Dec 2014

Express’OMerry Christmas

2Content Page

Content Page

English Revelation Article 4

Chinese Revelation Article 6

Church Service Summary 8

Recommendations 11

3The Contributors

Hannah Xu Qian RuChinese Revelation

Jeanette ZeeEnglish Revelation

Yvonne Teo Yen PinRecommendations

Jason LeeCover Page Photo & Newsletter Design

Chris Benhard A. SembiringChurch Service Summary

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The Birth of Hopeby Jeanette Zee

English Revelation Article

Christmas is a season of joy and giving.

Regardless of race, religion and ethnicities, it is a festival that is celebrated by all. It is a day of merry-making and receiving presents from loved ones. However, many have forgotten that the only reason for their celebration is because Jesus was born on that day!

In Matthew 2, so many supernatural incidences happened just to prevent Jesus from being harmed. The first supernatural incident that happened is when the three wise men offered gifts to Baby Jesus just by following a star to the manger. The second supernatural incident that happened is when the three wise men had dreamt that King Herod was going harm Jesus. The third supernatural incident is when the angels appeared in Joseph’s dream to flee from Jerusalem and to Egypt so that Baby Jesus will be protected from all harm.

As I studied all these supernatural incidences that happened, it tells me one thing- God loves planning and His plans work out together to create a beautiful and complete picture. He designs things to happen so as to arrive to His plan and will not allow anything to hinder or disrupt that divine plan. King Jesus came to bring hope and restoration to Mankind. Indeed, nothing and no one can steal us away from His divine plan! Have you ever wondered why everyone rejoices over Jesus’s birth? It is because they know that a King has come on the Earth to bring direction and redemption; Jesus came to do miraculous work in our lives.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

5English Revelation Article

God already has a plan to save us from all our sins and to give us everlasting life. In His plan, He already saw the day that Jesus, His only begotten Son, will be pinned on the Cross for the sake of all. His divine plan is to set us free – to can find hope when there is no hope, to find faith when the situation is faithless, to find love when we feel unloved, to find light in the midst of the darkness.

As Christmas is round the corner, let us always remember that more than 2000 years ago God sent His divine plan to save and redeem us. Although the journey was tough and excruciating, His plan never halted but was completed in His time. Similarly, let us all be reminded that God has chosen us to be His children, and each and every one of us is in His divine plan. Find hope in this Christmas – thought the odds may be against you, like the birth of Jesus, nothing and no one will be able to disrupt the plans of God! We are truly unstoppable!

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雪中的温馨by Hannah Xu Qian Ru

在有四季的国家，人们已经开始穿起了大衣戴起了围巾帽子，开始习惯起了冬天。好多童话故事告诉我们，人们总是在大雪纷飞的季节里遇难。例如，卖火柴的小女孩。可我总是喜欢冬天，因为寒冷，温暖才显得来之不易。而上帝却在这个冰雪交加的季节给了这个世界最温暖的礼物——耶稣。耶稣出生于一年中最寒冷黑暗的时候，而他就是这个世界上雪中的温馨。那一天，我们纪念他神圣的诞生，正是我们口中的圣诞节。

圣诞节少不了礼物和美食。西方传统习俗，礼物总是会在圣诞夜前夕放在圣诞树下直到第二天，礼物才会被打开。这个季节总是充满惊喜和奇迹，从耶稣诞生的那天起，世界充满了惊喜和奇迹；盲人得以看见；病人得以痊愈；死人得以复生；没有一件事是上帝办不到的。这是全世界的喜讯，耶稣的诞生注定为我们的疾病而牺牲；为我们的罪而牺牲；为我们的悲伤而牺牲。世界上又又多少人明明知道自己将被枉死却还为那些枉死他的人服务。这是一种精神，一种使命；却成全了全世界的永生。所以在这个季节，我们庆祝耶稣的诞生，庆祝我们的重生，感恩上帝为我们做的一切，让我们在喜乐和欢庆中为2014年画上圆满的句号！

Chinese Revelation Article

7Chinese Revelation Article

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Arise and Build Weekby Chris Benhard A. Sembiring

“Is building the House of God on earth important? The answer should be an unequivocal yes!” Ps. Kong said, opening his sermon on Sunday (9/11) on the first week of this year’s Arise and Build season. According to Ps. Kong, there are three reasons why the church raises Building Fund annually through the Arise and Build campaign.

“First, we arise and build for our legacy for eternity,” Ps. Kong remarked, and presented Abraham as an example. In his journey, Abraham would build an altar unto God wherever he went. Due to his love for worship, God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 13:15, where God promised Abraham that He “will give all the land he sees”. God remembered His promise during the time of the exodus of the Israelites (Exodus 32:13, Joshua 14:9). It is interesting to note that God has a penchant to promise His people pieces of land. On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that the meek shall inherit the earth, as written in Matthew 5:5. This promise also appeared multiple times on Psalm 37.

Ps. Kong posed a question, “Why should we have an eternal property on Earth if we’re going to Heaven anyway?” While it is true that we will go to Heaven, we shall still inherit what He promised in the New Heaven and the New Earth. Ps. Kong explained that there are misconceptions of what will happen to us after we die. “Do not think we will become disembodied creatures where we will float around, playing harp on cotton candy clouds,” Ps. Kong said, reading from Philippians 3:20-21 and Job 19:25-26.

Church Service Summary

9Church Service Summary

Both passages of the Scripture mentioned that we will be given new body so that we can live in the New Heaven and New Earth. In the original Greek text, the word “new” is Kainouria, which means “refreshed or restored”. Hence, the New Earth will be the same with the Earth we are living in right now. The “old” Earth will be burnt with the fire of purification to become new. The general misconception among the believers, according to Ps. Kong, is that the Earth would be destroyed with fire of annihilation. Ps. Kong disproved the fallacy by presenting a glimpse of what the New Earth will look like, as written in Revelation 21:24-26 and Hebrews 11:10

“The second reason why we arise and build is for our legacy for inheritance,” Ps. Kong said. He stressed that we should have something to give to the next generation, as written in Proverbs 13:22. Ps. Kong related a story of how the church acquired Suntec Convention Centre back in 2010 and how the value has risen exponentially. Ps. Kong said, it will be up the church’s next generation to decide whether the church should stay at Suntec or sell their share and move to a larger arena in the future.

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Ps. Kong closed his sermon with his third point, “We arise and build to create a legacy of blessing.” Ps. Kong related how King David desired to build a temple for God. Although God decided that David’s son Solomon should build the temple, God valued David’s heart. 2 Samuel 7:11-12, 16 lists God’s promise that David’s kingdom will be established throughout generations. When David’s descendants strayed away from God, He remembered His promise and did not destroy the Kingdom of Judah for David’s sake.

Let us remember the promises that God has made, and let us not take the Building Fund season as a burden, but as a channel of His blessing towards our lives.

Church Service Summary

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5 Places to Shop for Christmas Gifts

1. Daiso

If you are wondering, I’m not referring to the $2 makeup or food goodies, those would be considered as too stingy, and you will be labelled as a “cheapskate” by the end of this Christmas. What I think is meaningful is if you’re the type who likes to write letters of appreciation and send handwrittenwell wishes, Daiso has a wide cards selection all at the price of $2. They have the cards with cute designs, and some sophisticated ones. If you’re the type who puts in a lot of effort in packaging, they have a wide selection for little craft supplies, like pretty wrapping papers, ribbons, stickers, boxes and flashy paper bags.

5 Places to Shop for Christmas Gifts by Yvonne Teo Yen Pin

Recommendations

12Recommendations

2. Bugis Street They have everything! If you’re looking for presents that are not-so-expensive-for-my-not-very-close-friend gifts, this is the perfect place to go. Ranging from clothes to bags to accessories, they cater well to friends who emphasise a lot on physical appearances. If you hate the crowd and don’t want to sweat, what I personally recommend is to head to the second level (where the air-conditioning is) and just shop there. In my opinion, the second level provides clothes with better quality and more selection, albeit pricier. If you have friends that don’t really dress up, buy some phone accessories for them, like phone cables and cases because Bugis has the cheapest phone accessories.

Tip: Don’t be so eager to buy when you’ve seen something you want. Other outlets probably sell the exact same piece at a cheaper price. Lastly, don’t forget to ask for discounts!

13Recommendations

3. Jurong East

Jurong east is the place to go for buying gifts! They have 4 shopping malls selling clothes for teenagers, and even for those of old age. Winter clothings to summer sundresses, they have all the products for all your needs. If I only had a day to spend, I would skip Jcube and Westgate because they mostly consist of food chains. IMM is a place you must go because it has sales all-year round and more sales during Christmas! I figure buying gifts from IMM is not exactly cheap even after discounts because the outlets mostly sell branded goods, but they’ll definitely at a great bargain. Most importantly, it’ll be nice to buy something that seems expensive for your friends and family. If IMM is not for you, JEM has a variety of stores you can look into. I would recommend you to bring your passion card, ntuc card, safra card, watsons card, and whatever-other-kinds-of-singapore-cards along because you can collect points and may even get discounts. Don’t forget to keep the receipts because if you’ve bought the wrong size, you can most probably get it for an exchange! :) Bring a water bottle along too because jurong is too big a place to walk without resting.

14Recommendations

4. Orchard - Somerset

Yes, we’re not leaving out the heart of Singapore – Orchard Road. Orchard Road has transformed into a galaxy of colourful stars, in celebration of a season of joy from 15 Nov 2014 to 1 Jan 2015. Besides just shopping for gifts, bringing your dates out to enjoy the lights will feel great too. I need no explanation on how Orchard has every store, but I do have a few tips on where to look for gifts. Takashimaya and Somerset 313 is the place to head to. They’ve stores that sell really gift-worthy items and having great sales too. Takashimaya’s basement always holds an exhibition for food, kitchenware, stationery and toys, which are all going at a very cheap price! But, I just dread heading to town because I can never handle the crowd. If you’re like me, eat some durian or kimchi, and whoever’s blocking your way… simply make a prayer, full of the breath of God… “HALLELUJAH!!!!” and God will make a way for you.

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5. Popular

Things can never go wrong here. Stationery, books and more books! Even if your friends don’t read, I’m sure they will use a pen at some point of their lives. I think Popular carry great books. Buy a book for someone whom you think is in a certain season of their life and that book can help them through this time. For friends who love to cook, buy them a recipe book written by some great chefs. For friends who love art, buy them an album of art-pieces by Singapore talents. For friends who love music, buy them a CD album from their favourite artiste! A great selection of gifts and ample ideas Popular provides.

All the best in finding the perfect gift!