Standing on the Word,
following the Cross
The Cross being lifted up. -- Trinity Methodist Church picture.
By KWA KIEM KIOK
IT WAS a damp, drizzly
and gloomy morning as we made our way to 34 Serangoon Garden Way.
We were directed into the premises by some workers, and tentatively
made our way up uneven stairs and wall-less rooms to the third
floor. About 30 of us gathered under umbrellas, and under the
bemused eyes of the workers and contractors, for the short service
to place the Cross on to the bell tower.
The Rev Dr Isaac Lim, President of Trinity Annual Conference,
reminded us that the Cross is central to the life of the disciple,
for it is the way into the presence of a holy and righteous God.
Therefore, the Cross means discipleship - that as Christians we
are to be a holy and righteous people, set apart for God, His
purposes and His Kingdom.
The empty Cross is our hope of
a resurrected body and eternal life. The Cross is central to the
life of the community, because God so loved the world that He
gave His only Son. The Cross is thus our reason for mission.
Bishop Dr Robert Solomon reminded us that in the Old Testament,
fire and rain were symbols of the presence of a holy God among
His people; and we chuckled, remembering the day that fire gutted
the roof of the sanctuary.
That "disaster" meant that the sanctuary was now being
rebuilt at minimum cost to ourselves; perhaps the inconvenience
and mess of the rain this morning reminded us that God continues
to smile down at us.
The next time most of us will be there, the building will be complete
and the furniture and fittings in place. We will probably argue
about the use of rooms, we will worship and pray in the sanctuary,
the children will run along the new corridors and slam the doors.
We will be a living, vibrant community.
We must remember the verses written on the foundations of the
buildings, and the Cross on the bell tower. We are to be a people
whose lives are built on the Word of God, and shaped and formed
by the Cross.
Kwa Kiem Kiok, a member of Trinity Methodist Church, is on sabbatical at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, the United States. This article was first published in the October issue of Trinity Methodist Church's newsletter Saltshaker.