For those who are interested, please contact Kid Chan (012 215 9933) for Badminton, Dr. CJ Lim (012 225 1155) for Squash.

Come and join us for time of fellowship and learning the Bible using “Book by Book series @ Room 5
Please contact Youth Pastor Greg Lim (012-2113711)or Nam Chan (012-7571510)

The Indonesian Service will be held again on Sunday, 26 February 2012 with details below. The service is held every second & fourth Sundays of the month.
Preacher: Ps. Great Muller Sihite (Ecclesia Church, Puchong)
Topic: Willingness to Go & Witness (Isaiah 6:8)
Time: 5PM – 6.30PM
Venue: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Kuala Lumpur
Congregations are asked to support the service in prayer and to convey this announcement to any Indonesians they may know.
For further information, please contact Elder Christian Girsang (c_girsang@yahoo.com or +6013-293-1645)

To encourage members of the church congregation to participate in the Home Fellowship at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, we are launching the first meeting of Home Fellowship members and leaders with details as below.
Date: 25 February 2012 (Saturday)
Time: 7.00 – 9.00 p.m.
Place: Sanctuary
Agenda
1 What is Home Fellowship? and Why do we hold it? by Rev. Dr Robert Weniger (15 minutes)
2 How to hold Home Fellowship in the Presbyterian Church? by Rev.Richard Tok (15 minutes)
3. Guide on how to conduct the Book of Book by Elder C.J. Lim (10 minutes)
4. The Structure of Home Fellowship by Nurdin Theofilus (5 minutes)
5. Review by each existing home fellowship leader (15 minutes)
6 Question and Answer Session (30 minutes)
Light refreshments will be served 30 minutes before the start of the meeting.
Every one interested in seeking spiritual reawakening to boost the Home Fellowship and in serving the Lord is welcomed. May the Holy Spirit lead and draw us closer to Him.

Lord, lay some soul upon my heart,
And love that soul through me;
And may I nobly do my part
To win that soul for Thee. Tucker

For an inspiring and effective time of worship and prayer
Every Saturday
In Room 5 (Upper Room)
@ 4:00 pm.
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”
- James 5:16
“You do not have because you do not ask God”
- James 4:2

It’s active. Please send your prayer request to
If you are not currently on the prayer chain and would like to know more about it, please send blank email to the same email address. You may also contact Cynthia Jonas
at 013 – 3616505.

Come for a time of learning and fellowship.
For more information, please call Pastor Greg Lim @ 012-2113711

4.00-6.00pm in Room 5

Join us for a time of fellowship and learning God’s Word from 7.30 – 10.00pm (Friday)
Refreshments available.
Please contact Pr Greg Lim @ 012-2113711

Would you like to join other members in praying for the continued peace and even more for Malaysia? Email me at or Cynthia at to participate in a joint prayer organized by the Council of Churches, Malaysia – we will email the details to you

SUNDAY SCHOOLFor Sunday School matters, please contact the Co-ordinators:
8.30am Chin Chin @ 016.2332463 or email: 
11.00am Siew Lin Koid @ 016.3317447 or email: 

YF meets on Saturdays at 4.00pm @ Room 5.
Many exciting programs have been planned for the year.
Parents are encouraged to support the ministry by sending their youth to YF.
For any inquiry on YF please call Youth Pastor Greg Lim @ 012-2113711

More than 170 countries are praying for Malaysia on 3rd March for WORLD DAY OF PRAYER 2012! The theme is ‘Let Justice Prevail’, and was chosen in 2007.To receive a kit with a booklet, cd’s etc., you may email or call 90582102.
The central event is on 3rd March at KL Wesley starting with networking tea at 3pm. If you’d like to represent St. Andrews, please email with your contact details so that we arrange group transport – no parking is available in their compound that day.

COURSES IN FEBRUARY (9am – 5pm at PJ SS2, RM40/- with notes, lunch + 2 other refreshment breaks):
18th Honouring Godly Sex and Sexuality
25th Healing from Accidents and Trauma
Phone 78772036 or email for contents of the courses and to register.

This is a commitment to undertake a 12-week study for those who intend to be baptized. It is also suitable for those who wish to understand the Christian faith.
Time: Saturdays 10.30 am – 12 noon
Place: Room 5 For further enquiries and to register interest, please contact Rev.Richard Tok or Elders C.J. Lim or Elder S.C

Do you know that the church has an abundance of materials to help you and your family grow in faith and discipleship? The Reading and Resource Centre (formerly known as the Library) is stocked with many excellent books and DVDs that can help nurture your walk with Jesus. CEC’s desire is to revitalize it so it can be more easily taken advantage of by members.

To that end, we need three or four people to help the R&R Centre Co-ordinator, Siew Lan Chang update and organize things. If you would be willing to help, please contact her @ 016-3378981, or email Or you may speak with Irene Lim.

Thank you for considering this.

Gen. 27

Bob Weniger

Couples who want to be cute and show their affection for each other sometimes do so by having “his and hers” things. I went on-line to Google and just typed in “his and hers gifts” and all kinds of sites popped up. You can buy his and hers bathrobes or towels. If you like jewelry you may get a his and hers ring set. You can get his and hers pillow cases, coffee mugs, and T-shirts. If you enjoy cooking together you can but his and hers aprons. Sometimes all these are matching items and other times they feature slightly different designs that complete each other. Today when tattoos are popular you can even get his and hers tattoos. For couples who really want to identify with each other and so buy his and hers things, I guess that’s all okay.

But there is one instance when it is not good to have “his and hers.” And that’s when it involves your children. When parents favor one child over another, and especially when the mother has her favorite and the father has his favorite, there will be major problems.

As we began to see last week, such was the case with Isaac and Rebekah and their twin sons Jacob and Esau. Isaac favored Esau, who was born first. Rebekah favored Jacob. In fact, they each favored the one son so much that it was as if Isaac had his own son – Esau – and Rebekah had her own son – Jacob. And because of that, the problems only escalated. We see that in our text for today – Gen. 27:1-10.

1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. 2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”

5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

I’ll just summarize the rest of the chapter. Jacob and Rebekah carried out their plot, with the result that Isaac gave his blessing to Jacob. Jacob pretended to be Esau, and since Isaac was blind, he didn’t notice and gave his blessing to Jacob. The tradition of that time, of course, was that the blessing should go to the oldest son, which in this case was Esau. The blessing was somewhat similar to the birthright, which we examined last week. The birthright gave to the oldest son a double portion of the inheritance and the status of being head of the family when the father passed away. The oldest son would have spiritual authority and would also have the final say in all matters related to the family. That was the oldest son’s right by virtue of being the firstborn. Esau was the oldest son and so the custom dictated it should have went to him. But Jacob schemed and took advantage of the short-sighted Esau by essentially trading a bowl of stew for Esau’s birthright when Esau came in from the countryside and was famished.

The blessing also went to the oldest son. The blessing from the father passed on to the son a kind of spiritual power of goodness and well-being that once given, could not be taken back. Specifically, the blessing that Isaac gave to Jacob is found in vs. 28-29, where he said to Jacob:

28 May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

When Jacob deceived his father, Isaac blessed him with the promise of richness and abundance, as well as the place of honor and supremacy within the family and among the surrounding nations. It was an exalted status bestowed upon Jacob. Although Jacob claimed it by deception, once given it could not be taken back, even though Esau later pleaded for it. The result was that Esau held a grudge against his brother Jacob and vowed to kill him once their father died.

And you thought your family had problems! This family was as divided as any family could be. And that division was rooted in the attitudes of favoritism that Isaac and Rebekah displayed. In vs. 5 it says that Isaac spoke to his son, Esau. And in vs. 6 it says that Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob. That pretty much says it all; they had “his and hers” children. It was as if they each had their own son. Of course, their favoring of one son over the other then pitted Isaac and Rebekah against each other. This was a divided family, and while all four of these characters contributed to that division, it was the parents, Isaac and Rebekah, who bear the brunt of the responsibility. They acted selfishly themselves, and they failed to instill in their boys the qualities, values, and beliefs they should have.

There are different things we could talk about based on this passage, but today I want to focus on just one of them and that is parenting. Now, I know that some of you are not yet parents, but some day you will be, so it will be good to learn these principles even now. And some of you have passed through the stage of parenting. Oh, you still have your children, but they are grown and on their own. But there are numerous ways these lessons still apply. First of all, just because your children are grown, that doesn’t mean you can no longer influence their lives. Second, as grandparents, which many of you are, these lessons can be applied to your grandchildren. True, you are not the primary care-giver, and you ought not overstep the authority and position your children have as parents to your grandchildren. But still, you have a role to play in the lives and development of your grandchildren. And what I am going to share can apply to other relationships, such as if you help teach Sunday School. Again, not that you are to try and usurp the role of the parents of these kids, but nevertheless the message today can be applied to those relationships as well.

There are different ways Scripture teaches us. One is by putting forth a positive ideal or faithful person, so we can try to follow their example. Another is by portraying a negative example, so we can learn by their mistakes. We’ll try to make use of both of these ways of learning today. The negative example is obviously that of Isaac and Rebekah; we can learn from their failures as parents so we don’t make the same mistakes. The positive instruction comes from a very well-known verse, Prov 22:6, which reads: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

The first think to note about this proverb is that it is just that, a proverb. People, with good intentions to be sure, often mistake a proverb for a promise, but by definition a proverb is not a promise. A proverb is an observation of life that is generally true, though not always. For instance, in the previous chapter, Prov. 21:17, it says, “He who loves pleasure will become poor.” That’s an observation of life that is generally true: those who love pleasure often do end up poor because they spend all their money on experiencing pleasure. But it’s not always true. You could go to Hollywood or Las Vegas and find people who are practically addicted to pleasure but have done quite well financially; they have not become poor. It’s generally true, but not always.

So it is with Prov. 22:6; it’s an observation of life that is generally true – when you train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not turn from it. Often things work out this way, but not always. This is not a promise, it is not a guarantee. This verse doesn’t come from the Book of Promises but the Book of Proverbs. I’m sure we all can think of examples, maybe even from within your own family, where this has not worked out, where a child was brought up in a Christian home with godly influences, but at some point that person turned from all that was instilled in them.

But even though this is not a promise, we still should strive to live it out, for it is a proverb; it is generally true. Beyond this, if we love our children we will surely try to give this a solid spiritual foundation. We will want to instill in our children a knowledge of God and His love and strive to help our children develop godly character. And certainly this is how God wants us to approach parenting, or even these other relationships I alluded to.

So let’s examine this proverb, and compare it to the approach taken by Isaac and Rebekah, and see what we can learn from it. The key to understanding this proverb is really found in the opening two phrases.

First, we need to look at the opening three words: “train a child.” The meaning here is not simply to teach the child right from wrong, what to do versus what not to do, along with some Bible stories. Yes, we do that, but it’s much deeper and more creative than that. In the original Hebrew, the root of the word translated as “train” actually has to do with the palate or roof of the mouth. In biblical times, right after a child was born the midwife would place a bit of a tart substance made from dates on her finger and then rub it on the roof of the newborn’s mouth. This would initiate a sucking response in the baby, so the baby could then immediately begin sucking from its mother’s breast, and thus be nourished with that which would give the baby life. (Swindoll. You and Your Child.)

That is a picture of what we are to do as parents. We are to help develop a thirst within our children, a thirst for the right things, a thirst for that which will sustain life for them. Ultimately, we want to help them develop a thirst for God and the things of God.

How do we do that? Well, it begins of course by modeling that for them. If we don’t have a thirst for God and the things of God ourselves, we won’t be very successful in creating that in our children. And when I say we must model a thirst for God, I don’t simply mean we ought to be religious and do religious things. Rather we are to have a thirst for God Himself, a desire to know God deeply, to be surrendered to God so God can transform us and use us. As has often been noted, values are caught more than they are taught. We can tell our children to believe this and do that, but it will have far greater impact if they see that in our lives. So we must live it out, for valued are absorbed, especially by children. This doesn’t mean we have to model perfection, for only Jesus was perfect. But we do need to model transformation. We need to demonstrate to our children that our hearts are yielded to God and by His grace and power we are being changed. Our children must see in us a desire for God – to know God, love God, obey God, and serve God.

Then we want to make sure our children have the opportunity to meet and interact with others who also are passionate about God. They may be friends or relatives. They may be people in the church. It could be by encouraging our children to read biographies or watch movies of people who lived authentically for Jesus. We need to make sure our children have the opportunity to be influenced by others who by their faith and example will leave our children thirsting for what they have.

One other thing I will mention is that we must strive to give our children opportunities to deepen their faith and grow in their understanding of God’s call upon their lives through taking part in various activities or events. It may be sending them to youth camp or a big Christian youth event with dynamic speakers and musicians. It could be by enabling them to go on a mission trip so they can experience first hand what it is to serve others in the name of Christ. Such experiences can increase our children’s thirst for God and God’s purposes for their lives.

In essence what we want to do is to surround our children with opportunities to know God, to be touched by His love and grace, and then to love God themselves. And that takes time and commitment. It is something we must be intentional about. And much of this we can do with other young people – our grandchildren or the kids who come to Sunday School. We can strive to help them develop a thirst for God as they see in us the reality of the living God, His goodness, grace faithfulness, and how He alone satisifies.

And you know how it is when you are thirsty. If you have been working outside on a hot day, or you played a round of golf on a day when you break a sweat simply by stepping outside, you don’t have to make yourself drink. If someone brings you a tall glass of ice water, you don’t say to yourself, “Well, I don’t really want to but I suppose I should drink that glass of ice water because it will probably be good for me.” Not at all. You desire that water. You even crave that water, because you are thirsty and you know that the water will satisfy your thirst.

That’s what we want to instill in our children – a thirst, a desire for God so they pursue God not just because they think they are supposed to, and not simply to please their parents, but because they have come to genuinely crave God and they know that nothing else will satisfy them. So as parents we must model that for our children, and then we must give them ample opportunities to be surrounded by others who share that same passion – not in a pushy way but in an inviting way.

Unfortunately, this is something we don’t see much of from Isaac and Rebekah. They both had their strengths, but this was not one of them. In their selfishness and attitudes of favoritism, they certainly were not modeling for Jacob and Esau a truly godly life. And thus as young men, we don’t see Jacob and Esau pursuing God, desiring God. Jacob was manipulating to take things from Esau, and Esau was set on revenge against Jacob. As I said, we can learn from the mistakes of others just as we can learn from their successes. So seeing how Isaac and Rebekah failed, let us strive to create a thirst for God in our children and the other young people in our lives.

The second key phrase is: “In the way he should go.” “Train a child in the way he should go…” The literal meaning of this phrase is “in keeping with their bent,” or “according to their way.” For each child has their own bent, their own characteristics, their own tendencies, their own way of learning. So we must take time to understand who they are, the nature of their personality, and so forth. In other words, there is no set pattern that will work for all children. In fact, if you have two children you have probably discovered that there is no set pattern even for just two children.

This applies to many areas. For example, children respond to discipline in different ways. For some children, just a look of disapproval from one of their parents is enough to make them realize they did something wrong and they will want to stop. For other children you must be way more assertive in your discipline methods. You must know your children and what works for them. When it comes to providing opportunities for children to be influenced by others in their faith, some children would jump at the chance to go to a big youth event with 10,000 other youth where there is lots of energy and excitement. But another child would not be at all comfortable in such a setting, but they would really profit by being mentored one-on-one by an adult with an authentic Christian faith and lifestyle.

A wise parent will train their children according to their bent. They will seek to create a thirst in their child for the things of God in a way that fits with their personality. They will not simply try to cram things down their child’s throat, which in the end will just make the child rebel. Unfortunately, that is how this verse has often been applied: try to force things on our kids. That is not what it means to train a child in the way he should go. Rather we seek to find ways to help our children thirst for God, desire God. And again, you can also do this with your grandchildren or other children you are in contact with. Seek to understand them, so you can help them thirst for God.

How did Isaac and Rebekah do in this regard? Well, it seems that because they each had their favorite child, they basically ignored the other child. The account gives no evidence that Isaac was helping Jacob thirst for God, nor that Rebekah was trying to help Esau desire God. And in fact, because they both were selfishly favoring a child, even in those relationships they failed to nurture a hunger for God.

Just think what could have happened if Isaac and Rebekah first would have loved each son equally, and then would have made the effort to know the bent of each of their sons while trying to create in Jacob and Esau a thirst for God and His ways. Just think of what could have happened if they would have prepared their sons accordingly for their different roles. Think of the strife that could have been avoided, and the character development that could have taken place in their sons if Isaac and Rebekah would have instructed them about God’s sovereign purposes for them, and then guided them toward fulfilling those purposes. If they would have prepared their sons for their respective destinies, the lying, scheming, and betrayal perhaps could have been avoided. The feelings of hatred and the long separation between the brothers that we will read about later perhaps could have been averted.

That’s a good word to those of us who are parents, or who one day will be parents. It’s not likely we will receive such a clear statement regarding the destiny of our children as Rebekah did, who was told by God that the older son would serve the younger. But Scripture does give us an abundance of wisdom regarding our children in a general sense. We are to instruct our children about God (Deut. 6), about His love for them, about His gift of life through Jesus Christ, and about His rightful place as Lord of their lives. We are to teach our children – through our words as well as our lifestyle – what it means to live as a follower of Jesus and to have a meaningful personal relationship with Jesus. We are to both tell our children and encourage them in the development of godly character. In all of this we are seeking to create a thirst in our children for God so they will desire God and seek His plans for their life.

We probably won’t know the specific details about God’s plan for our children. But if we can help create a thirst within them for God and then nurture them in the more general things Scripture makes clear are God’s purposes for all of us, that will go a long way in helping them to become the people God created them to be. And that can also help them avoid a lot of the hardship and pain that Esau and Jacob had to go through because their parents did not prepare them for their God-given callings.

Whether you are a parent, a grandparent, a friend, a teacher or a mentor, God has a high calling for each of us. For God has entrusted to us the opportunity to help our children know God, experience His love, be transformed by His power, and live out His good purposes. With God’s help, let us commit ourselves to doing just this.