FAMILY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP
Report by FBF Coordinator Ng Choon Seng
The Lord has been very good to the Family Bible Fellowship (FBF); seeing the fellowship through these past 11 years. The FBF is led by a committee comprising of brothers Steve, Eric, Pin Juh and Choon Seng.
The theme verse of the FBF is from Psalm 127:1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” We are also focusing on Matthew 7:24, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock”, focusing on the man who builds his house upon Christ as the foundation for his family.
We thank God for all the Bible studies, messages, edifications, informal activities and of course Christian fellowship over dinner after each meeting. We thank God for providing all the faithful pastors and preachers to teach us God’s precious Words and not forgetting sisters Celeste, Leanne and Joycelyn who taught the little ones during the messages. We have an average attendance of 50 members for our monthly meetings.
We thank God for the Family Retreat held at Thistle Hotel, JB from 19-21 March 2015. Rev Tan Kian Sing spoke to us on the theme “The Christian Home”. We thank God for the various messages and fellowship we had over the three days. It was a spiritual retreat with great lessons on the importance of the Christian home.
We thank God for the speakers who shared God’s Word on “The What, Why and How of Family Worship”, “Dealing with Customs and Traditions”, “Christian Witness and Evangelism” and “Spiritual Stagnation, Backsliding and Depression”. We started to have a Q&A session after each message so that members could clarify further for a deeper understanding.
The family is under constant attack by the devil and we must continue to protect and preserve the Christian home. May the Lord continue to use the FBF for His glory. Hebrews 10:25 says, “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.” Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
Sharings by FBF Members
Roger & family: My family and I have been attending FBF since June 2014. We thank the Lord for opening up a way for us to serve him as a family. Learning God’s Word and fellowshipping with God’s children were the biggest rewards for our family during the FBF sessions.
During the last FBF retreat, we not only learned the godly way to sustain a Christian family, we also shared our testimony and prayed for each other. We thank God for this opportunity and thank the FBF committee for such a wonderful and blessed retreat. We also want to thank God for the encouragement from brothers and sisters in Christ as well.
Matthew 7:25, “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”
York Chiu & family: The FBF has been a great blessing to our family. Although we are relatively new members of TLBPC (having just become members last Easter), we are already very much at home here—thanks to the friends that we made at FBF. As a family, we have been much inspired by the godly families we meet during FBF meetings. And through conversations and sharing, we are encouraged as we learnt of how God has guided and cared for the families in our midst. We are also much blessed by the very practical family-centred messages that are preached at every meeting.
If families are the stones with which TLBPC is built, FBF has given us the opportunity to see just how lively these stones are. The friendly people and warm, casual atmosphere made it easy for new-comers to fit in. We would like to encourage families new to TLBPC to join us at the next FBF meeting.
Pin Juh & family: My family has been attending the FBF since 2005. Ten years have since passed and my children, Jonathan, Johanna and Joel are now teenagers.
The FBF is a closely-knit group. Most of the members are still attending the FBF even after 10 years. New members are made to feel at home, comfortable, accepted and quickly assimilated into the Fellowship. This is a three-generation Fellowship whereby we have the grandparents, parents and children attending.
My family has been greatly blessed by the teaching of God’s words by faithful, obedient and exemplary preachers of God’s Word. The teachings have been a great source of enlightenment and understanding as to our existence on earth and our daily living wherever God has placed us. God’s Word is a light unto our feet as we venture out into the darkness of the world.
Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” We are now more equipped with Christian values, principles and knowledge as we embark on the journey that God has planned for us.
My family has also been greatly blessed by the wholesome and sincere friendships developed over the years with the members of FBF. There are goals congruence and likemindedness in our purpose, existence and pursuit to draw closer to God and do the will of God. 1 John 3:18 says, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
We hope more will join us as we thirst after the knowledge of God and do the will of God as per Colossians 3:2, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Hannah Chin: My parents have been bringing me to FBF since I was five. The children are taught by godly teachers about different biblical topics every year. This year, we have been learning about the Ten Commandments and about the Tabernacle, how it was made, what was in it and what the things in it were made from.
I will always look forward to the last Saturday of the month and the “potbless” after each meeting. We will take turns to open our homes for the meetings. So far, there has been three times when my family opened our house. In March this year, we even had a retreat in JB. We learnt many lessons from the Bible. I pray that more families will come and join us and study God’s Word.
Ryan Chua: My parents started bringing me to FBF since 2013. From there, I am exposed to many different lessons. One of them which I remembered clearly was the lesson on the Tabernacle. We were taught the different parts of the Tabernacle and how it was a sign of Christ’s first coming. The people of the Old Testament can only enter through the gate and no other way, if not they will be struck dead by God.
Likewise, Jesus told us in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” This is one of the precious lessons I have learnt and I rejoiced in that I have found that door and have entered in! I hope more children will come and join us in FBF.
Jerald Tan: I have attended the FBF with my parents and sister since young and have been truly blessed by it. Many of my close friends are in the FBF as it has given us many opportunities to interact and encourage one another in the Lord. It has always been a very enjoyable experience and has become something to look forward to at the end of the month.
Initially we would attend the children’s programme, where every month there would always be a teacher faithfully teaching lessons from the Bible to us, no matter how small the class size. When we reached secondary school, we joined the adults programme and learned a lot about the importance of the family in today’s society. The FBF is a truly unique fellowship, benefiting members of all ages and allowing the family to come together to worship and serve God together with other like-minded families.
Bernard: 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 11 years and may He continue to see us through for many more decades to come. All praise and glory to God.
