Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I would like to share a Sunday School lesson that I have taught recently about Humility. This is an important Christian attitude that we must pray and strive to have before the Lord. Often it is pride that destroys our Christian testimony and also affects our relationship with one another.

I would also like to encourage all of you to attend the Sunday School classes so that your knowledge of God’s Word will increase. What can the Word of God do to our lives? Psalm 119:28b tells us the answer, “Strengthen thou me according unto thy Word”. When we meet the trials of life, it is only the Word of God that will strengthen and keep us in the faith.

Salvation is only for those who exhibit Humility

In the Beatitudes passage taught by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5: 3-6, we see that the promises that come at the end of each of these verses have to do with the realm of salvation. The description of a born again believer in these verses is as follows :

Poor in spirit; mourn; meek; hunger and thirst

All of these are descriptive of various facets of HUMILITY

Another illustration by Jesus that salvation is for those who exhibit humility is recorded in Matthew 18: 1-4. Jesus tells us the Kingdom of God belongs to the humble. Jesus used a little child to illustrate humility. What does a little child teach us about humility?

A little child is absolutely dependent; A little child has achieved nothing
We believe in Jesus totally dependent on Him and nothing of ourselves

After Salvation, a Believer continues to exhibit Humility

There are two characteristics of a humble Christian as taught in Philippians 2:3-4.

(a) Verse 3 : Esteem others better than ourselves

– We see our own sins as worse than everybody else’s

– We are not preoccupied with criticising the sins of others

(b) Verse 4 : Look on the things of others

– We are more concerned of the success and benefits of others than ourselves

The Bible records the humility of the Apostle Paul as a good example for us to learn from:

(a) Philippians 3: 13-14 – Paul said he had not arrived to perfection but he pressed on.

(b) 1 Timothy 1: 15 – Towards the end of his life, Paul said “I am the chief sinner.”

(c) Romans 7:24 – Paul called himself “wretched man” in his inner warfare with sin.

In conclusion, may the Lord help our Church to manifest Humility before the Lord and to one another as taught in Philippians 2:3 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

Elder John Leong

Mother’s Day

Mothers are very special, so special that they are mentioned in the Bible. Since the Bible is like an instruction manual for us, it gives us instructions on how to treat our mother.

Do any of you know what the Ten Commandments are? They were rules that God gave to Moses for all of us to follow. Each commandment is very important and God gave each commandment for a reason. One of the commandments says : ‘Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee’ Exodus 20:12.

What does honour mean anyway? Honour can mean many things. When we listen, obey, love, appreciate, and even forgive our mothers,  these are some of the ways how we can  honour our mothers. That means when she asks you to do something you should do it right away without complaining.

When you show your love to your mother by hugging her and telling her that you love her, that is another way to honour her. You can also appreciate your mother by thanking her when she does things for you (cleaning the house and your clothes, making supper, helping you, etc.).

Our mothers won’t be perfect all the time, we all make mistakes. So we should forgive our mothers when they make mistakes because God asks us to.

Another verse in the Bible asks us to bless our mother. It says, ‘Her children arise up, and call her blessed; …’ Proverbs 21:38. Some words that describe blessed are that your mother belongs to God and we need to treat her like she is God’s child. Your mother used to be a child too and she is just trying her best to help you grow and learn things the correct way. So, treat her nicely!

Another way to describe blessed is to be happy. Do you make your mother happy? I am sure most of the time you do. However, mothers can be sad because of different things too. Do you think your mother would be happy if you didn’t listen to her or disobeyed her.

The last verse is : ‘Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord’ Colossians 3:20. I know that sometimes you do not always want to obey your parents but it is important that you obey them because it makes God happy!

One last thing. No matter how old you get, your mother is your mother. Sometimes you might think that you can talk back to your parents or that you know more than them, but you actually don’t. The Bible says to obey your parents always, not just when you are a kid. Your parents want the best for you.

Do not forget that we also have a heavenly father that cares and loves us no matter what. So if you do not have a mother around all the time (or even if you do) God is always there. He is there when our mother can’t be.

(Adapted from http://www.dltk-bible.com/cv/mothers_day.htm)