Wow, last Sunday’s Installation Service that concluded G12 Asia Conference 2019 was nothing short of amazing. I am very thankful to the team behind this service as it was very well planned and executed to publicly install Daniel and Serene as the Senior Pastor and Deputy Senior Pastor of FCBC respectively.
What made this already special day more complete for Pastor Lawrence and I was receiving an invitation to Grace Baptist Church’s 60th Anniversary. It fell on 18th August 2019 as well, at 10am in the morning. We had a joyous reunion with many of our dear friends at the first church I had ever attended, and was a baptised member of. Grace Baptist Church is very special to me because it was there that I first experienced a church family, being born and raised in a pagan home. I received so much love and guidance during my early Christian growth at Grace Baptist Church. They made up my beloved spiritual family who walked with me through my wedding with Pastor Lawrence, and our first five years of married life at Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas, USA.
Grace Baptist Church was so much a part of Pastor Lawrence and I that when our first child, Priscilla, was born, we chose her Chinese name to be “保恩”, which means preserving grace. We wanted God’s preserving grace to be manifested in her life.
We are so very thankful to God that He graciously destined us to rejoice with Grace Baptist Church and witness how God’s grace has preserved them as a church for the past 60 years. Despite the loss of Pastor Lawrence as their very first homegrown Senior Pastor to lead and guide them all these years, they’ve exemplified Apostle Paul’s words to the Philippian church, “God is the one who began this good work in you [Grace Baptist Church], and I am certain that he won’t stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6)
Going forward, my prayer for Grace Baptist Church is that they will be a bright shining light in the Mattar Road neighbourhood and community, and that their disciples will continue to reach out and touch many lives!
Now, FCBC disciples, take heed: We are constantly surrounded by snares and temptations, and often they’re so compatible with the lusts of our flesh that we can’t help but fall into them and become overcome by them. But, don’t ever forget that God’s preserving grace is present in each of our lives, and it encompasses us during our time here on earth. We are preserved for a purpose – to share God’s love and purpose to many others who have yet to experience it!
- Apostolic Overseer Nina Khong