Members of City Harvest Church’s WYZ Zone attend a seminar on the second coming of Christ.
Contributed By Dawn Seow
More than 300 working adults in the zone led by City Harvest Church district pastor Wu Yuzhuang were in for some deep teaching when they attended the first session of the End-Times Seminar on Friday, Sep. 9. The three-part Bible study was conducted to uncover biblical truths concerning the second coming of Christ.
Wu explained that he decided to conduct the seminar because this topic had not been touched on for some time in the church. As such, he planned to shed some light on end-time events using biblical references. “Hebrews 6 says that the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment is the foundation, the elementary principle of Christ. That is why it is important for the members to have a balanced perspective on this topic,” said Wu.
During the first lesson, the pastor began by addressing some topics such as the four witnesses, the Great Tribulation, and the rapture of believers from earth. These topics established the foundation for members to begin understanding eschatology. He touched on the controversies surrounding the second coming of Christ and spoke on post-tribulation rapture, which teaches that Christians will only be raptured after going through the Great Tribulation.
The highlight of the session was the teaching on the Great Tribulation. Drawing his reference from the Book of Revelation, Wu challenged those who were present to be focused on keeping a relationship with God instead of being afraid of suffering. He also encouraged all to be ready for the second coming of Christ and to keep themselves holy and without blemish.
Tan Sihui, 29, a sales manager, said the series reminded her to constantly build up her relationship with God. “As a working adult, we can get so busy with life that, at times, we neglect our spiritual life and forget that our relationship with God is important too,” she said. Tan also felt that the Bible study helped her understand more about the rise of false teachers in the last days. She said, “The Bible says that there will be false prophets in the end-times that can even come in the form of pastors and leaders in the church. When we understand that, we will not be stumbled easily when we hear of such things in the world today.”
Youko Furuki, 29, an account executive, learned about identifying certain events that would happen before the return of Christ and to be prepared for them, one of which would be the rise of false teachings. She shared, “We hear of people preaching doomsday messages these days, which is one of the signs of the end-times.”
While the first session of the seminar laid the foundation for the discussion of the end-times, the second session touched on other topics such as the seven seals, the role of Israel in the last days, and the signs of Jesus’ coming.
Giselle Loh, 26, financial adviser, enjoyed the study on the revelation of the seven seals most. She said, “The seven seals mentioned in the book of Revelation are represented by symbols. When Pastor explained the symbols one by one, I began to understand what each of them represented and saw that some of it had already come to pass.
“At the end of the session, Pastor gave an altar call to remind us not to lose sight of eternity and challenged us to reach out to our families, friends and loved ones.”
To many of those who attended the seminar, greater revelation and understanding was revealed to them as they learnt how to keep their hearts pure in these last days before the return of Christ.
The third and final part of this Bible study series will be held on Friday, Nov. 11.