1 & 2 Feb 2025 (Pastoral Page) LOVING PEOPLE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD

By Elder Tan Chin Tiong

"Love the people into the Kingdom of God!"

"We want individuals to have opportunities to engage in meaningful encounters with God and experience His goodness and compassion."

"We aim for people around us to visit the church without feeling like intruders. Instead of feeling awkward, we want them to feel at ease, comfortable, and welcomed."

"If there is an election in the community, I desire for them to vote for my church because we genuinely care for them!"

"We aspire for our members to be so proud of their church that they will invite their friends enthusiastically, saying, 'Come to MY Church!'"

"Among common biblical core values, we strive to be at the 'Cutting-Edge' in society, open to God doing something NEW. As a church, we aim to stay ahead of the times, discerning what lies on the horizon and preparing for it. We seek to embody a cutting-edge attitude; faith stepping into the unknown and being trailblazers."

"We have testimonies of lonely seniors who were moved to tears because someone from the church reached out to them, gave them a small gift, and remembered their birthday—something even their own family members had overlooked."

"We are not building for ourselves but for the next generation and the community!"

There is much to learn from the churches I visited last year. Through their inspiring stories and conversations, I witnessed their dedication (Heartware) to people and appreciated their motivation in designing their church buildings (Hardware) to be both friendly and accessible to the surrounding community. Indeed, it was heartwarming to see the churches being used for community activities throughout the week. We see both young and old people coming to the church for various kinds of programs.

The visits to the different churches were conducted as part of the Joint Taskforce, established by the leadership along with Mount Carmel, which shares the same building here at West Coast. One of the objectives of the Taskforce is to explore how both churches can be more involved and engaged with the community where God has placed us. We also conducted a demographic study of the nearby housing estates to better position ourselves as we endeavor to reach out. Hopefully, we can collaborate effectively instead of working separately in our community outreach efforts. Like Clementi Woods Kindergarten, which is jointly owned and managed, we aim to make a greater impact on the West Coast community through intentional partnership.

As we embark on this exciting journey, we face more questions than answers. There are various follow-up issues requiring wisdom and courage as the leaders discern God's will for us. A significant consideration is whether to expand our current building infrastructure to further our vision for deeper community engagement. At the same time, we realised that what we decide today, will have a certain bearing on our future application for extension of our land lease that the church is sitting on now.

So I invite you to pray with and for the leaders as they navigate significant shifts in social, technological, and cultural trends. These trends will eventually influence how our church operates, engages with our members, and fulfils its mission in today's world. We desire for our church to remain relevant and impactful to the community that God has placed us in, both now and the future.

Yes, we desire to be a Word-centred and Spirit-led Church that love not just with words or speech but with actions and in truth (cf. 1 John 3:18). Yes, we want to love people into the Kingdom of God!