Volume 29, IssuE 26 28 AUG 2016 A Word on Worship The way to come to God the Father is through Christ. He is the sure and only way to God (cf. John 14:6). Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). All those who have trusted in Christ s atoning sacrifice on the cross can now draw nigh to God, rejoicing in that wonderful privilege. Paul said, For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (Romans 5:10-11). Scripture Memorisation Doers Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Call to Worship Order of Worship Hymn 85: O Day of Rest and Gladness* Dn Low Boon Siang Invocation & Gloria Patri* Responsive Scripture Reading* Matthew 10:32-39 Gethsemane Children s Choir Hymn 390: Something for Thee Collection of Offerings Doxology & Prayer* Hymn 532: Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us Scripture Memorisation Pastoral Prayer Sermon Pastor Prabhudas Koshy Disciples Conflicts in the World Matthew 10:32-39 Hymn 431: Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken* Benediction & Threefold Amen* * Congregation Standing
duty roster Today, 28 August 2016 Next Lord s Day, 4 September 2016 9.00 10.00am CHURCH CHOIR & CHILDREN S CHOIR CHURCH CHOIR & CHILDREN S CHOIR 10.30am 1.30pm 3.30pm CHINESE SERVICE ENGLISH SERVICE FILIPINO SERVICE LIONS HOME MALAYALAM FELLOWSHIP Musician: Flowers: Ushers: Musicians: Ushers: Greeter: AV Ministry: Flowers: Junior Worship: Musician: Usher: Venue: English Speaker: Dialect Speaker: Gan Chin Hwi Pr Daniel Lim Angeline Wong Lee Kim Lei Roscelle Lim John Peh & Lawrence Ng Dn Low Boon Siang Pastor Koshy Chloe Pawa, Sarah Lee Ng Kwan Teng, Stephen Yap Theodore Wang, Danial Wong David Ng, Chan Tuck Whye Aileen Tan Crew No. 4 Jessie Ng Yeo Geok Hien, Chairine Chayadi Jolyne Cho, Karen Quek Melissa Neo, (Lok Qian Hui) Sharon dela Cruz, (Cecilia Siah) Bro Andrew Koh Norefel Resuma Pr Dennis Kabingue Chloe Pawa Jordan Ballega Rowena Delina 9 Bishan Street 13 Pr Jeremiah Sim Pr Kelvin Lim MALAYALAM FELLOWSHIP Musician: Flowers: Ushers: Musicians: Ushers: Greeter: AV Ministry: Flowers: Junior Worship: Musician: Usher: Venue: English Speaker: Dialect Speaker: Pr Daniel Lim Pr Daniel Lim Eunice Choy Francis Tan Chan Tuck Whye & Francis Tan Eld Alan Choy Pastor Koshy Jasmine Low, Ellyzabeth Andy Lee, Marcus Peh Benny Skariah, Cayson Chok Amoz Choy, Julius Del Rosario Low Siew Lian Crew No. 1 Karen Quek Stella Tan, Nancy Lau Edeliza Ballega, Cecilia Siah Lee Kim Lei, (Eunice Choy) Angeline Wong, (Cornelius Koshy) John Peh Eric Delina Pr Dennis Kabingue Chloe Pawa Jomart Tindaan Erly Calaro 487 Bedok South Ave 2 Elder Mah Chin Kwang Elder Alan Choy 2
28 August 2016 REV EPHREM S MISSION REPORT FROM ETHIOPIA To the Rev Dr Prabhudas Koshy and the Session of Gethsemane BPC, Singapore: O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:2). Greetings in the blessed Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! I praise God for keeping His church, my co-labourers, my family and me in faith and good health to continue His work. The Lord of the harvest has been very gracious in sustaining us and providing the direly-needed resources for the work He has entrusted us. Moreover, I thank God for your labours of love, constant prayer and support for God s work in Ethiopia whereby the Almighty is fulfilling His purpose in our land. Spiritually speaking, the Evangelical Churches in Ethiopia are passing through great tides of apostasy, charismatic delusion and moral declension. While we do not expect things to get better in these last days, we are called to hold forth the Word of Life, live blamelessly and shine as Christ s lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation (cf. Philippians 2:15-16). Despite some 3 dropouts from God s army in our church, I praise God for upholding us to stand against all these unbiblical tides, and also for all the brethren who stood by us in prayer and selfless giving. Following is a brief update on God s work in Ethiopia: Work at Alemgena i. Church By God s enabling grace, Gethsemane has been shining forth the gospel light of Jesus Christ over the town and its environs. In our weekly evangelism work, we usually do a person-to-person evangelism whenever conducive. We also give out tracts (especially An Appointment to Keep, translated into Amharic and Oromo). God rewarded our efforts by a few who have professed faith in Christ. As we press on in the days ahead, may God bring in greater harvest. Besides, Bro Bayera (a graduate of GBI) has begun a mission work in Sebata Awas, Gora Kebele. Some people have shown interest in the Gospel. But due to the recurring uprisings in Oromia region, he could not fully carry out house-to-house evangelism as planned. We are prayerfully doing all we can to get the breakthrough. Once we get a number of converts, he will settle there and continue the work. Please pray for this work. Mission Report
Mission Report ii. Gethsemane Children s Ministry This ministry provides an opportunity for the poor and disadvantaged children in our community to learn to read, write and understand basic arithmetic. This year, 29 children completed their education, which is provided free. Next academic year, we will have 3 classes: Nursery, KG1 and KG2, with about 45 poor children benefiting from this gratis service. 3 of our church members (1 volunteer and 2 paid staff) are serving in this ministry. This ministry has allowed us to give the Good News both to the children and their parents. It is our prayer that God s special favour be on this work to yield rich spiritual fruits in days to come. May God use the seed sown in their hearts to bring them to salvation. iii. GBI, Ethiopia Thou be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:1-2). GBI exists to train and prepare faithful Christian leaders, preachers and teachers for the Church of Jesus Christ. It strives to achieve this by equipping them with sound biblical and theological instruction, training the heart to develop biblical virtues, and providing vital skills needed for effective preaching and teaching of God s Word and biblical leadership of the church. Thus, GBI is a firm ground which the Lord has given to Gethsemane to disseminate the Reformed and Bible-Presbyterian Faith, to counteract the apostasy in our land, and to prepare faithful, devoted, skilful ministers for the work of the Gospel. After 4 years of training, 2 have graduated with Diploma in Theology on 29th November 2015. One of the graduates, Pr Dejene Daka, went back to the rural church and is now serving as a pastor in a local church in Wolayta Zone. The other is our church member, currently serving the Lord fulltime in Alemgena. Praise God for His unspeakable gifts. In GBI, Ethiopia, we have 3 programmes: a) The Full-time Programme: has 3 terms of study annually, covering 7 courses each term. Dn Imane, Pr Engida and I take the teaching duty. This term, we had 12 trainees in this programme. (3 others withdrew because of family problems, and hopefully, they will be back next year). b) The Evening Programme: for those who cannot come for full-time study. This year, we have 6 students in this class, where they take 2 to 3 courses each term. Currently, I am the sole instructor because of Dn Imane s part-time study at Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. c) The Distance Programme: for those who come from far. They come on alternate Saturdays for a full-day training. Each term, they take 4 courses; Dn Imane and I give 2 courses each. Although 11 trainees began this year, only 7 completed the 3rd quarter while 4 dropped out because of personal problems. 4
May the Lord bless these efforts for the glory of His Name, the edification of His people and the salvation of sinners. I truly thank God for all the brethren who earnestly pray for and sacrificially give towards this work. Work at Addis Ababa Pr Engida is in charge of the work in Addis. He takes all the duties related to the spiritual care of the flock there. Dn Imane and I will go there monthly to help the work on alternate Sundays. We use a rented house for our services and for Pr Engida s family s residence. Finding a willing property owner with an affordable rental, has been our problem these past 2 years. The current owner, under pressure from pagan neighbours, had told us to leave as we just completed a 1-year term of leasing this month. Each move brings its own difficulty. In any case, this time we almost could not get a proprietor who is willing to lease property for church service. After a month of desperate search, we found a property which is leased out on a 6-month term of payment. Though the owner is a member of an evangelical church, he is not willing to let us use it on a 3-month term of payment. This puts us in a most difficult situation. Yet, we have no option but to take it. This shows us that the time ahead is more difficult than we imagine. We need prayers of God s people, that God may intervene in all our difficulties to sustain the ministry in Addis Ababa for God alone has the solution to this problem. Our Encouragement, Challenges and Prayers We praise God for the fellowship of Gethsemane B-P Churches in Singapore and the Philippines, and 5 other like-minded brethren who stood with us thus far in carrying out God s work. We need more faithful and able workers in GBI and more called ones to come in for training. We need God s grace and wisdom to watchfully guard against the influx of unbiblical doctrines and practices in these last days. We need God s providence towards the Gethsemane Children s Ministry as it is serving the poor children in our community, gratis (and yet, we need to pay the teachers). We need God s mighty work in the hearts of our members to engage themselves in witnessing to their friends, neighbours and family members, to promote church growth. We need God s Hand to intervene in the problem of finding an affordable rental for the use of our Addis congregation. The extra 3 months payment that we have made for the premises, put us in a situation whereby we will not be able to pay our workers. We can do nothing but cry to the Almighty God to intervene! More than anything, we need God to revive His work in the hearts of the full-time workers, that we may exert ourselves wholly to fulfil our most holy calling! Mission Report
junior worshipper s text page The apostle Paul here tells us how a church should function. Though there are many members in the church, they all must work in harmony like all the parts or members of the human body. In the church at Rome, there were believers from different races Jews, Romans, Greeks, etc. They were also of different languages and cultures. Some of them were rich, while some others were poor. There were also children, youths and the elderly. Their differences should not give rise to jealousy, envy or quarrels. Instead, they should take advantage of their diversity to work together for God s glory. When every piece of a jigsaw puzzle is placed in its proper place in connection with the other pieces, a beautiful picture will come together. May we also join together and work with other fellow believers in harmony, so that the Lord s good will concerning the church will be fulfilled. So, let us put away all bitterness, envy and strife, and let us join with one another to serve our LORD. Such harmonious service is most pleasing to the LORD. Many But One Prabhudas Koshy 6 Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Illustration by Melissa Neo
Collections LORD S DAY on 21 August 2016 Tithes: 3,533.00 Offerings: 9,014.15 Bldg Fund (Project): 1,000.00; 500.00; 50.00 Designated Gifts: TGCM (local) 100.00; GBPC (Ethiopia) 100.00; 16.00; GBPC (Cebu) 20.00; Ephrem Chiracho 300.00; 50.00; Kelvin Lim 350.00 NON-SUNDAY GIFT Bldg Fund (Project): 1,000.00 Bible Witness: 5,000.00 SPECIAL FUND UPDATE (as of 21 August 2016) Building Fund (Project): $2,032,204.80 GMF Seminar 13th August 2016 Designated Gifts: Pangasinan Mission PHP3,222.00; Kelvin Lim 400.00; 150.00 Give generously towards our Church Building Fund. Christmas Gospel Concert 24th December 2016 Saturday, 7.30pm-9.30pm Agape Concert Hall Paya Lebar Methodist Girls School (Secondary) 296 Lorong Ah Soo, Singapore 536742 In celebration of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Gethsemane Children s Choir, Voices of Gethsemane and Gethsemane Youth Choir will be presenting Christmas hymns and carols. Also, Pastor Koshy will be preaching a Gospel message. Free tickets will be issued for entry from today. Please ensure that you get tickets for yourselves and those you invite. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis. Invite your relatives and friends early! Thoughts of a Cheerful Giver Church Building Fund 14th August 2016 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7). I prayed to God to enable me to contribute to the Building Fund and He answered. He always make my heart rejoice in His presence. Thank you, God. All glory to Him! GYAF Seminar Sovereignty of God Speaker: Pastor Koshy Chairman: Bro Ernest Lim Date: Sat, 3 Sept 2016 Time: 2.00pm-6.00pm Venue: City Beach Resort (Transport provided from Labrador Park MRT station at 1.40pm.) Please sign up at the reception table or register on GYAF website. Gethsemane Youth Fellowship Theme: Ecclesiology: Invisible & Visible Church Speaker: Bro Andrew Koh Chairman: Bro Andronicus Koshy Date: Sat, 3 Sept 2016 Time: 4.00-6.00pm Venue: Home of Elder & Mrs Mah 45A Jalan Senang Singapore 418335 Sunday Evangelism There will be an evangelism session today at Blk 25 Chai Chee Road Singapore 460025 Please meet @ 1.30pm at the foyer. announcements 7
announcements GETHSEMANE CHILDREN S MINISTRY Daily Vacation Bible School will be held from 8-10 Dec 2016. Please take note of the dates. 12 th Bible Witness Retreat Theme: The Excellencies of Christ Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy Venue: Pulai Springs Resort, Johor Date: 7th 9th September 2016 (Wed Fri) Fees: $350 Single occupancy $280 Twin/Triple occupancy $180 Child aged 4-12 with extra bed $130 Child aged 4-12 without extra bed (All fees include transport, accommodation, meals and notes.) Registration form is available at the reception table or can be downloaded from www.biblewitness.com/ retreat. Post-Worship Activities Please stay back after worship to join us for: Refreshments & Fellowship 12.30pm 1.30pm Bible Study (Adults, Youths & Children) Cancelled in view of Evangelism Weekly Activities Tuesday Campus Bible Study 1.30pm-2.30pm @ NAFA Tuesday Night Bible Study & Prayer 8.00pm @ L5 Auditorium, SingPost Centre Wednesday Lunch Hour Bible Study 1.00pm @ Bible Witness Bookroom Wednesday Night GBI-Online 7.45pm 9.15pm @ TGCM Thursday Seniors Ministry 11.00am (Please contact Pr Jeremiah Sim) Friday Morning Prayer 7.45am 8.30am @ Church Resource Centre Friday Campus Bible Study SUTD Semestral Break Time & Place of Worship 10.30am Level 5 Auditorium Singapore Post Centre 10 Eunos Road 8 Singapore 408600 (next to Paya Lebar MRT station) Prayer Hotline 8138 8139 SMS or WhatsApp your prayer item Our Office 510 Geylang Road, #02-06 Singapore 389466 Tel: 6741 1910 Fax: 6741 1016 Our Websites gethsemanebpc.com biblewitness.com Our Pastor Pastor Prabhudas Koshy Mobile: 9001 1119 Email: pastor.gbpc@gmail.com Baptism/affirmation of faith/ TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP The above will be held on Sunday, 25 Sept 2016. Applications for membership must be submitted by today to Sis Diana Koh. Parents with infants, who are seeking baptism, are to register with Sis Diana Koh. Sunday Lions Home Ministry For enquiry, contact Pr Jeremiah Sim For more information, please call the church office at 6741 1910. Bible Witness Magazine 8 Bible Witness Web Radio Church Weekly Our Session Pastor Prabhudas Koshy Elder Mah Chin Kwang Elder Alan Choy Elder Ng Poh Kok Deacon Daniel Lim Deacon Lok Kwok Wah Deacon Kelvin Lim Deacon Francis Lee Deacon Low Boon Siang