Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
The Passion Week to Resurrection Day
A.D. 30. Spring. April.
[Extracted from W. Graham Scroggie, A Guide to the Gospels, 501-503.]
Sunday – Day of Demonstration
Two Disciples fetch a Colt
Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Prediction over Jerusalem
Jesus in the City and the Temple
Retirement to Bethany
Prayer Support
Victor Ng received a tract from our church at his home in Toh Yi district, near the Beauty World MRT station in January 2016. He called to request for prayer support. His elder sister Ng Ah Pee suffered a haemorrhage stroke in May 2014 and fell into a coma. Ah Pee is Victor’s only nearest next-of-kin. She was responsible to take care of Victor when he was young. There is a close bond between this pair of brother and sister. Both are baptised believers.
Ah Pee was in a coma for four months. Victor testified that he prayed incessantly for her recovery during those four months, not bearing to be separated from his dear sister. Victor has been spending time speaking to her day and night. Miraculously, she awoke. Although she is unable to speak, bedridden and on tube-feeding, she responds to Victor by the moving of her eyes. Her facial expression shows that she was consciously aware of the world around her. Victor spends 12 hours a day, 7 days a week in the nursing home taking care of Ah Pee. A cyst was discovered in her abdomen and also a rectum mass. She suffers periodically from locked jaw.
There Is Only One God
In some countries where people have not read the Bible and do not know very much about God, there are many people who think that there are several gods. Some of them think that there are two gods, some of them think that there are four gods and some of them think that there are even a hundred gods or more. In some places, people think that the sun is a god and that the moon is another god so they bow down and sometimes pray to the sun and ask it to take care of them and help them.
Can the sun or the moon help us? No, these do not have life, they are not persons who can help us. They are only things that God made to give us light, to keep us warm and for us to enjoy. They are not gods, but they are made by God. We should never pray to things that God has made but only to God Himself.
Should we pray to the angels? Are they gods? No, angels are alive, and there are some of them right there where we cannot see them, but we should not pray to them. The angels are not gods, but they are helpers for God and that is why God made them. The angels love God and there are so many of them that we cannot even think how many there are.
Most of them are in Heaven thanking and praising God and telling Him how glad they are to serve Him.
Sermon Outreach
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
There are 592 audio sermons and 156 video sermons recorded for the period since the beginning of the church on 17 November 2013 till the end of February 2018. It is available for download from www.sermonaudio/blessedhope and www.blessedhope.sg . There has been 24, 464 downloads for our MP3 audio sermons of which 11,166 are mobile phone downloads. There has been also 2,775 video sermons.
Nearer My God to Thee
Cradled in Sorrow and National Tragedy
The hymn “Nearer My God to Thee” was cradled in personal sorrow and had its maturing in an unusual history of both personal and national tragedy. The words express the heart’s deep yearning, especially in times of trial and trouble, to be drawn nearer to God.
This hymn has come to be invariably associated with the ill-fated luxury ocean liner, the Titanic, which in 1912 struck an iceberg some sixteen-hundred miles from New York City on its maiden voyage from England. As the few lifeboats pulled away carrying the six hundred passengers who were saved, all hope was lost for those left on deck.
In the final moments as the ship slowly sank beneath the icy waters of the Atlantic, sending fifteen hundred helpless souls into eternity, survivors heard the ship’s band playing the hymn’s strain with passengers on board singing the words of one who had written them for her own comfort.
Sarah Flower Adams, author of the hymn, was born in England in 1805. Her mother died when she was only five. Her dream was to be an actress, and she began a successful career on the London stage, starring as Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth. But ill health forced her to give up her acting career, and she turned her talents to writing. Her health grew more and more fragile and she died at forty-three years of age.
Life is in Jesus Christ
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Jesus Christ is the Source of life. By Him, we have our existence. This is a greatest truth for any man to believe and embrace. Jesus is the Creator of all life.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
He is the Sustainer of all life. The life that Jesus Christ imparts is the light of men. It is a realization that we have when the truth is revealed in our hearts through the wisdom imparted by the Holy Spirit.
When we realize that Jesus Christ is the Giver of life, we receive Him as Lord and Saviour.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
We learn to love Him and be grateful to Him for the life and blessings He imparts to us.
There is a chorus “What a Wonderful Saviour!” that expresses well this blessed relationship:
What a wonderful Saviour
Jesus Christ my Lord
What a wonderful Saviour
From sin He sets me free
I will praise Him forever
Faithful to death I’ll be
What a wonderful Saviour
Jesus is to me.
The Righteousness of God is manifested…by faith of Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21-22)
Romans 3:21-22 (KJV) 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.
In the ancient Chinese language developed more than 4000 years ago, there are characters that cannot be fully explained except in the book of Genesis. How did our Chinese ancestors learn this knowledge of life with the living and true God? It is indeed worthy of our investigation. In the Lunar New Year celebrations, we often display the Chinese character pronounced “fu” (shown below) which means “blessedness” or “happiness”. The desire is that the New Year may bring happiness to the family.
福
(1) 4th Anniversary Thanksgiving
Thank God for a blessed 4th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service on 28 September 2018. In this gathering, there are those whom the church has established a friendship by virtue of the gospel work and they came to rejoice with us. Loved ones and friends were gathered together to recall the goodness of God toward His people in the past 4 years.
Greetings from Rev Dr Tow Siang Hwa, our pastoral advisor, the man who by advice, aided us in the establishment of this local church. Dr Tow baptised 10 of our members. He preached here 10 times since the church began and administered the Lord’s Supper for the last time on September 2015.
He was with us on our 2nd Anniversary Thanksgiving Service in January 2016. Praise the Lord for the care of a senior leader of the church who for the propagation of the gospel helped to strengthen our hands establishing this outreach for the gospel. We thank the Lord for him and pray the Lord will keep and strengthen him daily.
(1) A Note of Thanksgiving
It is with great rejoicing and thanksgiving that we are gathered to remember our Lord’s goodness upon this congregation of God’s people at Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church, on this 4th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service. For all members, loved ones and friends, thank God for your co-labouring in the gospel work.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.
I send you greetings on behalf of Rev. Dr. Tow Siang Hwa, our Pastoral Advisor. Indeed, all praise and glory are accorded to our great God for making this witness a reality in the last 4 years.
Let us pray and seek the Lord’s blessing that the gospel is sounded forth, souls added into God’s kingdom and saints edified and fervent in the service of the Lord.
Recounting with Thanksgiving
It is with thanksgiving that we recount God’s blessings for the year of grace 2017:
(a) 1 January 2017
Thank God for the second year in which the 365-Day Andrew Murray Devotional Bible was encouraged for use among members and friends. Seven have completed with a certificate of completion in the form of a bookmark given out in October 2017.
(b) 7 January 2017
Youth Fellowship’s 2nd Anniversary was commemorated with the message “Remember Now Thy Creator in the Days of Thy Youth.”
(c) 15 January 2017
Blessed Hope Mobile Library was launched for members and friends to borrow books. An initial collection of 50 books was available for loan. 1 Timothy 4:13a “Till I come, give attendance to reading”.