Pr Kenneth Chin is well-known among the Christians in our nation. As the founding senior pastor of Acts Church, his name is synonymous with discipleship, particularly among the young generation. Besides being a pastor, he has also started many social businesses and mentored many young entrepreneurs.
Early in his life, the Lord challenged Pr Kenneth to plant churches in Malaysia. During the pandemic, the Lord continued to lead him; one challenge he received from the Lord was to plant a church every 10km in KL and Selangor. Only recently, an eleventh church was founded in Kota Kemuning. Yet before all this, Pr Kenneth had experienced his own tragedies.
On Sunday, the 25th of September 2022, he spoke in FGA KL on the power of discipleship in love and community. Along the way, he also shared his own approach to discipleship. Pr Kenneth opened his message by sharing an inspiring testimony of two sisters-in-Christ who rescued another sister-in-Christ from the verge of suicide through their persevering care and love.
Pr Kenneth conveyed that Discipleship: Love & Community, the topic of the message given to him by FGA KL, is very close to his heart. He had himself lost a beloved sister, Lynette, to suicide when he was still a teenager. He expressed that when his sister took her life, he had not just lost a sibling; he had lost his closest friend in life. Pr Kenneth’s parents divorced when he was one year old, and he had a dad that was addicted to ganja. In the absence of parents, the brother and sister had only each other. They grew up together, went everywhere together, and had shared dreams, including becoming lawyers and setting up their own law firm. When Pr Kenneth lost his sister, it was like half of his world had just been cut away from him.
Amid this tragedy, the Lord strengthened him, gave him a purpose, and guided and mentored him. The Lord told Pr Kenneth that there were many Lynettes in this world and that while he could not save his own sister, the Lord would mentor him to bring hope and news of His love to many others. At first not being trained in ministry, he was not sure about entering into ministry. However, the Lord assured him that the Holy Spirit would teach him and give him real-life stories that connected with other people’s life stories, and people would see how real God is.
‘That was the birth of Asian Youth Ambassadors, which would later lead to Acts Church,’ Pr Kenneth shared. For the first 5 years, Pr Kenneth and his small team traveled all around Malaysia, telling young people how much Jesus loves them. As he shared his story, everywhere he went, the altar filled with hundreds of young people on their knees, if not already crying. Within five years, 3000 young people had come to the Lord.
In the fifth year, God directed and taught him to catch a pastor’s heart and to start planting churches. Initially, Pr Kenneth was reluctant, for a pastor’s responsibility is not an easy one to carry. However, God was very direct with him. ‘”Go back to My word, God said, I want you to make disciples, not decisions. Don’t come up to heaven and tell me you have made 3000 decisions, tell me you have made 3 disciples”,’ Pr Kenneth related. ‘Make disciples, not decisions, that was the true calling.’
In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus gave the commandment for Christians to make disciples. As Christians, we all know this is the word of God but how many of us take it seriously? It’s not easy for most people to be receptive to the idea of discipleship. Speak a sermon, organise an event or course, write an article, or even share a Bible verse about discipleship, and you can see the reception dwindle dramatically. That’s the reality. However, God wants an authentic relationship with us as His sons and daughters, not just as receivers of His blessing, but everything a true relationship entails.
Discipleship is Jesus, Pr Kenneth conveyed. There may be hundreds of denominations and thousands of churches, but only one name matters – Jesus. Everything that Christianity is about and all the answers we seek – Healing, Salvation, Revival, even how Discipleship looks like… They can all be found in the name of Jesus.
As Christians, our vision is to Be like Him, and our Mission is to Do like Him. ‘We shouldn’t complicate things,’ Pr Kenneth exhorted. ‘The process in becoming more like Jesus is to follow Him. And you know, Paul was so bold as to say in 1 Corinthians 11: 1: “Follow me as I follow Him”. This is really what church is about. It’s easy to fill seats, you just need to entertain them. However, the Church has not been called to entertain, but disciple and empower people.’
Pr Kenneth also shared something in his church called Disciple First. A person can be a preacher, but he’s first a disciple. ‘Just because a person is a preacher, and whether he’s preaching on that day, he still does his quiet time. It doesn’t matter how good a person is in worship or preaching, the first thing that matters is how we live as Christ’s disciples. There are only two calling in my life, one is to be a disciple of Christ, and the other is to make disciples. I want to be a good disciple and I want to make good disciples.’
Five Ws govern what Pr Kenneth wants most for Acts Church to be known for; Worship, Word, Warmth, Works, and Witness, especially Warmth, as described in Acts 2:41-45 and Acts 4:32-35. In these passages, we discover the Church as a united community. A few words stand out; “as one”, “common”, “shared”.
Pr Kenneth expressed that the word “community” is made up of two words; “common” and “unity”. ‘What unites our church as one? Is it our vision, our mission, our love for one another? Discipleship should be a “common” in our churches. It is a choice, but not an option. It is a commandment; making disciples of everyone on the face of the earth. It is very, very important.’
There is power in sharing and caring, and just being there for one another. The pandemic was a real test to community.. and it still is. It has made people embrace isolation and individualism. Pr Kenneth pointed out that the devil has weakened the community in our churches. What was meant to be temporary has become permanent. Community has given way to personal comforts and conveniences. It may be more convenient to sit in the comfort of our homes, watching a church service remotely, but that’s not real church.
In Hebrews 10:24-25, we are encouraged and reminded:
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
One day, the Lord is coming again. Would He find a people ready for His return? A community is only as strong as what its members contribute to it. The Church is a community. The more we sow into it, the more we will get out of it, not just for ourselves but for the whole community.
While Pr Kenneth’s message was shared in FGA KL, it is relevant to every Christian in our nation. How much do we love our community known as the church? It is time to reestablish our relationships with our communities again. Messages on discipleship are often hard-hitting but they are always crucial.
Note: This is an independent article from the writer’s own received impartation, and is not affiliated with Pr Kenneth Chin or FGA KL. You may access the full sermon at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO87ApTdm8I
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