7 January 2013 by Natasha Kim-CM.
Located in Petaling Jaya, the Trinity Methodist Church was established long ago in the year 1959. It started off with a mere 72 members, which is quite a good number for a start. Now, their membership has increased and totals to about 2000 people.
Joining in their evening teaching service, I noticed how this particular Methodist church operates. One will be able to observe that they follow a traditional process. It all started off with a liturgy of the book of Psalms which was followed closely with an offertory, a doxology (hymn), a prayer of illumination, a brief scripture lesson and a hymn of preparation before the start of the sermon where the Pastor stands up to preach. Right after the preaching, they have their benediction (act of prayer for divine protection) which is then followed by a personal prayer time, ending with alter ministry.
Currently, the Church has three English services namely at 8.30 a.m, 10.45a.m and 6.00 p.m every Sunday. Among the services they have, two are traditional while one is contemporary. The contemporary service at 10.45 a.m. is mainly when the youth gather. In addition to that, they have one Chinese service at 10.45 a.m. to cater to the Chinese speaking crowd.
The Deeper meaning of Worship
Rev. Dr. Timothy Ong preached at this service and he began by committing the New Year to the Lord saying, “Though problems are there, or sicknesses still linger, we know that our God is greater than our problems or illnesses because He is the great God of this universe.”
God in whom we put our trust because there is nothing too difficult for him when we are led by him.
Rev. stressed on this day on how we can miss out on the deeper meaning of worship. He then led the congregation to John chapter 4 in the Bible where Jesus talks with a Samaritan Woman.
John 4: 7 – 10 – 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
Now in those times, the Jews and the Samaritans did not get along because they had issues over everything including religion, and never would a Jewish man ask a favour from a Samaritan woman. “This “asking from Jesus” can only be understood when we ponder about it thoughtfully and prayerfully. Just like in worship, when we engage our minds in thinking through what we are singing, listening to and what we are affirming.” said Reverend.
The worship service tells us of God, that though great He is, He is with us. Even in our struggles, He is our defender. Reverend then added on to say that this thinking part of worship was emphasized by John Wesley (Founder of the Methodist movement). John told the Methodist of his days that, they must engage their minds in worship.
How do we do that?
Psalm 100: 1-3 – Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
We do all this because He is our God our creator and we belong to Him. We are His people, who else would we listen to but Jesus our Shepherd.
Psalm 100: 4-5 – Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
This verse is about thanksgiving. We thank Him because the Lord is good. Sometimes in our prayer when we ask the Lord for something and we do not get what we want, yet He is good because He knows the future and the present. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours, therefore He is good.
His love endures forever and His faithfulness continues through all generations. “As we engage our thoughts with the reading of this Psalm, we are ministered to by the precious words of the Psalmist.” said Rev.
All in all, worship as well as preaching stirs us up to serve the Lord. It calms us down as well as lifts us up by giving us hope, assurance and a future. Through the ages, we worship a God who reveals His thoughts and His teachings to us and continues to bless us all.
To find out more or listen to the full sermon please visit http://www.trinitypj.com
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