Chris Lai

My god used to live in a small altar outside my living room, I have been a Buddhist and Taoist since I was young. I grew up following customs and traditions that run in the family, whether it is going to the temple, visiting dead ancestors or offering joss sticks to Guanyin. My idea of god was one who protects me from fatalities and one who grants me wishes whenever I want. But all changed when I went for a student exchange program at Monash University, Clayton Campus in Melbourne, Australia. My Christian housemates tried inviting me to their campus Christian fellowship known as Overseas Christian Fellowship After my exchange program, I came back to Monash University Malaysia then I met Kae Sheng and Melody who then did Bible Studies with me, mainly on the epistles such as Romans and Ephesians. My purpose is no longer earning a lot of money and having a family, but worshipping and serving him with his church as his transformed image bearer under the rule of King Jesus. I desire to be a member of CERC because of how serious she takes the Word of God, not just in preaching, but also in applying and living out in every single aspect of her lives. There is no sacred vs. secular, but only the holiness of God in his people. Besides that, I also love the fact that CERC shows a lot of grace to each other when we fail our Lord Jesus because of how gracious God is in Christ to us. CERC doesn’t penalize each other when we sin or fail in ministry, rather we forgive, correct, rebuke and exalt one another as we embrace our status of Simul Justus et Peccator in Christ.

Cindy Gan Sze Yin

Fun fact: Cindy is currently serving as a Medical Officer in a hospital in Pahang. Pray for her to be faithful!

I come from a charismatic church background and believed in the existence of God since I was 4 years old and thought that other religions didn’t make sense but I was taught the prosperity gospel and never really understood the gospel. During my university days, a friend of mine, Krimiya invited me to a bible study called SOLIDD (Serving Our Lord in Dutiful Delight) where we went through the John series and it was then when my understanding of Christianity according to the prosperity gospel was really challenged . I remember asking a lot of questions during those SOLIDD Bible Study sessions and slowlythe Scriptures started making sense to me. When someone introduced me to predestination, it wasn’t a big issue for mebecause the God I know became bigger. I started to tell people about God: my old church members, my university friends and started doing ministry in my university campus. I am no longer the person who just chased after achievements, wanderlust and people-pleasing, but I spent most of my last 3 years in university doing ministry and slowly maturing through reading the bible with the people around me. I also started joining CERC’s Growth Groups every week.

I think the biggest change since coming to CERC is that I now love God rather than myself xD Before, I was a morally upright person—a diligent student, passionate about making the world a better place. But after coming to CERC, my purpose for doing good shifted. It is no longer just about changing the world; it is about the gospel, about glorifying God. I was considered a high achiever in academics because of the time I dedicated to my studies. But now, my focus in life has shifted. I understand that true life is found in Christ, yet I still strive for excellence in my studies—not for my own success, but to be a good steward of what God has entrusted to me.

I also believe CERC is a good and healthy church that enables me to do my best for God. It pushes me to serve at my maximum capacity, constantly training me to grow and improve.

Clovey Lye

The gospel is true, and God saved me. Therefore, I live every day in awe and debt to Him and the mercy He shows me. Though I struggle, God's design, Lordship, and mercy remind me that I am privileged to be able to keep struggling and relying on Christ, my high priest. What my life is like now because I am a Christian: It means that I, someone who hates living by schedules, intentionally schedules my life in order to be effective and intentional with the time God gives me. It means making time to do what I don't like (tedious repetitive tasks that I have to stick to for long periods of time).

My involvement in very varied departments (Sunday School, PA, Music, Press) puts me in contact with the wider church and because of that, it’s broken my idealistic view of people in church. It has helped me recognise with much more clarity how sinful everyone is in a much more tangible way. This reality has made me go through the different stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance of what my church is made of and has taught me that loving them means actively fighting sin with them. In short, keeping one another accountable to higher standards has taken on a new meaning. This has forced me to confront my lack of urgency and the things I despise. All of the above have forced me to grow firmer, more disciplined (even though at times I don’t want to), and more convicted because I see it’s what the church needs and there is no better way to live. Being strengthened in this manner has been a benefit to those around me because it shapes the way I advise, empathise, direct, and receive feedback.

CERC sees Word Ministry as not just important, but it permeates all facets of life. In its reading and living out of scripture, CERC strives to be faithful in being God-focused first rather than people-focused first. Because of that, the other distinctive character of CERC is that as a church, it is extremely caring for its people’s Godliness in a way that is can only come by being shaped by the word and being God-focused first.

Chong Yu Cheng

I was born in a non-Christian family. Only me and my 2nd brother were exposed to Christianity when we attended the homeschool called Wisdom Spring Academy. I attended a charismatic church from 11 – 17 years old. The theology I was fed with for 6 years plus was soft-core prosperity gospel and old school charismatic. There were speaking of tongues, prophetic dancing, prophetic drawing, sermons on dreams and visions, and one of the youth camps I attended was on the signs of the end of the world and how the mark of the beast is present among us. In the camp, the pastor mentioned that if your feet felt hot, you have the Spirit on you. My feet were hot during their ‘praise and worship,’ I thought I had an encounter with God at that camp because I could finally feel the presence of the Spirit for the first time in years. Later I realized, at the age of around 15 or 16, I had the same feeling when I was just standing for too long, that’s when I stopped believing this stuff . I became more skeptical of their teaching, started to find their teaching more and more inconsistent with reality, (eg. promises of prosperity and God answering our prayer as long as we have faith), and I eventually stopped attending it when I was at Taylors.

I never thought of even stepping foot into the CF when I was in Taylors, I only ended up going because I followed my nominal Christian friend to their welcoming party. That’s when I realized the commitment and passion that they had for the Bible. I decided to give Christianity a second chance by attending Taylors Christian Fellowship. The question bothered me, ‘what’s there to be passionate about the Bible?’ I stayed on to find out through their Bible studies and 1on1 with Justin Liew, and that’s when I started reading the Bible for the first time, I started to understand who God is through the book of Romans. TCF made me realize that I had a problem with God and it took me six months of struggling with the Scriptures for me to be convicted of the God of the Bible.

Wong Jing Wen

CERC is my very first church! Before CERC, I used to doubt the existence of God and to the extent that I’m not that pious in religion where I would rather put my faith in myself because life doesn’t seem to become better regardless I believe in God or not. I used to have a very small view of God until I was invited to CERC whenre the God’s story series started, where the bible challenged my presupposition about God and also my worldview. I have never in my life thought that humans can have a relationship with God and our purpose of life is clearly defined by him. The repentant moment is when the bible emphasizes how God's view of sin is so different from how I view sin. I was taken aback when I came to know that sin is not some moralistic issue but sin is about me being blind in not acknowledging God, not wanting to submit under his divine rule, not worshipping him, and falling short of his glory, since then by God’s grace, I realized my life doesn’t reflect a life of worshipping God and I recognized my worldview needs to be calibrated and therefore I became a Christian. As a Christian now, I’m renouncing my old self including the way I think and my life application. My priority in life changed where I no longer follow my family beliefs or traditions like holding incense or being superstitious in feng shui and most of the time I would spend my weekdays and weekends for church and the ministry, to the extent that my family and friends would think I have changed or being extreme, they would advise me not to push myself too hard and respect others belief, the frustration is real when no one is on God’s side and I’m alone in this fight among the non-Christian surrounding me. Thus, my life as a Christian now has never been easy and it is indeed a tough path as my whole pattern of thinking and lifestyle is striving to be God orientated, which is in opposition to the world, and sometimes I have to struggle with my fleshly desires, but I’m grateful that God put me in this position as he’s leading me to the way of truth and the journey is meant to sanctify my soul, in keep learning to be a worshipper of God, to be like Christ. I have been trained and equipped by CERC to sharpen my exegeting skills in the bible and exercise expositional listening, this is crucial as God’s will is revealed in his word and it matters to take the scripture seriously so that we may be able to discern God’s voice and not led astray by false teaching. I also have been taught that the entire point is not just only knowing the bible well but also being able to reflect on the word and live out the word, so that the body of Christ is being built up with every member of the church united in one faith and thus the holiness of the church is preserved.

Poh Mau Vern

Fun fact: Mau Vern pulls out teeth for a living and is great with handling little ones!

I was a nominal Christian since I was in primary school at the age of 8 years old.

I can’t really tell exactly at which point of time I was truly converted to be a Christian. I was exposed to reformed theology when I was watching the sermons online (NT God’s story) during the Covid pandemic. I guess the gospel has persevered me to remain Christian - faithful to God as His disciple despite various challenges that I faced (tension with my eldest brother and mum). I then understood why being a true Christian can break family relations. Reformed theology has really challenged my presuppositions that I had about Christianity. I learnt to read the bible better through weekly GG studies and I could witness my growth as a Christian throughout the years to come.

Now as I became a Christian, I am able to articulate my thoughts better. I am thankful to CERC for constantly training me to think theologically through the words of God when it comes to making important life decisions whether it be family, career, finances, relationships, churching, etc. The gospel has really redefined my entire purpose in life which is to live for God’s glory and help me to see what it means to be living under God’s rule. I am convinced of the gospel and started to learn how to carry my own cross in following our Lord Jesus Christ, serving Him in all areas of my life, being a good Christian witness to my loved ones and the people around me, seeking to proclaim the gospel at every opportunity. (Although I constantly fail and had to repent of my sinful desires/passions along the way) I learnt that I have to totally rely on God and there’s nothing that I do which will merit salvation. I started to grow in maturity in the Word as a Christian, constantly repenting of my sins as I reflect on my Christian life and I am thankful for God’s grace and mercy in saving me through the work of His son, Jesus Christ dying on the cross for my sins. All glory, honor and praise to God for from him, through him and to him are all things.

Over the years of growing as a Christian in CERC, I noticed that the people attending CERC really take God seriously in faithful obedience and service to Him and this motivates me to submit under the authority of this church because of faithful teaching and preaching of God’s word. I am also convicted by the gospel to be the people of God who live up to what we preach. Active repentance of my sins and constant reflection of my Christian life to be God’s righteous people. Studying God’s word not just for head knowledge which puffs up but a transformed heart and mind to serve God because all of life is for God.

John Miller

I grew up in a Christian household but never understood how dead we are in our sins and how we are 100% dependent on God for our salvation with no synergistic effort on our part. Through reading Romans I was made aware of my sin, and the way in which God saves by grace through faith. I learned how in control of the world and my life God was in Romans 9 and subsequently through attending GGs after the conference I learned that to follow Jesus would mean picking up my cross and denying myself (Luke 9:23). After that I made the decision not to go back to America to study as I committed to doing ministry in Malaysia.

Since coming to CERC, I’ve had to be more organised and intentional about my life given the nature of God’s plans for his people. My hope is that in the departments and ministries that I am involved in that I am able to bring the same intentionality with my own life into those areas.

CERC is distinct in its care for people as a result of taking seriously that God’s people are marked by their love. It is distinct as far as I know in its effort to take care of the sheep God has given his church. I see membership as a natural and necessary progression and outworking of what it means to love after understanding the faith that has been given to us in Christ.

Chua Shuyan

I grew up a nominal Christian. I pretty much just lived in the moment, and avoided thinking about my purpose or a future. I was sent to Singapore at 16 years old, and without parental supervision, I basically did whatever I wanted. I was a decently brilliant student, but I found no meaning in studies and copped out when I could, often dragging my friends with me. I only wanted happiness and sex, and basically that was all I chased, to the point I slept with my then-boyfriend, and then cheated on him because I craved more sex. In Singapore, I was mostly on a steady diet of moralistic teaching at best and ugly hypergrace at worst, meaning I couldn’t properly understand why I had to be “good” (whatever that means) other than horizontally I was taught that the whole point of Christianity is love - universalism, LGBTQ, etc. Still, the fact I dared call myself a Christian despite my horrible actions caused the guilt to gnaw at me at night and I became depressed. I tried to find (my version of) solace from the bible, and instead came across the Matthew 5 verse: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” God’s level of perfection crippled me and I knew I couldn’t come before this holy God. I attempted suicide and was brought back to Malaysia.

I was placed on antidepressants and enrolled in Monash University Malaysia in 2016. I joined the Christian Fellowship in my 3rd semester. Being so hungry for answers from God, I received more than I’d ever dreamed after seeing how much they treasured God’s word, even though I understood very little. It was at a Geddit Get Together where I encountered the truth of Romans 3:10—"None is righteous, no, not one." A phrase that many would find offensive instead gave me peace. I finally saw how God, in His sovereign plan and great mercy, made Christ a curse for me, to bring me into His kingdom. Through the strong, apostolic teaching of CERC, and the kind love of the many church friends I have (Sam Tan, Joshua Chow, Christine Yip, Sam Robless, Munn Kent, Ronnie) I would not be a Christian living steadfast and steady in the gospel. I might be flopping around on some other nonsense gospel that would have ended my life. That’s not to say I didn’t have struggles being reformed - I struggled first with double predestination (this was probably the one I struggled with least, given everything), and I was then frightened off from CERC’s cult accusations. I would say my life has definitely changed, over the many years of being sanded down by the grit of GG and church. I have become someone who can face suffering (never would I thought I would be the person who endures scolding from my managers and boss!), more sacrificial and taking initiative like Christ, who acted first while people were still lacking in many ways (nice way of putting it).. I am thankful that I can teach Sunday School because that’s every opportunity for me to improve my bible reading and teaching. And I can endure all things because of the hope I have in Jesus, who will bring his faithful ones to the end. The family of the resurrected life! That’s all I have now. Thanks be to God.

CERC members care SO DEEPLY about God’s word, that they live it out. No fake love here. Theology that actually leads to doxology, rather than No Action Talk Only Christianity. Crazy, as in crazy in love with the God who has given us everything. What a privilege to die for the Lord, LIKE the Lord. What an honour to serve alongside these Spirit filled believers.

Jason Chang

I sought the meaning of life because of my pet rooster. When I was 15, my family pet rooster died, I was devastated and started whether the purpose of being born into the world is just to suffer and die.
“If there is indeed a God existing out there, do tell me.” This I questioned to the sky. One day, a Jehovah’s Witnesses elderly couple, met me at my door and started conversation with, “Do you know why there is death and sickness? It is because of mankind’s sin”. I was intrigued to follow their teachings after some time. Life didn’t go well for me and I got crippled with depression. I saw mankind’s wickedness everywhere, the world was hopeless and full of vanity. But one day, I wanted to return to the God that answered me. Somehow, I was recommended and led to CERC. What particularly caught my attention is the seriousness of CERC in reading the bible, and seeing the New Testament as not contradicting the Old Testament, and is not a plan B after the Old Testament either, but rather as one whole united story, a progressive revelation. I am forever grateful for CERC sermons. I pondered the question whether or not this Jesus is my King. This took a year for me to reflect because how can I say He is my King when I do not know this person? A few biblical verses that “talked” strongly to me. E.g. Hosea 4:6, 6:6, Ezekiel 18:29 – these challenged my mind during the early days attending CERC events and sermons. Now that God’s love has overflowed into me, enabling me to truly love and worship our Father in heaven, my life’s priority and its centre has changed, and so have all my decisions, motivations, work, time and energy spent etc.

Kelly Chew

My family got converted when I was 6, beginning with my dad’s conversion, which included a near-death experience for him. I used to attend church merely to fulfil a “Christian quota” while simply trying to get by each day, my life is now inseparable from the church. How I plan my week, or even my time and commitments throughout the year revolves around the church’s calendar. This has also meant becoming busier, having gained a new life perspective that there is always much work to be done, because such is the nature of ministry. As a Christian, I became more intentional and opportunistic when it came to meeting new people, as I saw them as souls who needed to hear the Gospel. The call to preach the Gospel has been my primary motivator for meeting with and talking to new people since.

I started taking church seriously, becoming more responsible with life, accepting reality and being more honest with myself. Where I used to be a freelancer who only works when I feel like it, being clear with my identity and purpose convicted me to get a full time job so that I learn what it means to be like my Father, to learn submission to higher authorities, and have the ability to provide for myself as well as the church.

Marriage was another thing I never would have considered previously because I’ve always struggled with my body as a woman, viewing it as cause for weakness and vulnerability, something desired by man only for sex. The idea of sex still scares me because the thought that it was something filthy was deeply instilled in me, but events like WEW and church camp helped me to start seeing sex as something good and a gift from God to mankind. As I continue to work out on that, I’m currently also on the trajectory of working towards marriage.

One of many distinctives of CERC is that it exemplifies Luther’s very words of “Let God be God” because of her boldness and uncompromising nature in preaching the Word unfiltered. This can only come from a fear of God first and foremost and is what allows CERC to go beyond societal standards, not being confined to what is considered to be the norm by contemporary christianity.

I see CERC’s concern in taking the Gospel seriously both in her boldness in preaching and how she ministers to others, through which I have personally benefited immensely from. I was exposed to my sins which allows me to truly repent and work towards being like Christ. Besides that , the Christians in CERC are otherworldly. They care for my soul like no one before, and I realised it was because they care and love as Christ Himself loves, they are concerned about what God cares about, and that is why they would even be willing to confront uncomfortable subjects, such as calling out sin or rebuking my poor attitude. They don’t see me as just a hopeless Gen-Z shaped by my past; instead, they see through the reality of God’s saving work in me—as an image bearer and steward, someone whom Christ has died for, and hence, someone who now has new life and new heart, capable of obedience & repentance in conforming to Christ-likeness. I want to be part of something so grand and heavenly and I hope to commit to this church and contribute to the expanding of God’s kingdom on earth.

Lee Yennie

I saw life as an adventure, because YOLO. I was having lots of fun in my life, trying many new things, meeting many new people, wanting to experience the best that life could offer. However, the more fun and experiences I had, the bigger the hole of emptiness I felt in my heart, as nothing seemed to satisfy me. I questioned how it can be that I can’t seem to find satisfaction in whatever I am experiencing, and life just seemed so meaningless. There was no sense of true purpose as a human, everyone defined their own meaning. I had so many questions in my head, such as why am I here, what is the purpose of everything I do, seems like whatever we do here it will only end up in death. I wasn’t even sure if God existed. My existential struggle led me to want to find out the truth about Christianity as I admit I didn’t know my beliefs. I was desperately searching for the truth so I asked Beatrix (my senior in MAHSA University) to read the bible with me. She answered my questions, read the bible with me and it opened my eyes to the wisdom of God. I started attending TGG MAHSA and decided to commit to a healthy church that has faithful preaching.I have come to know who this God is and who I am in relation to Him. I am a depraved sinner deserving nothing but Gods wrath, but He has chosen me to be a part of His household, for that I am eternally grateful for this grace and mercy. I am now a new creation, no longer live according to my ways, but according to God’s way which is to be holy, to be Christlike. I would want to commit love God. In loving God, we love the Church. I love the church by committing to a healthy local church to build up one another to Christlikeness. My eyes have been opened again and again to the things of God - who He is, who we are and what he demands of us. The standards are high. The more I see clearer who God is and His standards, the more the sinner I see in myself. This makes me appreciate the depth of His love, and rely on His grace and mercy more each day knowing that outside of God there is only a fearful wrath that awaits you. I want to be a member of CERC because CERC is a church that places God at the center of our lives and this is not mere talk but making life decisions with the church’s concerns as priority, would be willing to call out the ugly side of things, to call out sin within each other, and to ensure sin does not lurk within the church.

Chan Nic Kee

My parents - who are both non-Christians - sent me to church because they wanted me to learn good morals and there was free English tuition. So I grew up in church learning Bible stories like Daniel in the lion’s den and earning good-deed stars by memorising verses. But honestly, I didn’t know much about Jesus. I was just religious - a boy who tried hard to be nice and kind. When I visited my other grandparents’ house, I’d pray to idol statues. On other days, I’d pray to the Christian God simply because there were no idols around. Prayer was just something I was taught to do in Sunday School, so I did it. This went on until I was 12, when I had a weird spiritual encounter that led to me being hospitalised. That was when my mum’s religious philosophy started to contradict. She brought both a Taoist talisman (“fu”) and my Bible to protect me from evil spirits - but she strictly instructed me not to place them together, saying the gods would fight and the talisman would lose its power. That made me realise not all gods are on the same side. And it taught me that the Christian God must be stronger. I didn’t overthink it then, but I concluded that I should follow the stronger God - so I started attending youth group more consistently. A couple of years later, I became Vice President of the Youth Fellowship simply because I was a regular attendee. That made me even more pious and “Christian.” I wanted to lead by example, so I behaved very “holy” and proper. I think I got baptised around that time too, and I started to understand that the God of the Bible is the only true God and that other religions were idol worship. To show how pious I was, I never cussed in high school or even in uni - so much so that my friends would offer to pay me to say the f-word, and I still wouldn’t. I prayed before meals and even tried to evangelise my friends. After SPM, I went for RBS (a 5-week Bible school by IBA in Cameron Highlands). There, the environment felt really spiritual - cold weather, morning devotions, and quietness. We learnt to do “lectio divina,” a meditative way of reading Scripture where you reflect on what God is trying to say. That’s how I was taught to read the Bible. But when I came back from RBS, I felt that my Brethren church no longer gave me the “spiritual high” I was craving. Around then, I entered Sunway Uni and joined their Christian Fellowship. I loved it. There was 45 minutes of singing, a short talk, then hanging out. I realised what I was really looking for was friends - Christian friends who were fun and on the same wavelength. I even told the FES staff that once I graduate, I’d join FES. Still, I wasn’t happy in my Brethren church, so I started visiting other churches with a friend. One day, a friend from Sunway CF invited me to a church near Sunway called CERC. I had never heard of it before. Coincidentally, that Sunday, I saw Wei Kin at my Youth Group just standing around, I casually asked him if he knew the church. He said, “Yeah, I’m attending that church now.” I was surprised, but didn’t say much - just told him I was planning to visit. He offered to carpool, so we went together. On the way, we talked about church and then Calvinism. When Wei Kin explained predestination, I wasn’t offended at all. In fact, I thought it made more sense that God chooses people, rather than people having the power to choose God—otherwise it makes God seem weak. My first time at CERC was during a sermon on Romans 13. Everything was different - the songs, the liturgy, the sermon length. But it finally made sense when my friend said CERC was a “Bible-centered” church. I had never sat through a church service where we actually had to open and read the Bible extensively. Normally it’s one verse and that’s it. Then the following week at Sunway CF, news spread that I went to CERC. The FES staff warned me about CERC, saying I should “be careful.” She even told me CERC teaches Christians not to vote because “God is in control” - which during GE13, sounded like a red flag. So I told my church friends about CERC and Wei Kin, and we decided to “save” him from this strange church. We noticed CERC was promoting FWC 2015, themed “The Gospel and Evangelism,” and decided to attend it as a “mission.” Honestly, it was a dumb reason to go, but it turned out to be a turning point. In the first session, the workshop leader, Winnie Lai, asked a simple question: “What is the gospel?” And I couldn’t answer. That whole weekend, I felt like a fool. Despite being in church my whole life, I couldn’t explain the gospel. Every night, I met with my church friends who also felt the same - we didn’t know anything. But we were learning the gospel properly for the first time. We quickly realised the issue wasn’t us - it was our church. We wanted to help fix it, so that same year, we attended CERC Camp - I am 73. That’s when I got “reformed.” I read Carl Trueman’s article on Liberalism with Winnie, and entered a bit of a caged stage - calling everyone a liberal and correcting every wrong theology I saw and desiring to make sure I honour God by living out his word in the most faithful way I can. To answer why I finally want to join CERC as a member: Even though I got reformed in 2015, I delayed membership because I was trying to help my old church. For 4 years I engaged the elders and youth advisors, and while we managed to change the youth a lot - teaching exegesis and correcting theology - the problem was always the same: the main church gathering. It constantly confused the youth with inconsistent teaching. Eventually, I started to lose the plot. I’d do whatever I liked. Because there was so little accountability, I could appear active on Sundays but live my own life the rest of the week. I love to travel and could even skip Sundays and no one would care. I knew the longer I stayed, the more I’d become a nominal Christian. And that was sinful and selfish. Even after talking to elders, leaders, and members, everyone would get fired up for a while, then lose the plot again. So I made the decision to join CERC because I know CERC takes accountability seriously. We aren’t afraid to call out sin - not to judge, but to love one another rightly so that we can serve God together and build each other up until Christ returns. With my background in poor churching and seeing so many friends reject the gospel, I’m joining CERC because I want to be part of the Klang Valley reformation - to help Christians who are blinded by sin finally see God through His Word for who He really is.

Saw Ching Lin

CERC is my first church! I have had lots of questions about who God is in my heart since I was young. Coming from a non-Christian family, we asked to perform rituals without questioning the purpose of the ritual. Unlike Qoheleth (the author of Ecclesiastes), instead of keeping searching for answers, these questions just slipped off my mind as life gets busy.

During my university time, I joined CF and people introduced God to me through the gospel. I started to learn who God is, and his plan for the cosmos. God has elected me to be his kingdom citizen, transferred me from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son, I belong to the Lord and He wants me to live a life in service to Him. I'm his people and together with others, we walk in obedience, waiting for Jesus's final consummation.

As time goes, I learn to see things in my life in God's perspective. I learn to submit to my parents (no longer blind submission), seeing family as how God created order in this world and parents being the first authority God placed in life for me to learn about my relationship with Him. From a non-Christian family, I learned to be patient, to live out Christian life before my family while waiting for my parents' approval for my baptism, and sharing the gospel with them to know this majesty God. My priority/center of life changed. Instead of going back to JB and working in Singapore, I switched my career path so that I could free up my weekend to worship God together with others in church.

I see the beauty of CERC in how we strive to be faithful to God in our meekness. Every week we strive to serve God better in our weekly gathering. We have pastor teachers who never underestimate the sinfulness of man, and they preach faithfully the word of God (though not perfect) to the congregation. Church life is not working with all capable/likeable/like-minded people, we argue, we disappoint and are disappointed, we fight, but all members learn to embody the character of Christ and learn to exhort, rebuke each other. We are all imperfect, undeserved sinners saved by God. But we have the same goal, to persevere to live out God's word and allow the word to rule over us.

Janice Ling

Growing up my idea of God was all about love. I understood little about God and His gospel. I thought that what ultimately matters is God’s love for us. The turning point was when a friend from my university offered to read the bible with me. He showed me from the bible that God sets apart a holy people for himself by choosing some people for salvation and perseveres them until the end. Passages like Ephesians 1, Romans 8 and 9 have shown me an idea of God that was very foreign to me. Before I came to CERC, I would quote the bible or read it only to feel comfort, I would not look for the author’s intention. There are a lot of things that I realized about myself after coming to CERC, I think God has slowly exposed me in a few ways: My desire to be understood is really strong, to the point where it can affect my love for God and his church.Not being able to get along well or having disagreements with God’s people results in emotional pain and hurt that is hard to bear. It does affect me quite a bit as a people person. I always have to remind myself that in the end, what matters is about God and His church, not just focusing on me or my emotional pain, but what matters is His church being built up and that all glory goes to Him. And if that means for me to suffer so that God's church can be built up, then so be it. I realized that I am really bad at suffering well. I struggled to appreciate God maturing us through suffering. Reflecting on the book of James with my GG and the church offering to help with my replacement duties helped. I find myself just trying to persevere through the suffering rather than rejoicing in it.

The gospel culture that this church has is pretty amazing – how we encourage discussions during sermons and make sure to have post sermon discussions after gathering. CERC takes evangelism and Christ’s command of making all disciples of all nations seriously. CERC is not a perfect church and there are many areas of improvement. I personally think people in this church needs to improve in pastoral care. However, despite it not being a perfect church, ultimately what matters is that they are faithful to God’s Word, everything else takes secondary from there.What CERC has –the various ministries, the gospel culture, the commitment to God and his ministry is rare. I would like to be part of this church which blesses Christians beyond our own walls and use my gifts to serve in this church to the best of my abilities, even though I will struggle alot.

Zack Tan

I was cheating in my exams throughout 2020 to 2024 — even while serving in church and presenting myself as if I was doing okay. I hadn’t fully embraced the reality that I am a deceiver and a cheater before God — not just someone who sinned, but someone shaped by sin, and still tempted to live in it. I didn’t want to bring that self into the light before others — not to my parents, not to the church. By secondary school, I was self-assured in performance but poor as a person. I couldn't relate well. I judged quickly. I cared too much about being “right” and little about being loving. So, by the time I came to CERC in 2018, I was already a person, shaped not by truth, but by a lot of self-deception, performance, and people-pleasing. I was outwardly impressive, but inwardly shallow. And so, with that as my foundation, I walked into CERC. I held on to a strong sense of righteousness. In November 2024, God cut my heart through Pastor Robin’s sermon. The Word exposed the deceitfulness of my sins and convinced me of God’s uncompromising character from His holy and righteous judgment. I recalled wanting to excuse my sins during the sermon, but James’ call to throw away all rampant wickedness was an obvious call for me. Ignoring it would have been denying God’s holy expectations. The song “Judge of the Secrets” convinced me even further—especially the line: “I will not hide, I will not run, I know I’m safe with You.” Then, as much as I feared how others would perceive me, I feared the LORD even more. I took comfort in God’s righteous judgment and was strengthened to run into His fiery judgment, and endure the path of discipline.

Immediately after that, I came into the light. I confessed to Christine, who was my fiancée at the time. I wrote to ACCA to tell them the truth, shared with my GG team on Thursday, and spoke to Pastor Robin on Saturday. I also told the entire F4 on Saturday evening.

I’m still a long way from where I want to be. There are so many instincts in me—so much of that old habit of trying to manage perceptions, to rely on insights or breakthroughs rather than just obeying, to define my worth by what I can do. But I’m learning, slowly, that Christianity isn’t about achieving some perfect moral standard or impressive record. It’s about walking each day in the light of who God is and what He has done in Christ. It’s about learning to see myself as His child—humbled, dependent, but loved, and belonging to His church.

Since coming to CERC, I’ve come to see how much of my life had been shaped by self-deception, performance, and a man-centered Christianity.Through CERC’s preaching, confrontations, and the church’s uncompromising commitment to truth, I’ve come face to face with the holiness of God and the reality of my unrighteousness. One big transformation that has taken place is my love for God’s people. I used to run away or avoid the mess of pastoring and taking care of my sheep, which was literally like the basics of love - to love sinners.

All genuine CERC-ians will be able to articulate and share how their lives were humbled and broken by God either through the preaching of God’s Word, or a PFU-er ministering to them. They also share the same attitude and spirit in humbly serving God in various ministries without being calculative or unrepentantly bitter when the going gets tough.

At the heart of it, I want to be a member of CERC because this is the church where God dwells by His Spirit, among His people, through His Word. Here, I have learned to fear God and worship Him. Here, I have come to know my brothers and sisters in Christ, and see my calling as belonging to them. And here will I use my entire life for His service.

Lee Xin Yuan

Fun fact about Xin Yuan: She is an accomplished ballerina with an Advanced 2 Royal Academy of Dance (that’s four levels above Grade 8 if you guys know what that is!)

I grew up in a Non-Christian family and became an atheist because none of the religions practiced by those around me could answer my questions about life. I decided that it was better to create my own purpose rather than aimlessly searching for answers or place wishful hope in the idea that some god might guide my path. That worked for a while. I was quite confident in my own purpose, but I knew that it didn’t have a proper end and that it is subjected to change when circumstances arise.

A few years ago, I faced multiple life crises which made me realize that I was not as in control as I thought. I began to doubt my atheism and explored Christianity by attending a Pentecostal church with a friend. As I read the Old Testament, I became more confused because the God I read about was completely opposite to the god I heard in sermons. When I asked my pastors questions, the answers were often vague and unhelpful —“Just pray and have faith” or “The Holy Spirit will guide you.” Frustrated, I left and landed myself in a cult who at least tried to help me make sense of the bible. Without a solid biblical foundation, I was swayed into believing that the cult leader is the 2nd coming of the messiah.

Eventually, I was pulled out of the cult and forced to deny my beliefs. I felt really guilty because I thought I betrayed God and the messiah like Judas. I didn’t want to go back to my former church, so I followed my teacher to a Chinese Presbyterian church where the teachings were more grounded. Still, I silently struggled with guilt and the fear that I could no longer be forgiven.

That began to change when I joined IMUCF and started reading the Bible with a senior, Celine Yong. We went through the TWTL (Two Ways To Live) studies, and Box 1 was particularly impactful—it helped me see that God is real and far more sovereign than I thought. I came to understand that my allegiance belongs to Him alone, because He is the one who created me and redeemed me in Christ. Later on, my lingering doubts about the Messiah were answered as I learned more about Jesus through IMU CF’s Colossians series and CERC’s God’s Story series.

The hardest part about being a Christian has been learning to deny myself and live for Him. But God has been gracious to me – He strengthened me with His word by His Spirit whenever I struggled.How would you describe yourself since coming to CERC and how is it going to impact the life of the church?

I’ve grown to appreciate God, His gospel, His goodness, His desire to have a people like Christ a lot more through learning from the sermons, GG and serving in church. Because of that appreciation, I can see myself learning to love others more even though I still find it very hard. Pastoral ministry to certain individuals was just so tough during my university years - I cannot imagine what it is like for pastors to deal with hundreds and thousands of difficult people.. It made me question myself if I really want to commit to the church and whether I really want to do Full Time Paid Ministry But I can’t deny that Christ is risen and the gospel is true. He laid down His life for His enemies and called us to love others as He did. I know that loving the church is not gonna get any easier but I hope in God’s promise of creating a new humanity for Himself. I pray that God will continue to expose my self-righteous heart and sanctify me to become more like His Son so that I can built up others in love.

Besides that, I also realize that as I start working and grow older, I tend to give in to tiredness more easily. I foresee myself calcifying like some adults in church if I don’t actively reform myself daily. I pray that instead of calcifying, the reality of the gospel will grip me more deeply and train me to be a godly role model for others in church.

Jeanelle Khaw

When I was 16, Isabelle (my sister) challenged our family to consider taking Christianity seriously based on Scriptures. She showed us from Scripture that our faith, no matter how firmly we held onto it, was based on ourselves and not on God’s sovereign election( I struggled with this for months. Eventually she brought me to CERC, where I was encouraged to do ministry with my peers in college and I learned to serve others . Once I was convicted from Scripture, I continued to grow by sermon series from CERC such as: The Christian Life series, God’s Story series.

I realized that I am weak in the sense that I tend to give up easily when the going gets tough, I have only begun to learn in recent years that I can’t get away with my irresponsibilities and indiscipline. I am grateful for my parents for sending me overseas by the time I turned 20, Where my weaknesses were tested: I give in too quickly, I have bad communication skills , and I am used to someone else taking my work off of me. Stepping into full-time working life helped me to appreciate the wisdom and counsel of my older Christian brothers and sisters in CERC’s university ministry.

I don’t want to live isolated from His story– I exist to serve His purposes to unite everything to Christ. From the beginning of time, God has the church in mind, saving a people who He elected to live obediently in His waysas exemplified in the way Paul rebuked the Corinthian church for their failure to understand that love is the greatest sign of the Christian. As His body, we are all members of one another, especially in the context of a local congregation, whom we strive to meet frequently in light of the Day drawing near: to edify and hold accountable. I want to be a member of CERC so that I can proudly stand in witness of my fellow brothers and sisters and proclaims of Jesus’ gift of a new identity in Him. I can’t trust myself to sanctify myself. And I don’t trust the world to make me a better woman. I need the church to press on with me to become more like Christ.

Kimberly Voon

I grew up in a Buddhist household. When I was 18, I volunteered on Logos Hope ship. One night, while songs were played and the congregation sang “How great is our God” and “mighty to save” - for some reason I had tears rolling down my face all of a sudden and I felt this immense love of God that I couldn’t quite explain. I felt this sense of belonging and love, like a hole that was there growing up had been filled and I can finally be loved.

So, my buddy pulled me aside later, and sat down with me, said to me the sinners prayer and asked if I wanted to be a Christian. I agreed. She told me that the entire ship travelled to Malaysia to save my soul. Quote “A sheep strays away God abandons the 99 to find the one.” I cried myself to sleep later, because I felt that God was really speaking to me and inviting me to belong to Him because he loved me. I never felt this overwhelming sense of being loved before.

I looked for a church that gave me the same experience I had back in Logos Hope. The experience and ambiance had to fit that because that was where I felt connected to God.

God to me was that loving Father who would be there for me through the ups and downs in life. He was a figure that loved me unconditionally and cared very much for me, and filled the gaps of love I thought was missing in my life.

In the beginning it was all pretty normal, but time and time again I found myself doubting my own faith, and whether I really am a Christian because I never found that sense of connection that I felt back in the ship. I thought that God was far beyond me and I couldn’t really reach out to him because I could not feel him. I thought maybe it’s because I have not been bad, morally speaking, so I joined one of their events called the “Freedom Encounter” that helped Christian to be free from all the anxieties, fears and addictions from their lives. Yet again, like what it used to be for me, I felt like I was stuck in my own sin and couldn’t be good, even after attending that event.

The months that followed became mundane. There were ups and downs, times where I felt God was near and sometimes not. I became an occasional Christians, Sunday Christian that went to church when it was convenient for me - when school was not so busy. I tried to be this good Christian girl on the outside, but I knew deep down I was the opposite. I still couldn’t find an answer to the question I had about my perpetual habit of sinning.

At the end of A-Levels, I went back to my hometown for a break before uni started and I remember having this thought to myself, I was a Christian, call myself a Christian yet I couldn’t become good. Worse still I found it hard to articulate my faith other than the meagre sum of encounters I had with God. I had a very shallow understanding of my faith and reckon that it was time for a change. So I made up my mind to return to uni with a goal of really understanding God and the scriptures rightly. God used everything from CERC university ministry, to me serving in Monash CF and many other things. These really grew my foundations as a young Christian) and it really took a shift in how I view myself, my life of constantly wanting to be somebody, be good, be perfect, be loved - I couldn’t. Months ensued were a lot of emotional ups and downs, especially where I was entrusted with various ministry roles, a KG leader and President but looking in hindsight those really taught me about what it means to be a Christian, to live a sacrificial life for God. It was really through this experience that I got to witness people sacrificing themselves to me, Jay Lyn especially the times during my presidency years through some late long nights etc etc. These kinda gave me a window to see and witness for myself what a ministry that really seeks to glorify and serve God the best one can.

Looking back now, I realised that it was truly God’s mercy and grace that opened my eyes and led me to see my need for the gospel. I am a Christian and now going to be covenanted to be a part of God’s family, not because of merits and how worthy I am, but it is only because God had graciously made me His, to love and serve Him faithfully.

Lim Kok Hua

Growing up in a Buddhist background gave me the comfort that I wanted, where I can always stay in the middle in my opinion towards anything including decisions in my life. For example, religion, people's opinions on work, on marriage or relationship. I won't go against other people's opinion because I think everyone has the right to think about certain things in their own way. However, Christianity forced me to make a stand, a stand on the truth I believe in, which is what I won’t do previously. When I come to know Christianity, it really challenges me in the way I view God. The god I want is the god that fits into the way I view life, not the life that follows God’s way. I liked Buddhism because I can do whatever I want, don’t have a strict position on what I should do, just follow my own feelings on the spot.

I first came to know about Christianity because of CERC camp in 2019 for the topic of ‘work and wealth’. Pastor Robin is the one that is giving the talk and it’s about the book of ecclesiastes. From my Buddhist backgroundt, I used to think of life as being in this concept of reincarnation stage of life (birth, death and rebirth). Hence, the purpose of life is just earning money, so that I can jaga my parents, have my own family and have babies. Then when I die, rebirth and do it again. I know it’s weird to have this kind of life (so meaningless) but I didn’t question much on it and just accept the facts..

Then Robin talks about the vanity of life and how the Book of Ecclesiastes shows the guy who achieve everything can say that life is vanity. I was quite agreeing with it but compared to my response where I just accepted the fact, the book points us to the purpose of life which is to live life for this God. That is the first time where I get to know this is what Christians believe in.

After CERC camp, I start to get interest in Christianity in the way how they see life. and I joined TGGNE where leading by Christine Chong, and long story short throughout God’s story Series, I can see how real the Bible is about human nature and how we just keep sinning against God (esp in the first 5 books, how Israel is just being stubborn even after God just save then and they can still complain about God when they are in the wilderness). Also through God story Series, I realize how I am also not different from Israel who keeps complaining about God, I know there is a God and I know its not the ‘god (guanyin)’ which I worship since young, but I keep escaping from this reality and continue to live the life I want. I can see how sinful I am in doing this where I'm just no different and even worse than Israel as I know Jesus has already died on the cross.

Then there is this one day Christine asks me this question. ‘When are you going to decide which God, you want to serve?’ because there is no point for you to keep stay neutral, might as well I just go back enjoy my non-Christian life. (the context is last time I think i consider regular in TGGNE but I keep escaping from making decision because I aware of the cost where my family will be against it and I love my family and I know they love me too, so I really don’t want to lose them) But at the same time I know I can’t just live my non Christian life since I already know the truth : this is the real God who is in control and in his grace and mercy that through his blameless son who being tortured and suffered because of my sin, that I’m able to see this truth which is the gospel and hence I decided to follow God and live out life in his way.

Ronnie Koay

I was born into a Christian family and have been attending church and Sunday school since I was young. As I grew into my teenage years, I often felt lost, not knowing the purpose of life despite being a Christian. Memorizing Bible verses from a young age and knowing how to recite the Shepherd’s Prayer or the Lord’s Prayer did not help me. I frequently felt sad and down, and whenever my dad wasn’t home, I would cry hard, struggling to see the point of living and not understanding why I had to grow up without a mother. Despite these feelings, I was taught to master my emotions and not be seen as overly emotional. Over time, I slowly developed a stoic and apathetic approach to life, living without a clear goal. Although I was born into a Christian family, my life was not centered on God, His church, the gospel, or His Word. Things began to change when my older brother became interested in the Word after being introduced to TULIP and Reformed theology in IMU CF. His influence led me to think more deeply about Christianity, and I started listing topics to research and rationalizing that I needed to begin by understanding the gospel in order to grasp what it meant to worship, pray, and so on. Soon, my brother introduced me to Paul Washer and John Piper, which led me to dive deeply into understanding the gospel. As I read and studied God’s Word, I came to see the world as God sees it. John Piper’s sermon on Total Depravity, in particular, made me reflect on the events in my life and my moments of depression. It helped me see more clearly that this world is not what Christians should be living for. Since coming to CERC, I have grown in my understanding of God's Word and developed a greater awareness of my own sin and need for the gospel. I have learned that Christianity is not just about personal faith but about being devoted to God's church. Through the faithful preaching, discipleship, and love at CERC, I have been challenged to live out my faith more intentionally, striving to love God and His people with greater humility and service. Membership at CERC is not treated as a formality but as a commitment to a covenant community that holds one another accountable in love, striving for holiness and godliness. Church discipline, while often misunderstood in many places, is taken seriously here as a biblical means of guiding believers toward repentance and restoration, ensuring that the church remains faithful to Christ. I want to be a member of CERC because, first and foremost, I am a Christian who desires to be continually nurtured in the Word of God. Through the faithful teaching and preaching of Scripture in this church, I have grown in my understanding of God’s word and have been encouraged to live in obedience to Him. Additionally, I have experienced the genuine love and care of the members of this church, which has strengthened my faith and deepened my appreciation for the body of Christ. I want to commit myself to living a godly life—not only in my personal faith but also in service to the church. Loving the church means more than just attending; it means serving its people, investing in their spiritual growth, and edifying one another as we strive to be faithful disciples of Christ.

Sarah Bungan

I grew up in a Christian home, so I was your typical pious Christian kid who was keen to attend and serve in church. I tried to take my faith more seriously when I started attending high school CF where I was starting to be more independent of my decisions and not just following my family to church. I grew up in a Charismatic church. So this church shaped the kind of Christianity I had in the past, where I was taught that faith is just mere believism and doesn't necessarily have to translate to works that build up the church but as long as we feel the Spirit through tongues or long prayers, long praise and worship sessions in the dark, we have enough Spiritual motivation to get us through the week.

One key thing that I wrestled with that helped me understand the gospel even more was the doctrine of predestination. Initially, I disagreed with it because I couldn’t comprehend that God would save some and leave others to hell, as though everyone is deserving of the chance to choose to believe in the gospel. But thank God for the teachings in CERC, I understood what sin truly is which was key for understanding the gospel, that we are not deserving of anything from God but we all deserve hell and it’s a miracle that he even wants to save any of us. I just recalled saying to Van, “I was just randomly thinking.. If it was up to us to decide to follow God, it wouldn’t make sense cause we wouldn’t even want it”.

CERC has taught me to be Christian in my thinking and to not stay in my own bubble to do what’s comfortable for me but to do what it takes to be the church God calls us to be. Without CERC, I would very much follow what culture says while still being pious. An example is I was considering that I intended to quit my current job recently because of frustration that i'm not up to par. The old Sarah would just think of myself to go get an easier job and just be comfortable with no concern for long term growth, and to “love myself” rather than letting a job oppress me. But considering all things, I know my time to be molded as a son of God isn’t over yet in this job role.

Why CERC? They are not a people who just have clear doctrines, faithful teaching on the pulpit or even in small groups, but the lives lived out of the people are not truly transformed, keeping the gospel as intellectual while having their cake and eating it same time, living as no different from the world. Hence the people here are concerned for God’s glory themselves and has kept me accountable in taking the gospel seriously, which is seen in pushing each other to be consistent with what we are being taught or what we speak to each other, all flowing from the faithful preaching we hear on Sundays by the trained word ministers.

Ernest Choong

It was during college where I was truly challenged as a Christian, I started having difficult questions like: If God is loving and accepting to all, why is there hell? Why is there sin? If God is in control, would there still be accidents? Disasters? Not only that, I was suffering workplace abuse during my internship and could not go to church which in turn I was left alone from my church I was at my lowest, and it was then I thought God has given up on me, and I was going to give up on Him. Then at the time my university’s (Taylor’s!) CF president, Jou Ee, came and talked to me both to rebuke and encourage me to continue to be Christian, and since then I slowly get back on track in serving the CF. Just when I thought camp was over and I’m ready to get back to my life, I was approached by Charlotte Liew who, through countless messages and calls, pestered me to join TGG, Geddit, and eventually Sunday church. Granted I started going to CERC because of my Taylor’s friends, I soon find out I was having all my questions answered, and not by personal assumptions or interpretations, but being taught to see it for myself. With that as well being challenged to be of service to God, like being a member, serving in ministries etc. Now as a Christian I am clearer of how my life should be. Which is simply in every aspect, every second, to live in worship to God, that would mean to defend the gospel, standing up for it when I talk to friends or relatives, service to His church, in serving my brother and sisters in Christ and outdoing them in showing honour & love, and to persevere in many trials, even when my job is on the line, even when I lost almost 90% of my Taylorian friends, even when I have to be hated by my own mother for a time being.  Since coming to CERC I have been humbled many times, as I am quite a stubborn prideful idiot before. I wasn’t the easiest person to love and I am blur in many aspects, but through the love of the church I am able to be accountable for my actions as well as growing a heart to be servant hearted. From thinking about myself when I serve the church to being concerned of the church and what she needs. It is going to impact the church in that I would want to love others the same (though it is tough to do so) in order that many more Ernests in the church will learn to kill their pride and serve the church with humility. I want to be a member of this church because I want to repay what CERC has done for me, if it wasn’t for the love and care that this church has given I would not have been as mature as I am now, knowing my place in God’s world and house. I would have also been so stuck in living out my own life, being affected by naval gazing that it would just lead to ultimately giving up and taking my own life.

Adam Cheng

I grew up in a Christian family. I was proud to be a “Christian” because I was under the impression that it’s good in the general sense, right, intelligent, civilized, normal, nice, friendly, etc. Partly, it’s because I’m influenced by the portrayal of Christianity as being popular since it’s a major religion in the world (not to mention, it’s a “western religion” in a “white-is-right” world). I was the typical goody two shoes, and perhaps even Pharisaical (a baggage that I will carry till this day, but by God’s grace, I will see with a growing clarity of my sinfulness before my Holy God).

My theology when I grew up in children’s church (that was what my old church called it) and under my parents’ upbringing is one where God is our all-powerful protector who will shield us from harm’s way. As a kid, my mom would teach me to pray to God whenever I have nightmares, and that God is bigger and stronger than all my fears (e.g., demons, etc.). As I grew older, I would also be praying to God for good grades before exams because why not if God is an all-powerful provider. If I had to use a label, whatever I believed was a kind of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism gospel sprinkled with some form of piety. I’m sure I did learn about creation, sin, Jesus as Lord and Savior, the cross, the resurrection, forgiveness of sins, heaven and hell, judgment etc. but only as mere content when I was growing up, but those things meant very little to me back then and I can’t say I really revered God. Mostly, Christianity was real, but distant; it was personal but in a bare minimum way, and much of it is me-centered. That was the only version of Christianity I knew and hence it was left unquestioned. I wanted to be doing things according to God’s good laws, like the ten commandments or like obeying Jesus and fulfilling the great commission (I vaguely remember how I wanted to be evangelistic in primary school but was too afraid to speak to my classmates about Jesus), but I only understood myself as a sinner in a conceptual way. Little did I know, I was an enemy before God. I always presumed I’m a decent person when compared with others.

Fast forward to the time when I first visited CERC Youth, I had Adrian Miller did ‘Two Ways to Live’ with me. I learned about the Lordship of God, that He is someone that cannot be trifled with, and He demands a response. Instead of God who is man-centered and always-forgiving, I was presented with the God who deserves my worship immediately, now. I chose to live according to God’s way. That was the starting point of my conversion. From then on, I continued visiting TGG MonSun and Sunway SOLIDD where I came to understand my sinfulness personally and God’s grace in the gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, who by His grace alone, brought forth forgiveness, justification and new life for me. Two ways to live was foundational for me in showing me the binary nature of living for God.

Since then, I’ve been growing in my knowledge of God. My life has changed in that I now live not with myself as the focal point, but Christ and His church. I desire to be a living sacrifice for God, in honoring Him in all that I do, repenting from all the evils that still plague me on this side of heaven although painstakingly, and loving the church and evangelizing those not yet part of the flock.

That said, life being a Christian is not without much sin. Over time, my zealousness for the gospel and all things reformed grew cold as I’m challenged with the test of time, where eventually much of my theology became mere routines and they were impersonal. Time flew by carelessly especially during the pandemic and I did everything contrary to Ephesians 5:15-16, forgetting the time that I now live in and who I have been transformed to be (a sinner saved from a life of sin and death à to a life to God). I’m now made aware of it, and I intend to keep working out my salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who works in me, for His good pleasure at the end of the day. I am thankful to God for saving me from my sin and from the His holy wrath reserved for me that was borne by Christ at the cross, even though I’ve proved and proven myself to be undeserving time and time again, even as a Christian. I’m grateful that I can be called a son of God now, and I can live a life that conforms to Christ more and more each day.

Lee Yenlin

Growing up in a typical high performer Asian household, my sister and I were expected to know and do everything right and perfect. That included our churching habits too. I was a pious Christian, and attended church because it was a routine by Christians. Everything was performative.

Even when there were doubts in Christianity, it would be automatically suppressed and shut down since I thought that was “me questioning God” and I do not want to mess with him. This pious cycle kept me up to be a leader of my cell group since I was 16 y/o – 24 y/o I trusted in God and His existence, but it was quickly tested in my life as I often separated what was Christian as an individual spiritual experience in church. There was no king, no ruler, no submission, no conviction of sin, no desire for genuine repentance, no love for Scripture. The moment I am out into the world, I was secular and ashamed of my Christianity. Being in church was a mere show and routine. I write notes to feel a sense of accomplishment. There was lack of meaning in many things that I do. I was self-serving, even as I was serving God. I didn’t love others for God’s sake. The Christian life was about me, and I was applauded for it. Life was good and comfortable. I didn’t have to struggle. I didn’t need to articulate the gospel. I had no standards for Christianity. Everything was relative and subjective to what I felt was right, and I was so sure that it is God’s calling for me. I grew to be proud in myself, since I could articulate myself so well anyway, doing much work with my hands that puffed me up further into delusion. I am a deeply rebellious person. Though in church with leadership positions, I lived no different from my friends in the world. I indulged in comfort and laziness, chased after what gave me a sense of achievement in my studies, idolized it, and had no thought about God in this life. It was until one of my leaders decided to do a book study with me called “the Explicit Gospel” (Matt Chandler) that I was introduced to a world of Christianity more than mere experience. What took me aback was the Christianity they introduced was something so contrary with what I knew and was confident in. The need for the Word to inform my Christianity was completely new, and I was hooked to know more. It helped with my leading, and increased clarity to why I have to know the bible. Fast forward in time, I began to take on bible study courses from church, attended bible study conferences, reading articles and listening to Matt Chandler sermons in attempts to discover more of Scripture. I was getting more in touch with the word, yet there was no sense of repentance in my life because what I got from all this studying puffed me up further in my pride. I was better than most of my friends. It was a level up in my Christianity, everyone else needed to depend on me, and I liked it. My life was not changed, and in fact grew increasingly idolatrous of my knowledge and achievement in studies. I was frustrated how I couldn’t teach my CGs properly, since I didn’t know what I was supposed to teach. So I began to read a lot of articles to ensure my leading is proper content such that I know what to say. I suppressed my inadequacy of gospel knowledge and love for God and His word, and compensated it for weekly presentations. Growing increasingly tired and burned out, I still persisted since it was the right thing to do, yet not knowing why. While I was happy living my secular life in IMU, I joined CF in my earlier semesters just to check them out. Mostly for explorer reasons, and also Christian piety. It wasn't as impressive as the other Christian events I’ve been to, so I didn’t have a reason to go back again. My time was very important to me and studies and making memories in university was a greater priority. I don’t feel bad as well, since I already have a “Christian meeting” weekly in my regular church CGs, so that’s off the check list. This went on until I went to one of the series by IMUCF just for fun as an attendee. I remember it was a sermon preached by Jerome. Though I don’t recall much of the sermon today, I vividly remember being very pleasantly surprised at just how much the Scripture could come to life. It wasn’t boring. I could see God in the sermon, and it was the first time I was confronted by the reality of God’s judgement of sin in death. Then on, I began to make time to go to CFs to hear what the bible has to say. It was really like a breath of fresh air to my parched spirit. Eventually attended HSCG led by Penny, and for the first time worked out the Word by myself to see that the Word could actually be understood by laymen like me, without “external manifestation of the spirit”. I was deeply relieved, because all the uncertainties I’ve suppressed about God out of my piety could finally be put to rest, because I finally found that there is a way to answer these questions. But these exercises were only intellectual for the most part, because it did not push me to change and repentance. I was not convicted of sin, and in fact I struggled to see why my life is sinful since I “live for God” anyway. Penny did BS with me for a few months, was called in to be in the IMUCF committee within 6 months, and continued learning about Scriptures there. It was until a test of giving up my precious time to study and socialize for the sake of gospel ministry I understood the depths of my idolatry against God. It was really hard for me to give up aiming for perfection and the most excellent. I think that might be the first time I did something for God, by giving up my prized possession for what is truly good.

Ernni Chong

I am a Christian because of what God has done in saving a people for himself and for his glory. A life lived for God (hopefully).

I used to live thinking that there is no meaning to life because what’s the point of the pain and suffering we are facing in this world. I came to Christianity because I wanted God to be on my side. If things are terrible now in this world, wouldn’t it mean that only God can change things around and make things better?

I gave God a try for a better life. (silly me, thinking I am the one who chooses God). Through going to SOLIDD, TGG, and then Sundays, I learned more about who this God is and what is His plan to save a people for himself to worship and glorify Him. The text that really hit a turning point would be Genesis & Romans understanding how God is the creator God that has created and I owe my existence and life to him. Everything I have is from God, and that helped me then to work out how to live a life that glorifies my creator. I learned the most from GGs where I could ask questions, and the leaders spent time explaining the texts to us. I came to understand the meaning of my life, and my existence in this world and how God designed things to be. From the gospel, I see my sins against a holy God and can only depend on Christ alone for my salvation.

Ku Suet Ling

I am a Christian today because of the preaching of God’s word in Monash University and regular CERC sermons. Through the Scriptures, I was confronted by the true God, who is worthy of all worship - a holy and faithful God who cares for His creation plans.

Back then before university, All I thought about Christianity was God’s great sacrificial love for me so that I could be forgiven to enter heaven. Sinning was seen as simplistic wrong doings, and I assumed that God’s love covers all sin so that I could be in heaven and not having to suffer in hell. Monash CF was studying the book of Romans and I’ve gained better clarity of the depths of my sin before the Holy God. Even though I called myself a Christian, I realized I wanted to do nothing with God, I only wanted the benefits of being in heaven because of the fear in being in hell. I did not worship God; I just treated God as a convenient genie.

By God’s grace, after many bible studies and sermons over several months and years, I was finally pricked to the heart. It was a long struggle because of my arrogance. I kept rejecting the God revealed in Scripture and asserting my own ideas of who God should be. The turning point was when I saw this continual rejection is what sin is – I want an easier god, a domesticated god that is tolerable to my standards. I wanted a God who accepts me even in my sins, but not the God who judges sinners in his righteousness. I had no love for this holy God, and I hated this new reality of God that I must conform my life to Him. Begrudgingly, I attended all church activities and MCF activities thinking this is the right pious thing to do. Only through the BT series (God’s Story) did I develop a deep reverence of God. For the first time, I came to appreciate the goodness of God seen in him being the loving ruler of the world through salvation and judgement. God is gracious to reveal himself to sinful humanity, when he had no obligation to do so. After The Fall, God remains steadfast to his creation purposes, made a covenantal promise to restore mankind from their sinful depravity to become his holy people. The BT series exposed me that I am no different from the Israelites, even though God has given us His Laws, the tabernacle, his prophets, his words, I still refuse to worship God. Only by God’s gracious intervention, in sending Christ and giving me the Holy Spirit did I slowly understand God through the Scriptures. I realized I need to yield (bend the knee) to this big God. My view of God drastically changed, from a genie God to a God who foreknew his people since the beginning of time, predestined to make them his holy people.

With this, I decided to become a committed member of CERC because it’s God’s grace that I can even be part of this community of God. Despite being a typical gen-Z commitment phobic person, I now see the church as the fulfillment of God’s plan, who is made up of sinful people now transformed to be a new creation capable of being committed to God and his people. I want to be in a church that could teach me who I am as God’s child, I live as his child exercising holy and patient love like God. I am so used to love transactionally, with an expectation of reciprocal love, but the love that God has shown me is so vastly different if anything I deserved eternal death and judgement.

Joining God’s church meant that I come under the authority of the Word, I make the daily decision to fight sin and obeying Lord Jesus as a pleasing sacrifice to God. I want to grow up to practice loving his church self sacrificially, as the church is the corporate reality of God’s glory on earth and in the future.

Dabria Foo

My dad was a Roman Catholic who converted to Protestantism. I have always been asking my dad and sunday school teachers about the existence of 10 commandment, why does God forgive sinners easily which makes me feel like he is a loser God I would not want to worship kneel down - in fact, my dad has a tradition of asking me to kneel down before the cross for forgiveness which is RC practise as a reverence to God and this is my most hated moment because I do not want to kneel down to a loser God. Therefore, when Daniel Lu first presented to me how sovereign, Holy and big the God of the bible is, that everything is predestined according to his purpose, I was in awe. In fact, I was so surprised how the big God of the bible had preplanned how His story would develop and fulfill Christ as the center of the whole creation. He is not a loser god I was taught in sunday school, He is a wise God who knows what he is doing. He created me with a purpose, for His purpose and to live according to his purpose is to live my life in its fullest joy because I am living for what I am designed to be. Furthermore, Daniel Lu’s life is an evidence to me how the Christian God is not a loser god because he left medicine to serve the living god that I have no idea about. This thus is the turning point of me wanting to know who this God that he is willing to give up his life for. I thought in my heart, it is either this God is really big and great or Daniel must be insane.

Loving people doesn’t come naturally to me. I didn’t grow up knowing how to express love well. But following Christ means learning to love even when it’s hard — even when it leads to rejection or discomfort. True love, after all, is not about ease, but about Christlikeness. He loved us when we were unlovable and His enemies. I’m learning to imitate that kind of love.

Ultimately, I want my life to strengthen the church — not just in tasks, but in people. I want to be someone who helps others grow in clarity, holiness, and love for God, because that’s what the church is here for: to present one another mature in Christ.

Jolene Wong

I’m a Christian because of God’s grace that He opened my blinded eyes to this reality and humbled myself to realise that I’m merely a beggar before this holy and good God. I don’t deserve this salvation but He gave me his mercy to save me to be part of His people. Therefore, my life is no longer about living for myself in the form of seeking comfort and worth through my own performance but about fighting my own sins and finding joy in God’s presence together with His people, reflecting God’s holiness to the rest of the world.

Cheryl Lim

I grew up in a non-Christian family, where my whole family are Buddhist.

I came to know about Christianity through Ci Jie. We dated during our high school time. He is a Christian, but I wasn’t. He invited me to his church, but I was quite reluctant during that time because I have no idea why I should be going to church, and my parents don’t like me going to church. I went for once or twice and stopped going after that because I don’t see a point of going as I can see that the things they taught are the things that I already know, which are mostly moralistic where I can learn from school as well. The gospel that was preached to me that time was ‘Jesus is the free ticket to heaven, you need to believe in Jesus and become a Christian because you are sinful’. I was offended by this statement when Ci Jie first told me this, as I don’t think I am sinful, I have never done anything illegal, and I think by myself I can go to heaven because I am a good person. So, even more, I refused to listen or talk about Christianity after that.

The point where I started to want to know more about this God and Christianity is when I saw that Ci Jie rather spends his weekends at church, but also not wanting to spend time with me. I was quite frustrated and angry but the only thing he told me is that ‘God is bigger than me, I can’t and will never be the first in his list’. That is what made me interested and started to wonder who this God really is, and why is it so different from my God. Therefore, I started to ask questions about God, about Christianity overall and I agreed to follow him to visit CERC when we are in KL to study.

During my first visit to CERC, I was shocked by how the people here took God so seriously that they typed down notes during sermon, and was shocked by how friendly the people are. But sadly, I couldn’t understand much from the sermon because of language and I couldn’t communicate much with people because of language as well. During that period, I did not take the gospel seriously and even rejected the gospel a few times when Jia Ying was trying to preach to me. It was until Ci Jie broke up with me that I started to question and wonder again who this God really is, how can someone just give up a 5-year relationship for God? That is what kept me coming to church despite the breakup.

Hui Chuin read the bible with me, she showed me what the bible is and covered Romans with me and also during that time I started to attend UCSI SOLIDD. It is through that 1-on-1 that I started to truly understand that the bible is not just merely a book but the word of God that gives life. That is also the time that I started to see sin clearly and finally see how rebellious I am before God, not wanting to treat God as God, not wanting to worship this God with my life. I finally see that this life comes with a purpose, and this purpose is defined by God – my King and my creator who gives life to me. Christianity shows me the true meaning of life and how life should be under God. Thanks be to God that I became a Christian after that. Life is no longer a life without purpose, my life is ought to be to be a life-long service to God and His church.

Melissa Johnson

All my life, I thought I was a Christian and I grew up doing Christian things. Yet nobody confronted me though I was living in sin with my boyfriend, which was a normal part of my life until Ps Robin rebuked me - he had been the only person at the time who showed me what sin is from the Bible. I thank God for His grace in saving me and the faithful teaching of who He is at CERC.

Adrian Miller

I was told that I was a Christian only if I experienced an outward manifestation of the Spirit. My failure to have such an experience, coupled with my own sinfulness, has left me feeling condemned and rejected by God. It was only after the Bible was explained to me that I understood that even though I deserved condemnation, I could lay my confidence in Christ's righteousness and its acceptance by God. That was when I believed and put my trust in Christ.

Erin Miller

Born into a Christian family, I had always taken Christianity for granted. As I grew up, I began questioning the Bible, but nobody could provide sufficiently logical answers to my questions. It was only after attending Bible studies, seminars, and conferences with brothers from CERC to search for answers that I finally understood what God did to save sinful man and put my trust in Jesus.

Natalie Ooi

When Ken & I decided to marry each other, I thought that I had better get baptised. I started going to church and reading the Bible regularly. Albeit struggling initially, with perseverance & careful guidance, I've come to realise that I am not righteous, and that I was foolish to think that I could get into the family of God through baptism. The more I read the word of God, the more I was exposed of my own sins, and realised that the only way I could be saved from the wrath of God upon me was to trust in Jesus Christ.

Ooi Ken Lee

I grew up believing that regular church attendance, prayer, and outward displays of faith secured my salvation. It was through CERC's preaching from the Scriptures that I realised true salvation comes solely by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by my own efforts. I look forward to serving Christ together with the rest of His body.

Vanessa Ong

I don't know why God chose me to be part of his people, because I don't deserve it at all! But through reading the Bible, I understood that I should live out the Gospel and preach it to build up up this Kingdom, and I thank God so much for the new hope that comes with new life.

Jerome Leng

I accepted Jesus as my Lord & Saviour when I was 12 but I never really understood the gospel then and the years after that. I read Colossians for 3 months with Pastor Robin and it was then, that I was biblically converted. Ever since then, I began to think theologically and decided to practice good ecclesiology with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jeremy Leng

I was a Christian Fellowship President but I never knew what sin was until my brother (Jerome) showed it to me. As I was explaining my Gospel understanding to him, he asked me, "So, is the Gospel about you?" And I was speechless. He then began to explain to me more about the centrality of Jesus Christ in our gospel understanding & I soon began to finally realize that it wasn't about me at all but it's about who Jesus is.

Mark Leong

Although I was a Christian since I was a child, I truly put my trust in Jesus in my first year of university in England. Upon returning, I am committed to the growth of the Gospel in Malaysia, and CERC is the most obvious and profitable way for me to contribute to the growth of Christ's church.

Leong Hui Chuin

I'm a member of CERC because I want to be disciplined and conformed to Christ-likeness through the mutual edification of the church. Here, I serve the gospel faithfully, and I want to keep encouraging the church as they do the same to me and each other, as we wait for Jesus' return.

Elden Rumba Pan

I truly understood what it meant to be Christian through Jerome's ministry in IMU, though I had been baptised since primary school. I'm a member of this church in obedience to God and in commitment to a group of believers under the authority of the Word. I'm so grateful to God for the faithful work that is being done here in CERC.

Ng Yee Li

I used to be a typical follower of this world, living for myself but submitted to God out of fear of His judgment. Through the teaching of the Bible in CERC, I came to understand God's love and salvation plan, putting my trust in Christ, knowing my salvation is entirely God's work. CERC has been instrumental in my growth, providing a church that takes God seriously, lives out the gospel reality, and genuinely relates to one another as family members.

Eileen Sim

Growing up as a proud non-Christian, I perceived Christians as hypocritical and felt pity for their religious obligations. My first encounter with Christianity was shallow, influenced by friends who didn't live out the faith they claimed. It wasn’t until I attended CERC and heard the true gospel that I truly understood my need for Christ and began to grasp the weight of His call to follow Him. Over time, CERC’s teachings and community life reshaped my understanding of God, sin, and what it means to live as a servant of Christ.

Daniel Lu

Although I didn’t want to jump in too quickly to CERC membership, I’ve come to learn in CERC, that commitment does not merely mean staying in church until the end, but serving it with all that I have. Throughout the membership course, I've got to learn through the book of Romans that being a Christian is to love my brothers and sisters in Christ in faith, while holding on to the hope of the full and final redemption when Christ comes again.

Sylvie Lie

I was born into a Buddhist family and initially followed their traditions, but my exposure to Christianity through my eldest sister led me to love Jesus and secretly pray to God despite outward appearances. The gospel changed me by revealing the true nature of Christianity - not about a victorious life or a good life, like I previously thought, but about following Christ's path of suffering and holding onto the living hope in Him. CERC played a crucial role in helping me build a foundation on the gospel, truth, and the Word, correcting false doctrines and restoring true gospel understanding. Now, I understand that my life is no longer mine but Christ's, and I strive to follow His path, depending on the Holy Spirit to renew my mind every day, flowing out from the foundation of the gospel, and maturing in Christ.

Andrea Foo

Since day one of coming to CERC, it has been the Word preached which has kept me coming week after week. Before this, there were too many ambiguities and confusions which caused me to doubt Christianity. The faithful preaching as well as the work of the Holy Spirit revealed the truth about myself that I'm totally depraved and that salvation comes only from Jesus Christ.

Penny Lai

Being emotionally depraved myself, I have always sought for a deeper and more profound understanding of God to which I hope I could find comfort and security in. I want to be a member of this church because of its faithful ministry under the proper guidance of the Word that is Christ-centered and God-glorifying.

Steffie Tan

CERC is different because we are CERC. CERC is a bunch of crazy and sinful people who was saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. CERC seeks to glorify God in all our lives by continuing to wrestle with sin every day. We strive to serve God, our Creator faithfully.

Lee Joo Hui

My first encounter with Scripture was in December 2007 during a youth camp, where the concept of salvation struck me hard in the heart, leading me to put my faith in the Lord Jesus. Although I started attending church and reading the Bible, I went through a "Zaman Kegelapan" where I struggled with sin and lived a non-worshipful lifestyle until I went to RBS at the beginning of 2010. RBS taught me hard lessons and set the foundation for me to start taking God, the Christian life, and church seriously, while CERC has shown me the importance of taking truth, membership, fellowship, evangelism, and love very seriously. Now, I strive to live a life that seeks to continually put sin to death daily, rejoice in suffering, and imitate Christ's servanthood for the sake of His people, acknowledging that all Christians are a work in progress persevering by the grace of God to finish the race.

Winnie Lai

During a visit from Melbourne, my sister Penny challenged my flawed understanding of the gospel, which I initially rejected. I had been pursuing godliness on my own terms, driven by pride and rebellion rather than true faith. However, through Scripture and her unwavering trust in God's sovereignty, I was convicted by the Word and finally submitted my life to Christ. This led me to commit to CERC, where I now seek to serve, grow, and live as a new creation in Christ.

Joel Lo

I want to be a member because it is only right for me as a Christian to be part of a local church. CERC nurtures its members well with proper biblical teachings and shows acts of love, including disciplining. I would also like to use the gifts graciously given to me to build up the church in any way possible.

Paul Wong

I grew up in a Christian family, attending Sunday schools and serving in the youth committee, but I didn't truly know Jesus as my Lord. When I entered IMU, my participation in the evangelism class "2 Ways to Live" was a turning point, where I learned to submit my whole life to Christ. Through faithful teachers and mentors, I came to understand the Gospel and the need to live for Christ, not myself, which eventually led me to commit to CERC. Now, I am committed to serving in CERC, trusting God to work through me and the church as we strive to glorify Him and expand His kingdom.

Eldwin Oui

Without CERC, I would likely still be a non-Christian, single, and completely obsessed with my career as a doctor back in the USA, where I grew up. I have come to realize that a truly good church transforms people's lives for Jesus, a big difference! I was confronted by Jerome as a free-thinker at the International Medical University back in 2010, and it took me several months to become genuinely repentant. I thank God for helping me turn to His Son, who was perfectly sinless in every way that I was not. By God's grace, I became the President of IMU CF (Seremban) in 2013 and later led Bible studies as a medical officer in Terengganu in 2016.

Melvin David

If I had not met CERC, I would have ended up as a drunk, drugged, and licentious person on a Polynesian island somewhere, while still identifying as a Christian. My biggest struggle now is reading the Bible in context, understanding systematic theology and biblical theology correctly, and ensuring that my kids know God. I am a Kindy 1 teacher in CERC Sunday School and the Assistant Head of Department for Food Catering Services.

David Kuok

Growing up in a Christian family, I believed my salvation was secured by my choice to believe, but I struggled to understand salvation by grace and feared losing my salvation, leading to self-righteous behavior. After attending CERC and listening to sermons, I realized my sinful nature and how my "good deeds" were driven by self-righteousness, not for God's glory. This conviction led me to understand God's grace and the true meaning of the gospel, recognizing that salvation is entirely God's work, not mine. Now, as a Christian, I strive to live a God-centered life, relying on His strength through struggles and being accountable to the church in my discipleship.

Wong Munn Kent

I used to be a self-proclaimed philosopher who sought meaning in life through my own understanding. But after a deep dive into the Bible, I realized the emptiness of my beliefs and the power of the gospel. CERC provided a community where I could truly grow in my faith and serve God. Now, I’m committed to living my life for God, even if it means facing challenges and persecution.

Kimberley Fong

I grew up as a mere church-goer who didn't care about God or Christianity, treating God as my own Santa Claus and using church as a place to meet friends. My views changed when I went to WWSC in 2012, realizing I didn't know my Bible, which led me to attend conferences and youth groups where I began to understand the true Gospel. Through CERC, I came to learn about this explicit gospel and the sovereign God who shows His righteousness to undeserving sinners. Now, I want to serve and love CERC as a community of God's people under Him, standing up for truth and seeing the importance in understanding Scripture faithfully.

Rachel Chong

I used to think my career was everything and that marriage was about being pampered like a queen, but my life changed when I encountered the gospel during a difficult relationship, leading me to leave behind those old values. Through the teachings at CERC and the support of church members, I came to understand the true purpose of marriage and life—centered on Christ and His kingdom. Now, I no longer idolize my work or seek self-centered desires, but instead strive to live faithfully as a humble servant, investing in His ministry and embracing the biblical roles in marriage. My commitment is to be a functional member of Christ's body, accountable to others, and dedicated to spiritual growth until the end.

Metrisha David

I was born into a Christian family but never knew God. I never knew how to read the Bible. But, after coming to CERC Youth, and studying the Bible for myself, I realised that sin was a huge problem that severed me from God, and that I have been saved through grace to serve my Lord and Savior together with fellow men and women in His church as one body.

Timothy Lee

I was a self-centered, judgmental person for most of my life. Despite attending church and reading the Bible, I didn't truly understand the gospel. Moving to Perth and being challenged by a fellow church member about my beliefs led me to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. After this conversion, I continued to struggle with sin but through the influence of CERC, I yearned to live a holy life. Now, I am committed to being a part of a church that will hold me accountable as I live my life for God's glory.

Ruth Voon

Jesus was just an add on to my Life. Church was just an extra activity. That all changed after I met CERC. I started to learn and taking God more seriously in life, and was eventually convicted of my deceitful heart and sinfulness against God. I am now committed to CERC because I see that CERC is a faithful local church who loves God a lot, and nurtures, protects and grow me to be a true human being who glorify God.

Joshua Tay

If I had not met CERC, I would have been a Vice President at a global consulting firm, living a luxurious lifestyle filled with fine dining, exquisite women, extravagant experiences, and skiing the best slopes around the world. Now, I am concerned for the long-term health of my church, serving as a Growth Group Leader, an active member of the fundraising department, and a husband.

Fun fact: Joshua Tay has a 'maîtrise-plus' or Mastery-Plus level in skiing.

Brigitte Karina Leong

I grew up in a non-Christian family but was exposed to Christianity in school. In college, I joined CERC and grasped the gospel through Bible study, which helped me realise my previous understanding of the gospel was self-centered and began to focus on serving God and others. Though I struggle at times, I am committed to growing in my faith with fellow brothers here.

Christine Chong

I grew up in a Christian family but my parents stopped attending church after I was born. I was exposed to Christianity through Girls' Brigade and youth groups. While I claimed to be a Christian, my understanding of the gospel was shallow. A significant turning point came when I realized my sinfulness from the gospel and repented to Jesus. Through CERC, I discovered Reformed theology and was convicted by it. Since joining CERC I have been growing in my faith, learning to read the Bible and serve God faithfully.

Jan Tie

I grew up in a loving Christian home, with my dad as a pastor and my mum as a homemaker, accepting Jesus into my heart at a young age, but my understanding of the Gospel deepened significantly when I was 14 through the Evangelism Explosion course. Despite being active in church and student ministries, I experienced unfaithful teachings in various churches, leading to a lack of discipleship and a focus on experience over the Word. However, during my time in New Zealand, I was blessed with solid Biblical training that reshaped my understanding of God’s Sovereignty and the Gospel, which deepened even further when I joined CERC after returning to Malaysia. Today, I am grateful for CERC's faithful teaching and strive to serve God and His people with the knowledge and responsibility I have gained, persevering in faith and helping others grow in their understanding of Christ until He returns.

Jason Tan

I was born into a nominal Buddhist family, but my curiosity about Christianity began at age 10 when I found a Bible and started reading it, leading to early discussions about faith with my friends. My journey through different churches exposed me to various teachings, including prosperity gospel doctrines, which eventually left me spiritually disillusioned and distant from God. However, after years of spiritual wandering, my encounter with CERC and its faithful expository preaching transformed my understanding of the Gospel, correcting my theological misunderstandings and reigniting my commitment to Christ. Now, I see it as a great privilege to belong to a faithful church like CERC, where I am being nurtured in maturity, and I am committed to serving Christ and His church wholeheartedly.

Jared Mea

I was brought to CERC by my brother Felix, which opened my eyes to what Christianity truly means. Before this, I had a very pious nature to my Christianity, feeling comfortable and thinking that my knowledge was good enough to get me to heaven. But attending CERC challenged my view of Christianity, making me realise that my previous understanding was just what I wanted Christianity to be, not what it really is. Now, I understand that I’m a Christian because of God's sovereign grace in saving me from my sins through Jesus' work on the cross. My life now belongs to God, and my priorities have shifted to focus on God and His glory, seen in serving the local church, encouraging God's people, and expanding His kingdom.

Felix Mea

I was born and bred in KL, grew up in a Christian family and thought that I knew my Bible. but when I came to CERC during the Romans series, I realized that learning about God is not an easy task and that I need to work hard at my reading of the Scriptures to know God rightly.

Choong Mun Vee

I used to think that theology is "extra" and only for pastors since I am going to go to heaven. Leong Mei Yee did Just For Starters (JFS) studies with me. After coming to CERC, I am still struggling with my reading and articulation, but I have improved. No longer being ignorant to God’s word but appreciating the revelation of God’s word to know and love God even more.

Cheah Siao Shuang

I came from a Taoist-Buddhist background but was never pious as it couldn't give me answers to my existential questions. Through learning the gospel in CERC, I've committed my life to Christ as I've been confronted with the truth - that God is the glorious Creator and that I am made to worship and live for Him alone.

Bolwin Su

I was impressed by CERC's dedication to theology and saw how the Word governs everything here. There are brothers and sisters who are concerned for our holiness and I am grateful to be here.

Fionna Lin

While I grew up going to church in Indonesia, I had secretly decided to quit Christianity because I hated learning that "God loves us" yet seeing so many Christians suffering in the world. CERC helped me to trust in God again, as I have come to understand my own depravity from His revealed Word.

Chong Min Kent

I started joining Seri Kembangan Growth Group and it was the first time I studied Scripture properly. For the very first time, I finally understood the truth of the gospel. I recognized and acknowledged that I am a sinner, and I was once living under sin with hopelessness, and by the mercy of God’s grace, I am redeemed through Jesus Christ for God.

Su Jo-Ann

I was struck by how I was not only taught the gospel but got to see firsthand how the gospel is lived out by the church members in CERC. The radical candor displayed in confronting the things that we don't like for the sake of truth is actually very loving and the care for details in the church showed me how CERC's theology and gospel is not only practical but faithful.

Yip Li Qi

I became hostile towards Christianity and would challenge my Christian leaders and friends to prove that God didn't really exist. But when I came to CERC, my challenges were met with objective truth from God's Word and I finally learnt the true gospel of Christ. I'm thankful to CERC for their labour of love in not giving up on me.

Shulamite Liew

I was raised in a Christian family, actively involved in church activities from a young age, which shaped my early understanding of faith and commitment. However, it wasn't until joining CERC that I truly began to grow spiritually.

The Bible studies and community at CERC challenged me to live a life more aligned with God's will, transforming my view of Christianity from a mere religion to a core part of my identity. CERC has not only deepened my understanding of Christianity but has also equipped me with the tools to apply these teachings in my daily life, fostering a more authentic and purposeful walk with God.

Ang Wei Jie

I grew up with a Buddhist background, and, like many Malaysians, I used to believe that God simply wanted people to do good, rather than being a God who provides one truth with a clear definition of who He is and what His will and purpose are for humanity. I am thankful to God that I was able to hear the Gospel and learn about Christianity through CERC. This included many hours of faithful sermons, Bible study, and discussions in Growth Group, as well as edifying conversations with brothers and sisters in the church.

Jasper Tan

I was posted to Terengganu for work and visited Eldwin's bible study on the SOLID material. I finally understood how despicable my sin is before God and how He is gloriously wrathful against me. Seeing both Eldwin’s life of worship and how CERC stands for God’s cause, made me understand the worth of God and His plan for His glory.

Melody Ng

In the past, I struggled with a shallow understanding of Christianity, focusing on outward service while neglecting personal growth and biblical knowledge. I experienceda a Christian culture shock for the first time in Australia, realising how little I knew about the Bible and what it truly meant to be a Christian. Since coming to CERC, I have been challenged a lot by the Scriptures and exposed of my sins, with my eyes and heart opened to see how a church strives to live for God's glory at all costs. Now, I am committed to submitting to God as my king and Lord, actively studying His word, and living out my faith within the corporate reality of the church, striving to reflect God's character and advance His gospel in all aspects of my life.

Barney Wong

I used to attend church out of piety and friendship, practicing nominal Christianity without truly understanding the gospel. My perspective changed during my internship when I listened to John MacArthur's sermons, which convicted me of my depravity and unworthiness before God, leading me to understand the true meaning of following Christ as His disciple. Since coming to CERC, I've realised that the church is more than just an organisation or community club, but the very manifestation of God's saving work, which has changed my perspective from expecting the church to serve me to understanding how I must serve the church. Now, I am committed to utilising all aspects of my life in serving physically, mentally, and financially to support CERC in the growth of Jesus' church, while also allowing the church to expose and kill my sins, shaping me to be a true worshipper of God.

Koay Huei Yi

I really see biblical love practiced in this church. I'm not here just to consume more content, or church hop like I did in the United States. I'm staying because this church defends the gospel wholeheartedly.

Christine Wong

I grew up in a Christian family and attended Sunday School regularly, but throughout my teenage years, I was a comfortable Christian who took the gospel lightly. My life changed after I joined my uni Christian Fellowship in 2018 and began attending CERC regularly. There, I realized that Christianity is not just about intellectual knowledge or religion, but about understanding what it means to be truly worshipping God.

Tan Wei Wen

In the past, I viewed Christianity merely as moralistic stories and a means to be a better person. My understanding was pretty shallow, focused on what God could do for me rather than who He truly is. Through God's patience and the people He placed in my life, especially at CERC, my eyes were opened to the depths of God's Lordship as Creator King and the reality of human depravity. Now, I understand that all of life belongs to God and is for His glory, and I'm committed to knowing God through His Word, serving His church, and preserving the gospel truth for future generations.

Ashley Tang

I was born and raised in a Christian family in KL, attending church regularly, but my understanding of Christianity was self-centered and based on a faulty theology of salvation. Through Sunway SOLIDD and CERC, I learned the "Godness of God in salvation" through studies on Ephesians and Romans, which corrected my soteriology and gave me a God-centered view of salvation. My growth in CERC, particularly in ecclesiology, challenged me to love Jesus through loving his church, discerning evil, and taking priestly action against it. Now, I strive to deny my individualism and passivity, evangelizing to non-Christians, defending the gospel among Christians, and actively participating in church life.

Jade Lee

Back when I was in my old church, I attended church mainly for the community, friendship, and good food, but never truly excited to worship God and learn His Word. The gospel changed me in 2020, leading me to understand that being a Christian means picking up my cross and following Jesus, saying no to the desires of the flesh and persevering in faith despite challenges. Coming to CERC has transformed my attitude towards churching, helping me understand the nature of the church as Jesus's bride and a showcase of God's glory. Now, I find joy in Bible studies, view suffering differently, and have changed my priorities in life, including my attitude towards marriage and ministry, all while growing in the Word and learning to care pastorally for others' godliness.

Ting Huong Eng

I grew up treating God like Santa Claus and understanding sin as mere moralism, but my time in a small house church exposed me to deeper Bible study and reformed theology, truly converting me to the gospel. Since coming to CERC, I've gained a better understanding of ecclesiology and eschatology, learning to love the church not based on my measure of love but on the basis of God's love for the church. I've learned to confront and resolve conflicts within the church, speaking the truth in love and forgiving one another, rather than harboring bitterness or avoiding issues. Now, I'm committed to building up CERC in love together with other like-minded and like-hearted brothers and sisters, appreciating the seriousness, urgency, intensity, and preciousness of the gospel better.

Yong Shiuan

As a Christian since young, I lived a "Christian-like life" but was deeply sinful, desiring to satisfy myself rather than God, which manifested in my communication, working habits, and lack of self-control, especially during the COVID period. The gospel reminded me of Christ's work on the cross and His resurrection, which has the power to save and change sinners, leading me to strive for a life of loving others and self-control for the kingdom of God. CERC has been an edifying journey, helping me understand the intensity of ministry and the need for constant improvement to serve a God who actively calls people to Himself. Now, I am working on improving my attention span, building a sense of urgency in my service to God, and striving to be a useful and faithful servant of Christ.

Eugene Wong

Growing up in a Christian family in Sarawak, I regularly attended church but served without really understanding who I was or why I served people, as I just liked the culture. Through God's grace, He led me to Selangor where I was brought to Christ Evangelical Reformed Church (CERC), where I started to learn how the Bible actually taught me who I am under God and how to serve His church by taking His word seriously. CERC has transformed my whole perspective towards Christianity, showing me it's not just a religion but a holy relationship under God, and I now strive to live out God's image as a worshipper, being the salt and light among Malaysia. I thank God for His work in me, enabling me to serve the church faithfully despite my struggles, and I continue to serve my Lord Jesus Christ with joy, as there is much hope in Him.

Adrian Lam

I grew up in a traditional Christian family where I was taught to pray, read the Bible, and serve in church, but in truth, my understanding of Christianity was limited to moralistic therapeutic deism and ecumenism. The pivotal moment came when I heard a sermon that challenged my self-centered faith, making me realize I was a horrible Christian all my life, living for myself and plastering God's name over all my actions." Coming to CERC has opened my eyes, renewed my mind, and softened my heart, helping me understand the bigness of God, the importance of His kingdom, and the true nature of the church as God's wisdom on earth. Now, I'm committed to putting my sins to death, constantly seeking reconciliation, and living all aspects of life under God for God, even as I struggle to be consistent with who I already am in Christ.

Sean Ang

Before coming to CERC, I was a non Christian, and lived life according to what I defined as its purpose - individual happiness within proper constraints, pursuing things I desired, like helping others and personal comfort. The Matthew series back in 2019 and the God Story series helped me understand better who Jesus is and see the magnificent God who moves history purposefully and mightily. This changed my life to seek first the glory of God and serve His kingdom purposes in building Jesus' church well. CERC's in-depth preaching and teaching of the word has made me more attentive to Scripture, helping me read the Bible and think of how to help others do the same. Now, I spend my time, energy, and mind dedicated to helping ministries grow, being more mindful and purposeful in living a God-glorifying life, and striving to contribute to building up the church into the maturity of Christ and the proclamation of the gospel.

Jeremy Johnson

I was an Anglican all my life and was brought up in church. I attended all events & camp during my youth days. I only realised what true Christianity was when my pastor approached me and found out I was living with my girlfriend and he asked me to repent. He taught me what the Bible said about Christ. After a couple of months, Melissa and I confessed our sin and started living repented lives. Today, I am a Christian because of what Jesus did on the cross for me. Not by my own works. Ephesians 2:8-10