Some reflections about the Christmas multimedia (MM)

During the altar call during the Christmas service, think the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart this sentence: "Doing this MM thing was never about me all along. It was for all those people who need Christ."

It struck me that what truly matters in His eyes is that He can use the MM to touch and soften the hearts of the people. And that is the true usefulness of whatever service we do for Jesus. If we serve, and people affirm us, but the Kingdom of God is not advanced in any way, then our ministry, no matter how beautiful-looking, is a complete and utter failure in His eyes. It will just be a ministry of straw.

Thank You so much for reminding and correcting me today, dear Lord. Not my kingdom, but YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN! AMEN!

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Hee hee... I'm also so grateful to God that He has graciously allowed me, despite all my imperfections and flaws and pride, to share in the joy of this harvest. Something that struck me was that my name appears in the church bulletin as one of those who helped in the harvest, no matter how much work I did, or how little, for that matter.

And I was reminded of Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard. Whether we are the first-hour workers, or the last-hour workers, God can choose to reward us in ways that we can't imagine - unless we have this attitude of "what's in this for me?"

:)

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On a lighter note, it's really been a great joy being able to help out in this MM production. Think it's my last time being able to help out as a student volunteer - and we all know that students are VERY free during the holidays. :)

But not only that - I really really really thank God for the blessing of being able to work closer with the people who serve full-time on the church staff. It was an eye-opening experience, being able to see for myself first-hand what serving God full-time is like, and struck by their readiness and willingness and dedication to serving God full-time.

And when I'm talking about full-time, I mean full-time.

E.g. Steven Yeoh answering late-night calls and scheduling MM bookings, Simon staying back in Nexus Auditorium till 1 or 2 am just to wait for those staying back to finish their own ministry stuff in the auditorium, Kin Wee staying overnight in the MM control room to work on the sound editing and video production and Desmond staying back in Nexus late at night even though he's got a young son to take care of.

It's also been a great experience seeing how their different personalities - e.g. Steven's very meticulous and systematic, Kin Wee's very phlegmatic (in a good sense), with a very good-natured and patient disposition even under high stress and not-so-punctual volunteers (like me :P) and Simon's constantly hilarious jokes and cheerful spirit - for instance, when he saw Adam's and God's hands touching each other at the end of the video - supposed to be a very heartwarming and majestic ending, he joked that this is so much like the Nokia logo that appears on his handphone...

"You know what??? We can play the Nokia ringtone at the end of the video, and say, 'Proudly sponsored by Nokia'!!!"

I also got to learn a lot from these men of God how they faithfully use their different talents and strengths to serve God - e.g. Kin Wee, in order to keep himself fit as a dance trainer and one of the dancers for the Christmas service, does morning stretchings (and we're talking leg splits here).

I'm also very struck by the youthful vibrancy and spirit of these four servants of God - Steven, Kin Wee, Desmond and Simon. As a student for many years, I had always seen the bros and sisters in the Adult ministries as not very enthu compared to the youth or tertiary... but after working in such close quarters with them, I realise that even though they're older than us in age, and some are married (and one of them , they have this very youthful, positive and enthusiastic spirit in them that actually make them so much more energetic than some people much younger than them!

What a wonderful testimony to the power of God in their lives! They are living examples of what it means to be servants of God:

Isaiah 40
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

And also another thing that I learnt was that God is an EXCELLENT and SYSTEMATIC and DETAILED Craftsman. After listening to Genesis 1 again and again while doing the video-editing (I have never listened to a Bible passage so many times in one day before), I gradually realised that there is so many practical things that we can learn and apply from Genesis 1 and 2 - e.g. how systematic God is.

But I think one of the best things that I learnt from meditating on Gen 1 is WHY God created the world in 6 days. I mean, He could have just simply said everything on the 1st day. :) But why didn't He?

I think the reason He chose to spread out the work over 6 days is because, unlike so many of us in this multitasking generation, He chose to concentrate on one task each day, thereby putting His heart fully into whatever He did.

What a magnificent contrast to the half-hearted and hasty work that we so often produce in our lives!

And I realised that God really poured His love so fully into each and every act of Creation that He did. This was no job for Him - this was His very own work of art, something beautiful, something majestic... that would show His very own glory and goodness.

Somehow, I think this entire MM editing experience has been a truly wonderful, and I pray, a transformative experience for me, in realising the heart of God in how He works. I do eagerly hope that these experiences I've learnt, God will help me carry over and apply in the Adults ministry, so that I can "do [my] best to present [myself] to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)

Amen! :)