Dear BPCWAians,

When the lockdown started in Perth, I preached a sermon from “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” (Rom 8:28) It was the start of a very uncertain period, something that none of us had ever gone through before. What would it be like for us, individually, our families, and for BPCWA? We  can understand the need for isolation for our physical good. But how could it possibly be any spiritual good since we couldn’t gather as a church, when so many of our regular church activities had to be put on hold? Now, when we look back on the past 2 months, what were some spiritual good that came out of this?

Forming new habits. These, as in many things in life, are tests for us individually. Our true self and personalities are often revealed at such trying times. How would we behave when we’re in the privacy of our own homes and out of “church’s” eyes? A concern I had at the start of this crisis was that many would not stay disciplined with the worship and study of God’s Word. We could put our livestreams online, but would people use it? (1) Many who did not use   to join us for our weekday meetings have started to do so online as well. (2) Families have kept up with their family worships at home. Some families who were not regularly conducting family worships previously began to do so as the family went through isolation together at home, away from school and work. Some families also began to use church materials to conduct Sunday Schools at home. (3) For many families, it was a first for them, as their children (some of whom previously were restless and distracted while at church) learned to sit still, pay attention and listen to the online sermons. With this training beginning at home, many of these children are now trained to join adult worship and listen to the sermons. Parents were diligent in teaching them to sit together

with parents, stand in worship, and bow in prayer. Church “schedules” were maintained. Although the weekday night meetings were livestreamed, children continued to take afternoon naps so that they could be attentive during the evening livestreams. (4) Many had more time with the family, but the real spiritual good is that this extra time was put to good use in spiritual practices, activities, and conversations in many families. God had provided parents with 2 months to practice Deuteronomy 6 intensively in their homes, training up their children in the ways they should go (Prov 22:6).

Practicing Christian love and faith. How would we respond when things get difficult for us personally? Early in the pandemic, when people were busy caring and stocking up for themselves, it was touching to have some reach out with care and concern to other brethren. Someone’s doorbell rings and  an unexpected homecooked meal is left at the door. Thoughtful gifts that were exactly what was needed at that time to cheer the heart. Who would have known, except that our Heavenly Father had touched His child to do it at the precise moment that encouragement was needed? Quietly behind the scenes, many cooked and delivered meals for families with newborns. There are testimonies of how God had known that someone was in need of a certain provision – and how He worked things out to provide it through His timed circumstances. When individuals were short of a provision, how they learned to turn to prayer that He would make stock available when they went to the stores. Everything worked out by the clockwork precision that only God could work out.

Willing, humble service to God. As a Pastor, what has really touched my heart has been the readiness with which His children stepped up readily to serve our God. As mentioned in an earlier Pastoral, these lockdown restrictions  and easing have been intensive. New processes had to be drawn up and ready almost overnight. Many, many worked tirelessly and quietly behind the scenes. They didn’t do it because they would be seen or praised by men, but simply to support God’s work. As you livestream at home, and even when you return to church, so much has been required. It has strengthened my faith personally when I see how God has prepared talents for His children to serve Him in His church, at His appointed time. We must thank God that He has given to BPCWA many who are gifted in so many areas needed at this time – in design, in web and livestream expertise, and in audio-visual abilities. For many of these, even when people returned to church and were fellowshipping outside, they continued to fine-tune and improve the camera or video settings, ready for the next recording. With the restrictions on the numbers of people gathering, people were ready to step into new roles at short notice so that separate bulletin, announcement and AV teams could support the needed separate English and Chinese services. Where help was short, some were willing to serve outside of their comfort zone. We had to suddenly put in place a COVID Safety Plan so that church could reopen. At short notice, someone had to work on analysing the grouping of people, some helped in the purchase of materials and setup of the cleaning processes, and tidying up required around church before we could start. COVID Safety processes also meant that we needed people to monitor physical distancing and count worshippers coming in. A whole new process documentation had to be prepared to train people for these roles. Though never having before served as ushers, I am thankful for those who readily agreed to help take up this new role to coordinate and work with the rostered ushers/ counters to implement the COVID processes. They were diligent in reading through the processes and think through how to communicate it, and I am thankful that they have taken off a load that would otherwise have occupied much of the Session’s time to manage.

All in all, the work to support the past 2 months has been intense. And it could only have been done with all His children working together for His church. We have much to be thankful for, as we see God work in each of His children’s hearts for His work’s sake.

1Cor 12:18-20 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

Yours in our Lord’s service,

Pastor