hello!

the theme of this year's camp is M.S.G. - Salt must be salty

Moving out of our comfort zones
Showing the love of Christ in our communities
Going forth to make an impact in the lives of others

Being salt of the world and spreading the message of God's love

In case you forgot, camp is from 11-14 Dec 09.

Our camp verse is Matthew 5:13
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."

40 people have signed up already! The rest of you should really hurry!!! Wait no more. Sign up this Sunday.

See you at the BBQ this Sat! Remember to bring your friends : )

We live for you, Lord! | 6:47 AM

Hey Everyone,

We live for you, Lord! | 9:02 AM

We live for you, Lord! | 1:24 AM

August 29, 2009
Spiritual Habits of Effective People: Meeting Regularly
by Rick Warren
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25 NLT).

We develop spiritual fitness when we meet regularly and encourage one another. When you get together with other believers regularly, this is called fellowship—sharing and caring together in a small group.

Do you ever need encouragement? Life can be tough and we all get discouraged. The fact is you’re never going to be an effective Christian if you try to go it alone. You need encouragement. You need other people. Life was not meant to be lived by itself.

I grew up in northern California in a little town called Redwood Valley. Just north of us were the giant redwoods. Redwood trees have very shallow roots. They withstand the wind by spreading out and intertwining roots and they hold each other up. What a perfect picture of fellowship! We spread out, we intertwine, and we hold each other up. We strengthen each other.

Snow flakes are frail, but if enough of them stick together they can stop traffic. You can’t do a whole lot and I can’t do a whole lot, but together in a group we can do something. We can have an impact on this world.

Let me mention that I meet people who say, “I’m going to miss church this week. It’s no big deal.” They are simply unaware how you can dry up spiritually whenever you miss fellowship with other believers. In fact, you need to be in constant contact with other Christians, even beyond what you get on Sunday. You need more than just a “Sunday fix.” Every Christian needs a balance between large group celebration/worship and small group fellowship.

You need a big group so you can say, “I’m a part of something significant.” But you can’t share prayer requests within a large group; you can’t pray for each other; you can’t even know everybody. So you need to be in a small group, also.

What’s the result of getting together with other believers? “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 NIV).

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We had a great time of fellowship yesterday at the MCI stadium and in the dance-room-with-the-long-mirror!
Pictures soon :D

in the meantime, have a great week ahead, keep in touch with your cell-mates and SEE YOU AT CELL next week!

We live for you, Lord! | 5:24 PM

Quote of the week:
"The MCI Youth Ministry belongs to no one, because God owns it, yet at the same time, it belongs to everyone because God gives it."

Have a great week, and happy birthday August Babies!
Julia - 7 August
Weijie - 7 August
Adriel - 10 August
Ryan - 12 August
Jiale - 13 August
Meng Yih - 20 August
Serene - 20 August
Shuo Xian - 26 August

we have NINE babies in august!
hmm, reminds me of a special date we've known since forever...

We live for you, Lord! | 1:22 AM

"GOD IS NOT REALLY ENOUGH"
is that really the truth?

"All I need is You Lord, it's You, Lord, all I need is You..."
I'm sure we have sung many songs to that effect that tell God that ALL we ever need is Him and I'm sure to some extent we hold that to be true. But when we walk out of church and really reflect upon our lives, do we really believe He is all we need?
We may know it is a lie but the way we live our lives tells others it's the truth!

From young, I've enjoyed scanning books purely because I never had enough patience to finish the entire book at one go. Nevertheless, I would still end up reading most of the chapters in the book - just not in the chronology they were supposed to be read.

While I was looking through the book "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, I discovered that for reasons we cannot fully understand, Satan chose to target the woman for his strategy of deception. Twice in the New Testament, Paul pointed out that it was the woman who was deceived (2 Cor 11:3 & 1 Tim 2:14). [Okay, if you are a guy, you'll be mocking the women out there.] But I've also learnt that men are actually the ones who are ultimately responsible. (HA! So there! If you want to find out why, GO CHECK THIS BOOK OUT!)

Anyway, regardless of whether you are a woman or a man, I believe you can identify with the issue of whether God is really enough. Nancy wrote that when it comes down to the crux of things, we don't believe God's Word is truly sufficient to deal with our problems. It can deal with everyone else's problems; but it doesn't speak to my issues, my needs, my relationships, my situation. I need God's Word plus these eight books from the Christian bookstore; I need God's Word plus tapes and conferences and counselors.

She continued by acknowledging the fact that we know what's the right thing to believe i.e. Sure, we need God. But we need Him plus close friends; we need Him plus good health; we need Him plus a husband/companion; we need Him plus good grades or a good future.

So, do you really believe that if you have God you have enough?
Here's a short testimony written by a woman:

"God is not really enough"- I did not know I believed this until I realised how much trust I put in other things and people. I said trusted God fully and kept telling my husband we just needed to trust God, but then I would run to my friends to discuss our marriage or finances.

The challenge for us today is to evaluate our view of God and His power. Is He REALLY enough for us? Or do we look to other avenues to fill the void in our hearts - food, hobbies, shopping or even friends.

No one is perfect. We are all guilty of claiming that we need God but always having a 'plus something' at the end. So, let's all start with being aware of ourselves & consciously remember the song lyrics ''All I need is You, Lord, it's You, Lord. All I need is You." and I believe our lives will no longer be the same.

Try it!

We live for you, Lord! | 6:23 AM

When You Feel Abandoned By God, Worship Him Anyway.
- Rick Warren -

“Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 TEV).

When you feel abandoned by God yet continue to trust Him in spite of your feelings, you worship Him in the deepest way.

Remember what God has already done for you. If God never did anything else for you, He would still deserve your continual praise for the rest of your life because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. God’s Son died for you! This is the greatest reason for worship.

Unfortunately, we forget the cruel details of the agonizing sacrifice God made on our behalf. Familiarity breeds complacency. Even before His crucifixion, the Son of God was stripped naked, beaten until almost unrecognizable, whipped, scorned and mocked, crowned with thorns, and spit on contemptuously. Abused and ridiculed by heartless men, He was treated worse than an animal.

Then, nearly unconscious from blood loss, he was forced to drag a cumbersome cross up a hill, was nailed to it, and was left to die the slow, excruciating torture of death by crucifixion. While His lifeblood drained out, hecklers stood by and shouted insults, making fun of His pain and challenging His claim to be God.

Next, as Jesus took all of mankind’s sin and guilt on himself, God looked away from that ugly sight, and Jesus cried out in total desperation, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus could have saved himself—but then He could not have saved you.

Words cannot describe the darkness of that moment. Why did God allow and endure such ghastly, evil mistreatment? Why? So you could be spared from eternity in hell, and so you could share in His glory forever! The Bible says, “Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made Him share our sin in order that in union with Him we might share the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 TEV).

Jesus gave up everything so you could have everything. He died so you could live forever. That alone is worthy of your continual thanks and praise. Never again should you wonder what you have to be thankful for.

We live for you, Lord! | 7:32 AM