Goodbyes and Welcome Back! (Part 1)

In the last year, we’ve said goodbye to Gerry Yeoh and Gan Siew Mun while we welcomed back Elden Pan. Here is the first of this series where we speak to these individuals on their time in CERC.

After five years, we bid farewell to our member Gerry Yeoh who will be serving Christ with another church. As one of the first members in CERC, he has served faithfully alongside the other members of the church in various ministries and said that it has been his privilege to watch the church grow throughout the years.
Gerry has matured a lot in many areas and before he left, he took the time to share his thoughts with us. He gave words of encouragement to CERC members and prayed that the church will continue to persevere in trials and tribulation.

How long have you been in CERC?

I’ve been here since 2009. That was when it was still in Elder Robin’s house. I was one of the 2nd batch of members.

What have you learned from CERC that you will remember regardless of where you go next?

I was invited to CERC by Joshua Johnson. When I first came, I still remember that my faith was a bit shaky. The first sermon I heard here was on the T.U.L.I.P series, it was mind-blowing to me. Christianity was foreign to me. I had a lot of doubts on faith and about being Christian.

At first, it was very tough to read the bible. I didn’t know it was so in-depth and I didn’t know so many things about it. It was then that I really began to search and read the bible properly. The faithful preaching of the word in CERC has grounded my faith and helped me grow in Christ.

The second thing I will remember from CERC is what the church has taught me in relation to God’s people. Last time, I did not have a deep level of understanding of church, in terms of horizontal relationship with members, loving them, caring for them and serving with one another. There is also the aspect of corporate worship that this church taught me. Previously, Christianity was very individualistic, just me and Jesus. Even when I took communion it was without a corporate understanding of the church. The Christianity I had back then was very vertical.

I learned a lot on the horizontal aspect of Christianity in CERC. First of all, Christ saved me and he saved me into a church, a local membership. And these people from the local church are identifiable, people I can love and I can serve.

This is one thing in CERC that really encourages me. We do things corporately to serve Christ and to preach the gospel. It really impacted me. Previously, everything was individualistic. But now, with the help of members, I realise that God uses his people corporately to share His word and love to people.

That’s the difference I see here. I have also learned a lot from membership classes, especially on churching, structure, nature and nurture. [1][2]

What is going to be most difficult for you in leaving this church? Do you plan to serve in the next church you go to?

The most difficult part is to find a church that preaches the gospel faithfully and also practices its outworking of corporate life together. I come from a background of church where things are very vertical but not horizontal. So when it came to local church commitment and loving members, it is not very grounded. In terms of faithful preaching, it was on and off.

I think it is difficult to decide to serve in a church that does not have these two elements ? faithful preaching and local church commitment. So I am not committing to any church during this process but instead, I’m holding on to membership here. Hopefully, I can keep accountable to the leaders, especially my growth group leaders, and that I will not make the wrong decision in this process.

How do you plan to keep up your faith while going through this church visitation process?

I’m just afraid that I will lose the plot. Leaving a healthy church is going to be hard. That’s why I’m hoping to keep accountable to a few of the members and hopefully, stand ground on the gospel and for us (my wife and I) to continue on in the faith and serve God, glorify Him. It is not going to be easy.

How can we pray for you and your family?

Please pray for us that we will continue to be godly in our decision making. As for myself, pray that I will be able to lead well in this marriage. Also pray that we will continue to support CERC and GGF.

Will you still continue supporting the ministry in CERC?

Yes. I would like to continue supporting the church financially and also the parachurch organisation GGF. Please pray that we will keep to my promise and not break it.
I hope that when it comes to a point where I need to make the decision whether to leave and not be a member anymore, it will not be the end of relationship I have with my brothers and sisters in Christ in this church, that we will continue to serve for gospel sake in the Klang Valley.

Do you have any words of encouragement for the members?

One thing that impacted me is during the recent CERC Camp True Grit is to be strong and courageous.

I will pray that the church continues to be strong and courageous in ministry and in the gospel through trials and tribulations. I would like to encourage the church that in the midst of suffering, which can come in many forms, to be strong and courageous. To continue to be grounded in the gospel, serve Christ whole heartedly and never give up.

Gerry’s reflection

As I reflected on the hard reality of leaving, the more I cherish CERC as God’s local church to His people and being the light to those who are in darkness.

This church has truly taught me how to read the bible well and encourages me to work hard on it without which, I will still be confused in my Christian faith. CERC is truly a church that is bible saturated, teaches bible literacy and proclaims the Word of Christ faithfully. As Romans 10:15 says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preaches the good news” and Romans 10:17 says “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”.

Dear brother and sisters in Christ,

Serving alongside you have made me “grow in the grace and knowledge of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” -2 Peter 3:18. I truly miss the labour that we share in the gospel and ministry at CERC as fellow workers. The unity and love that we have in Christ in the diversity of this body has truly made positive marks in my Christian life. I pray that, as Paul the apostle said, we would always “…stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents …” Philippians 1:27-28 but suffer for Jesus name’s sake.

I am going to miss you guys. May we continually serve and work together especially in the Gospel Growth Fellowship conferences as we continually ?…preach Christ crucified …” 1 Corinthians 1:23.

[1] Clowney, E.P. (1995). The Church. Chapters 8, 10 & 14
[2] This is CERC sermon series