"Take a piece of coloured paper, write down one thing that hinders you from Evangelism. Now fold it up; put it aside for now." WHAT IS APATHY? "The group on the left, please name this object ; the group on the right, please name the other object!" It wasn't long till realisation dawned upon the faces of the attendees. Realisation turned into groans when they realised what a 'Ji-Heng-level' pun this was. Yes, you've guessed it - they were saying APPLE TEA (APATHY). APATHY can be defined as a disposition of dismissal towards a particular idea, person of group. One very helpful way to understand it is using this example: Person 1 : "What is apathy?" Person 2 : "I don't know, and I don't care
A CG Bible study reflection on Mark 10:13-31 Mark connects two seemingly unrelated episodes to illustrate a simple yet challenging proposition: it is only by God’s grace – and not our efforts – that we might enter His kingdom. Jesus declares that we must receive the kingdom of God like a child (v15), with all of the associated characteristics of humility, trust, and complete dependence. The rich man who approaches Jesus asks the wrong question when he wonders: “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v17). He goes away disappointed because, as we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), we cannot hope to earn salvation on the strength of our own endeavours. And y
Questions abounded within the minds of people as the evening session commenced – “Isn’t intentional friendships paradoxical?”, “Aren’t friendships supposed to be natural?”, and “Doesn’t intentionality betray genuineness?”, “What’s the point of being intentional?”. Indeed, topics such as intentional friendships and walking alongside one another has been, by my personal experience, few and far between within the Christian community. It seems so blatantly obvious and trite! We’ve had friends for many years gone by now – surely I don’t need to hear any much more of this? Yet, as the evening progressed, starting off with a sharing by Ruby on Ephesians 4:1-16, many thought provoking truths were ra
Probably the greatest takeaway from the evening at Jimmy’s was one of shattered misconceptions and prejudices – a humbling of our judgmental and prideful attitudes. How many of us, upon thinking of homeless people, immediately conceive of lazy, dishevelled, and ill-mannered persons? We walk by them on the streets of Cambridge, turning a blind eye to them as they plead. We reason with ourselves – ‘they don’t deserve it’, ‘don’t know what they’ll do with the money’, and ‘they’ll spend it to feed their habits’. Yet, even as we meekly passed a simple plate of food into the outstretched arms of the people we met, it was clear that theirs was an attitude of profound gratitude. “Thank you”, resonat
A CG reflection on Mark 7:1-23 In this passage, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for being hypocrites. These were the religious leaders of the time – men who diligently kept the law and observed every Jewish tradition and practice. Yet, this is what Jesus said about them: ‘This people honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ […] He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. Matthew 7:6-9 Jesus exposed the mask of religiosity that the Pharisees wore. These were highly distinguished men in society who observed elaborate ceremonial washings (amongst many
A CG Bible study reflection from Mark 4:1-34 In the great field of people, the word of God is sown to all (v14), not knowing where it will land or what fruits it will bring to bear. Jesus himself was sowing this seed but we now too have the privilege to sow His seed though the power of the Holy Spirit. However, the word does not always bear fruit – not through the fault of the word but due to the fault of the hearts in which it is sown, the type of soil it is sown in. Some are quick to rejoice, but are not willing to make the sacrifices that picking up the cross demands and fall away quickly when suffering comes (v17). This could be the pressure from those around you to conform, or the fear