17/12/15 Day 5

Despite there being lesser people (missing Lizhou and JiaMin ;-;) today, it was still a good time of discussion and fellowship! So we started the day by with worship (with the songs Heart of Worship and Still) and although I messed up some chords in the songs (paiseh AHAHA), all that matters is that we sing from the heart amirite :)

Afterwards we did devotions on John 5 which reminded us of how just our God is and for me personally, a good reminder that worldly approval does not matter; only the approval of God does (v44). Then, we went into chapter 2 of the book 'On being presbyterian' about the amazing grace of God and the 'doctrines of grace' or also known as TULIP.

T: Total depravity -> we are corrupted and guilty people
U: Unconditional election -> election is not based on any condition
L: Limited Atonement -> limited because only God's chosen people will be saved; not the entire world
I: Irresistible Grace -> Grace given so that we are able to understand the things of God and be saved
P: Perseverance of the Saints-> We need to persevere in our faith; with the help of God

so basically this amazing grace that was given to us would be that through Christ's death and resurrection,we have been made justified, sanctified and redeemed as a child of God. which is quite humbling and amazing as despite being corrupted and guilty beings, God was so merciful that he still gave us salvation through grace!!

Oh one verse that stood out to be today would be Philippians 2: 12-13 which states 'Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed- not only in my presence but now much more in my absence- continue to work out your salvation, with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.' [Which also lead us to the 'imperatives' and 'indicatives' part! Because of the indicatives (things that we know are true about us in Christ), we are called to do imperatives (living in certain ways)]

We also talked about the book Conflict and how conflict can be a redemptive opportunity and shared about our personal experiences and learnt how to engage conflict in a Godly manner instead of ungodly conflicts that arises from our sinful desires (desires such as Comfort, Approval, Success and Power for yourself)

We had a discussion too on the different dominations which I found really interesting! and also to be honest..maybe a little conflicted as there are so many different views and doctrines but I guess they do not matter as much(?) as we are all still christians and believe in the one trinitarian God :')

Yup so today was very meaningful and fruitful! :)

-Odelia Goh