19 Sep 2024
It was a day filled with encouragement and celebration of God’s work through His Spirit and Word in CERC. On Saturday, 20 July 2024, the church gathered not only for a Combined GG gathering but also for the long-anticipated New Members’ Foot-Washing Ceremony and Dinner.
Combined GG
The Combined GG took place in light of the recently concluded sermon series on Genesis and Exodus at CERC, which ran from January to June this year. Growth Groups took the opportunity to edify the church through creative performances or reflections from the Genesis and Exodus series and to pray together for the church.
Among the many entertaining and moving performances was TGG F4’s skit entitled “Outside In.” This hilarious and relatable parody depicted the struggles and joys of helping one another become aware of our hermeneutical biases when reading Scripture.
TGG Taylor’s creatively composed a parody version of “Dumb Ways to Die” to help the church recall key lessons from Exodus. The catchy and appreciated earworm went:
YHWH’s the life
He has revealed that He’s the LORD
Wise ways to die
There’s only one way to die
Trust in the great “I am”
Fear God, love Jesus, and His fam
SS2 GG, along with many other GGs, gave thanks to God for His revealing of Himself and His Word, which has made the gathered people we see around us today. Meanwhile, BMGG sang a heart-rendering gospel encouragement to the tune of a well-known Indonesian song.
New Members’ Foot-Washing and Dinner
How fitting it was that, on the evening of the same day, members of the church gathered to welcome 27 newly sworn-in members with the sacrament of foot-washing (with 2 absent due to being overseas). It was double the thanksgiving for the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word!
The foot-washing ceremony at CERC is significant for all members as it symbolizes how we’ve been washed and, as Jesus showed His disciples, how we are to love and serve one another in humility. Before the foot-washing, Pastor Robin solemnly reminded and encouraged the members to reflect on how they have been washed by the Lord Jesus Christ and how they had their feet washed by older members when they became members. Given that Jesus’ washing is infinitely gracious, what can we do but seek to persevere in growing, serving, and loving one another?
Pastor Robin posed the needful question for honest reflection: Have we been loving the church? Do we come to Growth Groups with a mindset to grow the group, whether in terms of preparation or openness? Have we been negligent in using our resources, time, and ourselves to love Christ’s church? Have we been dutiful but unloving?
Pastor Robin exhorted members to fight the temptation to grow cold and to stop hearing our Father in His Word. God has given us the power to be members of one another – the power to be family, despite disagreements, unhappiness, and correction.
Before beginning the foot-washing, the church listened to John 13:1-17 read aloud together. Thereafter, the members proceeded to wash the feet of the new members, speaking words of encouragement and exhortation to them as they performed this symbolic sacrament instituted and patterned by our Lord Jesus.
Chua Jia Ying, one of the new members getting her feet washed, shared her sentiment: “I was thinking… I’m unworthy to be washed by you guys. But that’s what Christ expects His disciples to model after Him. No servant is greater than his master.”
Another new member, Lau Yeong Shuan, shared: “The foot-washing ceremony was a very humbling experience for me as a newly sworn-in member. Seeing all the members express their act of service in love, you know by stooping down and washing your feet, making sure your feet are clean. As fellow disciples of Christ, they were coming before me, encouraging me to persevere as I join the family.”
“Having understood the mission of the church, this ceremony is a sobering reminder of our corporate identity before our glorious God, as fellow servants of the Gospel called to love and bear with one another as we continue serving the Gospel,” said Joshua Chow, a new member sworn in in November 2023.
After the foot-washing ceremony, members gathered in Central for new member Ong Yang Lin to put her photo up on the members’ wall. She had been sick the week of her swearing-in, and it was with great joy that the rest of the church witnessed her adding her photo to the wall with her new brothers and sisters. Before doing so, she managed to name all 196 faces on the membership wall!
All in all, the Combined GG and New Members’ Foot-Washing was a joyful time of witnessing, giving thanks, and being encouraged by the work of the Word in God’s people at CERC. May the lessons from the Genesis and Exodus sermon series and the memory of the foot-washing continue to inspire us as we seek to love and serve one another, spurring one another on in the mission until we reach the Promised Land as one church.
