In the past one year, especially in the recent months, the Lord has brought more worshippers to Gethsemane BPC. We warmly welcome all lovers of Christ and His Word to our beloved church. Our desire and prayer is that all worshippers will be ministered and will have opportunities to serve and thus be a blessing to others for the glory of Christ. By God’s grace, Gethsemane’s various church ministries and fellowship groups are well-placed to help all the worshippers to fulfil those goals. In the coming weeks, we would publish brief introductions and reports on the ongoing activities of the ministries and fellowship groups. Please consider them and participate in whichever ministry or fellowship activity that befits you. Many members of the church attend and serve in more than one of those church activities. May you “abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us” (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:7).
Today, Pr Jeremiah Sim writes about the Lions Home Ministry (LHM). Pr Jeremiah leads this ministry and the Gethsemane Seniors’ Ministry (GSM), which meets on Thursday. While GSM is mainly a fellowship gathering of retirees on Thursday (11am- 1.30pm), the Lions Home Ministry is a Sunday outreach to residents of old folks’ homes. Consider what part you can play in the LHM or GSM. For more information, please contact Pr Jeremiah Sim (Mobile: 8333 9483).
Jeremiah Sim
Every Lord’s Day, we look forward to a special, delightful experience that brightens our countenance. It is a joyful privilege to serve the Lord, after worship and Bible study on the Lord’s Day, by preaching God’s Word to the elderly folks in the Lions Home for the Elders.
The objective of the Lions Home Ministry is similar to that of the Gethsemane Seniors’ Ministry. The fundamental purpose in our hearts is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We desire and endeavour to reach out to the elderly with the Gospel message and thus to lead them to Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of mankind.
Every Sunday, a group of zealous, dedicated brothers and sisters (and even children) gladly get together to serve in the “Lions Home Ministry”. This is a Sunday afternoon ministry, which reaches out to two old folks’ homes in Bedok and Bishan respectively. Upon reaching the homes, we would gather the residents together at the meeting room and lead them in the singing of hymns and spiritual songs. After the singspiration, those who are appointed would teach God’s precious truths. There would also be time set aside to pray with the participants and to encourage them through fellowship.
Many of the old folks in those homes are physically impaired, with some suffering also from dementia. Their afflictions make them weary and sad. They often struggle to cope with their physical disabilities. Some of them have come to think of life as futile and meaningless. In such situations, we find it a necessity and privilege to encourage them with the knowledge of God’s truths in the Bible, which strengthens them with the promises of His grace. We are glad that several of them have turned to Christ and have been constantly “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2a).
Despite the sometimes laborious efforts, we find it an enormous blessing and comfort to witness God’s Word to those old folks who are overwhelmed by their ill health and difficulties. We rejoice that “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength” (Isaiah 40:29). Truly, we serve continually among them, Sunday after Sunday, only because of His power and strength which He has abundantly bestowed upon us.
It is our earnest desire that you will pray for the Gethsemane Seniors’ Ministry and the Lions Home Ministry. Join us to minister to those old folks as the Lord enables you. How wonderful is the encouragement in 1 Corinthians 15:58 – “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord”! May our Lord’s Name be honoured and glorified. Amen.