O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

	8:00 am	11:00 am
Call to Worship	Dn Christopher Goh	Dn Christopher Goh
Opening Hymn	Holy, Holy, Holy (HGG 3)	Holy, Holy, Holy (HGG 3)
Invocation-Gloria Patri
Scripture Reading	Psalm 19:7-14	Psalm 19:7-14
Hymn	Thy Word is Like a Garden Lord (TSMS 764)	Thy Word is Like a Garden Lord (TSMS 764)
Offertory Hymn	When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (HGG 137)	When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (HGG 137)
Doxology & Prayer
Pastoral Prayer
Sermon	The Danger of Staying Spiritually Young (Hebrews 5:11-14) by Rev Quek KK	The Danger of Staying Spiritually Young (Hebrews 5:11-14) by Rev Quek KK
Closing Hymn	Lord, Speak to Me (HGG 563)	Communion Hymn (HGG 228) *The Lord’s Supper
Benediction
Announcements

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

          Among all the teachings of the Bible, there is none that brings greater comfort and hope than this one, especially on Easter Sunday which is two weeks away. The reason for this is that death is a grim reality of life. The sober fact that we all learn to accept is that life ends in death. No matter how hard we try to avoid this truth, it keeps coming back in one form or another. We hear of it in the news every day – people dying of heart attacks or terminal illness and tragic deaths in accidents and earthquakes. There is not a single day that ever goes by without death, and at this very moment someone is taking his or her last breath. Death brings sorrow and pain, especially when a close friend or loved one is taken away. 

          And this may make us wonder when our turn will come to lie down cold and lifeless in a narrow casket. If death is our final end with nothing more after that, then all the joy of living becomes quite meaningless for there is nothing to look forward to in life if this is the way it ends. Surely there must be a better answer to death than this. This is how the resurrection of Jesus becomes so relevant to us. 

The Resurrection of Jesus is the answer that we need, to death. 

          If death does not exist, there would be no need for a resurrection at all. And so to understand and appreciate the resurrection of Jesus, we need to know what really happens at death. 

          Death is the total cessation of life. When a person dies his body becomes cold and stiff. The cells and tissues begin to break down. These are only the visible effects of death. What cannot be seen is the separation of the soul from the body. The soul leaves the body and cannot return to it. Hence, death is irreversible. All the changes that have taken place in that body render it incapable of sustaining life. How can cells and tissues that have broken down be restored to function once again? How can organs and muscles that have decomposed be perfectly re-formed? And how can the soul ever return to a reconstituted body and animate it once more? 

          This then is the real wonder of the resurrection – it reverses an irreversible change. To resurrect the dead back to life is to do the impossible. It would take nothing less than a very great miracle to do this. And that’s precisely what the resurrection of Jesus is. 

The Resurrection of Jesus is a very great miracle. 

          Can this miracle ever be proved? This question seems to be very difficult to answer because miracles can never be repeated. It is impossible to replay them to observe how they took place. 

          Because miracles are such rare events in history the number of people who were eyewitnesses to them is understandably small. But when we say that they were a small number we do not mean that just one or two of them experienced each miracle. It may be possible for one or two witnesses to be deceived by what they saw. But this is most unlikely for the witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. On one occasion He was seen by more than five hundred people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6). But when all these witnesses are added up, they are still few compared with the rest of humanity who did not see Him. 

          And so, we depend entirely on the testimony of these ‘few’ witnesses, and we accept them on the basis of their reliable character. Is that unreasonable? No, it is something we do whenever we read the news about an event that happened in some part of the world. Were any of us there to see it? No. Then how can we be sure it really happened? Only by trusting what is reported by those who were there. We rely on the testimony of a few reporters at the scene, and yet we fully accept what they have written because of their reputation as truthful reporters. And when reports from different reporters are consistent with each other, then we have much more confidence to trust them. 

          This is in fact, the way that all courts of law verify the facts of a case – it is based on the unified testimony of some credible witnesses. Hence, the proof of miracles lies in the character of their witnesses and in the quality of their testimony. If the witnesses are of doubtful character, then the miracles are also doubtful. And if their testimonies do not agree, then there is also good reason to doubt that the miracles happened. This leads us now to consider whether the witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus are reliable and consistent. 

          It is impossible to call those who had witnessed the resurrection of Jesus to tell us what they saw, since they have all passed away a long time ago. But we have the next best thing that would be accepted in any court of law – their affidavits. The witnesses have left behind their written declarations for us to read, and they are all recorded in the Bible. 

          Take, for example, what one of them wrote at the end of his written record – “This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.” (John 21:24) The disciple mentioned here is John. John also wrote in his first epistle – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you…” (1 John 1:1-3) 

          Since we now have the written testimonies of the witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, we can scrutinize them thoroughly and compare them with each other. For instance, the Four Gospels give parallel accounts of His resurrection, and these can be compared with each other to verify the accuracy of their witness. 

          And we can also compare them with extra-biblical sources and also with evidences from geography, archaeology and history. Here is an example: In AD 93, a Jewish historian named Flavius Josephus published a twenty-volume work called ‘The Antiquities of the Jews.’ In volume 18 Josephus wrote, “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.” (Antiquities, 18.3.3) What makes this testimony so valuable is that it came not from a Christian, but from a Jewish historian. 

          Many have examined the biblical accounts about the resurrection of Jesus. They have compared them with historical records like this have been convinced about their reliability. One of them was an English journalist with a law degree by the name of Frank Morison. At first, he thought that the resurrection of Jesus was only a myth or a fairy tale. So he attempted to write a new version of the end of the life of Jesus, removing anything that is miraculous from it. But when he studied all the facts of the case carefully, Morison had to change his mind. In the end, he called the book he wrote, “Who Moved the Stone?” and the first chapter is significantly entitled, ‘The Book that refused to be written’. It shows that the evidence Morison found for the resurrection of Jesus were so substantial that his book was changed from an attack on the resurrection to a defence of it! 

          More recently, Graeme Smith, a highly qualified legal expert and district judge examined the evidence concerning the resurrection of Jesus from a purely legal perspective. In 2014 he published his findings in a 220-page book entitled, “Was the Tomb Empty?” 

          Firstly, there are evidences that Jesus had really died. If He had only fainted on the cross then there would be no resurrection at all. He would merely have been resuscitated back to life. One detail in John’s Gospel shows that Jesus really died: “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” (John 19:34). What John described here is medically consistent with death. When a person dies his blood will begin to separate into two components – the watery plasma, and the blood cells that clump together into a semi-solid mass. This evidence makes it impossible for anyone to claim that Jesus was not dead. 

          After Jesus had died on the cross, His body was taken down and wrapped up tightly with a linen cloth. And then it was laid in a nearby tomb. The tomb consisted of a little cave that had been hollowed out of the side of a hill. The body was laid in the tomb, and a big flat round stone was rolled to cover the entrance. This became the second evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, when it became an empty tomb. 

          The authorities had taken special security measures for that tomb, like sealing its entrance and posting Roman soldiers to guard it day and night. But despite doing all that, the tomb was found empty on the third day. Skeptics think that the disciples were responsible for this. They must have come by night, overpowered these guards, opened the tomb and stolen the body of Jesus. But this theory is very weak, since the Roman soldiers who guarded the tomb did not report that the body was stolen. In fact, the Jewish authorities bribed them to change their report and say, “His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept” (Matthew 28:12-13). 

          But if the soldiers were sound asleep at the tomb, how would they know that the disciples had stolen the body? This theory of skeptics also cannot explain one detail related in John’s Gospel – the linen cloth that was used to wrap the body of Jesus was still found in the tomb (John 20:6,7). If anyone came to steal the body, would they bother to spend time unwrapping it there? 

          The third evidence that Jesus rose from the dead is the many appearances of Jesus alive over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3). Ten of these appearances are recorded in the Four Gospels and they are summarised in 1 Corinthians 15:5-7 – “…He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.” 

          Some skeptics have suggested that all these were merely hallucinations: The disciples missed Jesus so much that they imagined seeing Him alive after He had died. It may be possible for one or two people to imagine seeing Jesus at the same time. But how can over five hundred people do that at the same time? That’s hard even for us to imagine. 

          And the resurrected Jesus did not appear briefly like an apparition or ghost at a distance. He was able to walk with those who saw Him and talk with them. They were even able to enjoy having a meal with them. One disciple named Thomas, was at first not convinced when the rest told him they had seen Jesus alive. He replied, “Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25) And so Jesus appeared to Thomas and allowed him to do all these things, and the only response Thomas could give was to believe that Jesus had truly come back to life. 

          The fourth evidence of His resurrection is the changed lives of His disciples. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, how do we explain that a group of weak demoralised disciples could suddenly become bold witnesses for Jesus? How do we explain their willingness to suffer and die for what they believed? Would anyone die for a lie? 

          Nothing but the real bodily resurrection of Jesus could have produced such a tremendous change in them. And nothing but this could have produced the amazing change in the most unlikely person sometime later: Saul the Pharisee. Saul was leading the Jews to persecute Christians aggressively. But after his encounter with the risen Lord Jesus, he completely changed. He became Paul the Apostle who promoted the Gospel to the far corners of the Roman Empire. He was eventually beheaded at Rome for doing this. 

          And today we can still see the lives of countless men, women and children being changed. Many have been rescued out of a life of sin and misery, to become useful members of society. Only a Risen Christ could have such transforming power in a person’s life! 

          Thus, we have seen that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is attested to by reliable, consistent witnesses and by substantial evidence. From this we can safely conclude that it is a truly miraculous historical event. 

The Resurrection of Jesus has profound implications for us. 

          The first implication is that it reveals His true identity. Being raised from the dead does not make any person God. The Bible records eight other resurrection miracles. For example, when the son of a widow fell sick and died, the prophet Elijah brought him back to life (1 Kings 17:17-23). One remarkable miracle was the raising of Lazarus at Bethany back to life: His body was already dead and buried for four days. And yet Jesus was able to raise him back to life. 

          What makes the resurrection of Jesus so different from all these? In all these miracles, someone had raised the dead back to life. But in the case of Jesus, He came back to life on His own. Jesus said, “Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” (John 10:17,18) 

          The ultimate demonstration of power is to raise oneself from the dead. As Romans 1:4 tells us, “Jesus Christ was… declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” If a person claims, “I am God” but does nothing to support his claim, we would call him a liar or a lunatic. But when the person who claims to be God proves it by rising from the dead, then we must call him Lord and believe everything He says. 

          This is the reason why the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the central tenet of the Christian faith. Everything that we believe in stands or falls with it. If the bones of Jesus should ever be found, Christianity would be demolished forever. Two thousand years have already elapsed since Jesus died, and His bones have never been found. Why? Because Jesus came back to life, never to die again. 

          This brings us to the second implication of His resurrection: It makes Him a living Saviour. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, He would not have been able to build up His Church through all the ages of history. His followers would have been left alone to fend for themselves. A dead Saviour would never be able to keep all the promises He made to them. He would never be able to answer their prayers or deliver them when they are in trouble. He would never be able to strengthen them when they are weak. 

          But many Christians have experienced the presence of Jesus with them. Many of us have found the joy of having Him as our closest friend. This is because He is a living Saviour. Jesus said this in Revelation 1:18 – “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore.” 

          And since Jesus is alive, we now have the greatest assurance that He will keep every promise He made. That includes His promise to return one day. Only a living Saviour is able to return to claim His right to rule the world and to restore peace and order to it. And when He returns, He will raise up all believers who had died back to life. We will have the same kind of incorruptible body that Jesus had since the day He rose from the dead. This is the blessed hope that every Christian looks forward to. May you look forward to this blessed hope too!

– Pastor 

Shorter Catechism Question 42

42. What is the sum of the ten commandments?

The sum of the ten commandments is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbor as ourselves.

Appointments for the Week

Monday, Apr 7

        7.30 pm     ERBL: Counselling in the Local Church

                             (Mr Joel Seah)

Tuesday, Apr 8

        8.00 pm     Prayer Meeting (Dn Alvin Chow)

Thursday, Apr 10

      10.00 am     Ladies’ Prayer Group

        7.30 pm     ERBL: The Epistles of Peter

                             (Rev Bendick Ong)

Friday, Apr 11

        8.00 pm     MM Meeting

Saturday, Apr 12

      11.00 am     Faith NBC

        3.00 pm     LTF / YLM / MM

Sunday, Apr 13

  8.00 am Once Saved, Always Saved? Hebrews 6:1-12 (Bro Mok Chee Cheong)

  8.00 am Choir Practice

  9.15 am Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  9.20 am Coffee Corner

  9.40 am Sunday School / Catechism Class

10.30 am Coffee Corner

11.00 am Once Saved, Always Saved? Hebrews 6:1-12 (Bro Mok Chee Cheong)

11.00 am Children’s Ministry

11.00 am Chinese Service (MPH)

11.00 am Filipina Service (Rm 1-6)

12.15 pm Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  2.30 pm Thai Service (LMH)

  4.00 pm Indonesian Service (Rm 1-6)

 

Announcements

FRIDAY, 18 APRIL

Good Friday Holy Communion Service, 9.00 am

Sermon: “Christ, Our Passover Lamb” (1 Corinthians 5:7,8) by Rev Charles Seet

 

SUNDAY, 20 APRIL

Easter Sunday Baptismal Service, 9.00 am, followed by brunch

Sermon: “The Good News of Christ’s Resurrection” (1 Corinthians 15:1-20) by Rev Lim Chee Boon

 

SUNDAY, 27 APRIL

Combined English Service, 9.00 am

Annual Congregational Meeting, 10.45 am

  

In-Person Church Prayer Meeting

Date: 6 April 2025 (Today)

Time: 5.00pm

Venue: Beulah Room 2-1

 

8.00am Holy Communion

In view of Easter Baptismal Service at 9.00am on 20 April, there will not be Holy Communion at 8.00am worship service for this month.

 

Church Camp 2025

Registration for 2025 church camp is now closed. Those interested may email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to be placed on the waiting list.

 

Door to Door Evangelism

6 April 2025 (Today)

Meet in Beulah Room 2-11, 12.30pm

Contact: Desmond or Amos 

 

Infant Baptism on Easter Sunday, 20 April 2025.

Parents, please email the church office, with your full names, contact numbers, and your child’s name and date of birth by 6 April 2025 (today).

 

Parking Arrangements

For the Easter service on 20 April at 9am, please note the special parking arrangement to facilitate the brunch after service:

• Main sanctuary and Beulah parking for those staying for brunch only.
• ⁠Please park outside or at Kai for those not staying for brunch. Please only park in designated areas in Kai to avoid misunderstanding with Kai Management.

Please note that parking is permitted along single yellow lines on Sundays and Public Holidays.

Appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation and we will do our best to find parking space for all.

Parking is also available at Revenue House (RH).

Please contact Bro Kelvin  or Dn Chan Yong if you need ferry service from RH to church.

 

Condolence

Our condolences to sister Lam WP and family on the homegoing of her mother, Mdm Ngo SK (77 years old), on 30 Mar 2025. 

 

Senior Fellowship Medical Seminar: Coping with Critical Illnesses

Date: 26 April 2025

Time: 4-6pm

Venue: Beulah MPH

Speaker: Dr Loh Keh Chuan 

We all have to face ageing, sickness and death as we pass through life’s journey on earth. The majority of us will encounter critical illness at some point in our lives. We do not ponder on the prospect of imminent death until critical illness strikes.

This Seminar will:

1. provide an overview and conceptual understanding on the biology of ageing, sickness and death that God programmed in our DNA since the fall of man.
2. focus on cancer as example of critical illness. This is pertinent because one in three people will develop cancer in their lifetime.
3. explore both the biblical perspective on coping with terminal illness and the medical perspective on diagnosis and treatment of cancers. 

Register by 13 April https://www.lifebpc.com/sfseminar 

 

Exploring Christianity

What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? If there is a good and powerful God, why do we have global pandemics and unrest in this world?  The answers to these questions can be found in the Bible, which is God's word to man. 

Exploring Christianity is a course that looks at how the Bible addresses these pertinent questions about life. It is a 5-part series and is suitable for (1) Non-Christians seeking God and (2) Christians who would like to learn how to evangelise. 

The first session will be held on a Saturday, 10 May 2025, from 9-1pm at Beulah Centre. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Kindly note that the other 3 sessions will be held on Sunday mornings. All Lifers are encouraged to bring their non-Christian friends and family members to this introductory course on the Christian faith. 

Register at https://tinyurl.com/ECMay2025 

 

Vacation Bible School (VBS) 2025
Theme: A Whale of a Time
Date: 4-6 June 2025 (Wed-Fri)

Time: 8.15am - 12.45pm (Wed-Thurs); 8.15am - 1pm (Fri) 

Calling all children aged 4-12 years old (N2-P6)! Registration for Vacation Bible School is now open! Registration deadline: 13 April 2025
Lifers needed for the available areas of service: Teaching, Logistics, Craft, Games, F&B and Traffic/Security.
Register now at lifebpc.com/vbs
For further enquiries, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

 

Life Bible-Presbyterian Church Seminar: Revive Us, O Lord!

Speaker: Rev Ian Goligher

Date: Saturday 14 June 2025

Time: 3-6pm (followed by dinner)

Venue: Beulah MPH

Register by 1 June 2025 at https://tinyurl.com/LifeBPCSem14Jun2025

 

YF Camp (for youths aged 17-25)

Date: 15-19 December 2025

Venue: Life B-P Church

Save the dates!

 

75^th Anniversary Praise Service

Date: 11 Oct 2025 (Saturday)

Time: 7:30pm

Venue: Life B-P Church Sanctuary