I have this sermon called “Where does your joy come from?”. To date, I have shared that sermon 4 times already (over the pulpit anyways), the last time being our Youth Sunday.

I first shared this sermon for TOUCH. We’ve been going through the gospel of John, and in January 2010 we arrived at chapter 16. I forgot exactly when we started the series on John (probably since 2008), but I know that the studying of John was in the midst of a very tough time for the church, and for my personally as well.

Looking back, my experience was not unlike the description of a woman in labour that Jesus used in verse 21. This sermon was birthed out of a time of sorrow - where everything that I used to treasure has gone & all that’s left is learning to lean on Jesus through the pain. It was like being thrown into the deep end of the pool without prior experience in swimming.

You see, I used to be associated as the pastors’ son. I hated every generalization that came with it, but at the same time I was proud to be the pastors’ son. When my mom preached about Sons vs Servants, I immediately (wrongly) took on the identity as a son in the house - I became the son of the church. And when my father resigned from the church, I thought I had nothing left but to be a rebel.

But God has pulled me out of that now. He’s taken me on a journey, teaching me about our adoption as children of God. I’m not a son of the church. I am a child of God. You see (again), if we base our identity in anything other than our position in God, we will crumble. If our source of life, joy, strength & hope is anything other than Jesus Himself, we will run dry.

During Youth Sunday, while listening in to the discussions of the youths as they respond to my “Where does your joy come from” sermon, I felt that in some way, God has turned my sorrow into joy. The very same thing that caused me pain, has now given me joy. I felt that God was using this sermon that was birthed out of sorrow to minister to others, to draw others unto Himself.

And as I follow that train of thought, I began to see how that sorrow has already brought many joys onto my life - I’ve learned so much about God’s grace; I’ve learned to depend on God more and more; I’ve become a greater blessing to the people around me… I don’t feel that the sorrow has gone away, nor have I cease to grieve about the things that are still undone & yet-to-be-restored - but I’ve seen the hand of God & I believe… no, I know, that my sorrow shall be turned into joy.

I know, because God has been working on it long before I knew it.

P.S portions of this post were taken from a previous blog post of mine.

April 22nd, 2012 marks the first time I’ve organized a Youth Sunday for my home church, and also the first time I’ve preached for my home church’s Sunday service. To say it was overwhelming is an understatement indeed.

First feeling I had after the service was gratefulness. A deep sense of gratitude that God chose to minister through me in spite of me. I hugged May, in celebration of God’s grace upon our lives & His blessing over our ministry.

The next feeling was kind of strange, as I just wanted to hide. I thought that I would enjoy the praises of men, as I have imagined this day ever since my dad planted this desire in me to preach on Sunday service 10 years ago. But the more overcoming desire in that moment was that people got ministered to by God’s words & that the congregation would at least have a glimpse of the all-sufficiency of Christ. And I just wanted to stay out of the way of that.

I’m not saying I’m not grateful for all the encouraging words (and hugs!!) I’ve received, because I certainly am. Plus, it is important to encourage people & acknowledge excellence. I suppose this experience is new to me - in youth ministry, this rarely happens and it’s only more common if you’re on a preaching engagement outside of your home church. Perhaps in the future I’ll learn to handle it better. Perhaps in the future I’ll be sharing more and the hype of personality will die down. But for the moment, it feels really awkward & strange.

My favourite part of Youth Sunday was actually the aftermath of Youth Sunday. We had a group photo as we said our goodbyes to Chewie (Kheng Yee, our church’s best guitarist); then briefing the Life Group leaders while the rest of the youths destroyed all the leftover balloons; and then the best part of all - seeing Life Group members discussing about their response to the message & strengthening one another with encouraging words. It was overwhelming, acknowledge that God was indeed ministering to people & that His spirit was at work in many lives.

Pumped for the next Youth Sunday!! WOOHOO!!

I’m writing this because I suggested to my youths that it’s better to not enter into a dating /courting relationship before the age of 22. I also promised them if they can’t get a boyfriend / girlfriend by 23, that I will help. Recently I also received information that my youths don’t want to talk about relationship issues with me because my answer will always be “break up” or “don’t do it”. This post is for them, in hope that they will see my heart, and will therefore, from this point on, be directed at them.

Dear LifeXtremers,

There are several reasons why I chose the number 22. One undeniable reason is because my favourite number is two (and you can’t allow someone to date at 2 years old!!). But more importantly, many of you are below that age. In fact, more than half of you regular LifeXtreme members are between the age of 17 - 22.

This age group is significant (and thereby making number 22 significant) because more than 70% of churchgoing youth / young adults drop out of church between the ages of 18 - 22. These drop-outs do not claim to leave the faith, but they stop attending church. And since it’s impossible to live out our Christian faith with at least a community or a local church, we tend to assume that these church drop-outs eventually leave the faith.

Of course, it’s not that BGR is a major factor for people to leave the church. The main point I’m trying to convey here is that these are crucial years for one to understand and establish their faith in God.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 warns to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, and I think it’s pretty good advice. I want you to take these years, and entirely invest in building your faith in God & working on your relationship with Jesus. This is way more important that your fear of loneliness - your faith is on the line here. This is not a waiting period where you just sit & try to hold in your emotions, get your hormones under control, and deny your feelings - it’s a time of nurturing yourself in God to be a man / woman of God. It’s a time where you learn to trust God for everything, including a spouse.

Anyways, you do want to date & eventually marry someone who loves Jesus, right? Don’t you think you should at least return the favour & do the same? Besides, if you’re hoping to have someone who is totally committed Christian, and you yourself aren’t a totally committed Christian yourself - chances are you won’t even be in this person’s radar. And even if you manage to find your way into that person’s atmosphere & crash onto his / her planet (okay I know I’m going too far with this metaphor, just bear with me), it’s very likely that you won’t be a good partner for that person.

Ok I digressed too much there.

Truthfully, if age was the main criteria, I would have put 24 - 25 years old. But it all very simply comes down to this: is Jesus your treasure? Do you know what He has done for you? Is your joy totally dependent on Him? When it comes down to the wire, is Jesus your immediate choice? Do you know God’s calling for your life?

I’m not saying it’ll only takes a few years to get there, or that you won’t have struggles and moments of doubts throughout your lifetime. But if you would take these years to commit yourself towards making Jesus your treasure (and being able to say “YES” to all the questions above), chances are you’ll be a great man / woman of God; and with that, a very eligible bachelor / bachelorette.

My desired end goal is not that you walk up to me during your 22nd birthday party and say “I can date now, right?”. My desire is that you’ll make a commitment towards Christ-likeness and growing deeper into abiding in Christ.

More to follow…