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YA Retreat 2014

by Nehemiah Chong 

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” – 2 Tim 2:2 (ESV)

2 Tim 2:2 was the guiding verse of the 2014 Young Adults Retreat, and birthed the theme of “Mathéteuó – To Make Disciples”. The ministry has seen the growth and change in many young adults over the past few years, and with that the focus was to push for a further step – to be discipled and to be laborers of Christ by making disciples.

The retreat was held across the causeway in Johor Bahru over the weekend of July 4th to 6th. By faith the organizing committee booked accommodation for 24 people, only to be greatly exceeded by the 31 young adults who responded. Indeed, God stirred the hearts of these young men and women to spend two days away from the busyness of Singapore, so that they could come to spend time together and be equipped to handle and share His Word.

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Spanning over four workshops, the call to disciple making was framed by studying Christianity’s rightful purpose – discipleship, as opposed to the extremes of hollow religiosity and adamant inactivity. Going back to the perfect example of Jesus Christ, we saw the discipleship that is demanded and modeled by Christ Himself, which challenged a response from Christians to become fishers of men. 

Instead of diving headfirst into the “how” of disciple making, the workshops looked first at “why” we should make disciples, focusing on our motivations of complete surrender and obedience to God. Speakers Tan Yee Kiat, Olivia Lee, Jolene Ong, Kenneth Poon, Bibianna Yeo and Caleb Yap - all members of GBC, spoke in a variety of talks on what Jesus’ did and demanded in discipleship, what the Bible teaches about the lordship of Christ and the obstacles to discipleship , including busyness and prolonged adolescence.

By understanding the meaning of the lordship of Christ and how that plays out in our daily lives, the basis of disciple making became all the more clear – that we are commanded to go out into this fallen world to teach and be taught, to disciple and be discipled. More so, we obey this command because we surrender wholly to the Lord our God, who has redeemed and saved us through Christ His only Son. How refreshing it is to see obedience through the lens of surrender!

In the final workshop we looked at the “how” – the nuts and bolts of disciple making. With a framework of “God, Man, Christ, Response”, we read four passages of scripture that underlined the gospel message, honing in on creation, sin, Christ’s work on the cross and our response of repentance and faith. Furthermore, the leaders shared practical steps from first-hand experience, and encouraged each and every young adult to prepare their hearts to respond to the call of discipleship, whether it be to be discipled or to disciple another person.

The retreat saw 31 different individuals come together to fellowship and study God’s Word. Truly, the only common thread we shared was Christ – and that was all that mattered. Going forward, it is our prayer that we build a community of disciple-makers who will seek God and help others do the same, just as we read in scripture – So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8:30-31 (ESV)

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