Pastoral Message (Page 96)

By Not Known Singapore’s Christmas seems to be becoming more pagan. Most street and store signs have the generic slogan Seasons Greetings. One store has a large banner that reads: It’s all about me this season. That’s rather close to blasphemy against God and idolatry of self. All of this adds up to a public Christ-less Christmas, from which Christian…

By Not Known In less than a month, we will once again sing the good old Christmas carol – "Joy to the world". For many Christians around the world, it will take much courage to sing this carol as it is. Why so? What joy is there when ten of thousands were dead, lost, and displaced when hurricanes swept New Orleans and Texas, when earthquakes rocked India…

By Not Known Today is the first Sunday in Advent. Advent means coming and is the time when we celebrate the heart of the gospel: God came to our world so that we can go to his world. God, in Christ, came to bear our sins on the Cross and to give us life abundant and life eternal. To bear our sins he had to take on our human nature and they is why God came to our world.…

By Not Known The winner of a recent test of stamina declared: It was just a case of mind over matter. This is a popular sentiment. There is a present boom in self-help publications, seminars and such like that revolve around mind-power. Mind-power has flourished since the publication of ‘The Power of Positive Thinking‘ by Norman Vincent Peale, a US clergyman,…

By Not Known Two preachers were talking. They had disagreed on a theological matter, but were confident of each other’s salvation. One asked the other: John, when you get to heaven, who will you thank for your salvation? The reply was instant and decisive: God! God saves. This teaching is at the heart of the Christian message. We do not save ourselves. Nor can we,…

By Not Known Most Creeds begin by confessing belief in God as creator. Christians vary in their understanding of what the Bible teaches about the how and when of creation, but agree about the who. We believe that this is God’s world. Creation is a basic article of faith and of the faith. Firstly, creation is an article of faith. In today’s morning sermon Dr…

By Not Known Today (Sun 30 Oct. 05) is the 149th anniversary of ORPC. We have much to thank God for. He has given the church strong growth, protected us in testing times, and have seen us through significant changes. This once-small church of Scottish expatriates have become a thriving city-centre church whose pace and variety reflects the character of Singapore. Thanks…

By Not Known Church families come in different sizes and shapes. Some are in families of a married couple with children and perhaps grandparents on the scene. Others are married with no children. Some are single and living at home and others by themselves or in shared accommodation. Some were once married but are now separated, divorced or widowed. It’s important…

By Not Known Ours is a day of outsourcing. Rather than do odd jobs ourselves, we call a contractor. The same applies to many other areas. We pay people to do somethings for us in order to free us up for other things. We also outsource education. Our children are sent into the schooling system at a young age. Then we hire tuition teachers to fill in the gaps of extra…

By Not Known Many of us would be familiar with Proverbs 3: 5- 6 which says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Some of us would have even committed it to memory and often find it a useful reminder to depend on God and allow him to lead us in our…