Week 22 - 41st Church Anniversary – Making A Difference Together Then And Now
“I [Paul] planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6, The Message)
From a handful of children meeting in a Redhill flat for Sunday school to a weekly attendance of a thousand (from three English services, two Mandarin services, a Youth service, a Filipino service and Sunday School), Mount Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church has indeed “come of age.” Uncle Robert Ong “planted the seed,” and over the years, God’s servants “watered it” and God made it grow.
As we celebrate our 41st anniversary, it is an opportunity for reflecting on our past, for rejoicing in our present and for refocusing on our future.
A Time to Reflect
Section titled “A Time to Reflect”Let us pause and take a moment to reflect on our past. Let us recall the labour of our hands and the path we have trodden, and examine if there are any lessons we can learn. Is there anything we should have done differently? How have we grown in our discipleship and in our relationship with one another? Have we been faithful in our service for the Lord? Are we faithful stewards of the gifts and resources that the Lord has entrusted to us?
As a church, we have always placed a strong emphasis on the Word of God and on missions. Over the years, God has blessed us with a steady stream of members who have enrolled in Bible colleges to receive training for full-time ministry. Upon graduation, they went on to pastor churches, teach in Bible colleges or serve in overseas missions.
We have also committed our resources to overseas missions work. Currently, we are involved in eight countries. Every year, different teams of short-term mission trippers visit these countries to provide support to our missionaries and local partners in the form of medical/dental work and teaching. At this point of writing, I have just returned from Novaliches where we conducted a church camp for 120 people from Mt Carmel Bible Christian Fellowship. It was an eye-opening experience for our 13-member team who returned with a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to be involved in God’s work in a foreign field.
We also thank God for our local outreaches. These comprise the KVKR (Kent Vale-Kent Ridge), the HLO (Heartlanders Outreach) and the SEMS (Sunday Evening Mandarin Service) which target students, heartlanders and foreign workers. In the pipeline is OCTOPUS, an outreach to the tertiary institutions in our neighbourhood.
A Time to Rejoice
Section titled “A Time to Rejoice”Not only should we reflect on the past but we should also rejoice in the present. “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
We rejoice and give thanks for the Lord is in our midst and doing a great work among us. Our leaders are united and serving the Lord fervently. The L40-40 monthly leadership training sessions, launched last year during our fortieth anniversary, has borne fruits. Two of the participants, brother Kim Peng and sister June Loo, have availed themselves for election into the Session at the AGM today.
Many Carmelites testify of God’s grace in their lives. We have witnessed our children coming forward for confirmation and baptism, and our parents receiving Christ as their Lord and Saviour. You may have experienced God’s grace and mercy in your personal lives too. Let us rejoice and give thanks for what the Lord has done.
A Time to Refocus
Section titled “A Time to Refocus”Besides that, our anniversary is a time for us to look forward to the future. In other words, we need to refocus on our vision for the future so as to fulfil God’s purpose for our church.
Why refocus? In today’s fast-changing world, churches are realising that they must change some of their methods of carrying out their ministries in order to reach the world with the unchanging message of Jesus Christ. The task of the church is to extend the kingdom of God in a particular place and time with the resources and opportunities that He provides.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in
As we reflect, rejoice and refocus on our anniversary day, let us remind ourselves that we are to depend on God alone for all that we do. We are but His servants. He is our Master. Together, we can make a difference to the people around us for the glory of God.