Dear BPCWA worshipper, It is with much thanksgiving in our hearts that we were once again able to meet in person for our Family Camp. Over the next few weeks, I will summarise the sermons preached at the camp as an important recapturing of key lessons we should not forget, as well as for the benefit of all worshippers. BPCWA is, by God’s mercies, enjoying doctrinal unity and we must continue to stress on such unity. However, we must not underestimate Satan’s wiles to weaken our testimony by sowing seeds of internal disunity and strife. Hence, I invited Rev Ko Lingkang to record the morning devotion messages on the theme “Unity in the Church”, with 4 messages on “The Basis
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We continue looking at God’s command, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Ho 10:12). Last week, we saw the importance of having prepared hearts as we come before God and listen to His Word. When we continue the same way regardless of whatever we hear, the easy excuse can be that “I’ve heard that before, it’s nothing new to me”. While the messenger of God’s Word must be faithful to what He proclaims, the hearer of His Word also has a responsibility to prepare their hearts to be ready for His Word. Let us
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We thank God that we can once again have the Camp and Retreat this year. These activities are important for our worshippers and so we endeavour to schedule them every year – even if they could only be conducted online during the COVID-19 lockdown period. I hope that worshippers will make every effort to attend these activities. The purpose of us publishing the dates on the calendars is so that you will keep them free, not schedule your travel or other plans during this time, and attend. But while we encourage attendance, just being there is not all there is to it. Such activities are times when we desire “to seek the LORD, till he come and
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, When God gives us rain, it is so that there can be fruitfulness. As we saw last week, God does not define fruitfulness only by what one does externally. Instead, God is concerned about what motivates the actions. Hence, John the Baptiser rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism saying, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Mt 3:8). Let us not be blinded by the devil’s lie that “ignorance is bliss” e.g. thinking “Since I am already attending Bible studies, serving, regular at prayer meetings, keeping my regular quiet time, and having family worship, I need not think further about whether I am genuinely fruitful.” So, I go on blissfully without searching my own
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we saw how God Himself compares His word to rain in Isaiah 55:10-11. Rain waters and brings growth to the earth it falls on. God rains to bring fruitfulness. Likewise, God intends His Word to bring fruit too, and accomplish His purpose. We thank God for a church that teaches His Word faithfully. Even as we do so, we must be conscious too that God has a purpose for that. It isn’t just a duty for the church pastor to do. As the Word is preached every Lord’s Day and at every Bible study, we must understand then that God intends it to bring fruit. That is God’s desired purpose. However, even if it does
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, With the heavy downpour last Sunday, many of us were quick to thank God for finally bringing some much-needed rain to WA. Living in an agricultural country, we realise the importance of rainfall to the farmers. While Autumn does tend to mean that the trees begin to bare as the leaves fall, the recent rains that we have experienced have also brought with them a tinge of green amidst the browned landscape around us. Despite our best efforts over the past months to water manually and to use our sprinklers, the lawn outside our church stayed stubbornly brown as the grass refused to grow. Now after the recent heavy rains provided on and off by God, the
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, WA went through a period over the past eight months of some record-breaking drought conditions. Month after month, we were faced with record-high temperatures and record-low rainfall. With the lowest rainfall in more than 50 years, our fertile southwest region has had its dams depleted. As autumn came 3 months ago, there was a bit of a respite from the summer highs that we had experienced. But still, it didn’t feel very much like the normal autumns that we had been used to. So, it was with joy that some may have exclaimed last Lord’s Day that winter has finally come, as we experienced chillier temperatures and a smattering of rainfall. Even as you read this today,
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, I am sure it is the common experience of parents asking their children to obey them in something that is good for the child and is also the child’s duty and obligation to do so. Although it is something that the child doesn’t want to do, but because the child knows that it is something that must be done because it is commanded by the parent, the child may do it after several reminders. At times, as an expression of their unhappiness at having been made to do it, the obedient action is done with a reluctant or defiant spirit that may not be immediately obvious to those around them. Does the parent know? I would say
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We have been emphasizing the importance of the mind for a Christian from various passages of Scriptures recently. Today, we will touch on another aspect of our minds – what we fill it with. Living in the world. We spend a lot of time in the world every day. This is natural and inevitable because of life’s duties. God does not expect us to be hermits and isolate ourselves, or we will need go “out of the world” (1Co 5:10). For children, they go through the school system for about 6 hours of the day. For those that work, they typically spend about 7.6 hours a day working, whether from home or at the office. This being so,
Read moreDear BPCWA worshipper, We continue on the subject of a Christian’s mental health this week. Though unanticipated, we have had in the news even more mentions of mental health over the past week. Given the current issues in society, such news is also not too surprising since our minds reflect who we are and control what we say and do in society as well. As we mentioned last week, even the world acknowledges that due to the “lack of coping skills and resilience. Worry, stress, and anxiety can build up over a long period of time. They can reach a point where a person is no longer able to cope or perform their normal daily tasks”. Do not misinterpret this
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