L-O-V-E

T’was the day before Palm Sunday. Many were gathered in His home to worship Him and to listen to His teachings. Now, I am here to tell you what happened.

The night started with icebreakers at 1930 hours led by Nicolas Lee.

Can you guess which is Nicolas Lee? **hint** he’s wearing a blue buttoned up shirt

We played a game to test our reflexes and language. The game was the “Chain Game”. How does the game go? First, the icebreaker master will give us a topic. Let’s say person A says the word “giraffe” which ends with the letter “e”, the person on his right will have to say a word starting with the letter “e” like “elephant” and it goes on. Each person is given 5 seconds to continue the chain.

Ken-Jeen giving a helping hand or shall I say helping mouth

The first topic was animals! Easy, right? Think again…

Celestine trying to figure out what animal starts with the letter “K”. **hint** it’s “kangaroo”

**psst** Baxster is using his phone to help him

The next topic was song titles! This should be easy… or is it?

Lucky for Naomi, she listens to a lot of songs

Pastor Andy managed to make us laugh with his answer. I mean, just look at Benz’s face…

After the fun and games, we had prayer led by Shaun Leow

The prayer points were

• for students to prepare their hearts as the holidays were coming to an end
• for the weather because it’s been very hot (the weather is just jealous of me)
• for the speaker of the night, Pastor Andy

Everyone was split into groups of 2 to 3

Joshua Tan closed us in prayer and we transited into worship session after that which was led by him

Joshua Tan leading us in worship

Meet the team! and also Shaun Leow

Both the team and the people down stage were filled in the Spirit

This week, we had a special speaker that came all the way from Perai, Pastor Andy Thum

“It is always great to be with young people, it makes you feel young” — Pastor Andy

As the theme of worship was about LOVE, Pastor Andy spoke about LOVE. Not just God’s love. But what LOVE is.

Pastor Andy asked us this “How many of you like to be in LOVE?”. He explained that the most important part in being a Christian is LOVE.

Fun Fact: There are more songs and movies about love than any other things.

We often ask ourselves, what is love. We fail to see that GOD IS LOVE!

What can love do?

• In 1 John 4:18, it says “…perfect love expels all fear…”
• Love will melt the hardest heart
• Through love, we are able to turn the city upside down

Our theme for this year is Go The Distance. How are gonna go the distance? Only God’s love can guide us through this journey. It’s not spiritual gifts nor faith. It is God’s love that will bind us together. Therefore, what is the most important way to go the distance? The answer is a 4 letter word, L-O-V-E.

Pastor Andy focused on 1 Corinthians 13 which was a chapter mostly used in weddings.

LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SPIRITUAL GIFTS

(refer to 1 Corinthians 13:1)

Spiritual gifts are important. BUT, the main thing is love. If you love God, then your spiritual gifts will automatically flow through you. We need to learn to pursue God’s love instead of spiritual gifts. The bible literally tells us to love your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength. Always remember, Jesus is the main source of our live. Most of the time, we do things for the church not because we love Him, but because it’s our duty. We need to get hold of LOVE so we can start chasing after God

LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN KNOWLEDGE

(refer 1 Corinthians 13:2)

Knowledge is important. BUT, not the most important. And yet this does not mean we should stop studying. In 1 Corinthians 8:1, it says “…We all possess knowledge. But knowledge puffs while love builds up.” We may think that we have the answers to all the questions. But remember, Jesus is the only one who has all the knowledge. And even though Jesus knew what the sinners have done, he did not judge them but loved them. Love is God’s priority.

LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FAITH

(refer 1 Corinthians 13:2)

By faith we are save. But where does this faith come from? From God of course! People may say they are Christians and yet do not love like how one should. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we see that a priest and a Levite saw an injured man at the road side and ignored him. But when a Samaritan(enemies of Jews) saw the man, he helped the man. There must be a demonstration of our faith. What’s that demonstration? WE MUST SHOW OUR LOVE. If you really love God, do what He has called you for. Do not play church. When we’re really in love, we would do anything for God. In James 13:34, it says faith without action is dead. What is this action? BY EXPRESSING OURSELVES THROUGH LOVE.

LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GENEROSITY

(refer 1 Corinthians 13:3)

“You can give without loving. But you can’t love without giving” — Pastor Andy. Some people use their generosity as an excuse. They would rather give others money but not a hug.

How do we begin to practice love in our lives? Just go read John 13:34. “…As I have LOVED you, so LOVE one another…” This isn’t a suggestion, but a COMMAND. And this love isn’t the love society thinks, but it is genuine love. Many relationships today fall apart so easily because people do not take love seriously. It may be an Asian culture to not show love, but we are a KINGDOM CULTURE. We carry God’s culture in all of us. The love that binds us together will also make others want that same love.

“If there comes a day where we can’t love each other, don’t even think about spiritual gifts, don’t even think about knowledge, don’t even think about faith, don’t even think about generosity” — Pastor Andy.

Thanks for reading and have a great week ahead! and Happy Easter!

p.s. photos were taken by Abigail Myra Gregory