Believe.

One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chose by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went to the Temple of the Lord, while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was being burned. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned. When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. But the angel said to him, " Do not be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! John will be in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall i know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also."

"I am Gabriel," the angel answered. "I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true."

Stand Up.

We often see bullying at school. Whether it be verbally of physically. I think that i sometimes just walk by it and pretend like i didn't see anything.

Christ stood up for those who were being hurt. He talked to those 'bullies'. We have to do the same. Stand up for what's right, help those who are being hurt, just as Christ did.

It may be hard to sometimes stand up for others because people do judge for what we all believe in. Christ didn't care about what others thought of him. He led the way for us to follow. As he was an example for us we should be an example for others too. He treated everyone the same so why can't we.

"I believe you're my healer. I believe you are all I need."

"I believe you're my healer. I believe you are all I need." -'Healer' by Justis Kao

Through all the trials we've faced we can always ask God for forgiveness. There's only one way to Heaven and that's through Christ. This weekend wasn't just a regular long weekend. The purpose for this weekend was for us to remember Jesus and what he had done for us. He was put through many trials and temptations. He was beaten and whipped then crucified. The shedding of his blood symbolizes the cleansing of our sins. He's the healer of our sins. Our only way to Heaven. He is all we need.

After his crucifixion he was brought into a tomb and 3 days later he Resurrection. He now sits at the right hand of God, looking down at us. When we repent our sins are forgiven. He doesn't judge us for the wrong doings in our lives.

Believe.

In John 6:29 it says, "²⁹ Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

We have to believe in what God has said to us. He sent his one and only Son down to save us from our sins. (John 3:16)
Jesus died on the cross to save our sins. His blood was shed for us. His blood represents the blood of a lamb. Before Jesus was born, people had to sacrifice a clean and pure lamb in order for God to forgive them. This is where the name "Lamb of God" comes from.

After Jesus died, he rose 3 days later. We have to believe that he has risen and he did it to save us from our sins. Yes, we all make mistakes, we get tempted by Satan, but in the end we need to repent with the right mind and heart and promise God that we wouldn't do the sin again.

We must believe in Him in order to spend eternity with him in Heaven.

backing in.

Here's a quick story for y'all. So today i drove to go pick up my mom from church before we went off for afternoon tea, and in the church parking lot, my dad prompted me to back into a parking space. He taught me a LONG time ago, with the 2.5 parking space rule and all. But today, i absolutely had no idea what was going on and what to do, but i didnt really wanted to seem ... dumb or blanked out, so i just guessed and tried it.

I failed, and parked with the parking line directly under me.

I remember when i was learning it, that my dad said that we just have to follow the 2.5 rule. It works if you follow it and although you may not see it, it works.

And i guess thats kinda how it works with God too. There are so many "rules" and commands he gives us, and sometimes, we dont think it'll work and we try to rely on ourselves, or we dont believe him and try something else, but we fail. We need to learn just trust Him and know that it'll work and you'll succeed. Its hard to do that, but thats faith. Thats TRUE faith.

So, when you're "backing in" with your life, are you going to trust your instructor, the Creator of the Universe? Will you pass the test, or will you crash?

#Believe

Do you believe?

Today in service, something hit me. hard. Pastor Irene, one of our youth pastors constantly kept referring to the songs we sang for worship. And this one thing she said really hit me. We sang Mighty To Save and the line was,

"Savior He can move the mountains"

Faith was a overarching theme throughout the service, and i reflected and realized that... i dont really have much faith in my God. We sing these words, but i realized, how much do i ACTUALLY believe these words that im singing out of my mouth, leading the congregation? :S not much.

I think this is a big downfall to my faith, because i clearly, dont have much faith so its harder to face struggles if i dont allow myself to give up my life and trust God completely. We have to learn to have faith in our God. Push it further, push it more, just imagine the copious amounts of blessings he will give you if you just had more faith in Him with his plan for you and his love.

Our God is great. He CAN move mountains. Fear Him, and have faith in Him that he'll pull you through whatever you're struggling with.