By Ps Lee Kok Wah
When a person responds to the Lord Jesus Christ knocking on the door of his heart by inviting the Lord in, this person becomes a part of the body of Christ (Rev. 3:20; 1 Cor. 12:27; Rom. 12:4-5). The Bible tells us the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of this body, also known as the church (Col. 1:18). Theologians call this the “universal church;” this comprises all the redeemed in Christ – past, present and future. The universal church transcends space and time.
The redeemed in Christ who are presently alive, however, exist in space and time. They relate with a finite number of other people who are presently alive, who physically exist in space and time and who also belong to the Lord Jesus. In addition to belonging to the universal church, they belong to what is known as the “local church.” The Bible Church, Singapore (TBCS) is one of an estimated twenty to forty million local churches in the world today.
The mission of our church is “To glorify God by being disciples in a disciple-making community of Jesus Christ.” We are committed to the Word of God, to grow spiritually, to pray, to worship God, to build godly families, to strengthen biblical community, to serve and to share the gospel.
Members of TBCS endeavour to attend one of the weekly church worship services (online services included) and all members’ general meetings. The final authority of TBCS is vested in a general meeting of church members, and subject to that authority, TBCS shall be governed by the Church Council. Hence, a members’ general meeting is an important meeting that all members should try their best to attend. By so doing, we affirm the authority of the Council that we have elected.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) for this year is held on 20 March 2021 via the Zoom platform. The AGM is held for the following purposes: (a) to receive the annual report and to pass the audited accounts for the previous financial year; (b) to elect the office bearers (Chairman, Church Secretary and Church Treasurer) of the Church Council for the ensuing year; (c) to review the work done in the previous year; and (d) to appoint auditors for the ensuing year.
As members of TBCS, we also endeavour to support the community of faith in prayer and service; to cheerfully give our tithes to the Lord as He enables us; to submit to the authority of the Church leadership as instituted by God in the Scriptures; to uphold the good order of the Church by guarding our conduct and speech; to be involved in a small group of the Church; to serve faithfully according to our giftedness and to inform the Church when we are absent for a prolonged period or if we intend to transfer our membership to another church.
As members, we have declared our faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, our Lord and our God, whose atoning sacrifice is the only and all-sufficient basis for our salvation. We have declared that we will seek both in life and thought to be ruled by the clear teaching of the Bible, believing it to be the inspired, and infallible Word of God.
While we members have signed a “Member’s Pledge and Declaration” committing ourselves to the above, the basis of this commitment is not law but love. One touchpoint of love is pastoral care. We seek to care at three levels. At the broadest level, we have general or mutual care. We do so through individuals and small groups. Next, our pastoral staff and trained volunteers provide specific or crisis care. One example is care through rites in times of bereavement. Thirdly, we connect those in need with specially trained professional counsellors and external agencies.
We agree with some members who have said that all who worship at TBCS should serve one another and not rely on the church staff to do most of the work. One way for us to help out is in the form of providing mutual care through the CARE Groups (CG) and the sub-groups in each CG. Each regular worshipper will be invited to be connected with a CG so we may form an informal, organic network of care. Your positive response will be an affirmation that you indeed belong to The Bible Church, Singapore.
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