News: Sunday 08th of June 2008 03:15:35 PM

From : Pastor Steven Seah

I have found a great Christian resource for youths. It’s entitled “NOOMA”. I thought I put up the synopsis and learning points for those who like to review the lessons again.

POIEMA (18 May) - NOOMA* Rhythm, Rob Bell
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Synopsis
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What does it mean to have a relationship with God? What doe sit look like? For a lot of us, it’s a hard thing to understand. If God is an infinite spirit with no shape or form, how can we possibly relate to that? And what about Jesus? He said he came to give everyone life to the fullest. He came to show us how to live. Maybe it’s through trusting Jesus and living the kind of life he taught us to live – a life of truth, love, justice, compassion, forgiveness, and sacrifices – that we have a relationship with God. Maybe the way we live every day, every single choice we make, determined how in tune with God we are.

Learning point
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This could be our picture of God. Someone who is distant like a watchmaker who has nothing to do with a watch after he makes it or someone to go to from time to time to ask for things but really not someone who is involved daily in our life.

That’s a wrong picture. God wants to have a relationship with us. He is like a song that’s written on all our hearts. The question is not whether the song is in our hearts but whether we are in tune with the song.

Jesus came to show us how to live. We are in tune with God when we live our life as Jesus showed us, when we obey him. It is not enough to say we believe we also have to live out our beliefs.

Are you in tune with God? Are you living your life the way Jesus taught?

POIEMA (25 May) - NOOMA* Sunday, Rob Bell
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Why do we do the things we do? Why do we go to church or give money away? Because we’re supposed to or because we think God needs it? Do we honestly put on our best clothes for an hour once a week, stand and sit at the right times, and sing all the appropriate songs for God’s sake, or because it’ll make us look better to the world around us? We’re tired of all empty rituals and routines. And so is God. God hates it when we call ourselves Christians but ignore the things that he really cares about. He hates it when we go through hollow religious routines out of some feeling of duty or obligation. God doesn’t want the meaningless rituals. God wants our hearts.

Learning Point
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God does not only look at our actions but also our motives. When we come to church or serve him out of duty or obligation, he hates them. God wants us to do what we do for the love of him. Men look at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.

And God has our hearts when we care for the things that God cares about.


POIEMA (1 June) - NOOMA* Lump, Rob Bell
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Synopsis
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A lot of us have done things that we’re ashamed of. Some are small things, and some of us have real big and devastating things. Some of us have things that people close to us don’t know about. Personal junk that we keep to ourselves so we don’t have to deal with? Because we don’t know how to deal with it, do we? We’re afraid that if we try it’s just going to make everything worse. But no matter how big our junk is, no matter how much what we’ve done has impacted the way other people feel about us or how we feel about ourselves, it hasn’t changed how God feels about us. God loves us, he always has and always will, and there’s nothing we can do to change that.

Learning point
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We don’t have to avoid dealing with the ‘junk’ in our life because we have a God has always loved, loves us and will love us.