Dear BPCWA worshipper, It has been 21 days since we commemorated Easter Sunday. Good Friday and Easter are periods of Christian celebration. However, the Word God gives us is not just “for that moment” as part of the “seasonal mood”. God’s Word is always to change our hearts and hence our lives. Therefore, while I have not done so previously, I thought it would be a good reminder to recap the messages this year, especially when they are about our Lord’s sufferings for us and His glorious Resurrection. I do pray that singles and families would recount the key lessons. Good Friday: “I Know Not the Man!”. We were reminded of Peter’s betrayal of his Master, whom he had vehemently
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, God has brought death to the forefront of our minds in recent weeks. Just 2 weeks ago, we commemorated Good Friday and Easter. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ triumphed over the sting of death, the judgement for man’s sin, through His humiliating vicarious death on the cross and victorious resurrection. On the world stage, we have also witnessed the death and funeral of a major religious figure who was publicly mourned and whose funeral was broadcast live by multiple news stations across the world. Knowing about the Good Friday and Easter story and performing religious acts doesn’t guarantee entry into heaven. Religious acts are not what will buy you an entrance ticket to heaven. Also, closer
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We praise and thank God for last weekend’s remembrances of Christ’s suffering and victorious resurrection. The death and resurrection of Christ is the great redemption plan of God that we bring to all nations. This is the very highlight of human history, that our Lord Jesus, the Almighty God Incarnate, died to redeem man. It is a true account, not just a stirring story concocted by man. So, your response will affect you for all eternity. But how your eternity is affected depends not merely on whether you know the Gospel. We know how to tell others that coming to church, knowing the Gospel, wearing a cross, going through Christian activities, and saying that you are saved
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We considered last week how Christ had to endure physical suffering vicariously on our behalf. Though far exceeding what we have or will ever feel physically, His spiritual sufferings were even more intense and beyond what we can personally know. Christ came in the flesh, but He was sinlessly perfect. All that He suffered was for our sins alone. When we want to yield to our lusts and pride, His sufferings must remind us to hate these sins which caused these unspeakable sufferings on our beloved Saviour. How can we even consider flirting with sin anymore? Just 2 days ago, we commemorated Good Friday. It is a time around the world when faithful Christians gather in churches
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, This Friday, we will commemorate Good Friday. It must be an important occasion for every Christian. At Christmas, we often remember His incarnation – that the Almighty God would take on human flesh to be born into this world. We know, teach, and defend the fact that Christ is 100% God and 100% man. A week ago, we had the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, where we read the familiar passage, “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me” (1Co 11:24). In today’s pastoral, I want us to consider why Christ had to suffer physically. Christ suffered
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, The Social Gospel has infiltrated many movements and churches. It is so prevalent today that it is more unusual to find a church that does not support the Social Gospel than one that does. This pernicious Social Gospel will keep knocking at Bible-Presbyterian Churches’ doors to try to gain an inroad. BPCWA will not be spared. The thinking of the world will be so geared toward this that churches that aren’t actively involved in social work will be considered unloving. Whether BPCWA will be faithful to God’s mission depends on whether we keep ourselves alert and heed God’s warnings about another gospel coming in, or choose to follow the destructive flow. Guilt-tripping BP Churches. The Social Gospel
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, In last week’s pastoral, I covered the first 2 sessions of this year’s Church Study Series. It is important that I recap the study in our pastorals because a lot of information was covered. This was already increased from the original schedule of 2 to 3 weeks, but could not be increased further due to fellowship schedule limitations. I would however encourage all worshippers who would like to learn for the first time or refresh their learning on this topic to watch the presentations which are on our YouTube channel at bpcwa.org.au/YouTube. The errors of the Social Gospel. The Social Gospel is social activism. It is another gospel and another Jesus. How is that so? It applies
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, The topic I chose for our Church Study Series this year was, “The Christian and Social Concerns”, which was conducted over 3 weeks in February. These recordings were dubbed into Chinese and screened over the past few weeks. Churches are increasingly involved in social work, which has become somewhat of an accepted norm. All worshippers in BPCWA must understand it from a biblical perspective and not simply follow others. Hence, it is important for us to revisit the key salient aspects after the series so that we do not forget them, and in case we did not grasp them well. The pervasiveness of religious social concern. We are probably familiar with the name of the Nobel Peace
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we had our church extension briefing following our worship services. Today, I will summarise and document what was communicated as it is important that BPCWA chronicles each stage for future generations. Project and builder update. As communicated in our previous session, only one submission was received in response to both tenders. After the initial pricing was received last August, the builder worked on finalising the pricing and sent us the second quote we received last month. To satisfy ourselves with the reasonableness of the quote submitted with only 1 tender received, we engaged a Quantity Surveyor to provide an independent price review of the project. The Quantity Surveyor’s estimation was 29 percent higher than the
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, During our Worship Service today, those who serve in BPCWA will rise together to take our vows as we rededicate our service to God. Many will be people we may think are not serving because we don’t “see” them serving God. This is because much of the service in BPCWA is done by the lay people who diligently serve God from their homes, late into the night after work, on their days off from work, and during weekends. While “working from home” has become a norm in society today, “serving from home” when we are not in church has always been a characteristic of many of us for BPCWA. Particularly because we do not have a large
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