English Service
RETURN TO ME: THE BEGINNING OF REVIVAL
11 Oct 2026
–
2 Chronicles 7:14-16
Mr Ian Foo
This Laity Sunday, we are reminded through the Scripture passage that God’s promise to His people begins with humility, prayer, seeking His face, and turning from our ways. Revival starts when we return to God, examine our hearts and allow His Word to guide and transform our lives.
God often brings revival through small and seemingly ordinary steps in our journey, as our speaker Ian shared. From Sunday school and the people who invested in his faith, to joining a cell group, studying God’s Word, serving in ministry and going on mission trips, each step became an opportunity to draw closer to God. What may seem like small acts of obedience to us can become significant milestones when we trust God.
Not journeying alone
Christian community such as cell groups provides a safe place for us to be open about our journey through life, its struggles and joys. In cells, we help keep each other accountable, encourage one another, pray together, and study the Word together. Revival in our lives can begin there in community as we turn to Him, seek His face, and grow in the Lord.
Not on our own strength
We may sometimes feel inadequate or overwhelmed in ministry, but God calls us to take the next step in faith and rely on His strength. We are not responsible for changing lives, but only to be faithful and attentive to where the Holy Spirit is leading. As we serve, we see that God is the one who is working and bringing growth.
One step at a time
Whether in missions, family, work, or ministry, God often does not show us the entire journey ahead. Instead, He invites us to surrender and trust Him with the next step. As Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, when we trust in the Lord rather than leaning on our own understanding, He will make our paths straight.
The Church is all of us
Every act of service matters, whether it is welcoming someone, serving the children and youth, helping with worship and AV, reaching out to others, or simply meeting a need that we see. We may never know the impact of our service, but God sees it. We do not need to be perfect and have everything figured out. God calls each of us, just as we are. We just need to be willing to take the first step and trust God and His good and perfect plans for each of us.
Revival begins when we return to the Lord and say, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” May we become a church that is always ready and willing to serve, encourage, and build up His people, trusting that God will use every act of faithful obedience, however small, for His greater purposes.
💬 Reflection:
1. In what area of your life is God inviting you to return to Him in humility, prayer or repentance?
2. What small step of faith or obedience is God asking you to take this week? Share and pray for one another.
3. As a group, consider how you can better encourage and keep one another accountable to seek God and serve faithfully. Commit your next steps in prayer.
活石华语崇拜
你是神国的器皿
11 Oct 2026
–
历代志下 7:14-16
刘丽娜姐妹
YOUTH SERVICE
THE BOOK OF MARK: PEACE, BE STILL
10 Oct 2026
–
Mark 4:35-41
Pastor Simon Lam
English Service
THE FISH AS GOD’S CIRCUIT BREAKER
4 Oct 2026
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Jonah 2:1-10
Rev Emanuel Goh
When a circuit breaker trips to cut off power supply, nothing about it feels like help since you might be inconvenienced. The sudden trip might, in fact, be protecting you. revealing a fault that could cause a fire.
1. Pause to expose the fault within
Jonah was a nationally respected prophet who had advised King Jeroboam. When God gave him an assignment that took him out of success, Jonah ran in disobedience and a fault within him was exposed – a heart that loved God’s blessings but not God’s heart.
The Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah (1:17) after he was hurled into the sea (1:16). The sea was the punishment but the fish was the rescue, however uncomfortable it might be.
Not every hard stop in our lives is God’s punishment for a sin. though. Whatever is stopping you, God can use the stop. The same God who provided the fish is sovereign over your pause. Even where He did not cause the pain, He can use the stillness to bring healing.
2. Pause to return to God
Jonah stopped and was still on two occasions. In chapter 1, he was still in the bottom of the ship, escaping from God. In chapter 2, he was still in the belly of the fish but the stillness became prayer.
Stillness is not automatically holy. In our pause, we need to have honest prayer. Stillness offers the space to reflect and think. Jonah turned back to God (v6-7) and remembered who God is, recalling the Psalms he had sung in his good years. In the same way, we must store up God’s Word now, in the ordinary seasons, to recall and remember in our time of need.
3. Pause to be sent out
In the belly of the fish, Jonah reflects on what he clings to (v8) and he thanks God even before seeing dry land again, proclaiming that salvation is not achieved but a gift from the Lord (v9). This is what faith looks like – gratitude before the exit, praise before the answer.
Like Jonah, we may have been busy trying to steer our own lives. But in the belly of the fish, he acknowledges the centre of the Gospel: Salvation is not achieved but is a gift from the Lord.
Sometimes God has to stop us in our striving so we can finally receive what we can never accomplish.
God did not stop Jonah to shut him down but to turn him around and send him out again. If God has brought you through a stop, or if you’re in one now, don’t waste it. God’s pauses always have a purpose, and the purpose is almost always a sending.
Jesus Himself pointed to this chapter in Matthew 12:40 before proclaiming: something greater than Jonah is here. Here is how Jesus is greater and is the answer to our questions:
Unlike Jonah who was in the depths while running away from God, Jesus went into the depths because He was coming toward us. Jonah was thrown into the sea to calm a storm he had caused. Jesus went to the cross to calm a storm we had caused. In self-pity, Jonah said he was banished from God’s sight. On the cross, Jesus was genuinely forsaken, entering the real exile so that those who trust Him never have to.
Then came the great silence, when everything stopped and the disciples went into hiding as the Son of God lay in a sealed tomb.
But God was doing His deepest work in that silence. On the third day, the stone rolled away. What did the risen Jesus do with His disciples? He sent them: Go and make disciples of all nations. The greatest pause in history ended in the greatest sending in history.
💬 Reflection:
1. When has God used an unexpected interruption, setback, or “circuit breaker” to get your attention or redirect your life? What did you discover about God, His purpose, or yourself, through that experience?
2. What makes it difficult to recognise God’s hand when our plans are disrupted? How can we become more attentive to what God may be doing rather than simply trying to restore our situation?
3. Is there an area of your life where God might be asking you to pause, surrender control, or change direction? What is one practical step of trust and obedience you can take this week?
活石华语崇拜
你看见了吗？
4 Oct 2026
–
约拿书 1
William 传道
YOUTH SERVICE
THE BOOK OF MARK: THE JESUS WE NEVER KNEW
3 Oct 2026
–
Mark 1-2
Mr Joshua Chai
English Service
CROSSING OVER TO
THE NEW ERA
27 Sept 2026
–
2 Samuel 19:31-40
Ps Dr Chew Weng Chee
A time of ‘cross over’ can refer to moments that can bring transition, trials, tribulations, testing, or new beginnings. In today’s passage, it refers not only to how Barzillai escorted King David on his return to Jerusalem, but also the King’s offer of a new life in royalty as a reward for Barzillai’s loyalty and support at Mahanaim. Barzillai’s response to the King reveals three postures for anyone entering a new season of life.
1. Continue to be an Encourager
At one of the king’s lowest points where he experienced betrayal and grief, Barzillai had been an encourager to David before this crossing and continued to stand with him. What is known of Barzillai is that he came from Gilead, a city of refuge, suggesting a chequered past, and that he was advanced in age. His encouragement to David was not merely verbal; it was expressed through presence, loyalty and practical support.
The New Testament example of Barnabas — the “Son of Encouragement” — reinforces this calling. In every new season, believers can choose to become people who strengthen others instead of focusing only on themselves. Encouragement may mean standing beside someone in difficulty, affirming God’s work in them, giving practical help, or simply remaining faithful when others withdraw.
2. Continue to Serve the Lord Unconditionally
Barzillai did not serve David in order to receive a reward. When David offered to care for him in Jerusalem, Barzillai declined and asked only to accompany the king a short distance. His attitude illustrates service without entitlement or expectation of repayment.
Colossians 3:23 gives the principle: Whatever we do, we are to work wholeheartedly as for the Lord and not merely for people. God is no man’s debtor. We do not need to manipulate outcomes or demand recognition. Faithfulness to God is never wasted, even when the reward is not immediate, visible, or in the form we expect.
3. Continue to Empower the Next Generation
Barzillai understood that his own season was changing, so he directed David’s attention to the younger Kimham, asking the king to take him across instead. David acceded and later, instructed Solomon to show kindness to Barzillai’s sons (1 Kings 2:7). Generations later, Ezra 2:61 records priestly descendants connected with the name of Barzillai. Rather than holding tightly to opportunity for himself, Barzillai made room for the next generation.
Investing in and empowering younger people pleases God’s heart. We should not measure fruitfulness only by what we personally accomplish, but also by whom we equip and bless, passing on faith, wisdom, opportunity, and responsibility so that God’s work continues beyond our own season.
As God brings us into a new phase, continue to encourage, continue to serve the Lord with a pure heart, and continue to empower those who come after us. The form of our service may change with age or season, but faithfulness does not have to stop.
💬 Reflection:
1. What new phase or season are you currently crossing over to? How might God be calling you to continue being an encourager, in a practical and consistent way?
2. Reflect on how you currently serve God and others. Where might you be tempted to look for recognition, reward or appreciation? What would it look like to serve “as to the Lord”?
3. Who is someone from the next generation whom you can mentor, equip, give opportunity to, or release into greater responsibility? What is one concrete step you can take this week for that person?
活石华语崇拜
挑旺灵火，勇往直前
27 Sept 2026
–
提摩太后书 1:3-7
李沙龙弟兄
YOUTH SERVICE
THE MEANING OF LIFE: WHY AM I HERE?
26 Sept 2026
–
Matthew 22:34-40
Mr Joseph Quek
English Service
WHEN LIFE ENTERS A TAILSPIN
20 Sept 2026
–
Jonah 1
Rev Dr Kow Shih Ming
What do you do when your life enters a tailspin, spiralling rapidly and uncontrollably downward? The Scripture passage today offers three steps we can take:
1. Refuse to Stop Trusting God
When life enters a tailspin and doesn’t make sense, it’s tempting to stop trusting God. Instead of continuing to trust God, you may react like Jonah and choose to run away from what you know the Lord requires of you. Jonah didn’t understand why God would want to send him to the Assyrians, Israel’s enemy, so he ran in the opposite direction to Tarshish and ended up being thrown into the raging sea, drowned, and got swallowed by a fish.
When life enters a tailspin and you can’t understand or make sense of what’s happening, don’t end up in the same place. Refuse to stop trusting God.
2. Rely fully on God
Second, rely fully on God even when you’re in a tailspin. Jonah got into a ship heading away from God. But there is no place where God is not. So, the ship Jonah was in entered a tailspin when the Lord hurled a mighty wind upon the sea.
In trying to get out of a tailspin, it’s tempting to try harder, turn to other spiritualities, look for someone to blame, and even acknowledge that God is a possible solution to your troubles. But it’s not enough to acknowledge God. You must worship God for who He is and fully rely on Him.
Note that the sailors offered a sacrifice and made vows to God after the sea ceased raging (v14). We need not make any more sacrifice, for Jesus has made the ultimate and only needful sacrifice for us. What is needed is absolute surrender of our lives to God, so that whatever happens, you’re assured that God will be with you.
3. Rest in the Lord
Finally, you can rest in the Lord because when there’s no way, God will make a way. For Jonah, it came in a fish which swallowed him.
When life enters a tailspin, especially when you find yourself drowning, you have a choice. You can either resign yourself to your situation, struggle to survive or choose to be still in the Lord and let Him save you.
How do you rest in God?
– Worship: As you worship, you’re focusing more and more on God. You begin to see who God is, the God of mercy and grace, the God whom you can rely on, the God who will be with you whatever happens to you. You’ll also see a God who is much larger than your situation.
– Pray: Tell God what you’re feeling and thinking, so you can begin to heal. God is listening to every word. Be absolutely honest with Him and release all your pent-up emotions and thoughts. Even if you’ve no words to tell God, just be still in God’s presence. God hears your heart and He will bring His shalom presence into your present. As in Psalm 16:11 (ESV), You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
– Support: Sit in God’s presence with a trusted sister or brother. They don’t need to do or say anything, just be fully present in your tailspin moments. Cultivate that relationship of trust today.
💬 Reflection:
1. What is a tailspin in your life that you have faced or are facing? In what way has the sermon challenged or encouraged you?
2. When have you struggled with trusting in, relying on or resting in God? What do you need to change so you can respond better when life turns into a tailspin?
3. Rest in God and worship Him by listening to the song of response (God Will Make A Way). Pray and commit your emotions and thoughts to Him. Then share and pray for one another.
4. Who is someone you can sit with and support through their tailspin situation?
活石华语崇拜
承先启后
20 Sept 2026
–
约书亚记 4:23-24; 以赛亚书 43:18-19;
启示录 3:17
何进南牧师
YOUTH SERVICE
THE MEANING OF LIFE: WHO AM I?
19 Sept 2026
–
1 Corinthians 6:9-14
Rev Joey Chen