English Service Sunday at 8.30 am

Chinese Service Sunday at 8.30 am

Other Meetings

August 30 , the outing to the National Zoo - a day that the children is looking forward to - pray for good weather.   It's not only for children; if anyone wants to join us, do let any of the Sunday School workers know, or call Kwok Meng. May God continue to bless our ministry.

YF CAR WASH DAY

The Youth Fellowship will be holding a Car Wash Day on August 2nd Sunday, 11.00am to 1.00pm; to raise fund towards the CGC 2009 Family Camp for youth campers.

Please sign up with Soon Guan or  Wei Zhong for car wash & Vacuum.

- RM10.00 for small/medium cars

- RM15.00 for large cars/vans

Please give generously to their camp fund.

LADIES' ENRICHMENT DAY

Date :   23.08.09 (Sunday)         Time :   11.30 a.m.   to 3.30.p.m.      Venue : CGC.

Speaker : Chan Kum Sum           Topic : Joy in Journey

 All CGC ladies are invited to attend this event. Lunch will be served and you are encouraged to bring something for tea after the session .

August   2009   Personal Bible Study

When considering the messages to seven churches in Asia in Revelation chapters two and three, a question which often arises is, “what is meant by the Lord's words to the church at Ephesus in 2:5, “ I will remove thy lampstand out of its place?”

1.             THE PARALLELS IN HISTORY

Many would immediately say that this happens when the saints are scattered and the meeting place closed. But that is not true.   When Adam disobeyed God, he lost his place in Eden

i.e. his place before the Lord, did he cease to exist?

In the time of our Lord's ministry on earth He rejected the nation, after it rejected Him, Matthew 13:1. Did the nation cease to exist? The answer is NO. Why should we then accept that when the lampstand is removed out of its place, (the assembly), ceased to exist?

2.             THE PROCLAIMED TESTIMANY

There is sometimes the suggestion that as long as a healthy evangelical spirit exists in the company and the gospel is preached then the testimony is burning brightly. In fact, one of the major blights on the testimony of our day is that many see evangelism as an end in itself without realizing that the commission is only complete when there also are the preaching, baptizing and teaching, Matt.28:19,20; Mark 16:15.

In typical teaching we must differentiate between pure gold and gold. In the O.T. tabernacle the lampstand was of pure gold and thus totally and exclusively speaks of Christ as the Illuminator of priestly activity and is not Him as the light of the world. However,, these lampstands were of gold and so do not speak of deity but of divine righteousness i.e. this is the testimony of men who are both imputedly and practically righteous. To what do they bear testimony?

This is defined by Paul in 1 Tim.3:15, “..pillar and ground of TRUTH”. Thus these golden lampstands are precious before God since they uphold and maintain His righteous requirements as they propagate and practice truth.

Therefore we conclude that when a company ceases to hold and uphold divine truth it may be in danger of being “removed,” but not ceasing to exist.

3.             PLACE OF RESPONSIBILITY

Its place does not mean geographical location and removal does not refer to cessation of existence. “Its place” can only mean the place given to the lampstand in chapter one where it had the privilege of being one of those lampstands which the Lord was moving, and this is the place of responsibility. However, because of internal conditions there was the solemn possibility that it would forfeit “its place” i.e. the Lord would continue to walk in the midst of those lampstands which maintained their golden character, but Ephesus would be excluded from that circle thus losing its character Godward as golden.

4.             POLLUTION OF SIMPLICITY

When an assembly loses “its place”, instead of becoming weaker numerically and eventually fading away, a lot of innovations are introduced in an attempt to camouflage the fact that the Lord is absent. The Lord will always appreciate obedience and scriptural simplicity rather than methods of mere entertainment with no spiritual value.

It has to be stated that this removal is not an overnight experience. It will begin with some disobedience to the Scriptures. This may be in the form of worldly innovations, the loss of   distinctive character through interdenominational pursuits, the insidious inroads of charismatic teaching, the disregard for the teaching on the role and position of women in the assembly etc. etc. It is at the stage when their position is just about irreversible that it becomes obvious to the spiritual mind that since every resemblance of a New Testament assembly has been obliterated that it has lost “its place”.

It is therefore a fallacy to think that if a company once in history was an assembly then such must be its place perpetually. That teaching only gives licence to every kind of disobedience and looseness.

On the basis of the above it behoves us to look deeply into our hearts and examine ourselves both individually and collectively lest we drift away until we lose our value in its sight. Let us be content with obedience to the simple scriptural priciples of gathering unto His Name, and be found among the faithful remnant when He comes.

An extract from Assembly Testimony Magazine Jan/Feb.1992 by B. Currie ( Belfast