Special Thanks: David Chan, Cheong Mee Ling and Tang Wei Qiang for the respective article submitted for this April 2013 issue.

Newsletter collated by Margaret Khoo, and edited by Gary Choong 1

Covenant CommunityCovenant CommunityCovenant CommunityCovenant Community Baptist Baptist Baptist Baptist ChurchChurchChurchChurch 1 Cambridge Road, Singapore 219677

Tel: 62995356, Fax : 62995453

Email: enquiry@ccbc.org.sg

Website: ccbc.org.sg

Be and Bring a Friend to Jesus: Building and Bringing Nehemiah 4:6: So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all

their heart.

Relating to the theme of building and bridging, the logo shows a structure of bricks

representing the church while each individual brick represents members of the

church. The various colours of each brick suggest the differences of each individual, and

through sharing their common identity in Christ, they come together to form support for

each other. The brick formation expands by reaching out to the 'lost' bricks beyond

the community. These 'lost' bricks have a void which only Christ can fill.

April 2013

=====================================================================================

Children Ministry by Cheong Mee Ling

The year 2012 was a year of ups and downs for

the Children Ministry, yet it was another year of

growing in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus

Christ for the students and the teachers at our

Sunday school classes.

The children joined the adult congregation

during the time of worship in song and praise

every first Sunday, while various teachers took

turns to lead the children in worship on other

Sundays. The children learned Bible lessons,

memory verses and activities provided in the

curriculum. We have changed from using

Gospel Light resources to LifeWay Christian

Resources and found the curriculum to be a

refreshing breather.

Yes, the teachers grew too, taking time to study

the lesson passage in its biblical context during

our preparation for Sunday school lesson

teaching. However, it is still a challenge

especially managing the boys’ focus in the

upper primary class.

We had two Kindergarten-age children from

pre-believing families who had been attending

the classes. However, due to parental objection,

they were not allowed to attend the second half

of the year. We were saddened, but continued

to pray that God will remove the obstacles for

them to know Him personally. All praise and

glory be to God – He works in the hearts of

these children even though they could not join

us.

On one occasion after Praise Sunday in October

where the children performed two action-song

items, the teachers were encouraged to know

that one of them learnt the song “Can’t Take

My Jesus Away” with the actions from her

cousin who is still with the Sunday school. The

little child had expressed her desire to return to

Sunday school, but was taught by the aunt to

respect and obey her parents. On another

recent occasion, a little child asked his mother

to pray for God’s help when the pre-believer

mother encountered problems. We thank God

that His Word taught during Sunday school

resides in the children’s heart, and they will

always remember the true God and love of our

Lord Jesus Christ for them.

In our efforts to encourage the children to read

the Bible regularly at home, we introduced the

Bible Quest for Kids in October. The objective

was to motivate them through the collection of

stamps to acquire badges of different ranks of

Knight-hood. The use of the booklet was

explained to the congregation as well as the

parents, so that there would be an environment

to support the children’s efforts. Other then

learning memory verses and reading of the

Bible, the children can also earn stamps for

memorising scripture verses, Bible reading,

personal quiet time, having family devotions

Special Thanks: David Chan, Cheong Mee Ling and Tang Wei Qiang for the respective article submitted for this April 2013 issue.

Newsletter collated by Margaret Khoo, and edited by Gary Choong 2

with their parents, good behavior at home or in

church based on feedback from parents or

Sunday School teachers, or sharing about Jesus

Christ with their friends, etc. We cannot say

that this effort is a complete success, but it is

part of our continued effort to encourage a

closer walk with God in spite of the many other

demands on the children’s time – school

homework, tuition, extra-curricular activities,

computer games, and television.

‘Help! My Mind Wanders When I Pray’by David

Chan

‘My mind tends to wander.’ I’m not sure if you

understand what I am saying or have shared

similar experiences. What I mean is, have you

experienced this strange situation that

whenever you pray, you end up either recalling

events of yesterday, planning your day’s

schedule, or daydream?

I have, and many times in fact. And if you’ve

been in this situation before, chances are that

you felt guilty and frustrated, apologized to God

countless times, and resolved without success

to do better tomorrow.

When we pray, I believe it is with good

intention that we want to seek the Lord’s face.

How, then, can we have a meaningful time of

prayer and stay focused each time we do so?

As I reflected, I’ve realized that one of my

struggles during prayer is when I remembered

unfinished tasks that I’m supposed to do. The

mind is such a powerful instrument that is able

to recollect and recall things even when we do

not consciously remind ourselves to do so.

Besides this, I’ve also realized that another

reason that my mind wanders is because I tend

to pray silently, on the ‘excuse’ that I should not

be disturbing others who are around me.

One simple thing I do these days is to keep a

sheet of paper beside me. When I suddenly

recall something that I’ve yet to do, I will write

it down and then get back to praying. This way,

I tell myself that I will revisit this matter later in

the day and I can get back to my time with the

Lord without feeling a sense of guilt. I’ve also

learnt in my own experience that it helps better

that I am able to hear my own voice as I

formulate my prayer thoughts into complete

sentences. As with any conversation with a

friend, it takes effort to think about what we

want to say and how to say it, so that our friend

can accurately receive the message. So it is with

our time of praying to God.

At times, I’ve also realized that instead of

fighting the wandering thoughts and disciplining

the body to get back to praying, I can also pray

to God about these wanderings. Some of these

thoughts can be useful aspects to bring before

God, as they could well be our personal

anxieties or concerns that have not been

verbalized to anyone else. They could also be

areas in our life that the Holy Spirit is

highlighting to us for our benefit.

Prayer is not a religious activity. It is a genuine

disclosure of ourselves- our thoughts, feelings,

desires, needs, our spirit man- to the One who

knows us even better than we do ourselves. He

delights in the genuine prayers of His children.

And I believe that the Holy Spirit is present to

help us pray. “The Spirit helps us in our

weakness. We do not know what we ought to

pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for

us…” (Romans 8:26 NIV).

May we all desire even more to commune with

God in prayer, and in doing so, grow deeper in

our devotion to Jesus.

The Praying Heart

The heart that prays soars high on strong, glad wings,

And finds strange rest beyond the strife of things,

The heart that prays in trusting self-surrender

Finds Christ's own peace and life's eternal splendor.

Through prayer GOD breathes His secret to the heart,

Speak to Him often in the busy mart,

Or call Him in the deep of sorrow's night;

His love floods in with the healing, guiding light.

From Inspirational Poems

by Nellie Jean Stratto

Special Thanks: David Chan, Cheong Mee Ling and Tang Wei Qiang for the respective article submitted for this April 2013 issue.

Newsletter collated by Margaret Khoo, and edited by Gary Choong 3

Youth Ministry by Tang Wei Qiang

Year 2012 passed by in a blink of an eye as we

embarked on year 2013. Indeed, I am grateful

to God for bringing and guiding us through the

year 2012 even when difficult times and trials

stood in our way. However, knowing that we

have a God who is ever faithful and full of grace

never fails to reassure my heart.

One of the activities in 2012 was the Youth

Camp held in December within the church

premises. The theme “Our God, the Creator,

our Provider” aimed to let the youths

experience the wonders of God and be

reminded of His abundant provision.

The story of God’s provision to the widow is

recorded in 1Kings 17: 13-16, affirms God’s care

even for non-Israelites through Elijah’s ministry.

Truly so, our God is the One who provides for

our every need. Often, we have mistaken our

“want” for our “needs”. Blinded as such, we

stressed ourselves going to God to request Him

to sustain our wants. This camp aimed to let the

youths to return to the Bible and learn to

appreciate what they already have that had

been blessed by God.

The youths participated in activities such as

night cycling at East Coast Parkway to

experience some natural wonders created by

God that we usually missed in our hectic

schedules and busy lives. Since the activities

coincided with the Geminid meteor shower, the

youths too had the opportunity to witness the

majestic astronomical event which humbled our

hearts. Each passing “falling star” and the stars

in the dark sky reminded us of the vast bigness

of the universe that is created by our God and

to know that such an almighty God cares for

each love us brought much joy and peace.

The camp was definitely a great experience for

the youths and their friends and as we move on

with our journey to 2013, may we continue to

remember God’s goodness in our lives as we

focus on discipleship and spiritual growth as

one body in Christ, as a church, Covenant

Community Church.

Pulpit April-June 2013:

As we end our mini sermon series on Revelation

1-3, “You’ve got Mail”, Pastor Gary continues

to preach from the book of Revelation chapter 4

onwards.

Apr 07

Rev 3:1-13 The Message to Philadelphia: Mission Rekindled

Rev Dr Gary Choong

Apr 14

Rev. 3:14-22 The Message to Laodicea: Love Jesus

Rev Dr Gary Choong

Apr

21

TBA Tang Wei Qiang

Apr

28

Rev. 4:1-11 Adoring God: the Sovereign Creator

Rev Dr Gary Choong

May 05

Rev. 5:1-7 Adoring God’s Son : Lion and Lamb

Rev Dr Gary Choong

May 12

Rev. 5:8-14 Adoring God’ Son: Christ, the Redeemer

Rev Dr Gary Choong

May 19

TBA Cheong Mee Ling

May 26

TBA Ps Eric Tjong

Jun 02

Rev. 6:1-17 When the Seals are opened: 1

st-6

th

Seal Judgements

Rev Dr Gary Choong

Jun 09

Rev. 7:1-17 First Interlude: Salvation

Rev Dr Gary

Choong

Jun 16

Church Retreat

Jun 23

Rev. 8:1-9:18 When the Trumpets Sound: 1

st- 6

th

Trumpet Judgements

Rev Dr Gary

Choong

Jun

30

Rev. 10:1-11

2nd

Interlude

Rev Dr Gary

Choong

CHURCH RETREAT

Date: 13-16 Jun 2013 (Thur to Sun)

Venue: Tg Puteri Golf Resort

Let’s come together to have a time of renewing

and bonding with CCBC’s family!

Special Thanks: David Chan, Cheong Mee Ling and Tang Wei Qiang for the respective article submitted for this April 2013 issue.

Newsletter collated by Margaret Khoo, and edited by Gary Choong 4

Thanks be to God for his faithfulness to

CCBC the past 18 years.

Shu Shyan with baby Kiersten.

Lunch fellowship hosted by Chee Meng and Mee

Ling.

Lunch fellowship hosted by Chee

Chee Meng and Mee Ling.

Rendering the song “If we hold on together” as

the congregation joined in to sing believing in

God’s faithfulness.

Almost everyone in the congregation came

forward to give of themselves toward the

mission-vision of a healthy growing D-M church.

CCBC’S CCBC’S CCBC’S CCBC’S celebracelebracelebracelebrating her ting her ting her ting her 18181818THTHTHTH Anniversary Service Anniversary Service Anniversary Service Anniversary Service 6 January 20136 January 20136 January 20136 January 2013