Thesalonians 5:16-18 “16. Be joyful always; 17. Pray continually; 18. give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
 
Revelations 2:4-5 “4. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
 
Hey guys! so how has your week been!? good? bad? catastrophic?!? Well, there seems to be alot less people today, but that’s okay because your all here! and so is God! So, the topic today is remembering your first love. And you may ask, what do u mean? first love? That girl/boy in primary school who you thought was the whole world, even when you were only 10? no, not that first love haha. I’m talking about your First Love for Christ. 
Do you remember the time or moment, when you first believed and/or met God, where everything else slipped away and it was just you and Him. The period in your life, where all your thoughts, words, and actions were of Jesus christ because you were so excited or passionate about Him? If not, I hope you do get to know this amazing experience. How did you feel when you were “in love” with Christ. 
Joyful? Renewed? over the top? Well, i’m asking you to remember your first love again, and to return to the state of total passion and complete obedience for God. And when your in love with God, the giver oftrue joy, it’s quite impossible NOT to be joyful always =]. 
You may ask, but of course people will have good times, and bad times, happy times and sad times. 
But is this really true? Don’t we make of the situation what we perceive in our own understanding? like failing an exam, yes that may be bad, and we may be sad, but what is there to worry about, when God, who is everything you will ever need and want, is by your side “. It says in James 1:2 “consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develop perseverance.” He is saying REJOICE! Trust in God, because he will provide and though you may not see it now, he is using you for his very special purpose, and EVERY moment of your life, he has planned. Is THIS not reason enough to be joyful always and to give thanks in all circumstances. 
Well, this all ties in with our RESPONSE TO GOD. All these things are actions -  BE joyful, PRAY continually, GIVE thanks. It is our response to WHO God is and WHAT he has done. 
 
What does it mean to Pray continually then? like literally 24/7?
Well one day I was praying at my youth group, and everybody was praying fervently, but that day I just couldn’t pray, and I cried out to God, why can’t I pray? help me Lord! Help me to pray! Fill me with your Holy Spirit! and i just kept asking him to give and give, thinking only of myself, only of my gains. I was more commanding God, than asking him. Then, after I had began to lose hope, when it was silent, he finally said ‘What do you seek?’ And at that moment my heart just sank.. I broke into tears, because I knew… You see, God works in mysterious ways, and his word is sharper than any sword, piercing the heart. His voice is like a blazing inferno in your heart, that consumes everything else. What was I really seeking? myself.. all me. help ME to pray. fill ME with your spirit. I wasn’t really seeking His face, but his hands, and I only asked and did not give. Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. I thought that I was seeking Him by asking him to help ME to pray and fill my heart with His spirit so that He may be glorified, but that’s not how it was. It was about ME and not WE (me and God). I was talking AT God, and not TO God. Our God is not a God who is very far away, sitting in some heavenly realms. He is right there next to you. And he hears every prayer you pray. Let me tell you, that when GOD asked ME ”WHAT DO YOU SEEK?”, I broke down and I wept and I began to question. Why am I praying? What do I seek? Why am I here? and at that time I thought it was for God, that was unquestionable. But I was praying out of a necessity rather than a desire. There is a big difference, and we sometimes fall into this trap of desensitisation and complacency, where we begin to stop questioning. We stop questioning, what’s this? what’s that? What do you want me to do? What did you mean by that? Where do you want me to go? WE STOP QUESTIONING AND ONCE WE STOP QUESTIONING, we start to forget. And as we forget that God is in the lead, that God is or should be the centre of our lives, we start to claim it as our own. Because WITHIN the questioning, is humblenss and humility. Putting down your self and putting God in power. GOD WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Let me tell you, prayer is a powerful thing. Why? because it is communicating with God. It is through prayer that we see his miracles. It is our source of intimacy with God and it is a privilege. But for so many of us Christians, Christianity becomes a program, a software that we download into our lives and we get into this thing where we just follow the program. Church on Sunday’s, Youthgroup on Friday’s, Soul Purpose on Friday lunches, pray for this and that, where we think, I’m doing all these things, I’ve done this, and that, and I’m at this level with God, it’s all good, I can take a break. But the truth is, if your heart is not for God, then there is no relationship to begin with. None of it matters. Because as soon as you turn your back on God, the relationship is broken. Sometimes we forget that the cost of sin is death, and take Him and his grace for granted. And we take sin as just a part of our lives. how many times have we broken his heart? And STILL he forgives. Let me tell you, if there is no change, that is not repentance. But to truly mean what we say, there must be a change in our actions. To pray continually means to constantly seek God, and to constantly think about it. It does not say occassionally or frequently butcontinually. 
 Revelations 2:5 ”Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” Do the things you did at first. Fall in love with God all over again, because he is just that amazing. Let’s pray.

Choi.

So, what did you think of Choi’s sermon today?