This is a story about Rabbi Akiva, a renowned and revered Jewish rabbi of the first century. One late afternoon, Rabbi Akiva was on his way home to Capernaum. As he walked, he was also meditating and reciting the Scriptures. He was so focused that he didn’t realize that he had taken a wrong turn.…
Posts by Dr Agnes Tan (Page 2)
Starting next week, our morning service will restore some of the worship elements that were temporarily stopped during the pandemic. Nevertheless, our worship structure remains unchanged: God speaks, and we respond. So let us review our liturgy and understand the reasons why we do what we do when we do it. Our liturgy is divided…
Jesus is coming soon. In the final chapter of Revelation, Jesus confirmed this promise three times. “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll” (22:7). “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have…
Today we celebrate our annual Lessons and Carols service and also the fourth Sunday of Advent—Love— for “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). In Jesus, we have eternal life, hope, peace, joy and love. As we respond in…
Martin Luther King Jr said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper…
“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was…
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his mercy endures forever (Ps. 136:1). As the choir leads the congregation in worship this morning, my heart is filled with thankfulness as I reflected on the music ministry these past two years. Early in the pandemic, when singing was identified as a high-risk activity in…
When I was in Junior High, my school had an annual school cleaning campaign day. Instead of school bags, we were asked to bring cleaning cloths. Our teacher explained the task of the day—every class is responsible for cleaning their own classrooms and we need to complete the task before the end of the day.…
Recently, someone handed me a copy of our Advent worship bulletin from 1965. That is almost 60 years of Advent celebrations here at ORPC, and maybe more if it started even further back. But what makes celebrating Advent so special that it has become an integral part of our tradition? Robert Webber, in his book Ancient-Future…