HELLO!
firstly, THANKS! to all who gave me cards/ stuff. i will write back! really! just that i haven't finished writing. [next year i will type and paste.] if you know me, you will know the incredulously slow pace at which i write. sigh, i'm sorry you'll get your late Christmas card/end of year card on omega night. so you better be there!
ok i have to mention these. thanks for the presents. they are really cool.
Lydia! the bracelet rocks. i'll wear it! and the erm very happy handphone sock. hahah so outstanding. haha don't worry, i'll use it.
Jared! thanks for the towel. its like really pretty and stripey and purple. and aiyah, i like it. haha i like to look at stripey stuff. hee hee.
Darius and Small Sam! i love the cup! but i'm not cranky! anyhow its super big lah, i think if i drink 3 cups that might be 8 glasses liao. and its really heavy to lift. next year plastic kay? ha.
we went caroling! this is my first year going caroling and although i could not hop group to be in the other grp, it was still pretty cool traveling in my group. i'm glad i have gotten to know more pple in the short short time of a few mths so it wasn't so bad, got many pple in my group i know too. and caroling is cool! despite having to sing the same few songs many times and listening to the same message, but it was still a very enjoyable experience. and the pple who welcome us into their homes are really nice:)
but it ended chao late. some one told me 1am, but in reality it was more like 1.45 and sending pple home and going back to church then crashing darius house. by the time we got home was like 4 plus. oh lydia and eunice stayed over at my place. haha so fun just talking to them.
oh to jump back in time, we had a Christmas eve thingum at Glory pres just before the caroling. it was super. we had mr kelvin soh over and he shared with us his life since young, when he got into gangs, doing drugs, going to jail, getting saved and his life today. it was really awesome to know such a story. and he performed some songs for us that he or his friends wrote. and even though he speaks chinese mostly, he can sing even in english, chinese or hokien and it was really good! Thank God i could be there this year. i think this is the first year i went for Christmas service. this is the first year for everything actually.
ok, also, you may read my blog, but you've never heard of the real story of Christmas, so ya, i like to share why we celebrate Christmas. [erm my story telling skills are not very up to mark, so feel free to ask me anything if i'm not clear ya?]
anyway, although its a story, its not a fairy tale or something, but something historical and true that happened 2000+ years ago.
to the world was born a saviour. a son of God, not one blazed in glory and sent down from the clouds, but really born into our earth. humbly born one night in a manger to a humble couple.
this child grew up normally but living and speaking with wisdom blessed by God. by the time he was 33, he had many followers but even more enemies-- people who refused to believe that by believing and having faith in him, they can gain salvation. this was despite all the miracles he had been doing like healing the blind, and all the irrefutable wisdom he gave them. you see he led a life like no other. one so humble, like a servant, yet he welcomed everyone from the poor widows and little children, to the rich taxpayers hated by all, to even prostitutes who lead lifes filled with shame. so long as they were willing to believe in him, and accept him, they would be saved.
however, he was accused of blaspheme and was to be crucified. they tortured him, humilitated him, but he did not retaliate. they taunted him "if you are the son of God, save yourself". he could have but he did not. if he was a liar, he would have confessed and perhaps be saved from a sure death. but the truth was he was the son of God, sent to earth to live and finally to die, rejected by the ones he came to save.
he was buried, but on the third day, he rose from the dead, left an empty tomb and after spending a few more days being sighted by believers, he finally ascended to heaven, and today he sits in heaven, welcoming his children.
this is the story of Jesus. and on Christmas we celebrate the day of his birth 2000+ years ago.
whats the purpose of this all? why did God have to come down in the form of man just to do stuff, be humiliated and killed? the thing is that God loves us, he is our maker and we are his creation. he wants us to be with him and to be happy. but one thing separates us from God. and it is sin.
we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. we live our lives everyday doing things that displeases God. all the evil and temptation in the world arises with sin and it brings us to our downfall. in other words we all deserve to go to hell when we die. to burn and be tortured for eternity.
but God saw all these coming, that the world he created will turn against him. but since the old times, the bible predicted a time when Jesus would come. and he did. God keeps to his word. and finally, Jesus came to change the way we live. to grant us a way to be closer to God, to eventually have eternal life in heaven when we die.
there is no other way to heaven. not even if i do all the charity in the world will i get to heaven. not even when i do less sinful things than anyone else. not even when i go to church every sunday. these will not do anything unless i believe in Christ Jesus. for he is the only way to God. and God hears our prayers. every single one of them. he wants nothing more than to hear us pray that we believe in him. every sin we have ever commited and that includes even the thoughts we have, will be forgiven. only God can have such mercy and forgive us our sins.
when we accept Christ as our personal Lord and saviour, we become a child of God. God has no grandchildren, because regardless of our age and status, we are all loved children of God. it is a personal choice he gives us, not because some of us are born into Christian homes will we be saved, but only if we accept him personally. let him into our hearts and give our lives to him.
Jesus is my Lord, and my friend. he walks beside me and takes care of me. why would someone so holy like him choose to be my friend? we don't deserve this close relationship but God loves us and he will stay with us once we let him.
i pray that yall may understand these and make a personal choice, and it hasn't been easy trying to share the gospel, for one, i don't know how many of you will take to it, but i believe i should. and i just read weixian's blog. "its easy to be brave when you don't have a choice"[Dec. 20th, 2006] -- its not about doing what will be accepted by many, but doing what is right, even if it might get rejected.
so anyhow i pray that whatever i've written will speak out to you and ya do feel free to ask any questions:) do have a BLESSED CHRISTMAS!
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