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00:00:01 good morning everybody hey okay timer cannot start and um we're going to do a MTI meter uh survey and so I was wondering whether could we get the M meter Crow all before that okay uh actually it's not tentative topic U never mind didn't put it in but okay Peter speaking next week on stumbling blocks or building blocks we learn be on the gospel of Rights and I'm actually going to continue today's sermon on 23rd CH all right so we're going to look on the 23rd of June on gender and the gospel that should be interesting all
00:00:47 right we'll look at gender and the gospel today we'll look at singleness in the gospel and on the 23rd of June we'll look at gender and the gospel all right can we get a mentimeter um slide up if you can okay this is going to be a question uh let's see whether they can scroll it up and you only answer this if you are married all right three options for you please scan the QR code only if you are married if you are single please do not answer this question all right only married people answer this
00:01:34 let's take a bit of time um let's do this is uh is important for us to feel the heartbeat of the church I that we as elders and pastors cannot um we can't Pastor your will all right okay do I have some issues M Ching I'm chuffing okay okay shall We Now go to the next one let's shut this off all right and next one okay this the same question but only if you're single you answer it you get it h we want to see whether there is a difference in how single people feel themselves being treated now how do I Define single you could be a
00:02:28 young adult Wan thing to get married and you're in that phase you could be divorced you could be a single parent you could be a widow right it's important for us to feel this right so please do answer take the trouble to scan the QR code so we feel your heartbeat and what's the point of this we want to see whether single people and married people do they feel the same same way okay it's important right so let's do that okay if you answered uh I'm going to give you the third question which is very difficult
00:03:11 all right this third one I wrestled all right and the third one goes out to parents all right if you're a parent I would like you to really take some courage to answer this very difficult question all right let's put up the third question shall we put up the third question all right this takes a lot of Courage but we need to feel you so I I really would like you to answer this I I have a feeling some people just don't want to answer this but you must understand we we we we won't be able to feel you and
00:03:50 nobody knows who you are so I would really encourage you if you're a parent how would you answer this okay right let's have some courage uh because I would say this I I spoke at L with Peter yesterday and multiple times and I Vincent knows I I'm in a chat group with some other Christians of other churches can I tell you this morning this in my opinion is the hardest sermon I've ever preached in my life and it takes a lot for me to say that I I wrestled on this I got up at 5:00 in the morning to change the sermon
00:04:30 because it's so difficult right let's read and we are going to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 7 all right so if you can turn your Bibles with me we're going to read parts of chapter 7 you don't have your Bible um and after we have finished reading we'll put up the results of the meeter so Mitch once the Bible reading is finished just put up the results all right but let's read right chapter 7 verse one oh no sorry we're not going to take verse one we're going to take it from verse 7 all right 1 Corinthians 7 verse 7 I
00:05:10 wish that all men were as I am and what is Paul he single but each man has his own gift from God one has this gift another has that the Greek word forgive here is Karis where the root word Charisma or the term charismatic comes from I want you to pick this up same word used in 1 Corinthians 11 and 12 now to the unmarried and the windows mainly singles I say it is good for them to stay unmarried as I am but they cannot control themselves they should marry for is better to marry than to burn with
00:05:58 passion and it is really difficult to the married I give this command not I but the Lord a wife must not separate from the husband if she does she must remain UNM married or else be reconciled to a husband a husband must not divorce his wife to the rest I say this and notice now he says I not the Lord in verse 10 is not I but the Lord but in verse 12 is I not the Lord if any brother has a wife who is not a Believer she's willing to live with him he must not divorce her and if a woman has a husband hband who's not a Believer he's
00:06:31 willing to live with her she must not divorce him and this is a very strange verse for the unbelieving husband has been Sanctified to his wife and the unbelieving wife has been Sanctified through a believing husband otherwise your W your children will be unclean but as it is they are holy so we are going to look at another section in church today we are talking about singles today and we describe singles as young adults wanting to get married divorce single parents and that's another big subsection in our church and
00:07:02 that's those Merit to non-christians all right and if that I I I pray you you let the word speak to you to together but the unbeliever leaves let him do so a believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances God has called us to live in peace how do you know wife whether you will save your husband how do you know husband whether you will save your wife nevertheless each one should retain the place in life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him this is the rule I lay down in all the
00:07:34 churches and now for married and singles and people married to non-christians he straightly shifts to another category and what is this category Verse 18 was a man already circumcised when his called he should not become uncircumcised was a man uncircumcised was called he should not be circumcised I want you to ask yourself a question now how can a circumcised person become uncircumcised wow they got plastic Cy at a time you got to ask yourself it's a fair question right what is he talking about circumcision is nothing
00:08:14 uncircumcision is nothing keeping God's command is what counts and notice the refrain is like a musical piece each one should remain in the situation in which he was in where God has caught him you notice this is being repeated H were you SL your called don't let it trouble you although you can gain your freedom to do so for he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is a lost free man seemly he was a free man when he was called his Christ price you were bought at a priz do not become slaves of men
00:08:46 brothers each man responsible to God what is it should remain in the situation God called him to very CH now about virgins I have no commands from the Lord but I give a judgment the one who the Lord's Mercy is trustworthy because of the present crisis I think it's good for you to remain as you are I mean what be single or are you married do not seek a divorce are you married do not look for a wife if you do marry you have not sinned if a virgin marries she has not sin but for those who marry will
00:09:19 face many troubles in his life and I want to spare you this when he says are you married don't s a divorce are you UNM married do not look for wife you know why he saying remain where you are La CH here this guy what I mean brother is that the time is short from now on those who have wise to live as if they have none this are dangerous those who mourn as if they are are happy and they were not who by those who will not bu Happ if they want something to keep those who use the things of the world as if engrossing
00:09:46 them and here's the key thing for this world in his present form is passing away I would like you to be free from concern an unmarried man is concerned with the L's Affairs how he can please the Lord but married man is concerned by the Affairs of this world how he can please his wife and his interests are divided and a married woman of Virgin is concerned by the L's Affairs her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit but a married woman is concerned by Affairs of this world how
00:10:17 she can please her husband I'm saying this for your own good order to restrict you and this one you should underline mentally because this the key verse that you may live in the right way in undivided Devotion to the Lord hey my mimer is counting I thought it's only when I start the sermon please give me spam minutes sorry just talk to that if anyone thinks he acting improperly towards the Virgin engaged to and she's getting along are we freezing the the the my clock should freeze my clock I'm you know I'm very conscious about TAA
00:10:54 and she's getting long years he feels he ought to marry he should do as he wants he's not sinning they should they should get married but a man who settled the matter in his mind who's under no compulsion who in his will who has made his mind not to marry this man also does a right thing so then he marries the virgin that's right but the one who doesn't marry does even better wow two classes of Christians a woman is bound to husband as long as she lives by her husband dies she's free to marry anyone
00:11:22 she wishes but he must belong to the Lord in my judgment she's happier if she stays is it is or what it is remain as you are LA and I think I do have the spirit of the Lord so this is a complex text all right so let me give you the big feel about it if you if you break the text down this is what you get there are many sub groups in there and to all these subgroups he says something he says remain where you are La why let's take the uncircumcised and circumcised one because Paul tell a circumcised person don't try to be
00:12:03 uncircumcised and we know it is impossible even in today's Medical Science for you to get a surgery to do that what he's trying to say is that you have Jewish Christians who are saying you know what I think socially I should try to be like a gentile you have a slave saying you know what I think it's better if I'm a free man you have a person who is married to a non-Christian saying you know what I think it's better if I'm married to a Christian and the list goes on and on and you have single people saying you
00:12:42 know what I think I'll be happier if I'm married so here's the first big point now my identity is in Christ Jesus not in how Society defines my sense of worthiness it does not matter whether I'm married I'm single I'm uh whatever you can you can continue the clock at the back just to let you know so it doesn't make me any less anymore now when I say this all of you say yeah we understand sure or not so let me give you a story next this one is dedicated to the uncles and aunties in in particularly
00:13:30 the aunties aunties don't think I'm trying to criticize you this is in love next time you go to wedding you see a young adult what would you say let's just say the young adult's name is anola are you an what's the first question when's your turn correct imagine this s an goes to another wedding hi you Anna very skinny yeah when's your turn after five weddings and five when your turn how do you think I feel you get it or not correct I don't need to say I can use another thing no girlfriend correct not after no
00:14:23 girlfriend that let's say thank God for girlfriend Hallelujah this AE ask me my girlfriend ah very good when get married correct or not after get married where got children correct after you get the first child why only one and there where I stopped never mind it doesn't stop there are you Anna why no girlfriend very skinny L better go to the gym oh you're you're too hey you must lose weight like girl are y Asian men you know Chinese boys are they don't like gang girls one you know you want to get boyfriend now
00:15:19 try to be quiet did they ask you for your advice young adults huh H when you do that you are literally telling them you're not complete you hear me you may not use those words but imagine how a young adult feels because you become no different from the world because in Asian societies the idea of completion is this word we like to use hey boy when are you going to settle down ah settle down no I'm not settled until what number one must CN two must have job three must have children ah okay settle
00:16:13 down already if not that not settled I like that man how man so so we we say with our mind we treat everyone equal but we don't now we can extend that conversation to other groups of people you try to have two married couples out there talking about their mates you know ha you know they take care of my child and the third person doesn't have a child imagine how that person feels so it's this little things that say that because we end up like the cat actually you know what it is I hate to use a strong word when you ask these
00:16:50 questions are you coming out of love or are you just forgive this word just G thank you Mary all right let me go now to the heart of the text which is quite difficult he says I wish that all you as I am but each of you has your gift one has this gift another has that the word is charisma is found in 1 Corinthians 1247 the point is some people have it and some don't meaning some people have the gift of singleness some have don't now this opens a can of worms because the text literally says if they cannot
00:17:30 control themselves they should marry for is better to marry than to burn with passion so immediately from the text the text is saying this if you cannot control get married and you can extrapolate almost to say how do I know if I have the gift of single nurse wow I cannot tahan I want to get married therefore I don't have the gift now it gives a very burning question because during those days everybody got married the parents just say you get married you marryed I wish we could do that nowadays
00:18:01 I wish the Elder had power to say look get married you see this guy this guy you're married C team but all you young people do to listen to us can I be invited to your retreat and have a sa on this yeah so doing those now everybody on coffee and big girl correct ah I very well informed on you know so what happens if you want to get married but you can't does that mean you don't have the gift of singleness let me give you an opposite imagine someone comes up to the elders and says I have the gift of
00:18:46 preaching oh really yes I'm anointed I believe it I preach in many places let me up I'll preach do you think we should let the guy preach no just because you think you have the gift doesn't mean you have it so conversely just because you think you don't have the gift of singleness doesn't mean you don't have it and so we will take this in the next sermon Jesus say this in the debate about marriage there are Uno who are born that way let me put in normal way language and you see where we going the next
00:19:26 [Music] sermon there are people who don't like women get where I'm going H there Uno who made Uno by others like Daniel they will castrated or in today's language we call it erectile dysfunction let's be brutal H and they are those who choose to live like yo they choose why do they choose because for the kingdom of God they decide to do so the one who can accept this should accept this you see here's a second very difficult point now voluntary or not singleness is a gift from God if you allow it to be so all right and at this
00:20:19 moment I think we should stop the sermon and look at the results of the mentimeter should we just take a little brief okay right shall we look at all three uh can we get the uh the chart up okay question one all right if you're married more than half the church thinks you treat singles well now here's the liit test whether the singles feel the same way as you next one wow wow Hallelujah I'm impressed thank you singles very good huh the third one I want to he let's look at the third question wow that sing a
00:21:17 lot you see by a slim margin most of you will approve the wedding okay let's get back to the text that's saying a lot all right let's go back to the sermon all right if we can take it off and we'll go back to this all right let me uh get my slide going can we now Sly go Jamma okay there's a book by Sam El seven myths about singleness I'm just going to put out a points I would just say this if you are single and you're struggling with it the book covers this I'm a married man I'm not qualified to talk about this I think
00:21:54 look at it but let me just say one thing I think being single is hard let be let me acknowledge this so I'm very thankful that the single people in the church generally feel married people treat them equally that's very encouraging so FBC kudos to you but let me just be honest it's hard why is it so because single people struggle with loneliness more they go back to an empty place I want us to be sensitive of things like this it is hard but not too hard and it's not easy it's not a special calling because
00:22:29 because you don't know whether you have a gift until you try it and then the fruits will see and if you allow yourself to do you be a blessing to others intimacy family ministry sexuality I want to extend this next sermon but I think this is where the church steps in okay I want to spend a bit of time on this and this is the one that I I couldn't sleep I woke at 5:00 about is it a sin to marry a non-Christian and this is really for the young adults let's struggle through this together all right for those who say it
00:23:03 is not this is the proof text they use to the rest I say this I not the Lord why does he say I not the Lord because Jesus never spoke about this there's no explicit teaching from Jesus today if any brother is a wife who's not the believer and is willing to live with him he must not divorce her so that the argument is that a brother has a wife not believer if a woman has a husband not believer he's willing to live with her she must not divorce him so this often used as a proof text to say the Bible doesn't explicitly say you cannot
00:23:38 marry another nonch Christian but the key to understand the text is verse 14 the unbelieving husband has been Sanctified to his wife the unbeliev wife is Sanctified to a husband what does that mean and here's language which is clearly Old Testament your children would be unclean that's Old Testament so what are they talking about when you look at Old Testament either unclean is about impurity and influence and one key text that comes out is Ezra and look at what Esra say then Shah son of jeul what the discip
00:24:11 Elam said to Esra we have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us in those days it means these were women who were not worshiping Yahweh but in spite of this There's Hope for Israel how now let us make a COV before God to what to send away all these woman and the children wow to divorce you know so you really understand the text what the text actually is saying is a person who feels he is incomplete because he's marrying a non-Christian and he's thinking of divorcing that person that's
00:24:46 the actual context in Roman times it's very easy to divorce a woman and you look at the Matthew 19 check the Hite Camp of the Jews you could divorce a woman at any reason the the text is not about condoning marrying unchristian and that's why pastorally Paul says you can't do that he's a human being with dignity and because you are a Christian your children are now clean that's what he means by sanctifying so what is the real lesson here here's the lesson now if you are married to a non-Christian
00:25:23 please don't every day go back and say Hey you believe in Jesus or not hey to after while your spouse also car you already instead going love him love her and reassure your spouse who isn't a Christian that even though you are not a Christian I will love you as Jesus loved me that is what is all about because you have a case of people in Corinth who think they're not complete because they're married a non-Christian that's the context and here the clearest Versa how do you explain this the end of
00:26:07 the chapter a woman is bound to husband as long he lives if a husband dies she's free to marry anyone she wishes but he must belong to the Lord you can't get around that you know are you saying that a widow must marry a Christian but a single young adult can marry anybody that's not logical right how about 1 Corinthians 9:5 don't we have the right to take a believing wife with us oh elders and pastors or you must marry a Christian the rest of us normal people we can choose who we want to marry it's not
00:26:40 consistent you can't say that but of course this is the key text this is the one that causes a lot of issue do not in 2 Corinthians 6:14 to16 do not be yoked together with unbelievers and we keep using this thing about do not be Yol let me explain it a bit bit for what do righteousness and wickedness have in common what Fellowship can light have with Darkness what Harmony is there between Christ and B what does a Believer have in common with an unbeliever the three things here righteousness wickedness light and
00:27:13 darkness Christ and Bal what agreement is there between the temple of God and Idols for we are the Temple of the Living God very likely the context is Witchcraft and you read earlier on the Corinthian Church is withholding the affections from Paul because they're probably dabling in things they should not so the text isn't specifically about marriage let me give you another example you tell me whether this is wrong and we never preached about this I thought about Peter yesterday you get approach
00:27:44 by person not Christian to say hey let's start out a business 50/50 with M you get all the government contracts should you go into it ah why is it we don't talk about this 50/50 the other guy is not a Christian and he doesn't have your moral standing he will tell you to C you know correct or not let me give you a more difficult situation you're born into a family business and your parent expects you to take up a seat at the board and you hold 30% shares your other brothers all hold the remaining you are
00:28:19 now majority shareholder but they're doing dirty business should you be on the board why is it we don't preach about this why do we only single out single people I'm not going to answer this but this is exactly what the text is talking about it's a very wide and composing and the example he's giving is about being not in yoke is this let me give the business example you want to turn the business to honor God and you say I want to do this I want to do ESG whatever and I want to do community and I I want to the other guy
00:28:55 say no I want to make money I need to C in people he's pulling one way you're pulling another way that's what text is about and he's saying that if you marry a non-Christian they will pull in another Direction because they don't have your value system that is the context so let me maybe give it some pointers and I want to say this not to judge people here who are dating non-christians I understand this is difficult especially for women because the ratio of of women to the church is very skewered 5 to one so if you dating
00:29:33 a non-Christian please as as an elder I bleed with you I really say that I'm not going to say this to judge but I want to hear a few pointers and I wrestled all way and 5:00 I redid this one if you are dating a non-believer and not wrestling with this you have to ask yourself are you allowing your personal preference s to go about your Devotion to God again 1 Corinthians 7:35 I'm saying this for your own good not to restrict you but that you may live in the right way in un divided Devotion to the Lord right and I'm not
00:30:18 going to judge I want you to just process this number two marrying a non-Christian potentially creates a future where the Christian spouse Allegiance can be torn away from Jesus you know I understand this when I was in university I found a girl I thought was the perfect match for me I took her to my church we took her to Hill song Try everybody I just wanted her to say the sinner's prayer you know what she told me she said religion is like playing tennis you play tennis I don't play tennis I don't play tennis as example
00:30:56 one day maybe I'll play tennis but you and play tennis H but I don't want to play tennis you going and play tennis can you imagine reducing God to playing tennis God is not taking the play of your Sunday spots you know God is asking for what your undivided devotion because he loves you the utmost and the respon is you are to love him with your utmost and it's very very hard to do that if the other partner doesn't see it that way he will not see Christ in you he will see you for all your beauty your handsomeness so langai one
00:31:36 day you're going to get fat anyway but you know young people love this all they see but Christians we are supposed to see Christ likeness that's the thing now let me give you opposite because of that I just wanted to find any Christian that can say yeah I believe in Lord Jesus he died for my sins Hallelujah Christian ready correct or not so here's the opposite just because you're dating with someone who claims to be a Christian goes to church doesn't make it all okay so for all the new people I tell you how I got
00:32:10 married all the old people hear this very but new people I tell you so like you go for weddings when's your turn when your turn you losing hair they look look at you like that though shining man not shining for Jesus just shining so I said yeah go to head clinic so the clinic cencer I went there took my money I think they RI me off then one day the head of the the SW said hey hey Anna Anna I want to introduce you to this new consultant like you are very religious oh really see is very good to talk about Jesus everywhere you know so
00:32:50 this woman come run hand through a hair what's your name Yan oh I heard you Christian yeah what church are you Jal in chap I was Brethren you know I'm in s to gospel I'm involved in the church there our scripture Union president H Mary talk ready Mary she said don't even know you some you younger that Me by 3 years never mind marry so I waited 2 years after that I got married ah see so what I'm trying to say is this it's not just someone who uses by the mouth to proclaim the faith you have to find something pulling
00:33:41 in your direction and these are conversations you should have with the church if you're non-Christian married a Christian please remember verses 12 to 13 means the role of the church is to encourage the Christian spouse to not let the faith in the marriage rather the opposite okay so let me go this Beyond marriage of singl n we all called to single mindedness for Christ okay very old movie Jerry McGuire what is his most famous line you complete me H must say properly you complete me complete me rabbish
00:34:30 a woman does not complete you I am complete in Jesus amen that's what he saying you see Ephesians 5 is used very often to talk about the church and Christ and husband and wife after John spoke he said hey Anna Anna John I need to have lunch with you I think I did the disservice to the singles so he went out he was really struggling with it I really appreciate John Lee for that I don't think Johnny did a disservice he's only preaching a part of it let me complete his picture so let me give you this thing on the gift of
00:35:10 singleness if marriage is about the depth of Godless singleness is about the sufficiency of his love because a single person has no distractions that's what the text is it's a hard calling but single person person can give his utmost and everything to God now these are hard truths but they are real truths and they're liberating truth and if you're single today you're struggling with it I don't want to claim to understand this I just pray you don't go into a place of bitterness because the tendency of human
00:35:51 nature to always look around and compare if you are single the danger is to always say I see married people everywhere yeah Vincent says I see dead people everywhere not true if you if you are single you tend to see married people everywhere when me and my wife were struggling to have children we saw pregnant people everywhere is is just the way we are wired but you are complete he is sufficient two if marriage is about the dep of God's love this on pet Kazo singl is about the breath of with love so if
00:36:29 you are divorced you're a widow you're single parent you have children with special needs you have no children you don't fit the typical I'm married two kids and a condo kind of mindset God is saying you are complete I really want to drive that because Asian Society is telling you unless you're married and have children have a stable job you haven't settled down that's completely unbiblical and the last one is the most important and this is really to marit people single people deserve respect and
00:37:11 dignity they don't want they don't need your pity they want you to respect them and we do that in our everyday conversations okay let me give you a prime prime example since today we're talking about cats somewhere seated here in the second row is a man who's got shiny hit than me Mr Brian garland would you stand up let's give it up for Brian Garland okay you get just to know who he is all right and there's Brian for you man Brian rocks he lives the life to the fullest he work helps us in the Tam service he
00:37:57 goes around the world we'll share a bit more of him the next sermon and he will tell you his struggles with singleness but he'll tell you he's living life to the fullest do you believe in any circumstances you are in married single divorce struggling in anything do you believe God walks with you in your life life he does he's not like the old song says for a distance God's watching you that's rubbish God's right there with you holding your hand that's one now there another part to it and so if you are
00:38:47 single live it up that's God's purpose for you in your life whether I'm married or single I'm complete in Christ I'm deeply loved by God and will live a purposeful life striving to be single mindly devoted to him let me close with some simple applications H all right one the biggest group of single people in our church are the young adults some will get married some will not and we really mentioned uncles aunties please be sensitive when you talk to them so number one try to practice what it means to be
00:39:28 a spiritual family they say an old dog cannot learn new tricks all you old uncles aunties are I think we will learn to try to your young adults all we say is give us a chance because young adults tend to think yeah these old people are they very sad in the ways they won't change one you talk to them they just lecture you actually it's quite true but we need to break that you know we need to have conversations because old people have been there and made a lot of mistakes and maybe they can share with you how
00:40:03 not to make those mistakes that's one here's the second one and we'll deal with this in the next sermon we should Rel look at what Biblical manhood and Womanhood means if you're not Christian let's just say you're a girl then you ask what you looking for on a guy one must be taller than me two must be older than me any anything I say wrong please raise your hands B three must make more money than me correct or not then the Christian will add on top of that you know must is spiritually more mature than me wow L way you keep
00:40:44 adding this how to find partner so I saw this video though it's called girls God Bible I'm not going to very careful about this I shared it with my I have a small young adult breakfast group and this girl was this girl was asking another single girl what do you look for in a Christian guy and she says oh I just saw one a guy to talk theology to me I just want to look up and I will be so if he talks theology to me girl he can talk theology to you that doesn't make him a good husband hello so here's our problem we are
00:41:25 mixing Asian values with this masculine Western idea which is makes it harder for people to find spouses you see it doesn't help with the current lineup with four or the four Elders you know have to say this what's the similarity between Yan Peter anal and ulam they always call type A personalities let me give you example what if the next Elder was like that oh I'm preaching today is that okay now you lava let me ask you a question does that make me less of a man ah it does not I am as much a man
00:42:13 even though I speak like that if I come to church in a pink car will you say I'm less of a man yes better go a c okay let me tell you a story once the P Tha there was a young adult in church with this shoes you know I tell you he came to church wearing this shoes any of you know who this guy is okay I tell you who this culprit is this fellow I say hey real man don't wear red shoes La he never listened to me but he tackled Bish got married so he wased something right now let me tell you besides the
00:42:57 shoes one Michelle makes more money than Luke does it mean Luke is lesser of a man no Michelle is in the Assembly of leaders Luke is not does he make Luke lesser of a man and I got the permission to say this Michelle Luke have no children does that make them less of a couple no Hallelujah you see this is where we need to shift our focus and we are solely lacking this we are taking Asian values and hijacking them into the church and making it harder for young adults to find spouses and also even to be
00:43:47 single and so we will look at this in detail in the next sermon but let me spend some last time on this and we close we need to be intentional in creating inclusive gospel centered communities if I ran the same mimer scheme and I asked single mothers in FBC do they feel included and love as much as everyone else what do you think the score will come back yes no un sure I can tell you I spoke to two single mothers and they said no all right I want you to think about this so let me give you a story and I would just say is our job to
00:44:37 be intentional to love the singles the widows the divorce all those that don't fit the settled down category and I will give you this story which really encouraged me so this came out in an article in the Gospel Coalition on May 14 and the tit really struck me it's called an unequally yolked small group oh that's interesting right and it's about Malaysian Christians that's even more interesting and he says this I read ex 14 years ago manid a and his wife Josephine were in a small Church small group they love their group had been
00:45:21 meeting for years and felt comfortable together it easy to love to enjoy each other to share prayer concerns so when you're in a live group you love what do you do what do you do you stay they left they left when you pick this up along with two other couples monkey and josephin split off into new SM group but this one was a little different in this group Men and the women were Christians and their husbands W that's why they call it unequally Yol small group the odd part isn't that the women were Christians and here I want us to
00:46:00 have some sensitivity around the globe women are more likely to be religiously Afflicted pray daily and sayate of faith in Southeast Asia that split is even more pronounced three to five times more women than M are found in church the name of the church some of you may know Straits Baptist Church does that ring a bell to some of you young adults who from abbc used used to come from Straits Baptist Church sorry exactly and so this is the testimony of Mikel in that group and masimo wrote this I once asked my dad why do you sign
00:46:41 up for this Mikel son masimo said he said because of the first time I wasn't going to the only one I always got invited to small groups I will be the only n Christians I felt like I was a target people will make jokes like one day we'll get you the Lord will work in you but in this time time I was in group with people like me but I want to really focus on this story the group had another capot CG and LC Lee LC is a Christian CG is not here's the issue She's suffering from a disease called Lou gear
00:47:17 disease is a fatal disease where your body motor skills break down slowly there's no cure some diseases are worse than cancer when Elsie got too weak to leave the house the small group came to her they celebrated her birthday together they brought what she needed they prayed for her and they CK the CG and the non-christians his Buddhist friends even though they me close for years didn't do that he joined the group not comfortable but he begin to see a difference one day his 16-year-old son who be became a Christian got him to
00:48:00 conversation and the conversation came after there was this party and he saw the love of the women around the wife and the son asked the father do you believe in God I don't know I don't see any God do you wish there was a god a good god of course why not if someone told you there was a God would you believe him you just ask if not you could challenge him to prove it to you you could start to think like a scientist they start with what they believe even if others don't believe it yet and if you're a non-Christian with us I
00:48:40 challenge you perhaps to consider this so what did he do so for more than year CG put God on probation he was waiting for miracle to prove God's existence and his love and he say if God is good heal my wife as he waited LC grew worse church members would sometimes come over to the house to play the guitar to worship to pray and he compared I have siblings they don't do that I have neighbors they don't do that what these people do what were they doing they were being family to a man who isn't a Christian and so one day monkey were ask
00:49:25 CG he was ready to accept accept Christ and CJ would say no then one day CJ told himself give me one good reason I shouldn't accept Christ who showed so much love and care to people is he a liar does he do bad things to people is he trying to cheat me he couldn't think of a good reason so when manid Nick asked him CJ said yes he was ready to accept Christ my wife was very happy he said Elie went home to the Lord where is CG now a man who started off unequally yolked who came to a church that didn't
00:50:08 judge him because he wasn't a Christian who came to a church that loved him loved him so much he saw the difference loved his wife CG is now a deacon in in the church this is my prayer for FBC that we become this kind of church why then we can really say whether I'm married or single I in complete in Christ I'm deeply loved by God and will live a purposeful life striving to be single mindly devoted to him I'm going to let Brandon just take over over to just share the Lord leads him and Brandon why don't you pray for us as the
00:51:02 Lord leads please give me a moment [Music] father did this morning want to come to you confessing to you our struggles and our need for Mercy we want to surrender ourselves as a community unto you where will be supporting where will be respectful to one another it will be kind to one another disregardless of our status and where you have called us in our lives right now so church this morning we'll sing with a song which we haven't sung in a while but it's an easier song to follow it's a song that goes in line
00:52:30 with our message this morning I believe that's to trust in God and to wait on God in whatever season we are in now waiting on God can be very difficult can be very painful but may we be reminded this morning um that God cares for us and he knows what's best for us so Church may I encourage you um we all Stand Together why don't we seize this time to really cry out to God you know reach out to him if you need to sing out loud uh to him kneel before him and then take heart that he will deliver You Deliver Us
00:53:09 according to his great love [Music] let sing together out of the depths I cry to you in darkest places I will call incline your ear to me a new and Hear My Cry for Mercy Lord were you to count were you to count my sinful ways how could I come before your throne Yet full forgiveness meets my gazes I stand redeemed by grace alone if you can lift your voice sing with me I will wait for you I will will wait for you on your word I will R I will wait for you surely wait for you till my soul is [Music]
00:54:51 satisfied so put your hope so put your hope in God God Alone take courage in his part to say completely and forever one by Christ emerging from the let's declare those words [Music] again so put your hope in God alone take courage in his this part to save completely and forever one by Christ emerging from the grave I will wait for you I will wait for you on your word I will R I will wait for you you surely wait for you till my soul is satisfied [Music] last love has made a way and God himself has paid the
00:56:36 price that all who trust in him today find healing in his sa that all who trust that all who trust in him today find healing in his sacrifice [Music] and I will wait for you I will wait for through the storm through the storm and through the night and I will wait for you surely wait for you for your love it's mighty I will wait I will wait for you I will wait for you through the storm and through the night I will wait for you Surly wait for you for your love is my I'll wait and I will wait for you I will wait for you
00:57:50 through the storm and through the night and I will wait for you surely wait for you for your love is my [Music] delight good morning church uh please be seated as we come to a time of communion [Music] so for those who have the elements uh we will un see them together uh for those who don't please do raise up your hand so that our ashers can attend to [Music] [Music] you so what is communion communion is for anyone who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their lord and savior for their salvation so if you have not proclaimed
00:59:07 your faith in Christ uh may we humbly ask that you refrain from participating in the communion so before we partake in the Lord's Supper uh let's take some time to actually reflect on God's word for us today [Music] let's pray our heavenly father Lord as we come before you we ask that your spirit examine our hearts reveal to us what is not pleasing to you uncover to us any of our unconfessed sins that we may hide or maybe we are too prideful prideful to admit show us how at times um we try to ground our ID identity in anything and
00:59:58 everything apart from your son Church let's take this moment of silence to reflect to confess and to repent [Music] yes Mom Holy Spirit we thank you for revealing what we need to hear what we need to know and we thank you Jesus for your complete obedience to the father in Jesus name we pray amen so for those who have waited for unsealing the communion thank you so let's unseal them together okay [Music] today's Lord's supper will be taken from 1 Corinthians 11: 23- 24 so it says this the Lord Jesus on the night he was
01:01:45 betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in rembrance of me from today's message I believe there's no hiding that we struggle with our identity some of us may feel a bit uncomfortable being single some of us may feel uncomfortable being married to a non-Christian some of us may feel uncomfortable being a single parent sometimes we are not single-minded in our Pursuits and we chase after many things what it means to be our identity and sometimes we use our our
01:02:26 relationships our statuses our social standings as a means of defining who we are we sin because we love others more than we love God but God loved us he pursued Us by sending Jesus Christ and we know that on the cross Jesus Paid the price for our sins being single-minded being fully devoted to God he gave his life for us so that we can be whole and complete we can be whole and complete in him and we have a new identity and that is rested and that's being grounded on him so thank you Jesus for your body
01:03:15 let's partake the bread together in remembrance of him [Music] 1 Corinthians 11:25-26 says this in the same way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me for whoever for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he [Music] comes as we partake of this cup we remember that we were once separated from God because of our sin but through his blood through the blood of Jesus Christ we are now
01:04:14 reconciled to God by his blood we are washed Justified and Sanctified we are his spotless bride we don't need to to chase for other loves because true love can be found in Christ alone we belong to Jesus and Jesus you belong to us thank you Jesus for your blood let's partake the cup in remembrance of [Music] him let's close in prayer God thank you for drawing Us close to you thank you that we may partake the communion the Lord's Supper as a family as a church we thank you for Christ's death and resurrection that brought salvation
01:05:07 to us place in us your spirit to remind us that we are deeply loved that we are complete and because of that we can be single-minded being fully devoted to you let's look forward for the time when you return and while we remain devoted waiting for you let us make your love as our Delight in Jesus name we pray [Music] amen just you may remain seated you may stand if you want to you may even kneel if you want to but we'll sing this song uh over you one more time as you reflect on God's love for you
01:05:56 [Music] his deadfast love has made away and God himself has paid the price that all who trust in him today find heing in his sacrifice let's sing step fast love his steadfast love has made a way and God himself has paid the price that all who trust in him [Music] today find healing in his sacrifice and I will wait for you I will wait for you through the storm and through is I will wait for you surely wait for you for your love is my delight yes I will wait for you I will wait for you through the
01:07:28 the night I willit for you surely wait for you for your love is my [Music] delight Lord you have spoken this morning you complete us my identity is not because I make money or I'm poor or I'm married or I'm single or I'm a single father or I'm a single mother I'm divorced or I'm divorced multiple times or or I have I can't have children or I have children with special needs being settled doesn't mean to be married and have kids and have a job being settled means I am complete in Christ and now receive the
01:08:36 benediction may all of you leave this Hall knowing God loves you so much that you would pledge to [Music] live totally devot Ed life to him to know that true happiness comes from a pursuit of Holiness Lord this is the cross we bear we buar it together and by this will all men know we are your disciples and God's people say amen the service is over do stay back if you need to talk to us if you struggle with any issues you want prayer the church is here to listen that's all we want to do have a great week ahead
01:09:49 [Music]
