Last Sunday, on 29th July 2012, City Harvest Church celebrated the finale of 3 day EMERGE youth conference where youths aged 25 years and below showcased their music and dance talents. We were at awe to see the highly talented young people. After praise and worship, Pastor Kong gave message on “Building your own Altar“.
Drawing from the verses, from the book of Joshua 22 to 24, Pastor Kong explained the importance of building an altar before God. He gave a background on how two and a half tribes out of the twelve tribes of Israel had requested to possess the land on the east side of the Jordan river while the rest settled on the west. When the two and a half tribes had settled down, they built an altar on their side of the river, upsetting the rest of the tribes.
Before getting into a war, the tribes explained that they built the altar not because they were rebelling against the Lord, but it was for their own worship. Just in case the nine and a half tribes decided not to worship God or follow the Bible, at least they will still have their own altar.
You build your own altar just in case your ex-cell group leader backslides, or your old church mate, those you attend Bible Study with, decide to leave God; when that happens, you will still have your own altar to worship God.
Prayer is one to one relationship with God. Jesus always prayed. He prayed alone daily.
- Jesus prayed before starting His ministry. Matthew 4:1-2
- Jesus prayed before choosing His disciples. Luke 6:12-13
- Jesus prayed when He was emotionally broken in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:38-40
- Jesus prayed to meet the daily demands of life. He always went away to that altar in His heart, to seek God and draw strength from Him. Jesus built His own altar; His faith and commitment was not dependent on people or circumstances. Pastor Kong challenged the congregation to do the same–to build an altar reserved exclusively for God.
Altar is a place of devotion, a place of worship to be aware of the Presence of God. Whenever we are faced with challenges, we need to go back to the altar to seek God and draw strength from Him.
Building an Altar will help a person
- To have visions and dreams
- Make right decisions
- Deal with emotional brokenness
- Cope with daily demands of life
At the end of sermon, Pastor Kong asked people to pray together. The Presence of God was beautiful during that time, people could experience mighty anointing, some spoke in tongues, some praised, there were different manifestations. There was an awesome Presence of God in the whole arena. People held each others hand and prayed corporately. We enjoyed every moment.
After service, we had lunch from an Indian restaurant at Suntec city and later boarded bus to Emmanuel Assemblies of God, Upper East Coast road for Malayalam fellowship where we had another awesome worship and sermon.
Praise God for a wonderful weekend.
