THE DECLARATION OF GOD’S MIGHTY ACTS
We thank God that today we can celebrate our church’s 52nd thanksgiving service. We are grateful unto the Lord for His grace and goodness unto us, for providing all of our needs and for leading and guiding us in His will.
Our church started out in 12 Sep 1971 through the labour of Pastor Peter Chua, who was the founding pastor, with Rev. Timothy Tow as the advisor. We worship using a small corner HDB shop lot at Blk. 71, Toa Payoh Lor. 5. Then, we were known as Toa Payoh Bible-Presbyterian Church English Service. From a humble beginning, the congregation eventually outgrew that place. At the invitation of Rev. Timothy Tow, we moved our worship services to Life B-P Church sanctuary in 1977. That year, Pastor Chua was also ordained a minister of the Gospel and the name of the church was changed to “Sharon Bible-Presbyterian Church.” We are grateful for the generosity of Life B-P Church for providing us a place where we can worship and serve all these years.
In 1989, one of our members, Cheong Chin Meng, graduated from the Bible college and was appointed a preacher. Together with a group of Sharonites, he started out a local outreach back at Toa Payoh in 1992. That outreach was called “Gospel light B-P Mission.” The work focused primarily on a children ministry and evangelism. The work flourished. Again, the congregation outgrew the place and moved out. In 1994, Cheong Chin Meng was ordained a minister of the Gospel. In 1998, this mission station was fully registered as an independent church with the blessings from Sharon B-P Church.
Other than the local missions, Sharon B-P Church was also involved in various overseas missions. One of those was the work in Kuching, Sarawak. We supported the worker there for a period of time before eventually we handed the work back to Life B-P Church.
Another work which we laboured in was Tangkak B-P Fellowship. In 2006, Yap Kim Chuan graduated from the Bible college and was
appointed preacher of Tangkak B-P Fellowship. Sharon B-P Church supported the stipend for the preacher and as well as sending pastoral support to help the church.
In 2006, a new work also commenced in Kuala Lumpur under the leadership of Dr. Lim Yew Cheng. A church named Evangel B-P Church was established in the capital of Malaysia. The call was made for us to support this work. Our church responded to that call. We send our pastoral team to co-labour with Dr. Lim. We continue to do so until today.
In 2009, Ho Chee Lai, a former Sharonite who helped established the work at Gospel Light B-P Church, returned to strengthen the hands of Rev. Chua. Ho Chee Lai graduated from the Bible college in 2002 and had been appointed as a preacher of Gospel Light B-P Church. He was eventually ordained as a minister of the Gospel in 2009. This is the third pastor whom the Lord has raised up for the Gospel work. The church was going through a difficult period during then. But with his return, the church was stabilized. At the same time, the work of co-labouring with Dr. Lim was also strengthened.
With the establishment of the church in Kuala Lumpur, Sharon B-P Church decided to handover the work at Tangkak to Evangel B-P Church. We believed that it would be better for Malaysian churches to manage their own. In 2015, the handover was completed. However, we still continue to provide pulpit and pastoral support to the work. At the same time, a vision for the Gospel Highway in Peninsular Malaysia, from Singapore all the way to Penang, was conceived. In 2017, a new Gospel station was started in Melaka. Today, we are also looking to extend this work to Ipoh.
Looking back, we could see the hand of God working amidst us. We may be a small church but we have great faith in the Lord almighty. We may not have the resources of bigger churches but we have a group of people who is united in the bond of Christ.
What shall we do next? We are still seeking the will of God and His guidance for the church. We recognize that our church is aging. It is our prayer that the Lord will raise up a new generation to continue with the work. We need faithful men and women who would give their heart to serve the Lord. Are you willing? HCL.
