Oh, What Irresistible Grace!

Dear BPCWA worshipper, When Romans 3:11 states, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God”, it does not mean that an unbeliever cannot cognitively and intellectually understand the Gospel, or is totally disinterested in God. What “understand” means is that the natural man would not want to join in agreement of heart with God. “Seeks” refers to a begging and craving after God and a strong desire to have Him. So, fallen man may cognitively know the Gospel message and may even be interested in its concept. Yet, because fallen man loves sin more than light, he will not submit to God to come to Him totally on God’s terms (John 3:19-20). Hence, it is only

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We are all fallen, but we’re not that bad, right?

Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we saw that our relationship as a human race to Adam is more than just about tracing our ancestry to one man. We saw how the significance is more than physical. We are all sinners because of Adam’s fall. This is because Adam is the federal head of mankind (Rom 5:18-19). This is what theologians rightly identify as original sin, which results in the total depravity of man.  Be aware that some Christians reject this state of man after Adam’s fall, despite undeniably clear affirmations of it in the Scriptures. This week, I hope to answer the questions that are often asked to Calvinists, “If man is totally depraved and cannot choose God due to

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We are all from Adam . . . So what?

Dear BPCWA worshipper, At a recent Teens QnA, we answered a question posed about whether we all came from Adam and Eve. An important follow-up question to that is “So what”? Most people just mainly think about “Oh, we are all related in some way then!”. But we need to see beyond this aspect and realise something more critical.  The believer must have a clear understanding of our relationship to Adam, its consequences, and how we are saved. Unbelievers may ask, “If I became a sinner because of Adam, how can God punish me when I became a sinner because of Adam?” After all, did not God say, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear

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Walking Together (Part 2)

Dear BPCWA worshipper, In last week’s pastoral, we saw the importance of unity of convictions to have the blessedness of the Christian marriage that God intends for His children. Differences are real, and they can and do cause friction between parties who are expected to live or walk closely together. Unbelievers may overflow with praises about “how great their love is” to sacrifice such and such for the sake of love, but unbelievers don’t consider the spiritual aspects, merely physical. The reality of unity in marriage. As we have witnessed even recently, some who hold on to other systems of beliefs struggle with even just being a regular worshipper here. If that is so with an attendee at church, think

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Walking Together (Part 1)

Dear BPCWA worshipper, A resident at a nursing home recently told a worshipper that she was a Methodist who had been happily married to a Catholic. She said that it was just about mutual respect and not stopping each other when they went to church separately. She admitted that she knew that some Christians don’t believe that that should be so, but she said that she had been happily married throughout her life and it could work despite what some may think. What is your view of that? More importantly, what does God’s Word say?  Whether you are single or married, it is important for us to have the right perspective. Walking with unbelievers in marriage. As Christians, we must

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A Christian Family

Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we had our Sunday School promotion where the children of our families in BPCWA received certificates for their attendance and Bible memorisation or were promoted to the next class. This Sunday, as you read this, is the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year. For the Chinese, it is a time when familial bonds are remembered and celebrated. So, I thought that it would be apt in today’s pastoral to put both events together and ponder upon what a Christian family ought to be. A familial God. We are of a covenantal faith because it is a Biblical faith. The covenantal theme runs throughout the Bible and we must not miss that, because our God

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Am I my brother’s keeper?

Dear BPCWA worshipper, When asked by God “Where is Abel thy brother?” Cain replied with callousness and impudence, “. . . I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen 4:9). Yet, Cain knew precisely what had happened to Abel for he had murdered him in cold blood earlier. This was despite God’s prior warning to Cain about the state of his heart “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?” and that “. . . sin lieth at the door.” (Gen 4:6,7). We will not go into the discussion of what motivated the first murder in mankind’s history, but I want to consider today Cain’s defiant question to God. Am I indeed my brother’s keeper?  Am I

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It’s My Life

Dear BPCWA worshipper, We live in a society that baulks against restraints and vaunts individuality. Whether in time past or time present, pop music hits resonated with this sentiment, whether it was about doing things “My Way” or “It’s My Life”. Growing up in the world, such a mindset may also rub off on the Christian – must I live my life in this restrained way, being told how to live? The struggle. The Christian’s life and walk go against the natural man. God irresistibly draws His elect into salvation. But after salvation, walking a sanctified and consecrated life is not irresistible. We can grieve the Holy Spirit by resisting His conviction (Eph 4:30). We are constantly hounded by the

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Preparing for Worship

Dear BPCWA worshipper, Every Lord’s Day, we gather together as God’s people – His church – for worship service. For most of us if not all, it is somewhat of a regular pattern of what we do, which is important and needful. We include in our monthly prayer booklet to pray that worshippers will consciously prepare themselves each week for the worship service. While we do pray from it every week in our church prayer meetings, we must honestly ask ourselves about how much thought we personally put into this preparation for the worship service. The need for preparation. As a child, I remember preparing for school. I went to school every weekday and I was familiar with school, but

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Growing Up

Dear BPCWA worshipper, If you’re like me, you must have exclaimed fairly frequently when looking at the children in our church “They are growing up so quickly!”. We recently had groups of people moving to the next fellowship or prayer groups as they reached a new stage in their lives. For example, those reaching Year 1 and entering school joined the children’s prayer group last week. Those moving to High School will move to the Teens’ prayer group and also begin to join the Teens’ DHW lessons as well. Students entering University have also moved into the University fellowships and graduands from the university have moved to the Regeneration group too. Besides these, we will be having our Sunday School

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