ICCC INDONESIA NEWSLETTER

BERITA ICCC INDONESIA 2011 Edisi Januari Untuk kalangan sendiri BERITA INTERN UNTUK ANGGOTA DAN KOMUNIKASI BAGI KALANGAN DUNIA BISNIS DAN PROFESI KRISTEN

ICCC ADALAH MIMBAR DIMANA PESAN KRISTUS BAGI KITA DI ZAMAN INI DIJABARKAN, DIBAGIKAN DAN DINYATAKAN TERHADAP DUNIA BISNIS

NATIONAL BOARD Spiritual Counselor Pdm. Bunan Djambek National President Benjamin B. Juwono

SELAMAT TAHUN BARU 2011 !

Awal tahun adalah moment yang amat baik untuk mengumpulkan semangat dan energy kita untuk pencapaian-pencapaian yang lebih baik daripada tahun yang lalu.

Di awal tahun biasanya perusahaan sudah menetapkan strategic action plan untuk dilakukan tahun ini,baik dalam hal product ,profit, people dll.

Mungkin performance kita di tahun yang lalu tidak terlalu baik atau tidak seperti yang kita harapkan ?

Raja Daud menuliskan kunci kemenangan dalam Mazmur 20 :7 “Sekarang aku tahu bahwa TUHAN memberi kemenangan kepada orang yang diurapiNya dan menjawabnya dari sorga-Nya yang kudus dengan kemenangan yang gilang gemilang oleh tangan kanan-Nya.”

Vice Presidents:  Admin/Secretary Tonny Soetjoadi 

Saudara-saudaraku, Shalom!

Finance/Treasurer: Manimbul L. Sitorus

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Membership/Mentoring/ Network Simon Aditan

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Teaching / Training Eliezer H. Hardjo Johanis S. Najoan Ridwan Naftali

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Business Development/ Micro-Enterprise Kristanta Dewara Rudolf A.S. Sinaga Johny Rempas Michael Albinus Agus Susanto Markus Christianto

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Intercessors Eddy S. Kristiawan Mohan U. Vasandani (Mrs.) Suzanna Suadi (Mrs.) Josephine S. Sitorus (Ms.) Hermina M. Usmany Paul Tapilatu

Kantor National ICCC Indonesia:

Website: www.iccc-indonesia.com Pertokoan Pulo Mas Blok B I / 8, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan. Jakarta 13260 Telp (021) 4890211, fax: (021) 4722274.

E-mail: js.najoan@gmail.com arfia@cbn.net.id, ehardjo@gmail.com

Bagi anak-anak TUHAN, kemenangan diraih bukan karena kehebatan atau kecanggihan teknologi kita,tetapi karena Dia-Bapa kita.

So, it’s not about us but it’s really about Him. Sekarang yang menjadi persoalan adalah di mana positioning kita di hadapan Bapa , apakah kita menjadi orang yang diurapiNya dan berada di bawah tangan kanan-Nya ?Bukankah kita sering lebih ingin memunculkan diri kita sendiri daripada berada di bawah tangan kanan-Nya yang kuat dan meminta pengurapan dari Nya ?

Saya percaya bahwa untuk mencapai tingkat seperti itu , it will cost something.Mungkinkah harga yang harus dibayar adalah kesombongan atau ego kita ?

Kalau Tuhan mau memakai kita menjadi alat untuk kemuliaanNya di marketplace, Dia akan memproses kita seperti halnya di memproses raja Daud,sehingga akhirnya kita dapat mengatakan seperti yang ia katakan yaitu “ sekarang aku tahu.”

Kata-kata ini adalah suatu output dari sebuah proses.Baiklah hal ini menjadi bahan contemplation kita di awal tahun ini,untuk kita dapat mencapai the next level di tahun 2011 ini.

Akhirnya sekali lagi saya mengucapkan Happy New Year-2011 ,semoga tahun ini menjadi tahun di mana kita mencapai kemenangan yang gilanggemilang oleh karena tangan kananNya. Saya juga mengundang saudara-saudara sekalian untuk berpartisipasi dalam Annual Membership Gathering-2011 di Klub Kelapa Gading pada tanggal 19 Feb 2011.

Tuhan Yesus membarkati kita semua. Amin.

Benjamin Bambang Juwono National President ICCC INDONESIA www.iccc-indonesia.com

Berita ICCC Indonesia – Januari 2011

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INDONESIA 

Annual Members Gathering 2011 Annual Members Gathering (AMG) 2011 akan berlangsung pada hari Sabtu, tanggal 19 Februari 2011 di Janur Asri, Klub Kelapa Gading yang akan diisi dengan seminar dengan topik “Transfer of Wealth through Business” (Amsal 13: 22 & Yesaya 60: 5) yang akan dibawakan Pdt. Robinson Nainggolan SE, MSc. Hubungi Kantor Nasional (Sdri. Yurie: 4890211) pada alamat yang tercantum pada halaman muka Berita ICCC Indonesia ini untuk memperoleh tempat yang terbatas.

Biaya kontribusi hanya Rp. 200.000 (termasuk makan siang, coffee & snacks dan makalah).

International Christian Chamber of Commerce INDONESIA

INTERNATIONAL 

Sebagai salah satu hasil dari International General Meeting yang berlangsung pada akhir bulan Oktober 2010 di Spain, telah terpilih International Board yang baru, berikut susunannya: Chairman and Founder: J. Gunnar Olson President: Dale Neill Vice President: Sako Pitkonen (Finland) Secretary: Sandro Pereira dos (Brazil) Treasurer: Grahame Scofield (UK) Vice Presidents at large: Ntiense Ubonisrael Nazaire Kibuti

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Teaching Domain

Setelah 20 tahun memimpin domain ini, Laurens Holt digantikan oleh Bill Peters yang sudah cukup lama juga berkecimpung dalam domain ini.

ICCC bersama-sama dengan Regent School Entrepreneurship menyelenggarakan program edukasi di sebuah Christian Training Centre di Rwanda untuk mendidik khususnya generasi muda Kristen dari seluruh Afrika.

Modul-modul yang dipakai diwaktu yad akan juga dimanfaatkan di negara-negara ICCC lainnya.

INVITATION

FORUM ANGGOTA

ANNUAL MEMBERS GATHERING 2011 & SEMINAR “Transfer of Wealth through Business” (Amsal 13: 22 & Yesaya 60: 5)

New International Board

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MEMBERSHIP FEE

Bagi anda yang akan memperpanjang kartu keanggotaan anda untuk tahun 2011 sudah dapat dan agar menghubungi Simon Aditan V.P. Membership melalui HP: 0816974647 atau email (simonaditan@yahoo.com)

Klub Kelapa Gading - 19 Februari 2011

Annual Membership Fee untuk tahun 2011 mengikuti peraturan International dalam kategori Developing Nation menjadi Rp. 600.000 dimana US$ 50 dikirim ke Kantor Pusat di Swedia sebagai syarat dan kewajiban International Membership

Berita ICCC Indonesia – Januari 2011

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Membership Fee dapat ditransfer ke rekening ICCC Indonesia atau FORUKIN dibawah ini, dan mengirimkan bukti transfernya dengan fax ke alamat yang tercantum paling bawah dari setiap halaman Newsletter ini: Rekening Bank: CIMB NIAGA BANK Cabang Senen - Jakarta No. 200-01-00012-00-0 a/n : Forum Komunikasi Usahawan Kristen Indonesia (FORUKIN).

KONTAK BISNIS 1. Surya Delapan Mas Tonny Soetjoadi – Director Offices: 1. HWI Lindeteves 4th Floor, Block B No. 7 Jalan Hayam Wuruk Jakarta (Barat) 11180 – INDONESIA Phone: 062 (21) 6259625 Fax: 062 (21) 6259561 2. Taman Berdikari Santosa Block M No. 16 Jalan Pemuda Jakarta (Timur) 13220 – INDONESIA Phone: 062 (21) 4712821 & 91282388 Fax: 062 (21) 4718293

Serious inquiry can be directed to Tonny Soetjoadi, Director (tonnystd@indo.net.id or mobile: +62811193202

2. HeavenSpring Consulting & Agencies Co. Eliezer Hernawan Hardjo Ph.D., CM Jalan Pegangsaan Indah Barat B I / 8 Pondok Gading Utama Jakarta 14250 – INDONESIA Phone: 062 (21) 4521141 Fax: 062 (21) 4533070 Mobile: (062) 815-13203415 E-mail: eliezer@heavenspring.com, ehardjo@gmail.com Partners: 1. Institute of Certified Professional Managers – James Madison University, VA, USA 2. DF Solusi Consulting – Indonesia Line of Business: Business & Management Consulting (Seminar, Training & Consulting) Bagi member yang berminat untuk dicantumkan dalam kolom ini (free of charge) dimohon untuk meng-update data dan mengirim ke e-mail: ehardjo@gmail.com seperti contoh diatas  Nama Perusahaan  Person in Charge dan Contact person  Alamat lengkap termasuk no. Telepon/fax dan e-mail  Line of business  Specific products yang ingin ditawarkan (dengan foto kalau ada – yang di-compressed)

Line of Business: Distribution of Chladianplast Corrugated Roof & Flat sheet for Jakarta Metro & Outer Java and International market

Business Opportunity: Looking for bona-fide Sub-distributors all-over Indonesia as well as outside of Indonesia, preferably having vast networks & experiences in distribution of building materials.

“Success is knowing what you're doing, loving what you're doing & believing what you're doing.”

Berita ICCC Indonesia – Januari 2011

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Personal Testimony of Charles Welty (As of October 24, 2010)

My name is Charles Welty. I reside in the city of Paramount, a small friendly city just north of Long Beach in Los Angeles County, California. My office is also in Paramount at this time, but I plan to move soon to Toluca Lake or perhaps some other area which will depend on what happens with various business interests that I have. It could be the New York area, Annapolis, or perhaps somewhere else.

I was raised in the Presbyterian Church, Westminster Confession. All I learned from my experiences in the Presbyterian Church is that as far as I was able to tell, to be saved you had to join a committee. Those of you who are of a Presbyterian background will surely appreciate the humor of that observation.

The doctrines of sin and salvation didn’t have much meaning to me. Mine was not a “cross and the switchblade” type of testimony. For you younger people, The Cross and the Switchblade was the name of a popular book about Nicky Cruz, who left a life among the gangs and barrios to become a minister. My testimony might be better labeled The Cross and the Butterknife.

But sin is sin and I was brought to a realization of this when I was in high school. Gary Richmond, who has served as an Associate Pastor at the Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton for a number of years now, was at that time a leader of a Campus Life club at Hoover High School in Glendale, California. He led a study in my parents’ home. After a few weeks of listening to what he said, the Spirit of God convicted me of my sin and need for redemption.

For those of you who question any of this, and especially in regards to my reputation or that of my twin brother, William, I say that I was much worse then, in spite of my Cross and the Butterknife testimony, than I am now, as God is working his patient work in me, the least member of His Kingdom.

I am a single father. My eldest daughter (now approaching 26 years of age) was married a week before Christmas in 2004 to Nathan Larson, a wonderful Christian man. Christopher, my son (now 23), is in the Navy, currently stationed through 2011 at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Rebecca, my youngest daughter, now 18, doesn’t know what she wants to be; a writer, perhaps. Heaven help us. Just kidding, as I am a

screenwriter. The law profession could use someone like her. So could the motion picture business, for that matter.

I have been married twice. The first time was in 1976. The marriage lasted 4 years. She wanted to be a lawyer and saw no future with me. She divorced me and abandoned all of our friends. She has since been disbarred, throwing away all she gained after our divorce. See what happens when you try to do things your way, and reject God’s Law for your own short-sighted choices? You throw everything away, and for what?

But I remarried in 1984. The effects of childbirth on my second wife resulted in severe post-partum depression and a mental breakdown for her. I tried to keep my family together, but in the first trimester of her last pregnancy, she was literally placed in a padded room with no medication, for fear of harming our baby, who turned out to be my precious daughter, Rebecca.

But during the last trimester of her pregnancy, she was hospitalized at a mental care facility.

Around the time of her hospitalization, my wife divorced me, blaming me for her problems. Nearly 15 years later she came to regret that decision, as I warned her she would, but what is done, is done… and I cannot change that.

My three children have been somewhat estranged from her. Rebecca has begun to talk to her now and then. My former wife now resides in constant supervision at a board and care facility. But as far as I am able to tell, my children don’t blame me for what happened to her. My children and I have had many long talks about this. I am told that my former wife continues to move in and out of mental facilities and board-and-care centers. To this day, I seldom am kept up to date on where she lives.

So I spend my time writing and optioning or selling screenplays (I have three movies in active development now), overseeing the development of them into novels and such, and now and then putting some input into Davidson Press, the company that my brother and I formed to publish the International Standard Version Bible. That’s the translation that we had the privilege of funding upon the sale of Continental Satellite Corporation, the DBS licensee that was ultimately sold to Dish Network.

I also have a new motion picture development company called Fidelis Entertainment. My various screenplays are quite eclectic in nature. They run from light-hearted comedies, political thrillers, bio pics, time travel adventures, and the like. One of my scripts has a $40 million budget, and a very reputable producer friend in the Beverly Hills area is looking at producing it. Maybe we will produce it ourselves from the funds set aside for new programming for our satellite company. More on that later.

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Through God’s grace, Davidson Press and the ISV Foundation were able to distribute over $2,000,000 to various charitable Christian groups, including the ISV Foundation, some local churches, a seminary, and a law school, all from the sale of that DBS license. And we have distributed over 5,000,000 free copies of the ISV New Testament on line (and 35,000 copies in print), making the ISV one of the most successful new Bible translations on the Internet.

Many of the recipients of our gifts later came to despise the gifts, and the giver, though. To this day, I am not sure why; perhaps because the people with whom we made the complex legal arrangements required for the transfer of the assets that were donated left the organization and new people didn’t understand or respect what we accomplished. We learned some lessons from this. If you don’t work for what you get, many times you will despise the gift and the giver. That may not make sense to you, but it’s true. Some of these people think the gift, and its continuing benefits, were something they earned or deserved. I’ve seen this first hand, and I still don’t quite understand the thinking behind it. Oh, well…

Now we are engaged in the development of a new high-frequency worldwide satellite-delivered broadband Internet service called the Super Wide Area Network. It was designed specifically to aid the underground church in the Far East, and elsewhere, using encryption methodologies that I am not free to talk about much, as well as serve just about anybody else who needs the services.

We are working with a number of foreign governments. It’s hard to believe when the ambassadors from a whole bunch of countries keep calling our tiny little postage-stamp-sized office in Paramount. They believe, and rightly so I must say, that our SWANsat project can help them. We hope so. Who could’ve figured all of this from the beginning? Only God, of course. So His hand continues to work in spite of our own failures and shortcomings.

I read in the Bible that God is able to do and perform much more than we think or imagine.

Maybe the 30+ billion dollar investment we’re talking to various sovereign wealth funds will actually work out. I don’t know, but you have to start somewhere.

The nature of my work takes me away, now and then, sometimes for extended periods of time.

My new movie – Ludington’s Ride – is in development for shooting at studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, and in New York. We posted the preliminary storyboards for the motion picture to our website a while back. And Chicago Radio Theater – our live radio drama theater project – is perking along. We’re hoping to bring back “The Shadow”, “The Green Hornet”, “Captain Midnight” and other old favorites, performed live with new and original scripts, in a live radio broadcast from a

theater in Chicago. A big agency in Chicago is expected to be working with us.

I don’t know how long these projects will take, but they could keep me away, or at least occupied in and out of the local area, for quite some time. I used to attend a small Bible-teaching church in Irvine with my daughter. But if I’m not actively involved in some of the local church committees, it’s not because I am lazy. I just request that people understand that my ministry is my work, as it should be, and that my ministry is expanding way beyond the local area here. And a home in Chicago, in Annapolis, in New York or North Carolina where our Ludington’s Ride motion picture project could be produced, or elsewhere may be a reality. I don’t know what will happen with those projects.

I have avoided formal membership in churches, only because they never seem to understand the nature of my work and why it may take me away for long periods of time. Missionaries and people who serve in the military understand that, though. I trust whatever church I land in will understand this, too. Local involvement on committees can be spotty, as my schedule can be unpredictable.

A note on tithing: One other reason I avoided church membership is all the others, especially the Baptist churches I looked at, had a tendency to demand 10% tithing. They seem to think “tithe” means 10%. It actually means a tenth, like “percentage” doesn’t necessarily mean one percent.

It could mean multiples of that, and I think “tithe” actually means more than 10%, and sometimes less.

I have had to arrange my affairs so that my personal income is actually quite little each year.

My businesses and trusts pick up all my other expenses. This was done many years ago, more than a decade now. And ten percent of that is not much, so I don’t bother. That sounds harsh. Let me explain something, and I hope you can get used to this, as it is a part of my testimony.

My income has been irrevocably dedicated to a number of non-profit trusts under my trusteeship, and the trusteeship of my family (like Rebecca, when she’s old enough, and if she passes the bar, and perhaps my son, should he be interested in that sort of thing) and of certain qualified individuals who really know what is at stake. So I don’t personally earn anything. The trusts get the royalties from my novels, movie scripts, and corporate holdings, including our satellite companies, our publishing company, and all the rest of them.

I don’t believe in 10% tithing, by the way, as I think this is unbiblical. It’s not that I disagree with tithing. Actually, I think 10% tithing doesn’t go far enough! The biblical tithes were much greater than 10%. They were actually closer to 22%, if you add them all up, including what I call the “party tithe” where God told the Israelites to plan for and set aside money for a festival; a party, if you will.

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So I live on about two to ten percent of my income, sometimes a lot less and sometimes more, and the rest is slated for other causes through a trust structure I cannot change. There is always foundation grants for special projects, I suppose, so don’t rule me out completely about helping with a church mortgage now and then. Let’s see what happens with the trust incomes.

And the trusts are designed to distribute billions, not merely millions, of dollars annually – and perhaps in the hundreds of billions of dollars – should SWANsat and these other projects become successful.

In January of 2010, just after New Year's day, I was admitted to the Downey Regional Medical Center near my office with breathing difficulties. I had suffered a mild heart attack. I underwent cardiac bypass surgery a week later. Open heart surgery is a bit traumatic, but God saw me through it. My children stayed over from the Christmas and New Year's holidays, so they were there for me, as were some friends from the motion picture industry who came down to the hospital and my home/office to visit me. And four weeks later, on April 1, my twin brother went into the same hospital for congestive heart failure. He underwent the same operation.

Gee... we're twins. We should've got a family plan discount. Ah, well... all is getting better daily and we're back to working our various projects, but at a slower pace.

Now it seems the SWANsat project is heading for a first quarter 2011 funding. William is off to Africa the second week of February, 2011, to meet the President of a certain African country to negotiate a way to use SWANsat to effectuate the funding of the country's wireless telecom infrastructure. All we need is a signature to complete the arrangement. If we are able to secure the agreement, construction can begin in the first quarter of 2011. Let's see what happens.

If you pray for rain, you’d better bring an umbrella. Anything else is less than faith.

Likewise, if you work hard and pray for your business to be a success, you’d better plan for that success, or you aren’t really believing that God is going to do anything. I suppose God doesn’t want to hear our words on what we would do if He blesses us. I think he likes to see actions rather than hear words. Don’t you agree?

And all of this includes your life, not just your business; your family, here and now. Life, business and family have been roller coasters for me, but all along, He has been faithful, even when I fail.

“Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.”

So… that’s my testimony… my “Ebenezer stone” as the Scripture puts it: Thus far have I come,

by God’s grace. And by God’s grace, he will see me home.

Charles Welty Paramount, CA

(Kirimkan kutipan, artikel, kata-kata mutiara atau kisah pengalaman anda yang dapat memperkuat iman pembaca Newsletter ini kepada TUHAN baik itu berupa pengalaman pribadi maupun orang lain dengan ciri utama bisnis dan rohani)

Transformed Working Life (TWL) adalah Pelatihan resmi dari Kantor Internasional bagi anggota ICCC dalam memperlengkapi anggota dengan pengetahuan dan pemahaman latar belakang, tujuan dan penerapan prinsip-prinsip Kerajaan TUHAN bagi dunia bisnis dan profesi.

TWL diperuntukkan bagi anggota dan dapat diikuti secara Cuma-Cuma, namun terbuka juga bagi siapa saja yang berminat untuk mengikutinya.

TWL

diselenggarakan dalam bahasa Indonesia dan dilengkapi dengan buku panduannya, yang telah diterjemahkan kedalam Bahasa Indonesia juga, sehingga para peserta betul-betul akan memperoleh manfa’at yang besar dan mengalami transformasi dalam kehidupan pribadi maupun bisnisnya.

TWL difasilitasi oleh anggota National Board yang terlatih dan dikoordinir oleh V.P. Teaching: Eliezer H. Hardjo bersama dengan Teaching Team: Johanis S. Najoan dan Ridwan Naftali Transformed Working Life (TWL) akan ditayangkan dalam salah satu channel di Indonesia agar dapat dimanfaatkan oleh para pebisnis & profesional Kristiani di Indonesia bagaimana menerapkan prinsip-prinsip Kerajaan Tuhan dalam kehidupan berbisnis dan bekerja mereka.

Tolong dukung agar maksud ini dapat terealisir di tahun 2011 mendatang.

TWL bagi members secara rutin diadakan pada hari Sabtu ke 2 setiap bulan dan terbuka dan dianjurkan bagi semua member untuk mengikutinya sebagai pembekalan wajib.

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Apa itu ICCC?

Visi ini memanggil para pengusaha dan kaum profesi di seluruh dunia yang terbeban untuk saling berhubungan, bertukar pendapat, memperdagang-kan barang dan menyediakan jasa, saling mendukung dan menguatkan secara rohani dan materi.

Berdasarkan eksistensi dari visi itu sendiri memproklamirkan otoritas Kristus yang mutlak diseluruh dunia.

Forum dimana pesan Kristus untuk zaman ini dijabarkan, disampaikan dan dinyatakan kepada Dunia Bisnis ICCC adalah badan yang independen dan inter-denominasi, bukan menjadi bagian dari suatu gereja tertentu namun ikut melayani gereja yang membutuhkan pelayanan ICCC. ICCC berkantor Pusat di Orebrö Swedia dan saat ini telah berada di sekitar 65 negara di lima benua.

ICCC Indonesia melakukan berbagai kegiatan dan pelayanan baik terhadap anggota, maupun terhadap dunia bisnis khususnya dalam lingkungan Kristiani.

Undanglah kami untuk memberikan presentasi mengenai visi, misi dan tujuan ICCC bagi dunia bisnis dan profesi

VISI, MISI DAN TUJUAN ICCC International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) lahir dari kepatuhan terhadap visi yang diberikan selama kurun waktu enam tahun kepada seorang usahawan Swedia J. Gunnar Olson, yang diteguhkan dengan nubuatan dan terbukanya pintu kesempatan disekitarnya yang sebelumnya tertutup.

ICCC merupakan panggilan yang serius dan menantang bagi pengusaha Kristen untuk mengenali jaman yang sedang kita masuki dan dengan terang dari pengenalan itu memasuki dimensi iman yang baru yang disediakan bagi mereka yang …” takut akan TUHAN … berbicara satu sama lain … dan menghormati namaNya.” (Maleakhi 3: 16)

Pada intinya ICCC adalah kehendak TUHAN untuk memperluas tali kasih-Nya, melalui gerejaNya, didalam dunia usaha. Hal ini menuntut para pelaku bisnis mencari terlebih dahulu KerajaanNya dan segala Kebenaran-Nya. Urapan tersedia bagi mereka yang dengan mata melihat dan telinga mendengar panggilan jaman.

Sebagaimana halnya Raja Daud yang menerima urapan untuk menjadi raja, jauh sebelum dia menjadi Raja, yang keadaan pada saat urapan diberikan sama sekali tidak mungkin bagi Daud untuk menjadi Raja, demikianlah ICCC memanggil para pengusaha Kristen sebelum peristiwanya terjadi untuk mengalami kebebasan masuk ke dalam dimensi baru, dimana sasaran, strategi dan perencanaan bersama-sma diwujudnyatakan sesuai dengan iman di dalam Kristus.

ICCC mencanangkan panggilan itu sejalan dengan rencana TUHAN bagi jaman ini sebagai kunci memperoleh berkat dan pertumbuhan dan agar dapat bangkit berkemenangan diatas gelombang ombak yang mengancam.

Panggilan ICCC: “Mereka akan menjadi milik kesayanganKu sendiri, firman TUHAN semesta Alam pada hari yang Kusiapkan. Aku akan mengasihi mereka sama seperti seseorang menyayangi anaknya yang melayani dia. Maka kamu akan melihat kembali perbedaan antara orang benar dan orang fasik, antara orang yang beribadah kepada TUHAN dan orang yang tidak beribadah kepada-Nya.” (Maleakhi 3: 17-18)

KEYAKINAN IMAN ICCC: 

Satu-satunya TUHAN pencipta segala sesuatu dalam kesatuan Trinitas: Bapa, Anak, dan Roh Kudus.

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Keilahian TUHAN Yesus Kristus.

Kelahiran-Nya dari rahim seorang Perawan.

Karya penebusan dosa manusia melalui kematian-Nya diatas kayu salib.

Kebangkitan-Nya. Hak otoriatas diri-Nya atas dunia dan Kedatangan-Nya yang kedua kali dalam Kuasa dan Kemuliaan-Nya.

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Alkitab, sepenuhnya sebagai Firman TUHAN yang memberikan inspirasi dan berbagai peraturan bagi kehidupan yang dilandasi iman.



Keselamatan pribadi orang berdosa dan kebutuhannya untuk mengalami proses regenerasi melalui karya Roh Kudus dalam menuju menjadikannya sebagai manusia yang dikehendaki oleh TUHAN, seutuhnya.

The Days after Christmas Colossians 1: 13 - 18

For you the days after Christmas involve taking down the Christmas tree and the lights from the house. It might mean a few days off from work, or trying to figure out how to pay for Christmas. It probably also means New Year’s resolutions, making future plans to diet, or get out of debt, or start a new job or adventure. Is God in your future plans?

This sermon focuses on the New Year and a fresh start. Read the following Bible passages to assist you in preparing to read this sermon: Acts 13:1-3; 14:26-27; 26:1519; Galatians 2:6-10.

By now you may have the Christmas blues. Christmas, unfortunately, has a way of draining us: the parties, the shopping,

the church choir musicals, the visits to family, and the tension that many feel at Christmas. The New Year, however, has a way of energizing us: new prospects, new dreams, new plans, and the annual resolutions to diet, exercise, get out of debt, and try new things or get better at something. Have you even stopped to consider how backwards that all sounds?

Shouldn’t Christmas energize us and the New Year make us tired as we think of the fast pace?

Cambridge literary scholar C. S. Lewis says, “The central Christian belief is that Christ’s death has somehow put us right with God and given us a fresh start” (The Case for Christianity, p. 46).

Christmas should ignite the soul with a passion for God and the New Year invites us to think of new steps, new hopes and plans, including changing some things, gaining a fresh start in Christ.

Paul in his Letter to the Colossians speaks of the “Son of His love,” meaning that Christ in his love and power equips us with the Holy Spirit and his freshness. Paul writes about the church and how it all starts with God. The key in the ignition of the car, the starting line in a foot race, and the blank canvas for a painter-each in its own right serves as a starting point. Christ serves as the starting point for a Christian and the Lord’s church…and you’re prospects for a New Year.

I.

CREATION: It all starts with God.

Paul begins with a foundational theological tenet: Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:17).

Paul acknowledges God as the creator of all things, the maker of heaven and earth.

Watch a sunset in its hues of orange in the early dew of a sun-kissed morning. God created it. Watch a bird in flight catching the current of lofty winds. God created it.

Watch a deer or an elk jumping a fence in grace and power. God created it. Observe

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from a ship’s deck some dolphins as they glide through ocean waters and leap, arching and angled, out of the water and back in. God created it. Watch an ant as it stores food for the winter. God created it. Watch a snow flake tumble effortlessly from the sky on winter’s eve. God created it. Touch a baby hands, soft and gentle. Hear a baby’s cry, a teenager’s moan, and an adult’s grief in the shadows of death. God created each person and placed value on them as persons under the eye of the “Son of his love.”

Colossians 1:13-17 possess key thoughts of God’s creative work in our lives. God delivered us out of darkness. He introduced us to the Son who loves us. He provided a way in Christ so that we can join God’s kingdom. His kingdom is more than earthly realms and dominions and authoritative powers. It is a kingdom of life, transformation, joy, forgiveness, and God’s ongoing creative work in our lives up to this very minute and into the future. It all starts with God. God created us to serve him, live for him and to share him with others. The New Year beckons: creation starts with God. God desires to give us a fresh start!

II. YOUR LIFE: It all starts with God. Paul knew the struggle of life, ministry, travel, and trying to make ends meet to put food on the table.

Paul knew the terror of enemies, the tenderness of friends, and the trials of everyday life. Paul knew the mountaintop joys and the dreadful valleys, the disappointments of life and the achieved dreams of life. Paul says two things: 1.

Every living thing starts with God; 2. All things “cohere,” consist, or hold together with God. What Paul means is that if you follow Jesus with all your heart, your life decisions, attitudes, plans, hopes and dreams will find Christ at the center. What Paul means is that if you walk with Jesus in your daily life, then dependence on Christ

involves Christ holding your life together and giving it purpose because of him. The Message says, “Everything got started in him and finds purpose in him.” Does your life, as you face a New Year, have purpose in God? What does your life start with?

What are four elements of a life lived in God’s purpose?

1. Peace. Paul mentions peace at the outset of Colossians (1:2) and in Romans 5:1 he tells us that we have peace and access to God through Jesus Christ. This peace is more than politicians sitting at a round table discussing a truce in peace talks. It is more than a protest against a war, declaring “Peace!” It is more than a symbol on a tie-dye t-shirt promoting world peace.

It is personal, revolutionary, life changing peace that surpasses all understanding.

Jesus is our peace. Real peace starts with God. 2.

Deliverance.

Paul mentions “deliverance” in Colossians 1:13. Recently I watched the evening news and observed the story of a rescue. A roaring rapid river turned over a small raft in which two people rode. They were tossed out of the raft and into the river and were miraculously rescued by a rescue team who threw them a lifeline. Christ has recued us through the cross from sin and darkness.

Deliverance starts with God. 3. Forgiveness. Paul clearly praise God’s creative work as a work of forgiveness of sins? Where would we be without the forgiveness of sins through Christ’s shed blood? Where would we be without Christ’s forgiveness motivating personal forgiveness is relationships? Forgiveness heals.

Forgiveness starts with God. 4. Reconciliation. Paul mentions in Colossians 1:20-21 the word “reconciliation.” Christ reconciles people to God and to each other. He makes enemies

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friends. He takes that which is broken and puts it back together. He takes that which us severed like a rope and ties it back together by bonding it to him.

Reconciliation starts with God! A New Year soon arrives and it all starts with God! III. THE CHURCH: It all starts with God! Paul’s heart is threefold: for God, people, and the church. Christ is the head of the body, the head of the church, and he desires supremacy. In this New Year think of your church: plans and programs, ministries and madness of schedule, its celebrations and jubilations, its worship and small groups. If you think of the church, you are bound to think of somebody who annoys you, the music too loud in the contemporary worship service, the deacons, the staff, and the next building campaign. Stop to consider three things: 1.

It is the Lord’s church. 2. God is calling people to serve Him through his church. 3.

Christ is to be supreme, “preeminent” as Paul labels it in Colossians 1:18. Christ is supreme in all things. Is he supreme in your church? Its worship? Ministries?

Attitude? Service?

with God. Your New Year Starts with God. Happy New Year in these days after Christmas.

John D. Duncan is senior pastor of First Baptist Church Georgetown, Texas. He holds M. Div. and D. Min. degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He is near completion of a Ph. D. in New Testament from the Open University in the United Kingdom. He often travels to study in Cambridge, England and is a big fan of the NBA Dallas Mavericks Terimakasih anda telah meluangkan waktu membaca Berita ICCC Indonesia ini dan silahkan mem-forward-nya ke rekan bisnis anda agar memperoleh berkat rohani yang sama.

Redaksi

This past year has been one of financial challenges, hurricanes, job layoffs, and crises in family’s lives. Who knows what this next year holds? One thing is important for the church: to trust in Christ and to serve him as the one and only supreme God. Are your weary and worn out from Christmas? Are worried about the New Year to come? Are you wary of people you are not sure you can trust? Are you over worked and woeful in an attitude of despair? It’s the days after Christmas. Mary and Joseph have taken flight to Egypt. You have put Christmas back in the box and stored it in the attic. You have a New Year ahead. Let Christ give you a fresh start.

Creation starts with God. Praise and thank God for it! Your life starts with God. Ask God to guide it! Your church starts with God. Serve him and trust him to bless it.

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