December 17/18, 2022

From the Pastor’s Desk :Rev. Mark Liu

Hello, brothers and sisters. Merry Christmas. Wishing you all have a joyful Christmas Holiday.  This year, may we also take the opportunity to bring “Jesus is the Light of the world”, this important message, to your family, neighbors and colleagues.

This year’s Christmas Eve Service is special. Because the event will not only happen at RCAC but also at Tsawwassen.  The theme of this year’s Christmas Eve Service is “Jesus is the Light of the World.” (Chinese congregation) Whether in Richmond or Tsawwassen, we aim to remind our brothers and sisters that “Jesus is the Light of the World” through hymns, scriptures meditation and candles. The Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ is to bring this important message to every corner of the world.

In John 8:12 (ESV)

¹²Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus said He is the Light of the World. The presence of light is important. We don’t like the dark, we may even be afraid of the dark. In this verse, Jesus tells us that He is the Light, not any light but the Light, and that in Him there is no darkness. That’s a declaration. In His life we see no darkness, only light. When we look for things, we cannot find them in the dark. We need light. In other words, through the life of Jesus, we find the true meaning of life. We have been searching, and it turns out that the true meaning of life is obtained through Him.

So what does the light of life represent? This meaning is very broad and far-reaching. One of them is that when we are willing to accept the Lord Jesus and follow Him, then we are new creations, the old things have gone, and everything has become new. We are not in the dark. When we live out the salvation, we become light, helping others to know Christ. We are like a signpost pointing to Jesus Christ.

When we think of light, we know that light needs to be gathered in order to become bright. This is why our faith is not to be alone, but to unite with brothers and sisters. This year’s Christmas Eve Service will remind everyone of this important point. Together we bring the light of Jesus out. We need to look for different opportunities to share the Gospel. RCAC hosts many different events for the purpose.  We aim to organize different events to meet friends.  We also have a ministry in Tsawwassen, and we will also hold an Evangelistic Meeting by Jo-Lam Wong on Jan 7 next year. All these are using practical ways to reach to people that Jesus is the Light of the World. All these activities require your support. I hope that you can connect with your pastors and actively participate in various activities.

May God bless you all, may God bless RCAC!

His servant,
Rev. Mark Liu

2022.12.17/18

弟兄姊妹大家好。聖誕快樂。祝願大家有一個充滿喜樂的聖誕佳節。並期盼大家把耶穌的光分享給自己的家人，鄰舍和同事。

今年的平安夜聚會是特別的。因為今年的平安夜聚會，除了在列宣家舉行之外，也會在Tsawwassen舉行。而今年的主題是耶穌是世界的光。無論是在列治文或者是Tsawwassen，我們期盼透過詩歌，經文和點燃燭光來提醒弟兄姊妹，耶穌是世界的光。我們被賦予使命，把耶穌是世界的光這個重要的訊息傳揚出去。

在約翰福音8:12 耶穌又對眾人說：“我是世界的光，跟從我的，必定不在黑暗裡走，卻要得著生命的光。”

耶穌說祂是世界的光。光的出現是重要的。我們不喜歡黑暗，我們更可能會害怕黑暗。在這一節經文裡，耶穌告訴我們祂就是光，在祂的裡面沒有黑暗。那就是一種宣言。在祂的生命中，我們不會看到黑暗，只有光。我們尋找東西，在黑暗裡一定找不到，需要有光。也就是說，透過耶穌的生命，我們找到了人生的真義。我們一直在尋找，原來生命的真義就是透過祂的生命而獲得。

那生命的光是代表什麼意思呢？這個意思非常廣，而且深遠。其中一個就是，當我們願意接受主耶穌，並跟從祂，那我們就是新造的人，舊事已經過去，一切都變成新的了。我們不在黑暗中。當我們活出這一份的救恩的生命的時候，我們就成為了光，幫助其他人也能夠認識基督。我們就像是一個路標指著耶穌基督。

當我們想到光的時候，就知道光需要聚集起來，才能夠變成明亮。這個就是為什麼我們的信仰不是單打獨鬥，而是要和弟兄姊妹聯合在一起。今年的平安夜聚會將會提醒大家這個重點。我們聯合起來，把耶穌的光帶出去。我們需要尋找不同的機會，把福音帶出去。列宣家舉辦很多不同的活動來接觸新朋友。我們也在Tsawwassen 有事工，也會在明年1月7日舉行【王祖藍“百變人生”佈道會】。凡此種種就是要把耶穌是世界的光這個訊息，用實際的行動展現出來。這些活動都需要你的支持。我盼望你能夠與教牧同工聯繫，積極參與各項活動，讓列宣家成為一個永不磨滅的燈台。

願神祝福大家，願神祝福列宣家。

主僕，
劉展權牧師

2022.11.26/27
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Mark Liu

Hello brothers and sisters of RCAC. It is by God’s Grace that I can share with you some of my recent thoughts.

Mark 16:15 (ESV)
15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Here, Mark, the author of this Gospel, clearly captured the command of Jesus Christ, which is to share the gospel. We need to pay particular attention to the verb used because the verb shows to us that it is Jesus’ command, not a suggestion. To be able to command is because one has authority. Lately we’ve been thinking about Jesus Christ as our return King, and this provides the reason for Jesus Christ’s authority.

Jesus commanded us to evangelize. The name “Christian & Missionary Alliance” of our denomination clearly indicated this command. In a nutshell, we take mission as our primary job. Every time we tell the world the name of our denomination, we are telling the world and reminding ourselves that missions (evangelism) is in our core DNA.

Many of the ministries of RCAC are carried out because of this direction. We have praise dance, Chinese and Western food classes, for example. These activities are set up to respond to Jesus’ command. Besides inviting people to come to join these activities, which is about inviting people to come to RCAC, we also need to go out. This is the reason we have started a ministry in Tsawwassen.

We started a Bible study class in Tsawwassen in mid-July this year. Every Saturday afternoon, my wife Fiona, my daughter Myra and I serve there. We are like missionaries, except that instead of going to another country, we go to a place where is 20 minutes away from us. The purpose is to bring the Gospel to the local Chinese. Thank God, at the beginning, we had five brothers and sisters participating, all living in the Tsawwassen area. Thanks to God’s provision, we have new friends joining us almost every week, usually one or two, not too many. My wife said it well, God is very kind to us because if He brings in many new friends at one time, we may find a hard time to cope with.

In September, we started a Chinese Bible class for kids. The program is set up so that the parents can leave the kids to learn Chinese while they stay for the Bible Study. These Chinese Bible Class helps kids to learn the Bible and Chinese at the same time. Thank God for giving us Jaco and Yvonne Cheung, who have been serving there every week since mid-September. We even participated in a leaflet distribution activity, around the community of Tsawwassen, with the brothers and sisters of Tsawwassen Alliance Church. I think this is what the universal church should look like – working together to advance the gospel.

In the past weekend, as the Bible Study class turns to its 4-month anniversary, we have 26 brothers, sisters and friends participating, in which 22 of them live in Tsawwassen area. The number of children joining the Chinese class has reached around 10. On the one hand, we are grateful, on the other hand, we need to explore what God’s will is. This is the reason, under the leadership of our District, we formed a small discerning community including the two elders of RCAC (Gary Wong and Eddie Yu). We look forward to discerning God’s Will together for this ministry. However, one thing is for sure, that RCAC is responding to the command of Jesus Christ.

May God bless you all.

His servant,
Rev. Mark Liu

2022.11.26/27

弟兄姊妹大家好。很高興在這裡透過文字和你分享一些想法。

馬可福音 16:15 “他又對他們說：“你們到全世界去，向所有的人傳福音。”

在這裏，馬可很清楚轉述耶穌基督的吩咐，就是要門徒傳福音。請大家留意，馬可告訴我們這個是耶穌基督的吩咐，不是耶穌基督的建議。能夠吩咐，是因為握有權柄。最近我們一直在思考耶穌基督是我們再來之王，而這個就提供了耶穌基督握有權柄的原因。

耶穌吩咐我們要傳福音。宣道會的名稱就已經把這一個命令變成了我們的宗派的名稱。概括來講，就是我們是以傳福音為我們的首要工作，也把這個首要的工作用名稱來表達。每一次我們告訴世界我們的宗派名稱的時候，就是在告訴世界，也提醒我們，宣教（傳福音）是我們的DNA。

列宣家有很多事工都是因著這個方向而開展的。我們有讚美操，有中西美食班和拉筋伸展運動班,正正就是要用實際的行動來回應耶穌的吩咐。除了透過這些活動邀請人來到列宣家之外，我們也要走出去。這個就是為什麼我們要開始在Tsawwassen的事工。

我們在今年七月中旬開始在Tsawwassen開始了一個查經班。每週六的下午，太太，女兒和我都會在那裡服事。我們就像是宣教士，只是我們去的地方不是其他國家，而是一個和我們距離20分鐘車程的地方。目的就是希望能夠把福音帶給住在當地的華人。感謝神，一開始的時候，我們有五位弟兄姊妹參與，都是住在Tsawwassen地區的。感謝神豐富的供應，我們差不多每一週都有新朋友來到當中，通常都是一兩個，不會太多。太太說得好，神體貼我們，不會一下子給予我們很多新朋友，因為我們會應付不來。

在九月份，我們開始了一個學中文的聖經班，提供給參與查經的朋友的孩子，一方面學聖經，一方面學中文。感謝神給予我們張宏中和張盧泳安夫婦，從九月中旬就開始每一週來到這裡服事。我們更參與了派發單張的活動，和Tsawwassen Alliance Church的弟兄姊妹一起到附近社區發單張。我想這個就是普世教會該有的樣式。一起同工，興旺福音。

在剛過去的週末，是我們成立裡這個查經小組的第四個月，感謝神，我們有26弟兄姊妹和朋友參與，其中22位是住在Tsawwassen的，小朋友的人數也已經到達了10位。一方面我們感恩，另外一方面，我們需要探索到底神的心意是什麼。這個就是為什麼在區會的帶領之下，我們成立了一個小組，包括了列宣家的兩位長老（黃世祺和俞鐵華）。我們期盼在未來的日子裡，神把心意清楚告訴我們。但是，有一點是肯定的，列宣家正在回應耶穌基督的吩咐。

願神祝福列宣家。

主僕，
劉展權牧師

Nov. 19/20, 2022

From the Pastor’s Desk:Pastor Karen Quan

Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,

Returning to Montreal to be with my family is always a special time. Being here reminds me of the focus of “Christ, our Coming King”. Montreal is a city founded upon the strong influence of the Catholic Church.

During the short 10 min bus ride along “De L’Eglise = Church Street” from my family’s home to our neighborhood hospital, we passed at least 3 catholic churches. Of the 3 churches, 2 were smaller and the exteriors were overgrown with weeds & bare bushes. They looked rather sad, lonely and empty. I was reminded of how before the 1960’s each “Parish or Church” was responsible to look after & care for all the citizens of that designated area. Whether it was related to physical needs (Eg. bring food to the poor), emotional (Eg. visiting the sick & housebound) & spiritual (Eg. praying for those in need), the ministry of the clergy/parishioners were to be salt & light in the community. But after the 1960’s and the silent exodus of quebecers from the institution of the church, we now have an entire generation & beyond who have been completely cut off from the life of the church. As quoted in the Gospel Coalition, Quebec & it’s people are now identified as the Least Reached People Group in all of North America. Less than 1% of the population are identified as evangelical christians.

But the influence and legacy of the church lives on. Even as we walked through the main doors of the Verdun Hospital (founded & led by the Catholic Church from the 1930’s-1950’s) it’s inscription reads “Hopital General de Verdun, Dedie au Christ Roi = Verdun General Hospital, Dedicated to Christ the King”. Makes me wonder, how many people walking through these doors actually know who Christ is personally? With such a strong heritage & rich history, one might assume that it would be so easy to make Christ known! But the opposite seems to be true, as I walk along “De L’Eglise = Church Street” and pass by the “Church St. Pub” (a new bar with the Devil holding a pitchfork as it’s logo”).

No matter what our environment looks like, may we not forget that Christ has died for our sins and Christ will come again. May we not grow immune to this truth just as the etchings on a building can become somewhat of a decoration and easily overlooked. It encourages me to look up to Mont Royal and fix my eyes on the cross. It reminds me that everything that happens in the city happens in the shadow in the Cross.

Romans 5: 8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Karen Quan