POISED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER
When I wrote Waiting: A Necessary Pause in Time, I meant it for myself. Waiting has never been my forte. One example is waiting for the ROS (Registry of Societies) to approve our application to register the BPCIS (Bible – Presbyterian Church in Singapore). When a year passed without a word, I grew restless. Finally, after 1 1/2 years, the approval came last month. Seven years after we “soft launched” BPCIS in 2011, our 7 charter member churches now stand poised for the next chapter – where do we go from here?
Firstly, we are praying for unity. After all, that was what Jesus prayed for, a desire closest to His heart before He went to the cross (John 17:20-21). Let us pray for our B-P Churches that went separate ways, fractured and hurt, when the denomination broke up in 1988. May we come together again and be the answer to our Lord’s prayer.
Secondly, we are serving one another. There are 41 B-P Churches today, many started after 1988, small in size, without a place of their own. The older and larger Churches face the twin challenge of stagnation and succession. The theme of our BPCIS Retreat this year is Loneliness: loneliness in ministry and ministering to the lonely. May we heed the apostle Paul’s call to “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thess 5:11).
Thirdly, we are bearing witness. Jesus prayed that “they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:21 ESV). By coming together and serving together, we point the world to Jesus. This year is Singapore’s bicentennial year, 200 years since our founding in 1819. We are also standing 80 years after the John Sung revival in the 1930’s and 40 years after the Billy Graham Crusade, two spiritual landmarks of our nation when many turned to the Lord.
As BPCIS stands poised for the next chapter, may prayer and unity, service and witness take us forward.
Rev Dr David Wong
REJOICE in the LORD
God never moves without purpose of plan
When trying His servant and molding a man
Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems longs;
In darkness He giventh a song.
Chorus
O rejoice in the Lord. He makes no mistake
He knowth the end of each path that I take.
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold.