Elements of encouragement - CCF Sharing Night (W10)

Last official CCF Sharing Night. It has been a short 5 years.

JC (8.00p)

• Places with natural disasters, crying out to help
• Wonder what we as Christians should do
• Personally feels that he should enter higher education
• God doesn’t need you for His glory’s sake, but make use of what you are given
• Keep an eye out for the hunger and the sin. When you’re aware, the burden is very great
• There is a lot of alternative beliefs that causes people to feel self-righteous
• God uses the weak to humble the strong
• God doesn’t need short term missions. People near by needs Christ too

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light

-Matthew 11.30

CY (8.11p)

• We are all unique
• Can be very harsh/judgmental on self and others
• Applied to Optometry, God said no
• Thought about a 4^th year thesis, asked some people about it
• Was told by a TA who remembered him and told him that [the TA] was just thinking of recommending him for the thesis position
• God works in many ways
• Avalon – Stay lyrics

SH (8.18p)

• Have been with CCF for 5 years
• Stick with this family, great to see faces that you recognize continuously
• Continue to be part of this family
• God is funny
• Be specific in your prayers
• Pray that you will be used
• Be bold in all situation, you don’t know what kind of difference you are making in others

DM (8.21p)

• Christianity is not a joke
• Was very good at playing Christian at the appropriate times
• Easy to compromise Christian principle, and live Christianly on the side, instead of upfront
• Non-Christians tends to think that Christianity is easy, but it really isn’t
• God will lead you. Do you believe that He has your best interests in mind
  
  
  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
  
  
  
  - Philippian 3.12-14
  
  
  
  
  
• Looking back, would you say that you wished that you were bold for God? Don’t want to regret your time here. Want to be able to say to God that you lived for Him, everyday, and that you gave it your all

AE (8.31p)

• Can’t believe that I’m here, the last sharing night
• Search actively and participate in a fellowship
• It’s possible to be in a fellowship but not really. Have to connect with people and make it your home. Don’t settle with shallow conversations
• University is hard. A lot of different opinions around you. Need to have a foundation, that you can come back to.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

• Exchange to Singapore: first time was away from any spiritual home
• Very hard to live Christianly without any support. Get Christian support, so you don’t falter easy. Chord of 3 strands is not easily broken
• DG is pretty good. Get into one

MN (8.39p)

• Money management and tithing
• What happens when you set goals and reaches it?
• Seems meaningless without God. Materialistic-based goals tends to feel useless, at the end of the day

JC (video)

• Didn’t get into optometry in third year
• Came back for fourth year, got to do frosh cell and various servings
• Life is like a video game. You don’t know what’s coming up. There’s a lot more to level up in
• Realized that he needed to know more, to hunger more for God. Can’t hide real hunger of God from the world

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

- 1 John 3:18-20

• If it’s in His will, it will be done

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"

- Hebrews 13.5-6

JN (9.19p)

• Motivation and goals

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

- Hebrews 12.2

• Very important to be able to preach the Gospel to yourself every day. Reflect and remember what Jesus did.
• Jesus was suffering and stressed and scared, and was fully human, but kept on going because His goal, His love for us
• Matthew 13 – Are you giving up everything to focus on God?
• Keep the Gospel central. Don’t lose sight of it
• Weak without God

M (9.24p)

• Relationship with people (ie parents) have been getting better
• Once started working, become more appreciative of parents
• Gotten closer to CCF also, thanks to DG
• Only have a certain amount of time, so spend it with people that would better you

EW (9.29p)

• A year or so ago, I noticed that every time I hit a low, it was very sucky
• What to do in these situations?
• Was essentially living by herself in Hamilton
• How could her, a Committee member, be going through such hard times? Whereas hearing about how God is working awesomely through people
• Who is God to us? Do we really believe that God is love, peace, salvation and comfort?
• How do we live that out? Remember that there will be good and bad times
• If you are seeking out God daily, there is no doubt that He will meet you, because He has promised you
• If you believe that God died for you, then you have no excuse not to worship in all situations

VN (9.35p)

• Want to say thank you to CCF
• Has been a blessing

KC (9.36p)

• CCF has been great
• Learn to live uncomfortably. We are challenged to do so as Christians. Look to Moses or Gideon; they didn’t want to do what they were called to do, but as we know, God led them to do great things. Talk to people. Expand out of your circle

CM (9.38p)

• Spiritual high from fall retreat -> but crashed afterwards
• Love you God, love your neighbor
• Tend to judge a lot
• Romans 2 – Only God can judge
• Not just about loving strangers. It’s much harder to love the people you know and don’t like

JC (9.45p)

• Give up frustrating things up to God
• Strive to not complain. Learn to see the good and the bad. God teaches us many lessons through these things.
• “A person who is all smiles is most beautiful”
• God has a plan for you. Whatever path you take, He has a way to make it beautiful

AM (9.48p)

We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.

- 2 Thessalonians 3:11

• Praying is important. Think about your parents and their constant prayer for you
• Enjoy time with your parents. They won’t be around forever. Get to know them.

MW J. (9.53p)

• Know that he has changed, but not sure what caused it
• Theme of WR: Actively live out your faith
• Was happy that WR was set so early -> set the stage for the term
• Being challenged about discipline
• What does it mean to live out your faith on your day-to-day life
• Didn’t feel connected with what he was reading in the Bible
• Forcing time to spend time with the Lord in prayer and what not made him feel better
• Was changed. Wasn’t instantaneous. A little every day.
• Whatever you shift up over God becomes your idle

JL (10.37p)

• Remember Lifesong, CCF is capable of some pretty awesome things
• Failing 3B
• Sucks to fail a term
• Left behind
• Don’t give up, no matter how bad things got
• In desperation, God is always there
• But somehow avoided the recession
• Failure comes at us from all directions
• In success, we might forget about God. Don’t forget God
• CCF Theme Song

W (10.50p)

• Got oil anointing at Urbana
• Thought about doing ministry work, but under parental influence, entered engineering
• Felt like he betrayed God, but was told that it’s okay
• What God really wants is a response. Here I am, send me
• Prayed for signs regarding a girl and got them
• Started going out with the girl, but they broke up because she wanted to focus on God
• Burned out after that, but learned and grew
• Our ultimate test: praising Him even in the hard times. Especially in the hard times
• Psalms 42 – verses of encouragement

AT (11.06p)

• Pray to be broken down and reconstructed again
• Voddie Baucham: Brokenness is necessary in the Christian life. Brokenness is when you realize that you need God
• CTI: Going to Asia

M (11.09p)

• Had a close Christian brother who fell away from each other
• Conflicts, misunderstanding
• Move to solve conflicts. Don’t ignore them
• Didn’t feel good, but started meeting with him regularly. Felt fake at first, but got better with more and more sharing
• DG was helpful and supportive
• God is good and faithful, and grants amazing joy
• James 1

SD (11.18pm)

• Isaiah 40
• Easy to lose focus of how great God is
• Get too caught up in thinking that God is our friend and whatnot, and not that He is the Judge of the universe
• Everything in this university emits light, reflects light or only absorbs light. God is the emitter. What are we?
• Had issues with girlfriend -> prayed and lifted it to God -> realized that it doesn’t really matter, and seemed very small once put into perspectives with God

ML (11.26p)

• Went into ER, due to chest pains -> panic attack -> faints
• Doctors don’t know what the problem is
• Withdraw from the term? What should she do? Doesn’t know -> praying about it
• Thank you for the support
  

JT (11.36p)

• In 1B, wanted to keep scholarship, but got sick during exams
• Westcourt (Bily, Jon Lo and Jorge) took care of them over the time period -> felt community
• This led to him doing the same when he took over Westcourt
• Matthew 25.31-46 – Sheep and goats
• If I have inspired you with any sort of caring, carry on the same thing

RB (11.41p)

• Nothing really epic, except for FF13. And DG, I guess
• Verses against complaining -> but how much of what we talk about is complaints?
• Complains about doing very little at work, but really should feel to be thankful, since she actually has work
• Stop complaining for a day and see what difference that would make

SH (11.45p)

• God brings you though many things
• WR was a highlight, serving with the worship team -> was intense
• Recognizing that Christians don’t have it all together necessarily
• Expanded out of comfort zone -> led a Bible study group
• But started thinking about worries and difficulties and past failures
• Didn’t feel that he can lead properly -> Exodus 3 (Calling of Moses)

A (12.04a)

• Don’t sit around and do nothing
• Realized how much God blesses us, amazing opportunities

T (12.06a)

• At WR, realized that this is a special group -> feel that they really care about God
• Thought about the Tower of Babel...if unity of people who didn’t care about God could cause God to worry, what would a united Christian group be able to do?

JK (12.09a)

• Upperyears serving is inspiring -> felt love received from them
• What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

JL (12.10a)

• God loves this fellowship, and God shows His love through this fellowship
• Just tonight, there was many examples and stories shared that backs that up
• How should we respond to a faithful God?
• Back in the day, his dad’s Winnipeg CCF has the Christian Soldier car (only goes forward)
• As a Christian, there is only one direction to go, and that is forward
• God will continue to work as long as you continue to seek Him
• Be strong. Be courageous. Go forward

SC (12.22a)

• Haven’t been doing so well this term, about academics, parents and emotionally
• Don’t know where she is being led, even though she used to be really good at hearing God
• Usually, a lot of people around you are going through similar things that you are. Even if there isn’t, God understands
• Seek God in prayer and worship and sermons
• Thankful for sisters that she can be transparent with
• Romans 8.28-39 – even in hardship, God is working
• He who began good work will bring it to completion

MMC (12.35a)

• Struggling with “love the Lord with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your might”
• When you act in love, the other person can feel it
• Are you really giving your all to God? Are you really focused on Him?
• If He asks you if He is everything, and you reply with “uhh...maybe”, then you’re not doing it
• If you truly understand God’s love, then your answer wouldn’t just be “uhh maybe”

AW (12.42a)

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

- Hebrews 12.7-11

• This life isn’t about you
• Sometimes wish that we only have to learn lessons once and be done with it
• Put all your efforts into eliminating sin, or else it will eliminate you

KW (12.47a)

• Talking about worship at Westcourt
• Is reading the Bible or praying during musical worship still worship? Yes, of course
• What about having normal music mixed in with worship songs?
• Are you only a Sunday Christian? That’s just a foolish sacrifice
• Do you only sing because everyone else is?
• When you are worshiping, are you only thinking about God? What is worship? Who are you worshiping?

MW (12.52a)

• What God do you worship? How well do you know Him?
• Do you praise Him in both your highs and lows? When you have nothing else, would you still hold onto God?
• Job: The Lord gives and the Lord takes away
• If you lost everything, would you still onto God? Do you worship a God that serves you? Or do you worship a God that is glorified in everything?

JH (12.57a)

• Thought she had a solid foundation, but faltered totally after coming to university
• Felt that she conformed to the world -> too ashamed to stand before God
• Other people who saw her do these things questioned her Christianity
• Urbana showed that she was being a passive Christian
• Parents are quite a blessing -> new years resolution is to honour your parents more
• If you love your parents, let them know
• Look past little personal things and don’t be selfish
• Don’t lose sight with who is the slave and who is the Master
• Prayer is important. Need to pray with faith
• Ecclesiastes 5.2 – Let your words be few

HL (1.08a)

• After reading the Gospels, you Act it out
• CCF in the 1980s: they had 300+ members, with Saturday preaching fellowships. CCF is declining, and the older generation (previous CCF generations) was not happy
• Forgave the people (prof/coordinator) who failed them in first year
• Last year at Food Cell, no one showed up. Was asked, why do you serve? It is a thankless job, and suppose to be. It is not about us. It is about God
• Pray for everything
• If God is for us, who can be against us?

PC (1.20a)

• More detailed post, found here
• Double check everything with Scripture

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

- 1 John 2.15-17

• A worldly tone has been set in the Christian environment
• Christians are suppose to be set apart and different from the people around them (Deuteronomy 4.1-14)
• But Israel failed to be set apart
• Are we just doing the same type of things as non-Christians are? Are we different?
• A newcomer to CCF: “members of CCF can be seen plastered all over Facebook, acting like drunkards, players and sluts”
• “In the world, not of world” -> Daniel stood apart, even though he was in a foreign environment
• The only real difference between now and the past is that their idols are physical and ours are not
• What you take in, watch, think about (you are what you eat)...maybe that’s why our prayer life is in shambles
• Don’t justify sin. The stuff taught in the Bible is not optional
• “Are we Christians?”

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

- 2 Corinthians 13.5

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

- Galatian 6.14

• Has your faith cost you anything? Reputation? Etc. It should be.
• What are the fruits you are producing?

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

- Matthew 7.21

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

- Matthew 7.13-14

JQ (1.39a)

• CCF has been transforming
• As eldest in the family, takes on the role of the duty achievers
• Doing little things doesn’t really matter. What is your motivation?
• Why do you do devotions?
• Do we focus too much on logistics and the event?
• Aim to grow into the likeness of Christ
• Invest in people
• Be sensitive to the Spirit
• Life is tough. Learn to rejoice.