Scripture Memory: Communion with God.
VERSE : Psalm 84:10 "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."

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O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

17 June 2007
8.00 am Worship Service:
Rev Chris Sidwell (God's Gracious Invitations)
10.45 am Worship Service:
Rev Chris Sidwell (God's Gracious Invitations)
6:00 pm Rehoboth Evening Service:
Rev Chris Sidwell (A Revival Prayer)

24 June 2007
8.00 am Worship Service:
Rev Colin Wong (Lessons from Ephesians)
10.45 am Worship Service:
Rev Charles Seet (The Three Temples of God)
6:00 pm Rehoboth Evening Service:
Rev Charles Seet (The Life of the Apostle Paul)

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On this Father’s Day, we want to encourage all fathers to keep fulfilling their important role of fatherhood. According to a recent article in Time magazine, Asian fathers are shouldering more responsibilities than ever before. "Every day, pleading overwork, millions of men cancel millions of promises made to millions of children. Dads cannot read bedtime stories or go to the park. Dads are in their offices, or on the road, or on conference calls…. Spurred by the fear that their incomes will dry up or their jobs will be cut, many men work longer hours in a bid to prove their indispensability."

A complaint that is often heard when fathers share their woes with each other is, "I am really stressed up now, doing the work of 2 or 3 people in my office." A recruiting firm survey that was done last month revealed that Singapore is now second only to China in work-related stress. While 53 % of employees in China reported that they were stressed at work, Singaporeans are behind them by only 1 %!

Stress is not necessarily bad. It is quite normal and can actually help a person to concentrate, focus, and perform. It often helps us to reach our peak efficiency. In fact many people achieve their best work when they are under stress. The biblical expression, "Gird up thy loins" (e.g. Jeremiah 1:17) was used to exhort or command people to get themselves physically and mentally prepared to undertake a stressful task or face a stressful challenge.

What helps us to deal with this positive stress is that most of the time, there is a period of rest and relaxation after the task is accomplished or the challenge has been met. This gives our minds and bodies time to be refreshed and recharged before the next task or challenge comes.

The problem arises when you don’t relax, or you can’t relax when a challenge comes along. If you have no time to rest, the unending stress that this puts on your mind and body will take its toll. Constant stress is linked with many physical ailments – from tension headaches, and stomach ulcers, to hypertension and heart attacks.

One of the main causes of constant stress is our technologically advanced environment. Although it is supposed to save us much time and labour and free us to pursue more important things in life, we seem to be working even harder and having much less time than we had before! Why is this so? It is because expectations have increased. The increased speed and efficiency that technology brings fosters a desire to take on additional responsibilities and activities.

The reasoning goes like this: Things that could not be done before can now be done. And since they can be done, they must be done! This gives rise to longer work hours, overtime work, work on weekends, at home and during vacation. Video-conferencing makes it difficult to escape from meetings and work obligations through the night!

Perhaps it is time for us to evaluate the choices we make instead of just following the trends and pressures of the world. In a book entitled, The Husband Book, Dean Merrill wrote: "Our jobs are somewhat like the proverbial camel asking to warm its nose inside the Arab’s tent. There’s nothing wrong with being nice to camels, but they don’t make good house guests. A job that is allowed to take over the entire life of a family is a job out of control. And it eventually wrecks the tent, everybody’s out in the cold, including the camel. What has been gained? Many of us have known super-achievers on the job whose personal lives were in such shambles that eventually even their careers were destroyed."

We who are fathers may do well to heed the advice given to Moses by his wise father-in-law, Jethro: "The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone." (Exodus 18:17,18) Let us be realistic about how much we can really bear. Perhaps we should cut down our workload to a more manageable level. Each of us has personal limitations. It would be foolish to deny this. In fact a refusal to be realistic about our own capacity may cause us to strive unknowingly after omnipotence and omniscience which are God’s alone!

Another major cause of stress is the inability to handle failure and frustration well. We Singaporeans have grown up in an achievement-oriented environment where failure is frowned upon. We are told that we can achieve anything if only we work hard enough. We are pressured to meet shorter deadlines and comply with ever increasing standards of productivity and efficiency (Don’t we foster the same stress in our children when we expect nothing less than 80% for each test or exam?).

If we are able to meet these expectations, then well and good. But not everyone is able to do that. And not everyone who is able to do that can keep on meeting those expectations forever. As age catches up with us, and as more people perform better than us, there comes the inevitable sense of failure and frustration. The tremendous stress this creates can drive a person to total despair and even suicide!

Such thoughts were echoed to God by Moses when he was burdened with the needs of 2 million people in the wilderness: "Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness." (Numbers 11:13-15)

How should we deal with failure and frustration? By learning to accept the things we cannot change, and acting upon those things that we can change. Look at your failures as opportunities for learning. The Bible records the failures of men whom the grace of God enabled to rise out of their failures. Your failures and frustrations serve a very useful function in revealing your finiteness. They teach you where your limitations are – limitations that you must now accept. They can also teach you to depend more on God and less on self (cf. Philippians 4:13).

Fathers, if you feel frustrated at your inability to provide as much as you want for your wife and children, take this as your cue to trust in your heavenly Father’s sufficient provision for them (Matthew 6:30-32). If you ever feel burdened with a sense of failure because you have been retrenched from your job through no fault of your own, take this as a new adventure of faith to discover how God will work in answer to your family’s prayer. How blessed and privileged you are! The precious lessons of faith you will learn will also enable you to empathise with and minister to those in similar straits later on.

And if your heart is heavy because of a child who has become rebellious and gone wayward despite all the faithful efforts, love, parental discipline and prayer that you and your spouse have put in to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord don’t sink in despair. It does not mean you have failed as a father, for even Adam and Eve rebelled against God despite the best provisions He had made for them in the garden of Eden. A father must provide the best for his child, but if the child fails, he is ultimately responsible for it, not his father.

And yet there is still hope available to the wayward child: There is forgiveness, cleansing, and strength to change. These are always available to the child that goes astray. The best you can do then as a father is to pray and wait patiently for his return, and be ever ready to receive and restore him. The day may come when, like the father of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:20), you will have the inexpressible joy of seeing him returning home in repentance!

The stresses that we Christian fathers face in this present age are indeed beyond our capacity to cope with. But with God’s help and guidance we can and must press onward to be the fathers He wants us to be – fathers through whom God’s blessings are poured forth upon their children! — CS

Your Father Knoweth

He knoweth the need of my life

For shelter and raiment and food;

In each trifling care of the day

The word of His promise is good;

He knoweth my thought from afar,

The wish that I never have told,

And every unspoken desire

His wisdom doth grant or withhold.

He knoweth the way that I take;

Each step of that way He hath planned:

And, walking through sunshine or storm,

I walk in the shade of His hand.

In deserts untrodden and drear,

Where foes in the darkness may hide,

He leaveth me never alone;

He sendeth me light and a guide.

He knoweth the need of my soul–

The trial that calls for His grace,

The weakness that leans on His strength,

The fear that looks up to His face.

He knoweth what sifting is best

To scatter the chaff from the wheat

And lay all my self-righteous pride

Low down in the dust at His feet.

He knoweth me – yet He can love,

Can wait with love’s patience divine,

My stubborn and arrogant heart

Its will to His own to resign;

He knoweth my frame is but dust;

He knoweth how much it can bear;

I rest in that knowledge supreme;

I trust in His power and care.

- A. J. Flint -

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1) Pastoral Help: As both our pastors will be away from tonight until Wednesday, kindly contact Rev Jack Sin of Maranatha B-P Church at 9116-0948 (M) or 6782-8966 (H) if you need any pastoral help during that time.

2) Family Worship at the home of Mr & Mrs Hans Kruger, Friday 22 June 07, 8 pm. Address: 11 Chancery Lane, #04-06 Chancery Park, S309502, Tel: 8123-3135. Speaker: Elder Sherman Ong.

2) Life BPC Directory 2007: For members who have responded to the recent Membership Roll Update Exercise, please collect your copy next Sunday, 24 Jun 07 at the front porch of the sanctuary.

3) Gospel Sunday: Invite your friends and loved ones to the Gospel Sunday on 29 Jul 07 (10:45 am). Please pray for Rev Tan Choon Seng (English) and Tee Chung Seng (Mandarin) who will speak on the topic, "The Abundant Life."

4) Wednesday Night Bible Class in July 07 (4 weeks). Bible Geography by Quek Keng Khwang. 7.30 to 9.30 pm at the Chinese Service Hall. Registration forms are obtainable at the Reception Counter.

5) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit by Rev Tan Eng Boo. Every Thursday commencing 12 Jul 07 (14 sessions). 7.30 to 9.30 pm, Chinese Service Hall.

6) Rev & Mrs Colin Wong would like to thank God for Lifers who came to support and encourage the family of the late Chia Boon Poh (79 yrs) who went home to be with the Lord on 11 Jun 07. To God be the glory. Amen.

Preaching appointments: Rev Seet at Philadelphia BPC Camp, 17-20 June. Rev Wong in Kuching, 16-20 June.