10th March 2008 (LENT)

Dear Members and Friends of BRMC

Greetings in the precious Name of Jesus Christ!

Once again as a congregation, we have the joy of commemorating Holy Week; focusing on the last 7 days in the earthly life of Jesus. Gospel truth must always be based on Gospel Events! As Peter the Apostle says: "We have not depended on made-up stories in making known to you the Mighty coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. With our own eyes, we saw His greatness." (2 Peter 1:16-GNB) Indeed, says St. Paul: "if Christ was not raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe" (1 Corinthians 15:14-GNB). Can anything be more explicit?

In 15 December 1904, a young Sikh boy bought a New Testament from the mission school he attended in the village of Rampur, North West India. Slowly he burnt the book, page by page, in open public rejection of the Christian message. In fact, his hatred for the Christian faith was well known. However, this same young man was experiencing a severe bout of depression due to the recent sudden death of his beloved mother. After being rebuked by his father for his act of desecration; this young man locked himself in his room and did not come out for three days. On the third day, 18th December 1904, this same young man claimed to have had a vision of Jesus Christ, who came to him, unexpectedly, at 5am that morning and spoke to him in Hindi: "How long will you persecute me? I died for you; I gave My Life for you!" He later testified: "His power came into my heart, my life was changed in a single moment!" Church history remembers that boy as Sadhu Sundar Singh. The following year he was baptized on his sixteenth birthday: 3rd September 1905, at St Thomas Church, Simla, in the North Western Indian State of Himachal Pradesh. For the rest of his life, Sadhu Sundar Singh was to give a consistent and convincing witness to the reality of Jesus Christ in his life.

For more than 2000 years, the Christian church has borne faithful witness that Jesus Christ is alive today and that He has defeated death. The invitation to all is in the announcement: that in Jesus Christ, God has overcome the power, threat and attraction of the power of death. "Where, Death is your victory? Where, Death is your power to hurt?....but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:55,57 -GNB). Thus Jesus Christ is alive not as a mere memory, or concept or as a mere symbol. Rather, Jesus Christ today acts upon us as One who Himself is personally alive. "He was shown to be the Son of God by being raised from death" (Romans: 1:4-GNB). Christianity can never be empowered by a dead Christ. Only a living Christ can sustain the Christian life of faith, hope and love. Therefore, it is a reductionist fallacy to argue that Christ is alive simply because Christ's influence lives on in the memory and actions of others.

The faith of the church has consistently been that Jesus Christ now truly lives so as to engender life in us. His living presence is the real energy and force; dynamic and power of historic Christianity and present Christian life. In fact, detached from the living Christ, the branch withers, the flower fades. The great missionary Dr Albert Schweitzer once declared: "Jesus Christ means something to our world because a mighty spiritual force streams forth from Him and flows through our being also. This fact cannot be shaken-it is the solid foundation of Christianity". My prayer is that all of us will experience the life changing reality of Jesus Christ this Holy Week 2008. Christus Crucifixus -Christus Victor! To God Be The Glory!

On behalf of all my fellow Pastors, the Rev Noel Goh, the Rev See Swee Fang, The Rev Terence Yeo, Pastor David Gwee and all our loved ones, together with all the Leaders and Staff (Pastoral and Admin) of BRMC, may I wish you one and all - Blessed Good Friday and Happy Easter 2008.

Thanks be to God for the precious Gospel witness that: CHRIST HAS DIED, CHRIST IS RISEN AND CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN! See you in church for Holy Week 2008. Jesus Christ is Lord of All!

Grace and Peace

Rev Malcolm Tan
Pastor-in-charge

BRMC'S HOLY WEEK RENEWAL SERVICES 2008 Preaching from the Book of Ruth: The Welcome of the Saviour Speaker: Rev Malcolm Tan
18/3 (Tue)	The Hand of God which Blesses Daily Life (Ruth 2)		8 pm
19/3/(Wed)	The Kinsman Redeemer (Ruth 3 & 4)		8 pm
Maundy Thursday/Holy Communion Service
20/3 (Thu)	Pay the Price	Pastor David Gwee	8 pm
	The Last Supper	Preacher Low Kee Hong	8 pm (BBPP)
Good Friday No 5pm service & No 10.30am Filipino Service
21/3 (Fri)	The Drawing Power of the Cross	Rev Malcolm Tan	8.30, 10.30 am
	A New Way	Rev Noel Goh	8.30 (Upper Room)
	The Road of Sorrows	Pastor David Gwee	10.30 (Shine Forth)
	Before and After Resurrection	Mrs Irene Tan	10.30 (Mandarin)
	He Took My Place	Rev Chiu Ming Li	10.30 (BBPP)
	My God, Why?	Rev Dr John Barrett	10.30 (ACS Intl)
Holy Saturday
22/3 (Sat)	No Service
Easter/Resurrection Sunday
23/3 (Sun)	The Resurrection's Living Reality	Rev Terence Yeo	6.30 am (Sunrise Svc)
	The Easter Testimony of the Angels	Rev Malcolm Tan	8.30, 10.30, 5pm
	A New Day	Rev Noel Goh	8.30 (Upper Room)
	Resurrection Day	Rev Noel Goh	10.30 (Shine Forth)
	The Power of Resurrection	Rev Terence Yeo	10.30 (Mandarin)
	Afraid Yet Filled with Joy	Rev Jun Equila	10.30 (Filipino)
	Alleluia!	Rev See Swee Fang	10.30 (BBPP)
	Risen Indeed!	Rev Dr John Barrett	10.30 (ACS Intl)