O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

NEW YEAR PLANS

“And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he [Jesus] said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” (Luke 12:13,14)

When someone amongst the crowd of followers hoped for Jesus to help settle his ongoing dispute with his brother, our Lord responded in gist, “I’m not here to do that. I’m here to be much more; I’m here for the soul, for your life to come... therefore I tell you what is important: don‘t be only concerned about the material with no thought to the spiritual, to your soul.”

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:15-21)

And our Lord would share this sobering parable to illustrate His point. The parable of the more commonly known rich fool, which is a slight misnomer. His wealth is neither the point of contention here, nor the contributing factor to his downfall, at least not directly. Rather, it was his industriousness on earthly things and presumption toward life that seemed the issue as compared to his riches. We call him the industrious fool, an oxymoron of sorts – how often do we associate fools with industriousness and drivenness? But somehow, we humans can be industrious toward wrong prospects, based on the wrong premises. And when God in the parable calls him a fool, a fool he is.

The man has a bumper crop, and after some probably long and hard thought, finally came up with what sounds like a laudable plan. Short-term earthly inconvenience for longer-term gains. Pull down existing barns with some overheads, but when the bigger barns are up, greater returns will be realised. Slowly draw down, and life will hereafter be well, good and cruise on.

But the parable takes an intriguing turn, a wicked twist that gives us those needful reminders that life won’t always go as planned. God appears in the story and instead of praises for the man's industriousness, there is a strong rebuke by God who pronounces that this industrious man's time on earth will be abruptly cut short that very night. What good would those grand plans and promises be to this man now?

Are we like the fool?

The new year is a useful point of reference to start on a clean slate. Hopefully erase yesteryear’s failures and disappointments like how we used to erase all those scribbles on the whiteboard. It is therefore understandable that we be eager with new resolutions and plans for this new year.

Yet the parable reminds us to take stock of our plans and our presumptions, if any. Are they heavily tilted toward the physical, the material, the this-worldly? Eat better, look better, score better, live better; do this for work, strategizing, implementing, reviewing, and accomplishing. While excited for the new year, if our plans and wishlists seem almost similar to those who have no knowledge of greater, eternal realities, we would be not much different from the fool in the parable.

We don’t want to be like the fool: nothing to show for his eternal life, nothing to show for his working for things of eternal value. We don’t want to be caught with a healthy bank account and grand plans for this life but few to show for our spiritual health and working for things of eternal value when all these come to an end. We don’t want to think we are working to have our best life now. We also don’t want to be presumptuous to think that we can live out our lives as planned and charted out for ourselves. Such a fool, if we may paraphrase the young missionary Jim Elliot, is one who gives what he can keep to gain what he can lose. Such a fool gives away the things of eternal life which is his to keep forever, sadly to gain the things of this life which will be lost soon enough.

How then ought we to live?

As verse 21 says, be rich, be industrious toward God and His things. There and then our Lord shows what it looks like: “And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment… For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Luke 12:22-23,30-31)

We can know what is truly valuable from what our Lord says. While the people of the world who do not have God as their loving, heavenly Father seek after these things, we don’t have to do as they do. Do not be occupied with physical, this-worldly things. Know that we already have the important things, way more important than mere things. Rather, seek God’s kingdom with our lives. Live and labour for His kingdom, for His rule, and for His glory. And somehow, all these things shall be added.

Things are made new not because of the new year, not because we have new resolutions, not because we are getting ourselves on a new programme. But because we have a Lord and God who comes to make all things new. If we are convinced that we need to leave the past things behind and start anew, believe in Him and let Him work in us. New life in Him is ours to receive. New values, new perspectives, new hope, new strength, new purpose, new life in this earthly life, and not only so, but beyond this passing life we have a new incorruptible life where everything is new for good.

– Dn Betrand Lam

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.       Membership Roll Update Exercise 2023 (Deadline: Today, 29 Jan) for ACM:

If you are a member of Life B-P Church, please update your particulars or download the physical form at https://www.lifebpc.com/update for the purpose of  the Annual Congregational Meeting.   

Please drop the forms in the box provided at the front entrance after worship services or mail to 10 Gilstead Road Singapore 309064. 

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

5. Lifers are invited to serve our Lord as Traffic Wardens on Sunday.  

6.       Far Eastern Kindergarten Online Registration 2024 Intake

Pre-Nursery to K1

(Pre-Nursery for children born in 2021)

Priority registration for church members: 1 February to 14 February 2023

Nursery and K1: Vacancies in the afternoon session only.

Register online at http://www.lifebpc.com/fekedu/registration.html

It will be on a first-come-first-serve basis after 14 February 2023.

Please visit our website http://www.lifebpc.com/fekedu/ or call 6251 3676 for more information.

7.       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!

8. 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.