{"id":14779,"date":"2023-12-31T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-31T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&#038;p=14779"},"modified":"2024-01-09T10:19:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T15:19:32","slug":"our-journey-keeper","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/sermons\/our-journey-keeper\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Journey Keeper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-gdm-google-drive-embedder-viewer\"><iframe width='100%' height='100' frameborder='0' scrolling='yes' src='https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1q9KFIkcQmiNEBSrm3cXl01ChH4p3pNoH\/preview?usp=drivesdk' allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n<h6 class=\"p1\"><b>READ<\/b><\/h6>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Psalm 121<\/p>\n<h6 class=\"p5\"><b>CONSIDER<\/b><\/h6>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">It is a special year in 2023 that Christmas Eve and New Year\u2019s Eve land on Sundays so we can come to celebrate, worship, and give thanks to God in the Body of Christ at the Sunday morning worship services.&nbsp; It is an excellent opportunity to come together as a community, including young and old, to reflect on why we come to worship our Lord, to ponder His love in the past year among us, and look forward to stepping into the new year in 2024 as His people.&nbsp; It is a blessing and privilege that we can unite to worship our Lord God freely, not because of fulfilling a task or duty but out of the loving desire for our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">From Psalm 121 we can see the deep desire of the pilgrims to worship the Lord; even though it is a journey full of danger and challenges, they still keep on going.&nbsp; Nothing can stop them from stepping on the journey to worship, praise, and give thanks to the Lord.&nbsp; Was there a time you put all your energy and effort into solving a problem or issue but forgot to seek God\u2019s wisdom and help? &nbsp;Or even put God out of the picture totally and not remember He is our ultimate help and protection that we can look upon?&nbsp; Let\u2019s find out more about what we can learn from the pilgrims in Psalm 121 this Sunday as we prepare to step into the new year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Looking forward to seeing you and worshipping our God together in the Body of Christ!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Pastor Karen Leung<\/p>\n<h6 class=\"p5\"><b>PRAY<\/b><\/h6>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">I arise today, through God\u2019s strength to pilot me:<br>God\u2019s might to uphold me, God\u2019s wisdom to guide me,<br>God\u2019s eye to look before me, God\u2019s ear to hear me,<br>God\u2019s word to speak for me, God\u2019s hand to guard me,<br>God\u2019s way to lie before me, God\u2019s shield to protect me,<br>God\u2019s host to secure me: against snares of devils, against temptations of vices, against inclinations of nature, against everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Amen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>(Except from Saint Patrick\u2019s Breastplate Prayer)<\/em><br>*Read more about the prayer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crosswalk.com\/special-coverage\/saint-patrick\/what-is-st-patricks-breastplate-prayer.html\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<h6 class=\"p5\"><b>DIVING&nbsp;DEEPER<\/b><\/h6>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">As we are wrapping up the year 2023 and have just celebrated Christmas last week, have you had a chance to reflect on how Jesus\u2019 birth has transformed your life in 2023?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">How do the pilgrims in Psalm 121 inspire you or encourage you to walk in this spiritual journey for God?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Do you have the same strong desire to come to celebrate and worship your God on Sundays with everyone in the Body of Christ of all ages, or do you have other priorities than coming to worship your God?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Do you have the same desire to seek God in your spiritual journey, even if you encounter difficulties and challenges each day?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Spend some time in prayer that God will reveal to you a memory you have experienced His help and protection from difficulties and challenges.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Psalm 121:1-8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":14794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ctc_sermon_topic":[],"ctc_sermon_book":[55],"ctc_sermon_series":[],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[517],"ctc_sermon_tag":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/14779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14779"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/14779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14842,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/14779\/revisions\/14842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=14779"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=14779"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=14779"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=14779"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=14779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}