Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we closed off the year with a pastoral on our 2020 church theme. I hope that having spent time studying that verse, none of us will be shipwrecked in our spiritual life. We can be at church, go through all the appearances, but simply for the purpose of “keeping up with appearances”. What are we really underneath that façade? Are we really, truly, within the very core of ourselves, what we want people to think about us externally? Do we keep numbing our consciences with repeated offences? Shipwreck is real. God is serious about it. We may continue to allow even one repeated sin into our lives with no desire to deal with it, thinking that it is causing no immediate problem. It doesn’t take a large hole in a ship’s hull to cause a ship to sink. But we can be shipwrecked in time, to our own loss. Are you real in your faith and convictions?

For 2021, as we have announced, our church’s theme verse is taken from 2 Peter  3:18, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen”. As is also our practice, I will start off the year preaching on this theme. To many, this is a very common verse, that many are familiar with. So, some may be surprised that we would choose something so seemingly “simple” and commonplace. Why was this theme chosen? What growth is needed?

The need for this theme. The reason for the choice of this theme is that each worshipper in BPCWA must keep growing spiritually. I thank God that in BPCWA, we are able to have many Bible studies and fellowships where the Word of God is taught. We also have many that do come to learn at these sessions, and we continue to encourage everyone to do so. Despite COVID distanced seating, there is yet room for more to come to learn together. It is easy to be lulled into thinking that “I have already learnt much, that is enough”. We grow in age each year without needing to put in any “effort” because it is an inevitable process. We expect that one who is older is more mature in thought and demeanor, but we know sadly that is not necessarily so. Though we expect growth in the mental and emotional sphere, and though we also expect growth in the physical realm, yet many do not feel that growth in the spiritual realm is as critical. A baby is expected to grow in weight. A child is expected to grow in height. Without this evidence of growth, parents are worried that there is something wrong with the child. It is a sign that something is not right, and that there is sickness. We need to have a greater concern when it comes to spiritual growth. Hence the choice of this theme for 2021.

The need to grow spiritually. Growing in physical fitness and strength requires constant and ongoing determination and effort. Our spiritual growth is no different. In the physical realm, when we stop exercising, we will soon find that we begin to lose muscle mass, decrease in strength, lose stamina, and become less fit over time. The only growth is usually in the accumulation of undesirable kinds of fat that will make us more prone to health problems. Similarly, we will face spiritual health issues when we stop growing in the spiritual realm. We remark how quickly our children grow in height. Some groan when their hair stops growing as much as it used to. When we fall, we depend on the body’s natural growth process such that the open wound is healed and covered. Growth is a sign of life. Even as we age, God has designed our bodies to continue to grow in some ways, though perhaps at a reduced rate. Someone once said that the only body that has no signs of life is a dead body. Problems happen when there is no growth in the physical body. And the physical body must remind us that we have a spiritual body that must continue to grow too. But unlike the physical, the spiritual can continue to grow greatly despite the onset of age. The Apostle Paul taught us this fact very clearly when he said that “though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” (2Cor 4:16) Growth is not an option, and you can continue to grow spiritually. Growth is expected for every Christian, not only the “holy ones” or the “young ones”. I thank God for many who are elderly who continue to come for Bible studies and fellowships because they see the need to keep growing. But it is easy to falter and to stop. Unless we first realize personally that growth is an imperative and necessary part of our Christian lives, we can easily stop growing spiritually.And gradually we will be disinterested and not want to grow.

The need to grow in grace and knowledge. As mentioned, we have numerous sessions to grow in the knowledge of God’s Word. As we have given out our church calendar, we encourage all of you to mark out the dates of the Bible studies and fellowships and come to grow in knowing God through His Word. But the accumulation of knowledge is insufficient. God specifically lays out here that true growth is that which is demonstrated in grace with the knowledge. We can have a church where we can recite the Westminster Confession of Faith, answer most theological questions rightly, and some may even have accumulated many credits from studying the Far Eastern Bible College classes. All these are good and necessary and we should not stop. But the study of the Bible is not an academic subject. It is not acquired to merely be able to answer questions, to engage in discussions on the subject, or just to be able to facilitate lessons and teach others. The question is after all these years, have you grown spiritually? True spiritual growth is evidenced in our lives. Growth is for fruit-bearing. After studying God’s Word, the fruit of the Holy Spirit ought to become more evident in our lives, in more Christlike spirits. The Holy Spirit working in a person’s heart will be evident in a genuine desire to speak of God because that is what the Holy Spirit’s illumination is – a deeper knowledge of the virtues of God. It is not just discussions of “what is the right thing to do in such and such a situation”. It is not merely discussions of the 4 or 5 points that were covered during the sermon. True Bible knowledge is about the revelation of the nature of God. Through that knowledge, we see how desirable He is, and so desire to grow in likeness to Him in all His graces. A growing believer is not just a tall impressive tree outwardly that is rotting and hollow within its trunk. When we have great interest and zeal in talking about ourselves, our lives, our jobs, our hobbies, our sports, our food, but we fall way short of that enthusiasm when it comes to delighting in speaking of God Himself, it is already the obvious outward signs of what preoccupies us and what delights us. These are signs of a lack of growth in God’s grace.

Brethren, will you make it your personal desire to have genuine growth in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in 2021? May BPCWA be a church characterized by His redeemed that bear His image and live every day by the knowledge of Him.

Yours in our Lord’s service,

Pastor