Masterpieces of Grace

One of the hallmarks of Faith Community Church, as an intentional disciplemaking church, is its focus on the depth of God’s word through teaching. Each year, our church pulpit team will preach expositorily through an Old Testament book and a New Testament book. On 22 July this year, I had the privilege of preaching my […]

Dirty Worshippers, Holy Worship – Part 1

In this two-part series, I explore the wonderfully reassuring paradox that imperfect, messed-up people get to use their gifts to serve a holy God; yes, even to serve on something as hallowed as the worship team. In this Part 1, I reflect on the question: who is qualified to serve? In the forthcoming Part 2, I will […]

Outposts of Grace

I missed this session by Brian Houston but my wife was there and keeps reminding me of this amazing statement that Brian made: The church is called to be an outpost of grace in the world rather than a guardian of the law. However that is expressed in our local church, this means we are […]

Never Once Did We Ever Walk Alone

We always get a bit reflective when we get to the end of the year. And that’s okay because being reflective is often the beginning of gratitude. I don’t know what sort of year you’ve had, but I’ve had an amazing year! I’ll do a full write-up on 31 December. But no matter what kind […]

Blessings Reel – September 2012

It’s a long time coming, but I’ve finally had the time to sit down and put down my thoughts about God’s blessings in my life for September in this Year of Unceasing Fruitfulness. I think that my reflections for September are best captured in Zechariah 4:6: So he said to me, “This is the word […]

A Historical-Prophetic Approach to Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Today, I want to continue the series on Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. As a recap, I introduced two key texts. The first is in Ephesians 5:18-20: Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music from […]

Blessings Reel – April 2012

It’s amazing to think that a third of the year has just flown by. And not just any year, but the Year of Unceasing Fruitfulness. I like the idea of fruitfulness, because it has got nothing to do with what you do and what you can achieve; rather it has to do with where you […]

Authenticity Attracts

Here is another brilliant thought from Pastor Benny Ho’s sermon yesterday at Faith Community Church: Authentic people attract. Weird people distract. And he was talking about the church! I think we’ve all seen our fair share of weird Christians. I certainly have, especially because in most of my early years growing up in the church, […]

God Works Great Miracles When Things Seem the Most Hopeless

I don’t think God’s ever had a day when He thought “well, I never saw that one coming”. Even though we may have. Even though things seem messy. And uncertain. And hopeless. Andy Stanley writes: If we asked Jesus’ disciples months after he was crucified what their darkest moment had been following Jesus and when […]

Christ’s Sacrifice, God’s Masterpieces

I read this recently which really spoke to me about how we, as a Christian community, ought to treat our fellow believers. It’s by John Burke (pastor of Gateway Church) in an essay entitled “God is For You” in Craig Groeschel (ed) What is God Really Like (pp 68ff): Jesus gave his life so that […]