Grill a Christian, October 15

WHY.

An evangelistic opportunity for siblings, friends, colleagues to come hear

The Good News & why we believe what we believe.

WHAT.

A casual Saturday evening BBQ,

with time for guests to ask five of Mt Carmel’s young adults any question at all about Christianity.

WHO.

All are Welcome!

(though young adults from 18-30s will probably be most comfortable)

HOW.

With much prayer, the help of many (more volunteers still needed)

& the amazing grace and power of our LORD!

Spirit Touch Your Church

We sang this in church today, Youth Sunday. I haven't sung it in ages, but really feel that it encapsulates a lot of what at least in the YAM committee we've been talking and praying about. Funnily enough, first video of the song I looked at on youtube came with a slideshow of (rather old) photos of our city! I like that Joel & team led it in a faster tempo than this one though (:

Lord, we need Your grace and mercy
We need to pray like never before
We need the power of Your Holy Spirit
To open Heaven's door

Spirit touch Your church,

Stir the hearts of men
Revive us Lord with Your passion once again
I want to care for others
Like Jesus cares for me
Let your rain fall upon me

Lord we humbly come before You
We don't deserve of You what we ask
But we urge to see Your glory
Restore this dying land

stethoscope

what do you hear? (:

Voting to the glory of God

It's been an exciting week in Singapore hasn't it! Many of us will be voting on Saturday. Many, perhaps, for the first time.

Here's a compilation of links to articles which I hope will help us think through how we can vote in a way that glorifies God, remembering 1 Corinthians 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." and Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him".

Articles from 2010 and 2008, before the UK and US elections

1. How can we vote to the glory of God?

2. Let Christians vote as though they were not voting

3. God and the election

4. Christian duty and politics

5. How should Christians Vote

6. Thinking Christianly about Politics

7. On Christians in the Public Square

Articles from two Christian bloggers here in Singapore, before GE2011:

1. Thoughts for cooling-off day

2. A guide to voting

Happy reading, and voting, and let's persevere in praying for our country! 

Adapting slightly, for Singapore, John Piper's prayer for the election back in 2008:

Father in heaven, as we approach this election on Saturday, we pray: 

1) that your people will vote, 

2) and that they will vote with a sense of thankfulness for a democratic system that at least partially holds in check the folly and evil in all our hearts so that power which corrupts so readily is not given to people too easily; 

3) that we would know and live the meaning of
- being in the world, but not of it,
- doing politics as though not doing them,
- being on the earth, yet having our lives hidden with Christ in God,
- rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s 

4) that we would discern what truths and values should advance by being made law and which should advance only by the leavening of honest influence; 

5) that your people would see what love and justice and far-seeing wisdom demand in regard to the issues of education, business and industry, health care, marriage and family, abortion, welfare, energy, government and taxes, military, terrorism, international relations, and every challenge that we will face in the years to come; 

6) and above all, that we will treasure Jesus Christ, and tell everyone of his sovereignty and supremacy over all nations, and that long after Singapore is a footnote to the future world, he will reign with his people from every tribe and tongue and nation. 

Keep us faithful to Christ’s all important Word, and may we turn to it every day for light in these dark times. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Are you an Adult?

Here's a video from a young adults' community in a church halfway across the globe from us, flagged on the Boundless blog by Martha Krienke who writes:

You've heard it said before: "Sociologists traditionally define the 'transition to adulthood' as marked by five milestones: completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying and having a child" (The New York Times, August 2010). I agree that these are all important markers in a person's life. But what about those of us who have only completed two, three or four of the milestones? Is a college graduate who moves home to search for a job not an adult? What about a 30-something who is single? Or a newlywed couple who is unable to have children? There's something fishy to me about basing adulthood on these milestones, which is why I was pleased to recently come across a sermon that describes adulthood differently.

So if you've got about 30 min to spare, the speaker considers these 5 counter-cultural, biblical ideas on adulthood:

1. Life is hard. (John 16:33)
2. You're not that important - your life matters for the sake of others, not yourself. (Romans 9:20)
3. Your life is not about you. (Galatians 2:20)
4. You're not in control - trade control for courage. (Job 37)
5. You're going to die. (James 4:13-15)

5 Things Adulthood from Axis on Vimeo.

Upcoming events and other updates!

The month of April has been a busy month for everyone with exams, elections and what not, so the YAM comm has decided to take a short break and postpone our events to May. To help relieve us from all the stress that the past month has brought, and to celebrate the end of exams (for those of us who are schooling), we've decided to have a really fun social event for May...LASER TAG!!! We have engaged an external vendor to come down to church (the Clementi Woods Park actually) and bring their laser guns and equipment for us to play. It'll be awesome fun!! If you're interested, do note down the date (21st May; meet at 4pm in church) and make yourself available!

Our 2nd event is a sequel to the YAM small group workshop we had several weeks ago. The purpose of this YAM small group workshop is for CG members to come and share the struggles that their CG has faced/is currently facing so that we can all learn from one another and through our sharings, help to encourage and support one another. We've received favorable feedback from the first workshop and we hope that through this workshop, more members and their CGs will be blessed. If you did not attend the 1st workshop which was held several weeks back, we'll like to encourage you to take time to pray about coming. For those who attended the first workshop, this 2nd workshop is not a repeat workshop. More information about the agenda of the workshop will be posted soon. In the meantime, do jot down the dates in your diary; it's the 28th May, from 11am-1pm. Lunch is provided!!!

For registration for the above 2 events, please register through your CG leader. Your CG leader will then let us know via email. Please note that the deadline of registration is the 15th of May for Laser Tag and the 22nd of May for the small group CG workshop. For those who do not belong to any CG, if you're interested in any of the events, you may register via email at mountcarmel.yam@gmail.com :)

Now for other updates! The CG committee would like some feedback from CGs as well as their members on mentorship. There are 2 forms that we would like everyone to help fill in. The first is an online form for EVERYONE to fill in regarding individual mentorship. CG leaders, please help to inform your members that they need to complete this form. The second is a Word document for CGLs to Print and discuss during CG, regarding mentorship for the whole care group. For this, each CG should only submit one form. CG leaders, you should have received the word document in your email. Please take time to go through the care group mentorship form with your entire CG so that everyone gets a say in the matter. Please transfer all your CG's answers into the softcopy word document and email it back to the yam email address. ALL FORMS ARE TO BE COMPLETED BY END APRIL AND SUBMITTED IN SOFT COPY!

Individual Mentorship Form: https://spreadsheets0.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en&hl=en&formkey=dHBNLWJDOGlvbG5SMmdkbXRDcWJod1E6MQ#gid=0

And for those who have yet to fill in our YAM registration form please do so here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dERqVjJJYU5OV3VjSWVyVkRmbFVmMGc6MQ#gid=0

As the YAM Comm will be planning programs with the information provided in all survey/registration forms, please fill them in as quickly and accurately as possible. Help us to help you. :)

Have a great week ahead!

Gospel Coalition 2011 Conference

The Gospel Coalition is an organization made up of evangelical churches that are deeply concerned with the world's influence on the church today and how churches can continue to remain rooted in Christ and his Word (the bible). Every year, the Gospel Coalition will conduct a conference to promote gospel advocacy, encouragement and education so that church leaders (young and old) can be better equipped to lead their ministries with principles and practices that will glorify God and benefit those that God has died for.

This year's conference, which was held in Chicago, covered a wide range of topics including business leadership, counseling and sharing the gospel with Muslims. Many of these workshops were conducted by renowned speakers such as John Piper, Don Carson, Tim Keller, Matt Chandler and so on.

Even though the conference was held overseas and thus many of us were not able to attend, the Gospel Coalition has kindly uploaded the audio clips of these sessions onto their website for us to listen and be blessed by the message of the speakers. To listen to all the plenary sessions and workshops of the conference, do visit http://thegospelcoalition.org/conferences/2011-media. Even if you're not a church leader, I'm sure God can use these messages to benefit you in some way.

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

Psalm 119

Did you perhaps pick up the Bible this morning to read a chapter or two (or flicked through a couple of pages on your phone as the case may be)? Did you, in reading that bit of Scripture come across words which conveyed truth in a way they hadn't previously, or words which convicted you of sin, uplifted your spirit, showed you more of who God is, stirred you to praise?

God's word is living, we know it, we give thanks for it! But I wonder how many of us, with Bibles so widely available in English, have ever felt what the people in this video felt, receiving the New Testament in their own language for the very first time?

Have a look at this amazing video of the Kimyal tribe, living in the Eastern Highlands of West Papua in Indonesia (not so far away from where we are really). Their joy, their tears, their gratitude.... May these scenes of brothers and sisters' great rejoicing move us to love and treasure God's Word more!

Gold-medal effort

Hi all,

Here's a sharing from Evan. Hope all of you will be blessed by this devotion: http://odb.org/2011/03/28/gold-medal-effort/ 

It talks about how serving God (no matter where we are) encompasses being gracious to others and loving others. The greatest 2 commandments in the bible is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" and to "love your neighbour as yourself". May we be able to serve God daily by emulating and demonstrating to others God's love and grace as we learn each day when it means to be more and more Christ-like :) May we also learn to do things for God's glory, rather than for our personal gain.

Theology of Work

Here's a four-part series on "A Theology of Work" from The Gospel Coalition Blog, just as a follow-up of sorts to Timothy's message on marketplace ministry this morning. Some excerpts below but do click through the links for more. Hope this blesses you as Monday draws near again.


What Are You Called to Do? A Theology of Work

It wasn’t until a few years later that someone pointed out to me an interesting fact: the root of the English word vocation is the Latin verb voca, which means “to call.” The linguistic evidence shows that at some point in history, people thought of every type of work as a “calling." Whether you are a minister or a mechanic, you do not work because it pays the bills, or because it’s personally fulfilling, or because it justifies the money you spent on college tuition. You work because it glorifies God. 

Created for Work

Theologians call Genesis 1:27-28 the “cultural mandate.” God is mandating that humans will create culture. Adam and Eve will produce children. Those children will create families, and those families will band together into cities and social networks. Those networks of human beings will reflect all the aspects of human culture—language and art and music and food and philosophy and theology. 

It is no accident that the ultimate biblical picture of redeemed humanity involves a city (Rev. 21:2). A city reflects human culture in its most developed and complex forms. God’s purpose for humanity started in a garden, but it culminates in a great cultural center.

Work Cursed and Redeemed

Because of the Fall, work is hard. Work involves sweat and toil, thorns and thistles. Or, if you prefer, work involves stress and overtime and belligerent bosses and mundane meetings. Not everything in the world of work is as it should be. Work has been cursed. But work is still good. 

It’s important that we see both the goodness of work in God’s original creation and the struggle of work under the Fall. If we only see the good, we’ll be frustrated when things don’t go as they should. If we only see the bad, we’ll have a hard time doing our work to the glory of God. Work is not all good, and it’s not all bad. It is part of God’s good creation, which has been tainted by the Fall. And God is at work to redeem work.

A Theology for Monday Morning

Being a rancher is no less glorifying to God than being a minister. If you’re going to be a rancher, I hope you approach your work with the same sense of calling as my friend David. Raise cattle to the glory of God, already! If ranching isn’t your thing, then do whatever is your thing with a God-entranced vision of vocation. As Paul said to the Colossians, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men. . . . It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Col. 3:23-24). And that’s true whether you’re preaching sermons or branding cattle or selling stocks.

Japan

Some of us, I know, have been to Japan (as tourists, on mission trips) and love the country. For them, but also for everyone else who has seen the horrifying footage and photos, here's a small summary of prayer points and links to read and think over, pray and act on.

WHAT can we do?

1. PRAY. Prayer is never the last thing we do, it's always the first and most powerful. We can pray knowing that our Almighty and compassionate God hears and answers. A few prayer points:

• Pray for mercy, that as many lives among those still stranded and missing will be saved.
• Pray for the injured, that medical help will reach them swiftly.
• Pray for God's comfort for the grieving, who have lost loved ones
• Pray for His comfort to the fearful, those who have had to evacuate, those who fear the after-effects (radiation, fires, etc...)
• Pray for wisdom and clarity among all the different people/agencies getting involved in rescue and relief work there, as well as for Japan's government.
• Pray for the church in Japan, for strength and for the ability to be a light. Pray for the people of Japan, for grace to come to know Jesus Christ and a lasting salvation.

2. GIVE. There are so many out there, so here are just three avenues for those who may wish to give materially to relief efforts: 

• Red Cross I'm sure everyone's heard of.
• World Vision is sending shelter, food and hygiene supplies to Japan. Its focus is on children and so intends to provide psychological support to affected children.
• JEMA affliated CRASH works through local Japanese churches to help those in affected communities and areas.

WHY did all this happen?

From bethinking.org:

"2011 Earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan...2011 Earthquakes in New Zealand...2011 Flooding in Queensland, Australia...2010 Earthquake in Haiti...The list could go on. The question naturally arises: If God is so good, how come He allows these natural disasters to cause such death, pain and devastation? But there are some responses we can make as we consider this difficult question. " 

Some responses here, here and here.

From blogs out there:

• God and the Japan Tsunami of 2011
• 10 ways a Christian should respond

What To Know When You're 25(ish)

Here's a sharing that I think will be applicable to everyone even if you're not 25 (yet or anymore) Thanks Lydia, for sharing this :)

What To Know When You're 25(ish)

Here are the things really worth caring about in your 20s.

Editor's note: This week, we're taking a look at some of the "Best of RELEVANTMagazine.com" from 2010. This article is our most read ever. Period. End of story. It clearly hit many of you (and us) right where you're at—approaching, at, or just past your late 20s, trying to figure out what it's all meant and where you go from here. Most of you really resonated with Shauna's thoughts, though some of you had quibbles with some of her emphases. But read it over again, and chime in below. The year might be almost over, but the conversation can keep going.

When you’re 25-ish, you’re old enough to know what kind of music you love, regardless of what your last boyfriend or roommate always used to play. You know how to walk in heels, how to tie a necktie, how to give a good toast at a wedding and how to make something for dinner. You don’t have to think much about skin care, home ownership or your retirement plan. Your life can look a lot of different ways when you’re 25: single, dating, engaged, married. You are working in dream jobs, pay-the-bills jobs and downright horrible jobs. You are young enough to believe that anything is possible, and you are old enough to make that belief a reality.

Job

Now is the time to figure out what kind of work you love to do. What are you good at? What makes you feel alive? What do you dream about? You can go back to school now, switch directions entirely. You can work for almost nothing, or live in another country, or volunteer long hours for something that moves you. There will be a time when finances and schedules make this a little trickier, so do it now. Try it, apply for it, get up and do it.

When I was 25, I was in my third job in as many years—all in the same area at a church, but the responsibilities were different each time. I was frustrated at the end of the third year because I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do next. I didn’t feel like I’d found my place yet. I met with my boss, who was in his 50s. I told him how anxious I was about finding the one perfect job for me, and quick. He asked me how old I was, and when I told him I was 25, he told me that I couldn’t complain to him about finding the right job until I was 32. In his opinion, it takes about 10 years after college to find the right fit, and anyone who finds it earlier than that is just plain lucky. So use every bit of your 10 years: try things, take classes, start over.

Relationships

Now is also the time to get serious about relationships. And “serious” might mean walking away from the ones that don’t give you everything you need. Some of the most life-shaping decisions you make in this season will be about walking away from good-enough, in search of can’t-live-without. One of the only truly devastating mistakes you can make in this season is staying with the wrong person even though you know he or she is the wrong person. It’s not fair to that person, and it’s not fair to you.

Counseling

Twenty-five is also a great time to start counseling, if you haven’t already, and it might be a good round two of counseling if it’s been a while. You might have just enough space from your parents to start digging around your childhood a little bit. Unravel the knots that keep you from living a healthy whole life, and do it now, before any more time passes.

Church

Twenty-five is the perfect time to get involved in a church you love, no matter how different it is from the one you were a part of growing up. Be patient and prayerful, and decide that you’re going to be a person who grows, who seeks your own faith, who lives with intention. Set your alarm on Sunday mornings, no matter how late you were out on Saturday night. It will be dreadful at first, and then after a few weeks, you’ll find that you like it, that the pattern of it fills up something inside you.

Don't get stuck

This is the thing: when you start to hit 28 or 30, everything starts to divide, and you can see very clearly two kinds of people: on one side, people who have used their 20s to learn and grow, to find God and themselves and their deep dreams, people who know what works and what doesn’t, who have pushed through to become real live adults. And then there’s the other kind, who are hanging onto college, or high school even, with all their might. They’ve stayed in jobs they hate, because they’re too scared to get another one. They’ve stayed with men or women who are good but not great, because they don’t want to be lonely. They mean to find a church, they mean to develop honest, intimate friendships, they mean to stop drinking like life is one big frat party. But they don’t do those things, so they live in kind of an extended adolescence, no closer to adulthood than they were when they graduated college.

Don’t be like that. Don’t get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. Walk away, try something new. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don’t lose yourself at happy hour, but don’t lose yourself on the corporate ladder either. Stop every once in a while and go out to coffee or climb in bed with your journal. Ask yourself some good questions like: “Am I proud of the life I’m living? What have I tried this month? What have I learned about God this year? What parts of my childhood faith am I leaving behind, and what parts am I choosing to keep with me for this leg of the journey? Do the people I’m spending time with give me life, or make me feel small? Is there any brokenness in my life that’s keeping me from moving forward?”

Now is your time. Become, believe, try. Walk closely with people you love, and with other people who believe that God is very good and life is a grand adventure. Don’t spend time with people who make you feel like less than you are. Don’t get stuck in the past, and don’t try to fast-forward yourself into a future you haven’t yet earned. Give today all the love and intensity and courage you can, and keep traveling honestly along life’s path.

Taken from Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist Copyright © 2010. Used by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com

On Joseph, and Attitude.

Hi everyone, Evan has sent in something that he wants to share with everyone. If you also have some material that you want to share with all of us yammers, do write in to us too - mountcarmel.yam@gmail.com. Hope you'll find this write-up below useful for your spiritual growth :)

As my CG studies the last portions of the book of Genesis, about Joseph's life, I would like to share with you one of the biggest takeaways we can learn from him. 

This relates to what Joseph went through, sold into slavery by his own brothers, wrongly sent to prison for sleeping with Potiphar's wife (When he did not) and how he reacted. We can apply this to everything in our lives too, in every situation. 

Charles R Swindoll, president of Dallas Theological Seminary said: 

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” 

I pray that our attitude, is to live a life for God and to trust him in all circumstances, good and bad. Just like Joseph.

Update on upcoming events!

The YAM committee has recently met up to discuss about the past events and we've made some changes to some of our upcoming events, so please take note of the following changes/announcements:

1) To all CG leaders and assistant CG leaders, please note that the CG leaders' meeting scheduled for April has been pushed forward to March 13 (Sunday). This meeting is an opportunity for you to share with us how your CG is doing and your needs as a CG/ACG leader. We will also be sharing with you more about the Equipping Workshop that will happen the week after (March 20). If both of you can't come, please send a representative from your CG :)

2) With regards to the Equipping Workshop on March 20, we are currently looking for Senior Yammers to volunteer to facilitate. As a facilitator, you will be asked to share your experience with the younger yammers so we can all help each other (and out CGs) to grow spiritually :)

3) The results of the YAM events poll are out! The top 3 activities that you've voted for are paintball, picnic and sea sports. Thank you for participating in this poll and we will keep you in touch via our updates about when these events will be happening when the date draws nearer.  

4) Our YAM retreat is confirmed! We'll be having our YAM retreat in conjunction with church camp this year, mark these dates down and try to make it for these dates: 15-18 June. For the sake of (camp) publicity, I've been asked to keep the venue a secret, so if you want to know where on earth we'll be going to, do look out for the church camp announcements :)  Oh..please also pray that God will provide a suitable candidate to be our camp commandant for our retreat. If you would like to volunteer, please drop us an email: mtcarmel.yam@gmail.com :) Remember, it's a privilege to use your talents and gifts for God's kingdom.


That's all I have for now. Please pray about the 4 issues I've just mentioned and think about volunteering your services to help the YAM ministry. Thanks and God bless  

Reflections on YAM-Nexus V-day event: Undying Love

This is Rebecca here, and I think I'll start the ball rolling on reflecting about the v-day event that has just passed. Personally, I believe that God has blessed our ministries and this event a lot. Thank God for the wonderful food, fantastic entertainment and the awesome company we had despite the not-so-big numbers. I was especially touched by the message on the book of Hosea, that was introduced very nicely by Leonard through the poem (which he personally penned) and through the Gomer's song. Before the event, I did not know much about the book of Hosea, except that it was about this prophet who was asked to marry a prostitute and to love her with all of his heart. I found the book to be confusing, like "how come it was talking about Hosea and his wife and then suddenly went to talk about Israel?" and "why such a holy man was asked to love such a sinful woman? Weren't we asked to shun evil? And why did Hosea did marry Gomer if he knew that she had so much tendency to leave him for other men?"

I think Ps Jabez's message that evening brought a lot of clarity to me. He explained that the main purpose of the Hosea story was to be an object lesson for the nation of Israel, showing to them (visually and metaphorically) that even though they may stray away and betray God just as Gomer betrayed Hosea, God (like Hosea), is faithful and just and will forgive us if we repent and come back to Him. What amazing love!! Overall, it was an amazing night, we all had fun, and I would like to express my thanks to all who've helped and came for the event :)

The V-day event

Thanks everyone who came, hope you enjoyed the evening!

If you have any thoughts to share (from tonight), do let us know.

We leave you with some photos from the evening here (more to come shortly), and the poem Leonard penned and read out tonight, before singing Michael Card's Song of Gomer.

Gomer – Wife of Hosea

Once upon a time, the word from God it came

To a man who lived in Israel, Hosea was his name

He was told to marry an unfaithful wife

To love and keep her all his life

To love her each and every day,

Despite her willful, cheating ways

To care and protect, all for love’s sake

To love her though his heart may break

To love her, though, she, beguiled by sin

Sought others to satisfy her lust within

But no betrayal could change his tender love

For it came from Heaven up above

And through this tale, God shared the grief

He feels when we reject Him and our own lives live

Yet despite the corrupt ways we live,

God’s love to us, He longs to give

In a sinful and a faithless age

God longs to show us better days

To show us love, so unrestrained

To touch our lives, to heal our pain

To walk beside us, to share our load

To forgive our sins, to redeem our souls

To cleanse us so our hearts can sing

To lift us up on eagles’ wings

That one day we may live with Him

With no more shame, and no more sin

A YAMmer's reflections on the YAM welcome dinner

As promised, a sharing by one of our yammers about how he felt, bringing friends to our YAM event :) To Zhi Yang, many thanks for sharing this with us!!!

The recent YAM event at Temasek Club was a great success! It was a great place and atmosphere and of course, GREAT FOOD! As some of you all might know, I brought 3 exchange students from the Octopus ministry and I really thank God for the timing of this event. The previous week was the first Octopus meeting and I advertised  the YAM event then. During the week, one of the exchange students, Gosia, emailed me to let me know she was coming and was bringing 2 friends! So Praise God! 

Overall, the feedback I got from the exchange students was very positive. When I drove one of them back, I asked him what he thought of the event. He said that he really enjoyed himself and he was really surprised how friendly everyone was. His previous experience of church was just a normal Sunday service, “come, listen, go” and there was never an opportunity to interact with the Christians around. So I think this event really helped to change his perspective on church. Besides that, he is also interested in coming for future events.

So I want to say Thank you to everyone who made the effort to reach out and be friendly to these people! I guess we (myself included) sometimes underestimate the importance of these pre-evangelistic events. Sometimes, non-christians have a perception that church is just a building that people come on Sunday to worship and that’s it! But I guess events like these really show that the body of Christ is ultimately made up of people and it is the love for God and the love for people that ultimately defines Christianity.

So I would like to encourage everyone to bring your friends and more importantly to engage your CGs in helping to make your friends feel welcome. What I did before the event was to let my CG know that I was bringing 3 newcomers and ask for their help in “taking care” of these people. So that way, you do not have to worry about your friends feeling left out!

Britt Nicole - Walk on the Water

Hello everyone!!

Just want to share a song I found on one of our yammers' facebook post. This song was written to encourage all of us to step out of our comfort zone (by faith) to do the work that God has placed in our hearts to do. I thought that it is very apt for me to post this song today, since it's Dedication Sunday and I hope that through this song, more of us will be encouraged to take the step of faith to serve God despite our busy schedules :) So here's the song, do enjoy and let the words speak to you..

Online Resources for CGs

In YAM, our CGs are all about young adults living life together. It's a great blessing to have brothers and sisters who're at the same stage in life to learn from, share with and grow alongside. Other times though, it can feel like we're all no more clued in than the next person as to how to run the CG, how to resolve conflict in groups, how to decide who should lead bible studies and so on.

Here are just a couple of resources that we think *might* help. Nothing beats continually praying, being guided by the Holy Spirit and learning as we go along of course, but these offer ways to think through things + tips/ideas that might help. So here goes!

1. SmallGroups.com

What this is: Run by the inter-denominational Christianity Today International, this site pulls together tons of resources for small groups. Start here to find out more about their free training materials, assessments, leadership tips, tools to help plan CG meetings, and a regularly updated blog on small group dynamics.

Check out: Loads of potentially useful stuff, but here's a free-for-now e-training module on starting a small group (may be especially useful for BOND cg!)

2. Threads

What this is: Run by Lifeway Christian Resources, Threads calls itself "a community of young adults - people whose lives are marked by our passion for community, connection, responsibility and depth." Such a community, rooted in Christ - that's what we want YAM to be! Anyway, beyond material on leading a CG, this site also has a blog with articles and devotions targeted at young adults in their 20s and 30s.

Check out: Just as a taster, here's an article on connecting in between CG meetings and another devotional on living for Christ - part of a series Downhere (excellent band if you're not already acquainted with them btw!) wrote for Threads.

We've got more to share another time, but if you've any you've been using regularly do share them in the comments or email us.

Also, save the date!! 20 MARCH 2010, SUNDAY AFTERNOON, in CBC

This will be the first in a series of workshops to equip anyone interested in helping to build up their CGs. See you there!

UPDATE: "Undying Love" V-day event

Hello everyone!! One week has almost gone by. How has God blessed you this week? Well, God has blessed our ministry in one way this past week. Remember I mentioned that YAM and NEXUS are co-organizing our Valentine's Day event? Well, we've received feedback from you that the prices were too high ($15 for students/NSFs; $25 for working adults). The committee was worried that this would deter people from coming for the event, yet at the same time, we were tight on our budget and didn't really know if reducing the cost was the way to go. But thank God that He provided a way out of this problem for us, and now the prices for the event are reduced to the following: $10 for students/NSFs and $20 for working adults!!

We really hope that as many of you will come and join us (we understand that some of you are helping our with the youths' Valentines' Day event as well). Do invite your friends along too, so they can be blessed through the message and our fellowship :) More details of the event are as follows:

Date: 12th Feb

Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Venue: Singapore Polytechnic Graduates' Guild
1010 Dover Road, Singapore (139658)


Registration has been open this week and will continue till next Sunday. Please register either at the registration booth after service, through your CGLs or through our facebook page. Join us to find out more about this love we all can enjoy, whether single, attached or married :)

New Year's Dinner + Events to Come

Hello everyone!!

Yesterday the yammers had our first welcome dinner of the year! Thank God for providing us with a place with a cozy atmosphere and for the good turn-out. About 55 of us turned up at the Outpost@ Temasek Club and we had a good time mingling, enjoying the good food and getting to know the new friends. We had about 7 newcomers yesterday, do continue to bring your friends for all our activities! For some reflections from the yammers who brought their friends, stay tuned for the upcoming entries :)

During the night, representatives from each YAM CG (care group) shared about how their CGs got their names, the meaning behind the names, the age range of their members and what they do. Each of the CGs have very meaningful names, like D'Vine (which means disciples of the Vine), BOND (which means Band of New Disciples), etc. The YAM committee head, Evan, also introduced the YAM committee (Shi Ning, Sarah, You Kai, Sharmaine, Natalia, Ting Yun and Rebecca), their roles (YAM social events: Shi Ning, Sarah, You Kai; YAM CG support: Sharmaine, Natalia, Ting Yun; YAM collaborations: Rebecca and Ps Dixon) and what we've got planned for the year.

Our next event on the calendar is a partnership with the Nexus committee: YAM-Nexus Valentines' Day (Again, more in the posts to come!). Rebecca also shared with everyone present about the YAM blog (the one that you're reading now) and the new YAM facebook page. Both are to provide interactive avenues for you to obtain information regarding upcoming events AND the chance to voice your opinions and raise suggestions. We'll be checking regularly and listening carefully!! The blog also has links to other resources -- for bible study, devotionals for your quiet time, etc.

Just 2 more things:
1. If you are not in any CG and would like to join one, please drop us an email at mountcarmel.yam@gmail.com and we will try and find a suitable CG for you :)

2. We want your suggestions on:
(a) songs for a playlist in our blog,
(b) what to do for our social events in April, May & July (Click here to take survey).

Do send in your suggestions (via facebook page, the blog or email), we'll make sure they're heard!
Have a wonderful week ahead :)

Heyhey, do you have a christian song that you love to listen to over and over again? Share with us so we can include it in a playlist for the YAM blog :)

Update on YAM welcome dinner

Hey all!!

Hope the week that has almost past has been wonderful thus far :) Just a reminder to everyone that our YAM welcome dinner Feast of New & Rediscovered Blessings is this coming Sat!! For all those who are coming, if you do not know by now, we do have a dress code: smart causal. This means that no shorts, bermudas, nor slippers are allowed. Please do dress nicely since we'll be going to Temasek Club :) For those who are travelling by the chartered bus, please be in church punctually by 6pm, so that we can start the programme on time. For those who are coming by your own, please arrive punctually too, by 6.30pm. The event will end at 10.30pm, but we also welcome you to stay back and mingle with the rest if you're not in a rush to get home.

If you would like to join us or if you know of a friend who wants to join us, but you/they have yet to register, please let us know via email (mountcarmel.yam@gmail.com) or post on our facebook event page (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=189476554396004&num_event_invites=0) so that we can note your attendance. Also, for those who have not paid, please remember to bring $10 and pay at the registration booth on that day.

We look forward to having a wonderful time of fellowship with one another, a great opportunity to welcome the new yammers, and a chance to update everyone about the YAM ministry, its committee and all the exciting events that you can look forward to in the rest of the year. The CGLs (care group leaders) will also be sharing a little about their groups and how (if you are not in one) you may join the group.

Have a wonderful mid-week and hope to see all of you on Saturday!!

YAM welcome dinner - Feast of New & Rediscovered Blessings

Hi YAMmers!!

Time really flies, doesn’t it? Have you stopped to reflect and count the blessings that God has given you in the past year? We’re now in 2011, everyone has gotten 1 year older and we have new members in YAM from the Youth. As some of you may know, we have completely revamped the structure of YAM and have formed a new YAM committee for the year ahead. So to kick things off with this fresh start, we will be organising a New Year’s Dinner to usher in the new year, new YAM members, and new YAM committee!

We hope you can take some time off to have a nice meal with friends and to give thanks for the things that have happened in the past year. Come and join us for our Feast of New & Rediscovered Blessings as we gather with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to dine, renew old friendships and forge new ones, and re-vitalise our YAM ministry. (There will be a live band playing the whole night, just for you!)

Evan (our committee head) will be sharing all the exciting events that you can look forward to and participate in this new year with you. Also, we want to hear what you expect or would like to see for YAM and this would be a great time to express that. We’d love to have you join us, so sign up at our booth this Sunday either individually or through your CG leaders (if you’re in a CG). You can also sign up through our facebook group or drop us an email at mountcarmel.yam@gmail.com. Hope to hear your replies soon!! Payments to be made on registration. If registering online, payment to be made at the door or to Pastor Dixon.

Details of event:
Place: Temasek Club (The Outpost)
1 Portsdown Road

Date/Time: 22^nd Jan (Sat) 6:30pm-10:30pm

Cost: $10 per person

Transport:
One-way transportation provided – meet at church at 6pm
If you’re coming on your own, take Bus 191 (opp Buona Vista MRT) and alight 5 stops later

Hope to see you there!! :)

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone,

It's a new year!

If you're wondering what's happening with YAM this year... you'll hear more very, very soon about the dinner party we're throwing to welcome the newly-minted young adults coming on board from the Youth side of things, as well as anyone else who's been around church but isn't yet familiar with YAM.

Evan (our new committee head) will tell us more then about what to expect, plus the many opportunities you'll get to step up and serve in YAM. We're also hoping the various young adult care-groups will get to share about what's been happening in their cg-lives.

Anyway, the new year brings a jump-start for this blog!

We hope for it to be a platform not just to keep us all up to speed with what's happening YAM-wise, but also to share resources that'll help us run with perseverance the race marked out for us and keep us looking to Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2, otherwise known as what's beneath our church logo.)

New links to resources we think may be helpful have been added (see blog's right side-bar). Do check those out and let us know what you think - good/bad, helpful/not so helpful? And anyone who'd like to write, redesign, spruce up this blog - do get in touch!

Those on Facebook may also have noticed the new Mount Carmel Young Adults' Ministry page - to which all blog posts are automatically linked as "Notes". Again, feedback/suggestions/ideas would be great!

All new plans and pages aside though, Mt Carmel YAM is really about the people isn't it? And we pray we'll be a group of young people truly following Jesus, loving one another. Lyrics from that song "Hosanna" come to mind too: "I see a generation/Rising up to take their place/With selfless faith/With selfless faith..." Let's be that generation, in 2011.