Following Jesus is worth more than anything else that you can ever possess.
It's not what you possess, but it's about understanding that you are the possession of Christ.
Intro:
Hello Student Church. Hope you guys are doing good :)
I'm so excited to share today.
Today I will be sharing an interesting topic that are very close to my heart.
Before I start my sharing, let me share the prelude of my sharing.
Because I want to bring all of us to a same focus, of why we need to hear this sharing.
For the prelude, I want to share the goals of my sharing.
I hope by sharing this topic, we can appreciate and accomplish at least 3 things:
1. The struggles of some of our brothers and sisters are facing, and how we can be more sensitive and understand and support them better. After all, we all belong to each other.
2. We can walk out from this place with a stronger faith, because we are assured that God is faithful and good. That His grace is always sufficient for us.
3. It will better equip you to reach out to those that yet to know Jesus. So that you understand their fear and concerns, and slowly lead them to the path of knowing Jesus, despite of their concerns.
At the end of my sharing, I hope that we can be a stronger church.
The topic that I want to share can be quite deep and have many principles.
So I hope that you can really pay attention and follow through.
I hope that I will make is clear enough to understand, and practical enough to live out and apply in your life.
What I gonna do is that I will be sharing about 25min, and then we will have group discussion for about 15min, and then we will have a time to respond to God as well.
Today I want to talk about :-
The Cost of Following Jesus as 1st Generation Christian.
I know some of us are 1st generation Christian, and some of us are 2nd generation Christian.
If you are 1st Generation, I want to encourage you to remain strong.
Be assured that you are not alone.
We are all in this journey of faith together.
And for those 2nd Generation Christian, you can get some ideas of how to reach out and care for those 1st Gen Christian, and also how to lead people to Jesus that comes from families that are not Christian.
What is 1st Generation Christian?
Laymen term definition:
You are the first person / generation that come to know Jesus in your immediate family.
2nd Generation Christian - your parents are Christian.
3rd Generation Christian - your grandparents are Christian.
1st generation usually have this few characteristics:
1. Big Change of Culture
When he/she become a Christian, everything is new to them.
They have crossed from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light.
If they came from a religious family previously, now they will have many new things happening to them.
They will now learn that it's not ok to worship idols which the family has been practicing.
They will probably stop going to temple.
They now need to go to church on Sunday morning.
They will now own a Bible, and it's amazing, because you can learn so much new things.
You will discover about about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity.
And you start to discover your potential in God, where God can use you because He has given you gifting.
2. They experience the power of breaking from sin, drastically
Some may be indulging in sin before they become a Christian.
And when Jesus come to their lives, God really change their live 180 degree.
Before I become a Christian, I was a person that was busy in sin.
Doing something bad makes me feel successful.
When I was a non-believer, I speak foul language a lot, especially in school.
When I was still a primary school kid, I already obtained a double PHD degree in foul language.
And I tried to break from that sin many times actually. But somehow I can't.
When I am at home, I will not speak. I want to show my parents that I'm a good boy.
I will wear a mask.
But when I joined back my friends in school, I will start to showoff my skills in foul language.
That happen for more than 10 years.
But when on the day I accepted Jesus in university, immediately I heard a voice spoke to me: Stop cursing.
And I stop immediately.
It shocked me why I able to stop immediately. But I now know I able because God is able.
I also had some issue of bitterness with my parents, but God healed me and help me to overcome it.
It was unbelievable, because I never thought that I can forgive my parents.
I always remember that in one Sunday God spoke to me clearly.
He said I cannot just stop hating. I must also love.
He wants me to go the next level. I cannot go to neutral mode.
Because the Neutral mode is not going anywhere. It's the free gear. It's doesn't move.
You need to love if I want to be victorious.
Other story, I know some has stop gossiping, lying, smoking, stopping from gang.
Depends on the family background and the friends that they were associated with, the changes can be very big.
At the same time, 1st generation Christian may also have this few challenges / problems:
1. Conflict of Loyalty
Some of the parents or even siblings may object strongly.
Some parents may even want to disown the child.
I know one brother, when he was young, his life has been dedicated to the idols.
So when the parents found out, they were furious.
For some cases, it's because they also believe that those idols or gods have been helping them or their family since young or probably have healed them of diseases, and now, "you betray our gods."
And so, some will face great persecutions.
I know a brother last time, he came to study in UM, and we get to know him and led him to Jesus.
After about 1 month, at night he suddenly want to talk something to me.
He said he was lost.
He was a Buddhist before this, and he felt that he was betraying his religion when he believe in Jesus right now.
It's a conflict of loyalty.
It's a conflict of loyalty.
Some parents may think that the child is not being filial by not listening to them, by asking them to not follow Jesus.
Who will be praying to the ancestors or even the parents themselves when they passed away?
And sometimes it's a matter of respect vs obedience dilemma issue.
There were times, where my father will stop me from going to church.
And I will be very sad.
And when my father said something, hey, you better listen.
Because he will really shout and can get really angry.
There were times when the leaders will ask, am I going to Care Group tonight?
They will call and I will not answer. Then I will send a SMS with my Nokia 3310 - I will say, I'm not feeling well. I need to rest. But actually it's not physically I'm not feeling well. It's because I'm emotionally I'm not feeling well.
2. Conflict of Values
Some parents may object about the issues of money and time.
For those that comes from the Chinese family, the parents may disallow you from giving tithes/offering or spend so much time in church.
And you know when you serve in church requires time.
And the reason you serve is sometimes to help other people in church.
But some parents may say, "Hey, you are not even doing so good in your studies, why do you spend so much time in church?!"
I had this funny encounter one time. I was in Hope Ipoh, and after finish the Sunday Service, I went down to the ground floor out from the church to go for lunch, and I met a lady. Apparently she is the mother of one of the leader of the church. And the question that she asked me was: "Why did you all do donation in church? What happen to the donation that you all collected?"
Wow, intense lunch break.
For the first 2 reasons that I mentioned, many 1st gen believers will choose not to inform their parents about their decision of believing in Jesus, because of the fear of offending their parents feeling.
3. Uncertainty due to Comparison with Others
Sometimes you may doubt because you will always compare with others people, especially those non-believers that are so called doing "better than you".
Sometimes you may be thinking, "Will I be losing out?"
Sometimes you will doubt, will the promises of God written in this Bible, is it really for me?
So there will be quite a tension.
Many times, 1st generation Christian are tossed between the world and God.
And this is why we want to talk about the cost of following Jesus.
We need to know that following Jesus is not as easy.
The principles of God is actually simple.
But the journey is not easy and smooth sailing.
There are some battles that you need to fight on.
But the good news is that, Christ has gone before us.
If Christ has overcome the pain and sufferings in order to die on the cross for us, we know that Jesus can also gives us the strength and grace to overcome it as well.
There is a cost that we need to pay in order to follow Jesus.
But understand this, that the price that you pay, will give you the returns that goes far beyond what you deserves to receive.
It's like the cost of following Jesus is 1 million USD.
But the return is way bigger in return. It's infinity!
The journey of following God may probably makes you cry in the night, but you get living water that will never runs dry.
What are the cost of following Jesus?
1. Following Jesus requires reformation.
It's always a choice of Conform vs Reform
Do you conform, or do you reform?
Conform means, due to whatever reasons, when the world present to you a suggestion, you follow.
It may be peer pressure, family pressure, financial pressure, emotional pressure.
You follow the crowd.
Reform means, you decided to follow God's way and let God take charge.
It means you decide to allow God to lead the way and you surrender.
It means that you need to change certain bad habits in your lives.
It means you intentionally decide not following the crowd.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.It means that you need to give up certain things.
Give Up
- Pleasure
- The World
- Carnal Desire
- Popularity
- Lazyness
- Idleness
It's means that you deny yourself.
The best way to show to your parents and friends is that you show the power of God through your transformed life and good deeds.
Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.works - action, task, accomplishment, behavior
It means that when you are being entrusted with something, you need to make it done.
Don't be lazy. Don't waste your time.
If your parents ask you to do well in your study, do it well.
If it's cleaning the house, do it well. Do it good.
Let's your behavior speak for itself.
2. Following Jesus requires persistence.
When you follow Jesus, you need to hold on to the faith.
You need to keep the faith. You need to be persistence.
But it's very hard to hold on to something that you are not very sure.
If you do not know what you believe is the truth, the ultimate truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, you can't be truthful to yourself that you believe that Jesus is the truth.
That's why when I accepted Jesus, I spend a lot of time studying about Jesus and His claims in the Bible. I need to be very sure. Otherwise I can't be truthful to myself.
The greater the resistance from your parents or peers or from the world, the greater persistence you need to have.
2. Following Jesus requires persistence.
When you follow Jesus, you need to hold on to the faith.
You need to keep the faith. You need to be persistence.
But it's very hard to hold on to something that you are not very sure.
If you do not know what you believe is the truth, the ultimate truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, you can't be truthful to yourself that you believe that Jesus is the truth.
That's why when I accepted Jesus, I spend a lot of time studying about Jesus and His claims in the Bible. I need to be very sure. Otherwise I can't be truthful to myself.
The greater the resistance from your parents or peers or from the world, the greater persistence you need to have.
Persistence Overcomes Resistance
You may face objections and rejections and even isolation, but you need to keep on holding to the truth.
There will be times that you need to make certain decisions that may offend your parents or friends, but it's a decision you need to make nonetheless.
You need to differentiate between the matter of truth vs the matter of felling.
The Challenge: Do not compromise no matter what. The more you compromise, you more difficult it is to overcome, and you will be eventually defeated.
There were times that may father do not want me to go to Service. I actually will keep quiet. Because I know I cant win their words argument.
I actually hope that he can fetch me to church, because I have no transport.
But since he did not like me going to church and will scold me, so every Sunday, even though service starts at 10am, I will get up very early like 7/8am something, and I will sneak out from the house. I will walk about 20 to 30min, and then wait alone at the bus stop, it's scary, cause my neighbourhood is not very safe. Then I will need to spend money to take a bus for 30min to 40min, and then I will drop off from the church for another 20min, because I want to save another 50 cents for my lunch and other days expenses. In those days, money is a major factor for me.
I kept persevering, going to church and Bible class, so that I can grow in the Word of God my faith.
Let's break into groups.
Split into 1st Gen Christian+Pre-Believer and 2nd Gen Christian.
Discussion (15min)
1. Are you a first gen Christian? What lead you to accept Christ?
2. What are some of the challenges or persecutions you've been through and how do you persevere?
3. How do you intend to change the mentality that Christianity is bad?
CLOSING (ALTAR CALL)
If you are the 1st generation Christian, I want to encourage you to keep holding on to the faith.
Understand that God is maturing you through this journey.
Trust God that He can use you to lead your family to Jesus.
But you need to persevere. You need to be persistence.
Do not conform to the pressure. Do not be fearful.
If you are struggling, I invite you to come to the front, and we want to pray for you.
If some of you are having issues of following Jesus, regardless whether you are a 1st/2nd gen, maybe you are battling with the issue of sin, with the issue of values of time and money, or maybe some of you are lost and wanting to give up.
I want to encourage you to respond, you can come in front and we will pray for you.
If anyone of you have not received Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, I want to invite you to have this personal relationship with Jesus.Believing Jesus doesn't means that you are committing to a religion, but it's about starting a new intimate relationship with Jesus.Do not remain on the neutral mode - you need to move to Jesus.
Believing Jesus is not an issue of emotion/feeling, it's a matter of accepting the truth.
If it's the truth, you need to take that step.
Reference:
https://discoveryseries.org/courses/keeping-the-faith/lessons/appendix-2/
http://ymi.today/2016/05/5-challenges-second-generation-christians-face/
https://www.facebook.com/KingdomCommunity.SG/posts/1631902876843809:0
http://biblehub.com/greek/2041.htm
http://www.tracesoffaith.com/blog/2016/02/a-letter-to-the-first-generation-christian.html
The Challenge: Do not compromise no matter what. The more you compromise, you more difficult it is to overcome, and you will be eventually defeated.
There were times that may father do not want me to go to Service. I actually will keep quiet. Because I know I cant win their words argument.
I actually hope that he can fetch me to church, because I have no transport.
But since he did not like me going to church and will scold me, so every Sunday, even though service starts at 10am, I will get up very early like 7/8am something, and I will sneak out from the house. I will walk about 20 to 30min, and then wait alone at the bus stop, it's scary, cause my neighbourhood is not very safe. Then I will need to spend money to take a bus for 30min to 40min, and then I will drop off from the church for another 20min, because I want to save another 50 cents for my lunch and other days expenses. In those days, money is a major factor for me.
I kept persevering, going to church and Bible class, so that I can grow in the Word of God my faith.
Let's break into groups.
Split into 1st Gen Christian+Pre-Believer and 2nd Gen Christian.
Discussion (15min)
1. Are you a first gen Christian? What lead you to accept Christ?
2. What are some of the challenges or persecutions you've been through and how do you persevere?
3. How do you intend to change the mentality that Christianity is bad?
CLOSING (ALTAR CALL)
If you are the 1st generation Christian, I want to encourage you to keep holding on to the faith.
Understand that God is maturing you through this journey.
Trust God that He can use you to lead your family to Jesus.
But you need to persevere. You need to be persistence.
Do not conform to the pressure. Do not be fearful.
If you are struggling, I invite you to come to the front, and we want to pray for you.
If some of you are having issues of following Jesus, regardless whether you are a 1st/2nd gen, maybe you are battling with the issue of sin, with the issue of values of time and money, or maybe some of you are lost and wanting to give up.
I want to encourage you to respond, you can come in front and we will pray for you.
If anyone of you have not received Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, I want to invite you to have this personal relationship with Jesus.Believing Jesus doesn't means that you are committing to a religion, but it's about starting a new intimate relationship with Jesus.Do not remain on the neutral mode - you need to move to Jesus.
Believing Jesus is not an issue of emotion/feeling, it's a matter of accepting the truth.
If it's the truth, you need to take that step.
Reference:
https://discoveryseries.org/courses/keeping-the-faith/lessons/appendix-2/
http://ymi.today/2016/05/5-challenges-second-generation-christians-face/
https://www.facebook.com/KingdomCommunity.SG/posts/1631902876843809:0
http://biblehub.com/greek/2041.htm
http://www.tracesoffaith.com/blog/2016/02/a-letter-to-the-first-generation-christian.html
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