By Elder Tan Chin Tiong
Since 1997, LOVESINGAPORE has been organizing nationwide season of united prayer leading up to our National Day Celebration each year. This year, for our 59th National Day Celebration, they have identified 3 strategic actions for the churches to embark on with great urgency. The time is now for us to act.
1) To Turn Singapore Godward
Prior to the pandemic, the percentage of Christians in Singapore has been stagnating. The Covid years have made it worse. Many churches are still experiencing a reduction in attendance for the weekly worship services. The mandate of our Lord to share the gospel must be taken more seriously than ever if we do not want to see a decline.
2) To Win the Youth
Statistics have also shown that churches all over the world have not been able to retain the young people in church. Worse still, churches are not able to understand their daily struggles and engage them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Coupled with the aging population, reaching out to children and young people has become even more urgent. All generations and all people are important and must be reached for Christ. However, if we do not want to see the church as a sunset ministry, we need to act now and pay special attention to the young people in our midst.
3) To Bless the Nations
In comparison to many countries around the world, we have been blessed with a stable, safe, prosperous and peaceful place that we can proudly call ‘Home’. In August 1998, Kit Chan, a well-known home-grown singer, performed a National Day song that is now acknowledged as a Singapore classic, “HOME”. But for Christian leaders in Singapore, this “HOME” is now to be the “Antioch of Asia”. Being such a blessed nation, we now ought to become the “HOME BASE” for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be spread beyond our shores.
The Bible Church resonates wholeheartedly with these three strategic actions. In line with the national trend for churches, our church growth has also stagnated for the past 10 years. The number of youths has also dropped over the years. We are also growing ‘older’ every year. The percentage of ‘young’ seniors and the ‘old’ seniors will very soon overtake that of the children, youths and young adults combined. This is a very serious situation that the leaders are praying about.
The faith goal for LOVESINGAPORE is for 15,000 people to come to faith in Christ each year. In our Vision 2028, one of the key focus areas is “Outreach”. The momentum has already started this year and it will continue to be our clarion call and cry to the Lord! Our vision is to see The Bible Church grow numerically as much as we desire to see life transformed for Jesus Christ. We will continue to bless the nations around us as we go beyond our shores with the blessings that God has bountifully given to us!
We need wisdom, courage and faith in our amazing God, “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20, 21). Church, can we count on you to pray and work towards Turning Singapore Godward, Winning the Youth for Christ, and Becoming a blessing to the nations around us?
Comments