Dear BPCWAians, Before we move on to 2019, let us revisit our 2018 Church Theme so that we do not forget the lessons we wanted to instil in ourselves and our families regarding what God says to His people, “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deut 10:12). Have you lived in the fear of God in 2018? What have been your greatest fears in 2018? Fears about health issues, financial difficulties, job security, family troubles, bringing up children, not having children,
Read moreDear BPCWAians, We continue on this important matter about evangelism in the believer’s life. The failure to evangelise is perhaps the most common sin of omission which we commit, because it is either not understood, or we have chosen to ignore it, or we have good excuses not to evangelise. Let us see what are some of the hindrances that we should be aware of and repent. Embarrassment of being rejected. This is often the hurdle that the unfamiliar must first cross when it comes to evangelism. We must recognise and ward off the “what-if’s” that Satan’s darts shoot into our minds. “What if he gets angry at me?” “What if I get rejected?” “What if they think I’m strange?”
Read moreDear BPCWAians, It has been encouraging that several have been making efforts to invite unbelieving children to our Holiday Bible Program. In addition, some have also contacted unbelievers as well as those who had come before for the Christmas gospel service. Perhaps as you read this, you may be wondering, “Must I evangelise? Why? I have been faithful in studying God’s Word through fellowship groups and even FEBC courses and obedient to God in many ways, is that not sufficient as a Christian?” It is very good that we have been interested in God’s Word and living according to it. But we need to also grow in this area of obedience to Christ’s command – “Go ye therefore, and teach
Read moreDear BPCWAians, It is the end of the year. What are you looking forward to at this time of the year? Perhaps having your kids come for the Holiday Bible Program, or the Christmas Service and the lunch thereafter? That is good, but I hope that these programs at the end of the year will cause us to be excited about something as well – the opportunity to invite unbelieving friends to church! Let me ask you, when was the last time you invited someone to church? This, I believe is one area that we need to improve on in BPCWA. Year-end opportunities. The year-end Holiday Bible Program (Mon 17- Wed 19 Dec, 8:45 am – 12 pm) is a
Read moreDear BPCWAians, Every week in our church bulletin under “Appointments for Today and the Week” we print a Sunday 8:30 am Pre-Service Prayer Meeting. Perhaps of all activities in the church, this is one that is least known amongst its worshippers, but yet one of the most important activities. I hope that through this Pastoral, you understand what is this about and as a result, come for this pre-service prayer meeting. Who is this for? Simply because it is in the appointments of the week without any specific target group specified means that this is a prayer meeting that is open to all worshippers. It is not just merely for church leaders and full-time workers. It is not even just
Read moreDear BPCWAians, We saw last week why God answers our prayers – “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). When we pray for things that will glorify God, He will answer. And we rejoice in answered prayers not because we obtained what we hoped for ourselves or even for others, but because God was exalted through it. So how do we pray such prayers in whatever we bring before God, both in our personal prayer and at church prayer meetings? How should I pray then? (1) The glory of God must be a foremost conscious thought behind whatsoever you ask for in prayer. Having
Read moreDear BPCWAians, We thank God for the people who have been coming to the weekly Tuesday night prayer meetings. It is encouraging to see adults coming after a long day of toil, be it at work or at home, families bringing their children although there is school the next day, students coming even though it is exam time, and some grandparents coming as well, making 3 generations present. But what has been the result of prayer meetings? Will God really answer our prayers? The church makes a prayer list of things to pray for the church and for each other since God exhorts us to be “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with
Read moreDear BPCWAians, Before you decide not to read this pastoral because you do not have a child, please read on. If you are not a parent, you still need to also read the following because you have your part to play as a member in BPCWA when you engage with children in our midst. If you are a parent (no matter how old your child is now), the following is for you too, not just to parents of the newly infant baptised child. We covered the important roles of parents in diligently teaching God’s child His Word and persevering in bringing the child up in God’s ways. But even as parents do these, we must be astutely aware that the
Read moreDear BPCWAians, Having explained the Biblical reasons for infant baptism and answering common arguments against it, we need to now consider what should follow infant baptism. This is the critical part because many parents think that all there is to infant ba ptism are the few minutes of answering a few questions before the pulpit, some water being put on the infant’s head, and all is done. Parents must know that it is just the beginning of an important spiritual journey for them as a covenantal family. It is the commencement of carrying out your vows before God who promises to aid you. We shall look at the duties of the parents: (1) Teaching them God’s Word. God commands parents,
Read moreDear BPCWAians, I hope that after last week’s pastoral, you are able to explain the Biblical reasons for infant baptism. We baptise infants because it is the sign of the covenant which believing parents are in with God, because it is covenant keeping with our covenantal God, and because it is the receiving of the covenantal promise from God. My initial intention for this week was to write to you about what should happen after infant baptism. But I felt it was needful that before we answer that, we should address some common misunderstandings and questions that arise regarding infant baptism. Our understanding and convictions on this Biblical practice must be firm and we must be ready to give an
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