Walking with Jesus (God) ... MSW continued

Stations 3 -5

Station 3: Jesus carrying the cross - Jesus' way of the cross was a way of love

After suffering the intense agony of being flogged, beaten, and wearing the crown of thorns, Jesus was made to carry his cross, the cross that He would be crucified upon to Golgotha ('the Skull'). He had lost a lot of blood and was physically exhausted, but still our Lord Jesus persevered, carrying the cross as a symbol of His love, His undying love for all humanity. The weight of the cross, although painfully heavy, was nothing compared to the weight of the world, which Jesus carried so willingly. Thank You Lord.

Carrying the cross by Himself, Jesus went to the place called Skull Hill (John 19:17).

The worshipper was given an opportunity to 'carry the cross' in the form of weights and to experience a little of what Jesus our Lord went through.

Station 4: Simon of Cyrene

The next station shows some pictures of Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross with our Lord Jesus. Simon of Cyrene was forced to take up the cross (A man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the country just then, and they forced him to carry Jesus' cross (Simon is the father of Rufus and Alexander, who were members of the church later) Mark 15:21). (His experience must have brought Him to the Lord. God draws all men unto Him. Hallelujah.)

Simon was forced to take up the cross. Will you and I be willing take up ours as commanded by our Lord? (Yes Lord Jesus, I willingly take up my cross, because in doing so, I know You take it up with me. Amen. All glory to You Jesus, Lord of all.)

To respond, the worshipper is invited to cut a piece of paper in to the shape of the cross and write their name and nail it to a wooden cross. That is a way of saying (through action) 'Yes Lord Jesus, we are willing to carry our crosses for You'.







Station 5: Jesus and the women of Jerusalem

Jesus warns us of the seriousness of our sin.

As the procession trudges on, some women of Jerusalem weep and mourn for Jesus. Our Lord turns to them and says 'Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children ...' (see Luke 23:28-31). (Jesus knew the days were coming when the Romans would destroy the Temple and Jerusalem.) But Jesus was also warned of the seriousness of sin and its consequences (eternal damnation). As the Jews who sinned against God by crucifying His Son, Jesus, they too will face the consequences of their actions.

Repent.

The worshipper is also invited to write their sin(s) on a piece of paper and fold it halfway and put it into the fire. If we will repent, Jesus will forgive us and save us from the fires of hell.

But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong (I John 1:9).




God bless you.

Multi Sensory Worship - Emerging and Effective

First of all, let me just say that this post is long overdue and I apologise for that. There have been so many other things that demanded my attention, like work, um … chat (haha), um, more work? and quite a busy ministry and social life. Whew. Ok, I was a little lazy also. Oh well.

A month or so back, my church Bandar Utama Chapel had our ‘Multi Sensory Worship’ for the second time. The concept is still quite new to us, but as I understand it, quite a few churches in the US and even some in Malaysia are already doing it on quite a regular (is it?) basis. The concept is simple enough and the way I understand it is that instead of worshipping how most churches normally do (singing, etc) worship takes a different form, or forms – being multi sensory. Humans have five basic senses: sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing. What better way to worship the God of our salvation, Jesus Christ, than with all our senses? And that is what, simply put, MSW is all about. We worship the Lord Jesus with our sight, taste (taste certain foods and try to understand that in the context of the Bible passage), hearing (picturing ourselves in that situation through hearing), touch (actual actions) and smell. After all God gave us 5 senses to worship Him.

So in celebration of Good Friday and Easter/Resurrection Sunday, BUC presents our MSW. It was held at our church congregation hall (Antioch Centre) and was opened to the public on Good Friday itself, evening. The hall was divided into four parts, with each quadrant having exhibits recalling the walk Jesus took to the cross and His death for us. A booklet was given for each worshipper to read through, understand the exhibit and ultimately respond to God in worship.

Shall we have a look?

(For this post I will take you through stations 1-2.)

This station (1) greets you upon your entry into BUC. The church hall was lit with soft lamps and candles.

Station 1

The first station is a 'shadow puppet' scene portraying Jesus Christ's trial and judgment. Jesus, innocent and sinless, was silent before His accusers, as He kept his journey towards the cross to fulfil God the Father's will. The reason for this was because there was simply no other way to save humanity, other than in the redeeming sacrifice of a perfect person (Jesus) for us. The worshipper is asked to close their eyes and imagine what it felt like to stand in Jesus' shoes in such a situation.

Station 2: Jesus' sentence

In station 2, the worshipper is taken to the scene of Jesus Christ's sentence and punishment. He did not sin at all to deserve punishment but He bore all for US (ME AND YOU). Playing also was a video of the Passion of the Christ (the very painful flogging scene). Consider Christ and what He has gone through for you and me.

But He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped and we were healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

What could have been more amazing? God taking the penalty for us, the created.

God bless you.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Oh, it is time...

How time flies.

I realise that I have not updated this site in ages (oklah, not ages but in months). I will do so very soon and I will restart with the long, long awaited Easter multi sensory worship and after that my trip (mission) to the Philippines.

Sigh ... how time flies ...

God bless you.