Were we merely pursuing God’s call for our lives, or were we pursuing God Himself? … it was important to seek the Giver, not the gift, and to seek God and His kingdom first and foremost.
Christians in the 18 to 25 age range are often overlooked in church ministry. No longer teenagers and not yet adults, young adults at this age are finding it challenging to relate to youth group teachings, and yet are not ready to move into adult services.
Thus Mr Isaiah Fadzlin, Coordinator of the young adult ministry in Pentecost Methodist Church (PMC), saw the need to create a platform for young adults to gather and grow in God’s Word, continuing to build a strong foundation in Christ during these crucial years.
To that end, the first Young Adult Conference was held last year. This year’s conference, themed “The Call”, was held over two nights, July 25 and 26. The conference speakers were the Rev Aries Zulkarnain from City Harvest Church and the Rev Ng Chye Aik, a marketplace consultant.
I attended the session on Thursday evening at PMC alongside 60 attendees. Young adults from many Methodist churches attended, including Bedok Methodist Church, Charis Methodist Church, Hinghwa Methodist Church, and my own church Christalite Methodist Chapel. It was wonderful to meet with fellow young adults from churches all over Singapore, and truly enriching to speak to one another about shared experiences.
The Rev Ng delivered the message that night. With a passion for helping people experience freedom through prayer and counselling, he is currently active in the marketplace Christians in the 18 to 25 age range are often overlooked in church ministry. No longer teenagers and not yet adults, young adults at this age are finding it challenging to relate to youth group teachings, and yet are not ready to move into adult services.
Thus Mr Isaiah Fadzlin, Coordinator of the young adult ministry in Pentecost Methodist Church (PMC), saw the need to create a platform for young adults to gather and grow in God’s Word, continuing to build a strong foundation in Christ during these crucial years.
To that end, the first Young Adult Conference was held last year. This year’s conference, themed “The Call”, was held over two nights, July 25 and 26. The conference speakers were the Rev Aries Zulkarnain from City Harvest Church and the Rev Ng Chye Aik, a marketplace consultant.
I attended the session on Thursday evening at PMC alongside 60 attendees. Young adults from many Methodist churches attended, including Bedok Methodist Church, Charis Methodist Church, Hinghwa Methodist Church, and my own church Christalite Methodist Chapel. It was wonderful to meet with fellow young adults from churches all over Singapore, and truly enriching to speak to one another about shared experiences.
The Rev Ng delivered the message that night. With a passion for helping people experience freedom through prayer and counselling, he is currently active in the marketplace as a consultant to companies and churches. He has more than a decade’s experience in serving in the young adults’ ministry, and previously served at Riverlife Church.
Following a stirring worship session, he spoke on the topic of God’s call and what it means for us as Christians, using his personal testimony as a springboard. A particular verse he highlighted was 1 Thessalonians 5:24 – “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”
Using scripture references outlining the lives of Moses, Joshua, David and Paul, the Rev Ng brought to life God’s call for these individuals in very different life stages and circumstances. He emphasised the importance of understanding what God’s call is about: God invites us to play a part in His story, to live out our purpose to our greatest potential. The Rev Ng shared that answering God’s call often means relinquishing our own lofty and brilliant ideas, and taking heed of God’s direction in our lives.
What spoke to me most is when the Rev Ng asked: Were we merely pursuing God’s call for our lives, or were we pursuing God Himself? He shared the essentiality of chasing after God, not merely what He offers, even if it is a life plan and direction. In other words, it was important to seek the Giver, not the gift, and to seek God and His kingdom first and foremost.
The Rev Ng encouraged us to focus on pursuing God, His heart and His passions. Only then would God’s passions be our passions, and our dreams aligned with God’s dreams. He spurred us on in our faith journey, showing from the Bible how faith can grow over time, just like how Abraham’s faith grew from his early days of walking with God to being a great man of faith (Hebrews 11). Using the example of David’s life, the Rev Ng also reminded us of the frailty of humans, and how God can still use us through our mistakes.
The evening’s session closed with a group prayer where the Rev Ng and Mr Fadzlin blessed the young adults in attendance with a word of encouragement. I believe that many hearts were turned back to Christ that evening and set upon the path of seeking the Father before anything else, and trusting in His faithfulness to open doors of opportunity and to be aligned with His purposes.
JOIN US * at the next Young Adult Conference in 2014.
For more information about the conference or other events for young adults, please contact Mr Fadzlin at Isaiah@pmc.org.sg
Andrea Low is a volunteer contributor who is passionate about story-telling and travelling. A PR communications professional by day, she worships at Christalite Methodist Chapel.