From the Pastor’s Desk: Pastor Mark Liu
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
Greetings brothers and sisters, Happy New Year! May we deepen our experience with God and through this, live a joyful life in the new year.
When thinking about a joyful life, how would we interpret? We may use external environment to determine what a joyful life is. This is the secular view. As children of God, a joyful life comes from within and transcends the influence of the external environment. This is what Paul said in the book of Philippians: “be rejoice always”.
You may ask, how can we have a joyful life? The answer is to live out the life of the gospel. And this is the theme for RCAC in 2022, through learning about our denomination’s fourfold gospel, we can grasp the foundation of a joyful life, which is to live out the life of the gospel.
The four-fold gospel is: Christ, our Saviour; Christ, our Sanctifier; Christ, our Healer; Christ, our Coming King. Everything is built on Jesus Christ and as a result, the four-fold gospel is closely linked.
To live out the life of the gospel requires us to see everything under the correct perspective through the four-fold gospel. When we look at everything with the right perspective, the response to everything will change. In many cases, our reaction to things comes from how we interpret the matter and interpretation comes from our perspectives. When we look at things from the wrong perspective, all subsequent reactions can be problematic. Why is it so? The book of Genesis tells us that because Adam and Eve sinned, the result was “their eyes opened.” I think “eyes open” is very ironic. Because “their eyes opened”, the result was fear and shame, and because of fear and shame, they hid when hearing God was approaching them.
To have a correct view of everything must be through the external help, because we have no way to gain this through our own efforts. This is why the gospel is good news. Because we no longer need to rely on ourselves, but on the salvation of Jesus, so that we can be “born” again. This new beginning is to help us see everything clearly by wearing the lenses of the gospel.
I recently changed my glasses, and the clerk at the eyewear shop reminded me to wear this new pair of glasses frequently so that I can adapt as soon as possible. I believe that the crux of living out a life of the gospel is also this, do we often look at everything with the lenses of the gospel? Of course, this requires practice, and practice must come from encounter in life. The fourfold gospel is to help us live out the life of the gospel. And this nurtures a joyful life.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of RCAC. Thank God for using RCAC to be part of His Great Commission. Looking forward, may God continue to use RCAC. Let us encourage and build each other up. May we experience His wonderful deeds through RCAC.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Mark Liu