Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

"Here Am I; Send Me"

The above words taken from Isaiah 6:8b was the 2016 camp theme of Sydney Bible-Presbyterian Church. The camp was held at The Merroo Christian Centre in Kurrajong which they have been using for the past ten plus years. It is located at the foot of the Blue Mountains, but not at the usual tourist side of the mountain. Being winter season, it was cold and the mountain air was fresh. But the best thing will always be the Christian fellowship. It was great to have fellowship with Elder Koh whom God called and placed in SBPC to take care of His flock. Together with a session of three deacons, the church marches on from year to year. This year, SBPC celebrated her 19th birthday on the 3rd of July. The message preached was taken from Revelation 22:17-21, entitled "Want Christ to Return?" The main thrust of the message was on the ones who want and the ones who do not want Christ to return. The two groups were identified during the message. The challenge to the congregation was to desire Christ's return which also means His second coming. Christ's first coming was to save but His second coming (or return) is to judge! Whether people on earth want Christ to return or not has no impact because Christ will return quickly! When believers live holy lives in relation to Christ's return they will cause unbelievers to believe and accept Christ as Lord and Saviour for they will see Christ in them. On the other hand, their holy lives will encourage other believers to be more fervent in spirit as they see them serving and living for Christ.

After the Anniversary lunch in church, the campers made their way to the camp site, which is about an hour and a half from the church. We arrived at the camp site in the late afternoon. The sunset is around 5.00 pm every day during the winter. My sniffles did not improve throughout the time in Sydney because of the cold air. In fact it got worse. However, the fellowship and the ministry of the Word were great, so much so that the sniffles did not affect the ministry at all by the grace of God. The camp messages preached through the five nights and six days were:-
Message # 1 "The Meaning of Being Sent!" – Isaiah 1:1-13
Message # 2 "The Greatest Life for the Sent Ones" – John17:1-5
Message # 3 "The Identity of the Sent Ones" – John 17:6-8
Message # 4 "The Protection of the Sent Ones!" –John 17:9-11
Message # 5 "The Equipment for the Sent Ones" – John 17:12-16
Message # 6 "The Armament of the Sent Ones" – John 17:17-19
Message # 7 "The Oneness of the Sent Ones!" – John 17:20-23
Message # 8 "The Safety of the Sent Ones!" – John 17:24-26
Message # 9 "Final Warning for the Sent Ones" – Isaiah 66:15-24

Elder Koh has introduced the good practice of memorising Scriptures during the camp devotion time which he conducts. The campers will recite these verses through the year until the 2017 camp. This practice was started last year with Colossians 3:1-4. The following verses were recited and put into memory during the camp:

John 17:17-23 (KJV) "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

Based upon the main theme of Isaiah 6:8 where the LORD called Isaiah into fulltime ministry as His prophet, we studied John 17:1-26 which is known as the high priestly prayer of Christ prior to His arrest and crucifixion. In this prayer, Christ prayed for Himself and all the disciples, present and future. Christ said that He was sent by the heavenly Father to do His will on the earth. Christ then prayed for His disciples saying that they too had been sent just as He was. Just as the heavenly Father sent Christ, Christ sent the disciples to do the Father's will. The word "sent" is the verb form of the noun for "apostle" which means someone has been sent with a particular purpose. It is not to be understood as an aimless sending where the person supposedly designed his own purpose or did whatsoever he wanted on the earth. He had been sent for a divine purpose. He had been sent by God to do God's will. Christ was sent to live and to die on Calvary’s cross for the transgressions of all those whom God has given to Christ. This is the particular atonement that the Bible speaks of clearly. All believers are saved and left behind on the earth to do and continue the work of Christ. Christ came from heaven to die on earth. We are of the earth saved to go to heaven. But Christ said to those whom He has sent to serve first before they go to heaven.

The service is to testify of God's love through Christ's death and resurrection. This is what all believers must do through their oneness in Christ. They are to live and serve together on the earth in the church. That is why the service of every believer is to witness to sinners when they are serving God in the world. The world out there includes schools and work places and vacation time wherever sinners are found. Believers are to point them to Christ by their lives of holy witness and sharing of the gospel. The world will hurt them just as they hurt the Lord Jesus Christ. The world will not accept the message of Christ. Satan, the evil one, has blinded the world. When believers preach the gospel, they will be persecuted or tempted by seduction to give up. Some will become stronger whereas others will suffer hurt - physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. The church is the home away from their heavenly home, to be healed and become strong again to fight the good fight again. Satan will try his utmost to destroy the church and turn it into a battleground. The battle ground is outside the church and not inside! That is why the oneness that Christ prayed for in all believers, present and future, is so important. All believers must protect this oneness. They will protect it when they learn to obey the Word of God, the whole counsel of God. Pride often stands in the way of obedience. Learning to love one another and forgive one another in Christ is the key to protecting this oneness that all believers have on earth because of Christ! The last day of camp ended with a short testimony time.

The fellowship during the camp was great. It was a wonderful time of catching up with old friends. We meet some of them only once a year. We meet others more often because they come to Singapore to visit. The bond we have is because of Christ. Though separated by the ocean, the oneness is felt due to the blood of Christ and the knowledge that one day we will all be in heaven and neither distance nor ocean will separate us. The fact that we are all placed here on earth with the same Great Commission from the same Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ makes the gathering and fellowship sweeter. The afternoons were free times for fellowship which patterns after Pandan's camp. The young people went out for activities such as tree top zip lining. Australia has the great outdoors for such activities. The older folks went for coffee to talk about life and share the challenges of ministries. It was a wonderful time away from the din of society at this annual church camp getaway for the brethren in SBPC.

By God's grace Angie and I have been invited to SBPC for the past eight years. To see the children grow up from toddlers to teenagers and teenagers becoming young adults leading the fellowship ministries and certain parts of the camp was very encouraging. This is what all ministers of the Word long for in the lives of the people of God. Elder Koh and the Session are holding the fort with God's enabling. They serve faithfully and tirelessly. God has kept them these past 19 years. Some have come and some have gone which is a common trend in all churches. We thank God for two who were baptized.

The message preached on 10 July 2016 was entitled "The Day will Come!" taken from Malachi 4:1-6, the last book and last chapter of the Old Testament. It was a reminder to the people of God that the Day of Judgement, when Christ returns, is certain. Only two kinds of people will be found on the earth and they will be revealed. The wicked and proud will be judged and sent to hell whereas the ones who fear the LORD will be saved. The latter are the ones who accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour and will obey the Word of God. This is the warning of God to all humanity so that man will not blame God and cry that they did not know when the Day comes. This is the mercy of God to all men. They can turn to the Saviour and be saved. The final message was on Sunday afternoon to the young people entitled "How to Hold Fast" taken from Hebrews 10:23-25. The challenge to the young people was to hold fast to their faith by not wavering and to hold on tight to the holy life that Christ has given to them and to not be turned by the evil one. They cannot do it alone. They need the assistance of other believers and Hebrews 10:24 says that all believers must consider, i.e. think of one another all the time in prayer as well as to provoke one another unto love and good works. The word "provoke" means to poke, eg. to poke a person who is sleeping to wake up. They must keep on poking one another to stay the course of holiness. Do not give up on one another. Keep on poking so that love and good works may come forth out of their lives of service. Finally, this is done by assembling together. Those who stay away from prayer and Christian fellowship must not make it a habit. They must be poked back to spiritual life and return. There is urgency because the day of the LORD is fast approaching. Time is short for repentance and service.

Thank God for seeing us through another blessed time of ministering God's Word to the people of God in SBPC. Please continue to pray for the very important and blessed work there. Pray for a pastor for SBPC to continue the work in these last days.

God bless every reader in Christ. Thank you once again for praying for us. Amen.