Young Adults' Group

Reflecting On Our 40 + 5 Anniversary

by Pastor Mark
August 23, 2018

Thank God for a glorious time of celebration

Wow! This was how I felt as we celebrated our 40 + 5 Anniversary. It was a glorious time for all who were gathered at the Shangri-La for our Anniversary. We thank God for such a wonderful experience. Our anniversaries have always been exciting. Each anniversary is approached in a fresh and new way. My heart was filled with joy as we celebrated the Lord’s blessings.

Taking time to reflect

With such a wonderful experience, let us consciously take time to reflect over the Anniversary and to have a deeper appreciation of what we have joyously experienced.

1. Enhancing our worship

This Anniversary, what was noticeably different was the music that was played by a small orchestra of 14 instruments, played by 16 musicians. After the prelude was played, I was in awe. It enhanced my sense of worship to rejoice and to sing, “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; play skilfully with a shout of joy.” (Ps 33:1–3) With such skilful playing, we were able to give beautiful praise to the Lord.

2. Featuring of the Pines

Another significant highlight of the Anniversary was the featuring of the Pines. It was great to see our young people, who are as young as 13 years old, given the opportunity to lead in worship and to sing for us an item. I was reminded of David’s word, “One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.” (Ps 145:4) It is vital to see the next generation appreciating the mighty acts of God in our church and to give praise to the Lord for them.

We thank God for our young people…to see them coming alive and seeking to serve the Lord. They are our future and we pray that God will continue to raise them up to do their part for the growth of Bethany.

3. A climatic word

We thank God for this encouraging series of messages on the theme, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” We have been learning about the calling of Jeremiah and the struggles that he had to go through as he sought to fulfil the task that God had given. As we learnt how Jeremiah reviewed the challenges faced…concerning the Babylonian siege, he said that there was nothing too hard for the Lord. (Jer 32:17) But did Jeremiah really believe in this statement? There were still struggles in his heart.

But God revealed to Jeremiah His Word again and declared, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jer 32:27) God reinforced this truth with the revealing of the plans that He had. After the captivity, He would bring the people back to Jerusalem. They would be His people and He would be their God. They would have one heart and one way. (Jer 32:37,38) What a glorious word to culminate this series of messages! My heart was deeply encouraged by this word to respond. I thank God that nothing is too hard for God and we can truly believe in Him. Let us be challenged to be that much more committed to Bethany as we enter into our 46th year of ministry. Let us take time to reflect on this wonderful time of celebration at our Anniversary. Let us seek to give all the glory to God!

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