MINISTRIES OF TRUE LIFE BPC
As Presented at the Annual Congregational Meeting of True Life BPC, 26 April 2015
The Church is blessed by the Lord with steady attendance in its worship services as well as prayer meetings, Sunday School and fellowship groups. Average attendance at each Lord’s Day worship service is about 450, including children.
Worship Service
The Church holds its Worship Service every Lord’s Day, 10.30 am at the Regional Language Centre (RELC), 30 Orange Grove Road, Singapore 258352. The pulpit is jealously guarded, with only preachers of the same doctrinal persuasion, i.e. of the reformed faith, taking a stand for biblical separation and standing squarely on the perfect inspiration and perfect preservation of Scripture, are invited to preach the Word. Besides Pastor Jeffrey Khoo, our preachers include Rev Stephen Khoo, Rev Errol Stone, Rev Dennis Kwok, Rev Tan Kian Sing, Rev Judah Pallangyo, Pr Joshua Yong, Pr Clement Chew, Pr Dennis Kabingue and Dr Jose Lagapa.
The Chinese Worship Service holds its service on every Lord’s Day, at 10.30 am at Tanglin 1, RELC. Chinese ministers and preachers, namely, Rev Lee Kim Shong, Pr Kelvin Wong, Pr Kelvin Lim, Pr Daniel Lim, Pr William Goh and Eld John Leong have been invited to speak to the Chinese congregation. Rev Dr Koa Keng Woo preaches every 4th week of the month and administers the Lord’s Supper.
Children’s Ministry
The children are ministered to each Lord’s Day through the Children’s Ministry. Initially, they join the adults for the main worship service at 10.30 am. After the offertory prayer is concluded, they then leave for the Children’s Worship Hour held at Level-6.
Prayer Meeting
Prayer meetings are held every Friday evening at the RELC, and for the first Friday of each month, Family Worship cum Prayer Meeting is held at the homes of True Lifers. In keeping with the format of John Sung revival meetings, the study of God’s Word is led by Pastor Jeffrey Khoo and followed by a season of thanksgiving and testimonies, whereby the faith of members is fortified by hearing how the Lord has been good to the brethren. Prayer meeting has a regular attendance of about 90-100, with a good number of parents bringing their children with them to pray and seek the Lord’s blessing.
Sunday School
The Adults’ Sunday School is an important teaching ministry that seeks to ground believers in the Word of God. It is held each Lord’s Day from 9.15 am to 10.15 am. In 2014, January through May, Bro Clement Chew completed book-studies of the Minor Prophets. Thereafter, June to date, Pr Joshua Yong led the class on a detailed (and on-going) study of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Pr Clement Chew returned to take the class on Dec 14 and 28, 2014 his focus being the book of Zephaniah. On average, the attendance numbered 80, with a good mix of older and younger adults.
The Chinese Sunday School meets every Lord’s Day in Tanglin I from 9.15 am to 10 am, followed by a season of corporate prayer for the Church and fellow believers from 10 am to 10.15 am. For 2014, the Sunday School continued an in-depth study of the book of Psalms, covering Psalm 95 through to Psalm 132. Lessons were taught by Bros Samuel Eio and Zhu Jian Wei and Dn Tai Mern Yee. The Sunday School is typically attended by 10 to 15 members of the Chinese Service.
The Children’s Sunday School is led by Mrs Jemima Khoo, who is ably assisted by a committed team of teachers and helpers.
Catechism Class
Catechism class is held once a year for 12 weeks (January to March) for those who wish to be baptised, reaffirmed in their faith or join the Church as members. Basic doctrines of the Christian faith and of the Bible-Presbyterian Church are taught. In 2014, the catechism classes were conducted by Pastor Jeffrey Khoo (English Service) and Dn Tai Mern Yee (Chinese Service).
Evangelism
Door-to-door HDB flats’ evangelism is held at Toa Payoh every 3rd Sunday of the month (since July 2014) with close to 25 (including children) coming each time to share the good news of salvation.
Missions and Outreaches
The Church supports missions in Australia (Rev Nguyen Gia Hien and Brisbane B-P Church, and Rev Errol Stone and Faith Presbyterian Church, Perth), Cambodia (Sun Sokha and Phnom Penh Bible-Presbyterian Church), Malaysia (Dr Wee Tiong Soon and Kemaman Life B-P Church), Myanmar (Thang No and New Life Orphanage in Yangon), Palestine/Bethlehem (Rev Danny Awad and Baraka Bible Presbyterian Church), and Africa (Missionary Bai Eun Young and Bible College of East Africa in Kenya and in Tanzania).
Choir Ministry
The Church Choir ministers to the congregation through music. Its theme verse is “Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2). The Church Choir is led by a committee of 5 with Dn Tan Beng Lee as the Choir Advisor. An item is presented by the Church Choir every first Lord’s Day of the month as well as on special occasions. Practices are held every Sunday after Worship Service in Tanglin I. The average attendance at each practice is about 25.
The Youth Choir is under Mr and Mrs Herbert Goh and they render a song item every quarter. The Youth Choir combines with the Church Choir to sing on special events. Choir practices are held every Sunday after Worship Service. The average attendance at each practice is about 15.
The Chinese Choir was formed in July 2011, following a call by our late brother Ng Yew Chong for such a ministry and after the go-ahead by our Pastor. The Chinese choir family is so called because her members range from our young children and teenagers to our elderly seniors, not forgetting all in between. The choir aims to encourage members in learning good old fashioned hymns in Mandarin, for to praise our Lord and Saviour, to be a means of grace to aid our spiritual lives, and to edify fellow believers. Practices take place every Lord’s Day in Tanglin 2 from 12.30 pm to 1.15 pm. In 2014, the Chinese Choir was blessed to be able to render items of praise to God at all Combined English and Chinese worship services, as well as on multiple occasions at the Chinese Worship Service.
Bible Study Groups
The Church has three foreign language Bible Study groups meeting on the Lord’s Day: the Filipino, the Indonesian and the Myanmar Bible Study groups are led by FEBC students as part of their ministry practicum.
Adults Fellowship
The Adults Fellowship (AF) meets monthly on the 2nd Saturday at the homes of brethren. For Year 2014, the group continued with the study of the book of Ezekiel with Pastor Jeffrey Khoo. The Fellowship celebrated their 9th Anniversary on February 8, 2014 and Pastor Jeffrey Khoo was the speaker. The AFers also support missions and the needy members of the Church. Average attendance is about 15-18.
Chinese Fellowship
The Chinese Fellowship (CF) was inaugurated in November 2010 as a means of bringing together Chinese-speaking brethren to study God’s word and pray together, thereby fostering a closer walk with the Lord and fellowship with one another. The CF meets bimonthly on the third Saturday at the homes of brethren. Following the preaching of God’s word, there is a time of testimony and thereafter hearty fellowship around the kitchen table. In 2014, the CF completed by God’s grace a book study of Ephesians with Bro Zhu Jian Wei. For the 4th Chinese Fellowship Thanksgiving Anniversary in Nov 2014, a Gospel rally was organised where close to a hundred heard the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ shared by Pastor Jeffrey Khoo.
Family Bible Fellowship
The Family Bible Fellowship (FBF) functions with a co-ordinator which is rotated every 2 years. The co-ordinator draws up the programme for the year and arranges for the speaker for the adults and teachers for the children. Meeting attendance average 60 adults and children. In the later part of 2013, Pastor taught on the inter-testament period, leading up to the New Testament. In the first half of 2014, they continued with the Overview of the New Testament. This gave the adults a bird’s eye view of the New Testament, which would help them understand better when doing the New Testament-based theme or book studies in future. The second half of 2014 saw Rev (Dr) Das Koshy teaching on the theme “Proverbs for the Family”. This was a study of the book of Proverbs, using selected portions that pertain to the Christian family e.g. role of parents and its importance, family worship etc. Children were taught by Mrs Das Koshy for this segment. In May 2014, an outing was organized at the Forest Adventure (Bedok Reservoir). A meeting was held and a new co-ordinator was selected to lead the FBF for the next lap starting 2015.
Ladies Fellowship
The Ladies Fellowship (LF) meets every 1st Wednesday evening of the month at 7.45 pm. The ladies are thankful to God for moving Pastor and Mrs Khoo to open their home at Ghim Moh for the LF meetings. The LF welcomes all True Lifers, and not just the ladies of the Church, to come and be spiritually uplifted by the Word of God, and encouraged by the sharing of prayers and testimonies. They were blessed by Pr Joshua Yong and Rev Stephen Khoo who spoke on “Lessons from the Parables” and “The Commandments of God” respectively. Following the exhortation first given by our beloved founding Pastor, the late Rev Timothy Tow, to give to missions, the LF has been giving to the Bible College of East Africa in Kenya. Thank God for preserving the LF and for our 10th Anniversary on Feb 5, 2014, when the Lord’s messenger was Pastor Jeffrey Khoo.
Young Adults Fellowship
The Young Adults Fellowship (YAF) meets on the first, third and fifth Saturdays of the month at the home of Pastor as well as YAFers. The motto of the YAF is “A Living Sacrifice” taken from Romans 12:1-2. The theme for 2014 was “Knowing and Loving Christ”. The young adults were blessed with the feasting of God’s Word as Pastor preached on “Christology” while Pr Clement Chew expounded on the book of Colossians. The YAF celebrated her 2nd Anniversary Thanksgiving on Oct 18, 2014 at the RELC in praise of God’s goodness and faithfulness. The first YAF Retreat was held at the Praisehaven Retreat Centre from Dec 25 to 27, 2014. Pastor Jeffrey Khoo was the Lord’s messenger. He instructed the young adults on “Loving God and His People”. The average attendance is about 16.
Young People’s Fellowship
The Young People’s Fellowship (YPF) ministers to all the young people (30) ranging from primary school to tertiary students. It meets every Saturday afternoon at Berean BPC. The youths adopted the theme “Prepare to meet thy God” taken from Amos 4:12 for 2014. They were blessed to have Pr Joshua Yong to expound on the theme from the Book of 2 Thessalonians and Titus, as well as Dr Jose Lagapa speak to them every month on the series “Tragedy of sin” based on 2 Timothy 3. The youth are very thankful to God for providing them many other faithful speakers who spoke on BGR, Serving the Lord, and other topics pertinent to the lives of the young people. Besides studying God’s Word, the youth have activities such as combined Bible Study with brethren from Berean BPC every fourth week of the month, sports day, and cottage meetings at the homes of Church members. On Mar 8, 2014, the YPF commemorated their 10th Anniversary and the Lord’s messenger was Rev Stephen Khoo. Rev Dr Das Koshy was the theme speaker at the YPF Camp, which was held at Calvary Pandan BPC from Dec 21 to 24, 2014, on the topic “Lovest Thou Me?”.
Special Services and Activities
The special services on the Church calendar included the Good Friday Service, April 18, 2014, Easter Sunrise Baptismal Service at Labrador Park, April 20, 2014, Christmas Eve Service, December 24, 2014, and the Watchnight Service, December 31, 2014.
The 10th Annual Congregational Meeting cum Election was held at RELC on April 27, 2014 at 9.00 am.
The Music Workshop cum Teachers’ Appreciation Lunch for all teachers of Sunday School, Children’s Worship and VBS was held at Mr & Mrs Tan Tong Hai’s home on May 1, 2014.
The 4th Anniversary Thanksgiving of the Chinese Service was held at RELC on May 4, 2014. Pastor Jeffrey Khoo was the Lord’s messenger.
FEBC’s 1st Reformation Pilgrimage to Germany, France and Switzerland, from May 14-24, 2014 was led by Pastor and Mrs Jeffrey Khoo. There were a total of 47 pilgrims.
The 7th Vacation Bible School (VBS) was held from June 4-6, 2014 at Calvary Pandan BPC. The theme was “Learning from Jesus”. There were 70 children participated in the VBS and around 60 volunteers helped in the overall running of the VBS programme.
The 11th Church Camp, from June 16-20, 2014 was held at Turi Beach Resort, Batam, Indonesia, with 240 campers. Speakers were Rev Dr Prabhudas Koshy (English Service) and Rev Lee Kim Shong (Chinese Service) who spoke on the theme, “Sharpening our Spiritual Senses (Ps 34:8)”.
FEBC’s 18th Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, from December 7-19, 2014 was led by Pastor and Mrs Jeffrey Khoo. There were a total of 44 pilgrims.
On October 5, 2014, True Life celebrated her 11th Thanksgiving Anniversary. The speaker was Pastor Jeffrey Khoo. This was followed by a thanksgiving lunch at Ban Heng Restaurant for the adults (349), and at Regional Café for the children (21).
The Christmas Gospel Meeting was held on December 20, 2014 at RELC and the speaker was Pr Clement Chew.
There were a number of Christmas carolling sessions organised by the various fellowship groups to spread the good news of salvation in Christ
