VISION STATEMENT A loving community of disciples and servant-leaders

INTERIM MINISTER (To be appointed)

PASTOR EMERITUS Rev Dr William Wan

9662 3253

Elder Goh Keng Ngian EDC Clerk, 9829 1339

Elder Victor Shim 9100 4232

Elder Wong Soong Kuan 9298 5226

Elder Joshua Lee 9658 3573

Deacon David Seow Treasurer, 9734 5269

Deacon Angeline Tan 9638 7473

Deacon Vincent Goh 9615 7198

Deacon Kong Li Choo 9734 0035

Deacon Janice Chuang 9657 0700

Lawrence Khoo (Assistant Pastor—Youth + YA)

lawrencekhoo@hopepc.net 8113 5770

Daniel Lee (Assistant Pastor—

CG + Prison Ministry) daniellee@hopepc.net

8218 7865

Tony Lee (Church Administrator) tonylee@hopepc.net

8161 7716

Rosalind Choo (Worship & Admin Support)

rosalind@hopepc.net 9619 0707

Chen Yong Khiaw (Church Accounts)

ykchen@hopepc.net 9815 1630

Ho Sweet Meng (Projects)

sweetmeng@hopepc.net 9754 8987

Joevan Lim (Admin Assistant)

joevan@hopepc.net 9693 6711

3 April 2016 The HOPE PC Bulletin For Internal Circulation Only

ELDERS & DEACONS

COURT

PRAYER MEETING

1st Sunday of Month Room 311

WORSHIP SERVICE 4th Floor

PRAISEBABIES Room 301

PRAISEKIDS (3-6 yrs) Room 304

INTER - GENERATIONAL

WORSHIP & PRAISEHOUSE

CLASSES Every Sunday except last Sunday of month

PRAISEHOUSE WORSHIP

Last Sunday of month Tong Siu Hall / 3rd Floor

11.00am—12.20pm

FILIPINO

FELLOWSHIP

Tong Siu Hall

FILIPINO

DISCIPLESHIP

CLASSES &

FELLOWSHIP Rooms 305, 309, 310

POWERHOUSE+ FELLOWSHIP AND

CELL GROUPS 4.00pm-7.30pm

Kabek Hall

SUNDAY

11.00am—12.30pm

SATURDAY

12.30pm—2.30pm

2.30pm—6.00pm

694 Upper Changi Road East, Singapore 486824 Tel: 6543 4858 Fax: 6543 4859

Email: admin@hopepc.net Website: http://hopepc.net

Building Fund as at 31 March 2016

Balance as at 1.1.2016 $ 1,860,785 Jan-Mar Collection $ 35,462 Balance $1,896,247

STAFF

PRAYER CORNER “Answer us when we call to you, O our righteous God … be merciful to us and hear our prayers”. Ps 4:1

Pray for the Pulpit ministry that the word of God, purely preached, will minister to His people in HPC and churches all over the world.

Pray for the climate changes that the weather will improve and be less harsh in the various countries.

Thank God for the Easter convention and baptism. May the messages continue to speak to us and may God draw us closer to Him.

Pray for HPC that the Lord w ill provide us w ith an Interim Minister soon; pray for the members to grow in faith and in Christ-likeness.

Pray for His healing hands on those who are unwell and sustain their care-givers by His loving grace.

STAFF ON LEAVE Ps Daniel Lee w ill be away from 30 March to 3 April. CONGRATULATIONS to Hui Kuan and Joanna Tan on the safe arrival of their son, Samuel, on 29 March 2016; a nephew to Joshua, Lyndis and Jeanette Lee and a grandson to Tony and Maggie Lee. 2016 MISSION OPPORTUNITIES IN CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA, ORGANISED BY OC SINGAPORE 1. 4D/3N Central Java Vision Trip (Vacation with a Purpose) 6–9 August 2016, Yogyakarta, Central Java Cost - $675 (twin share, all meals, airfare and travel insurance) Only 10 places are available on this team

2. 11D/10N Central Java English Camp 24 July–3 August 2016, Semarang, Central Java Cost - $700 (twin share, all meals, airfare and travel insurance) Only 5 places are available on this team

For more information on either of these 2 teams, please contact Paul Teoh at 91159350 or paulteoh@oci.org or pick up a copy of the trip details from the WIC.

9.00am—10.30am

COMMUNITY

“THE SECOND

COMING”

Mark 13 : 24—27

Ps Lawrence Khoo

CORE VALUES : HEART for God ■ OUTREACH for Christ ■ PASSION for God’s Word ■ ENCOURAGING One Another ■ PURSUING Christ-Likeness ■ COMMITTED to Serving

YOUTH CAMP 2016 13-17 JUNE @ HPC Calling all youths! Early birds come for $40, late birds $50 and newcomers $20. Please register at our booth in the Fellowship Hall. Feel free to contact Trevor Teo at 96628733 for further queries. Let’s go together! MOVIE NIGHT EVENT Elijah CG is organizing a movie night on Friday, 15 April, from 7.30pm – 10.30pm at Kabek Hall. Apart from strengthening one’s faith and prayer life, this event also aims to foster fellowship among CGs and an avenue for outreach. Dinner will not be provided but there will be light snacks after the movie. All CGs are invited along with your friends. Please sign up at the WIC. Registration opens till 10 April. AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR (AED) The CBC/HPC Joint Building Committee has installed an AED at the Multi-Purpose Hall in the Church. The AED is a portable device that checks the heart rhythm and can send an electric shock to the heart to try to restore a normal rhythm. AEDs are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest. This device should be used only in emergencies and by trained personnel. For those interested, a training session will be held on Tuesday, 5 April 2016, at 2.30pm.

Today’s Worship Service

Duty Person Deacon Janice Chuang

Worship Leader David Seow

Musicians & Singers Adelene Tang, Charmaine Goh, Timothy Teoh, Timothy Seow, Lisa Loh, Claire Lim

AV Crew & Projectionist Freddie Goh, Lawrence Loh, Koh Hing Song

Ushers Samuel Chen, Timothy Koh, Christina Tan, Quay Lay Nah, Desmond Lim

Scripture Reader Janene Cortes

HOPE Corner Deacon Janice Chuang Jump 4 — Bryan Lim

Next Week

Duty Person Pastor Lawrence Khoo

Worship Leader Jaime Lye

Musicians & Singers Joy Wong, Daniel Shim, Joshua Ong, Timothy Seow, Caleb Seow, Selene Yew

AV Crew & Projectionist Hendra Yanny, Stephen Yanny, Raymond Yeo

Ushers Priscilla Teo, Clara Goh, Grace Yeo, Rebekah Ong

HOPE Corner Pastor Lawrence Khoo CG1 — C.A.R.E. (Eu Gin Tan)

APRIL / MAY 2016

FOLLOWING CHRIST IS A VERB

10 Apr Lessons from the Fig Tree Mark 13:28-31

Dr William Wan

17 Apr Watch and Pray Mark 13:32-37

Rev Henry Hong

24 Apr One Man Two Reasons Mark 14:1-9

Dr William Wan

01 May

Mission Sunday

Dr Kelvin Chen

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Counselling Associates

James Tan Email: kampongkidz@gmail.com

Nah Kiat Yong Email: nahkiatyong@gmail.com

Soh Choon Lee Email: sohcl2007@gmail.com

Job and the Retributive Principle By Isaac Johnson

I’ve always loved the wisdom literature, which is why I am currently specializing in Old Testament theology. One wisdom book, in particular, has always held great interest: Job. Job is set long before the advent of national Israel and asks the biggest philosophical question of the Ancient Near East. The ancients believed in the retributive principle: when you are righteous God rewards you and when you are wicked God punishes, so the question of “why do bad things happen to seemingly righteous people” a considerable one.

God convened his divine council, of which a member of the council played the role of the satan. In this role, the satan pointed out that Job would not love God if God were not protective of Job. God accepted this challenge and calamity befell Job as he lost his family and eventually his health. It was then that his three friends and their younger associate came to comfort Job and in the process produced the exquisite poetic discourses we possess today. Yet for all their combined wisdom, they were stuck debating whether God is just or whether Job had sinned against God. All the while they failed to stop and ask whether the retributive principle was true!

From our vantage point, we can see that God remained just while Job remained righteous and that the two are not linked in the least. During my time as a pastor and later as a missionary, I would regularly experience calamity befalling people who by all accounts would appear as righteous as any Christian possibly could. I recall one of our most promising national workers being crushed between two buses right outside our missionary headquarters. It seemed incredibly senseless that such a gifted minister and good Christian died. Even today there is a part of us that wants to ask “was it God or was it the person” when we witness such tragedies, all the while forgetting to question the validity of the retributive principle.

In the New Testament, Jesus was again confronted by the retributive principle when he was asked: “who sinned, this man or his parents that he should be born blind?” Jesus responded “Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but it happened so that the works of God could be revealed in him,” because their question, just as Job and his friends had asked, was fundamentally wrong. Jesus went further to flip the retributive principle entirely upon its head in Matthew 5:10-12:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of me. Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

While it is always easier said than done when facing calamity, may we be able to set aside the notion of a retributive principle and focus instead on Christ, the supreme example of righteousness who was yet suffering servant. May we be comforted by his closeness and righteousness as we face trials and seeming injustices. _____________________________________________________________________ 1Walton John, “Asking the Right Questions of Job,” YouTube, March 30, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYRQW7WCpIo. 2Michael S. Heiser, “Divine Council,” in Faithlife Study Bible, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Lexham Press, 2015). 3Jn. 9:2 (LEB). 4Jn. 9:3.