Dear BPCWAians, Thank God for seeing us through another year, and through last week’s ACM. We serve a Sovereign Lord, and we thank God for His ever-present protecting Hand over His church. For the benefit of all worshippers, I want to recap and make additional reminders about the exhortation I made at the start of our ACM. Act 1:8-11 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”.

Where we must start. After His resurrection, Christ gave His disciples a mission to fulfill. In His instructions, they were to start in Jerusalem, Judaea, and Samaria. Certainly, it was because they were to first reach out to God’s chosen people. But God’s intention was also that they work outwards, not forgetting those closer home, and of course those in distant lands. We should note the order of the places because we could also be so concerned about the uttermost part of the earth, that we leave out those nearer our shores. We should be mindful of missions outside of Australia. We organized mission trips to Myanmar. As reported in our ACM reports, we have shared in a part of Bethel’s mission work, and we will continue to do so. At our 2019 ACM, we informed you all that we will be setting aside funds to lend our support Bethel BPC in their building of a Bible college in Myanmar. We want to get the gospel into the villages and out far and wide as opportunities arise. But we must remember that in this local church that God planted, even by our very name, we are a church in Western Australia. We must therefore be highly committed to being a witness here in WA especially. When the Far Eastern Bible College trains men for the ministry, it is so that they will go to the Lord’s appointed place of service. They will serve there and extend God’s kingdom where He places them for service. We are placed to stay in Perth. If we are not called to devote our lives as missionaries elsewhere, then our role in the extension of His kingdom lies in us being “evangelists” where we have settled – here in WA. This is not just something that we leave to the Evangelism Committee to fulfill. If you are a disciple of our Lord, it is for you to fulfill. How should we begin? It is natural that we begin in our homes by spreading the gospel to our family and friends. However, let us not stop there. We must be concerned about the people in this place. We may admire missionaries in conversion work because we thought it was not possible to convert heathen tribes in far distant lands. But God saved nevertheless. Likewise, to our human minds, we may think it impossible to “convince” people in “our Jerusalem”. But with God, if He has elected, it is possible. Let us not easily conclude that people cannot be reached in this land where He has placed us. This must be where our doctrines must become a reality in our faith. It is His election. Those whom He elects, He Himself will change their hearts through His irresistible grace. If He chooses to use us as the mouthpieces that will lead His elect into His fold, that is but our duty and our privilege. God has placed us among the elect here in Perth to whom we must reach out.

Our work for our Lord. After Christ gave the commandment to His disciples and was received into heaven, the disciples stood looking up, perhaps hoping that He would return. God sent two angels which asked them “why stand ye gazing up into heaven?”. From thence, they returned to Jerusalem. It was time to “get back” to their work. They were to go to their Jerusalem where God will fill them with the Holy Ghost enabling power to evangelise! The angel reminded them not to get distracted with inactivity. We too, today, must remember this command. We yearn for the Lord’s return, groaning at the sin and troubles of everyday life. It is good that we desire Christ to be with us and yearn for His return. But as long as our Lord tarries, we must remember that it is because He has a purpose – occupy till I come (Luke 19:13), especially in our “Jerusalem”. That certainly involves our usual service. But we must realise that in His plan, whosoever He has foreordained into eternal life must be reached with the gospel and into His kingdom. The Church is His bride and we must love Him. While it is good that we love the Lord, our love must be evident. If truly love our Lord, we will want those around us to know Him, love Him, serve, and worship Him too. Which bride to be does not desire that her family, friends, and acquaintances will also admire her husband to be? So while we await His return, we must toil, serve, and reach out. There are people that we meet regularly in our everyday lives. Let us look around us and fully engage them to be witnesses here in Perth. I don’t doubt that it’ll be difficult, and possibly even discouraging. We may try and there may be no results. But the results are from the Lord. God’s way is that we must labour. We must sow in order to reap, or even for others to reap. While we thank God that some seem to just walk into the doors of the church, but we should not just expect that as a norm. Even for such ones, it was perhaps a tract earlier, the labour of our media ministries that introduced them to our church … someone’s labour here or there that before was unknown to us. We must dutifully sow before we can reap. Ec 11:4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

Why must we bring people into church. The church’s mission is to extend His kingdom. We must not see this simply as a “program” because we are embarking on a church extension. The church extension is in preparation for us to do this widely. I am also not saying this because we want to “fill the pews”, nor because we want BPCWA to be a big church. The right focus for our outreach, the goal and desire we must have, is that others around us will know, worship, and serve our risen Saviour. That is why a church is planted – to be a local witness. It isn’t just for “us”, but for those that He has intended to be saved and be part of a sound church. We want to provide green pastures so that His sheep can feed safely. There may be some of His children that are in churches that do not uphold the truth of God’s Word. Or others that may have backslidden and even stopped attending church altogether. Let us invite them in and grow together with us, to learn His truth, and to know Him as He reveals in His Word. Let BPCWA help His elect to be sanctified and ready to meet their bridegroom when He calls for them. Where is Christ taught? In church. Where is God worshipped? In church. Where do we serve Him? In church. We worship, study, and serve in church. That is why Christ gave us churches. Ultimately, we must have a theocentric view of our outreach. In God’s gracious plan for the salvation of a fallen humanity, it is ultimately so that He may be glorified. This then must be our view of our outreaches and every ministry – that He may be known and magnified by those He graciously saves. With this view, we are not doing it for BPCWA, but for our Lord whom we love, serve, and worship.

Yours in our Lord’s service,

Pastor