Today's Passage - Acts 17:22-25

Acts 17:22-25   Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.  "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.   The God we believe in is the true God who created all things.  Other religions are about people seeking god when they are in trouble, trying to find answers while struggling in the cycle of life.  Christianity is the only faith where God was not found by people.  Genesis 1:1 started clearly with this declaration: "In the beginning God create the heaven and the earth."  Since God is the master who created heaven and earth, He must have a plan, and therefore people are living on earth for a good reason, and our lives are not just like lights that go out when we die.  In other word, it is not a coincidence that you are in the world; God has a plan for you and goals for your life.  Many people cannot find meaning in their lives because they gone away from Lord the Creator.  If a table has gone away from the carpenter, it would not know why it was created.  Can it be used as a chair?  Maybe, but it won't be very ideal or comfortable.  A creature can only find the purpose for its creation by coming to the creator, the Lord who gives us meaning in life; we can only find such significance and our true identity through connecting to Him.   The Bible tells us not to worship idol, because idols are made by human beings, but true God is the only who created human beings.  Many have been living under the bondage of fear from idol worshipping, and that why the Chinese has saying that we need to respect gods and ghosts but keep a distance from them; in Chinese traditional belief, we cannot be near a god.  But our God is different because He is love, and our Lord will never abandon us.  No matter what the circumstance is, He has a plan for us.  You, therefore, could not have been born in the wrong place, at the wrong time or under the wrong circumstance; you are now exactly where God wants you to be.  Since God is the savior who created us, we ought to live daily for our creator, loving Lord and redeemer, and that our live will certainly become meaningful.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, I thank you because you are the true God who created us, and we ask that you manifest to us your will in creating us.  Sometimes we may wander off from the path of our life, but when we turn back to you, please reveal your will to us so that we would stay on your path for the rest of our life and never go astray again.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!       Participate in Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - by Donating a Seat for a future new believer!