01-Feb-2015, Sunday, 10 am
On Sunday, Abigail, Geenu, and I attended the City Harvest Church service at the Suntec Convention Center.
The service started with beautiful praise and worship. The anointing was awesome during worship. After praise and worship, Dr. A.R. Bernard shared the message on Patterns and Principles found in the Bible.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The Bible is the revelation of God to the human society. Everything God does, He does according to a pattern and based on principle.
A pattern is a model or blueprint for the way things happen or something is done. It’s a design.
Principle explains why things happen the way they do.
Exodus 25: 1-9
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, 4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, 5 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, 6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, 7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
The tabernacle was compartmentalized into three areas of worship; each serving a different ceremonial function. The otter court was for the offering of sacrifices by the ministering priests for Israel. The inner court, called the Holy Place, housed three pieces of furniture – the candlestick, the altar of incense, and the table of Showbread. The ark of the covenant, referred to as the “mercy seat,” was placed in the “Most Holy Place” and this area was entered by the high priest only once each year to atone for the sins of the nation of Israel.
The tabernacle represents a process of the movement towards God, a pattern of access to God.
Mark 4:4 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, 3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
Just like four types of soil, there are four types of people who respond to the Gospel. Even in the good soil, the amount of fruit yield is different. This shows, even from Christians, not everybody is committed at the same level. You must identify the level of commitment.
Patterns and Principles are the keys that unlock the mysteries and reveal truth. God designed life around patterns and principles. Without a vision for future, you will live in the past. That’s why when the prisoners come out of the prison, they go back to their old life.
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
This represents a principle of offering. Life reciprocates. Whatever you give out, it comes back.
Patterns and Principles is also used for building relationship within the Church. Distance is not measured in miles, it is measured in affection. We use affection to maintain relationships. So two people can be in the same bed right next to each other and yet miles apart. Two people can be on the opposite sides of the planet and yet so close as though they were present with each other. We control that distance by withdrawing or giving affection. When we are offended in some way, we withdraw our affection to create distance between us and the individual who affected us. When we feel that person is genuinely sorry for what he did, we began to resume the giving of affection.
According to A.R. Bernard, the parable of the Kingdom of God in Mark 4:26 represents one of the most important principles in the Bible.
Mark 4:26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
Everything grows by levels and stages. Everything grows in the seed form and grows into an experience. God’s pattern of progression is a pattern of promotion. He takes us through levels and stages.
Promotion requires change. Change means to become different, in thoughts, motives, words, attitude. Do not ask God to promote you if you’re not willing to change.
We are spiritual beings learning how to master human experiences. Bible is filled with decision making principles said Dr Bernard ending his sermon.
After the sermon, people prayed for one another. The Presence of God was beautiful. The service finally ended with beautiful praise.
Praise God for a wonderful time 🙂
