Pastoral Message (Page 98)

Each week one of the pastoral staff prepare a message for the congregation.

The Message

By Not Known This is a day of instant communication. Within minutes of an event happening anywhere, SMS, email and Internet carry text and visual reports all over the world. We call it ‘Information Technology‘ but it is more ‘Communications Technology‘. But, how much of our communications is empty, repetitive or banal? We have the…

Becoming a Christian

By Not Known Some people become Christians by a dramatic conversion experience rather like that of the Apostle Paul (Acts 9: 1- 19). Perhaps they were living a dissolute or godless life, or were avid devotees of another faith and violently opposed to Christianity. But then they heard about Jesus and had a compelling personal…

Singapore – 40 Years On

By Not Known There is much to appreciate on the 40th anniversary of Singapore’s independence. Singapore has set a stunning example of nation building from a small resource base and in often challenging circumstances. Let’s be grateful for such things as : social stability; security; good government; hightly functional public infrastructure; economic prosperity; high standards…

Living without God

By Not Known How would you define ‘sin‘? Many of us would define sin in terms of outward acts such as theft, physical violence or sexual relationships outside of marriage. Or perhaps some of us go deeper and refer to the inward attitudes of greed, hatred, lust and such like that lay behind the outwards…

Being Sheepish

By Not Known The Bible talks about sheep and shepherds quite often. God is described as the shepherd of his people (eg. Ps 23:1; Is 40:11). This title is specifically applied to Jesus in the New Testament (eg. Jn 10:11; Heb 13:20; 1 Pet 2:25, 5:4 ). The idea of God being a shepherd speaks…

The Light of the World

By Not Known The Temple precincts at Jerusalem were brightly lighted up by four great candelabra to celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles. It was against this backdrop that Jesus proclaimed: “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:…

Those Who Know … Are not Talking

By Not Known If you have an opportunity to travel to Israel, you would not miss the sight of the orthodox Jews at the Western (Wailing) Wall. Their constant rocking motion, the incessant chanting of the Talmud (Law) or from the book of Lamentations, their donning of the prayer shawls over their heads, the leather…

Choice Wine for You?

By Not Known Are you a wine person? If you are you will certainly not risked serving your guests cheap wine at important functions such as a wedding banquet. Good meat with poor wine will spoil the overall combination and produce many unsatisfied diners. But if you are not a wine person, consider this bad…

Judgement and Mercy

By Not Known Lamentations 5 is a plea to God – Who has brought grief and judgement to His people, but will also restore them to Himself when their sufferings have led them to cast themselves under His mercy (vv 21- 22). It reiterates the hope that God will again be gracious to His people,…

The Importance of being Hopeful

By Not Known A sense of hope is important to our inner well-being. On the one hand, good memories and present joys lose their pleasure if we have a sense that they will soon end and not be repeated. On the other hand, we can endure present unpleasantness and difficulty if we have a sense…