O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness        

UNITY ACROSS GENERATIONS IN CHURCH

Disunity is dangerous. We are seeing the fracturing of relationships between the two superpowers, the Ukraine war and internal political and racial strife in certain countries. The devastating effects of disunity cannot be ignored. Churches have been thrown into disarray and have split because of disunity. In AD 53 or 54, there was much dissension seen in the church of Corinth with splintered groups defending their loyalties to leaders. Paul had to nip the problem in the bud by admonishing them, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?  (1 Corinthians 1:12-13).

We have to guard the unity of our church. We are thankful for the message delivered last Sunday by Pastor Charles. He reminded us about the importance of unity and how God preserved the unity of the early church through the wisdom given to the Jerusalem Council. The statement in his message, “Without unity, it is impossible to build up the Church of Christ” is most relevant especially when we know that unity is fragile and disunity is dangerous to a church whose mission is to advance the gospel and God’s kingdom. 

However, in the church, the saints are undergoing the process of sanctification. None of us are perfect. Someone aptly said that, “The church is not a museum for saints, it is a hospital for sinners.” Therefore, there are unloving or careless words uttered and actions being done in church which can ruin relationships amongst brethren in Christ.

As a church we need to submit to the Lordship of Christ and to His Word as the final authority and the rule of our faith. The Scriptures are replete with principles and commands to live in unity undergirded by Agape (unconditional love) and Philia (brotherly love). In the epistle to the Philippians, Paul spelt out the spiritual principles for unity, “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:2-5).

We thank God that our church is mindful of the importance of unity in the love of Christ especially when we are a multi-generational church. We have church members who are of four generations: great-grandparents to great-grandchildren. We need to focus on cross-generational or intergenerational unity in a multi-generational church.

We thank God that the Lively Teens Fellowship (LTF) initiated a get-together with the seniors in church on 5 August to fellowship and celebrate National Day four days in advance. It was a blessed time for the teens and the seniors. During the singing of the song, ‘Welcome to the Family’, they went around to shake hands with one another and introduce themselves. There were some ice-breaker moments when some of the teens realized that the seniors they met were grandmas or grandpas of their fellow teens, and the seniors were pleased to realize that some of the teens were grandchildren of those seniors they knew. There was also sharing of testimonies by some of the seniors of their lives and their experiences in evangelism and missions. The teens presented a skit on the life of Jesus—the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus’ walking on water. It was a reminder that God is our provider and that we are to look to Him always amidst the trials we face. There were further games activities and a wrap up of the gathering with tea refreshments. This initiative was a good step forward towards intergenerational unity in our multi-generational church. 

Maturing spiritually occurs best not in silos but in an intergenerational environment. This reaching out to one another between generations promotes intergenerational relationship. The focus is on interdependence and not individualism. It is heartening to see that some ministries in our church are currently doing that, for example the Young Lifers’ Ministry and the Neighbourhood Bible Communities (NBCs).

As a church, we are members of the body of Jesus Christ (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27).  Paul exhorts Titus to encourage the members of the church to pursue godliness and that the older brethren are to disciple the younger ones (Titus 2). In the same vein, he exhorts Timothy to do the same, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2, cf. Psalm 78:3; 145:4).

May we be mindful that as we endeavour to have unity, we have to come out of our comfort zone and reach out to brethren who are younger or older than us. We can initiate fellowship with them, for example, by attending the anniversaries of fellowship groups or NBCs, by organizing seminars, or by going for outings together. 

May there be mutual love, forbearance, humility and discipleship that will take place with everyone, from young to old as a family of God. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”  (Psalm 133:1)

– Rev Quek Keng Khwang

Appointments for the Week

Monday, Aug 21

        7.30 pm     ERBL: OT Poetic Books (Rev Charles Seet)

Tuesday, Aug 22

        8.00 pm     Prayer Meeting (Rev Quek Keng Khwang)

Thursday, Aug 24

      10.00 am     Ladies’ Prayer Group

        7.30 pm     ERBL: The Theology of Prayer (Pastor Tan Soon Yong)

Friday, Aug 25

        7.30 pm     MM Meeting

Saturday, Aug 26

      11.00 am     Faith NBC (Rms 1-5 & 1-6)

        2.30 pm     Ladies’ Tea Fellowship (Rm 1-6)

        3.00 pm     LTF / MM

Sunday, Aug 27

  8.00 am Timotheus - Honouring God Acts 16:1-5; 2 Timothy 1:5 (Rev Ho Chee Lai)

  8.00 am Choir Practice

  9.15 am Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  9.40 am Sunday School / Catechism Class

10.15 am Coffee Corner

11.00 am Timotheus - Honouring God Acts 16:1-5; 2 Timothy 1:5 (Rev Ho Chee Lai)

11.00 am Children’s Ministry

11.00 am Chinese Service (MPH)

11.00 am Filipina Service (Rm 1-6)

12.15 pm Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  2.00 pm Session Meeting

  2.30 pm Thai Service (LMH)

  4.00 pm Indonesian Service (Rm 1-6)

Announcements

Social Media Seminar by YLM

30 Sep 2023 (Sat), 3pm to 6pm, Onsite @ Beulah MPH

Registration at https://tinyurl.com/ylmsocialmediasem2023

Senior Fellowship

Dear brethren,

This is to inform you that with effect from 6th July 2023, the name Golden Age Fellowship (GAF) is changed to Senior Fellowship (SF). The change is with the approval of our church pastors, Rev C Seet and Rev Quek KK.

The objective, the roles, and the committee remain unchanged.

Door to Door Evangelism 20 Aug 2023 

Meet in Beulah Room 2-11, 12.30 pm Contact: Desmond or Amos  

Traffic Wardens

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

Birth

Congratulations to Dn & Mrs A Chow on the birth of a baby boy, Ezra Luke, on 12 Aug 2023.

Ladies’ Fellowship 45th Thanksgiving Anniversary

9 Sep 2023 (Sat), 4.00pm to 6.00pm, Beulah MPH

“How to Keep Shining For Christ” by Rev Charles Seet

Contact Sally for more information. 

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