2022.12.31/2023.01.01

From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev.Collins Kung

Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,

RCAC is an English/Chinese/Mandarin trilingual church. We have five worship congregations yet we share the same goal – to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and fulfill the Great Commission. We demonstrate the unity of our church through our common theme and common preaching messages.

This weekend’s worship will cross two years, from 2022 to 2023. We will also start a new theme from the New Year:  “Deeper Life, Broader Vision”. I have chosen to use two words, “deeper” and “broader”, to emphasize our need for action, and not just slogans. We uphold the traditions of the Christian Missionary Alliance.  On the one hand, we believe that believers must grow in spiritual life and  Christ followers must learn His teachings and put His teachings into practice. Jesus Christ is our role model, we deepen our spiritual life through His words and deeds. On the other hand, we need to broaden our horizons and recognize who are our neighbors, so that we can embrace the world and obey the Great Commission declared by the Lord.

From January to April 2023, we will study the Gospel of John and take the life of Jesus as examples of life deepening:

Beginning with the incarnation of Jesus Christ, He humbled Himself from the position of God to the likeness of man. John 1:18 ” No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”  Jesus Christ manifests a life centered on God. Wherever he went, he preached the gospel to the people he met and challenging their beliefs and lives.

  • He spoke to the Jewish teacher Nicodemus about the need to be born again.
  • He talked to the Samaritan woman about the living water and made her realize the Messiah in front of her eyes.
  • He fed 5,000 people with the miracle of five loaves and two fishes, exhorting people to pursue the bread of life.
  • How He treated a woman caught in adultery and declared Himself to be the Light of the world.
  • He declared Himself a good shepherd, willing to lay down His life for the sheep so that the sheep could have abundant life.
  • He raised Lazarus back to life, declared that He is the resurrection and the life, and gave hope of resurrection to the world.
  • According to the date prophesied in the Scripture, He entered Jerusalem meekly on a donkey, showing that He is the King of Israel who came in the name of the Lord.
  • He shared the Last Supper with His disciples, washed their feet, and instituted the Eucharist for the disciples to remember the new covenant with Him.
  • When the disciples were sad, He comforted them He is the way to God the Father.
  • He emphasized to his disciples that the relationship with himself should be connected like the true vine with its branches, and they should remain in the Lord.
  • Before going to the cross, He offered the High Priest’s Prayer to intercede for the disciples.
  • In the end, He fully obeyed, was delivered into the hands of the religious leaders, and died on the cross for us by laying down His life.
  • The story is not over yet…He resurrected on the third day and defeated death according to His prophecy to the disciples.
  • After His resurrection, He appeared to His disciples, strengthened Peter, and charged him to follow the Lord’s example and shepherd the flock.

Let us study the Gospel of John from a deeper life perspective, learn to imitate the life of Jesus as an example to a deeper life, and exhibit the beauty of Christ. May glory and praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, amen!

Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Collins Kung