law. This is where speaking in “grace” comes in which we were referring to earlier. When we do speak to them especially about God, we should do so graciously, so that we might not offend them while sharing with them what Christianity is about as much as possible.
The One Main Purpose
And the one main purpose is for us to answer everyone about what we believe in. Why should we be wise to them?
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory”. (Col 3:1-4) We should be wise because our lives belong to Jesus now. Keep living wisely, and keep speaking wisely.
Nicolas Wong
WORLD: Pray for our people to be filled with the Spirit and with boldness to invite pre- believers to the Alpha course and Cyberwellness oikos workshop.
Pray for pre=-believers eyes to be opened as Gospel is taught and the Holy Spirit to fill them.
Pray for our missionaries and their families: Siau and family, Salome Wong, Stephen Tay, Pastor John. Also our associates: Ken and Valerie. Also our SOFM missions trainee- Jude Ng.
REVIVAL : For the fruit of the Spirit: love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self control; and the gifts of the Spirit to be evident in our community life.
For Holy Spirit to fall upon worship services and cell groups . Open Heaven.
PRAYER : For our parents and young people to be prayerful; intimate with God, deep trust and confidence in God, intercessory prayer.
FELLOWSHIP: For the AGM: election of elders, unity and smooth meeting.
For cell groups to be honest in sharing, deeply caring in practical ways. For church to grow beyond cliques to welcome all visitors and members of different status, race or nationality.
For the sick; Tony (cancer spread to spine and liver); Mabel (rectal cancer)
As Chinese New Year is a time of blessings, the young adult ministry decided to visit different families during this special occasion to bring forth God’s blessings.
Check out the reflections penned by our 3 sisters from the different cells!
This Chinese New Year I had this cousin who was 2 years old. And you would know that kids like him love chocolate. So he was having a ball of a time eating and playing with chocolate that came in the form of gold coins and gold bars. While he was doing all that, everyone was telling him not to dirty his shirt. By the time we left the house, he mostly succeeded in keeping his shirt clean, save for a tiny brown smear.
Most of my friends are similarly very hygiene conscious. While having steamboat, someone would take a mountain of a plate of prawns and cook them. But no one would eat it. The reason for this is that no one wants to take the extra effort to wash their dirty hands after peeling off the prawn shells. I know this, because I’m like that too.
However, I do wonder is this the stand a lot of us take when choosing who to make friends with. Like choosing not to make friends with people who have something we do not like about them, like their body odor, their arrogance, their kiasu-ness, their control-freak-ness.
“And doesn’t the Bible warn us against such people?” you may ask, “Proverbs 14:7 tells us to ‘Stay away from a foolish man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips.’ ”
What does the Bible tell us?
I admit I do have some area to grow in making friends. But let’s look at what the Bible really tells us why we should make friends with people outside Christianity.
19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
1 Cor. 9:19-23
Here Paul shares why he relates to everyone, and gives us 3 groups of people he makes friends with.
Why Paul become this slave?
Paul knows that he now has a place in heaven, and that he doesn’t have any responsibility to any man (Though I am free and belong to no man), but he makes himself to be a slave to them, having a certain responsibility, or a mission. This responsibility is to try to win as many as possible.
How does he become a slave?
He does this by subjecting himself to the way these people live their lives, while still living in a way that pleases God.
Paul then shares with us 2 groups of people and his strategies in reaching out to them.
1. The Jews
The Jews followed certain laws from Moses and norms in the way they lived. So although he isn’t under their law anymore, Paul still behaved as if he had to keep the law, so that the Jews would be
comfortable with him and his message. For example, in Acts 17:1-4, Paul went to the synagogue, where Jews would be talking about God, and shared with them that about how the Old Testament points to Jesus.
2. The Gentiles
Paul continued to live a life that follows Christ even though people around him in non-Jewish areas. For example, in Acts 17:15-34, Paul manages to speak to the people there, and spoke to them in their lingo about God by offering to tell them about the “Unknown God”, who is the only God, and the way to get right with Him. Even though the people of Athens had different beliefs and practices, Paul did not allow this to shake his faith in Jesus.
We cannot allow the ways of the world to sway us when we make friends with people outside, because we now belong to God. This means that we continue to keep what the Bible tells us is right while we maintain our friendships.
What this means for Christians today?
In every case, Paul did not use these people’s weakness (in keeping to their beliefs) as an opportunity to tell them that they’re lousy or inadequate in some way. Instead, he sought to identify with every culture to create opportunities to share the good news with them.
And Paul does this for the gospel, so that he can have the joy of being in partnership with God – this I believe is the true blessing.
Most Christians do have friends who are non-Christians. However, we often shy away from sharing the good news with them. Here is my challenge to you: have a plan to share the good news of Jesus with your friends. We can do better than just leaving everything to chance or merely hoping your friends would get interested.
And we should be sharing because we’ve benefitted from God’s love, and we want to experience the Father’s joys as His partners in the spreading the good news.
