ENGLISH SERVICE
5 July 2026
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John 15:1-11
BE Dr Wee Boon Hup
The passage of Jesus as the true Vine is a familiar one. Verse 4 is where Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you.” Often, we place priority on the second half of the statement, “I in you”, where Jesus comes to reside in our hearts. However, Jesus’ welcome is, first and foremost, an invitation to abide in Him, to “come into my life, come into my world”. When we abide in Him and go into His world, we can experience abundance He intends for us in three areas:
1. Abundant Growth
Jesus’ purpose for us when we go to him is luxurious growth. Abundant growth results from unbroken connection to Him. Life in Jesus is not about how active or busy we are for Him. When Jesus invites us to “come home to Me”, He does not mean a house or structure. Jesus Himself is the house, the temple.
Growth sometimes eludes us because we mistake the activity for growth. Abiding with Jesus is where growth takes place.
2. Abundant Love
Jesus says to abide in His love is to keep His commands. This may lead some to question if this statement as transactional. Do we have to obey His commands in order to obtain His love, then? How do we get to a place where we obey not because we have to but because we want to? Abundant love flourishes amidst loving obedience. Things may not happen the way we want but in obeying Jesus’ commands, we will understand His purpose and plans for us and find that He turns all things for our good, thus experiencing His love.
When we abide in Him, we will know that the depth of Jesus’ love for us is infinite. Beautifully captured in John 17:26, Jesus says, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” This is why the Psalmist can say he stands in awe of God amidst persecution by recalling testimonies kept in his very soul, which fills him with love and sustains him (Psalm 119:161, 167).
3. Abundant Joy
Many times throughout the Bible, the abiding leads to abundant joy. The Psalmist experiences joy in God’s presence (Psalm 16:11). Paul points out an interesting paradox of servants of God experiencing joy amidst sorrow (2 Cor 6:10). Peter recognises that even without seeing Jesus but in experiencing Him, there is joy (1 Peter 1:8). We see that, in spite of the pain and sorrow, there can be joy from the Lord simply by abiding in Him.
As we abide in Christ, may we join the Psalmist to testify:
“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
💬 Reflection:
活石华语崇拜
5 July 2026
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路加福音 10:25-37
陈思如牧师
4 July 2026
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James 5:13-20
Mr Eugene Cheong
ENGLISH SERVICE
28 June 2026
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Lamentations 3:19-24
Pastor Simon Lam
What do you do when circumstances keep worsening and there is no reprieve in sight? Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet”, spoke from the ruins of Jerusalem with nothing to show after 40 years of warning Judah except rejection and persecution. Yet, in this darkness, he made five deliberate moves that turn him towards God in hope.
1. Tell God the Truth (Lam 3:19-20)
Jeremiah did not pretend he was fine. He named his affliction and brought his bitterness and downcast soul before God. Lament is not the opposite of faith; it is faith’s honest expression of speaking to the God you still believe is there, listening to our pain.
2. Turn Your Mind Toward Hope (Lam 3:21)
Jeremiah’s situation had not changed; what changed was his focus. We may not be able to choose how we feel, but we can choose what we set our minds on. Like the psalmist, we can speak truth to our own souls: “Put your hope in God” (Ps 42:5).
3. Anchor in God’s Character (Lam 3:22; Isa 49:15; Matt 14:31)
Jeremiah anchors himself not in improving circumstances but in God’s covenant love and compassion. God’s love does not rise and fall with our situation. Even when faith weakens, His grace reaches out: Jesus caught Peter immediately when his faith failed and he began to sink. God’s character remains firm even when our faith feels fragile.
4. Receive Today’s Mercy (Lam 3:23; Matt 6:34)
God’s mercies are new every morning. We are not given grace in advance for every future burden or that depletes, but a daily portion that is sufficient for today. Instead of carrying fears about tomorrow, we receive what God gives now and trust Him for what tomorrow will require.
5. Make the Lord Your Portion (Lam 3:24)
Jeremiah anchored his security on God when he declared, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Health, career and relationships can be shaken, but God Himself is a firm foundation that cannot be taken away. Waiting on Him is not passive resignation; it is steady trust in His faithfulness.
Hope is not denial, nor does it begin with better circumstances. It begins when we make the deliberate choice to keep faith in the One who is not distant from our suffering. In Christ, He entered it fully. The cross proves His steadfast love, Jesus’ resurrection confirms that His mercies are new every morning, and Christ continues to intercede for us (Rom 8:34). Therefore we can say with Jeremiah: “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him” (Lam 3:24).
💬 Reflection:
1. What pain, physical or situational, do I need to identify honestly before God this week rather than hiding or minimising it?
2. What truth about God’s character must I deliberately call to mind this week?
3. What anxieties about tomorrow do I need to surrender so I can receive His mercy for today?
4. As I reflect on my life today, what areas of my thinking, priorities, identity, security, hopes or fears do I need to surrender or re-order so that the Lord is truly my portion?
活石华语崇拜
28 June 2026
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创世记 1:26-27, 哥林多后书 5:18-20
李沙龙弟兄
27 June 2026
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Ephesians 6:10-24
Rev Joey Chen
ENGLISH SERVICE
21 June 2026
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Malachi 4:5-6
Mr Jason Wong
What does it take to break generational cycles of brokenness in family? Sharing from his years of experience working with adults and children who had experienced abuse and abandonment in childhood, Mr. Jason Wong (founder of the Yellow Ribbon Project and Dads for Life movement) found that broken families create a vacuum of hopelessness.
When the generational cycle of fatherly love is corrupted, children often turn to destructive coping strategies like drugs, alcohol, self-harm and violence. The ultimate solution to this societal curse is not simply material or systemic but relational. This relational repair can be found only in the redemptive love of God our Heavenly Father, which heals our pain and empowers us to pass down godly legacies.
Turning the hearts of fathers to their children, children to their fathers
When earthly parents fall short, children are left carrying deep disappointment and inadequacy. However, the Lord’s solution to family brokenness starts with a profound truth: God is our Father, and His heart is always turned toward us. Because we cannot give what we have not received, we must first go to God to receive His perfect, healing love. Only then can we break the cycle and extend that love to our families—even to parents who failed to meet our needs. True restoration requires a two-way turning: fathers to children, and children to fathers.
The power of a father’s blessing
Reconciliation is always possible in the Lord, no matter how estranged the relationship. Choose to forgive. When fathers pray a blessing to their children by declaring God’s truth and speaking words that God wants to say to them, years of trauma and guilt can be redeemed. Just as Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit in 2 Kings 2:9, fathers hold the spiritual authority to pass down a double portion of godly values to their children.
Rebuild the altar, father the fatherless
The spiritual climate of a home is set by its head. Fathers are called to be the reliable pillars of the household, leading the family faithfully in prayer and being present. When the family altar is established (1Kings 18:31-32), the fire and rain of blessings from the Lord will come. Fathers play an important role in unlocking faith in their children so they can go on to fulfil their God-given calling.
Beyond the home, there are children struggling in hopelessness without fathers who model God’s love. To heal this, the church needs men who are willing to become spiritual fathers and extend love to the fatherless.
Get connected in community
Even a mighty prophet like Elijah fell into the trap of isolation, crying out to God because he felt entirely alone. Men naturally tend to keep their struggles private, making them highly vulnerable to spiritual attack. But just as God revealed to Elijah that there were 7,000 others who had not bowed to idols (1 Kings 19:18), modern fathers and men must realise they too are not alone. We are called to be part of a community of righteous men standing together.
The future of the church and our nation depends on the next generation, but the future of the next generation depends on this generation of fathers standing up, anchored in the Father’s heart.
💬 Reflection:
Let us pause and reflect on how we can align our hearts with the Father’s heart today:
活石华语崇拜
21 June 2026
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路加福音 15: 20
William 传道
20 June 2026
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Matthew 6:9-13
Mr Henson Lim
ENGLISH SERVICE
13 & 14 June 2026
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Isaiah 54:1-3, 以赛亚书 54:1-3
Speaker/讲员:
Rev Jacob Lim 林建成牧师
Interpreter/翻译: William 传道
n Isaiah 54:1-3, there is a call for the Israelites to go deeper and wider, using phrases commonly used when a family was planning to expand, dreaming wider and growing deeper to accommodate the increase.
There are two potential historical contexts for Isaiah 54. The first may refer to 701 BC when Jerusalem was under attack by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, when God miraculously delivered them (2 Kings 18-19).
The second possible setting would be the Babylonian attack when the temple of God was destroyed in 586BC, which was followed by God’s restoration of the people from exile and the rebuilding of the temple.
Whichever the situation, God’s people were in tough disappointing circumstances. Yet the call is for them to grow deeper and dream wider.
Not Limited by Your Current Situation
The Israelites faced many challenges in their efforts to rebuild the temple. They were still recovering from exile and loss. With their limited resources they were trying to rebuild the temple that paled in comparison to the first one. Despite all this discouragement and limitations, God still told them to enlarge their tent and prepare for growth.
This is possible when we recognise that God is bigger than the circumstances. For the Israelites, He caused Darius, king of Persia, to fully fund the temple rebuilding. And God caused the second temple to be even more glorious than the first one, not in size, but in impact as His people turned to Him in obedience and sacrifice.
Relying on God Through Prayer
King Hezekiah’s focus was not on God initially, relying on Israel’s ally and levy to save the people instead. Only when that failed did he learn to grow deeper and rely on God, turning to Him twice in desperate prayer.
It was not easy, but Hezekiah had to wait on the Lord in quiet trust. God answered his prayers, destroying the Assyrian armies overnight.
In response to the prophetic call in verses 1-3, we can find common promises that materialised for both possible historical contexts in the rest of the chapter. Promises of no shame (v4), God’s compassion (v8), His unfailing love and covenant of peace (v10), a bejewelled city (vv11-12) and divine protection (vv14-17a).
The people of God had to learn to not let their current situations limit them and to fully rely on God through prayer. But most importantly they learnt how big God truly was over every circumstance. Their call to grow deeper in Him and dream wider with Him by focusing on Him and exercising their faith through prayer are for us too today.
💬 Reflection:
1. What challenge are you facing? Is it limiting your vision of God or are you focusing on our limitless God?
2. How can you consciously make prayer your first response rather than your last resort, especially when you face challenges in life?