March 25/26, 2023

From the Pastor’s Desk – Rev. Mark Liu

Hello, brothers and sisters, thank God for giving me the opportunity to share with you some of my thoughts through this channel.

If I tell you that everyone will face suffering, I believe no one will disagree. Maybe you are in suffering right now. There are many kinds of suffering. First, we cannot and should not judge the suffering others are facing. Because at one level, this type of thinking is pride.

Regarding suffering, the Bible stresses more about how to get out of suffering rather than knowing why suffering happens. Job is a good example. It seems to the end, Job was not told about why sufferings happened to him.  He thought he deserved an answer but God did not give Job the answer.  God gives Job more: Himself.  In fact, when we think carefully, we will find that knowing the cause of suffering is not what we most want to know. Although, our instinctive reaction is to ask “why”. But, in all fairness, do we really want to know why? Or do we want to know the way out of suffering?

When Moses told the Israelites to obey God’s commandments, or they would face difficulties, the Israelites thought that they needed to maintain their relationship with God through a set of behaviors. But they did not know that behaviors are just the sign, and what is more important is the relationship with God. The first and second of the Ten Commandments speak of the importance of a relationship with God.

When we care about a relationship, our whole life will be changed because of this relationship. First, the cross of Jesus Christ enables us to restart our relationship with God that was broken by sin. By accepting salvation, we can re-establish our relationship with God. However, this is just the beginning. Many times we only stay at the beginning stage, but we do not cultivate the relationship with God. In the Bible, when it comes to the verb “cultivate”, it is often used in the present continuous tense. This means that we must persevere in building a relationship with God. This relationship is actually not equal, because we are not in the same position as God. God is the Creator and we are created by Him.

In John 17:1-26, Jesus Christ allows His disciples and us to hear His prayer up close and know His close relationship with His Father. This relationship with Heavenly Father helped Jesus faced suffering. If this is the case, we can also learn from this. When we care about our relationship with God, we will look at our lives from a higher perspective with a wider dimension. In Jesus’ prayer, He said all of these are to glorify God. Can suffering glorify God? Yes. The answer lies in our relationship with God. Are we willing to use our lives to glorify this God who loves us? Perhaps this is the crux of facing suffering.

May God bless you all.  May God bless RCAC.

His servant,
Rev. Mark Liu

2023.03.25/26

弟兄姊妹大家好，感謝神的恩典，讓我能夠在這裡透過文字和你們分享一些想法。

如果我告訴你，每一個人都會面對苦難，相信沒有人會有異議。可能你現在就是在苦難中。苦難有很多種。首先，我們沒有辦法，也不應該評斷別人的苦難。因為在某一個層面來說，這種評斷就是驕傲。

對於苦難，聖經用了不少的篇幅來告訴我們如何走出苦難，而不是知道為什麼苦難會發生在我們的身上。約伯就是一個很好的例子。其實，當我們細心思考時，就會發現，知道苦難的來由並不是我們最想知道的。雖然，我們的本能反應就是會問【為什麼】。但是，平心而論，我們真的想要知道為什麼嗎？還是我們想要知道能夠走出苦難的方法呢？

在舊約，當摩西告訴以色列人要遵守神的誡命，要不然就會面對困難的時候，以色列人以為是透過一堆的行為來維持與神的關係。卻不知道，行為其實只是表徵而已，更重要的就是與神的關係。十誡的第一和第二條就是講到與神的關係的重要性。

當我們在意一段關係的時候，整個人的生命都會因為這個關係而改變。首先，耶穌基督的十字架讓我們能夠與神重新開始因著罪而破裂的關係。接受了救恩，我們就可以與神重新建立關係。但是，這個只是開始。我們很多時候只停留在開始這個階段，卻沒有好好建立與神的關係。在聖經裡，當講到“建立”這個動詞的時候，往往都是用上現在進行式的。這個就代表了要持之以恆地與神建立關係。這個關係其實不是對等的，因為我們與神不是處在相同的位置上。神是創造主，我們是被造的。

在約翰福音17:1-26，耶穌基督讓門徒和我們能夠近距離聆聽祂的禱告，從而知道祂與天父的關係是如何密切。與天父的關係幫助耶穌面對苦難。如果是這樣的話，我們也可以開始學習。當我們在意與神的關係的時候，我們會在一個更高的角度，更寬的維度來看自己的生命。在耶穌的禱告中，祂說這一切都是榮耀神。苦難也可以榮耀神的嗎？可以的。答案就在與神的關係上。我們願意用生命來榮耀這一位愛我們的神嗎？可能這個就是面對苦難的癥結所在。

願神祝福你們。願神祝福列宣家。

主僕，
劉展權牧師

2023.01.28/29

Hello, brothers and sisters of RCAC. May you all have a blessed Chinese New Year. You may not celebrate the Chinese New Year.  But no matter which new year you celebrate, one thing is certain, we will send our best wishes to each other.  Behind these best wishes is the wish that this year will be better than last year.

In the past week, I thank God for allowing me to share with the Mandarin Congregation through the Gospel of John. In last week’s sermon, I talked about what a fulfilled life is through the miracle of Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand. First, this miracle is recorded in all four Gospels. Apart from the resurrection of Jesus, this miracle is the only one recorded in all four Gospels. Since each Gospel was written for a different purpose, and each Gospel writer decided to include this miracle in the respective book, there must be a significance to the miracle.

Jesus Christ broke our inherent logic through feeding the five thousand. How did the logic come about? Logic is accumulated through our life experiences. In other words, the foundation of logic has a historical background behind. And because of this, no matter who we are, we approach things according to a similar logic.

Through feeding the five thousand, Jesus wants to tell us that to follow Him, we must first let go of our inherent logic. Because He is the source of all power. There is no Jesus in worldly logic. However, as a child of God, the logic of dealing with things must first put Jesus Christ in the most important position. In the miracle of feeding the five thousand, Jesus fed the five thousand people (actually more than ten thousand people) with the five barley loaves and two fish that a child was willing to offer. Jesus can turn nothing into something, why would he rely on a child’s five barley loaves and two fish? It is logical that five barley loaves and two fish cannot feed five thousand people. But Jesus does not act with logic. Because God is above all, that is to say, logic cannot bind God’s deeds. When we face the present difficulties, we may all think logically. This is an inherent way of thinking, the apostles were like this, and so are we. However, Jesus told us that to rely on Him is to use a new perspective, a new logic, and this new logic is not taught by the world, but taught by Jesus. Everything starts with Jesus Christ.

In the new year, may we all put Jesus Christ first. May the Holy Spirit help us see that when we trust in Jesus, there is a life of fulfillment. This satisfaction is not given by the world, but by Jesus Christ. And this satisfaction can be obtained because Jesus Christ gave up everything in heaven, dwelled among us, and carried our sins.

May God bless you all. May God bless RCAC.

His servant,
Pastor Mark

2023.01.28/29

弟兄姊妹大家好。新年蒙福。新年的時候，我們都會向對方送上祝福的字句，用這樣的方法來向對方給予問候並祝賀。在新年的時候，我們都會希望今年比去年好。無論如何，新的一年的來臨都會給予我們一個機會，對今年有一個盼望。而這個盼望，無論是什麼內容，大部分都是希望今年比去年好。

在剛過去的一週，感謝神的恩典，讓我能夠透過約翰福音和大家分享。在上週的講道，我透過約翰福音的五餅二魚和大家分享什麼是一個滿足的人生。首先，這一個神蹟在四本福音書都有記載。除了耶穌復活之外，就只有這個神蹟在四本福音書都有記載。由於每一本福音書寫作的目的都不一樣，而每一個福音書的作者都決定把這個神蹟放在書中的話，一定有這個神蹟的重要性。

耶穌基督透過五餅二魚來打破我們固有的邏輯。邏輯是如何來的呢？邏輯是透過我們人生的經歷累積而來的。也就是說，邏輯的根基有著一種歷史背景在背後的。也因為這樣，無論我們是誰，都會依照類似的邏輯來處理事情。

透過五餅二魚，耶穌要告訴我們，跟隨祂就必須先把固有的邏輯放下。因為祂是一切能力的源頭。人類的邏輯中沒有耶穌。但是，作為神的兒女，處理事情的邏輯就必須先把耶穌基督放在最重要的位置。在五餅二魚的神蹟中，耶穌用一個小孩子願意奉獻的五餅二魚來餵飽五千人（其實應該是超過一萬人）。耶穌可以從無變有，為什麼要靠一個小朋友的五餅二魚呢？五餅二魚不能餵飽五千人，這個是邏輯。但是耶穌不會以邏輯來行事。因為神是在萬有之上的，也就是說，邏輯不能綑綁神的作為。當我們面對目前的困難的時候，我們都可能會以邏輯來思考。這個是固有的思考模式，使徒是這樣，我們也是。但是，耶穌告訴我們，倚靠祂就是要用一個新的眼光，新的邏輯，這個新的邏輯，不是世界教導我們的，而是耶穌教導我們的。一切都是以耶穌基督為先。

在新的一年，願我們一切以耶穌基督為先。讓聖靈幫助我們看見，當我們倚靠耶穌的時候，會有一個滿足的人生。這個滿足不是世界能給予的，而是耶穌基督所給予的。而能夠獲得這個滿足，是因為耶穌基督放棄天上的一切，來到我們的中間，並頂替我們的罪而成就的。

願神祝福大家。願神祝福列宣家。

主僕，
劉展權牧師

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

2022.11.12/13

From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Mark Liu
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,

Hello brothers and sisters. Thank God for letting me share with you what I encounter these days.

In the past six months, God has given my family a new test. There was a problem with our visa. I thought it was just because of the pandemic that the issuance of the visa was delayed. When the BC government stopped giving us medical insurance, I suddenly found that my faith was facing a big challenge. I kept thinking about whether I made a mistake in a certain application process, which caused the delay. And the hardest part is that in October, even my daughter’s visa had problems. The government asked her to stop attending classes until a new visa is issued. For me, it was a huge blow, especially to tell my daughter that she could no longer attend classes. My daughter’s teacher told me that when he told the news to my daughter’s classmates, some of them cried. I also cried when I heard this. My faith was put in test again.

In the past two decades, while I was at work, I had always been very sure of this kind of things. Because as long as the application is filled out and the documents are ready, everything will happen at the scheduled time. But what I didn’t expect was that in this application, not only my visa was not issued at the scheduled time, but also my daughter’s visa also had problems. The “high tower” I built for myself was built on a pile of sand, not the rock.

I was shocked by my daughter’s composure after she learned she couldn’t attend classes. My wife told me that her reaction depends on the parents’ reaction. If we don’t react very much, she will think it’s not a big deal. If we react much, her response will be even greater. These are not what parents should give to their children. My daughter sent a simple email to tell the teacher that she could not attend class for the time being, but she would do her schoolwork at home. Between the lines, I saw her calm, but her father was there clinging to worry. Jesus said we should be like children. I’m thinking this is a good learning to me. I have some biblical knowledge in my head but I did not apply when the problem came. This experience told me that I did not turn the past encounter into an experience to help me face the current challenges.

Thank God, after a month of praying from brothers and sisters, all our visa problems were resolved. After a month of waiting, the daughter finally returned to school. When seeing her classmates hugging her, the image still stuck in my mind. May my encounter of the past few months no longer stay in the past, but become an experience that will help me face today and can also be a blessing to others.

May God bless you all.

In Him,
Rev. Mark Liu

2022.11.12/13

弟兄姊妹大家好。感謝神的恩典，讓我在這裡用文字分享我的心聲。

過去半年，神給予我一家新的考驗，那就是我們的簽證出現了問題。原本以為只是因為疫情的緣故而延誤簽發簽證，到BC省政府停止給予我們一家醫療保險，我突然發現自己的信仰面對很大的挑戰。我不斷在思考：到底自己是否在某一個申請過程中出現了錯誤，導致這一段時間，我們不斷在等待簽發簽證。而最難受的是，在十月份的時候，連我女兒的簽證也出現問題。政府甚至要求女兒停止上課，直到新的簽證簽發為止。對我來說，這個打擊是非常大的，尤其是要告訴女兒她不能再上課這個消息。女兒的老師告訴我，當他把這個消息告訴女兒的同學的時候，有一些同學們哭了。當聽到這個訊息的時候，我也哭了。我的信仰再一次被推倒胡同裡。

在過去的二十多年的工作中，我一直對自己在申請的事情上是很有把握的。因為只要填好了，文件預備好了，一切就會在預定的時間發生。卻沒有想到的就是在這一次的申請中，不單我的簽證沒有在預定的時間簽發，連女兒的簽證也因此出現問題。我為自己組建的高台，是建立在一堆沙土上，而不是建立在磐石上。

在女兒知道不能上課之後，我非常震驚她的鎮定。太太告訴我，女兒的反應是取決於父母的反應。若果我們反應不是很大的時候，她就會以為沒有什麼大不了。如果我們反應太大，她的反應就會更大。這些都不是父母應該給予孩子的。我就想起了我們的天父，如果祂看見我們所遇到的事情的態度還是很鎮定的話，我們的憂慮就是自己拿來的。之後，女兒還發了一封簡單的電郵告訴老師，暫時不能上課，但是她會在家裡做學校的功課。字裡行間，我看到她的平靜，反而是她的父親在那裡抓著憂慮不放。耶穌說我們要像小孩一樣。我在想這個就是一個很好的學習。我頭腦上有很多聖經知識，卻沒有在問題來到的時候應用出來。這一次的經歷，告訴我，我沒有把經歷化成為經驗，幫助我面對現在的挑戰。

感謝神，經過一個月後，經過弟兄姊妹的禱告，我們所有簽證的問題解決了。經過一個月後的等待，女兒終於回到學校。看見同學們擁抱她的情境，還停留在我的腦海了。願我過去幾個月的經歷，不再是停留在過去，而是變成為經驗，幫助我面對今天，也可以成為別人的祝福。

願神祝福你們。

主僕，
劉展權牧師