|
William Barclay, the famous Bible scholar once said, “The church is the best proof of Christ’s resurrection.” To me, what this means is that the body of believers, which include you and me, are the best proof of the resurrection of our Saviour.
The central message of Christ’s resurrection is one of “Hope”. Witness how the disciples behaved before and after encountering the resurrected Christ. From being despondent, hopeless, fearful and worried, they became men of courage and faith, confident and full of zeal for the Lord. This remarkable transformation is testament that Christ’s resurrection is of critical significance to all who follow Him. If it were not so, Paul would not have declared, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1st Cor 15:17-19)
Hence, for all Christians today nothing can cause us such deep sorrow that we lose hope and the courage to live. Although our hearts may be wrenched and torn by some tragic happenings, the resurrection of Christ gives us hope, and even greater hope at His second coming: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things had passed away.” (Rev 21:4) Let us live a life of hope in the resurrected Christ.
April and May are busy months. Churches will have their post-Easter programs and activities, while CAC has lined up several gatherings and meetings. The Methodist Church of Singapore will be organizing a combined retreat for all its pastors on 6-9 April in JB, Malaysia. The theme is “Pastoral Formation and Spirituality in the Wesleyan Tradition“. The speaker, world renown Wesleyan historian Professor Richard Heitzenrater will be delivering three talks: “The Extraordinary Call of the Wesleyan Pastor”, “Gifts and Grace: Measures of God’s Call”, and “The Holy Spirit and the Means of Grace”. Participants are required to do pre-retreat reading of three sets of materials to prepare themselves for the learning. Such combined retreats are only held once every four years when pastors of TRAC, ETAC, and CAC get the opportunity to come together to share, and we are looking forward to it.
On the first day, CAC will have our own full-day retreat. I will be presenting a talk to the CAC group on how pastors can meet the challenges of a changing society. This will be followed by a discussion. We will also have small group sharing and prayer to encourage each other in our service. Do remember us in your prayer.
On 24 April a one-day retreat is also scheduled for LCEC chairpersons, lay leaders, PPRSC chairpersons, and pastors of local churches. They will be joined by chairpersons of various CAC Boards. 57 participants are expected to attend. It promises to be an interactive time of group discussion and sharing of the CAC vision. Such meetings will promote better understanding and collaboration among co-workers for the Lord.
On 15-17 April, members of the CAC Seniors Ministry together with the chairmen of several Seniors Fellowships of local churches will be visiting our counterparts in KL. The Seniors Fellowships of churches in West Malaysia have their own charter in the Book of Discipline, and their programmes and activities are varied and exciting. I believe the visit will be an eye-opening and enriching experience for us.
May you be filled with the hope, promise, and power that come with Christ’s resurrection.
|
Print this page
