Dear TB Family,
It is good timing for Belimbing HF to share just as God opened our minds to new possibilities this week. We met up onsite over a nice dinner, and we also had the pleasure of having Pastor Ben visit our fellowship. We give thanks to God for his favour, blessings, and protection over half of our group members who were travelling the week before and were all back safely. We were also reminded that God is the God of abundance as there is always more food than we can finish no matter how we try to ration according to the headcount.
As we started the session, our minds were opened to hybrid possibilities that we had never imagined possible. First, we experienced firsthand the new possibilities of a hybrid model of digital church combined with physical meeting. We witnessed Pastor Ben fellowshipping with the young adults and Chinese group, and leading worship over zoom online for the whole church from his home. And moments later, he appeared at our house fellowship in person in cycling gear. We were then amazed by God’s goodness as R shared that his original plans to resign from his job and relocate to Penang with his family was “thwarted” as his management offered a hybrid work arrangement of continuing to have him work remotely from Penang even as he relocates there permanently. God is good, his guiding plans and ways are indeed above ours, we just need to obey!
There was the presence of the HS and insightful learning points were revealed as Pastor Ben facilitated our discussions on Genesis 20-22:19. We reflected on God’s providence and his goodness through the kindness and grace he showed Abraham and Sarah. Yet, we noted the couple had to bear the consequences of their lack of faith in taking things into their own hands as they dealt with the conflict with Hagar and Ishmael. There may be times when God takes away the consequences of our sins and mistakes, but it is also part of our learning and molding when we have to face and deal with them even as God forgives us.
As the Spirit leads, we shared about our experiences of God testing us as we studied Genesis 22 on Abraham being tested to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. C teared as she shared her experience about how God healed the person she was asked to pray for, even though she was reluctant and doubtful herself. Such testimonies and sharing certainly worked to reinforce our faith and allowed each of us to know God better. Pastor Ben drew comparisons of Mount Moriah where Abraham offered Isaac with nearby Calvary where Jesus was crucified. It explains how this chapter also highlighted the concept of substitutionary sacrifice, i.e., Christ’s sacrifice for us. As a parent, I could empathize the intense pain of sacrificing our children, and this stirred up more feelings of gratefulness for Christ’s sacrifice for us.
We ended the evening in prayers, and it left me refreshed in perspectives and faith. Thank God for the brothers and sisters in TB that we can grow and walk together with.
Signing off,
Belimbing
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