MARANATHA BIBLE-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Transcription

1 Weekly Newsletter of MARANATHA MESSENGER Private Circulation Only MARANATHA BIBLE-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 9 October 2016 Present every man perfect in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:28) Address: 63 Cranwell Road, Singapore maranatha.bpc@pacific.net.sg Sunday School: 9.45 am Sunday English / Chinese Worship Service: am Sunday Chinese Worship Service: 7 pm Wednesday Prayer Meeting: 8.00 pm Q & A The Q and A below was written in 2014 but shared again recently by Esther Lee (from Life BP Church), a mother of 3, mainly for parents and their children (and others) and beyond and she put this on her Facebook to encourage others just recently. May it be helpful to us and our children as they go through their school CA and exams now. Let us pray for divine wisdom for them instead of adding more stress which is already in our academic system. Q : I feel stressed about school work and demands made by my parents about achieving good results. What should I do? A: Ephesians 4:1 speaks of the importance that we be good testimonies and witnesses to the glory of God in our vocation as a well-disciplined and hard-working student. Studying in Singapore can be demanding but being a good student is more than just getting good results. A good character and effective witness for Christ are equally important. To manage the stress you face, ask God for wisdom and strength and take steps to ensure your fruitfulness, by doing your part industriously. Consider doing the following below : 1. Pray and plan your work schedule throughout the year. We need to learn to break or divide our time into manageable units e.g. timetable for the day, so that at a glance you know what you are supposed to do and be disciplined to accomplish it. Do not have a bad habit of a last minute rush to finish an assignment or study for a test the night before. Say no to time wasters like playing computer games on the handphone or laptop, watching too much TV or Youtube or social media and Chatrooms. We seldom do well if we do not plan and prioritize our lives properly. If you aim at nothing, you are bound to hit it. Do also set aside time for leisure, rest, family, reading of the word, prayer (church prayer meeting), sports, fellowship with others and the daily Quiet Time, MYF or Tweens meetings and Sabbath worship of the Lord. 2. Carry out your plan with discipline and hard work. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Pray constantly for God's help and wisdom to do your work. 1

2 God honours the hardworking and industrious but the sluggard and lazy will have no reward or good results. Solomon in Proverbs 6:6-7 speaks of the industrious ant as our model. Learn to do things well with God's grace and personal discipline, without others supervising you all the time. Be responsible and stand up to the calling of being a good student for the Lord (Colossians 1:10). Honest heart work has its rewards. Redeem time with by using it purposefully. 3. Remember the "DIN" and FIT Principles. "DIN" stands for "Do It Now" or Delay It Not and "FIT" stands for "Finish It Too! This is our advice to our students in Emmanuel Reformed Bible Lectures. Being forgetful people, we often delay what we are supposed to do. It is therefore a good practice to do our homework ahead of time during our best hours, all the time. Write it down in a diary or somewhere to remind us. Short notes are better than long memories. Do not delay completing your homework and revise for tests / exams ahead of time and do it a few times to remember well. This system will help you to complete your school work on time and thus be an effective student for the Lord (2 Timothy 2:15). 4. Discuss, Learn and Share with One Another. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. If you consistently do your part in your reading and revision, you will be able to contribute and discuss intelligently in class and out of class with others. You will be able to even help others in their school work and in so doing, you learn as well. You can be a channel of blessing to those around you by being a good testimony for the Lord (Hebrews 10:24, 25). Conclusion Matthew 6:33 says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Put God first in your life in all that you do. God has given us a sound mind also (2 Timothy 1:7) to serve and glorify Him and to study. Remember success in studies is often 1% intelligence and 99% diligence, 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Let your parents or siblings know what you plan to do so that they can remind you and ask them to pray for you. Do your part diligently and consistently and ask God to lead and guide you as you honour Him in your academic studies and spiritual walk of faith and do all things for His glory. Jack Sin

3 Thanksgiving Yes, I praise God for how He led my mother to come for the Emmanuel Reformed Bible Lecture (ERBL) class and listen to the lecture. She seemed to learn bit by bit as she shared her reflection on New Age Movement to me in the car. Alice Wong Praise God for giving me the blessing of joining the MBPC group for Indian missions trip. It is my first time and I am very excited. I looked through the MRM book on Biblical Perspective on the Contemporary Youth Issues and found a particular topic that I have been pondering. Thank you for lending me the book. I will return after reading. May God bless you and Angie abundantly! Thank you for your fervent devotion and faithfulness in Christ. Alice Wong Kulai BP Church Malaysia (NB. Sister Alice Wong was providentially led by the Lord away from studying psychology in Fuller Theological Seminary when we met her in July 2016 while preaching in Kulai BPC. She is presently studying in Emmanuel Reformed Bible Lectures (ERBL) with a desire to equip herself in the Word of God as the Lord leads her.) My First Missions Trip This missions trip was my first ever mission trip. At first, I was afraid something would happen to our flight. So I kept praying and praying for journeying mercies. So God protected us in the flight to Myanmar and the flight back to Singapore. On the first day, someone drove us from the airport to our hotel, which is called Holly Hotel. We had dinner there too. On the second, third and fourth day, we went to a place called the Bible Reformed Seminary (BRS). But on the fourth day, a few small orphans had Vacation Bible School (VBS) at the same place. On the fifth day, we went to a new orphanage and an old orphanage. The old orphanage had only one shelter and some kampung houses, a duck pond, pigs, ducks, James Hong 3

4 roosters, cats and dogs and a hole as a toilet. The new orphanage had one whole building, some kampung houses, ducks, roosters, and there are also cats and dogs. They have a proper toilet and a sink but the sink did not have water so we had to use our drinking water to wash our hands. I was disappointed at the sight of washing my hands with drinking water. On the Sunday of the actual work, we went to two churches. One called Yangon BPC and one Immanuel BPC. The orphans were content even though they do not have a very good toilet. This mission trip made me appreciate Singapore more. I want to go to a mission trip next year as I like it, and I miss Myanmar already. James Hong 9 years old

5 Theme for the Quarter : Christian Resources in Facing the Terrible Ds English Worship Service Rev Dr Jack Sin speaks on Facing Diseases (Scripture Text : James 5:14-20, Psalm 91:1-10; Responsive Reading : Isaiah 38:1-22) [End of MM] 5