Posts from 2021

A Change of Plans

We all have our plans in life. Some of us may have plans to further our studies abroad, to get married, to buy a house, or to travel to this or that country. Likewise, although the Bible does not mention Mary and Joseph’s plans, I believe they had theirs as well. Being human and betrothed to each other, they must have made plans for their future together as husband and wife. Their plans were abruptly interrupted and changed when an…

Finding Peace in A Broken World

I had always felt that peace was such a fleeting sensation. Perhaps my time in the hospital best exemplified this: I could be looking out of the window at lunchtime, briefly losing myself in the peaceful serenity of the autumn landscape, marvelling at the beauty of God’s creation; in the next minute I find myself frantically dashing to the wards to resuscitate a collapsed patient, anxiously hoping that everything will be okay. Peace, I have found, is always rudely interrupted…

STARTING OF ONSITE SUNDAY SCHOOL

Onsite Sunday School (3-12yo) will commence from Sun, 12 Deconwards, 9:00 – 10:00am. Parents will get more information through their Parent Teacher Connect (PTC) chat groups. New registration of children can be done via the link below

The Importance of Christian Community

Have you ever noticed that whenever the Bible talks about believers, it uses metaphors that talk about Christians as a whole community, rather than as individuals? We need to be connected to the true Vine (John 15:1-8) We are one Body (Rom 12:4-5, 1 Cor 1:12-27, Eph 5:23) We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession (1 Pet 2:9-10) We are a family, a household (1 Tim 3:5, 15) This tells us something very…

Relections on Advent

Recently, someone handed me a copy of our Advent worship bulletin from 1965. That is almost 60 years of Advent celebrations here at ORPC, and maybe more if it started even further back. But what makes celebrating Advent so special that it has become an integral part of our tradition? Robert Webber, in his book Ancient-Future Time, said that “the life of worship is not in the ritual itself but in the lives of the people shaped by the message of…

Virtual Is Not Real

In recent weeks, Singapore has continued to reopen travel with the rest of the world with successive launches of vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs). Pent-up demand for overseas travel is expected, as many in Singapore look forward to being reunited with family members abroad, or simply to go travelling again. This is despite the significant additional costs and discomfort the mandated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests will bring. Be it the warm hugs, the hearty laughter, the sweet aroma of shared…

Going beyond the surface

It’s been about 18 years since I first stepped into this church. And it occursto me that the reason why I was initially comfortable in this church is thesame as one of the reasons why I left for a season. We don’t look out fornewcomers and jump on him/her trying to be welcoming. We don’t keeptrack of members’ attendance and go after them when they’re absent. Wegive people space. We treat our people like responsible adults, and assumethat there’s some…
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