“Wait…what?” Sundays are when CERC tackles tough truths from Scripture that stop us in our tracks but also move us forward in loving God and His church better.
A Sunday of Hard but Life-Giving Truths
Sunday, 7 September 2025, saw CERC gather for a Wait What Sunday: an opportunity to grapple with the hard yet hopeful truths of God’s Word.
The hard truth we tackled with today: “We can endure everything and stay faithful in ministry because of election. Wait…what?”
For many, “election” is not an everyday word. For some, it might be a first-time hearing. For others, it sounds abstract, divisive, maybe even unnecessary. But could this difficult doctrine be the very fuel that keeps Christians pressing on when ministry gets hard?
That was the question this Wait What Sunday pressed us to face. What unfolded was a vivid reminder that God’s sovereign grace has carried CERC for seventeen years and that the same grace will carry us through the years ahead.
Jesus remained faithful and pleased God when he faced the ‘electric chair’ (our modern image of the cross). His endurance is the pattern for our own endurance.
Wrestling with Election
Even before the sermon began, the Ground Floor of CERC Central was alive with movement and conversation. Greeting you at the door was a stark installation: an “electric chair”, with a placard reminding us that Jesus knew He was heading to His own execution—for His enemies—and remained faithful.
The imagery was unsettling, but it was meant to be. It forced us to ask: What kept Him going? And what will keep us going?
Enter the doctrine of election.
To some, it feels like a doctrine that paralyzes mission. As Roger Olson put it in Against Calvinism (2011):
“If God has already unconditionally chosen who will be saved, why risk everything to preach, suffer, and serve?”
It’s an honest question. On the surface, election seems like a ministry killer.
But others have seen the opposite. J.I. Packer, in Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (1961), argued that without God’s sovereign choice, evangelism would be utterly hopeless:
“Were it not for the sovereign grace of God, evangelism would be the most futile and useless enterprise that the world has ever seen.”
Tim Keller put it even more practically in his sermon Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God in Acts 18 (Redeemer NYC):
“The doctrine of election should give us far more hope about working with people. Why? Because no one is a hopeless case! … In Acts 18, God encouraged Paul not to give up, because ‘I have many people in this city.’”
So, which is it? Hopeless or hopeful? Paralysis or perseverance?
That’s where Pastor Jerome Leng, the preacher for the day, took us: straight into 2 Timothy, straight into the heart of Paul’s prison letters, straight into the soil where endurance grows.
Pastor Jerome preaching from 2 Timothy: “Election isn’t abstract; it’s the reason we endure everything for the gospel.”
The Apostle in Chains, The Church Still Running
Jerome began simply: “We are not interested in talking about election in abstract. We are interested in serving our Lord Jesus and pleasing Him.”
From there, he turned our eyes to the apostle Paul as a Christ-like example to imitate.
“2 Timothy encourages me from an apostle who is in prison,” he said. “As a church leader it’s deeply encouraging because he keeps going. His government has imprisoned him, his friends have betrayed him—and humanly speaking he has every reason to give up.”
But Paul didn’t. He kept preaching, kept writing, kept urging Timothy to carry the gospel torch forward.
Why?
Because of election.
Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:10: “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
Jerome unpacked it:
“Election is not some obscure doctrine. Election is the reason Paul endures everything for the sake of the elect and why he perseveres in ministry.”
“We are not Christians because of our work or our faith but because of God’s own purpose and grace. It’s not up to us. It’s based on what God has accomplished.”
And that changes everything.
RM300, a Patio, and the Church God Sustained
Jerome recalled with honesty:
“In the early days I only had RM300 monthly. I stayed on Pastor Robin’s patio, and the only thing I had was the church. But I had no fear, because God was with me.”
That wasn’t grit talking, but election in action. God had chosen, God had called, and God would sustain.
“We preach and disciple not because we believe in the ability of people,” Jerome reminded us, “but because we trust God’s election. Our hope in ministry is not in people. It’s in God who works through people.”
Election doesn’t make us passive. If anything, it makes us bold.
“God’s sovereign election doesn’t mean we sit around and do nothing. On the contrary, we are empowered to plan and work hard on doing ministry. Sometimes Reformed Christians get a reputation for being cold. But historically, Calvinists have been the best evangelists the world has ever known, sparking mission after mission.”
The point was sharp: election doesn’t shrink ministry. It multiplies it.
The Sweet Doctrine of Election
Jerome closed the sermon not with a heavy hand but with a tender reminder:
“The Lord Jesus is not distant. Contrary to what many think, election doesn’t make God a cold-hearted being. No, on the contrary, election is that sweet doctrine that encourages us to endure everything for the sake of Christ, because His whole goal and purpose is to be with us, His people, His elect.”
From beginning to end, God’s sovereign grace secures the Christian life:
Past:“By His grace, God has already chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.”
Present:“By His grace, Christ has already appeared once to abolish death and bring life and immortality to us.”
Future:“By His grace, Christ will be with us until He comes again to receive us into eternal glory.”
And that’s why we can endure.
The Truth That Keeps Us Going
It’s no accident that this Wait What Sunday landed in September 2025, right after CERC celebrated its 17th Foundation Day.
Jerome’s sermon put it simply: “How will you endure? It’s by God’s gospel, His grace, His election. That is what enables us to continue in ministry.”
Look around CERC, and the fruit of the past 17 years is undeniable. Students once discipled on kaki lima corridors now lead Bible studies of their own. Christians who once wandered are back, serving with humility.
Who are we, that God should choose us? And yet here we are.
“God’s power is made perfect in weakness,” Jerome said. “Let the world see what God can do through us as we suffer joyfully for His name’s sake.”
That’s why Paul endured. That’s why CERC endures. Because election isn’t a cold doctrine. It’s the warm assurance that God finishes what He starts. And that’s why we’ll keep preaching, keep suffering, keep serving, until Christ comes.
Seventeen years on, the Word is still bearing fruit and the work is only just beginning.
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