CK 100th Anniversary Rededication Service 星幼百年献心礼

Title: Our Second Jubilee (Leviticus 27:16-25)
Preacher: Rev. Wong Siow Hwee
Date: 9th Oct 2021

Peace be with you to the board, staff, parents, students, alumni of Chinese Kindergarten, and the members of Jubilee Church. Congratulations to Chinese Kindergarten for its 100 years of service to many generations of children. My two children, who are both teenagers now, graduated from CK about 10 years ago, and so I was very fortunate to be able to contribute something in return by being personally involved in storytelling and Kids Club events over the past years. I’m happy that Pastor Zhang Li is continuing the good work there as CK chaplain. My proudest contribution to CK, which some of you might not be aware of, is my involvement in designing the playground on level 2 together with Elder James. I later heard that quite a few children and parents chose to enroll in the kindergarten because they were impressed by the huge playground. To utilize that space for the playground, we had to convince the church to give up a stage which we used to use for our annual plays and festive events, and also two youth rooms (one for band practice, and one for cell groups and games). We are thankful for the different groups in Jubilee, both elderly and youth, who dedicated that space to the children because they understood the value of providing for the needs of the next generation. Their offerings were rewarded by the joy and laughter of the children on school days and Sundays.

I share this little background story of the playground because it is the epitome of what we are doing today. Today is the day of the rededication of Chinese Kindergarten, and some of you might be wondering what is the meaning and purpose of such a service of rededication. When we dedicate something or offer something to God, we mean that it is to be set apart for holy use. Chinese Kindergarten is our dedication to God, acknowledging that it is meant to serve his purpose: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14). Therefore, by dedicating CK as an offering to God, we are pledging that what we do in CK should bring glory to God, and be beneficial to men through peace and good will. This will be manifested when CK graduates live well and do good in society as a witness to the educational and spiritual fruits of CK.

I would like to share three principles of dedication from the bible. In ancient times, it is common to dedicate something to the gods in exchange for their divine favors, either for battles, or safe travels, or other prayer requests. What set the Jews apart in their relationship with God is that such rededication is never mandatory. It is not a transactional relationship where God does X for you in exchange for you offering Y to him. In this way, your dedications are purely a sign of devotion, freely given to express faith or gratitude. So the first principle is the principle of free will. We are here to dedicate CK as a ministry to God out of freewill and not expecting anything in return.

However, even though dedications are not necessary, if you do choose to make a dedication, then keeping the promise becomes serious and necessary, simply because vows are sacred before God. So the second principle of dedication is the principle of sincerity. And the main implication is that even though dedications are not mandatory, fulfilling the dedications is mandatory. You cannot claim that since God never demanded it in the first place, I can retract my dedication or offer something substandard instead. What is dedicated must be fulfilled. Since we choose to dedicate CK as a ministry today, this vow becomes something we must now fulfill to the best of our abilities. We must do good work in CK, work that glorifies God and is beneficial to Man. This responsibility is not just for the CK staff and board, but the entire Jubilee church as well.

This brings me to the third principle of dedication, the principle of Jubilee. Allow me to explain the meaning of Jubilee. Every 7th year in Israel is the year of Sabbath, and after 7 Sabbaths (7x7=49 years), on the 50th year, we call that year the year of Jubilee. It is the year of redemption and freedom, where slaves can be redeemed and land can be restored to its original owner. You can think of it as the year where people who are down can have a fresh start, and debts and grievances have a chance to be forgiven. The Year of Jubilee is like a new beginning. The same now applies to lands dedicated to God. On the year of Jubilee, the original owners can redeem their dedicated land too. This explains why the land needs to be valuated ,【1】so that lands can be redeemed according to the valuation. But instead of redemption, the lands could be rededicated back to God. So the principle of Jubilee is about redemption or rededication. If you choose rededication, according to Leviticus 27: 21 When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the Lord; it will become priestly property.

The principle of Jubilee is why we are here today for the rededication service. On the 100th anniversary, it has been two 50 years! It is our second year of Jubilee for Chinese Kindergarten. It is a significant moment to signal a fresh start. A rededication may feel like nothing has changed, since there is no change in purpose or usage, but it is not that nothing has changed. The rededication on the Year of Jubilee is significant because it is an acknowledgement that yet another 50 years has passed, and it is time to recommit the original dedication to the beginning of a new future. Today, we are reminded of its holy purpose, and also our responsibilities to fulfill our dedication. In our second Jubilee, we willingly and sincerely rededicate this ministry to God. May God be glorified, and men be blessed by the good work of CK in the years ahead. Amen.

[1] The way to evaluate a dedication of land is by the amount of seeds. Bible scholars cannot conclude whether the seeds refer to the amount of seeds needed to sow the land, or the amount of seeds collected during the harvest. Whichever the case, it is clear that the more seeds used as valuation, the more valuable the land.

Combine Service Video Link 联合崇拜视频链接：
https://youtu.be/Ss5NgQgvo0w