O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

HOW A CHURCH SENDS MISSIONARIES

“Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.”

(John 20:21)

          This morning we will witness the commissioning of brother Lim Kwang Taek and sister Phan Thi Ngoc Anh (Miriam) as Full-Time Missionaries of Life B-P Church who will serve the Lord in Cambodia. Bro Kwang Taek is from South Korea and sis Miriam is from Vietnam. They graduated from Emmanuel Reformed Bible College on 18 November 2022 and were married the next day. They will serve in Cambodia and co-labour with Rev Moses Hahn at the Kompongsom Bible School and its ministries.

          Perhaps you may want to know how missionaries are sent by the church. Firstly, those who present themselves for missionary service need to demonstrate that God has called them for full-time mission work. Such a call is not a mere emotional impulse but a conviction that persists and grows over time. It includes an acknowledgement of the claims of Christ on their lives, understanding the will of God and the Holy Spirit’s leading in their lives, and confirmation by fellow believers.

          Secondly, all candidates for missionary service need to have the requisite qualifications. This includes the ability to teach God’s Word and win souls to Christ, learn new languages, endure hardship in the mission field, and work together with other missionaries. They also need to attend a sound Bible college or seminary that provides both academic and practical training. This period of training will enable the church to assess their character, maturity and suitability for fulltime service.

          Finally, when the church is confident of their suitability, it will officially commission them for missionary service, following the biblical pattern given in Acts 13:1-4. This is done by laying hands on them and praying for them during a worship service. Laying hands on missionary candidates signifies that they will serve on behalf of the church (cf. Numbers 8:10) and are invested with authority to carry out God’s work. (cf. Numbers 27:18-23)

          Commissioning implies that the missionaries are accountable to the church and will provide regular reports of their service. It also implies that the church commits itself to support them by prayer, financial support, help and encouragement. Please read the testimonies of our new missionary couple below so that you will know how to pray for them and encourage them. – Pastor

Testimony of Lim Kwang Taek

          I came to know about missions for the first time when I was 22 years old. I attended a ‘Mission Korea’ meeting at the summer retreat of a youth fellowship. As I attended the meeting without knowing exactly what missions is, all the programs were strange to me. But I still remember those who spoke very passionately about missions.

          After completing my military service, I attended an overnight prayer service in Daegu which is my hometown. On that night, the message was delivered by a missionary named Joo Soon Young who had crossed the border from North Korea to South Korea. I was much shocked by her testimony. The difference between life in the South and the North can be compared to heaven and hell. When we started praying after her testimony, I could only shed tears and was not able to speak a single word. I asked myself repeatedly, “Can I confess Jesus Christ as my Saviour in such severe circumstances? Can I pray to the Lord and worship Him sincerely if I were in North Korea?” I could not give an answer. I just prayed that our Lord would keep their faith. From that time onward, I was concerned about souls who do not know Jesus Christ and are dying.

          After that, my plan was to pass the exam for public service, get married, raise up children until they are independent and then use my pension to go to the mission field. But I did not receive news of acceptance from the government for a long time, and I became estranged to missions. In order to meet my financial needs, I started to work. During that time my elder sister suggested that I join a mission trip to Cambodia. I could not decide quickly because I was working. Unexpectedly, my boss joyfully allowed me to go on a mission trip for a week. So, I went to Cambodia believing that the Lord might have some plans for me.

          I had heard that the eyes of Cambodian children are beautiful. When I saw them there, I recognized that their eyes were pure and their songs of praise were so touching. On the first day of the revival camp my heart was conquered in the worship service.

          In those days I had doubted myself due to continued failure in my exams, so I could not know God’s will clearly. But through this mission trip God reminded me of the first joy of my salvation and the deep love of God. Moreover, I had the conviction that the work of missions is the most important task on earth for Christians. So, I submitted myself to be a full-time missionary for the gospel.

Testimony of Miriam Phan

          I was raised in a Christian home. My father is a pastor, so I knew about God at a very young age. I went to church, read the Bible, and prayed every day. This is what my parents told me to do. Since I am a pastor's daughter, I thought I had to do it to obey God. However, I just knew about God. I did not really love Him until the day when I left my family and hometown to come to Ho Chi Minh city for my studies at the age of 18. I found myself searching for the purpose and the meaning of life. Thank God for His answers to me through a sermon on a Sunday night. I acknowledged that God is my creator, and I am a sinner.

          By the grace of God, I believe in the Lord Jesus as my Saviour. I am committed to living for God, my Creator and Saviour. I believe that God has plans for all His children, including me. I believe that all things that happen in my life is God’s plan for me.

          Three years ago, I was an office worker. The busy job took all my time. And I realized that I had no time to serve God. I just used the time God gave me for myself. I also knew my spiritual life was weak. I decided to change my job. I prayed for a long time, and I started looking for a job that could give me time to serve God and study God’s Word. And God answered me in a way that I never thought from Pastor Phan who is one of my father’s friends. He introduced me to Calvary B-P Church and ERBC in Singapore. By God’s grace, I received a scholarship from Calvary B-P Church and came to Singapore to study God’s Word in January 2020.

          All these things happened to me, not by chance or accident. I believe that God wants me to serve Him full-time in Christian ministry, so He sent me to ERBC to study God’s Word. By faith in God, I believe this is God's plan for me and I submit myself to Him.

 * * * 

TESTIMONIES For YF CAMP 2022

YF Camp has been a much-needed spiritual retreat from the rigour of school and life in general. It has been wonderful and encouraging to once again talk to both new and familiar faces and to spend time in the retreat reflecting on God’s Word.

In Ecclesiastes, the author spoke about how everything under the sun is vanity and that there is nothing to look forward to in life. Everything corrodes and turns to dust under the test of time, and our lives on earth are meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 1:11,14:

11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

A worldly person will only keep trying to gather riches and treasures for himself, but he will never be satisfied with what he has, due to our inherent human greed.

However, this turns us back to God who gave us life, and also to the ability to enjoy the things that He has blessed us with! Knowing that we have a God who cares for us, we know that life is not a burden or a chore, but a gift given from God. True meaning and contentment can only be found in glorifying God and serving Him, and this camp helped us to think about our priorities, and where our heart truly is. There is no need to worry about the things of the future, for our sovereign God has planned it in His will, and we have this hope in Christ in eternity that will never diminish!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

The time spent in fellowship was equally sweet too, as many of us have our schedules packed to the brim for the rest of the year, and December is the month when everyone usually gathers for church activities. Even though it is a new year and we’ll only get busier, I encourage all youths in our church to come for the activities that YF/YLM has planned, as there is nothing better than enjoying fellowship with like-minded Christian brothers and sisters.

– Joshua Tan

Ever since Covid started we weren’t able to host camps physically which also means less opportunity to fellowship with one another. The camp this year was much needed as it reminded me of how sweet fellowship could be. Being able to host discussions and listen to messages with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in person felt so much more real than holding them on Zoom. I was reminded through this camp while going through the book of Ecclesiastes how short and fleeting our lives are on earth. We can be laughing one day and mourning the next. Seasons in our lives are never fixed and we never know what tomorrow holds. This taught me how to reorganize my priorities in life and choose the things that hold eternal value rather than chasing after vainglories like grades and riches.

– Justus Seow

I am thankful to God that I am able to attend this year's YF camp while still in NS. Spending four whole days in the house of God with God's people while learning God's Word was refreshing and provided much needed encouragement for this difficult life that we have. Throughout the camp, I was reminded of the harsh reality of life by the Book of Ecclesiastes, and how life is ultimately meaningless without God. However, life is indeed meaningful with God. While heaven is our ultimate destination, life on earth isn't totally meaningless for God has given us many gifts on this earth for us to enjoy during our temporary stay here. However, we must be careful not to make these gifts our ultimate pursuit. The things we do in this transient life also have an effect on eternity, such as being good stewards of the things God has blessed us with, or living a life of faith and sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Thus, life is not meaningless and we can find great joy in God's purpose for our lives. These truths from God's Word have brightened my attitude towards life from one of bleakness and passiveness to one of joy and living with intention. YF camp has also given me the opportunity to meet new friends I had never seen before, talk with people who I always saw around in Church but never really talked to, and strengthen old relationships. I also experienced the love of Christ shown towards me from the people at camp, and this love that I found in God's people is something that I can never find outside in the world. YF camp has ultimately left me with a stronger connection to the youth community in church.

– Caleb Tan

Coming into YF camp off the back of a particularly heavy semester in my final year of university and taking it as a break away from an intense international competition, it would not be hyperbole to say that YF camp was godsent. This past half of the year, I had been struggling strongly with burnout and was heavily burdened by the ostensible meaninglessness of what I was doing in life. In the aftermath of a long absence from physical fellowship and being overseas, my desire and capacity for fellowship in the church were heavily curtailed. I also grappled with an overwhelming sense of distance and lack of connection with God amid this sense of existential despair.

After the messages and discussions at this year’s YF camp, I now have a new word to describe how I felt: “hebel”. This Hebrew word speaks of ‘vapour’ or ‘smoke’, an epithet to describe the fleeting unpredictability and vanity of life. The debilitating effect of this hebel of life under the sun is something that has plagued my life this past half of the year. Indeed, I truly resonated with the preacher in Ecclesiastes, when he beheld and saw that “all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun”.

Instead, through this camp, I was refreshed with the joy and excellence of life in Christ, especially partaking in physical fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. While life truly has no ultimate meaning, Ecclesiastes was also a good reminder that God has nonetheless given us many daily blessings to enjoy partaking in; never to raise them up as the pinnacle of our existence, but only as things to brighten our life and draw us to God. In this camp, I saw so many of these small blessings that I had neglected to delight in because I was sucked into the hebel of this world. Of spontaneous worship sessions with freshly restrung guitars, of brothers and sisters using their talents at craft and cooking to bless each other, of board games and brawl stars into the wee hours of the morning, of the gentle showers of blessing as we tied our water bombs, of laughter, of making new friendships and welcoming new believers. Indeed, how merciful our God is to bless us with these things to bring us delight in this sin-cursed world.

Even more than these good things, I’ve been reminded how God has blessed us with the best and ultimate things in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Going through the desperate cogitations of the Preacher over the meaning of life under the sun without Christ, I was able to gain fresh appreciation for the indescribable wealth I have in Christ. Blessed with every spiritual gift in the heavenly places, adopted as a son of God, forgiveness and redemption of sins, all wisdom and understanding (which the Preacher so desperately sought for), and membership in the kingdom and family of God.

 “So let us be bound together, By the golden cord of God's love; And let us focus on Christ, And strive for things above, For earthly things will soon be gone.”

As I stand on the cusp of life ahead in the working world, the hebel of life will only swirl all the more strongly around my existence. I hope and pray that I will continue to fix my eyes on the only One who can rescue me from the curse of this life under the sun, and shine meaning into the wretched tatters of existence that I would otherwise be as a sinful human. Life under the sun will always be hebel, but that does not mean God has not given us things to brighten our life. Life under the sun will always be hebel haḇalîm (vanity of vanities), but we live and we die trusting the Son who gives meaning to our lives.

“And so we wait in eager expectation

And join the song as all creation groans:

“Lord, haste the Day decay is slain by glory,

The Day you call your sons and daughters home.”

– Ryan Lim

I am truly grateful to God for making this camp possible and allowing the youths to once again have that sweet taste of fellowship that was lacking during the past two years of Covid. Especially focusing on the theme of this year's YF Camp, Life under the Son. I felt that this theme would be a good reminder to really question our purpose and aim in this life on earth. Would we want a life full of striving after the things of the world which disappear like vapour and like chasing after wind? or would we want to live a life worthy of Him and for Him?

This year wasn't the smoothest of years for me. As I moved from army into university, I entered back into the worldly pursuit of grades and wisdom. Being surrounded by people striving after studies, I was constantly being dragged on by their competitiveness. But in the midst of all the overwhelming assignments, I am thankful for the Christian bond and fellowship that came by through the planning of this camp that grounded me as I got by. I was really able to see how life is meaningless without God and how God can bless us amidst this Hevel.

Indeed, this camp has done much for me as it allowed me to enjoy what it is like to have true fellowship with Christians in this forsaken world and that life isn’t always sad but God is merciful to bless us with little things.

With this spiritual revival, it is my prayer that as we return to life under the sun, filled with vanities, may we constantly fixate our eyes on Him who gives meaning to this life under the SON and may we continually seek Him to remember our Creator God in the days of our youth.

– Joel Neo

Appointments for the Week

Onsite & Online Meetings

Announcements

1. Sanctity in the Sanctuary: All worshippers are kindly reminded to observe silence in the church sanctuary from at least 10 minutes before the service begins, and to spend the time to quietly and personally prepare our hearts to seek the Lord. There will be ample opportunities to fellowship with other worshippers after the service ends.

2. Exercising Social Responsibility: To ensure the safety and comfort of all who use our church premises, the wearing of face masks is encouraged during activities that are held in crowded indoor settings. In addition, those who are unwell or who cough frequently are strongly advised not to attend church activities in-person but to participate in them online if possible.

3. Holy Communion will be served each month at the 11.00 am service on the first Sunday, and at the 8.00 am service on the third Sunday.

To minimise contact during Holy Communion, each worshipper is to hold out his or her palm so that the serving Elder may drop the bread into it with his gloved hand. All worshippers should sanitize their hands just before taking a cup of grape juice from the tray when it is brought to them. It is recommended that each worshipper should bring his or her own personal bottle of sanitizer for this purpose.

4. Membership Roll Update Exercise 2023 (8 to 29 Jan):

If you are a member of Life B-P Church, please fill in the online form in preparation for the Annual Congregational Meeting. The link to the online form is https://www.lifebpc.com/update

5. There is a Door to Door Evangelism session at Yishun next Sunday, 15 Jan 2023. All are welcome. Meet in Beulah Room 2-11, E-DD room, at 12:30 pm. Contact Amos .

6. Introduction to fellowship groups and ministries at Church: This new year, let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25). There is an area of fellowship for everyone in church, revisit Eld Chia Ah Lak’s introduction on our church’s social media page to connect today!  https://www.facebook.com/lifebiblepresbyterianchurch

7. Gospel Sunday, 29 January 2023, 8.00am and 11.00am. “Behold all things are become new” by Rev Bendick Ong

8.       Church Camp 2023 will be held from June 13-16 (Tue-Fri). at Radisson Golf & Convention Center, Batam, Indonesia.

Speaker: Pastor Tan Soon Yong.

Theme: Anchoring Our Faith in a Postmodern World.

Please reserve the dates! 

9.       Lifers are invited to serve our Lord as Traffic Wardens on Sunday. Kindly contact Dn Yeo  if you are available.

10.     The two ERBL Evening Lectures offered from 9 January-May 2023:

1) OT Historical Books by Rev Charles Seet (Monday @ 7.30 pm)

    This course will enable students to understand the significance of the events described in the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. It also covers the theological values and critical questions concerning the Old Testament Historical books.

2) Global History of the Presbyterian and Bible-Presbyterian Church

     by Rev Lee Hock Chin (Thursday @ 7.30 pm)

    This course traces the mighty redemptive work of the Lord in history, through Presbyterian and Bible-Presbyterian churches across the world. This global history covers the history of churches that subscribed to Presbyterian polity from the New Testament era to the beginning of the twenty-first century.

It will be conducted on-site at No. 10 Gilstead Road. It is compulsory for all Credit Students to attend lectures on-site and Audit Students can either attend lectures via Zoom platform or on-site. Interested parties can register for the courses online at https://lifebpc.com/erbl/index.php/registration-tt

11.     Emmanuel Reformed Bible College is offering the following courses from 9 January-May 2023 at No. 1 Tao Ching Road.

1) Apocalypse & General Epistles by Rev Ho Chee Lai (Monday @ 10 am)

2)           Hermeneutics by Rev Isaac Ong (Tuesday @ 10 am)

3)           Theories of Counselling by Rev Lim Chee Boon (Tuesday @ 1.30 pm

4)           Counselling in the Local Church by Mr Joel Seah (Wednesday @ 10 am)

5)           Bibliology & Theology Proper by Rev Isaac Ong (Thursday @ 10 am)

6)           Introduction to Christian Education by Ms June Tan (Friday @ 10 am)

7)           Theological Research & Writing by Ms June Tan (Friday @ 1.30 pm)

For registration and details of the courses, please refer to our website: www.erbc.sg.

12.     Life BPC has the following vacancies:

a)       Assistant Finance Officer (AFO)

Responsibilities:

Assists in the finance operations of the organization, and Human Resource administrative/operational functions of the Church.

Qualifications:

• Diploma in Accounting or higher
• 2 years’ experience in relevant fields
• Should be able to handle full set of accounts
• Knowledge of Quick Book Systems and computer applications is an added advantage

b)       Assistant Media & Technology Officer (AMTO)

Responsibilities:

Assists in supporting the Audio-Visual (AV) functions of the church.

Qualifications:

• Diploma/ITE or higher in Electrical/Electronic/Mechatronics/Computer Engineering or Mass Media & Communications or equivalent.
• Knowledge/skills in handling of Pro-audio/visual equipment is preferred.
• Knowledge of IT and computer software/hardware.
• Hands-on in technical and maintenance works is an advantage.
• A dedicated, responsible, truthful and spiritually mature person with self-motivation, commitment and interest in this work and as a church ministry.
• Able to work independently and as well as in a team.
• Preferably a member of Life B-P Church.
• Possessing a Class 3 driving license is an advantage.
• Candidates with no relevant experience may apply as trainee for the position.

Candidates with relevant qualifications and experience may submit your application and CV to the Church Operations Manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

7. The two ERBL Evening Lectures offered from 9 January-May 2023:

1) OT Historical Books by Rev Charles Seet (Monday @ 7.30 pm)

    This course will enable students to understand the significance of the events described in the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. It also covers the theological values and critical questions concerning the Old Testament Historical books.

2) Global History of the Presbyterian and Bible-Presbyterian Church

     by Rev Lee Hock Chin (Thursday @ 7.30 pm)

    This course traces the mighty redemptive work of the Lord in history, through Presbyterian and Bible-Presbyterian churches across the world. This global history covers the history of churches that subscribed to Presbyterian polity from the New Testament era to the beginning of the twenty-first century.

It will be conducted on-site at No. 10 Gilstead Road. It is compulsory for all Credit Students to attend lectures on-site and Audit Students can either attend lectures via Zoom platform or on-site. Interested parties can register for the courses online at  

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