Posted on 23 Jul 2024 by CERC News
In the recently concluded Exodus sermon series, 5 of CERC’s Church Ministers’ Apprentices (CMA) took to the pulpit to preach sermons from the book of Exodus. The CMAs preached 9 out of 20 sermons, almost half of the whole series. Pastors-in-Training (PiT) Jerome Leng and Daniel Lu preached the remaining 11 sermons. Each CMA had the opportunity to preach at least one sermon during the Exodus series.
The CMA preachers of the Exodus series: (from left) Zechariah Lo, Wong Jia Jun, Jeremy Wee, Woo Kae Sheng and Shaun Alex Thomas
For CERC, giving CMAs the opportunity to preach on the Sunday pulpit is an important aspect of the CMA training programme. This aligns with CERC’s mission to nurture future pastors and further God’s work in the Klang Valley.
Pr Robin Gan, CERC’s Founding and Lead Elder, highlighted the significance of this training during the recent CMA graduation:
“The Gospel is precious.” Pr Robin stated. “Post-Reformation, we must recognise the immense effort and specialised training required to uphold this truth. Many seminaries fall short. The quality of ministry flows from the quality of teaching. As John 10 illustrates, the manner in which we are fed by the Word is crucial.”
Two out of the five CMAs who preached, Jeremy Wee and Shaun Alex Thomas, sat down for interviews with CERC Press to share their challenges and reflections from the experience.
Jeremy Wee
What was it like to prepare your sermons?
“It was a very fearful thing, to be honest. I couldn’t just sit down, read the text once, and say to myself, “I know what to say,” because, at the end of the day, the real question is, “What does God want to say?”
Preaching a sermon is like being the mouthpiece of God. Just as the Israelites were afraid to see God face to face, it is a scary thing to speak on God’s behalf, and I had to ask if I was being faithful to His Word as I preached.”
Jeremy Wee preaching to the PM congregation
What was your thought process when you were crafting these sermons?
“Well, for my passage, I knew that God was the one leading the Israelites through the desert, so I started by asking, “Why is God doing this right here and right now?” And since Moses is the author and he chose to include this event in his writing, I also asked, “Why is Moses saying what he is saying right here and right now?”
What did God want to teach the Israelites of that generation, and what did Moses want to teach the future generations of Israelites? I then wrestled with the text to get my own position, went through commentaries, checked through dictionary articles like those in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (NDBT).
When I had a fuller view of the text, I also had to ask: “What does God want to say to the church right here, right now through the text?”
Shaun Alex Thomas
What were some of your thoughts and concerns in preaching these sermons?
“This wasn’t my first time taking the pulpit. I had delivered a few other sermons, but this was the first one I gave during a regular Sunday Gathering.
Delivering a Sunday sermon was quite daunting for me. Since I grew the most through the Sunday preaching by Pastor Robin [Gan], I felt I had big shoes to fill. I know the value of this pulpit, and I felt unworthy to take on the role.”
Shaun preaching the Exodus sermon
What were some of your struggles? What difficulties did you face in preaching the passage you were given?
“I felt that I got the hardest part of Exodus. How was I going to preach about ‘boiling a goat in its mother’s milk’?
After much struggle and hard work, I was edified by Exodus. YHWH cares about life. That was something I knew before I took to the pulpit, but preaching the Law made it more visceral to me – I saw it come to life.
The Law is really endearing. It’s encouraging to know that the Lord of the Universe cares about an ox falling into a pit. It’s crazy. But that’s love, and that’s life.”
What was edifying in your preaching experiences?
“Preaching the Law in Exodus revealed my weaknesses. Truth be told, I didn’t think I did all that well in my first sermon. I felt that I had a corrupted instinct in reading the Bible. That’s something I realised when I preached the book.
When I read the Law, I just wanted to jump straight to Jesus. Is it because I love Jesus? No, it’s because I’m lazy!
Preaching through Exodus helped me to confront my sins by seeing God as He had revealed Himself to be.
What are some of your hopes for the CERC congregation through your sermons?
I hope that through the sermons, the congregation knows how to read the Law better.
Every time you get an anxiety attack reading the Law, lean in. Don’t immediately jump straight to Jesus without understanding the Law, that’s not helpful.
Struggle more. When you read ‘thou shalt not permit a sorceress to live’, do you actually know what it means? It tells you to kill a witch. How can you be okay with that? How would you apply that today? Struggle with the text more; that’s how you know Jesus.”
In giving opportunities for CMAs like Jeremy Wee and Shaun Alex Thomas to preach on the regular Sunday gatherings, CERC equips and trains CMAs—helping them to treasure the gospel and appreciate what it takes to preach God’s Word faithfully.
We pray for God’s continued encouragement and equipping of CMAs—preparing them to become future Word Ministers who rightly handle and faithfully preach God’s Word.
If you would like to encourage the church in its efforts to continue faithful gospel ministry, please visit the Support Us page to find out more.
