Lord’s Day, Vol. 4 No. 40
(1) Rescue the Perishing
– A Song from the Slums
At the age of sixty, when many were planning retirement, Fanny Crosby launched out on a new career. She spent several days a week in a mission work in the slums of the Bowery district in New York City. Once, after such a visit among the destitute and derelicts, she returned home and wrote the now-famous hymn:
Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one,
Lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, The mighty to save.
Refrain
Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying
Jesus is merciful,
Jesus will save.
Tho they are slighting Him,
Still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly,
Plead with them gently,
He will forgive if they only believe.
Down in the human heart,
Crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving hand,
Wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.
Rescue the perishing,
Duty demands it,
Strength for thy labour the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them,
Tell the poor wand’rer a Saviour has died.
God gives a song, not only in our own night seasons but also when we enter into dark nights of other lives. God often gives us His most precious songs as we serve Him amid the hurts and heartaches of our world. We will know His presence and His words for us to speak through our concern and care for the perishing, the dying, the erring, and the fallen. Let us be about the people and places where the songs of Christ will resonate through the darkness.
[Extracted and edited from Songs in the Night by Henry Gariep]
(2) Tracting Team Report
– By Patrick Tan on behalf of team.
Isaiah 55:1-3 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”
OBJECTIVES:
- Evangelise to lost souls in the neighbourhood.
- Train and encourage personal evangelism.
- Keep the Lord’s Day Holy.
- Find fellowship and encouragement through service.
- Follow up on contacts.
By God’s grace, BHBPC’s first tracting session was conducted on 17 July 2016. Subsequently, the tracting team meets every 1st and 3rd Lord’s Day of the month at 1.40pm in the church office for prayer and equipping of gospel tracts and other handouts, before distributing them to passers-by outside the nearby MRT station. Average attendance is about 5-7 adults and a few young children.
Thank God for opportunities to meet residents at the MRT station, who live in nearby private estates usually inaccessible to door-to-door evangelism.
Thank God for sending precious like-minded brethren to co-labour in this ministry and for the mutual encouragement and fellowship.
Pray for God’s presence and guidance, “…that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ.” (Col. 4:3)
Pray for the Lord’s mercies to convict lost souls of their sin and the need of the gospel, soften their hearts, and save them by the power of His Word.
Pray for the team to “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col. 1:9). Pray also for unity, strength, protection, faithfulness and perseverance.
May the Lord make us a channel of His blessings through the gospel, in these last days, before our Lord Jesus Christ returns!
Isaiah 55:9-11 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
Please pray, encourage and join in this gospel effort for His glory. Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee