Reset Button

It is time for a reset. These two weeks of control movement order has given me some respite. For the past 10 or 11 weeks including the week I was in Singapore I was fully engaged in active ministry. Even in the 5-day trip to Singapore, I preached twice in two places, collected, packed and sent my books back over 2 days, and met 5 of my close friends over the weekend until I left. Last Sunday I preached twice in church and had an emergency meeting to discuss whether we should close the church premises temporarily but the very next day the decision was made for us as the Malaysian PM announced nation-wide closure of all public and business places to prevent the spread of the Covid-19  pandemic beginning 18th March. So on 17th March night, just a few hours before the Order took effect, I called for a prayer meeting. I spoke for about 40 minutes double the time I usually speak in a prayer meeting as I joked to my members that this could be our "last supper". That afternoon I met with my elders and church secretary to plan the measures and steps that we were going to take in light of the Control Movement Order.
We decided that for the first Sunday (today) we would meet at home and have family fellowship and worship and I recorded a sermon on Friday as my Sunday sermon. Most of the church members in WhatsApp groups have listened to the sermon this morning. I thought there was no need for online service or live streaming or preaching because a recorded sermon is just as good as a spoken word, even as the oracles of God. It is not how great we look on stage or how photogenic we are on television or on screen but how our words measure up to the Word of God and if they do, these words are oracles of God when spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit. I don't know how long we are going to do that as a family or private service because I know some members are single mothers, some are singles, some might live alone and human contact is essential despite the so-called social distancing enjoined on us.