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Christ’s Finished Work: Unity

14 December 2023 blogpastor 2 Comments

The world is experiencing great divisions, polarisation and tribalism. People are no longer listening to each other, not trying to understand each other’s position. They hold rigidly to whatever they believe in and they refuse to budge. The vocal ones are usually deeply entrenched in their opinions and beliefs. They are even willing to cancel out others who disagree with them. The need for unity in diversity is never greater than in today’s divided world.

The New testament church faced similar tensions in their congregations because both Jews and Gentiles have come to know Jesus Christ and find themselves in the same congregation. Their disagreements and disputes in theology, practices and expectations caused tension and disunity.

St. Paul pointed to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the solution to divisions in the church. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off (the Gentile believers) have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one (conflicting Jewish and Gentile converts) and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility”(Eph 2:13-16 ESV). The walls of hostility and division between believers of Jewish and Gentile backgrounds have been demolished by the power of the finished work of Christ. And so too all other divisions caused by differences in gender, status, beliefs, nationality, race or language. God wants to form a vast community of people in Christ who love each other with a love that covers the cracks of divisions.

Therefore we should be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”(Eph 4:3). This unity was purchased and founded on the reconciling death of Christ. Maintaining unity is hard work and all believers must strive to do their part. It is worth the effort because unity is highly valued by God. It was so valuable he gave his only Son so that the gift of unity, a unity that first resided in the triune God may be established in the Body of Christ.

This is part of a planned series of writings on the topic, “The A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work”. I am writing it alphabet by alphabet. Thus far the others that I have written can be found HERE.

Christ’s Finished Work: Transformation

6 December 2023 blogpastor Leave a comment

The finished work of Christ makes it possible for Christians to be transformed. It is no mere cosmetic, surface change in external behaviour or mindset. It is a profound renewal of the inner person that impacts every facet of the Christian’s life.

Transformation begins with faith

At the heart of this profound transformation is the crucified and risen Christ. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) When we accept his death and acknowledge that he died in our place, as our Substitute, it begins our transformation. “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (! Corinthians 5:17) The old sins are cancelled and we receive the gift of righteousness from God.

God’s love is unconditional and it lays the foundation for our transformation. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God’s love leads us to repentance, and makes us capable of loving others. His love moves us from being lovers of self into being lovers of God and others.

A transformation from inside out

This inside job was clearly predicted by the prophet Ezekiel 36:26,27:

“And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.” It refers to a profound inner change so that the person who is a law-breaker by nature will become a law keeper by the Spirit’s empowerment. He or she begins to live in a way that pleases the Lord.

A clear example of this is the apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul. He persecuted the church with great passion and fury until he encountered the risen Christ on his way to arrest believers in Damascus. It was a radical transformation: the old was gone and the new has come. Paul became a great apostle and spread the good news about Jesus widely, suffering persecution because of his boldness and zeal. His motto became: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

The transformation of a Christian is like the metamorphosis of a butterfly. The caterpillar goes through a radical change inside a cocoon and emerges as a beautiful butterfly. Similarly, through Christ’s finished work, we undergo a spiritual metamorphosis. We shed our old nature and emerge as a new creation, transformed with the wings of truth and grace.

Deepening sense of identity and purpose

The profound inside work will inevitably manifest externally in our identity and sense of purpose. Like the apostle Paul, we will develop a deep assurance of our new identities. We are beloved sons and daughters of God upon whom the Spirit is powerfully at work. The Spirit works to make us a missional people. 1 Peter 2:9 declares, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Transformation is throughout life

This work of spiritual transformation into the likeness of Christ will continue throughout our life’s journey. Little by little, from one degree of glory to another, we are changed and renewed as we lovingly contemplate the beauty and glory of Christ in adoration and worship. This was Paul’s experience as he states in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

This is part of a planned series of writings on the topic, “The A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work”. I am writing it in alphabetic order. Thus far the others that I have written can be found HERE.

MFIS Thanksgiving Dinner 2023: A Milestone in Leadership Change

24 November 2023 blogpastor Leave a comment

In celebration of Ministers Fellowship International Singapore (MFIS) Thanksgiving Dinner, on Thursday night, 23 November 23, we were blessed with a sumptuous dinner complete with roast turkeys from Goodwood Park Hotel (courtesy of Mr & Mrs Luar Eng Hwa). We had about 120 pastors and leaders from some 45 churches coming together at Harvester Community Church in Geylang. The program started at 5pm and ended at 8pm. No one was bored, everything flowed according to schedule. We had a great couple Tom and Ethel Cannon as our emcees.

We were particularly blessed by the opening speech by Apostle Patrick Low (Founder & Apostolic Overseer of Christian Community Chapel). He started by asking all of us this question, “What are we thankful for?” We are to give thanks for all the blessings we have received in 2023, but we also need to give thanks for our trials and sufferings. Suffering, is a sign of the true apostolic church. Besides the working of signs & wonders in our ministry, how we handle difficult times in our lives, speaks as loudly as our works. I felt that this is a word that we all need to hear for this season and to prepare God’s people for the coming season.

There was a good time of fellowship, and the evening ended with powerful prophetic prayers and proclamations, led by four pastors across the generations. And of course, the celebration highlight was for the birthday boy, Rev Chua Hock Lin, who has been a dear elder brother who always cared and pastored MFIS pastors these few years. He just turned 80! The following landmark announcement was also made by him: “Before I share the message the Lord has put on my heart, I have a short announcement to make. Earlier this year, I felt my time as the first Chairman of MFIS would be over by end 2023. Time for us to transition to a younger person. I shared this with the leadership and they concurred. We also agreed that Ps Sam Gift Stephen, Senior Overseer of Life Centre, would be the next Chairman of MFI Singapore. Ps Sam is on a family vacation and will assume this role on his return. I want to thank Ps Han, our Lead Apostolic Elder, the Apostolic Elder Council, Apostolic Leadership Team and all the members of our Fellowship Teams for their encouragement and support during the last three years. I believe the next season, with Ps Sam at the helm, will move us to a higher level for the mission of MFI Singapore”.

To God be the glory, for Pastor Gabriel Han and the Harvester Community Church team who worked to put this together for us. We praise the Lord since every good and perfect gift comes from above. We look forward to 2024, the year ahead of us, a year closer to the return of Christ.

-A report by Pastor Lawrence Lee (former Senior Pastor of Glad Tidings Church)