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Pastoral Staff Rev Lee Kien Seng Mobile: 9815 2589 / Ext 104
[email protected] Rev Edwin Wong Mobile: 9477 0727 / Ext 115
[email protected] Pr George Ang Mobile: 9657 4460 / Ext 105
[email protected] Pr Loliro Sani Worship Director Mobile: 9129
7546 / Ext 116 [email protected] Pr Png Eng Keat Mobile:9819
8901 / Ext117 [email protected] Ms Chan Suet Fong Children
Ministry Director Mobile: 9870 6048 / Ext 112
[email protected] Ms Suttiporn Radeerat Thai Service Mobile:
8862 3457 / Ext 111 [email protected] Church Manager Mr Ray
Hsu Tel: 6474 3527 / Ext 122 [email protected] Facility Coordinator
Mr Chee Hock Guan Tel: 6474 3527 / Ext 122 Fax: 6474 6572
[email protected] Administrative Assistant Mr Alvin Yip Tel:
6474 3527 / Ext 114 Fax: 6474 6572 [email protected]
October Memory Verse
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against
another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you
also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds
everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts
to
God.
Colossians 3:12-16 (ESV)
*11am Online Service
18 Oct 2020 8.30am Service &
11am Online Service
25 Oct 2020 8.30am Service &
11am Online Service Sermon Stewardship And Suffering Colossians
1:24-2:5 Rev Lee Kien Seng
Sermon Alive In Christ Colossians 2:6-15 Pr Loliro Sani
Worship Leader Eld Peter Goh
Worship Leader Angie Chia
Pianist Tang Ern Chi Heng Ji En
Pianist Tang Ern Chi
Holy Communion Servers Eld Chong Yoke Fooi Eld Peter Goh Eld
Chan Kin Ming Eld Eddy Teo
Holy Communion Servers Eld Lek Siang Hwa Eld Chng Chee An Eld
Florence Chua Eld Chng Say Tiong
Count Offering Eld Chong Yoke Fooi Eld Peter Goh
Count Offering Eld Lek Siang Hwa Eld Chng Chee An
PA Soh Lay Suan Tony Cheung
PA Ang Lay Choo Alvin Chia
Computer Lee Kien Meng
Computer Lee Kien Meng
Ushers Kwek Lee Lee Wu Mei Hui Chua Li Hua Sandra Mok
Ushers Yip Cheng Wai Ng Sock Kheng Eld Tan Teoh Khoon Terry
Chia
Temperature taking Dn Andes Poh Yvonne Tan
Temperature taking Dn Chen Li Qun Alvin Chia
Online Service Crew Chow Koon Meng Evan Lim Ming Bao
Online Service Crew Jonathan Tham Jeremy Goh Gracia Lee
18 Oct 2020 Ordinary 20 11am Online Service
GATHERING TO WORSHIP Prelude Call to Worship Opening Song: O
Worship The King* Prayer of Praise & Confession* Song of Praise
& Adoration: Consider Christ* PROCLAIMING THE WORD Scripture
Reading: Ephesians 3:1-6 Sermon: Stewardship And Suffering
Colossians 1:24-2:5 RESPONDING TO THE WORD Intercessory Prayers
Offertory / Doxology* Offertory Prayer* Announcement SENDING FORTH
INTO THE WORLD Closing Song: Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me*
Benediction & Threefold Amen* Postlude * Please stand as you
are able
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ANNOUNCEMENTS Welcome We welcome all our worshippers who have
tuned in. Condolences We extend our condolences to Kenny and Peggy
on the home-calling of their beloved mother and mother-in-law, the
late Mdm Loke Mui, on 8 Oct (Thu). We also extend our condolences
to the grandchildren Zachary and Zelig. 100 pax 8.30 AM Worship
Service in Church We are now holding our 8.30AM services every
Sunday for up to 100 congregants. They will be held in Sanctuary 1
(Chinese Church sanctuary). Do take note of the physical distancing
instructions which we would need to comply with. The advisory video
with the instructions can be found on the 8.30 AM Service
Registration page on our church website
https://truewaypc.com/2020/07/05/ticketing-
for-8-30-am-sunday-service/. The ticketing system will remain in
place and the broadcast of the 11 AM Online Service will be without
change. We thank God for the concession of the authorities and the
graciousness of the Chinese Congregation. Membership Class (via
Zoom) Date: 22, 29 Oct; 5, 12, 19, 26 Nov; 3 Dec (Thu) Time: 7.45pm
- 9.30pm Those wishing to be baptised, confirmed or transferred in
December this year are required to attend our church’s Membership
Class. Please register via email with Mr Alvin Yip and indicate
whether you are registering for baptism, confirmation or transfer.
Volunteers Needed - Angel Tree Project 2020 The Angel Tree Hamper
Project is an annual project by Prison Fellowship Singapore. Each
year, more than 1000 Singapore prison inmates write letters to
their family members before the Christmas season. This year True
Way has once again partner with Singapore Prison Fellowship to
support the project, with the commitment to deliver 20 gift cards
(instead of hampers) and letters to the families of the inmates. We
are praying for volunteers to help distribute gift cards and
letters, and by God’s grace, make friends with their family
members. The gift cards and letters is to help mend and restore
relationships between the inmates and their families.
To qualify as a volunteer, you will need to 1) NOT have any
ministry or work-related activities with Singapore Prison, 2) Have
at least one other adult partner to go along with delivering the
gift card and letter, 3) Attend a compulsory volunteer briefing via
zoom on 19th Nov - 8to9 pm, 4) collect and distribute the gift card
and letter between 24th Nov till 24th Dec 2020, 5) Complete and
return the feedback form.
Please register through google form link:
https://forms.gle/PsKbXSteMnCSQgxd8
You may contact Richard Chua at 98786216 for additional
enquiries. Do register early as the gift card distribution is based
on first come first serve basis. Bears for a Cause "The Elderly
folks at Presbyterian Community Services Senior Activity Centres
have specially made Christmas Tree Decoration Bears which can also
double up as door gifts, prizes and bag accessories. They hope to
raise $3,000 with the full proceeds going to Presbyterian Community
Services. Please help them fulfill their wish to help others in
need by purchasing these bears as part of your purposeful year end
donations. To order, please go to
https://forms.gle/jRSEcdrMjc5snxPF9. You can also check out the
e-flyer in the inserts. Thank you for your generous support!"
Are You a Newcomer at True Way? If you are a newcomer who has
just started tuning in to our 11am online service or attended our
8.30am live service, we would like to connect with you. Do contact
Ps George at [email protected] and he will get in touch with
you. Looking for a Discipleship Group (DG) If you have been
worshipping with us for a while, we would like to encourage you to
join a Discipleship Group (DG). For more information, please email
Pr George Ang at . Bible Reading Plan (BRP) Bible reading is a good
spiritual discipline. You are encouraged to embark on this journey
of reading the Bible from cover to cover. If you want to know God,
you would need to know God ’s Word because He has revealed Himself
through His Word. You may choose between reading the Bible within a
year, 2 years or even 3 years. If you are keen to start your BRP or
if you have any queries, please email to Pr George Ang. Change of
Email Address If you have changed your email address, kindly inform
the church by sending an email to both Mr Alvin Yip and Pr George
Ang . Christian Education Classes Online The Ezekiel and Colossians
CE classes are now online. You may view them on our church website
at https://truewaypc.com/2020/09/10/christian-education-classes/.
Online Outreach Resources For online outreach resources, you are
encouraged to go to the TWPC-English Congregation website
https://truewaypc.com/2020/04/15/covid-19-resources/ and click here
for online outreach resources, to look for suitable materials for
your personal evangelistic efforts. Digital Giving of Tithes &
Offerings There are 3 ways to give our tithes and offerings: 1)
PayNow - Launch your mobile banking app
- Scan the QR code using the app or key in UEN: T12SS0173B -
Indicate whether it is ‘tithe’ or ‘offering’ in the narrative field
“Enter UEN / Bill
Reference No.”
2) Internet Transfer to DBS 1629002650. Kindly indicate your
name and purpose (tithes offerings) while making the transfer.
3) Write a cheque payable to "TWPC - English Congregation".
Kindly indicate your name, contact number and purpose
(tithes/offerings) behind the cheque. Mail the cheque to 156B
Stirling Road Singapore 148947.
https://truewaypc.com/2020/07/05/ticketing-%20for-8-30-am-sunday-service/https://truewaypc.com/2020/07/05/ticketing-%20for-8-30-am-sunday-service/https://forms.gle/PsKbXSteMnCSQgxd8https://forms.gle/jRSEcdrMjc5snxPF9https://forms.gle/jRSEcdrMjc5snxPF9https://truewaypc.com/2020/09/10/christian-education-classes/https://truewaypc.com/2020/04/15/covid-19-resources/
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Two Perspectives on Lying
Imagine getting knocks on your door one evening when you aren’t
expecting
guests. You open the door to see a wild-eyed and dishevelled
figure staring
at you through the gate. It’s a friend of yours and from the
frantic words
sputtering out of him you discover he’s being pursued. He was
attacked
outside his residence but managed to give his assailant the
slip. Now he
wants to seek refuge in your apartment while the police are
called in. You
quickly let him in and get him settled in the guest room. Soon
after doing so,
you hear ominous raps against your door. This time, you open the
door to an
angry person brandishing a pistol and demanding to know your
friend’s
whereabouts. You figure he’s your friend’s assailant. What do
you do?
It’s highly probable you would think to mislead the assailant.
Perhaps
you might tell him your friend didn’t come by at all, or that he
left your
apartment after using the bathroom. Intuitively, we find this
use of deception
acceptable, even though we know lying is a sin. That’s because
we feel that
lying to save a life achieves a greater good than telling the
truth but getting
someone murdered.
Such a hypothetical moral dilemma was a reality for the
Christians
who resisted the Nazi Germans during their occupation of Europe.
Not a few
of them worked to rescue Jews who were being persecuted and
rounded up
by the German Gestapo. However, such clandestine work
required
deception and lying, and many Christians experienced a conflict
between
the morality they’ve been taught in church and the demands of
charity for
their neighbour.
Christians who decided to participate in resistance activities,
often for
the most humane reasons, found themselves drifting towards a
moral
whirlpool where traditional rules and guidelines no longer
operated.
Resisters were ineluctably drawn into a series of unforeseen
actions
as a logical consequence of their commitment to oppose
Nazism.
A Scottish Presbyterian minister Alexander Miller describes how
moral lines
were blurred because of the necessity of the resistance
efforts:
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Not to resist Nazism was to acquiesce in it. There was no
living
alternative at all. Yet to resist Nazism was to be plunged into
the same
chaos. For to resist one must stay alive and one could stay
alive only
by forgery and deceit. Ration books must be forged or
stolen.
Propaganda and organization must be carried on clandestinely and
by
trickery.
In order to save Jewish lives, there was no alternative but to
engage in lies
and deception. Considering how nearly 6 million Jews were killed
in the
Shoah (the Holocaust), perhaps we could admit on hindsight that
such
violations of the Christian injunction to truth-telling were
acceptable for the
sake of Christian charity.
Thus, it might surprise us that St Augustine of Hippo, arguably
the
most influential theologian of the Western Church, would’ve
vehemently
disagreed with such a conclusion. St Augustine was the first
theologian of
the church to write a treatise on lying. The De Mendacio was
written in 395
before he became the bishop of Hippo, and in it, he argues
rather
persuasively that any kind of lying is a sin, and no Christian
should ever lie.
About 20 years later, he asserts the same in his Enchiridion—his
short
handbook on the Christian faith. He defines a lie as speaking
“contrary to
what is in [a person’s] mind with the intention of deceiving,”
and is adamant
that every act of lying must be considered a sin. That’s because
a lie
violates the will of God for human language: “Words were surely
instituted
not so that people could deceive each other with them but so
that each
person could make his thoughts known to another. So, to use
words for
deception, and not for what they were instituted, is a sin.” A
lie is evil in itself
apart from whatever effects it may have.
Therefore, he insists that Christians can’t lie to achieve a
greater good
even in the case of saving a human life, because we mustn’t “do
evil so that
good may come” (Rom. 3.8). To lie is to incur divine judgment on
oneself,
and it makes no sense to lose one’s eternal life by saving
another’s temporal
life. No matter how beneficent the sinful act, it can’t be
justified before God.
If so, then we ought to avoid even those seemingly harmless
white lies we
might’ve resorted out of sheer convenience.
Concerning our hypothetical situation given above, St Augustine
would
counsel us to say, “I know where he is, but I will never show.”
Truth is told
but there’s also the refusal to betray your friend by answering
the assailant.
While you may be killed for your reply, he would think it’s
better for you to
die than to sin. What if the assailant kills you and then kills
your friend in the
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apartment? He would say it’s the assailant who sinned and not
you; it’s still
better to not sin and leave the outcome to God than to save
someone by
sinning.*
While St Augustine’s ethics might be a hard pill to swallow, we
cannot
but sense his deep reverence for God and how seriously he
regards sin. It’s
no wonder that this has been the default position of the church
catholic (both
Roman and Reformational) on lying since. Yet, if one was to
consistently
apply this ethic to the German occupation of Europe, then there
would
scarcely have been any organised resistance at all, and the many
Jews who
were otherwise rescued would’ve been consigned to the death
camps.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor, theologian, and martyr,
whose
ethics were forged in the crucible of resistance against the
Nazis, disagrees
with St Augustine. He regards St Augustine’s definition of lying
as
inadequate because it would “include, for example, even the most
harmless
April-fool joke” or “the necessary deception of the enemy in
war.” Instead, he
considers a lie as the deliberate denial of the reality of God
revealed in
Christ Jesus (1 Jn. 2.22).
This might sound abstract because Bonhoeffer doesn’t view ethics
as
simply obeying specific divine laws or doing what we think is
good. Rather,
for ethics to be Christian, it must stem from a faith in Christ
and a denial of
self. Ethics is the question of how we bring about in our lives
the reality of
God that’s revealed in Christ; it’s a participation in the
reality of God in Christ.
Since, Christ for us is the God who communes with us in his
humanity,
then our ethics is about community, about being there with and
for others.
Furthermore, because Christ comes to us in history, our ethics
must also be
this-worldly as well. What this means is that ethics is
relational and
contextual. Our ethical responsibility is toward God and
neighbour and
cannot be divorced from the specific situation we find ourselves
in.
Therefore, when it comes to lying, Bonhoeffer wouldn’t insist
that it’s
an absolute sin. Rather, it’s a sin only if what is expressed
brings about
something which is contrary to the reality of God in Christ;
when what is
expressed is not for the sake of others whom we love but for
ourselves. In
the final chapter of his incomplete work Ethics, he gives three
concrete rules
to guide truth-telling: a) who is it that I will be speaking to
and what entitles
me to speak; b) what is the situation am I in; c) how does what
I am about to
speak relate to this situation. Applying it to our hypothetical
situation, it
means you won’t tell the assailant the truth because he doesn’t
deserve the
truth and right now your friend requires you to not tell the
truth. Out of love
for your friend, the best course of action is to misdirect the
assailant.
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This quick survey of two different responses to a hypothetical
situation
shows that the ethics of truth-telling isn’t as simple as it
seems. This is
because we’re sinful creatures living in an imperfect world
thrown into
situations where moral obligations sometime seem to be in
conflict. But it’s
safe to say that in Singapore we’re scarcely put in situations
where we have
no choice but to lie. Whether you lean toward St Augustine or
Bonhoeffer’s
ethics concerning lying, lying is never an act we take lightly,
but if there’s
ever a situation we are moved to do so, we do so boldly and
leave all
judgment of our action before a holy and merciful God.
* What about the Hebrew midwives in Exodus chapter 1? St
Augustine doesn’t think their act of lying is meant to be exemplary
or prescriptive for Christians. While they sinned by lying, God
rewarded them not because they lied but because they feared God and
were merciful.
Pr Png Eng Keat
18 Oct 2020
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Seminar on “The Christian and Mental Health” over Zoom
Date: 31 Oct (Sat)
Time: 2-4 pm
Speaker: Associate Professor Leslie Lim
Please register with Alvin Yip with your full name, contact
number and email.
Synopsis
We all feel depressed, discouraged and anxious at certain times
in our lives. Are these emotions indicative of a mental health
issue that requires medical attention?
How do we know if a person has a mental illness? Could the
person be demonised? How do we tell the difference? What causes a
person to have a mental illness?
Many Christians hold to the belief that if they exercise enough
faith they will not succumb to mental health issues. Some even
advise their friends that psychiatric medications are addictive,
harmful to one’s health, and should be discarded.
These are some of the myths surrounding mental illness, many of
which are propagated by people who have never received mental
health training. In this day and age of fake news, there are
certainly a lot of misconceptions regarding mental illness by
members of the public, and the church.
Come and find out the answers to the perplexing questions
concerning mental health and the Christian. Come and learn about
the signs and science of mental disorders, how Christians can
overcome them and how family and friends can help those struggling
with poor mental health.
Biodata of the speaker
Associate Professor Leslie Lim, a senior consultant psychiatrist
from a public hospital in Singapore has been practising psychiatry
for over 30 years. After obtaining his medical qualification from
the University of Singapore, he pursued psychiatry training in
London and was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of
Psychiatrists of the United Kingdom. He was chief examiner in
Psychiatry in Singapore, and was conferred the Distinguished
Psychiatrist Award by the Singapore Psychiatric Association.
He completed his theological training from TCA College where he
obtained a Master of Arts in Ministry. He is the author of 5 books,
the latest “Victorious Living in a Depressed World: biblical
perspectives for overcoming depression” is scheduled for release in
October 2020. He and his wife worship at the Bethesda Bedok-
Tampines Church.
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