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Dear BPCWAians, Last week, BPCWA commemorated our 31st Anniversary. We gave thanks for God’s preservation and His goodness upon us. A wonderful hymn, “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord”, stirs our heart to love and serve His Church on earth,

I love thy kingdom, Lord,

the house of thine abode,

the church our blest Redeemer saved

with his own precious blood.

I love thy church, O God.

Her walls before thee stand,

dear as the apple of thine eye,

and graven on thy hand.

For her my tears shall fall;

for her my prayers ascend;

to her my cares and toils be given,

till toils and cares shall end.

Christians must be concerned about the church. While all of us must pray for the soundness and faithfulness of the church, we are also to join together with the Pastor in watching for the church too. Some Christians today feel that since I’m saved and I have the Bible, what happens in or to the church is not my concern. Why does a visible and local church exist? God’s church is a corporate and visible representation of His people, under His Name. God intends us to be an active part of a church. If so, we must all be concerned about the church. God puts in each church the Pastor as a watchman to that house. “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me” (Eze 3:17). Because we love God’s Church, we must work together with the Pastor and each other to promote God’s purpose for the church. It begins with being part of the local church. BPCWA is a visible and local church. God never intends for us to neglect the assembling together as the saints of God to worship Him.

What must BPCWA be like ? BPCWA’s purposes are actually reflected in our Constitution. BPCWA must be clear of a few key objectives it must fulfil. God willing, we will look at just four such areas over this and the next few weeks. These are (1) The salvation of souls (2) The edification of believers (3) The defence of the Holy Faith (4) The promotion of godly worship.

(1) The salvation of souls. We live in what is often called the “church age”. It is a time whereby the church has the responsibility to point the unbelieving world around us to God and our Saviour. To do this, (a) BPCWA has a responsibility to be actively evangelistic, to go out and tell the unsaved and the lost about the only Saviour for mankind. This is why we organise gospel outreaches for everyone to participate in, like City Evangelism and Australia Day Outreach. The salvation of souls is also our focus in our many other ministries and activities, such as when we go out to Nursing Homes and to the Universities for Campus Outreach. That is why we encourage worshippers to actively invite unbelievers to our Good Friday and Easter Services. We must remember this important aspect in all our outreaches, and not just think that City Evangelism is our only outreach to unbelievers. Even in our fellowship meetings, we should invite unbelievers to join us so that we may prayerfully sow the Word of God in their hearts. While we are often concerned about missions (and there is a role for missions in the church), we must not be forgetful to obey the Great Commission at our very own doorsteps in Perth, all around us. It would be a serious neglect if the church fails in this duty where God has placed us. If it is the duty of the church, then this can only be accomplished when every Christian within the church fulfils their duty individually to reach out to unbelievers in whatever way we can.

But in order to point unbelievers to God, (b) BPCWA also has the responsibility to be a “lively stone” (1 Pet 2:5) of God, by our testimony and witness. That is why as God’s witness in the Old Testament, Israel was told to obey God’s commandments. “Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deut 4:6). Being God’s testimony and witness to the unbelieving world around us is not something done merely through our lips. When unbelievers come to church, they see our lives and how the church operates. How do we conduct ourselves as a people of God and as His Church? By what principles and rules do we order our lives?

God has not changed in the New Testament. In the New Testament, the Bible points the church back to the same purpose for Israel. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9, 10). This command goes not to an individual, but to “ye” – us, collectively, as God’s people. When BPCWA, as a church, follows God’s statutes and commands, our lives reflect the very character of God. His Holiness, His Justice, His Goodness, and His Truth. This testifies of a God that is different from the gods of the world.

May BPCWA be a faithful witness for God in Perth, WA!

Yours in our Lord’s service

Pastor