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This is the second of five sessions from our 2023 church camp held in Phuket, Thailand. Our speaker, Reverend Peter Chun, shares session two. Stay focused and press on to reach the finishing line.

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Good morning, all. Have you got a good night rest? Are you ready to run? Wrong question. Are you ready to train first? Yes. Training is harder than to jump into running. Yeah, very good. You know, I can I can sense that you're ready because I see so many smiling faces. You are in good spirit. Must be because of good food. Indeed, you're in high spirit. Must be because the worship lifts up your spirit. Amen. You know, when I was younger, one of the best things that I always enjoy is the food at church camp. And I come from a culture of eat all you can. And I was really enjoy as much as uh I can. But now age is catching up. I eat selectively. So today I eat something that I like. Tomorrow I'll try something that I haven't tried before, and so on. Yeah. Thank you. So uh today. As I start, I want to recap briefly what we did yesterday. Well, I make two points. Yes. First point uh is that authentic does not stay stagnant. Yes, it must grow. And we are to grow we are to grow uh in Christ-likeness, and we are to be more and more like Christ and to do uh what He has called us to do. Every true believer must be in the race of spiritual growth. That was the first point I made yesterday. The second point or second lesson is that spiritual growth is a lifelong marathon and it has its challenges. So to finish the race of spiritual growth, we must train. We must train for the run. We cannot just try. Yes? I hope you have uh taken in this uh toy. Uh so uh trust that you are ready and excited uh to uh to do the training. So what sort of uh that was the second point, yeah. So what sort of uh training do we need and how do we reach the finishing line? And this is what we'll be looking at today and tomorrow. Now, for the second and third session this morning, uh the topic will be to stay focused and press on to reach the finishing line. How do we quick train ourselves to do that? And second, it is a steadfast and vibrant faith that we are building. And the starting point is that it depends on the heart, the soil of the heart, the condition of the heart. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we invite your Holy Spirit now to come, to fill the hearts of each and everyone. Yes, Lord, we know that you are going to do a deep and wonderful work in each one of us. And we pray that Lord you will renew our hearts, create a new heart in us, and help us, Lord, to uh to grow a heart based after God's own heart. So we as possible, Lord, may you bring our heart so that you will build our hearts for your glory, for your sake. Help us, help our hearts to be strong and yet not hardened. Help us to be soft and receptive and yet not weak. Help our heart to be vibrant and not distracted, and steadfast and not divided. Indeed, Lord, grant us a trusting and obedient heart. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now, for the first topic, stay focused and press on to reach the finishing line. And this is what Paul said in Philippians chapter 3, verse 13 to 14. He said, But one thing I do, focusing what lies behind and straying forward to what lies ahead. And then he said, press on toward the goal for the price of the upward whole of God in Christ Jesus. Now, any athlete will tell you that it is our determination and our the will that makes the difference between victory and defeat. To run a marathon and to win the race, the runner must be resolute, determined, and have single-minded focus on reaching the finishing line and winning the race. So this morning I want to highlight three lessons from Paul's example. And first is to stay focused, to know what you're doing, stay focused on what God expects of us. Yeah? And to run according uh to uh the rules that he has set for us. And Paul told Timothy that an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. There is God's rules for us to abide to compete. And in the race of growing in faith, it is not about what we think is acceptable to us, but to pursue what is acceptable to God on God's terms, and I believe one of the things God expects of us is how we should live our lives for Him and for others. I think this must be a central trust in our Christian life. How do we live for God and for others? So my first lesson, first point is this what is your life goal admission? Anyone, what is your life goal admission? If someone asks you, what is the goal of your life? How would you respond in just a few few words? Anyone be happy, be happy, yes? Yeah, okay. Uh fair, fair enough uh response. What else? Huh? Make money, okay. You're gonna make money, go ahead and talk to James, huh? You know, some of you may say exactly to be happy in life, others will say to be successful and do well in my careers, yes? To have a good marriage and a happy family. Well, nothing wrong. Indeed, nothing wrong with all these aspirations. The question is whether this is the only goal and purpose in your life. Is this the only one? Well, if you are not clear about your life's goals, it is likely that you'll be groping in the dark, following the crowds and doing what everybody is doing, trying out what you think is good for you, what is best for you, and finally becoming what the world expects of you. This is what is happening to most of us. Yeah? So, what should be the goal of the Christian life from God's perspective? Articulated by call for us. What should be the Christian life's goal? Yes, anyone besides money making already? What else? Finish the race for God. Okay. What else? You need to be specific. Although we're talking about race, you know, otherwise you go and the Singapore horse racing is moving. You go to the wrong race, huh? Race in growing in faith or you know, something. Yeah. See, Paul used this metaphor to capture our imagination. What else? What is the goal of the Christian life? Yes. Be a good testimony for the Lord. Very good. Yeah. Maybe you need to define what is good. So you you need it's a good start, but you need to refine, move towards the center of Christ. Okay. What else? Anyone? Faithfulness. Faithfulness, yes. Yeah, it's a rich word. We have to remain faithful until we meet Jesus again. And when we meet Jesus, what did he say? He will say to us, yeah, well done. Uh good and faithful uh servant. Yes. What else? What should be the goal? Anyone? Okay, let's look at Paul's example. Excellent example. Paul said his life's goal is to gain Christ. Very specific, very targeted, very precise, succinct, to possess the fullness of Christ. And it is to know Christ. And if I expand a little more, it is to know Christ and to become like him. It is developing a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus, and it is an ongoing process of growing in Christ-likeness, attaining spiritual maturity in Christ. You need to hand down some detail to guide you to fulfill the goals that you want. Okay, let's look at what he said. He told what he told the Christian in Philippi, you know, uh uh that for him uh nothing is more important, nothing is more important than knowing Christ and becoming like him. That is why he made this statement. He said, indeed, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. The knowing him is already a goal in itself, uh, a precious price for him. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Okay, and be found in him. What do you mean by found in him? Having not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, which he's so passionate about, not having a right, uh, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that depends on your heart, that I may know him. You see, again, I may know him and the power in what way? The power of his resurrection and may share his suffering, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection of his dead. He has an eternal view of life, he knows that at the end of the day of earthly life, he will be meeting Jesus, he will be resurrected and to enjoy the glory of God forever. So, what matters most to Paul is first to gain Christ. Why? Because Christ alone is all he needs. We sing all this song all the time in Christ alone. We trust and we need, right? Work it out and live it out and be found in Christ. What does it mean? To live in his will and to remain faithful, as Pastor Richard said. Being faithful, what? Faithful to his will, to his word. We need to add more words to describe our commitment to know Christ and to become like him. What does it mean? To be ready for transformation, to be transformed, to become like what? Like Christ in what way? Perfect, complete, mature. These are the words that the the uh Paul used, uh tell us, you know, for uh for us to amen, to be perfect in Christ, to know the power of Christ's resurrection, to meaning to experience the power of the Holy Spirit in our everyday life, you know, and to share Christ's suffering. If you look at the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, he suffered and died to bring the gospel to us, the message of salvation to us. So to share Christ's suffering is to bring the gospel to those who do not know him, even if it means to be imprisoned, to be persecuted, to be to be uh uh uh uh ridiculed or to be even martyr to death. Now, knowing Christ and becoming like Christ is not an overnight effort, it's a lifelong endeavor. It is a life-transforming experience to know who Jesus is and how much he cares for you and me. And our priority is to to be and to grow in close, intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior. Now let me say this: the goal Paul has set for himself should be the same for each one of us, for you and for me. To know Christ and to be like him is a biblical imperative for every believer. So I want to encourage you to start off by making this your personal goal. Next time, when people ask you what is the goal of your life, to yes, yes, wonderful. I tell you, you tell your friends that why you become a Christian to know Christ and to become like Christ, he will have more questions for you, and when he might ask the right question, you give him the right answer and he will capture it and he will become one. So don't be afraid to make this statement our own goal, personal goal. Now, Paul was not very clear about his life's goal. Paul is also very clear about his life mission, which is to do what Christ has called him to do. Yeah, at that time, or at the time of his conversion, as recorded in Acts chapter 9, God called him to bring the gospel to who? To the Gentiles, you know, to the Gentiles, and Paul was 100% committed to fulfill uh God's mission for him. In what way? I said 100%. Well, if you read Paul's account, Paul suffered hostility, abuse, opposition, disappointment, persecution, imprisonment, threat of death in order to fulfill God's mission. It comes with a prize, yeah, and he never gives up, he never let any difficulty or discouragement stop him or deter him from doing what God has called him to do. So his sole purpose in life is to tell others about God's love and salvation in Christ Jesus. Now we are told in Philippians chapter 1, verse 12 to 14 that the whole palace uh God and everyone in Rome came to know the good news of God's salvation because of Paul's zealous witnessing for Christ. And indeed, Paul lived for Christ and he died for Christ. Everything he did, he did for Jesus. Such was his love for God and his passion to make Christ known. He has a deep passion to make Christ known. And while he was in prison awaiting possible execution, he told the Philippians, believers, who is outside the prison, that for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And if I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. You find this in Philippians chapter 1, verse 22 to 2021 to 22. In essence, for Paul to live is Christ, is to live for Christ, and it is to grow in Christ's likeness and to serve his purpose. No, my dear friends, really, by the grace of God, the light you and I have now is bought by the precious blood of Jesus. You agree? And we should live. We need to live responsibly. We need to live responsibly. We need to live for God instead of living for ourselves. If our faith, our salvation is to count anything, you know, we need to seek and fulfill God's wills, not just for us, but for the world as well, and for the community, for the church. So let me ask you again. I keep asking you questions what is your life's goal and mission? Write down. Even though you have only one sentence, write it down. Find the find you the answer and fulfill the answer that you have committed to. What has God called you to be and to do in this present life? Why are you in the YCCA? What it's a place God has given you in this church. What is your role? What is your purpose? Ask and find the answer. What keeps you going? For what and for whom do you live? Yes? Can you let Paul say, yes, for me to live is Christ and to die is gay? Don't be this kind of question and answer in our lifetime. Seriously, if you really appreciate that God has saved us and we are given eternal life. And on this planet earth, in this present life, let us fulfill this mandate of living for Christ and for God's purpose. Well, some of you may say, well, such life's goal and mission is only for people like Paul. I'm just an ordinary uh Christian. I'm, you know, and it's for maybe for Pastor Daniel, Pastor Richard, Peter, and so on. Not for me. No. To live for Christ and to live for God's purpose is the biblical mandate or imperative for every believer. And I want to say this it should be our life focus, the raison d'être for our existence, if you like. Seriously, I've come to this understanding. You know, don't it is not just for people like us or like me for you know how many years, 10 years do I have, you know, God willing. Now I begin to realize this. The young people, I want to ask you, start thinking, make a statement of your goal for life. You've got so much many years ahead of you. Begin to write down and polish it and firm it. Then you'll see this come to pass. Otherwise, you will live your life at the end of your life. You still don't know what is the goal of my life. No, I'm not sure. Really, I'm not sure whether you have a clear statement in your mind about the goal of your life. I asked a simple question. It's difficult to answer, but you start with writing it down and working it out, working out your salvation, working it out, living it out. And you find that I can tell people, you know, but to start with, to live is Christ, to die is kid. That's fine. You know, because Paul's example is very foundational, very fundamental, very, you know, go to straight to the heart, matters of the heart. Now, let me give you some examples. What it means to live for Christ and to serve God's purpose. Yes? To live for Christ is to do what God has called us to do. The word is this that is to share the good news of salvation with non-believers. Don't leave this planet earth without doing this part that I've never even shared with the non-Christian in my life. You go to heaven, all are strangers, you know. You know, so so you know, you bring someone, you say hello, hey, remember I shared with you. You know, I'm serious. No, you think that heaven is a place. We are going to meet Jesus. I'm gonna ask Paul a lot of questions, also, you know. So, yeah, to live for Christ is to bring honor to God's name. How to glorify His to glorify Him in our word, in the way we run business, not just making money. Yes, we make money for God's use and purpose. You know, to in the way we respond to those who hurt us, in the way we raise our children, in the way we relate to our spouse, uh, our parents. How in all these ways, how do we honor God's name? That is to be to live for Christ. To live for Christ is to be and to do what He expects us to do, not what my wife expects me to do or my husband. No, God expects us to do. To live for Christ is to be his witnesses, Acts chapter 1, 8. Right? To be his source and life in Matthew chapter 5. Uh, in this dark and broken world, to live for Christ is to give him first place in our hearts. You know, try try to find this statement relevant and real in your life. That it means some. I really put Christ in my life first. It's not just a statement outside me, inside me. So we need to really work this thing out so that when you say I I live for Christ, people understand. In fact, let me say this we not only need to live for Christ, we are to live for him alone. Amen. Again, we sing all songs like this, you know, in Christ alone. I said just now. But the trouble is for many of us, yes, we live for Christ, but often it is Christ plus something else, right? It is Christ plus work, it is Christ plus my hobby, it is Christ plus a comfortable and luxurious life. Nothing wrong with that, it sins. The trouble is after some time, this something else becomes our priority and our passion, taking out all our time and energy and attention. And if we are not careful, soon it will become soon it will become for me to live is my work. For me to live is to be successful, and somehow Christ is squeezed out of our heart and life altogether. Be careful. I have seen many Christians like this before, you know, who is so fervent and faithful at the beginning, but because of work, you know, he has left that vision, passion. Yeah. Now, Jesus warned those of us whose hearts are divided that indeed we cannot serve to master. He said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 24, no one can serve to master. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You try to understand this statement. Why did Jesus make this statement? And he said, You cannot serve God and money. Where did the money come from? Talk about masters. You see, in the in those days, in the context, Jira is talking because they understood the word master. Master, the its significance, the meaning of masters in the context of a master and slave relationship. In those days, if you are a slave, you've got no rights. Your life is under the control of the master. The master has absolutely absolute control and authority over your life. You own, he owns you, and you are a slave. You you are owned by your master. And you cannot serve two, you cannot have two masters. You know. So if you want to see him as master, that means you you surrender your life, your rights, everything to him. And today, 21st century contact, maybe I don't know whether you will use the word boss. You know, ask yourself, those of you who have served under two bosses, what is it like life like? And then sometimes you go home and one more boss at home. So big boss, yeah, kind of so headache, you know, we can't. So Jesus understood. And then why he bring in the money? Because money can become the master that controls our destiny, our life. And this is very serious when Jesus said money, he didn't say anything. But of course, in the 21st century, money is not uh just the only thing, anything that can become the master of our life is what Member Jesus is referring to, and that is something we should uh understand by that. Now, as I said, I have come across many believers whose faith is like fireworks. In the beginning, they are all fired up and excited about wanting to know God, wanting to uh to serve Him, you know, uh to do His will, but after some time their faith disappeared. Why work and worldly pursuit takes up all their time and attention. And before long, they have no time for God. No time to pray, no time for church, no time you know for family and friends. Yeah, really sad and tragic. It it happens in Christian community. So, church, I really want to encourage you to make special effort, to work towards, this is the very first step, to work towards having clarity of goal and purpose or mission, you know, uh uh for your life. As I said just on, by all means use Paul's example to know Christ and to be like him, to live for Christ and to serve God's purpose. Yeah, and because these are very succinct and uh excellent life goals, not just for Paul, for all of us, for me even. So I want to encourage you to take some time to begin to write this. Whenever a student as one of the lectures uh and project, we have to write. And I wrote very long story, just like uh uh Jesus' uh uh uh ministry in in Luke chapter 4. After baptism, it comes out, you know, he got a mission statement. You know, I also have a lot of very enthusiastic, very high ideal, you know, only to find that it's so difficult to fulfill. Then polish, polish. Now, just one line statement will do after I tell you. Okay, the second lesson is this press on. Press on when? When exactly when you feel like giving up. Press on toward the goal, right? Now to complete the marathon of growing in faith, we need to stay focused. Number one. We also need to press on to persevere to the end. And it is very important to keep running without stopping, without taking a break, without you know, looking around, looking at the flowers, you know, straight forward to reach what lies ahead. Okay, reach what lies ahead. Unfortunately, in my experience as a lay person and also as an ordained uh pastor, uh, I have seen many casualties of life, of faith. And I have seen members leaving the church, even giving up on their faith. And they are also who still come to church, but their hearts have no place for God. We need to guard against this, all right? Why? Three reasons why believers drop out of the race. Number one, they get distracted by the things of the world. You go cross-country, or sometimes a butterfly, and it's selfie, all this you know, you get distracted, you stop. Okay, second, they get deceived by the false teaching. And so they deviated. They want to do shortcut. You know, sometimes I cross-country, I thought I cannot do the long one, I don't do shortcut, only to find I get lost. Right? You do shortcut, yeah. Deceived by the teaching, deviated from God's uh word, such as hypergrace teachings tell you that you can do and live as you like, no need for high transformation. This is not biblical uh theology, understanding. Third, they are discouraged and disappointed with the church. Yes, because of conflict with another member. You drop out of the church, then later drop out of the faith. You know, you are disappointed with the conduct of some leaders, or maybe disappointed with the pastor, you know, or you are disappointed with the church practices like same-sex, uh, marriage, and you know, which is clearly for forbidden in the Bible. You know, I have people come to me that they want to leave Anglican church. Why? What is happening in the Church of England? The Archbishop Canterbury and the synod endorsed same-sex marriage, uh praying, praying for Saint St. Mary and Church, and they want to leave Anglican. I said, why? We should not allow all this false teaching to squeeze us out of God's kingdom. That's my first point. Every time you when you feel like leaving the church, press on. Ask yourself, why should I leave the church? God has put me here. As a pastor, I have never asked people to leave the church. I'm asking people to come. Why should I this different person you go away? I don't mind. Or the other way around, or different pastor, I also want to go. Why? You're not serious about your faith and your your position, your your your place in the church in God's kingdom. Never let what is happening, squeeze up, what is happening in church in all the world must make us more want to make sure that our faith in the Anglican church in YCCA is robust, vibrant, and steadfast. And it starts with every individual. Together, let's build. Don't get distracted by what is happening over there. You should be praying for them. That is the basic thing that we should do. Anybody fall out of a church or the church went astray, pray for them. Not to attack them, not to allow them to affect your walk with God. Amen. Now the phrase, and also so please guard against distraction, deception, and disappointment. As I said, don't let any of this drive you out from your community of God's people or drive you out of the faith altogether. Now the the phrase to press on implies the determination to overcome anything that stands in the way. So we say press on means no obstacles should stop me. You know, we should overcome all these things that stands in the way. It is to have a don't give up attitude. You know, in Chinese, we tell people, right? Add oil. In the race, you press on. Exactly when you feel tired in a in a running race. Yeah. You press on when you feel like slowing down, feel like stopping, feel like even going for a B or press on. When your mind tells you that, oh, you can't make it to the finishing line. This is the time you press on, you persevere, you never give up. Similarly, in the race to grow in faith and faithfulness, what do you do? When you don't feel like praying, press on. When you are busy and don't feel like reading the Bible, you press on. When you feel discouraged and you don't feel like coming to church, this is the time to press on. Wake up, put on your clothes and go. You know, when nobody appreciates your service and hard work, and you wonder why you're doing all this, you press on. Because you have been called to do that. Why should people stop you? In your spiritual journey, every time you feel like giving up, this is exactly the time you press on. Amen. So don't we don't stop, we never stop wanting to know more about Jesus. And and be more and more like him. We must stay focused, we must not get distracted, we must press on against all odds towards attaining the spiritual maturity in Christ. So, my dear friends, we need the same attitudes of Paul. We have we have, you know, Paul has every reason to give up. Yes, you know, but uh in his attempt to fulfill God's mission, he went through all kinds of trials and sufferings, but he never gave up. Paul shared with the church in Corinth. I think it's worth reading because when when I read, I really get tired, get discouraged. But let's read because let's turn it to be an encouragement. He said, five times. You know, sometimes we said don't also, but I tell you, this is really he went through. He he recounted so detailed. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rocks, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was at three at sea. Wow, on frequent journey in dangers of river, dangers from uh robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers from false brothers, in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And apart from all these things, there is a daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. He still prayed for the church, concerned over their well-being. Who is weak and I'm not weak? Who is meek to fall and I'm not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. Wow, what a tremendous example. Yeah? So if Paul did not give up in spite of all the dangers and suffering he had to endure, tell me for what reason, on what reason we should give up serving God's people. I have no reason. You have no reason. If Paul has really set the example, like Paul, we need to have the determination to press on, to keep learning, to keep training, and to keep growing towards spiritual maturity. And as I said just now, whether you are at my age, senior season, or you are still young, you know, there is still some way to go. You know, before we reach the finishing line of spiritual maturity and perfection in Christ. Alright? The third lesson is this don't look back. Don't look back. We had a wonderful uh uh sharing by Andrew just now and Peter also Peter. Right? Don't look back to win the race, we not only need to focus on reaching the finishing line, we must also not look back while running. Paul said, forgetting what lies behind and swinging forward to what lies ahead. What does it mean? Now Paul is not saying that that uh he did not remember his past, that we should forget everything in our past. No, the Bible, in fact, has many examples and teaching about remaining and remembering God's faithfulness and powers in our life in the past, as well as asking us to remember our first love for Him. Now, indeed, to give thanks and praise to God always for the work He has done for us, so that we can look ahead into the future with confidence and hope in Him. When we look at the past, he must spur us on into the future with confidence and hope. So Paul did not, but Paul did not forget how he persecuted the church, his failures, how he persecuted before his conversions. He knew his past failures as well as his past achievement, and he was determined to press on and to keep running towards Jesus at the finishing line. Now, what Paul is saying is that we should not look back at our past failures or even achievement or anything that might distract us from being single-mindedness, single-binded-minded on reaching our life's goals and mission. The important point Paul is making here is that we should not allow anything, the past, or you know, uh, whether it is uh failures or achievement, to become the stumbling block, to become an obstacle in our race, to distract us, to discourage us, to defeat us, to stop us from growing spiritually in our religion. The trouble is that what Andrew was saying, sometimes we look back, we want to live in the past glory and got stuck there. What God has for us, we miss. So straightforward, look to the future, put the past behind. Well, it's good to understand what forgetting means. The word forgetting means dismissing from the mind. Just dismiss it. Or paying no attention to that. Not that you have forgotten and cannot remember. No, you dismiss from the mind and pay no attention to that memory. To forget is to stop dwelling on something. To win the race, the runner must dismiss every distraction that comes to the mind. He must not rehash in his mind the every past mistake that he has made and dwell on the past glorious glorious while he is running. So let's let's have the same attitude as Paul. Don't look back, stop dwelling on the past. Don't let anything in the past interfere with our present progress or future efforts. And don't lose sight of the goal of the Christian life. And to move forward, Paul said this. But whatever I gain, whatever gain I had, I count as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing words of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Now remember, Paul was a man who was highly qualified and well schooled. He had numerous visions of the law. He had written some of the most profound theologies ever written. He has brought the gospel to many cities, villages in the known world at that time. He was ready to give his life to spread the gospel. But his attitude was forget what lies behind and stray forward to what lies ahead. Now listen to the wise words of John MacArthur, who is a pastor and an author. And this is what he said on forgetting what lies behind. He said, Paul made a break with everything in the past, both good and bad. Religious achievement, virtuous deeds, great successes in ministry, as well as sin, missed opportunity, and disasters must all be forgotten. They do not control the present or the future. Believers cannot live on past victories, nor should they be debilitated by the guilt of past sins. Well crafted, well real wisdom for us. So my dear friends, is there something, is there something in the past that is stopping you, that is deterring you from growing in faith and knowing Jesus. Something for us to think about. You know, we need to clear it by just dismissing it, focus on the positive for the growing part, and you will come out of it. Unfortunately, in the church today, there are many spiritual cripples, yes, paralyzed by the grudges, the bitterness, the sins and disappointments in the past. These are the real effects of such things in the past. Some are trying to survive in the present by relieving the glory of the past achievement and successes, as I mentioned earlier. Past achievement or disappointment. They distract and cripple us from growing spiritually, disqualifying us from the race. So I want to encourage you to take some time out, either in this camp or in the next few days while the iron is still hot, okay, to reflect on where you are now spiritually and how you want to grow your life spiritually. And ask yourself what is God's goal and mission for your life and how to proceed from here. Okay? Can I ask of you to give yourself, as I mentioned to you, right question, right answer, right response. Just do it, fulfill it. You know, you if you have some inputs from the Lord, some question, find the answer. If you've already got the answer, next step is to do it, fulfill the answer that you have found. You know, if you ask me what is my purpose in life, I've been thinking about this. I'm now 74. Many people tell me that this is the time to rest. After all, by Singapore, uh mortality, what 80 is it? Which means I got six years on the year. But God willing, if you give me one more year, so what I do one more year, what's the the plus point of one more year, two more years, if we without, right? You have to think through. So somebody says, Go and enjoy life. But for me to be able to serve God and be involved in his kingdom work is a great privilege. It's a wonderful joy. Now, you for all of us who are senior here, especially, you know, because the society, you know, they they switched to a mode where they think that it's a burden to take care of you. So they think that you should go and work and earn your living. You know, and this is where the struggle comes. But for us, oh no, I serve God. Is God or not? Not anyone who asked me to serve, to live. So make your life count, all right? So my passion uh and my purpose is to present every believer's virtue in Christ. It is a phrase taken from Colossians chapter 1, verse 28 to 29. This is Paul's personal discipline experience that is transmitted to us. He said, Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. And for this reason, I toy, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully worked within us. Paul recognized that it is not him alone to do all these things. The Holy Spirit, God is in us powerfully, work with us, and to do what we must do to make perfect, to present everyone mature uh in Christ. So I want to uh devote my time and energy to help believers to be disciples of Jesus as well as to train them to be disciple makers. Yeah, and thank God for every opportunity given to me to serve Him, whether it's in preaching, teaching, coming here to share with you, you know, uh since my retirement from active service. Now, just to share with you a little bit of my journey of discipleship. 1978, my wife and I got married in Cathedral. One year later, we moved to St. John's St. Margaret because we felt that, you know, and don't forget, I was on the verge of conversion from uh uh unbelief, baptized unbelievers to uh born-again you know believers. So uh so we moved to St. John's St. Margaret. I lived at that time in Normanton Park. I opened up a map, draw a circle five kilometers, see which church is there, St. John's and Margaret. So we went, and that goes my journey of discipleship. Yeah, from 79 to 85. Why? Because the pastor then was Roger, the Reverend Roger Campbell, a British uh uh priest there, and he took notice of me, he discipled me. I didn't know until a few years later, but in six years he's there, I was there in my first Christian journey. He walked with me. You know, and during these initial years when they went to St. John's and Margaret, this is the time when I quit smoking, when I got baptized in the Holy Spirit, and I was born again, and I began to tire. It takes a couple of years for me to decide to give 10% of my salary. I was paying quite high in the armed forces. But 10% to part is not an easy task. It struggles. I that's why I teach tithing. I understand. I said, no point of me forcing you. The Holy Spirit must convince you that. And that is a decision. All this take that I presented up there is a decision from someone, a disciple makers or some preachers, teachers, pastors, and a decision on my part. And that transformed my life. Quit smoking, born again, faithful tithing. And the pastors, Reverend Roger, saw me arrange Bible study group at that time, no cell group, Bible study group, arranged for me to join a Bible study group. He knows that I need to be rooted in the work. I joined Bible study. I met people like IQ Chai, uh Irene, Tifan, and the wife and Margaret, some of you don't, right? So all this, they are the one who disciple me. You know, but the pastor had the concept of discipline me. You know, Bible study, I get rooted there. Prayer, you know, church prayer meeting, and the pastor at that time, every Saturday, he and his wife will host a prayer meeting, I think six or seven o'clock in the morning. He invited me and my wife to join. Well, pastor invited me to join prayer meeting. So go on. Go. But lo and behold, I saw what God is doing in the lives of the church through the prayers of the pastor. Please. So when I was in Kerala, I also joined the prayers of the pastor. The pastor prayed in the church morning. I joined. Because this is a time, this opportunity, you can pray for the church, pray for the world. And you hear the heart of your pastor, and you see what God is doing through the prayer, and things are happening. So see prayer as a link to the church, not just uh uh standing in a gap, you know, but to hear what is on God's heart, what is on his mind, and to see this fulfilling. His kingdom come, his will be done. And this Reverend Roger also sent me to 27 C V Scott. That's how he equipped me. That time the church doesn't have all this discipline program. Send me. So after a year or so, they prepare a man's group. He came and co-led me. Then halfway he let go. He said, You continue leading. So I was trained in the equipping, in the making to become a disciple uh maker, so to speak. I didn't know at that time just lead a small group, you know, with a material. I'm really, so I do. Then I lead a man's group, right? Then he also asked me to organize search camp. So he formed a committee and then organize search camp like y'all do here. Now today we've got such a wonderful community, you know, capable people, and we've got a budget. You know, at that time we don't have, I go to the union house uh kind of uh uh you know building, you know, and we have a search camp there. So I organized, I began to understand how church can work, how God works in the church can people. Yeah, and we he took us a group of people, I think 20 of us, and he asked me to come to Korea, Juangi's church, to study the cell group system. And then we came back. I was involved in setting up the cell group in St. John's and Margaret. You know, and then I was a cell group, and then in less than 20 years, 15 years or so, by 1997, you know, I became uh cell pastor. I got 11 cell groups under my shaft. But that was the time I also had to leave to go to Canada to study my theological study. So when I think back all these things, I thank God. I thank God that God used my wife, God used uh uh my church pastor, and God used my university's uh friends to work towards my born-again status and experience. You know, so I want to I say the youth all this is that the pastor can only pick up a few people and do. I also have uh two groups of people right now, but I know I can only focus much. Although my statement is to present everyone, yes, preaching, teaching, yes. But for lay people, I think we reach a stage where if the disciple maker must come down to the lay person. Okay, you can be disciple maker. And those of you who need to be disciple, go and find someone to mentor you, walk this journey. And then you will you'll find that uh you are fulfilling God's purpose, uh, the goal of Christian life in you. Okay, now at the end of his life, Paul told Timothy, by the way, if you want to see how how Paul discipled Timothy, go and read the episode to the Timothy. All of things are there. It's fair for the church, but I think it's born out of his personal discipling of Timothy. Right? So uh he said, Paul said, for I am already poured out, like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the rage, I have kept the faith. You know, when every time I read this, this is such a beautiful summary of a life well lived. Yes? And I really hope that I can say the same at the end of my life. Hopefully it can be, but now we've got no tomb, no great, uh, what's called uh uh uh uh tomb grade no more. Uh maybe digital, digital. But for me, it's ashes into the sea where I come from. Uh I sailed the sea for 29 years. So I think you know, I I just pray that it will you are able to make the same statement. Yeah, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Let it as the price at the end of your uh finishing line. So, my dear friends, life on earth is very short. But life after death is eternal. So let us not spend our whole life chasing after things that do not last. Seek after things that have eternal value. So don't just live for the year and now. Live for eternity. Live for Jesus and live for it alone. Amen.