During the Dawn Prayer Meetings in July last year, the book The Gift of Being Yourself by David G. Benner reminded us of this: Christians must deepen their knowledge of God and self in order to experience self-transformation that pleases God on their spiritual journey. Benner also mentions, “Self-acceptance always precedes genuine self-surrender and self-transformation” (p.55). However, due to experiences of being rejected when they grow up, people tend to mask themselves to avoid such pain and to please others. It is easy for the Christian community to suppress their feelings with biblical teachings, mistakenly thinking that accepting these teachings with willpower suffices, thereby neglecting the need to analyze and address their circumstances or the signals emotions convey to us. Such tendencies can even foster an unhealthy culture, wherein we unconsciously suppress the emotions of others.

       This year, the direction of growth of the NPAC family is “Cherish God’s Word in Our Hearts, Journey Together in Genuine Fellowship.” Open the Bible and we will see narratives depicting individuals’ interactions with God and others in various circumstances everywhere, as well as psalms and prayers of people expressing their emotions, desires, doubts, struggles, confessions, petitions, thanks and praises. Take the Old Testament prophetic book of Jonah as an example. It teaches far more than “God’s mercy is greater than justice” or “we should obey and share God’s love for people.” In the text, what thoughts and emotions does the prophet Jonah reveal? To Jonah who was grappling with evasion and anger, how did the LORD’s actions shape his thoughts and heart? When we study the Bible carefully, we will find that God’s word is very often not the indoctrination of hard truths. Rather, it enters man’s situations and inner realities to bring about transformation.

       This year, the NPAC family’s Bible study guide, When You/I Encounter…, adopts a topical approach to study the Bible. Pastors have selected Bible passages addressing life situations and emotions. Through the respective short texts and guiding questions, we hope that the Holy Spirit would help brothers and sisters connect with the Bible characters and stories, and see how the LORD would help individuals understand their situations (e.g. the suffering of losing loved ones) and emotions (e.g. anxiety, loneliness) as well as bestow His grace and ways out. Through small group Bible study, we can learn to listen to ourselves and empathize with others. While cherishing principles of the truth, we also leave space to examine our circumstances and process our feelings. We will then seek the LORD’s grace for ourselves and our brothers and sisters, taking steps to journey with God and others in genuine fellowship.

       Our church has already conducted this year’s “Bible Study Seminar on Knowing and Practicing the Word” on the theme “Listening in the Holy Word.” In the seminar, we focused on reading Jonah’s narratives and psalms from this perspective, learning to prepare ourselves to listen and renewing our attitude towards it. You are encouraged to revisit the seminar on the NPAC website or NPAC Connect 1952.

        May the Lord bless the brothers and sisters of the NPAC family in experiencing God more deeply and in building each other up in His holy word.