January 7/8, 2023
From the Pastor’s Desk : Pastor Alex Poon
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
May we pursue wisdom this new year. Grow to deepen your heart and mind knowledge of Christ our Savior. This is growing Christian maturity.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” – Proverbs 9:8-10
This is wisdom: to love God as God. Wisdom is the way we want to live and move towards Him.
And it takes the work of pursuing learning.
The Apostle Paul writes to his disciple Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-2…
“1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
Then he continues later in chapter 3 in 2 Timothy 3:14-17…
“14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Follow the train of thought: The source of strengthening is first the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Then the second source of strengthening is learning; “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed”. And the source of this learning is the teaching of Scripture – which is God breathed, and good in every way. It is profitable for the equipping of every good work.
So, for us, as maturing children of God: It is good work to pursue God, to know him as Lord of all, and to continually grow in maturity in him through heart and mind. As we deepen our understanding, we deepen our experience. As he provokes our thoughts, as he tunes our attention, and refines our pondering – we will learn to commune with him deeper and deeper and be satisfied more and more.
Naturally, the question is “How do we start?”
I’m sure you already know how.
First through prayer. Prayers of dependence. And prayers which ask God to create in us a renewing mind, and heart which desires and matures.
Then, through diving in the deep strengthening teachings of Scripture. When do you read God’s Word to us? When do you dive into the depth of his love explained? What sources help illuminate your reading – so you see what you did not see at first? Who are your good teachers? And who are your conversational partners who help to strengthen and encourage your pursuit of wisdom? But the ultimate question is this: do you give priority to the Scriptures, so that you are formed and shaped in your thinking?
All of this, so we may praise our God, who came – as the embodiment of wisdom – to reveal to us the wisdom of the cross. That is, the wisdom of our suffering servant who is the righteous dying for the unrighteous, to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Alex Poon