A Quiet Sunday

It was a relatively quiet Sunday. I felt a little relaxed since I was not preaching today but it is our tradition that before the Lord's communion is served there is a 5 to 10 minute exhortation before worshippers partake of the bread and wine. So I shared a short sermon on John 15 about the need to be humble and allowing God to prune us to that we can bear much fruit. In the Malay Bibles, the word, "bersih" came up a couple of times in the passage and in the 2nd service I made a passing reference to the ongoing Bersih street demonstration. But I took it as a foil to tell my church that we are all dirty in God's sight but now we are clean when we believe in him and his word. "You are clean because of the word I had spoken to you, says Jesus."  At the end of the service I led prayers for the nation in this critical juncture of its history now that we are celebrating National Day tomorrow on the 31st August. In the first service I told the congregation that if I were invited to join a street protest I would not go since I still have my doubts on the wisdom and justification for street protest demonstration from a spiritual perspective.
Last Friday I had 20 minutes to share from Isaiah 42 that the servant  of the Lord does not make his voice heard in the streets. And I told the church that praying quietly in one own's room is more effective from shouting in the streets. God knows everything and He is in control and He will right all wrongs in His time. After the 2nd service ended at 12 noon, later than usual as I asked a university student to share her mission experience. About 100 people they evangelized in the past 2 weeks accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour. It had been while since I heard such testimony and I am sure the church was blessed as well. I rushed off to another SIB church without taking lunch as we are planning for an all night prayer meeting from 6pm to 7am on 15th Sept to 16th Sept which is Malaysia Day. It was an amazing meeting in many ways. I did not expect the leaders of this SIB church to give me full support. I was straightaway appointed the organizing chairman and chaired the meeting for about 70 minutes and everything was discussed and agreed upon in good spirits in such short a time. I wish my own church council meeting is as convivial and as brief as the meeting this afternoon. But praise be unto God as by the time I reached home it was just past 2.30pm and I enjoyed a restful evening at home with my wife.