Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
On 28 January 2014, Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church (BHBPC) came into existence when registration approval was received from the Registrar of Societies of Singapore.
A small group first gathered to pray on 15 August 2013 at the Praise Chapel of the Salvation Army Building.
It was on 24 September 2013 that the application for registration of BHBPC was submitted. 127 days later, the Lord answered our prayer. We saw the good hand of God leading us.
When Nicodemus the Pharisee came to Jesus, he was spiritually dead. Jesus said to him, “Ye must be born again.” To be born-again is to have a spiritual life, having fellowship and communion with the living and true God. In John 3:8, Jesus uses the illustration of the “wind” to describe one having spiritual life. He says “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) The wind is invisible, you cannot see the wind with your eyes but you can feel its breeze. When you fly a kite, you see the reality of the wind blowing when the kite is lifted up in the sky. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life is such, not visible to the naked eye yet the true believer is able to overcome sin and temptation by the power of the indwelling Spirit.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. The …
In John 4, Jesus initiated the conversation by humbling Himself to ask drink from the woman at the well in Samaria (for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans). In fact, historically, they were bitter enemies. The Jew would not stoop low to ask a drink from the Samaritan even though he may be thirsty. Jesus reached out to the unlovable and outcast Samaritan proactively. He did not despise her but saw this “outcast” as a precious soul needing the gospel. Jesus’ act of condescension startled the woman. This brought forth a response from her. Jesus utilized the illustration of “living water” that will quench her thirst forever alluding to everlasting life from God to arouse her interest to seek to know more of the truth.
2 Kings 2:15-25 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.
The Apostle Paul tells us the benefits of being spiritually minded is life and peace while the curse of carnal mindedness is death. He instructs us to live for the things that are eternal not the things that are temporal. He is teaching us a heavenly value system that is very different from the temporal gratification that the flesh offers us in this world. True peace is a life without regrets.
The redeemed man, therefore, is holy in the sight of God in that he is made holy by the merits of Jesus Christ. This is the meaning of the phrase “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us”. When we repent of our sins and received Jesus Christ into our hearts, believing that He died and rose from the dead the third day, we are saved. By the indwelling Holy Spirit, we have the divinely-endowed strength to reject the way of sin and walk after God in holiness. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
Through Jesus Christ, the believer is made free from the bondage of sin and continues to be made holy by the law of the Spirit of Christ indwelling him. It is called a law because it predicts a certain outcome. God will mould His people through life to confirm in His image.
Matthew 26:57-68 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.
The Elements of Worship – Psalm 96
The worship of our Creator is the highest point of Man’s existence. God has not left us without a guide as to how we are to approach Him. Truly, we are to worship Him in the “Beauty of Holiness” (v10). There is a reverential awe and fearful disposition associated with our worship when the attribute of God’s holiness is emphasised.