Released to Make Disciples

MOSAIC@HVMC

29 Jan

By Ps Jeremy Ong
Pastor-in-charge

Coming out of the incredible experience of Advent Carols, The Christmas Blueprint production, we started 2026 with our journey through the Gospel of Luke, a sermon series that will carry us through to Easter, as we walk with Jesus following the Christian calendar between the liturgical seasons of Advent and Easter. The Christmas Blueprint served not only as the culmination of our 2025 directions, Building Up for Transformation, but also to launch our 2026 directions Reaching Out to Every Generation.

Vision

Since 2022, our vision has remained Nourished to Flourish: Building Up & Reaching Out to Every Generation anchored in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”. This verse points us to the reality that our connection to Christ and dependence on the Holy Spirit, is essential to our personal and corporate capacity to flourish in the world that we live in.

The Directions from 2024 – 2026:

2024 - Building Up to Reach Out (Equipped to Share the Gospel and be Welcoming)

2025 - Building Up for Transformation (Connected to Life Groups and Serving in HVMC)

2026 - Reaching Out to Every Generation (Released to be Disciples who make Disciples)

As we enter this final year of our three-year directions, our focus is on becoming a Great Commission church, mindful not to fall into the trap of the “Great Omission” that Dallas Willard describes as the tendency of the church to make converts and church members, without truly enrolling them as students of Christ, or training them to obey His commands.¹ To that end, our direction is to help every member of our congregation to not just be an attendee, but a disciple who is released to make other disciples.

Transformed into a Family

Last year, we focused on transformation, setting clear indicators for a healthy church family, by being connected to Life Groups and serving in HVMC. By God’s grace, we now have about 190 Life Group participants across 23 Life Groups, representing around 70% of our average church attendance. This is deeply encouraging, but it also tells us that we can do better.

In 2026, we will continue to strengthen our understanding of belonging and family. Our updated Baptism and Membership class requirements now include not only six months of regular in-person attendance, but also six months of either regular Life Group participation, or service in a ministry. This is not “volunteerism” or “points for church attendance”. It is to express our desire for everyone to be part of the church family as disciples of Jesus.

2026 DIRECTION:
Reaching Out to Every Generation

Trusting and Obedient Disciples

In Luke 5, we see Jesus call the first disciples, and in that episode, we can observe what kind of disciples Jesus is forming, and by extension, what kind of disciples we must become if we are to be a Great Commission church that reaches every generation.

While Simon does not fully agree with Jesus’ instruction to go out again into the water having caught nothing after an entire night of work, he responds, “At your word I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). That simple act of obedience became the doorway into a transformed life. In 2026, we pray that we may become a people who are attentive to God’s windows of opportunity, moments where God interrupts the routine of our lives, and invites us to trust and obey Him at His word. To guide us in this direction, we will be exploring the following sermon series in 2026:

Gospel of Luke (Dec 2025 to Apr)
God and Family (May)
Jonah and Micah (Jul to Sep)
God and Work (Oct to Nov)

Spirit-empowered Disciples

The huge catch of fish that resulted from Simon’s obedience was not simply a lesson in fishing. It was not because it was the right time, or the right tide conditions, or the right weather. It was a moment of revelation. The work of God is never sustained by human effort. If we are to reach every generation, we must not merely become more productive or more strategic, we must first and foremost become more prayerful. If we want to see lives changed, families restored, hearts awakened, and the lost return home, we will need the power of the Holy Spirit to empower us. So may we be faithful to set aside every last Friday of the month for our Prayer and Worship nights. Let’s pray more, gather more, intercede more, seek God for more and depend on Him more.

May we have the courage to leave everything and follow Jesus

Disciple-making Disciples

With the miracle of the catch, Jesus calls Simon and also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, to follow Him. These were also the very first words of commission, “From now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10). From the very beginning, becoming a disciple was never the end. The end was always for disciples of Jesus to make other disciples. In 2026, may every Life Group, every family, and every individual, be involved in at least one mission trip or one community outreach event.

Here are four domains that we can consider being involved in, to make disciples as a church family:

ACS (International)	The school God has planted us in.
Timor-Leste and Azumino, Japan	HVMC’s adopted mission fields
Your workplace or school	You are there to be Christ’s witness.
Commonwealth Crescent	We are here to be a blessing to our neighbours.

Die-to-self Disciples

Finally, Luke tells us the first disciples left everything to follow Jesus. This is the hardest mark of discipleship, yet it is also our most compelling witness. When the world sees a church that dies to self, to our preferences, comfort, self-protection and self-importance, the world sees a light it cannot explain or ignore. When Christ calls us to come and die, and when we die to ourselves, we finally begin to live.

My prayer for HVMC in 2026 is that we will be a people known for dying to ourselves, so that the kingdom of God may be lifted up. May we have the courage to leave everything and follow Jesus, to become “fishers of men” in our families, our workplaces and schools, and our community at ACS (International).

To God Be the Glory. The Best Is Yet To Be! Amen.

¹ Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship (HarperCollins Publishers, 2009), Kindle eBook.

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