Category: Back to the Bible

Care for the Impoverished Body Parts

Written by Tony Chan (Senior Communications Officer) Scriptures reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 12Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not

Come and See: Bring Transformation

Written by Fountain Chik (Theology Development Officer) Scriptures reading: John 1:38-40 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means ‘Teacher’), ‘where are you staying?; 39‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. 40Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. John 1:38-40 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means ‘Teacher’), ‘where are you staying?; 39‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and

The Mind of Sharing

Written by Dr. Kevin CHENG Shun Kai (Former professor of Theology and Ethics at China Graduate School of Theology) Scriptures reading: Deuteronomy 23:24-25 24If you enter your neighbour’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. 25If you enter your neighbour’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain. Deuteronomy 23:24-25 24If you enter your neighbour’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. 25If you enter your neighbour’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain. Leviticus

Have You Ever Died?

Written by Rev. Sameul Leung (Senior Pastor, Ma On Shan Ling Liang Church) Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:3-4 Believers should all say they have ‘died’, because we are united with Christ in His death and burial. When reading these scriptures, Christians emphasise being united with Christ’s death and resurrection but often overlook the word ‘buried’. By focusing on burial, it reinforces the fact of death and highlights that

Viewing the Issue of Poverty through the Book of Nehemiah

Written by Ben Cheung They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’ Nehemiah 1:3 From the process of returning to Jerusalem and rebuilding the city walls in the book of Nehemiah, we see that poor people often face humiliation, oppression, and insecurity. Although Nehemiah was in a high position (cupbearer) in the Persian empire’s palace, he did not forget that his fellow countrymen were still suffering far away. Although the Israelites had already returned to Jerusalem more than a hundred years, and the temple had been rebuilt for many years,

Poor Countries Suffer the Worst Consequences of Climate Crisis

Written by Samuel Chiu “If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,”declares the Lord.“If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’then the nations will invoke blessings by him and in him they will boast.” This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:“Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns. Jeremiah 4:1-3 Among the environmental news from 2019 to 2020, the forest fires in the United States, Australia and Europe were the most striking. The scope of the fires was unprecedentedly widespread. The frightening scenes had been widely covered by the media. Severe forest fires in

The Poor and The Church

Written by: Dr Mok Chan Wing Yan Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46 This is a familiar story about the Last Judgment. The criteria Lord Jesus based on to separate the righteous from the wicked are whether they cared for the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the strangers and the imprisoned. Those who serve the disadvantaged are deemed righteous; those who sit back and ignore the poor are condemned as the wicked. This story is an important lesson for churches today. CEDAR partners and community members pray together. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we should never stand idly by when surrounded by the poor and the oppressed. We must try to alleviate the suffering around us. The poor can be kept

Good Deeds out of Goodwill

Author: Alex Ip But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favour you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. Philemon 14 Paul specifically mentioned in Philemon 14 that he did not want Philemon to do what he deemed suitable but to do what was out of Philemon’s wish. An enslaver should be able to spot Paul’s underlying value: ‘not to force others but respect their freedom’. In a society where you could control a slave’s life or death, Philemon, as an owner of slaves, might have gotten used to exercising his power and forgotten the humanity of slaves. He was used to an owner’s identity and forgot that slaves were

Response to Climate Change Victims

Written by Wendy Fung (Church pastor) 5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:5, 14-17

Fortunate, Unfortunate, or Called? – Children in God’s Eyes

Written by Dr. Sarah Shea (Assistant Professor of Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary, Vice President of Asia Academy of Practical Theology) No one can choose their mother; we are accustomed to calling children of wealthy families lucky and those born amidst poverty, war, disasters, or disability unlucky. Is this interpretation of children precise and comprehensive? We suggest the contrary, that children are the called ones. Based on the Scripture, children are not arbitrarily manipulated by destiny, instead, they are the actors endowed with different missions in families and communities (Bunge 2001). In the Bible, the vocations of children can be varied, spanning from respecting their parents, loving the Lord, studying and practising the Word, and even teaching adults