Dear BPCWA worshipper, As we celebrate our church’s 40th anniversary, I wish to continue with our recent messages and pastorals about the church. Today, I want to examine the purpose of the church. The church is a unique organisation established by God Himself. However, over time, the purpose of the local church has been shifted by views propounded by some. While some may view these differences as something for theologians to argue over, we must remember that doctrines drive practices, determining what a church focuses on and does. The belief of what a church ought to be also affects one’s expectation of the church, for example, what the church should do for me or for others, or should avoid doing.
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We celebrate our 40th anniversary this year. We do not have a long history going back hundreds of years. However, we do follow a style of worship that has served the church for generations, even before we were established. BPCWA is, unapologetically, what some would label as a traditional church. But what does that mean for us today? A traditional church. An internet search brings a somewhat accurate depiction of what makes up a traditional church. It says of a traditional church service, “Congregational singing relies on historic hymns from hymnals, accompanied by an organ, piano. . . The Order of Worship is formal and predictable. It typically follows a structured flow: Scripture readings, corporate prayers, a
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, During last week’s ACM exhortation, I preached from Ephesians 4:12 “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”. It was a reminder that every work and ministry in BPCWA, besides glorifying Christ, must build up the body of Christ, i.e., the worshippers here. Today, I want to look at another aspect of this verse for our consideration, on the matter of perfection. I’m imperfect. Although God created every thing “very good” (Gen 1:31), all mankind fell with Adam and Eve’s fall. Sin is a way of life with us, so much so that we don’t even know it ourselves. No matter how “good” unsaved men
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Today is our Annual Congregational Meeting and Triennial Elections. It is particularly significant as we also commemorate our 40th anniversary this year. As a surprise memento for worshippers, which we have kept under wraps, we will begin distributing our 40th Anniversary Commemorative Magazine today. Reason for an anniversary magazine. 40 years often bears the significance of marking a generation in the Bible. An anniversary is a time to look back and to look forward. The key reason for this publication is to give thanks to God for His providential work and help in our midst. It has been 15 years since the 25th Anniversary Magazine was published, and much has happened since. Hence, this magazine covers the
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We will have our triennial elections next Sunday. When we had our elections 3 years ago, I wrote several pastorals about assessing the qualifications of the candidates put up for election. Do read those pastorals, which are available on our website, if you would like to be reminded of what to consider. This week, I would like to remind members of our responsibilities as we put in our votes next week. Why have elections? Our Constitution requires Session members to be elected every 3 years. The fundamental purpose of elections is to protect God’s church. Church offices, from the pastor to the deacons, are not “guaranteed for life”. Someone elected to the office in the past when
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Today, I will summarise the final message preached during the camp. Thus far, we’ve seen how the church must function as the covenantal house of God, doing God’s business. We must commit ourselves to God’s church because it was purchased by Christ’s blood. In this commitment, we must give ourselves fully to champion God’s church. This commitment must include fighting against errors and wrong practices in the church. The charge to the family. Paulrepeatedly charged Timothy to take care of the church. In 2 Timothy, as Paul bid farewell to his beloved spiritual son, he charged Timothy once again. As the father of the spiritual family, the pastor of the church has a higher charge to feed
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Having covered the past 6 messages of the camp, I will be covering sermon 7 today. The cautions to God’s house. Timothy had “professed a good profession” of faith (1Ti 6:12), but Paul charged him to pursue a higher standard. He had to bear witness like Christ Jesus (1Ti 6:13) so that the church would learn from him and do likewise. This is also what we must do today, to protect BPCWA. Because it is the church of the living God, we must be very conscious not to taint it with worldliness, especially in worship. The church’s music must not pander to parents’ or members’ desire to showcase skills. Church is not about performing music pieces to
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, we will recapture messages 5 and 6 this week. I pray that these reviews will help all remember the key aspects of the messages and rekindle our resolutions that we made at camp during our private reflection times. The collective witness – the Achan effect. Each individual’s life affects the church’s witness. The “collective witness” of the church refers to its shared responsibility to reflect Christ’s teachings. Because the church is considered one “body” (1 Corinthians 12), individual sins impact the entire community. They can delay, detract from, and even destroy the church’s mission, let alone its witness. They can also weaken its spiritual vitality. This notion of personal sin and its consequences on the community is
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, As we saw last week, God’s house is the church of the living God. Today, we will focus on the 3rd and 4th messages. The commitment to God’s house. Once we truly feel that God’s house is family, we won’t need to be reminded and pushed to think of God’s house and work for its betterment. The instruction to the pastor was, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1Ti 4:16). The pastor’s commitment is the example for the flock to follow. There ought to be a commitment to live it out and “save” or protect God’s sheep in
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, After having summarised the camp’s morning devotion messages, I will now recap God’s lessons for us from the thematic messages, centred around our theme verse, “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15). This Epistle was written by Paul to Timothy, who was left in Ephesus to care for the church and correct errors. Paul was aware that Timothy would face an uphill task. Hence, Timothy must handle things seriously. For BPCWA, it is apt to understand what we should do as a church in times of peace,
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