Young Adults' Group

A Day To Remember

by Pastor Mark
August 29, 2019

Fullness of heart

Last Sunday, we celebrated a day that will be specially remembered for a long time. As we experienced our 40 + 6 anniversary celebration, words could not adequately describe how I felt. One way to put it was that there was such fullness of heart. My heart was just filled with joy and gladness.

I recalled the words of the Psalmist, “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!” (Ps 33:1) The joy that we experienced is not just any joy. It was a joy that is found in the Lord. I truly experienced the fullness of joy in the Lord.

Giving beautiful praise to the Lord

“For praise from the upright is beautiful.” (Ps 33:1)

One significant experience that brought much joy was the giving of beautiful worship to the Lord. There was so much for us to be thankful. The Lord has given us 46 years of His gracious blessings. We have every reason to rejoice and to give praise.

At the same time, our worship was enhanced with our Bethany orchestra, “Praise the Lord with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.” (Ps 33:2)

We thank God for the development of our Bethany orchestra under the guidance of Dr Prateep. Our orchestra has grown significantly by leaps and bounds. As they played in worship on Sunday, the giving of praise and worship was truly beautiful and filled with joy.

The ordination of the two Bens

It was also with great joy that we witnessed the solemn ordination of Ben Quah and Ben Chong. A special charge was given and a solemn prayer was offered based on the words of the Prophet Isaiah, that they would be “a hiding place from the wind, a cover from the tempest, rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2)

A special song was specially written for them entitled “The Call of God”. Pastor and Dr Daniel wonderfully wrote it, and the combined choir sang it, “Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.” (Ps 33:3) We thank God for raising more servants of God who have answered the call to shepherd the next generation in Bethany.

A significant word from the Lord

“For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth.” (Ps 33:4)

The highlight and the thing that brought the most joy to me was the word that Pastor gave to us. The word of God has always been key to our ministries and will continue to be central in our work for Him as it is His truth.

Pastor taught about pursuing the call of God, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14) The word “upward” in Greek is “ano” which is an adverb rather than an adjective. This means that the word “upward” should follow “I press on” or “I pursue”. The challenge is for us to pursue upward in response to the call of God. I was deeply challenged not to remain where I am. Let us be challenged to reflect over what we have experienced at our Anniversary. Let us be spurred on to pursue upward towards the call that the Lord has given to each of us as we enter our 47th year of ministry.

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