The 44th session of the Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Malaysia was held on 20-21/11/2019 at SCAC Wei Kuok Hall, Sibu. Altogether 480 delegates attended the session to discuss the ministry development plan for the year 2020.
Officiating the opening ceremony cum communion service on the morning of Nov 20, Rev Dr Ong Hwai Teik, the Bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia, shared his message entitled “He will carry you”. He reiterated God’s sovereignty and that God is incomparable. God keeps us and supports us and takes responsibility for our lives.
Rev Dr Ong Hwai Teik revealed that in Ecclesiastes, King Solomon mentioned about the 4 idols of the people at that time, namely knowledge, enjoyment, work, and wealth. These idols are still applicable to us today.
“Today we are overwhelmed by a lot of scientific and technological knowledge, mobile phones have become new idols and some people are even playing on their mobile phones during worship. Of course, this does not mean that we do not need knowledge, but we must know how to make good use of knowledge.”
Today many people are pursuing enjoyment in life and they hope that they have more holidays to enjoy their life. “Our work is also becoming our idol. We work hard so that we may appear to be of value to others and to appear as a successful man. But we don’t know that actually working could be consuming our life and our life may not be balanced. Of course this does not mean that we should be lazy.”
He pointed out that today many people are striving for wealth, longing for bigger houses and bigger cars, and wealth is becoming many people’s idol.
Psalm 68:19 says that, “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” Isaiah 46: 9 also says that, “I am God, and there is no other God.”
He pointed out that God is beyond comparison and he also pointed out how our God is different from other gods in four aspects.
“Since our days in our mother’s womb, when we were still little babies, God has been keeping us.
When we grew up and were walking, He has been leading us. When we are old and becoming immobile God is still leading us. When we are sick or facing marriage problems, He is always supporting us. God wants to ensure that we have a happy life, not only living a good life when we are alive, but also a good death.”
Secondly, Jesus Christ is our Saviour. He gave his life to save us by washing our sins with His precious blood. No other god is comparable to our God.
“God is not a created being. God is transcendent and immanent. God is eternal. We will meet Him face to face in eternity. He also teaches us that compared to idols, He is our God who will listen to and answer our prayers.”
Bishop Ong also emphasized that God’s responding to our prayers is more than attending to our requests and wants. He listens to our prayers and responds to our prayers. He preserves our entire life.
Reported by April
Translated by KT Chew