Seventeen years kept by grace, sent again by the Word.
Seventeen Years of the Lord’s Faithfulness
Seventeen years to the day, 31 August 2008 to 31 August 2025. From the first Merdeka Sunday in a living room to a full hall today, CERC marked its birthday not with nostalgia, but with Scripture open and the church listening to and learning from Jesus. If Part 1 (last week) called us to “preach the word in season and out of season” (2 Tim 4:1–8), Part 2 pressed home the last word of Paul’s last letter: “The Lord saves” (2 Tim 4:9–22).
We celebrated God’s faithfulness, yes. But more than that, we heard again why we exist: to be made holy by the gospel, to love with the truth, and to keep going when ministry is costly.
Grounded in Scripture: Conviction That Bears Fruit
The Foundation Day service began long before the first song was sung upstairs in the main gathering hall. From the entrance on the Ground Floor onward, CERC attendees were greeted with displays designed not for spectacle, but for encouragement — reminders of what it means to be Christ’s church. Each booth made truth visible, convictions embodied, lessons that have marked CERC over the years.
‘Swim Against the Current’ fishtank
‘Swim Against the Current’ fishtank — confronting compromise with Scripture and holding fast to Christ.
At first glance, it looked like a colourful tank filled with fish. But every paper sea creature carried a real statement, words people have actually said, revealing compromise or half-truths that distort the gospel. Each one was countered with Scripture, showing how only God’s Word keeps us from drifting. The point was clear: in Christ, we do not go with the flow of our age. We resist compromise, confront error, and stay anchored in him.
‘Word People’ booth
‘Word People’ booth — lives ordered by Scripture; Romans, Acts, and more shaping obedience.
Panels lined with sermon series — Romans, Acts, and others — showed how CERC has been shaped over the years by the steady work of the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Doctrine is not a detached theory to remain stagnant in the mind; instead, it becomes life. The more a church hears and obeys the Word, the more it is ordered by it. This is what it means to be “Word People”: not guided by sentiment or human wisdom, but by the authority of Christ through Scripture.
‘Stoning Stephen’ booth
‘Stoning Stephen’ — Acts 7 remembered, steadfast joy in suffering learned.
Outside the building stood a sober reminder from Acts 7. Stones suspended in mid-air, Stephen’s last words displayed, the heavens opened above. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, saw the glory of God as he was put to death for bearing witness to Christ. The message was plain: Jesus is glorified not just in life’s triumphs but in faithful suffering. The church is called to the same: to stand firm under pressure, knowing that the costliness of obedience reveals the worth of Christ.
These were not gimmicks. They were Word convictions made tangible.
Forum: Demas Went Home, Crescens and Titus Were Sent on Mission…Where Do We Go?
Before the sermon began, the church listened to a candid panel that put our lives under the lens of the Word in 2 Timothy 4. Lucas Tan (one of CERC’s Church Ministers’ Apprentices) hosted Joo Hui Thomas, Steffi Tay, and Nathan Punithen—three who first arrived at CERC more than a decade ago through university ministry and who have tasted both zeal and drift in their lives.
All three began as student leaders: Joo Hui at Sunway University, Steffi at HELP, Nathan at BAC. The photos told the story.
Foundation Day forum (L–R): Joo Hui, Steffi, Nathan, hosted by Lucas.
Sunway SOLIDD in the early days: open-air corridor “kaki lima” Bible studies when space was scarce.
TGG 2 (A CERC Growth Group for university students) in 2015: Saturdays given to the Word, growing up into Christ together.
Steffi remembered those TGG Saturdays with warmth: “That was where we were rooted in the Word, where we grew up, where we learnt mission for Christ and his church.” Joo Hui smiled at the memory and admitted the pressure: “We really had to bootstrap with the little we had. I was a first-year student, a church member, and a department leader. It was a lot. I wouldn’t change it though.” Nathan was frank: “I wish I had the clarity then to appreciate what I had. I didn’t.”
Then came the harder parts. Nathan spoke of leaving, not only the Church but responsibilities others had to cover: “I deserted the church. Like Demas in 2 Timothy 4.” Steffi said she “lost the plot,” busy on the outside, hollow on the inside: “I even left Christianity. I worked and worked, but I didn’t really love the Word. My conscience wasn’t clear, and I wouldn’t admit how deep the sin ran.” Joo Hui did not leave but confessed to a time when “the Word didn’t seem to cut through. I would sit there week after week and nothing sank in.”
But thankfully, God’s grace had the last word. By God’s kindness, Nathan and Steffi returned within the last two years; Joo Hui climbed out of her rut. What brought them back? Steffi put it simply: “The Word got me back. Truth is truth. You can’t outrun it. And that’s why I’m so thankful to CERC for teaching the Word so purposefully.” Nathan added a sober encouragement to younger members: “Don’t underestimate sin. Don’t think you can handle it alone. Share it. Be accountable.”
When Lucas asked for hopes for the next generation, the answers were pastoral and pointed. Joo Hui: “Kill sin. Don’t keep any secret sympathy for it.” Steffi: “Keep teaching us to love the Bible. That intentionality saved me.” Nathan: “Be honest earlier. Ask for help sooner.”
The forum sounded like 2 Timothy 4 with names and faces. Demas, Crescens, Titus—patterns from the Bible to warn and to imitate. And a Lord who saves.
The Word preached: 2 Timothy 4:9–22
Founding Elder, Pr. Robin Gan, closed the series by walking us through the final paragraphs of Paul’s final letter. The apostle writes from prison, eager for Timothy to come, naming those who deserted him, those who stood with him, and the Lord who sustained him. The charge was not to admire the past but to receive the same grace for the same work.
“Ministry is not just the capacity to speak and teach things,” he said. “It’s the power to love and serve.” Doctrine never floats free from life. The pastoral epistles hand us a pattern of living and leading and loving in God’s household.
He reminded us that gospel ministry is universal and empowering: “Paul expects a wisdom in salvation that equips all the saints. Despite different gifts, we are empowered to be like Timothy.”
Then the encouraging reprove we needed: “It is an offence to God that we went from six to twelve to the number we are today, and think that’s the end of it. The apostles were driven by the greatness of their mission. Too many Christians today are still takut mati.” The point landed. Faithfulness does not shrink from cost.
“We didn’t start CERC to be a book club,” he added. “We didn’t do it just to study doctrine. We did it to follow a pattern of life God has given since the beginning.” Truth must take flesh in love.
Some attend because “this church covers a lot of Word,” he acknowledged, then corrected the frame: “If anything, it should be doctrinal character. That’s what we call love.” To have right doctrine without right love is to miss the Lord of the doctrine.
Paul’s closing image became ours: “For us, our whole life is a departure into our Father’s arms. In the process, we are happy to be poured out as a drink offering. Better that than to be filled with conceit. Our life is truly found in Christ.” It is not a tragic metaphor; it is a joyful one. To be spent for Christ is to live.
The sermon ended where the letter ends, with the quiet confidence that “the Lord will rescue me…and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom”. The Lord saves. That is why we stay. That is how we go.
Why this matters now
Foundation Day is not a museum tour. The booths, the forum, and the sermon converged in one conviction: God grows his work through a church that refuses compromise, lives by his Word, and loves with the truth even when it hurts.
It is why we train apprentices and raise leaders. It is why we repent and return when we wander. It is why we pray and give and serve together. And it is why we need room to keep doing all of it.
Seventeen years in, we have once again outgrown our current space. Ministries are full. Sundays spill over. Training pipelines are stretched. This is not a complaint; it is an opportunity. God grows the work. We make room for more.
If you walked through CERC today, you would see so plainly the fruit the Word bears. Students who once met on the “kaki lima” now discipling “the next batch”. Former wanderers returning, not to sit quietly at the back, but to serve again with clearer eyes and humbler hearts.
None of this is accidental. It is the long result of week-in, week-out preaching, patient pastoring, and a congregation willing to be corrected, edified, and sent on mission.
Seventeen Years On: Stand with Us
Pr. Robin prayed at the end of his sermon: “We live through you and your Spirit. This church is beautiful because you have made it so. No matter what happens, in season and out of season, be glorified.”
As we celebrate 17 years of gospel growth, will you stand with us in prayer and partnership?
Pray Thank God for 17 years of Word-centred ministry. Ask him to keep us faithful in preaching and living the Word, in season and out. Pray for a permanent home for the work ahead.
Give Fuel the gospel. Support 21for21, your gifts sustain ministry today and secure a home for tomorrow. Visit cerc.com.my/support-us to find out more.
Share Spread the word. Forward this to friends who long for Word-centred churches in the Klang Valley.
