We thank and praise God for establishing EFCCA thirty years ago. We are deeply grateful and excited. Through His wonderful leading, the mighty work of the Holy Spirit, and the selfless love of brothers and sisters who offered their five loaves and two fish, God brought His people together in unity to serve His church. The beautiful fruit we see today bears witness to the glorious name of Christ. He is the one true God who makes a way in the wilderness, streams in the desert, and brings into being what did not exist.
Mission, church planting, disciple training and widespread evangelism are part of the calling God has given the Evangelical Formosan Church. In 1989 Pastor Liu Fu-li of the EFC General Assembly came to Auckland, shared the vision and encouraged the establishment of EFC churches in New Zealand. In 1990, three families were sent from Auckland Chinese Presbyterian Church to pioneer the first EFC congregation in East Auckland. In 1993 God gave us a further vision to plant in central Auckland, and in 1996 several families were formally sent to establish EFCCA.
During these thirty-six years, through God’s grace and the work of the Holy Spirit, ten EFC churches have been established across Auckland. We estimate that several thousand people have believed and been baptised, including around five hundred through EFCCA. The power of the gospel fills us with reverence, gratitude and praise. Like Jesus’ parable, the tiny mustard seed has grown into a tree where birds find shelter. This has truly been fulfilled among Auckland’s EFC churches. What matters is not how small we are, but how great is the God in whom we trust: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.”
Church planting is a vital way to spread the gospel. I thank God that EFCCA is preparing to plant toward West Auckland this year. This is a holy and weighty calling. To be used as a small vessel in God’s hand is a special grace and blessing. On the surface, church service may appear to cost us time, money, gifts and personal sacrifice. In reality, God gives us an opportunity to invest these things in His kingdom, to learn and grow, to experience His immeasurable grace and power, and to mature in truth while receiving blessing in body, soul and spirit.
I offer the following lessons from thirty-six years of church planting, mission and service:
1. Respond sincerely to God’s call and receive His mission.
Offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice. Learn a life of faithful giving and place your time, finances and gifts in His hands.
2. Cleanse yourself to become a holy vessel fit for the Master.
As 2 Timothy 2:21 teaches, those who cleanse themselves become instruments for special purposes, made holy and useful to the Master. Gifts alone are not enough. We must humbly repent, turn from evil, be cleansed by Christ’s blood and filled and led by the Holy Spirit.
3. Receive vision, pray in many ways and seek God’s leading.
Obey the Holy Spirit by faith, step out courageously, and discern God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.
4. Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness.
God is Lord of our lives. Set Sunday apart and, as far as possible, give priority to the work of His church when other matters conflict.
5. Press forward without fearing difficulty, trusting the Lord for victory.
Learn from Abraham, Caleb and Joshua. Be strong and courageous through the Holy Spirit, look to God’s guidance and move forward in the Lord.
6. Walk humbly and serve with co-workers in truthful love.
Remove the plank from your own eye before criticising another’s speck. Be strict with yourself and generous toward others. Do not insist on your own view; respect others, communicate well and do not act out of emotion. In church ministry, God values not merely the best plan but a community that honours Him, remains united, lives in peace, loves one another and bears witness to His glory.
7. Serve God’s people with the heart of a servant.
Serve willingly and joyfully, without resentment or complaint. Jesus said that whatever we do for the least of His brothers and sisters, we do for Him. We are small vessels and servants in God’s hands, and our desire is to be faithful and good servants.
8. Draw near to God daily through Scripture and prayer.
Maintain daily devotion, seek God’s direction, and receive renewed strength to love God and people.
Jesus has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into His eternal kingdom. We were bought at a great price and are no longer under the control of evil. The Lord of our lives is not ourselves or Satan, but Jesus Christ, sovereign over the universe. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us.
Let us surrender the ownership of our lives to the loving, almighty Triune God. May we follow and serve Him faithfully throughout our lives, continually experiencing His immeasurable grace, authority, wisdom and guidance, growing toward the full stature of Christ, and displaying His life through our brief and humble existence.
I close with Romans 12:1–2
In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.
