Jul 10-11, 2021
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Simon Lee

Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,

From July on, we are in Step 3 of the reopening of our province, 16 months since the pandemic hit us. So, we are all looking forward to more social interaction and perhaps even some travelling. Many of us also long to be back to worship and fellowship at our Church. Hopefully with people being fully vaccinated, we will feel safer from the risk of being infected by Covid-19. Prayerfully we are approaching the end of the long tunnel. Above all, let us continue to praise and pray to Christ the King.

Throughout this past many months, nothing had been certain except uncertainty. Who really knows what is happening and what we can do? As Christians, we may even have asked, like I have, where is God and is He in control? That is why for the whole of 2021 we are looking into the theme: Crown Him with many Crowns, with the hope and belief that Christ is still in control as He reigns as King. In the Spring quarter we had began to look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ (from the first half of Matthew), recognising that He is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God.

The Messiah as seen in the psalms
Indeed, throughout the Old Testament, the Messiah, the anointed one, was promised to the Jewish people. The people in Jesus’s days were constantly looking for the Promised One who would deliver them from their bondage and misery under the control of the Romans, and some of them even wanted to make Him their king. As we have seen, Christ came not to overturn the earthy kingdom of the day, but to establish the Kingdom of God (heaven). But how do we know that for sure and how shall we then live?

In the summer quarter we are going to study 10 psalms with the hope of learning from the psalmists in knowing how to cope and pray amid all sorts of troubles and despairs, find hope and continue to praise God for His faithfulness and deliverance. These are all familiar psalms in which we hope that we can dig deeper to find the secret of living with hope and joy in Christ in this period of uncertainty.

A Royal psalm introducing us to the Messiah
While in this quarter we are not going specifically into any “Royal Psalms” (as we had planned earlier), I would like to share with you one here, Psalm 2, to help you appreciate the theme of the messiah as king. There are at least 10 psalms (2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 101, 110, 132, 144) grouped under this title. Royal Psalms often come from the context of the Davidic king’s coronation, royal wedding, battles or victories. As the kingdom of Israel was a type of the heavenly kingdom, these psalms have many elements that apply to the kingdom of heaven and therefore to the reign of Jesus Christ. Therefore these psalms are also called Messianic psalms, as King David was a type of Jesus Christ (the messiah). These psalms are important as they help us to honour Christ as King, to celebrate the hope we have in seeing God triumph over evil. Let me highlight some of the important elements of Ps. 2. (To be continued next week)
Your servant in Christ,
Rev. Simon Lee