Momentous moments in CERC

This recent Foundation Day was celebrated with a look back at the many memorable moments CERC has had. Many CERC-ians shared that the day they became members and took a pledge to ?do all things in devotion and faith in Christ for God?s glory? was most memorable for them. Others talked about the fun times we’ve had as a church, and still others loved Combined Growth Groups nights, where the best creative performances are concocted from months of studying the scriptures. Here are some of the other memorable interviews.

As the photo montage of our last five years together brightened the hall, I heard happy sighs, some sniffles, and of course, laughter. I turned to look, and saw some tears shed and some held back. It was a really special day for all of us and we could feel it.

With these memories accompanying me, I went off to ask some of the church what their best memories were.

I walked towards a group of ladies in their 20s sitting and chatting cheerily at the corner of the hall and asked, “So what do you consider to be the most memorable moment so far in your life in CERC?”

Almost instantly, Erin burst out laughing. “I will ALWAYS remember this,” she said. “Adrian slipping from the rock he was sitting on and falling unceremoniously into the river during baptism at the 2011 CERC camp. It wasn’t even his baptism!” she said trying to control fits of laughter.”

“Pastor Robin gave him the look as though he could not believe what just happened, shook his head and continued on with the baptism. Everyone just burst out laughing!”

Li Lien the culinary arts professional

After trying to imagine the scene and feeling a little sorry for Adrian, I turned to Li Lien, our resident culinary arts professional for her response. As I waited expectantly, she suddenly looked embarrassed and said, “Most ‘memorable’ moment would have to be the time I rubbed too much salt into the fish we were serving for one of the Introducing God (IG) dinners. The fish turned out really salty…”

From the chef, I turned to the beatboxer Kim and after pausing to think, she spoke: “My first visit to CERC. It was still in Shop Lot 1 at that time. Before that day, I’ve never been to a church in a shop lot. And the whole atmosphere of it, the preaching and the people, will always stick with me.”

CERC in Shop Lot 1

Sylvie chipped in saying, “People knew my name even though it was my first time in CERC. It felt like home.”

As a new member, their answers stirred in me a tad of envy, wishing that I could have been there to witness such moments.

Then I spied Adrian, the disruptor of baptisms: “I wouldn’t call this the most memorable moment, but it’s something on the top of my head and it is quite memorable,” he said hesitantly.

“Sure, why not?” I told him. “Fire away.”

“Well… The turning point for Mark (one of our members) was both memorable and unbelievable ? he came back to church and apologised to the members during a members’ meeting. It is so encouraging to see the gospel working and this helps us to see that God is at work in this church,” he said thoughtfully.

I then walked up to the changed man, Mark, and asked of his most memorable moment in CERC, wondering if he would give a similar reply.

He was silent for a while as though struggling to recall a memory. After a long pause that began to border on being slightly awkward, he replied.

“I remembered having issues with the TULIP sermon series.” He pointed to the poster hanging on the wall.

I looked up at the poster on the wall. It read:

TULIP: Five Points of Calvinism
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

He continued, “There were things about it I couldn’t accept. I accused some of the members in the church of being fanatics and I told Robin that he was wrong. So Robin actually sat down with me and cleared up the issues I had with it. After that, I realised I was the one who was wrong about it.”

“Robin then asked Joy to prepare Holy Communion. We prayed and had Holy Communion together, just the three of us. I was so touched, I was close to tears. It was at that point I realised how much Robin cared for me,” his recalled.

Next, I turned to Lingesh who was standing nearby looking preoccupied. “Hey, tell me your most memorable moment in CERC,” I said to him.

“My baptism,” he replied without offering any further explanation.

“Why?” I asked.

“Why? Are you kidding me?” he retorted.

I was taken aback and wondered how ‘why’ was not an obvious question.

Lingesh gave me the ?you-should-know-better’ look and said, “Baptism is scary. It is a public declaration of your faith. Everyone will know I’m a Christian.” Then he broke into a smile and I smiled back at him.

Lingesh swearing in as a member in 2011

We both understood.

Kok How the head of photography walked by and I had to ask a man who captured so many memorable moments on his camera what his was. He looked at me and sighed. “This…” he gestured his hand across the hall, “Is the most memorable moment in CERC for me.”

“The day we stepped foot into this second shop lot, it showed me how CERC has grown under God’s leadership. When I first joined CERC, we were congregating in the elder’s house. There were only 15 people back then.”

Early days of CERC in No. 26 – The Elder’s house

“When I reflect back, this journey has been tough but God has blessed us tremendously,” he said.

The last CERC-ian I spoke to was Gene. What she said was intense, honest and revealing. She said: “When I came to the realisation that I didn’t really love the church.”

As I was about to prod further on how such a realisation could be her memorable moment, she qualified her statement saying, “It was during membership class… I learned about how much Jesus loves the church and that stirred up in me to realise that deep in my heart, I didn’t love the church. And that was a turning point in my life.”

“Do you love the church now?” I asked.

“Yes.” she said.

I was reluctant to stop since the brief moments I had with people showed such a depth of experience under God.

As I listened to the members speak, I could see that it has been a joyous, albeit challenging, journey for CERC as a growing church. Their hope and prayer for the coming years was neatly summed up by one of the Sunday school children who prayed, “Lord, please help our church to keep going and keep growing.”

Sunday school representative Alethea praying for the church on Foundation Day