Halloween
Oct 2014
Content Page English Revelation Article 4 Chinese Revelation Article 6 Church Service Summary 8 Recommendations 11
Content Page
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Jeanette Zee English Revelation
Hannah Xu Qian Ru Chinese Revelation
Chris Benhard A. Sembiring Church Service Summary
Yvonne Teo Yen Pin Recommendations
Jason Lee Cover Page Photo & Newsletter Design
The Contributors
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Peace of God by Jeanette Zee
In the month of October, the month of the infamous Halloween, everyone dresses up in their favourite fictitious character all in the name of fun; however, do you know how it all started? Back in those days, masks and costumes were worn not because they were getting ready to go trick-or-treat, but the costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the spirits and to appease them. Naturally, the people were afraid of the evil spirits. Thankfully, we no longer live in that tradition and Halloween has evolved into a day to dress up, go to exciting places to get sweet treats. When we are in Christ, who shall we be afraid? The Bible reaffirms our faith, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1
Certainly, when we are in Christ, the Lord is there to guide us through. Nothing is greater than God because Jesus has already resurrected and overcome all things. Hence, there is nothing for us to be afraid of when our Great and Almighty Heavenly Father is always loving and providing for us. God has also sent us a Helper, who is the Holy Spirit, to lead and guide us through every circumstance. Maybe you, reading this now, have many uncertainties or fears in your life. No matter what it is, the Bible says that, “And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8 English Revelation Article
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The Lord has already planned your life journey and all you have to do is to walk through it. He has gone before you and knows what is to come in the future. God sees the bigger picture and knows exactly what He is doing and where your life is heading right now. This verse reassures us that we are not alone and that God, our Emmanuel, is always with us. He promises us that He will never leave us nor forsake us shows that our God is such a Faithful and Loving Father. “Perfect love casts out all fear”, and God is loveGod will take away all the fears you have, as long as you can rely on God’s strength to overcome. The peace of God will be in you when you dwell in Him as well. Fear not, because there’s nothing to be afraid of when God is on our side!
English Revelation Article
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神秘的“鬼节” by Hannah Xu Qiant Ru 在西方国家，每年的10月31日，有个神秘的节日叫万圣 节。节日期间，许多公共场所都会布置很多装饰，诸如各式 鬼怪、南瓜灯、黑猫以及巫婆的扫帚之类；孩子们会穿上每 年不一样的万圣节服装，提着南瓜灯的篓子去挨家挨户地讨 糖。做这些实则为一种秋收地庆典；也有说是“鬼节”，传 说当年死去的人，灵魂会在万圣节的前夜造访人世。 所以人们会举行宴会，在自己的家门前放些水果和食品，喂 足鬼魂而不至于让它们伤害人类和动物。那些篝火和和灯 火，一来是为了吓走鬼魂，同时也会它们照亮路线，引导其 回归。 这些传说原来自西方的爱尔兰教徒，那到底跟基督徒的信仰 有多大的关系？既然万圣节是西方神秘的“鬼节”。那我 们就来说说基督徒最大的敌人：“恶魔”。某种形式上， 恶魔和鬼是同一类。中国古代有一说法：恶魔最怕的并不是 天使，而是恶魔本身。恶魔的存在就是伤害除了他以外的东 西，所以当对方是和他一样的恶魔，他才会害怕，这等于需 要超越自己去伤害另一个恶魔。 这也许是为什么万圣节，人们会装扮的想巫婆类似的鬼神。 也有一种说法：恶魔怕最最纯洁的东西。因为纯洁的光会瞎 了它们的眼。这让我想起了康牧师所描述的耶稣在地狱与撒 旦见面的情景。耶稣那完美纯洁的圣光，吓瞎了在地狱所有 的恶魔，包括撒旦自己。
Chinese Revelation Article
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所以在我们享受万圣节的期间，我们也该时刻反省，让我们 每天向着耶稣看齐，每天活得越来越像他。这样当恶魔再 次骚扰我们的人生时，我们拥有的那纯洁的圣光变能吓跑 它们，取得所谓的胜利。恶魔并不可怕，可怕的是我们的惰 性会害了自己。加油朋友们！让我们一起努力前进，不断进 步。并一起迎接这个神秘节日的到来，万圣节快乐！
Chinese Revelation Article
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Ps. Kong: “Abide in God’s Presence” by Chris Benhard A. Sembiring
On Sunday (28/9), Ps. Kong explained the meaning of “dwelling in God’s presence”. Opening his sermon by comparing two scriptures, taken from Psalms 24:3-5 and Psalms 15:1-2, He stressed that there is a fine line between “standing in God’s presence” and “dwelling in God’s presence”. The difference is that the former is a mere momentary experience, while the latter is a continuous experience. Ps. Kong drew an analogy to illustrate how the two expressions are different. He recounted when his son Dayan brought along his friends to stay over at his house. “There is always a time when his friends would say, ‘thank you Ps. Kong and Auntie Sun, goodbye, we’re going home’,” said Ps. Kong. Similarly, God allows us to pay Him a visit into His presence, but would we say ‘it’s been great, but goodbye, we’re going back to our normal life’, asked Ps. Kong. There are four adjustments we should do to go beyond ‘standing in God’s presence’ to ‘abiding in God’s presence’, said Ps. Kong.
photo credit: Jamie Ong
Church Service Summary
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The first step is to adjust our walk. Psalms 15:1-2 said that “he who walks uprightly” may dwell “in God’s holy hill”. This first adjustment is also required by Jesus when He called Peter, John, and James to follow Him. “They adjusted their life from walking on boats to walking with Jesus”, Ps. Kong remarked. Ephesians 5:2 instructed us to “walk in love”, that is, love of Christ. “Don’t just fall in love, but rise to love. Love is not just a feeling, but a commitment. But, when we are committed to love, the feeling will come eventually. When you just fall in love, you can fall out of love as easily,” explained Ps. Kong. The second adjustment we need to do is adjusting our works. As noted by Psalms 15:1-2, “he who…works righteousness” is those who “may dwell in His holy hill”. However, Ps. Kong noted that this Psalm is not for the lost, but rather for believer who wants a deeper relationship with God. We cannot work for our own salvation, because it is given by God. Ps. Kong also warned that “work never makes anyone any more spiritual”. Relationship is a journey that we need to work it out. Similar with our relationship with God, but remember that God is perfect. “So who needs to do adjustment? You and I!” Ps. Kong exclaimed. Ps. Kong proceeded to explain three different levels of relationship with God. The first level is “doing things for God”. It is true that we should find needs and meet it, but this should not be the sole objective. People’s needs are limitless that we can eventually get burnt out and lose our own faith if we only focused on meeting others’ needs. Ps. Kong assured us that if we obeyed God’s specific calling, we will ultimately meet a need. “Do not be needs-oriented, but be obedience-oriented,” reminded Ps. Kong The second level is “doing things with God”, like Paul as he described himself in 2 Corinthians 6:1. We do things with God by taking His yoke, as Jesus told us in Matthew 11:28-29. “Rest here doesn’t mean that we’re doing nothing at all, but depends less on human power, and more on divine power,” said Ps. Kong.
Church Service Summary
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Ps. Kong illustrated this with the help of two volunteers, whom he instructed to bow while putting a long stick on both of their necks. When we are taking Jesus’ yoke, we just follow Him. “If one is not walking in the same direction with Jesus, he’ll find life difficult, “ explained Ps. Kong. Ps. Kong closed his sermon by revealing the third level: “doing things unto God”. Ps. Kong reminded us that this is made possible due to the fact that the Spirit of God dwells within us, as written in 1 Corinthians 3:16. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, Ps. Kong did not reveal the next two adjustments we have to do to abide in God’s presence. He promised to continue the sermon as a series the week after this notes is published. Nevertheless, let us not be content with standing on God’s presence, but let us tweak our life that we “may abide in God’s holy hill”.
photo credit: Jamie Ong
Church Service Summary
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Convenient Halloween Costume Ideas by Yvonne Teo Yen Pin
It’s Halloween time! Just wondering if anybody is as excited as I am, because, come on, when will we have the chance to disguise ourselves as some cool character, going around scaring people whom we don’t know? I know it sounds sick, but there is definitely no harm to have fun once a year, especially since the satisfaction you get when others are “scared to death” because of your excellent disguising skills! However, thinking of what to disguise as always make us drop the idea of being the favourite vampire for Halloween. What’s worse is most of us have no clue on how to look like one, and the most common reason is always the lack of props and costumes. So, the following ideas of cheap and easy Halloween costumes have been inspired from my coltish, yet lazy personality that I embrace!
Recommendations
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Ninja This is the easiest I can think of and all we need is just a piece of black cloth or a shirt. Items 1. Black long sleeve blouse 2. Black long pants 3. Black covered shoes (toms will do) 4. Black piece of cloth or t-shirt 5. A fake plastic sword
I would first tie up my hair real high., not the usual height you’d do for a ponytail.
Get a black piece of cloth; in my case, I am using a t-shirt.
Recommendations
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Tie it around the lower half of your face; remember cut two holes out because you still need to breathe. Ninjas are still humans.
TADAH!
If all else fails, and everyone looks at you as if you’re some weirdo…
You can at least save yourself by saying, “oh! the haze has been bad…” Recommendations
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Evil Queen High-arch brow, pointy nose and sharp chin- these are the traits that make anyone look evil.
I’m tying my hair up like this first, ain’t no evil queen got time for silky and straight hair!
High arch brows Conceal your own eyebrow with foundation/concealer Then draw the highly arch brows insanely high Recommendations
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Lips as dark as the night, where evil awakes.
Line the lower part of your eyes. As darkness seeps into every part of me‌
Recommendations
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AND ALL READY TO HAUNT THE NIGHT! MUHAHAHAHAHA!
Nahhh! Just kidding.
Recommendations
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