Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
The Registry of Societies sent this email on 11 February 2014 – “Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church was registered on 28/01/2014 under the Societies Act. The gazette notification effecting the registration was published in the Government Gazette, Electronic Edition, on 06/02/2014 vide Notification Number 305. Copies of the gazette can be purchased from Legal Publishing, Toppan Leefung Pte. Ltd.”
Thank God for His guidance in the registration of the church.
We have embarked on the study of the Life of Christ as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew in our sermon series since January 2014. There are rich lessons that benefit our souls for eternity. This world and its wisdom will pass away, liable to change and corruption. In contrast, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is the living God in human flesh, full of grace and glory. There is no greater discipline than the study of the Word of God. There is no better picture of godliness than the life of His Son. Jesus Christ is the exact representation of God, the embodiment of the fullness of wisdom. Please pray for the preacher who has taken on a challenge unequal to the task. It is only by prayer and the Spirit’s enabling that the preaching of His Word may be accomplished for His glory.
Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church became a reality when the Registry of Societies gave the approval for its existence on 28 Jan 2014 by an email notification. The title of the email was “APPROVAL FOR REGISTRATION OF BLESSED HOPE BIBLE-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ROS 1112/2013”.
The email reads: “Please refer to your application to register Blessed Hope Bible Presbyterian Church under the Societies Act. The application has been approved-in-principle under the name of Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church and subjected to the acceptance of the Constitution, including amendments made by the Registry of Societies and payment of the prescribed fee of SGD$400.00.” The constitution was accepted and the prescribed fee of SGD$400 was paid at the ROS – counter 21, 6th floor, ICA Building, 10 Kallang Road at 12.34pm on 28 Jan 2014. The administration procedure was completed.
It was an answer to prayer. 24 September 2013 was the date we submitted our application. We waited upon the Lord in prayer for 127 days. The Lord is good. We give Him all praise and glory.
We thank God for Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Khoo who came to share the Word of God with us last Lord’s Day. He spoke from 2 Timothy 4:1-8 encouraging us to fight the good fight of faith, be a “salvation army” for the Lord in the last days. From Scripture, he showed us how we can do so by focusing on the preaching and teaching of God’s life-giving and life-transforming Word. He acknowledged that it is not easy to start a new witness, new outreach, a new church for the Lord. The preacher, the Elders and even the members must be prepared to suffer many hardships. He encouraged us to not despise the day of small beginning. Most importantly, we must make sure that the Lord is with us, that He is pleased with the reason why we start this outreach. When the Lord is with us, we will succeed. The Lord will receive all the praise and honour!
2 Timothy 4:1-8 (KJV)
1. I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2. Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
Thank God for bringing Rev. Dr. Tow Siang Hwa, our pastoral adviser, last Lord’s Day to administer the Lord’s Supper and minister God’s Word from Psalm 23.
His vivid description of walking through the valley of the shadow of death where dangers abound perhaps from wild predators or rough terrain brought much comfort to our hearts. Indeed, with the Lord as our Shepherd, we will fear no evil. He takes care of us in life’s valley to protect us from harm and danger.
Dr. Tow was unable to come in December 2013 due to a fall. Thank God for granting him recovery. Do continue to uphold Dr. Tow in prayer.
1 A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:1-2)
As we begin 2014, let us with thanksgiving recount God’s blessing upon us and forget not all that we have received from His good hand. The psalmist had much to thank God for. And he listed them one by one in this psalm. As we survey how God blessed the psalmist, we too, must echo that deep sense of gratitude in our own hearts. The psalmist reminded his own heart how easily he can become forgetful and be disconnected with the Giver of his benefits. Therefore, he commanded his own soul, to bless the LORD, to praise the LORD, to be thankful for all His care for him. May we at Blessed Hope do so too!
In the matter of soul winning, our Lord sets the example par excellence. Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Matt. 9:13). The Pharisees laughed Him to scorn but Jesus continued the work that His Father entrusted to Him. How did Jesus accomplish this work? We can glean from Matt. 9:35-38: it is hard work (v35), it is heart work (v36) and it is Holy Spirit-led work (v37-38).
Thank God for our first Christmas Praise Service. It was also our first bilingual service. Preacher Kelvin Wong was at hand for Mandarin translation. Elder Paul Tsao was our worship leader, leading us to sing Christmas carols with Mrs. Siow playing the organ. The Christmas message was entitled “Unto You a Saviour is Born” taken from Luke 2:1-20 rehearsing how our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ entered human history more than 2000 years ago. Thank God for the opportunity to preach the gospel especially to friends and loved ones still outside God’s kingdom. Sister Jane and Sister Rose contributed and prepared refreshments for our fellowship after our praise service. Thank God for a blessed time of Christian fellowship with friends and loved ones.
At Christmas, we remember the birth of Jesus Christ – the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the most important person in human history. We divide our calendar by Him – B.C. Before Christ, and A.D. Anno Domini, the year of the Lord. In creation, man was made in God’s image, but in the incarnation, we see God made in man’s image. Jesus is fully man and yet fully God in one Person, the only mediator between God and man. His mission was to reconcile sinful men to the Thrice Holy God.