Young Adults’ Retreat 2024
Our Young Adults (YA) had their retreat from 16 to 19 June, their first overseas retreat since COVID hit. We also prayed for them during our Pastoral Prayer and also at Prayer Meeting. Ethan, who was at this retreat, shares with us what they did, the things learnt and how God used this time away to encourage them.
The days leading up to the retreat were met with excitement. It was the first Young Adults (YA) retreat organised outside of Singapore in a long time. The retreat's theme was “Discipleship”, which is what it means to be a disciple of Christ. This closely aligns with the topic we have been going through over the past year in our big-group Bible studies.
During the retreat, we had the chance to hear God’s word together through talks and also time to read and discuss together through devotionals.
Learning to be a disciple from God’s word
Over 2 days, Pastor Jeremy led us through a total of 6 talks on Discipleship.
Growth. From Philippians 3:12-21, we saw how Paul desired growth in Christ among the Philippians. A Christian is committed to following Jesus and growing in the faith. Growth entails neglecting worldliness which will lead to shame. Our citizenship is in heaven, hence we should await our Saviour Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body (Phil 3:21). Just as Apostle Paul desired to grow in his faith, Pastor Jeremy implored us not to be complacent in our faith, but to always desire growth, imitating godly leaders who live Christ-like lives.
The Cost of Discipleship. The Gospel of Matthew helps us understand the cost of being a disciple of Christ. At the start of Jesus’ ministry, He called His disciples to follow Him. Simon and Andrew (Matt 4:18-20) and Matthew the tax collector, show us the immediacy of Jesus’ disciples who gave up everything to follow Him. Following Jesus necessitates displacing everything else. It involves denying ourselves and taking up our cross to follow him (Matt 16:24) and not subscribing to worldly ways of living, but living a life fully devoted to Christ regardless of the cost.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Col. 3:2). Disciples of Christ are to pursue a new life of Christ-centeredness. As we have died to our old self, and our new identity is in Christ! When Christ who is our life appears, we will appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:4). We should live our lives with our new identity in Christ, anticipating our future hope in Christ.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you (Col. 3:5). Being a disciple also involves putting to death sin. Using Colossians 3:5-11, Pastor Jeremy helped us to identify 11 vices that Paul mentioned. We should put to death all sin, as we have displaced our old self with our new self in Christ. The righteous wrath of God will be kindled on sin that ultimately offends Him. Instead, we are to pursue Christ who is all that matters, as He lives in all of us. Pastor Jeremy talked about sexual immorality – what it is and how we should flee from it (1 Cor. 6:18). As our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within us, we should glorify God with our body by fleeing from sexual immorality (1 Cor. 6:20). Pastor Jeremy reminds of the only way we will be delivered from this sinful body of death, God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:25).
Helping others turn away from sin. As disciples of Christ, we are to lead others to Him, and lead them away from sin, exhorting others every day (Heb 3:13). In our church’s Member’s Covenant, we have articulated this desire for each member to be devoted to one another, to pursue personal holiness and grow in Christ-likeness. To conclude, Pastor Jeremy gave us practical advice to disciple others out of sin. Ultimately, he urged us to keep Jesus at the centre and to bring God’s story in the foreground when discipling each other to fight sin.
Put on the virtues of Christ. Pastor Jeremy identified 11 virtues of a genuine Christian from Colossians 3:12-17. As disciples of Jesus, these virtues should be present as we pursue Christ daily. He emphasised Jesus’ perfect example of these virtues like forgiveness, and that our hope in Christ gives us peace. We should not be anxious, but surrender our anxieties to Him.
There were opportunities to discuss God’s Word and share with each other.
In our small groups, we also had the chance every morning to read and reflect on a few chapters in the book of Psalms, cementing our doctrinal foundations for the day.
Taste and See That the Lord is Good (Psalm 34): We reflected on how we have experienced God’s goodness and faithfulness to us in Christ our hope, helping us deal with our sin and the world.
Have Mercy on Me, O God (Psalm 51): We reflected on how we should repent our sins with a broken and contrite heart and subsequently took time alone to confess our sins to the Lord.
Teach us to number our days (Psalm 90): We looked into how we should live in light of life’s mortality, living for Christ, and seeking eternal treasures, instead of earthly treasures, living in light of our eternal hope.
Living as a disciple in community
Throughout the retreat, we had lots of time to discuss, share and pray for one another. Group discussions occupied most of our time together. This was when we shared our reflections and prayed for each other, and we shared possible ways to practice what we had learned after the talks. I had the opportunity to hear what others have learned from what was preached, which further encouraged me. We also had the chance to split into gendered groups as we reflected and prayed for each other’s spiritual walk and fight against sexual sin. Overall, the consistent reflection with people encouraged me as I learned to be more prayerful and fully trust and submit to God as I journey as a Christian and fight sin.
Panel discussions were also held at the end of each session to cement our understanding of each topic. I found them tremendously helpful as I heard the testimonies of more spiritually mature Christians. The panelists shared their struggles and encouragements as followers of Christ and their journey as faithful followers of Christ, being discipled and discipling others. The panelists gave biblical advice on dealing with the struggles of being a disciple, as they meticulously unpacked what they learned throughout their years of growing as Christians and discipling others.
Our YAs spent about 4 days learning and living together.
We also had workshops for students and working adults. Kagen led the workshop for students (which I attended), where we discussed the temptation of pursuing worldliness in our student life, and how to obey Christ even if it is tempting to do otherwise. We should look into how we spend our time, we might be using too much of our waking hours toiling endlessly at work. In this case, school might take precedence over gathering with God’s people every Sunday. As students, we should continue to pursue Christ, not look to the world for validation. We also should not satiate the sinful desires of our mortal bodies that the world around us seemingly indulges in without guilt.
Of course, there was also time to rest and get to know other YAs. We had time to bond while playing football, board games, pool activities, and outings to the nearby mall. Some, iincluding myself, opted to exercise together in the morning. We even had time to watch a movie at the cinema! Through these activities, we had meaningful fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, while ‘retreating’ from life away from our home in Batam.
Living as a disciple after the retreat
There is a real temptation to go back to living life as I have always done after this retreat. However, there are two learning points for me after this retreat. The first is the need for growth and change in Christ. As a follower of Christ, I should always pursue growth and not be complacent, just like how Paul continually pursued righteousness not by obeying the law, but by the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ (Phil 3). I struggle to be open about my fight with sin, and my spiritual health whenever I am probed by others who disciple me. However, this retreat reminded me that my sole identity is in Christ, and my citizenship is heaven (Phil 3:20). My limited capacity for social interactions does not define who I am. My true and eternal identity is in Christ. If I love Christ and his people, I should always pursue growth even though it is more difficult.
It was a time well-spent with other YAs!
Secondly, I was challenged to consider what change looks like. My feelings of inadequacy were challenged as I learned that as a disciple of Christ, I, too, must disciple others and be willing to invite people to disciple me and point my sin out. I was challenged not to value the world, but to value Christ.
What does that look like? It looks like working heartily for the Lord in school, rather than proving myself to the world at the cost of the church community and my growth as a Christian.
It looks like repenting my sin with a broken and contrite heart (Ps 51:17) whenever God points my sin through His word and other people.
Change manifests in deliberately spurring one another towards Christ, boldly bringing up difficult conversations about our sins and admonishing one another although it will inevitably be uncomfortable. Together, we must aim to grow in Christ-like maturity. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 was one of the passages that struck me the most, as it shows us that our sin is indeed grave and deserves God’s righteous wrath.Paul further emphasizes that sinners cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. But through Jesus, we are washed, sanctified, and justified. Jesus is indeed our main motivator for growth, He is our primary reason why we should take radical steps to fight sin.
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
(1 Corinthians 6:9-11)