Dear BPCWA worshipper, We thank God for a blessed weekend in commemorating the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at our Good Friday, Easter Sunrise, and Easter Lord’s Day Worship Services. God’s Word to us at our Easter Sunrise Service was from Luke 24:4-12. Fellowship with Christ. The word of Christ’s resurrection was sent through His messengers, but it was received very differently by the 2 groups. The women, hearing the news of His resurrection “remembered his words” (Luk 24:8). But when the same message was relayed to the disciples, it was received as “their words” and hence were like “idle tales” (Luk 24:11). Both groups received the same message but had different responses because they heard
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, There is much focus on Christ’s suffering when He was crucified for us, and rightly so. However, we must never forget that Good Friday comes hand in hand with Easter. Christ’s resurrection is His victory after being shamed, His glory being made known clearly. It is what completes the work of Christ, for “if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1Co 15:17). Sin brought the penalty of death. As we recounted in our last pastoral, all mankind fell into sin because Adam and Eve thought they knew better than God who warned, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, This Friday, Christians around the world commemorate Good Friday. It is a remembrance of the day when the Jews rejected Jesus Christ and crucified Him on the cross, dying a more degrading and painful death than that of the common criminal. This was an event that changed the course of man’s history in so many ways, both temporal and eternal. Hence, it is apt to consider all these in the light of God’s Word. Israel, God’s chosen nation. Theaccount must surely begin in Genesis, when Adam, our first father, sinned. As the federal head, all mankind fell with him. God planned to bring salvation to mankind through Eve’s future seed. Pronouncing His curse upon Satan, God would
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Over the past 2 weeks, we learned that we are stewards of God’s gifts and that we must not only be stewards, but good stewards. Stewards must not just be outwardly active and capable. Every steward’s service must stem from a heart that is inwardly pure and with no motive other than to glorify the God whom they serve. I hope that these will remind everyone of the accountability that we must give one day to God for what He has made us stewards of. God’s church, God’s work, God’s way. We are very thankful for the many abilities God has given to worshippers in BPCWA. At the same time, we must not get carried away with
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, On Rededication Sunday, those who had been assigned roles by the church or its ministries stood to rededicate their service to God. In the pastoral, we learned that we are “stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1Pe 4:10). Our gifts are from God, and we are but mere stewards. As God’s stewards, we do anything and everything only at His bidding, not our own will or pleasure. Service is not, as in many modern churches today, something that is dished out to keep the people happy so that they feel obligated to remain in the church, nor to buy the favour and support of people who are “honoured” with key or significant roles. If we are
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Today is Rededication Sunday, wherein everyone serving in any way in God’s church vows to rededicate themselves to serve their Lord. Having this annually serves as a good reminder of the service that every child is called to render to God. There are many lessons about service that God teaches us in His Word. In the church, we serve Christ and His body. I want to revisit the verse from 1 Peter 4:10, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Stewards for God. Serving is very important to even unbelievers. Even the world talks about how serving can bring a
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Last month, we had our Sunday School Promotion, where some children were promoted to the next level of class, and some out of the Sunday School program. It is always a joy to see the eager and enthusiastic children God has blessed BPCWA with. Training children requires considerable dedication and commitment, especially in the lives of parents. Hence, I exhorted both children and parents from Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This is a familiar verse to those in the Sunday School ministry, but it is also very applicable to all parents and children even beyond Sunday School age. To
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Our 40th Anniversary commemoration message at the last Lord’s Day Worship Service was “The LORD that brought us forth”, from Deuteronomy 6:10-16. We were reminded that God’s chosen people were at the end of their 40 years in the wilderness. And they were about to enter the critical phase of their mission on earth – to be God’s national witness in the promised land. But they failed miserably. Hence, the local church has become her temporary replacement. They failed because they refused to heed God’s warnings. They were not to forget God, not to go after the gods in the land, and not to tempt God. Instead, they were to fear the LORD their God, serve Him,
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We have a combined worship service today to commemorate BPCWA’s anniversary. 40 years ago, BPCWA was established by our founding pastor, Dr Tow Siang Hwa. We began as an outreach of Calvary Pandan Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore, to serve as a local church here. As a church plant in Perth, it is important for us to understand the biblical purposes of a local church witness. God’s witness through the ages. The Bible tells us that time began at creation. Right from Genesis, we see men bringing sacrifices and Abraham building altars to worship God. The nation of Israel had not yet begun, and families were God’s witnesses wherever He had placed them. God passed His covenant
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Those who attended our Sunday School promotion today may have noticed how the Lord has blessed our families with little ones according to His will and timing. Also, one cannot but notice how the children and teens have grown so rapidly in physical height. This also means that the time given to parents to nurture them for God is also flying by rapidly and forever lost if they do not use the time well. Children belong to God. As we witness children being added to families according to God’s will, we must not forget that God is the Giver of life. The Psalmist reflecting on his LORD, says “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered
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