Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we saw how Christians should live godly lives in an ungodly world, and not be swept along by the world. Importantly, we must consider how the ungodly world can affect the church’s function and mission. What are some of these changes that we must note because they will affect God’s church more and more? Changes in beliefs and mindsets. Education, media, interest groups, and legislature push agendas to promote mindsets of what they want the world to believe in and about what should be acceptable, even desirable, norms. People are brought up from young to embrace these values. The world’s standards are inculcated in them about what is right and what to reject. Naturally, country
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We live in a time when society seems to be at the crossroads of change. When a religion is the dominant force in that society, the values will reflect that of the religion. This was so during the Middle Ages when the church influenced society at large. By God’s providential appointment, Australia was established as a commonwealth of the United Kingdom. With their influence, the beginning of many of society’s values and laws here were largely consistent with Christian values and morals. In the United States of America, during a resurgence of religion, a bill was signed to have “In God We Trust” printed on all American currency. God only intended Israel to be a nation uniquely
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, In early September, we held a communication update of our church extension project. I would like to take the opportunity to capture some points on this project in today’s pastoral and provide everyone with an update on some progress since then. Certificate of design compliance. We obtained the Certificate of Design Compliance in April 2024. Our original proposal was to use a chairlift for the disabled to access the 1st floor. The consultant who came to assess our building found that our chairlift did not comply with the requirements for disabled access. Instead, he suggested that activities attended by any disabled could be held on the ground floor so that there is no need for them to
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, In past years, Family Seminars have been on bringing up godly seeds for God’s church. This year, we turned the focus back on the marriage. Godly seeds are brought up at home. Bringing up godly seeds begins with good marriages. A good marriage according to God’s design makes your marriage useful to God and positively affects the church, which is God’s house. Such a marriage also positively affects your relationship and walk with God. But God’s model of headship and submission has been inverted by the world. Who would you follow? The foundation of a happy marriage. What is God’s blueprint to build and sustain a biblical one flesh marriage model? What is the best picture to
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, What makes a happy marriage must be something that interests every Christian. Even those called into singlehood must know how to respond so they do not unwittingly promote the world’s ideas, often imbibed through the media and those around us, concerning marriage. Seeking marriage merely for romance or to fulfil one’s “dream” will not result in a blissful marriage because it is not based upon the biblical model of marriage. Erroneous ideas will affect God’s people and future generations, detracting us from God’s design and purpose of marriage. Bad marriages affect not just the unhappily married, but those around them. Why do people divorce? Possibly because they didn’t bother or were unwilling to reconcile with each other,
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, God expects His people to honour and submit to the authorities that He places over them in the government. We saw last week that submission even to bad rulers, in matters that are not sinful, is expected of Christians because it is submission to God’s authority. This week, I want to speak further on God’s plan for submission in the areas where Christ is even more obvious as Lord and Saviour, namely that of the church and the Christian home. This was a topic that I covered at the recent Family Seminar. I hope every worshipper, young and old, will desire to learn and make the effort to listen to the sermons (on our website) or watch
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We live in a world that promotes ideologies that are very contrary to what God says. Indeed, one of God’s commandments that can be repugnant to the people in the world is that of submission. Slowly but surely, Satan is moving the world’s mentality away from obedience and submission. Such sentiments have an inevitable influence on Christians’ thinking too. Media, governments, and schools constantly promote the values of individual rights, democracy, and independence. It is not the intent of this pastoral to argue for or against these. However, the great concern is how the trend can spawn an anti-authority and rebellious mindset which Christians must guard themselves against. We saw in our recent sermons on 1 Samuel
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We continue in this pastoral about the Christian’s service. Christ is concerned about His churches, and He walks in the midst of them (Re 1:13). Our service is observed by Him. As such, we must constantly keep our eyes upon Him in everything we do in church, serve aright, and seek to please Him. Some key requirements upon anyone who serves in any capacity. 1) Be humble, not selective. We must remember that service is not our choosing, but God’s. Be content and diligent where God appoints us. We should not seek to serve only in prominent positions in the church. Some are literally “doorkeepers” in the house of God (Ps 84:10) – coming early to open or staying
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, I wrote about some fallacies and erroneous mindsets among Christians about service. BPCWA must have a biblical understanding of service so that the service we offer to our Lord is acceptable and pleasing to Him. The topic is indeed so broad that we can only skim over some key points about service. However, outward forms of service and work are not just what counts. As the Son of man is “in the midst of the seven candlesticks” (Re 1:13), everyone who serves must remember that Christ is seeing and examining our works individually and as a church. Remember, God says, “I know thy works” (Re 2:9, 13, 19; 3:8, 15). Qualified to serve. Obviously, the first
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Today is our Annual Congregational Meeting, and members have received a copy of the reports distributed 2 weeks ago. Within the handouts are reports containing updates on the ministries and activities in the church. I thank God that most BPCWA worshippers are serving in one way or another in the church. Behind the activities in these reports are many of you who have been diligently serving in both forefront and background roles, and even in areas not mentioned within these reports. I thank God for the many who serve with the right understanding and spirit. It is important for us at such a time as ACM to reflect upon how the church and Christians should think about
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