FAMILY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP
The FBF celebrated its 10th Anniversary Thanksgiving on 31 January 2015. FBF was formed to bring families together to edify and encourage one another in the old paths and help strengthen family bonds. This is according to the biblical injunction: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Heb 10:24). Such a fellowship is very much needed today especially when our family foundations are under great and constant attack by gay philosophy and culture.
Pastor spoke on the topic “Building upon the Rock” from Luke 6:46-49, and stressed the importance of not just knowing Christ but also obeying Scripture. The Rock is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Matt 16:18), and the Foundation is none other than Holy Scripture (Eph 2:20). If we are to withstand the onslaughts of the devil and his evil world, we need the virtues of faith and obedience. We need to trust in Christ completely and keep His commandments diligently. If we do this, we will keep our fellowships and ministries from becoming “white elephants.”
The Tay family sang beautifully and the children’s string ensemble (4 violinists & a cellist) playing Psalm 133 was a real treat.
How has the FBF been a helping hand to church ministry? The past coordinators of FBF share:
Edward Wong
I count it all joy and a privilege for the opportunity to serve as one of the co-ordinators of FBF. It was in 2004 when sister Jemima first asked me to help start a fellowship group to meet the spiritual needs of the families within our church.
Broadly, the objective of this fellowship group is to encourage family worship within individual homes, so as to build up strong Christian family units within our church. In this regard, FBF is structured as follows: (1) at an appropriate time, fathers are encouraged to lead and chair meetings, (2) a separate children’s programme to free parents from distraction during message time, (3) meetings are held in homes to help foster family worship settings.
FBF held our first meeting in January 2005 with around five families and pastor was our first speaker. It is by God’s grace that we are sustained these 10 years and God had also provided faithful preachers, as well as teachers for our children’s programme. We rejoice that more families have joined us and many have found spiritual nourishments through our monthly Bible studies. However, we should not count our numbers, but rather be constantly vigilant about our spiritual walk, as individuals and as a family unit. I recall a poignant question posed by Rev Quek to the fathers, “Will we look back with regret, that we should have done this and should not have done that?” Personally, I ask two questions for my self-examination: (1) Am I like the wise man in Matt 7:25, who built his house upon the rock? (2) Do I, as commanded in Deut 6:7, diligently teach my children the statutes of God? (Coordinator 2005-2008)
Ng Choon Seng
I thank God for the opportunity to serve as FBF coordinator from 2009 to 2010. Interestingly, it was my wife Serene who joined the FBF first. It was after a few meetings that the kids and I followed after. I thank God for leading me to the FBF through Serene.
We thank God that we had faithful pastors and preachers who shared with us God’s Words. We had various themes like “Living in Faith”, “Fundamentals of Christian Faith” and “Focus on the Family”. One message that particularly struck me was the message on “Role of the Father” by Rev (Dr) Park Seung Kyu; that the primary role of the father is not to earn money and provide for the family, rather the primary role of the father is to lead the family in their spiritual walk and to feed the family spiritually. How many Christian fathers are doing that?
I thank God also for brother Bernard who stepped forward to serve as the next FBF coordinator for 2011 and 2012. I Samuel 16:7, “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” I thank God that our family can continue to serve Him as we grew together with the FBF. (Coordinator 2009-2010)
Bernard Tee
I thank the Lord for the opportunity to come and fellowship with other families every month. The FBF has been a huge part of our lives in the past few years. The Lord has indeed blessed us not only by providing us with a location to gather every month, but also with good, sound preachers who bring us His Word faithfully as well. Over the past years, I have witnessed the faithfulness of the Lord and how He has granted this fellowship the increase in numbers.
I have learnt a lot from the FBF. The messages have taught me to be a better Christian parent—where Christ is the Head of our household. Sometimes it is difficult to make decisions purely based on our own wisdom, but with teachings from the Bible, I am thankful that we have God to point us in the correct direction. Also, with the FBF, I have experienced deeper fellowship with my fellow brethren in Christ and have come to understand the importance of having good Christian friends who can encourage us in time of need.
As God has so aptly written in Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching”, the FBF is an avenue for us to gather and encourage each other in the Lord. The Lord has seen us through the past 10 years and may He continue to see us through for many more decades to come. All praise and glory to God. (Coordinator 2011-2012)
Chan Kay Heem
It is always difficult to be the last to speak as most of what I want to say has already been said by the previous co-ordinators.
I thank God for the opportunity to serve as co-ordinator after Bro Bernard. I have learnt much during this term of two years, including knowing more members in the fellowship group and church and how to co-ordinate with the speakers and children’s teachers.
In 2013-14, we covered Overview of the OT, the Inter-testament Period and Overview of the NT. Last year, Rev Koshy spoke to us on Proverbs for the Family. I want to thank brother Choon Seng for stepping forward to take up this position again. He has set up a committee for this work and I would like to strongly urge all of us to give them our full support, not only with our presence but also with our ideas, opinions, effort and time.
Gen 1:27-28 tells us that the family was formed by God at creation, by the union of a man and a woman, not two men or two women. Satan has been trying to corrupt this concept by introducing homosexuality. In these last days, Satan has been very active in promoting this. Instead of being labelled a sin, it is termed an “alternative lifestyle” and many countries are being pressured to accept it. Recently in Thailand, a new charter is being drafted to include a third gender, after ‘Male’ and ‘Female’. In the USA, confused children are told to decide what gender they want to be and some schools allow gender-confused students to use toilets of either gender. More states in the USA are recognizing “Civil Unions” between two people of the same gender and allowing them to enjoy benefits only extended to married couples previously. Popular TV series like “GLEE” glamourizes this alternative lifestyle and even has a teacher speaking approvingly of such a relationship between two male students.
As parents, we need to protect our young impressionable children from such undesirable influences. They must be taught what is right and wrong according to God’s Word. While it is important for our children to attend Sunday School and Worship Service, we as parents, cannot push the responsibility of their spiritual education and growth solely to the church. We as parents should take on this God-given responsibility as well and teach them, as we spend the most time with them (Deut 6:5-8). When they tell us what happened in school, we can use these times as teaching opportunities. Before we can teach our children, we ourselves must first be well-grounded in the Scriptures. Those who have time should attend the FEBC night classes, and those who do not have time should make time to attend these classes.
May God help us as parents to protect, teach and nurture our children’s spiritual lives. (Coordinator 2013-2014)
FBF Retreat
The FBF will hold a spiritual retreat at the Thistle Hotel (JB) from 19 to 21 March 2015. This is during the school holidays. The Rev Tan Kian Sing of Berean BPC will speak on the theme “The Christian Home”. All are welcome. The registration form enclosed has further information. Don’t miss it!
