Dearly Beloved Brethren,
I thank God that I can serve the Lord and it is always a joy to serve my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Though there are difficulties and discouragements in service, the Lord’s grace has enabled me to persevere on since the day that I trusted the Lord Jesus in 1976. The Lord has burdened my heart to focus my area of service in mission work and Ebenezer Youth Fellowship. I thank God for such opportunity to serve Him. There is so much to do for the Lord with a big harvest field and the labourers are so few.
As I serve the Lord in the Church Session again, I like to share 3 thoughts with you:
1. “Ye also helping together by prayer for us…” 2 Corinthians 1:11a
Your prayer support is very important to me. In fact, we should pray constantly for every Session member. Even the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:11 that the prayers from the Corinthian Church were a great help to him in the ministry. How best to help the leaders of the Church? The answer is by praying for us.
We must remember that without prayers to the Lord, all our labours are in vain and we can do nothing. The Church spiritual life is not measured by external parameters in numbers, offering amount, building structure etc. but rather primarily by her prayer life. Only God knows how much we pray at home in our own private closet. How about corporately? Let us learn to pray more and pray together too. By God’s grace, I will also strive to remember all of you in my prayers that our good Lord will always strengthen you spiritually and grant you grace in every trial of your life.
2. “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you…” 2 Corinthians 12:15a
I hope to learn from the Apostle Paul in his total devotion and sacrifice for the Church. The Apostle Paul did it gladly and willingly without demanding for any rewards or good words. In fact, sometimes he would receive rejection and false accusations for his good deeds in the Church. That was why Paul further said in verse 15b that “the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.” As parents, we can perhaps understand this thought in our love for our children. We will still continue to sacrifice and love our children even when they do not reciprocate the same love back to us.
Pray for me to have such love and commitment to the Lord and His people. There are always the struggles when I want to do more for the Lord and be more sacrificial for the Kingdom of the Lord. The “self’ will demand for attention and pleasure and relaxation. May the Lord grant His grace to me to devote my life more to my Master and for all of you.
3. “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” Luke 17:10
Whatever we do for the Lord, we must remember this verse that we are still mere unprofitable servants and have done what was our duty. We can never repay the debt that we owe the Lord Jesus who gave His life for us on the cross. The more I think of the Lord Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us, the more I see how unworthy I am. The more I try to serve the Lord, the more I realize how unworthy a servant I am. I learn humility when I meditate more of God’s amazing and divine love and sacrifice for me.
The Bible reminds us that as leaders, we are servants to serve others and not to be served. I often wonder why God would call me and save me and let me serve Him, when He sees and knows me as such a wretched sinner. The hymn below came to me as I write this weekly page. Pray for me always, a sinner saved by grace.
A Sinner like Me
I was once far away from the Saviour,
As vile as a sinner could be,
And I wondered if Christ the Redeemer
Could save a poor sinner like me.
I wandered on in the darkness,
Not a ray of light could I see:
And the thought filled my heart with sadness,
There’s no hope for a sinner like me.
And then, in that dark lonely hour,
A voice sweetly whispered to me,
Saying, “Look unto Me! I have power
To save a poor sinner like thee.”
I listened: and lo! ‘Twas the Saviour
That was speaking so kindly to me;
And I cried, “I’m the chief of sinners:
Canst Thou save a poor sinner like me?”
Elder John Leong
Indeed God is Wonderful
I thank God that my aunt and uncle have accepted Christ as their personal saviour. Let me tell you a little about my aunt. My grandmother has ten children and my aunt is her fourth child. When my grandmother was still alive, my relatives and my family would gather at her house during Lunar Chinese New Year. However, when my grandmother passed away in 2004, this practise was discontinued and I did not keep in contact with my aunt. Occasionally, I will hear my parents talk about my aunt’s failing health but I did not bother about it.
Around this year Chinese New Year, it dwells on me to pay my aunt a visit and share with her the gospel. This is because I was reminded about death in my father god-mother funeral in December 2009. I recall the despair that were hanging on people faces, having uncertainty about life after death. People were constantly crying and this made me wonder if they were weeping for their loved one or sadden that they will also die eventually. Not wanting my aunt to die without salvation, I decided to pay her a visit together with Pastor Ho during Chinese New Year.
I thank God that both my aunt and her husband responded positively to the gospel when Pastor shared with them. They started to attend Simei Care Ministry to learn God’s Words. Then by God’s grace, their thirst for His Words grew and they want to come church to learn more. I was also touched to see church members reaching out to them when they come to church, sharing with my aunt their testimonies of how God has helped them in their lives. I want to specially thank Aunty Miriam and many of those who have put in their effort to reach out to my aunt and her husband. Indeed salvation comes from the Lord, but as His children, we still need to labour hard for His kingdom.
My aunt and uncle will be baptised this December 2010. It is my sincere desire that my family and relatives will come to witness their baptism. And that through my aunt changed life, God will move my loved ones’ hearts to humble themselves and acknowledge Christ as their personal Saviour!
‘All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ John 6:37
Brother Lim Boon How