Renewed in Strength — BMCC’s 27th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service

Date: 2019-07-14
Topic: Renewed in Strength — 27th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service
Speaker: Lead pastor
Scripture: “I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.” (Psalm 43:4)

(Summary by Mak.)

Twenty-seven years ago, BMCC arose from a group of people who carried great pain. In their pain they refused to surrender — refused to accept that their lives must end as society dictated, refused to accept what they had been given as fate. Like Hongkongers today.

Jesus’s own Incarnation was a refusal to accept fate. He was born in difficult circumstances: when he was born there were those who sought to kill children, but his parents did not give up. When he began his ministry, others sought to harm him; many tried to trap him. But he did not sit and wait. He continued the calling God had given him.

The founding of BMCC, too, was the work of ordinary people. At the time no church in all of Asia welcomed LGBTQ+ people. They had a small dream — that there might be a small group where they could pray together. Even when traditional churches did not affirm them, they could still come together before God. That is how BMCC began.

Fifty Years

Jesus was born more than two thousand years ago, and the revolution has still not succeeded. We visited MCC — America’s first LGBTQ+-affirming church. Fifty years ago, no one was saying God loves LGBTQ+ people, and they began. I thought going there would be joyful, but everyone there was asking a question — fifty years on, what next? They had not finished the work.

(The sermon continues with reflections on contemporary BMCC, the persecutions faced by churches in other parts of Asia, and the call to keep going.)

To Our Co-Workers

To the BMCC co-workers — thank you for not giving up in years that have repeatedly brought challenges. This is not the pastor’s church or the co-workers’ church; it is the church of every person who contributes. It is God’s church. Are we willing to lay down what we cling to? To leave behind what should be left behind, to look toward the altar, to walk to the altar, to light our own candle?

In every church and fellowship here, there are people who know what I mean. How many of us come to church focused on me, me, me? Those who have taken the 201 course know — we must care for ourselves, for others, and for the context. May today’s word be God’s own call to you — may you, in your future serving, walk toward the altar. Whether walking the streets singing “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” or singing praises here, burn your own life. Amen.