ENGLISH SERVICE
12 October 2025
–
Matthew 5:13-16
Mr Charis Lim
Work takes up most of our waking hours, yet many see it as mere drudgery. However, God calls us to see work not just as a duty, but as a calling. As followers of Christ, we are called to bring His hope and love into the spaces we inhabit daily. When we see our work as worship, we become His salt and light and a powerful witness for His glory.
The Purpose of the Call
Work isn’t about self-actualisation but about fulfilling God’s call for our lives in the various vocations or ministries. All of us share the same primary call, which is to follow Jesus, with our secondary call being to do the work he entrusts to us. When our calling is disconnected from the Caller, it loses meaning.
Joseph, Moses, Bezalel, David, Nehemiah, and Esther all served in secular roles. Yet through their positions, they fulfilled the Lord’s purposes. Likewise, God places us in specific vocations today to fulfil his purpose in our generation.
Let us remember that the work that we do has purpose and meaning, because He’s the one who calls us and brings meaning to it. That’s how we find the purpose of the Call.
The Problem of the Call
Since the Fall (Genesis 3), we often look at the fruit instead of our heavenly Father – chasing results, rewards and recognition. When work defines our identity, it fuels selfish ambition as we root our meaning and identity on our work. As we give everything to our work, we must be careful that our work doesn’t displaces God from the throne of our heart. If so, work becomes our idol.
Learning from King Solomon, if our work is our principal means of finding satisfaction in life, we will never be satisfied because only in God will we find true satisfaction. Comparison further robs us of our joy, making us envy or covet the callings of others. As we discern our secondary callings and places to work, we must remember that God’s call never contradicts His character. He would not lead us into careers that stand against kingdom values. Our primary call and secondary call need to be aligned. We need to stay in our lane, fix our eyes on Jesus and run our race.
The Power of the Call
We are called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) where God has placed us – be it in family, education, arts, business, media and government. Salt quietly preserves what’s good; light boldly reveals God’s truth.
Every believer is a minister, and our workplace is our congregation. We reveal the Power of the call when the work we are called to do fulfils God’s redemptive purpose in whichever sphere we may be called to.
Our work is a platform for the power of God to be revealed. This can be done through the 6 Rs: Reconcile lost men to God. Repair broken systems. Remove injustice. Restore Godly values. Regenerate the environment. Rebuild relationships.
Through the Holy Spirit’s power (Acts 1:8), we can bring healing, demonstrate integrity and proclaim hope in Christ wherever we are.
💬 Reflection Questions:
1. How can you align your primary call to follow God with your secondary call in your current work or vocation? How does your work serve as a platform for ministry? Do share with each other.
2. Are you focusing on the “fruit” (material gains, status, or achievements) or the “Father” in your daily work and life? How can you shift your focus to not let work define your identity?
3. In what ways can you be a Salt and Light in your workplace or community, bringing God’s love and purpose into your sphere of influence? Pray for each other that God will use us, with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to be His Salt and light in where He has called us.
活石华语崇拜
12 October 2025
–
马太福音 5:13-16
讲员: 曾俊盛弟兄
11 October 2025
–
Genesis 50:1-26
Rev Joey Chen
ENGLISH SERVICE
5 October 2025
–
2 Corinthians 5:11-21
Rev Joey Chen
In 2 Corinthians 5, Apostle Paul says in verses 11, and 14-15 that Christ’s love compels him not to live for himself, but to live for Christ, and to persuade others to come to Christ. The Greek word sunecho translated as “compel” literally means “to hold in one’s grip”. Paul is not gripped by fear but God’s love. With this conviction of God’s love, we can know that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20)
To truly know God, one needs both logic and feelings in our relationship with Him. Even Saint Augustine realised he had missed out on seeing the fullness of God’s beauty when he did not engage his emotions to fully experience Him and His love. But once gripped by God’s love, he hungered and thirsted for Him.
How do we get gripped by God’s love? First, expect to encounter God whether through time with him in church, prayer or as you go about daily life. Second, eagerly seek to know God’s love. When we meditate on Scripture, or think about where God has been evident in our lives, He promises that if we seek, we will find.
How God’s love transforms. When we are filled with God’s love, we will live for His purposes and become His ambassadors. His love also transforms the way we see other people.
Being gripped by God’s love, we avoid the two temptations
As ambassadors of God, we are called to be in the world and not of the world. Our life situations may change but the mission does not. We are meant to live for God as His ambassadors and be part of the ministry of reconciliation bringing others to Christ. We are to be fully in the world, but not live as though we are of the world. Live in such a way as to increase your influence for God by pursuing excellence, having integrity and showing godly love. Being filled with God’s love, we will be transformed into new creations to live for His purposes, and love others as He loves.
Reflection Questions:
活石华语崇拜
5 October 2025
–
创世纪 39:1-23
讲员: 郑国良博士
4 October 2025
–
Genesis 48-49
Mr Joseph Quek
ENGLISH SERVICE
28 September 2025
–
John 9:1-11
Rev Jacob Lim
When we say “God is good,” it is often because we have experienced His blessings through answered prayers, healing, or comfort in difficult times. Yet many of us struggle with the questions: “If God is good, why do bad things happen? Why do bad people prosper?”
These questions reveal how we often view situations through the lens of cause-and-effect, as if every blessing or hardship is a reward or punishment for something we have done or not done. Yet, in the encounter with the blind man, Jesus reveals to us the truth about God’s heart.
Look to our Father who heals and restores
Such a cause-and-effect worldview leads to a perception of God as an angry judge ever ready to mete out punishment. It creates fear of an angry God. Through the miracle of healing the blind man, Jesus corrected this misunderstanding by showing that God is a good Father who heals, restores, and embraces. God’s goodness is not defined by a cause-and-effect worldview, but by His desire to reveal His works and love in our lives. Like the blind man in John 9, we live in a broken world where bad things do happen. Suffering is not punishment for sin but an opportunity for God’s light and glory to be shown. Jesus shows us that we do not have an angry God but a good Father whose heart is to redeem all.
Trust in God’s goodness and do good
Even while we face suffering and injustice, we can choose to trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness, knowing that He will ultimately set things right. We are reminded through Jesus’ suffering, death on the cross and resurrection that pain is not the end. Jesus went to the cross and died believing that God is good, and Jesus’ resurrection proves that God is indeed sovereignly in control and His goodness will prevail. As we choose to follow Jesus, to believe in a good God and live out goodness daily, we not only find joy and peace for ourselves, but we also become witnesses of God’s goodness to those around us.
Believing that God is good does not mean our lives will be free of pain, but it changes how we live through it. Instead of clinging to fear or anger, we can follow Jesus’ example to trust in God’s goodness and to do good in every circumstance. We may not have all the answers, but we can surrender control and rest in His love.
Reflection Questions:
活石华语崇拜
28 September 2025
–
创世记 37
讲员: William 弟兄
27 September 2025
–
Genesis 46:1-4 (+selected verses in Genesis 47)
BE Dr Wee Boon Hup
ENGLISH SERVICE
21 September 2025
–
Luke 5:1-11
Rev Emanuel Goh
Jesus chose ordinary, unrefined men to be his disciples rather than the elite and influential. In John 21:1-14, along with the text in Luke, we see the three stages of discipleship that show us what it means to follow Jesus today.
Obey in the ordinary
Jesus meets us in the ordinary and everyday moments in our lives, like how He went to Peter and taught from Peter’s boat. Discipleship is not limited to church and can happen and grow in our day-to-day lives in our workplace, home, and in our relationships. Jesus can show up in all areas of our lives.
Trust in a deep relationship
Peter was honest before Jesus about his fatigue and failure to catch fish. He dropped all pretence and was open and honest before Jesus. Being a disciple is about coming to the Lord with humility and authenticity, even when it does not make sense.
Peter’s words in Luke 5:5, “Because you say so”, show us an obedience and faith that is not based solely on human knowledge and wisdom.
Be restored and be faithful, even after failure
The despair and uncertainty that the disciples must have felt after Jesus’ crucifixion led them back to their old vocation, their comfort zone. But in their discouragement, Jesus met them – not with condemnation, but to nourish and bring restoration.
The disciples were obedient to Jesus’ instruction to throw their nets to the right side of the boat. This led to provision. Despite the failure of the disciples, the Lord showed compassion and care for them in the provision of the catch, the breakfast on the shore and the restoration to serve Him.
Jesus is calling us, ordinary everyday people, to humble ourselves and follow Him. He is calling us to trust in Him and the deeply relational love He has for us. For those of us who have “failed” God in our brokenness and sin, Jesus is calling us to return to Him from our place of discouragement and failure back into the presence of God. Will we answer His call to us today?
Reflection Questions:
活石华语崇拜
21 September 2025
–
彼得前书 2:4-9
讲员: 林建成牧师
20 September 2025
–
Genesis 45:4-8
Rev Joey Chen