FILIPINO BIBLE FELLOWSHIP

Dr Jose Lagapa

Praise and honour be unto our LORD for the unspeakable favour. He has blessed the Filipino Bible Fellowship (FilBF) for the past two years. Our 2^nd Anniversary Thanksgiving cum Gospel meeting on Jul 29, 2018 was glorifying unto Him! The Lord moved each of our hearts to invite many of our relatives and friends to the service. We are thankful to our Sovereign God for those who came for the service, those whose hearts the Lord had already prepared to receive His blessings.

The amazing blessing that God has shown us was the good turnout of our regular attendees and guests. There were many who came through our FilBF Evangelistic Band outreaches. The Filipino Fellowship of Gethsemane BPC led by Pr Dennis Kabingue also came to rejoice with us. All in all, about 120 came for the anniversary/gospel service, of which 70 were Filipinos. Praise the LORD!

The most wonderful provision God had for us was the spiritual food laid out clearly by our Pastor, the Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo. The title of his message was “God Is Our Provider,” taken from Genesis 22:1–14. Pastor preached to us God’s truth on unlocking God’s greatest and richest treasures from heaven. This was exemplified to us through the obedient faith of Abraham and the submissive faith of Isaac. For “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb 11:6).

After the worship service, an early thanksgiving dinner followed. God is good to provide abundantly for all our needs! We truly thank everyone who in one way or other, helped in the success of our anniversary, giving glory to God!

Let us hear the words of the Apostle Paul, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13–14).

FilBF Annual Report

This FilBF grew out of the Filipino Bible Study of True Life BPC. It was started in 2016 as a monthly meeting and later became bi-monthly. It eventually became a weekly fellowship meeting to provide the Filipino workers here in Singapore an avenue where they can study the truth of God’s Word.

The Fellowship is currently undertaking a study of the Gospel of Matthew. As many are still young in the faith, the passages are expounded bit by bit so that they can easily understand and apply the lessons in their lives. The preaching is mainly in English and uses the Filipino language for clarification and illustrations. The fellowship follows the pattern of a worship service as many of those who attend cannot worship in the morning in True Life BPC.

There are special topics such as the seven “I Am’s” of the Lord Jesus Christ from the Gospel of John taught by Elder Douglas Ho and the attributes of God by brother Samuel Goh. Aside from the usual meetings, events such as the Christmas Gospel Meeting on December 24, 2017 and “Meeting the Church Leaders” service on January 7, 2018 were held. The Christmas Gospel Meeting was well attended and the worship included the singing of Christmas carols and the preaching of the message “The Meaning of Christmas.” The service with the Church leaders had Pastor giving the message with a good attendance of True Lifers which encouraged the FilBF. Pastor Renato Cortez, a missionary to the Indigenous tribes in Bukidnon ministered to the FilBF on June 10, 2018.

As time is limited because many of the Filipinos are domestic helpers and need to rush back to their employer’s house at a certain time, a normal Sunday school program is difficult. Praise God for His wisdom to administer tidbits of Bible lessons given to them for just about 15 minutes after the worship service. This we call “Nuggets of Wisdom” (NOW), because we have to do it right away before they leave. A children’s program is administered by Filipino FEBC students in concurrence with the sermon time.

The Lord blessed the FilBF with seven catechumens this year who professed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. They underwent catechism classes after the afternoon worship. They were baptized on Resurrection Sunday at the morning service of True Life BPC, April 1, 2018.

By God’s grace, after the 1^st anniversary last year, FilBF members continued to evangelize the Filipino workers on Sundays at Lucky Plaza, Dhoby Ghaut and Toa Payoh Town Park. There are always great opportunities to hand them our Tagalog gospel tracts and talk to them. The Gospel is shared and they are invited to join the Fellowship. Some of them do come. We thank the Lord for the Filipino FEBC students who are regularly supporting our members in this evangelistic ministry. Thank God for the FilBF’s financial support of one of our Filipino students in FEBC.

A series of Bible studies were conducted also in Cebu to minister to the relatives of brother Deccarlo Igot who evangelized them resulting in their profession of Christ and conversion from Roman Catholicism. Recently, the FilBF is providing financial help to the Ambassadors for Christ (AFC) soul-winning activity in Mindanao, particularly in the province of Bukidnon. The Fellowship is also supporting the construction of a church building under a pastor who is amazingly saved and enabled by God though physically disabled for 18 years.

We trust the faithfulness of our God to continue to use the FilBF in the harvest of Filipino souls here in Singapore. We believe the Lord will also use this Fellowship to encourage and support ministries and churches in the Philippines. Please pray for us that we remain faithful to the Lord as we desire to continue in the ministry “for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:9)!

LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST

Priyakumar Butti

First of all, I would like to thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who saved me by His infinite grace and called me to His noble service though I am unworthy of His heavenly calling. Secondly, I thank the Lord for giving me an opportunity to study the inerrant, infallible and perfectly preserved Word of God in a Bible-defending, fundamental, conservative and Reformed school named Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC). Thirdly, I thank FEBC for offering a course on the life of Christ during the second and third semesters of my studies.

I strongly believe that the life of Christ as found in the four Gospels must be studied by all believers after salvation so that they might imitate Christ to fulfil the unfinished mission of the Church. The reading and studying of God’s Word have transformed my thinking, feelings, behaviour, even my whole life into Christlikeness. That’s why I felt I must study God’s Word prayerfully and devotionally, not just to increase my head knowledge but to be transformed into Christlikeness and be a heavenly-minded man. If I want to teach, I must read or know eight times more than my students.

Jesus came to suffer and die for me. If I want to serve the Lord, I must serve Him unconditionally. Pay or no pay, I must serve. Of course, it will be difficult to serve the Lord without any pay. A hireling is one who works for pay. We are not hirelings and we are not employees. We are the servants of the living God. As a servant of God, I must always be satisfied with bare requirements and travel light. I do not expect to live in luxury. As God is the One who has called me to His noble service, He is able to meet all my needs. I must prove myself and serve the Lord humbly. I do not think to be popular.

I deeply realise how much Christ loved me. Because of His love, He suffered and died and rose from the dead for me. But in these last days, I see clearly the love of Christians towards God and His Word is getting cold. People are driven by strange doctrines, and following unbiblical patterns and techniques for church growth. Christians are growing in terms of numbers but not in terms of upholding the fundamental doctrines of the Christian Faith. Quantity is more but quality is less; it is wood, hay and stubble. I feel it is all due to the lack of studying God’s Word, especially in third world countries.

Before coming to FEBC, though I had read the Gospels many times in my mother tongue, I did not have a clear understanding of the Gospels. I felt that there were certain contradictions. For instance, in one book it is mentioned that Judas Iscariot hanged himself. In Acts, it is written that he fell to the ground and his entrails gushed out. When someone asked me about the death of Judas in the Scriptures, I had no answer. But reading the book The Gospels in Unison, I now understand how important it is to study the Gospels with oneness.

I had read the biographies and some of the books written by Billy Graham and Paul Yonggi Cho. I thought that they were good men to follow. But Billy Graham cooperated with liberals and Roman Catholics. He was like Jehoshaphat. Someone taught me to exercise the “Fourth Dimension” of Paul Yonggi Cho. But nothing happened. I came to know that he is a false teacher. Once I heard on TV a preacher teaching about soul sleep and I believed that. But studying here at FEBC, I came to know that after death, it is either heaven or hell, not soul sleep. I thank God for the enlightenment of God’s truth in my life.

I do not doubt God. I do not take my calling in the ministry lightly. I must live within my means. I must be thrifty. I must know how to manage my time and finances well. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” “Worldliness with covetousness is great loss.” “Self-help with God’s help is the best help.”

Filipino Bible Fellowship Evangelistic Band