“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to our Summer Conference after a two-year hiatus. We are very excited to have you with us in this special occasion as we are also celebrating our church’s 34th anniversary. Our life is full of challenges and difficulties, and God is our only ray of hope. “Be a loving family to a broken world” is our annual theme as well as the vision for our church. It is also our conference’s theme. This theme has dual components: first, we desire to be a loving church family so that, second, we can have an eternal impact on those around us for the Kingdom of God. It is my prayer that we will grow into the former so God can accomplish the latter through us, for His glory As you come to the conference, I want to encourage you with something that I learned from Pastor Jamin Goggin at a pastoral retreat. The temptations for a conference such as this are: first, there is a temptation to fix ourselves. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve tried to “cover” themselves after their disobedience. Likewise, we are tempted to look at what maybe wrong with our life and hope to learn something here to fix it. Instead, this weekend is an opportunity to reach out to God. Second, we come to the conference to “escape” everyday life and its difficulties. We have not come to escape, but to be with a God who is present in all of life’s events. God is as present with us in our daily lives as He is with us this weekend. Lastly, we are tempted to make this a “mountain top” experience, looking for something new and exciting. And if we do not feel that kind of experience, we are tempted to manufacture one. Instead, Jesus simply invites us to be with Him, wherever He is. We can be with Jesus on the mountain top (in His transfiguration), during a meal (Mark 2:15), or with the two thieves by His side. I want to encourage you not to go hunting for an experience or an event. Instead, go out looking for Jesus, for He knows what we need and what He wants to give to us. This weekend, look for Jesus in your quiet time, in prayer, on a stroll through campus, in conversations with people, during meals, and yes, during the sessions with our speakers. This weekend is an opportunity for us to respond to Jesus’ invitation, “Come away with Me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while.” (Mark 6:31). God invites you to draw near to Him in the truth and reality of your life, in the honesty of your situation. It is my prayer that you will encounter God powerfully there. Be aware and open to what the Holy Spirit is telling you in what is going on in your life. For He is praying for you with “groans too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). We look forward with great anticipation the messages that God will give to us through His faithful servants: the Rev. Sam Song (English), the Rev. Lawrence Fung (Mandarin) and the Rev. Andrew Ma (Cantonese). May we grow together into a loving family in the Lord and bring glory to His eternal Kingdom and His holy Name! Comments are closed.
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