Dear BPCWA worshipper, The Christian must have the right view of the world to live rightly in this world. The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16). Yet, God reminds us that “the whole world lieth in wickedness.” (1 Jn 5:19). So are we to love the world or shun it as evil? Do you think the world is evil? We live, walk, see, and talk every day in the world so much that we’ve gotten accustomed to it. Yes, we’ll admit that some pockets in the world aren’t good, but we may feel that to “generalise”
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We must remember that godly thoughts lead to godly living. I shall summarise the remaining areas of Philippians 4:8 and I pray it will help us reinforce our learning that will lead to us practicing what we have received and heard. Whatsoever things are just. This refers to whatsoever is in line with the justice and righteousness of God and is therefore approved and acceptable to God. Whatever the Bible says is just, and the Bible must be the standard for judging all things. So, while the media and the world may try to evoke emotions to change public opinion or for greater readership, the Christian must constantly be on guard to question if their ideas are
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Given how significantly our thought life affects our spiritual character “for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he . . .” (Prov 23:7), and how it contributes to our spiritual wellbeing (Phil 4:1, 8), it is important that we do not forget the key lessons from Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”. What you seek after, what you would choose, and what kind of Christian you are is the product of what has first occurred in
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, so far, we have understood the roles of elders, deacons, members, and the purpose of elections. As a worshipper in the church, we all must love God’s church and must be interested to know how God intends His church be governed. I hope that the study has not been something that you are uninterested in. Church government affects the church as a whole, and an orderly church is well-pleasing to God, not to mention that it ensures unity and peace. While it is not necessarily a popular subject with Christians, it is a necessary subject that must be taught to every generation so that the government of the church is consistent through the ages for BPCWA and
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we saw how different churches may run the church differently based upon their doctrines and denomination. A lack of understanding and unity on church polity can lead to many problems in the church. We are a Presbyterian church and must maintain a Presbyterian church polity, one ruled by the teaching elder (known as the pastor) who preaches and oversees the church together with lay ruling elders. The Deacon’s role is not to preach. To understand the role of deacons, we must go back to the reason why the office of deacons was established. In Acts 6:1-4, deacons were to “serve tables” so that the Apostles (the teaching elders) could give themselves to “prayer, and to
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, I wish to summarize our recent Church Studies Series as it is a crucial topic for peace and unity in a church. It is important for everyone in BPCWA to know this topic well. Since there are too much details to cover, I am summarising the lessons taught during the series of lessons. The videos and audio recordings of two of the three parts of the study are available on both our YouTube and church web sites and I hope that those who are reading this pastoral but did not attend the sessions will make the effort to watch and listen to the more complete lessons online. Do remember that this topic is not just important to
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we looked at God as a King. We mustn’t just think of this as mere imagery since it is a reality and God is indeed King. In fact, God is the Supreme King who appoints kings. He is unparalleled when compared to the kings of this earth. When we see the pomp and majesty attributed to the kings and queens of this world, we must realise that God must be accorded infinitely greater. So, this week, we will see how we, as His subjects, should respond to God, our eternal King. In a world that increasingly resists hierarchical structures and authority, the past weeks’ events offered a rare glimpse of the obligation of subjects toward
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Over the past few weeks, the attention of the world has focussed on the passing of the Queen. Visuals of the mourning reached our shores through online media. In a world that is increasingly desiring to shake off as many vestiges of authority as possible, monarchs are increasingly rare. While my intent is not to propound a system of government above another, the monarchy was the first system of man’s government implemented in Israel. God allowed that there would be kings in mankind’s history and through it uses many analogies to teach us about Him. What lessons can we learn from the past weeks’ events about our God? We will look at that in this week’s pastoral.
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Thank God for last Sunday’s ACM. The ACM reports show that God has truly been graciously enabling His ministries to do His work for His church and the edification of the saints. Moreover, He has mercifully helped us go through very challenging times during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. When God works in the church, so will Satan try even harder to disrupt it. I wish to re-emphasize and elaborate more on what I shared about unity in the church during the ACM exhortation, so please do read on. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, God commands the Christian to be transformed. Rom 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” And we are to do so by the renewing of the mind. For each of us, the mind can therefore be your biggest friend or foe to sanctification. So, we need to know it well and respond rightly to renew the mind. The battle for the mind. What do you think is the most important thing in life? Men often think it is money, health, and success. Hence, most people make these the most important businesses
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