Central Truth

Jesus is truly the almighty King, the focus of our worship Who deserves all the glory.

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Reflections

I don't realize how important that is to have the freedom to worship Jesus Christ until I see Christians in other countries risking their lives just to worship Christ.

In Vietnam, Christians have to secretly worship God in underground churches, and some have services in buses.  If the government catches them, they face imprisonment.

In Cambodia, Buddhist monks gave up their monkhood to become Christians.  Channy, a Cambodian Buddhist monk, gave up his monkhood and became a Christian in 1997.  To some, he is regarded as a traitor to the Khmer culture and national religion.  In the midst of persecution and struggling to feed his family, Channy managed to share his faith and actively serve Christ.

In Snuol, his hometown--eastern Cambodia near the border of Vietnam--Channy, in 2001, became a pastor of a small congregation, which grew from 7 to approx. 200 believers, even in the midst of the persecution and poverty they're facing.  I am very proud of him, not only because how well I know him personally, or that Channy is my elder brother.  I am proud of him because in the midst of all the struggles he is facing, Channy managed to continue serving God faithfully.

In Matthew 2, the wise men, while well-known for their wisdom, chose to follow the Word of God, and that nothing in life could take that faith and commitment away from them, even though they had to risk their lives with King Herod.  They had to travel the distance from their countries to get to the place where Jesus was born, so that they could just worship Him.  They just wanted to be with Jesus, and experience Him personally, and be able to witness Him with their own eyes.   They wanted to present their personal gifts to Jesus as their way of worship.  That is the type of worship I am talking about.

The question is how much does it cost you to worship Christ?

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Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think the wise men had to go through all the risks in order to get to Jesus?

2. In order to reach the point where you can worship the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart, what are the risks that you have to face?

3. How can you improve or change your way of worshiping the Lord Jesus in this New Year?

4. No matter what the risks are, will you be found faithful after all?

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