The Year of the Lord’s Abundance

To God be the glory! The theme for 2007 is “The Year of the Lord’s Abundance.” As a church, we believe God will enable CBC to experience His abundance throughout the year – whether it is in resources or even in trials and His disciplining!

At the Vision casting celebration on January 7, 2007, at the Tropicana, I had mentioned that to realize God’s blessings, CBC must trust God and become a household of faith. As a family, we are big; but to grow bigger, we must first grow smaller. What do I mean?

CBC is a cell church. The church is actually at the cell level (the gathering of God’s people) and it functions like a church according to 1 Corinthians 14:26. Every Sunday, when we are gathered in each center, we are called a congregation. And when all the centers come together, we have a celebration. So, it all begins from a cell – a small unit. The cell meets on a weekday, and the congregation meets every weekend, whether Sunday or Saturday. The Celebrations are held four times a year. This is how God has given CBC the blueprint to grow our church.

How can the cell grow? I am not proposing any methods but the above verse is critical to understanding church growth. Knowing how to walk together will enable us to work together, and worship together. So, how do I walk with my brothers and sisters in the faith? There are four thoughts to “walking together.”

1. To walk together, we must be on the same path, street or road. It is ridiculous for someone to walk in SS2 and another in SS3 and say they are walking together. To walk together, we are firstly Christians with the same faith and having Jesus as our Lord and Master. This gives us the identity as children of God.
2. To walk together, we must not only walk on the same road, but we must face the same direction. We can be on the same road, but if we are walking in the opposite direction, we are not going to walk together. We have the same faith and trust in Jesus Christ, but if we are not walking towards the same direction and with the same vision, we are just doing our own thing! We are not aligned, to use a corporate term. Some people may say, I can take a different route and eventually end at the same destination. Yes, that can happen, but that is not walking together.
3. To walk together, we must not only walk on the same road, face the same direction, but we must also walk at the same pace. If one is to reach home first, and the other brother arrives an hour later, that is not walking together. There must be an effort to keep up with the pace, or slow down the pace in order for us to walk together. Some of us have lofty ideas and visions. We want the church to move faster; but we need to realize we must slow down so that others can catch up. There are various levels of maturity in the church. Christians who are more than five years old have no excuse for not attaining maturity. What really is maturity? It is the ability to produce the Fruit of the Holy Spirit in you life, and be seen by others. You cannot be fruitful unless you are planted, and you cannot be planted if you keep on uprooting yourself! If you are not careful, you might die through too much uprooting. Any agriculturist would tell you, for trees to bear fruit, the plant must have the basic ingredients of water, air and nutrients. Applying this principle, a Christian must be found faithful in attending cell group, church/celebrations, as well as equipping classes regularly. Some of you should be teachers by now but you have not humbled yourself to learn and be equipped by others. A growing church needs members who are desirous to attain higher levels of spirituality, and to encourage others to come along, too.
4. To walk together, we must not only walk on the same road, face the same direction, walk at the same pace, but we must also have the same motive. Can you imagine walking down the same road with a brother you are constantly quarrelling with? Is it possible to walk together if you have opposing views on various issues, and with a different agenda? It’s like a DAP member walking with a MCA member. They are walking, but not really walking together. Our motives shape our thinking and preferences in life. No Christian would say evangelism is not important. However, there will be some Christians who will not make that as their priority. Even if they agree, the methods employed can be very different. Yet, the methods are not a concern. It is those who disagree that are a cause for concern.

As this year unfolds, my prayer for CBC is that we will all walk together in unity, embracing the blueprint we have adopted. When that is achieved, I believe the Lord’s abundance will just flow and flow, to make CBC a fruitful and effective church which pleases our Heavenly Father.

Keep winning for the Lord.