Once and for all                                                     by Pastor Daniel Yaw

Introduction
As we celebrate Easter this month, the Jews are also looking forward to celebrating the Passover as well.  Though it is surrounding the same thing, there is quite a great difference.  That big difference is in the sacrifice.  The Jews are still looking for the coming Messiah when all the ceremonial offerings will come to an end.  But as we celebrate the Passion week stretching from Palm Sunday when Christ enters the city in peace and then proceeds on to the last supper, the crucifixion, and culminating all in the resurrection, Passover takes on a different meaning altogether.
In Hebrews 10:1-18, we see the sacrifice of Jesus fulfilling all of the Old Testament requirements and fulfilling all that the prophets have spoken.  Jesus is the Real Thing.
"For by one offering, He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."  (Hebrews 10:14)
Since we know the real thing, what do we do about it?

A Sacrifice once is sufficient
Today we speak a great deal of virtual reality. This will be the next reality - and in a sense it is true.  But beyond this is another reality - the eternal reality.  Jesus as a sacrifice is the real thing.  His sacrifice is made perfect once and for all.  And by that offering, he has perfected for all time those of us who are being saved.
Yes, a sacrifice once and for all and a sanctification "being" perfected.  I may look at my life and others and feel a little dismayed, wishing that I would be more perfect.  However, I am not dismayed because the sacrifice of our Lord is also perfecting in us as a bride that would be presented spotless on the day we appear before Him.  John the apostle spoke of us being like Jesus when we face Him on that day.  Being like Jesus in being perfected by him.  A Sacrifice is indeed more than sufficient.

A Salvation once but ever-secured
The writer spoke about the offerings of the priest that are being done yearly or even daily and yet it does not take away our sins (verse 11).  But Jesus offered himself as the ultimate sacrifice that made our salvation ever secure. 
If it were to be dependent on ourselves - we all know we cannot make it.  If it were to be dependent on the sacrifices we make (animals or our time, etc), we would not quite make it.  However, it is dependent on Jesus and his love and grace - we then rest secured.

A Sharing continually spreads
What do we do with the real thing?  We taste it and then we share it.  Don't we do that all the time?  When we hear something nice, like a delicious food, we will go and try it out and then we will go and tell others about it.
If it happened with food - what about our eternal soul that has tasted the goodness of God?  May we continually spread this wondering love of God.  Remember our theme, “CHOSEN, CHANGED AND CONVEY!”

Conclusion
May we all reiterate this prayer together:
Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you for the great sacrifice when you gave of yourself.  I rest assured in your love and knowing that I belong to you, I look forward to the day of perfection as well.  Enable me to walk faithfully with you and to share this wonderful news with others.  In Jesus' name, Amen.
 

Jesus, Our Great Hero - by Ps Daniel Yaw
 
Introduction
 
There is so much craze over superheroes today.  Marvel DC has churned out more movies than ever on the superheroes.  When we thought that they concluded with the termination of the Avengers, other heroes emerged.
I guessed that people are constantly looking for heroes for hope, and sadly, they are only wishful hopes from the movies.
The writer of Hebrews listed in a whole chapter of 11 the different heroes of faith that we can emulate who had the favour of God upon their lives.  We are thankful to them as we identify with some of them in our journey of faith.
As I was reading and thinking of this book, I came to these three verses in Hebrews 13:12-14 that point us to the greater hero – Jesus himself In Christ, It is not so much living in faith but rather the reason for our faith.  We all need this as we struggle with life on a day-to-day basis.  We are indeed making this journey that requires faith.  What is it that we have in Jesus?
 
Jesus, our helper
 
“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people through his blood.”
 
This verse highlights that Jesus, our greatest hero and Savior, suffered outside the gate.  This simply meant that for the sake of our faith, he endured all the rejection and shame.  Outside the gate is a place of rejection, shame, and suffering.  He did all this for just one reason - that we might be sanctified through his blood.
His sufferings and death, his rejection and endurance of shame, were solely for the reason of our faith today.  If Jesus did not do that, we would be rejected by God and endure the shame forever. 
Therefore, when we go through such pain, we can turn to Jesus always because He had done that so that we can be sanctified – we can be made clean, be consecrated, and be empowered to pilgrim through this life.
 
Jesus, our hero
 
“Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured”
 
When we say that someone is our hero, we will emulate him as much as we can.  The writer exhorts us to do the same.  If our Master and Lord, with all his love for us, could do such a thing, should we also not do the same?  Therefore, in verse 13, there is this invitation to also go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
I am sure each of us has a story to tell when it comes to enduring shame and rejection for the sake of our Lord.  However, our comfort is that Jesus bore much more for us.
 
Jesus, our hope
 
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come”
 
Verse 14 gives us the perspective.  The question is, "Why would we do that?".  The one perspective we must keep is that we are looking forward to an everlasting city.  In our endurance, we will be able to enter that city with joy and victory.
We have our share of "sufferings," but we will share in his glory as well.
 
Conclusion
 
As we journey together in 2025, may I encourage all of us to make this journey, not so much with a burden on our back, but with the help and hope we have in Christ.  As we have our AGM in March, may we be thankful for the leaders who have served and pray that more will also rise to serve and lead

by Ps Daniel Yaw

Introduction
A blessed Chinese New Year to all of you.  That is my greetings to you and we do so to one another.  The usual greeting exchange is “Gong Xi Fa Cai” – it is a greeting of wishing each other prosperity.  That is not all that wrong but there is more than just prosperity or material prosperity.  It is a life of blessedness and we wish each other the favor and the blessings of God.
When a Jew enters the house of the Lord on Sabbath, he will recite the Shema which is actually found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel, The LORD our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

The Command to Love
The above sounds like a command and rightly so.  However, among the eastern religions around Israel, loving the LORD was revolutionary.  No other religion teaches about loving their God.  Devotion?  Yes, it is so.  Fear?  Again, it is constantly demanded.  Sacrifice?  That is a requirement.  But love?  That was something strange for one to be called to love God.
The God of Israel and his covenant with his people is based on a relationship that the very foundation of that relationship is love.
If there is to be any meaning to a relationship, any lasting value to a relationship, it has to be founded on love.  This is where the God of Israel and the God of Christianity stand out.  We love because He first loved us.
That is why we hear often that Christianity is not just a religion, it is a relationship and a relationship founded on love.  I wish you love and I pray that as we love the Lord, we learn always to love one another and love the world the way the Lord loves the world and his desire to save the world.

The Command on their hearts.
What is next in the verse is found in verse 6, which says, “And these words that I command you today shall be ON YOUR HEART.”
The question is “Why on the heart?”.  I guess that is the reservoir of the greatest of emotions and motivation.  What is on your heart?  What is on our hearts determines the way we conduct our lives.
The Heart directs our Path.
Ambitions are born from the heart.  Pursuit in life is born from the heart.  Our love life is also born from the heart.  When our heart is set on something, we will pursue it with great zeal.  It may be a career; it may be a value or it may be your life partner.  Once our heart is set on one thing, we are blind to all other things.  That is why the Lord commands his word on our hearts.
As children of God, loved by God and chosen by Him, what directs your hearts?  I trust that the Lord has placed his command and the greatest of all command to love Him on your heart this year.  That in everything you pursue, it is to the glory of God.  Then you will surely be blessed.
The Heart is restored by His Word.
The other aspect that I was thinking about is what is placed on your heart.  I think many of us have many things on our hearts.  And when the heartbreaks, whatever is on our heart will fall into it.
Think about it.  When your heart breaks, if it is bitterness in your heart, what falls into it is bitterness and unforgiveness.  If it is the idea of material prosperity, then disappointment with God will fall into it.  If it is doubt, abandonment of God will fall into it.  But if it is the Word of God and His love, what will fall into it is faithfulness.
That is why the Lord desires to have us place His word on our hearts.  

Conclusion
As we begin a new year, we have done so, Chinese New Year is a refresher, let us begin to place the love of God and his command on our hearts.  God bless our hearts.