Dearly Beloved,

The message assigned for today’s preaching is the doctrine of the Trinity. I remembered years ago that I had a Muslim colleague who considered Christianity’s teaching of God existing in three Persons to be an unpardonable sin. And I realized that his disapproval was from his misconception of a Trinitarian framework to consist of Mary and her Son Jesus and God the Father that evangelical Christians do not subscribe to. The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 5 asks, “Are there more gods than one?” The answer : “There is but one only, the living and true God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.”

Quoting from Dr. Jeffrey Khoo’s ‘Theology for Every Christian,’ it says, “the clearest proof-text for the doctrine of the Trinity is 1 John 5:7, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one.”

We see clearly the three distinct Persons of the Trinity in action at the baptism of Christ and in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

We bade farewell to Dr. Cairns on last Wednesday and in two weeks’ time, we shall be saying goodbye to the familiar surroundings in Fidelio Street. Let us look beyond the added travelling time for some, a much higher monthly rental and other inconveniences that may incur to the prospects of reaching out to the unsaved in the new vicinity and to future students of the 4th University SUTD, that is only a stone throw away. Let us see the unity of the Triune God with this purpose and that is to be motivated to take the Lord’s Great Commission seriously and not to turn it into the Great Omission. A preacher once said that the Apostles of Christ took the Gospel to the ends of the world but the modern churches won’t even take the Gospel to the end of the street. Has the Great commission become a great omission in your life as well as mine and of the church too?  Let us be reminded by the Lord of three areas regarding the Great Commission :

1.  The divine mandate to the body of believers in verse 19, “go ye therefore and teach all nations”

2. The divine message to the body of believers in verse 20, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”

3. The divine mission to all believers in Mark 16:15, Jesus says, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”

The most powerful message of God is in our hands that no man can wrestle away. But if it is not shared, there is no other way to wrestle sinners from the hands of the devil to salvation in Jesus Christ.

Elder Douglas Ho

Thank You

Now that I have had a little sleep and am slowly becoming accustomed to Northern Irish time (and weather!), I thought I should write you to thank you for all your kindness to Joan and me during our time with you in Singapore. Thank you for your generous provision for our needs while we lived in the apartment at Ghim Moh Road and for your very kind love gift before I left. And then you also bought me a beautiful Casio watch, which I really like. “Thank you” seems a very inadequate response to such overwhelming kindness, but I hope you will accept it as a heart-felt expression of our gratitude and sense of indebtedness to you.

It was my privilege to be able to minister to the folk at Tabernacle BP Church, so many of whom did everything they could to make us welcome. I cannot begin to count the number of lunches and dinners I consumed with them! I must say, Joan and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with your people, of all ages, from the very little children all the way to the senior citizens. I have been greatly moved by the expressions gratitude of so many who have testified that the Lord met with them and blessed them through the preaching of His Word. It was a blessing to see so many turn up so early in the morning at Changi Airport to see me off. When I saw that little Matthew had made his own way out to the airport just to say goodbye, I must say I was deeply touched and, of course, by the effort all the rest of the people made as well. So thank you again for your kindness.

Joan will be sending thank you cards to on an individual basis, but I wanted to record my thanks to the church for you did for me at great expense and with such a gracious spirit. May the Lord bless you richly in the work of His church, especially in the challenging days that lie ahead. I will be praying for you as you move to your new accommodation for the church services and also as you continue to pray for the Lord’s man to be raised to be the pastor of the flock of God in Tabernacle.

Dr. Alan Cairns