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Are you ready for tonight? I can notice the Holy Spirit just moving in our midst in the worship. I could sense the tide rising with each each time that's worship, you know, and I was so caught up with the drama. I almost wanted to ask Daniel T, can we transfer him to our church? How much is the transfer fee? It would be nice if his wife can come over, but that's too bad. He's married. No transfer fee allowed. I'm gonna tell you about a story of a friend of mine who passed away recently. He's a hiking, hiking friend that goes years back. He's a very rich man, very wealthy man. And his private banker told him he could live a luxurious life for several lifetimes. But he said to me, my private banker told me that. But you know, I was born and grew up in a hill in Penang, in the Kampong, where the toilet is a hole in the ground. And even though I have a lot of money, I hardly spend that money. He found out he had cancer. The best type of cancer that any man would want, that is prostate cancer, which is very slow. And then finally, just this year, he passed away. And I was thinking, here is a man who believed that story. That he is poor, that he doesn't have enough, that a toilet is a hole in the ground. But he has passed that. And now he's a wealthy man. Colombo plant scholar, made his money, but he's still living in that old story. Remember what I told you? The story you believe in is the story you will live out. He's a Christian. He received Jesus. He knows the gospel, but sometimes he still has nagging doubts. What he believed about the gospel is not strong enough to eject that old belief that he is poor and his toilet is a hole in the ground. The gospel is a story that each and every one of us must believe with all our hearts, and we must stay in that story until we live it out in our lives. That was what I was sharing with you this morning about formation. Remember, the disciple-making alliance in Singapore that was formed in 2024 identified four features of the kind of discipleship that Singapore needs to cultivate, and one of them is it must be formational. It must form the character, it must form the values, the kingdom values in people's lives. It must be transforming. Kind of discipleship. Not just informing the mind, but forming the heart. It must be missional. Tomorrow we'll talk about how it must be intentional. How we need to embrace the practices that Jesus Himself, that we could observe in the life of Jesus. Something about the mission of God. The mission of God runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It begins when God created the world. Created man, Adam, and Eve. The creation was something he loved. For God so loved the world. Not only was the fall just personal, as the population grew, the wickedness spread, sin infected the world. You have the flood, you have Babel. God even at that time was on a mission. What was his mission? To redeem mankind, to seek and save the lost, to form a new creation. Look at the end point: a new creation. Because the old creation that he created has fallen, his mission was to create a new creation with humanity as the crown of that new creation. So what did he do? He chose a man. He chose Abraham. And he said to Abraham, Through you I'm going to bless the nations, the peoples of the world. So out of Abraham came the 12 tribes. And the 12 tribes ended up where? In Goshen in Egypt. And there they increased in population for 400 years in the land of Egypt. Now God was still on a mission. There are 12 tribes. There are 12 tribes. But they are not a nation. God wanted to make a nation out of them. So there was the Exodus, the Red Sea opened, they were delivered from slavery in Egypt. And they were told to conquer the land. But during that time, these 12 tribes became a holy nation. The priesthood was formed. So that man can live in the midst of a sinful people. And laws were given so that the nation of Israel, newly formed nation, no longer 12 tribes, would be like a light to the nations. Again, God was fulfilling his promise to Abraham. That through him the nations would be blessed. So that when the people around Israel look at Israel, look at the laws, the wisdom of the laws, the justness of the laws, when they look at the sacrificial system, at the priesthood, and the way the people were separated and different, they would be attracted to trust in their God. That was the desire of God. His mission to redeem, to form a new creation. But what happened? Israel, the nation of Israel, failed. They went into idolatry again and again. They conquered the land and then sin again. They divided Israel into the north, the northern kingdom, which is called Israel, and the southern kingdom, which is called Judah. One king in the north, one king in the south, they were divided. That was after Solomon's time. They continued to decline instead of fulfilling the mission God has given to them to be a shining light to the nation, to bring redemption, the message of God's holiness and love to the nations all around and to attract them. They failed. They went into idolatry, they went astray. God sent the Babylonians, God sent the Assyrians, destroyed the northern kingdom, sent the Babylonians, destroyed the southern kingdom of Judah as well as the temple. Everything was just destroyed. They began to hope for a new king, for a Messiah to come. And that person came in the human body of Jesus. The Messiah came. He would die, he would suffer, he'll be nailed to the cross. And after three days, he would rise again. And he will be ascended to heaven at the right hand of the Father, and they would pour out the Spirit and form the church. And now the church, the church would be that light to the nation. God was constantly on this mission of seeking and saving and redeeming the lost humanity. That was his desire. That was what Jesus came to do. He saw what God was doing and he joined God in his work. He himself said, I came to seek and to save the lost. That was the mission of God. And the church continued this work that Jesus did. To seek and to save the lost. What was the great commission? Go into all the world and make disciples, just like I made disciples with you. Go and make disciples of all the nations. Teach them what? Teach them to know more about the Bible? No, teach them to obey all that I've commanded you. To practice all that you see me practice. And lo, I will be with you. That mission that started with the fall of man, pass to Jesus, and Jesus passed it to us. It's the mission of God. When you see God and work in your colleague's life, when he comes to you with a problem, or when he asks you a question about Christianity, or he found that you are at peace in the midst of threatening retrenchment in the company, and he asks you, how come you you're not anxious at all? God is actually at work in that person's life and he's inviting you, inviting you to seek and save the lost. That makes you missional. A missional disciple is someone who is constantly watching and praying, constantly looking for signs that God is at work in some lost person's life so that they can bring the life-giving gospel into their lives, the life-transforming gospel into their lives. And one day, we are now at the period of the growth of the church. One day Jesus will return, the dead will be raised, judgment begins, and God will make a new heaven and a new earth. Romans chapter 8 tells us that all creation is groaning. The whole of creation is groaning like a mother with birth tanks about to give birth to a new age. They are all longing for the revelation of the sons of God, of the children of God, because one day we will all be revealed in glory. When Jesus comes, he'll be so proud of us, all of us in our resurrected bodies. Creation also is waiting for them. Paul describes and says, We even as a church are groaning inside, longing for that time when a new creation will be enacted. This is the mission of God. And now, let me tell you this. This is a grand plan. This is an awesome plan. It's a huge, huge task. But God is inviting you. You retiree. You young man. You that lady that says, I don't have any abilities. He's inviting you to join him in this mission. And when you say yes, and you respond to his invitation, you are a missional disciple. Next slide. Jesus said to them, to the disciples after the resurrection, peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, even so I'm sending you. The Father sent Jesus on a mission to seek and save the lost, to create a new community called the church that will continue his work. A community that will be with him, become like him, and continue his work. As the Father has sent me, even so I'm sending you. As real disciples, when we see Jesus in his ministry, we know what is the mission we have. We know what is the work we need to do. And as I look at it, I see three things that we need to do. Next slide. Number one, make space for the gospel. Host the broken and the lost. Today, in Singapore, we live in a multireligious society. And we know we have to be careful. The constitution in Singapore allows us to proclaim what we believe, to believe what we believe, to practice it and to proclaim it. It's allowed. But they have a religious harmony bill. And anyone with a religion can complain to the government about anyone trying to aggressively convert them. Now some pastors have had coffee chats with the ISD. They'll call you over for coffee and they'll tell you what you shouldn't do. Some outside speakers have been banned from coming into Singapore because they blatantly speak against other religions. That's the religious harmony bill. Now, Jesus, Jesus' time was also very hostile to Christianity. Even the early church time, it was the atmosphere was very hostile towards Christianity. But Jesus had a brilliant way of tackling this hostility. You know what he did? Have meals. He's either going, asking for a meal, or coming out of meal. Makan is a big thing in the Gospel of Luke. It's not that he's greedy or he's a foodie or he loves food. He's not pis here. Even ask Zacchaeus, can you buy me a meal? It's just that the meal is such an environment that is ideal for sharing. In the Jewish context, the meal means friendship, it means acceptance. A rabbi worth his salt would never be seen eating with Zacchaeus, a tax collector. He would never be seen eating with a prostitute or a sinner because it will tarnish his reputation. But Jesus never cared about what people thought about him. He was eagerly seeking to save the loss. And in a meal, people are less defensive. They are more relaxed. Already you create a safe space where they feel accepted. They feel you don't treat them like inferiors. They become open to what you have to share with them. So the first thing I want to say about being a missional disciple is that we need to be hospitable. Make space in their hearts for the gospel. In Luke chapter 7, 34, it says, The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. What is hospitality? It comes from two Greek words combined together. Hospitality is philo. Philo means love. Xenos means foreigner, guest or stranger. Hospitality is the love of the foreigner, the guest, the stranger. Hospitality. And what is xenophobia? The fear of the foreigner, the fear of the guest. Jesus created a space in these people's heart by welcoming them to a meal. That is hospitality. It doesn't always have to be a meal. Sometimes it's just carrying that attitude of largeness of heart, of generosity, of giving time, of being willing to listen, of being accepting, of not looking down, but respecting people. Making space for the gospel. Every Christian can do this. You don't need to be a good cook. You don't need to have your house tidied up. You don't even need to eat in the house. It can be portable. Anywhere you go, you can show that posture of the goodness and the generosity of our God. Can you do that? I'm sure many of you have done it, isn't it? Bring people out for meals, chat with them. Maybe an interest group. My wife and I love hiking, so we have an interest group. Some Christians, some non-Christians. And every time you hike in a group, you tend to end up with one person that you talk with. You stop, take a rest, take a drink, you make another walk, you're talking to another person. You're getting to know people, you're listening to their stories. Sometimes you hear their problems. Sometimes you offer to pray for them. This is making space for the gospel. Now we do less hikes. Now we do more pickleball. But our pickle go ball group are all Chinese speaking. And you know, right, my Chinese teacher. So sometimes after the pickle. And I'm just wondering what are they talking about? They're all speaking in Mandarin. Many of them are Malaysians, converted to Singaporeans. But you see, interest groups provides a lot of opportunities for you to create a space for sharing the gospel where people feel safe. People feel accepted. I think one of the most ideal places is the Alpha Course. The Alpha Course. You bring them there. They hear something, they feel safe. You make a space and you're able to ask questions without being shut off with your very good theological answers. You just listen. That's very interesting. What you shared is very interesting. And then after that, you have a what? A meal. Right? You show hospitality. You have a real meal. You chat more. Many of the converts in our church came through the alpha course. Because it creates an environment where you can use hospitality as a means to reach out to them. Second thing you need to do, besides creating a space, is proclaim, explain the gospel. You just simply have to share the good news. The good news is to be talked about. And I tell you, don't be shy shy. You know, I'm the shy shy type. I'm an introvert. My wife is the extrovert. She's a real good evangelist. She can make friends with dangerous in the park and talk to them about Jesus. I cannot. I must make friends over many weeks, get to know them, don't talk about Jesus at all. And then when it's time to talk, I still don't talk. But my wife is very good. This is the problem of introverts, huh? How many of you are like me? Yeah. Yeah, so many, yeah. Yeah, we are like that. Yeah. But somehow we need to come to a place where we don't shy, shy. Everybody is sharing their gospel. For some books, some people they are sharing the gospel of how to make money by buying houses and selling houses. Flipping. The gospel of flipping. Some people share the gospel of vegetarian diet. Good for health. Huh? Right? All kinds of gospel you hear on the marketplace from your friends. Senior citizens, they like to share the gospel of health. And they like to share about their pain, their ache. I had this operation, I had that operation, I went to see this doctor, I went to see that doctor. Isn't it? Huh? And what they do for health. And they're not shy about sharing all that, you know. Why are we so shy about sharing this wonderful, wonderful, eternal gospel? Some share about keto diet, some share of the gospel of travel, the gospel of retirement in JB. Yeah. You don't have to be shy, shy. They are sharing something they experienced that benefited them, that gave them joy, that helped them, and they spread it with you. Right? Why don't you do this? Hey, do this, this is really good. Take this, it's really good. Buy this, go into this program, very good. When it comes to the good news of Jesus Christ, why should we shy shy? Didn't Jesus change your life? Didn't Jesus bring about a total transformation and blessing on your family? You're only sharing that. Just share that. And I think one of the best ways to share the gospel with Muslims is to listen, to create that space. You know, I I play tennis also, and we have a Malay guy. Malays are really good at tennis. They don't have coaching or anything, but they can really play well. So I have this Muslim, and why do you all fast? And then he'll tell, he'll talk, all? So that I can get merit. And why do you need that merit? So that at the last day when I die before God, the judge, he will weigh all my good deeds, including the marriage, and all the bad deeds, and see which one tips the scale. If the good deeds tip the scale, he goes to paradise. So fasting helps him to gain merit on the good scale. Then I asked him, how do you know how much merit will outweigh a bad deed you do? Let's say you told a lie, a very bad lie, or you cheated somebody's money. How much fasting must you do? How much good must you do to outweigh that? Do you know how much or not? How many good deeds must you do until you have more good deeds than that one cheating sin that you committed? Say, I don't know. So that means when you stand before God on the judgment, you won't know whether you go up or down. So when you share the gospel like that, you're helping them to come to their own conclusion about what they believe. It might create some questions in the side, hey, maybe there's something wrong with this. It's a slow progress kind of thing. And even when you share with your friends, sometimes you don't share the four spiritual laws, right? Share about your life, share about your problems. You see, I have this problem. My son is just into computer games all the time in his room and all that. And I'm really praying for him. And hopefully, one day you can share. Hey, hey, you know what happened to my son? He met a girl. And he stopped playing computer games. God answered my prayer. And then the person who listened to that story, oh wow, what is this? This is really interesting. This is really interesting. Oh, you can talk about yourself, your problem with maybe a particular habit. And then months later he talks to you. Oh, I no longer have that habit. Wow. You begin to notice in this God he believes really changes lives. Maybe he wants the same thing. You need to be a witness. A witness is someone who experienced something and tells about it. Thirdly, you need to demonstrate the gospel. This famous verse in Matthew 5, 16. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Just acts of service and kindness. You know, I have a friend, he's a retired pastor. So he doesn't know what to do with his retirement, and he prayed. And the Lord introduced him to a ministry called a safe place. Now, a safe place is a ministry that empowers women and families with unsupported pregnancies. Unsupported pregnancy. So women are pregnant, they are without support. They come to this place, they stay in this residence, and there are people there to help them go through the trauma or the wounds that they experience, the anger or whatever it is, and take care of them physically in their pregnancy until the child is born and even after that. My friend, this pastor, he loves to cook. So he offers to cook a meal every week. And he did it for years. And they love his food. These mothers, nutritious, nourishing, and food that brings you to the third heaven. Many are Malays. He takes his own money, take his own time, and he cooked for us. That act of service, that act of love impacts these people. And you know, of course, Jesus demonstrated healing, deliverance, and he said he sent them out with authority to cast out demons. When I was in Nepal last year to do training with the pastors and then to climb up those mountains and go to some village, living in a hut without any walls, super cold, but I hear beautiful stories. You know, two of the fastest growing churches in the world are Iran and Nepal. Nepal. And here this guy is going, sending church planters into the mountains, and one of the church planters told a story. She's just a lady. She said, for years I was having problems. I would suddenly leave my home and go into the jungle and stay there for days and then come back disheveled out of her mind. It was so bad the family was about to give up on her. The husband was wanting to abandon her. In comes a preacher, a church planter, going from village to village. Preach the gospel to that family. And the family pointed to her, we have this problem. He prayed for her, and the demon came out, and she was totally of sound mind. And today she's a church planter. Whole family came to Christ. The village heard about it. Some of them came to Christ. It's just like the Bible days, you know. And these are simple people. They are not. When we train the leaders and the church plants, how many of you went through Bible school? Out of maybe 80, only two persons put up their hands. How many of you go to Bible school? The rest did not go to Bible school. They come for training, they go out and preach. After two months of practicing what they learned in this lesson, they came back again, learn another lesson, go out and practice. Come back out, out like that. That's their Bible school. Teaching them to obey all that I've taught them. Not teaching them to know everything in the Bible. So these are the three things. Create a space for the gospel. Then proclaim the gospel and demonstrate the gospel either by your holy and loving life or through signs and wonders and through acts of service. The problem is this. Very often, the mission of God is not a priority in our lives. Right? Very often. In Singapore, I can say there is such a temptation to chase after other things. You chase after pleasure, chase after money, chase after pride, rather than chase after God. You see it. The people of the world, some of them, chasing after pleasure. Whatever thrills them, whatever gives them tremendous love. We are not talking about it's alright to be entertained. It's alright to go for good food. We are talking about the extreme, where our desires get out of control, where our desires become disordered, where our desires put Christ into a lower priority in our life. When our desires become idols, the latest pleasures. Whether it is sex, whether it is the best food, whether it's the newest experience, the latest trend, the latest thrill, whatever it is, you just keep seeking constantly for entertainment and pleasure. And that is the highest priority that determines your choices, the way you spend money, the way you use your life and use your live. You see that in the people of the world. But you and I, God says to us, be holy as I am holy. Separate yourself, be a totally different kind of people. In the world, also, you see people who chase after money. In Singapore, this is very common. Their priority, their life is centered around one goal: making money. Because whoever has money is king. Whoever has money has happiness. If you have money, medicine is no problem. Children's education, no problem. If money can solve the problem, a lot of problems, then money is a thing we need. And so in Singapore there are people who just chase making more money, making more money, making more money. I'm asking you, is your life centered around making more and more money? Are you driven driven by this desire to have more? To accumulate more possessions, to buy more things, bigger things, newer things. I'm talking about the extreme. I'm talking about desiring so much that God is no longer the first thing in your life. You're no longer seeking first the kingdom. You're seeking first money. You are chasing after money. It's not a sin to be rich. Some people are entrusted with wealth. God gives them wealth. Wealth comes after them. The money chastes after them. They have the favor of God. And that kind of money doesn't bring sorrow. And the people entrusted with it will be people who will be like fund managers. They manage God's money. They invest it in the kingdom. They give it to the missions, they give it to the church. They pour it out to bring souls to Christ. I always remember this verse, but those who desire to be rich, look at this verse, huh? But those who desire to be rich, just to desire to be rich, fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. I've seen that in my life, friends of mine. They pursue money, they seek after money, and they fell into. Temptation into a snare and they plunge them into ruin. You go to some churches. How many of you desire to be rich? Hands put up. Because you're so used to the prosperity doctrine. Everybody desires. What does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? It's so clear. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation. How many desire to be rich? God is holy. Friend, God is holy. And he says, be holy, as I'm holy. Some chase after the pride of life. These are people driven by a selfish ambition, an ambition that is not formed with God. It's apart from God. It's your ambition, not an ambition that God puts in your heart. You seek status, recognition, greatness, prominence, social standing, and always through your human effort, without dependence upon God. God is just not in the picture. This kind of pride in achievement without being grateful to God is just another thing that people chase after in life. They want power, they want achievement, they want, they're not after money. They got enough money. They're not after money, they're just after fame, after achievement, after recognition and status. They are like that. I did not pick all this out of thin air. Because in 1 John chapter 2, verse 15 to 17, John the apostle said, do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love for the Father is not in them. The reverse is true. If the love for the Father is in you, you will not be seeking all these things. For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, pursuing pleasure, the lust of the eyes, whatever you see you want to possess, chasing after money. And the pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world. But what whoever does the will of the Father lives forever. This is the warning that John the Apostle, when he's very old, he wrote this letter, full of wisdom, full of spiritual pearls. And he said, Do not love the world. Later he says, Beware of idols. It's not that the Christians were worshipping statues or objects, they were putting things above God. They were valuing things like money and pleasure and pride and achievement above God. Beware of such idols because they will ruin your life. If you want to be a missional disciple, you need to be a God chaser. You need to seek first the kingdom of God. And I believe God is creating this desire in your heart today. He's making you want something that you are not yet. So, how are you feeling now? Do you feel like God is inviting you to become something you are not yet now? To become like Jesus in a way that you are not yet now. Do you have that desire? You know, while I was preparing this, I was reading through Leviticus. And there was this interesting ceremony of the ordination and setting apart. Setting apart is holiness. Holiness is to set apart, make holy. Set apart Aaron and his sons to the priesthood. And one of the ceremonies is to take blood from the sacrifice and put on the Aaron's ear and the son's ears. Put the blood on the ear. Why? Why do you think? Put the blood on the ear. Put the blood on the right thumb. And put the blood on the right toe. What is the significance of this? Why the right ear? Why not the nose? Why not the jaw? What do you think it means? Tell someone beside you, what do you think it means? The right ear. The right tongue. The right big toe. Share with someone beside you what do you think it means? What do you think it means? What do you think it means? The blood on the I think children are better at this. No need chocolate. They will come up with ideas. They're not afraid to be wrong. No model answers. What do you think it means? Very simple, right? The ear is for listening, right? And the blood is saying, this ear is mine. The blood is saying, this ear is mine. Listen to my voice. Listen to me. Listen to my laws. Obey my word. Set apart your ear. Block off all other noise that you hear. All other voices. Dedicate your ear to hearing me. This ear belongs to me. It's my ear. I bought it with the blood of Jesus. What about the right thumb? We work with our hands. Hands are very useful. Right? We need our hands. We do things with our hands. Continue my work. Do what I tell you to do. Set apart your works to me. Whether it is in the marketplace, whether it's at home, whether it's in church, do it for me. Your work belongs to me. What about toe? The big toe. What do you do with your feet? You walk. When Paul uses the word walk, what does he refer to? Our lifestyle, the way we live our lives, the choices we make. It belongs to him. He's bought with the blood of Jesus. Consecration. Aaron and his sons must be set apart, and their whole life belongs to me. Their whole life belongs to me. And God is presenting this to you today. Right now. Are you willing to consecrate your ear, your hands, your feet? The choices you make in your lifestyle, the work that you do, the attention that you give. Are you willing to consecrate it to your rabbi? And say, I want to be a disciple. I want to be formed into the image of Christ. I want to spend time and be with him in prayer. I want to be intentional in my living and not allow the world to conform me. But I want the word to transform me. Are you willing for that? Today I asked. A pastor. I did not ask, do you have blood? I just asked, do you have oil? Do you have anointing oil? We have anointing oil here. Yeah, anointing oil here. We're gonna put a cross. Not hygienic to put on your ear, your hand, especially your toe, right? Use the oil and we mark a cross on your forehead. And we are saying, from the crown of your head to the sole of your feet, you belong to God. You want to be a disciple. You want to be with him, you want to become like him, you want to continue his work. I'm gonna give you an invitation after a time of prayer. Let it be an intelligent decision, not something you're moved to emotion, but okay, I've heard all this. Yes, this is what the word of God teaches. Yes, I don't like what I'm becoming. I want to become more and more like Christ, or I'm not satisfied with where I am. I want to consecrate myself to be with Him, to become like Him, to continue His mission. And if you're ready today to say yes, then I invite you to come to the front to pray because today and now is the only time you have. They thought. They went on board that plane. They were bound for England, they were going to immigrate, they have been planning this for years, and the plane couldn't even take off out of the city, it crashed. Right? You all hear about the Air India crash, right? This family was inside. They thought tomorrow is guaranteed. No, we only have today. And today is a day that God is asking you, son, daughter, I don't care your age, I don't care your ability, I don't care how old, how young, how rich, how poor, will you give me your life? Will you make me your top priority? You can say, but Lord. You allowed tragedy into my life. I feel so much pain. You take away my loved one through sickness. I sometimes feel resentful. You know, there was another lady who missed that flight because she was late. I almost missed my flight. I was late also. She was late, she went to the ticketing counter. Please let me in. I beg you, I have to go on this plane, and they say no. And she didn't go minutes later. News came. They all died, they all perished. She could have been there. So sometimes when God denies you something or delays something or something sad or tragic happens in your life, his ways are higher, huh? His ways are higher, right? Right? So today, don't let that tragic thing that happened in your family prevent you from giving your all to him. I think you are ready to stand. And we are ready to come forward. Don't shy shy. Don't come because you feel pressured. Come because you make an intelligent decision, you say, okay, now is my time. I'm gonna dedicate myself, consecrate my life to discipleship, to be discipled by Rabbi Jesus.