Life Quarterly Edition Contents I BELIEVE IN THE CHURCH – REV. BRIAN TUNG ...................................................................... 4 A THANKSGIVING TESTIMONY ON RETIREMENT - REV. ALBERT LEUNG ............................. 7 CALLED TO GRACE AND MINISTRY - REV. TIM CHAN .............................................................. 9 SALVATION OF GOD - RICHARD GUO (CANTONESE) ............................................................ 10 TESTIMONIES OF GRACE .......................................................................................................... 13 Grace Chen (English) ............................................................................................................. 14 Zoe Tung (English) ................................................................................................................. 15 Joseph Day (English) ............................................................................................................. 18 Dickson Lam (English)........................................................................................................... 17 Lina Lin (English) .................................................................................................................... 18 Jenny Tien (English) .............................................................................................................. 19 Alan Xu (English) .................................................................................................................... 20 Ian Robertson (English) ......................................................................................................... 21 Phoebe Tao (English) ............................................................................................................. 22 Ricky Chan (English).............................................................................................................. 23 Milton Fay (English) ............................................................................................................... 24 David Xu (English) .................................................................................................................. 25 Landy Tong (Cantonese) ....................................................................................................... 25 Besty Qiu (Cantonese) ........................................................................................................... 26 Gary Wong (Cantonese) ........................................................................................................ 28 Kuen Lee (Cantonese) ........................................................................................................... 29 Luen Kwai Tang (Cantonese) ............................................................................................... 30 Ceci He (Cantonese)............................................................................................................... 31 WARDENS AND CHURCH EXECUTIVE REPORT - PAUL TAN/DARREN CHAN/SUNNY YU ......... 32 We are COVIDSafe registered ................................................................................... 32 Financial Updates ...................................................................................................... 33 REGULAR PROGRAMS AT CHURCH ........................................................................................ 35 CONTACTS .................................................................................................................................. 36 English 2020 Spring 2 Life Quarterly Edition Chief Editor: Rev. Brian Tung Translation Team: Nancy Tung James Li Mandy Leung Emily Poon Janet Li Denise Tam Teresa Tang Catherine Chung Desktop Publisher: Michael Chan/John Lo 3 2020 Spring English Life Quarterly Edition I BELIEVE IN THE CHURCH – Rev. Brian Tung ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ (John 10:10) Are we making a difference? What difference are or can we (Christians and church) making to the world at the moment? What difference do the people around us think we’re making to the on-going crisis? The sobering reality that our neighbours probably don’t think we can make difference. The health authorities consider Christian ministry and church as ‘non-essential’, an optional extra, a lifestyle choice. Even more concerning is that many of us think this as well!!! A US study1 shows that about 32% of regular church goers (translates to about 140 people for us) have stopped participating in ‘church’ altogether in the last 4 months. If we were to be making a discernible difference (other than practising physical distancing and good hygiene and watching YouTube church), what is that difference and how do we make it? 1 https://www.barna.com/research/new-sunday-morning-part-2/?fbclid=IwAR3c- Z7WMCW5n6Zz1YW_o_LHNmiTOI8dhxWLDifD1bgtxMwvC4NJNTNi4cY English 2020 Spring 4 Life Quarterly Edition Life on pause? It is helpful to consider 2020 as a ‘disruption’ to life and that the best we have is to return to ‘normal’ life. This is of course normal life. There is no pause button. Life goes on with all its ups and downs and surprises. The promise of Jesus isn’t life but a certain kind of life. Not just survival but life in abundance. It is impossible to disrupt this kind of life. Life is always lived on this side of heaven under the shadow of evil, sin, disruptions, viruses and death. This is what makes the promises of Jesus attractive. The life Jesus promised is connected with relationships. Life as it should be with God, made possible when guilt has been paid for, transgressions forgiven, hardened, idol making hearts replaced. To love and be loved. Whatever else abundant life is, it must include being life together with other Christians. I believe in the church Church is a God-given blessing - a foretaste of heaven, but also a school for sanctification. God uses the church to burn away the dross. It is that important in God’s plans for us. Christians believe in the church according to all the historical confessions. Belief in the church is up there with belief in God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. To go back to our earlier question; what difference are we making in the world? The answer may be this: the difference that we can make to the world at the moment is by being church. How have we done at being church in the last 4 months when most of us are imprisoned in our own homes, connecting with one another through a weekly teleconference call? If that is all that we have done to be church, then little wonder the world have come to the conclusion that what we are will make no difference to them. God has different vision. We are setting aside 5 weeks to recapture that vision: we see once again what we are called to be. My prayer is that as a result we will grow in our commitment and love of the church; our long held beliefs will be challenged; our church will be reshaped and reformed in such a way that all who come into our midst will experience life in abundance. 5 2020 Spring English Life Quarterly Edition The discipline of reflection Many of us wonder where we are heading as a church. The short answer is ‘the Promised Land’. The longer answer is ‘somewhere ahead in the desert’. The next proximate destination is not certain. Finding out where it is requires discernment and reflection. The ancient (including the writers of the books in the Bible) believes that wisdom is necessary for the good life. It is almost impossible to have wisdom without experience. And it is certain that experience does not automatically yield wisdom. Reflection turns experience into wisdom. We can grow in wisdom (and therefore improve the quality of our lives and of those around us) by undertaking the discipline of reflection. Reflections require intentionality, time, humility, courage, and the right frame. Some questions you might wish to consider reflecting on by yourself or with others are: • If you were in isolation again, how would you spend your time differently? • What habits have you formed that has been helpful for your soul? What habits have you formed that are unhelpful for your soul? What habits would you like to form in the future and how will you do it (remembering that saying ‘yes’ to something means saying ‘no’ to others)? • Our spiritual life and character has been pressure tested in the last 4 months. Likewise our church life. What are we good at? What are we not good at that we thought we’re good at? What must we change straight away as a result? I would love to hear your reflections. You can write to me personally or electronically ([email protected]). Or send it to me via out web portal at https://stgeorgeshurstville.org.au/stay-connected God-willing, I will share with the whole church our reflections at the next edition of Life Quarterly. I thank God for all of you, as always. English 2020 Spring 6 Life Quarterly Edition A THANKSGIVING TESTIMONY ON RETIREMENT - Rev. Albert Leung I have been blessed to serve the Lord for 48 years which is quite a long period of time. I am so thankful of God’s abundance in grace. He had chosen me to turn to Him when I was young and then gave me the calling when I was 18 years of age. When I offered my life to be His worker in evangelism, I came across a challenging message from Luke 9:57-62, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lie down and rest.” If that is the situation, will I follow Lord Jesus concretely to a point of no return? When I was a young adult,