Shinning As Stars -Pastoral Sunday October 16, 2011

A church is simply you and me, where we have our common Christian belief and faith, and we congregate at venue or place regularly Sundays after Sundays at a determined designated time at our worldly convenient hours to worship God and to study God's Words and to be enlightened in the Spiritual sovereign and be encouragement to one another. It could be a place made of a physical building constructed with intricate designs where rows of pews, red carpeted aisles laid, crosses or ethereal pictures hanging on the walls or scriptures inscribed on the pillars, and the musical instruments like the harp or grand piano and guitars where the believer of Christ go to worship like believers of other faiths going to their temples, mosques and shrines to offer prayers. Is that all?  It is too simplified a definition.

Who else do we associate with a church?  Caretaker, Gardeners, Ushers, Musicians, Deacons, Lay Leaders, Seminary students, monks, pastors, reverends, cardinals, bishops, the Pope?  Right, we are a community of like mindedness in Spiritual and faith but we need teachers, preachers and  leaders to guide and lead us like sheep need our Shepherd, Lord Jesus Christ.  BMBC as the famously acronym for the Malay language " Banyak Makan, Bankyak Cakap" or literally translated into English as "Eat Much, Talk Much".  We are blessed as we have three Pastors in our midst and their families to shepherd our souls.

We have a Pastoral Sunday to appreciate our Pastors and their families for their roles in our church and their love, care and sacrifices and for sharing our burdens for Christ in our local community.  BMBC had invited Reverend Canon Fred David of St. Paul Church, Petaling Jaya on that day to speak to us. He brought tremendous experience with him in serving the Lord at various parts of the country, in particular at East Malaysia, where he can speak multiple languages and dialects of the local communities.  He can preach in Mandarin, Hakka and two Sabah tribal lingo, Dusun and Sungai.

We were blessed by his sermon and his testimonies. Briefly, leadership is spiritual. Pastors are not just working on Sundays and rest the rest of the weeks.  They are called to conduct marriages for the happy couples, prayer blessings for the joyful dedications of new births, homes and offices, but also to render help and assistance to the less privileged besides prayers for the weak and sicks; not the least, conducting services at wakes and funerals on the solemn occasions of sudden deaths of members of the community at short notices or suddenly on their supposedly off days at odd hours and far, far away from his own family.  For the love of Christ and the Gospel, the pastors and reverends are living their outstanding, trusting and obedient lives to bring the joy of the Word to every corner of the world as God commanded and willingly give it for one another. God loves sinners who repent.

You can listen to and watch him at our recorded Sunday Worship Service here in Bukit Mertajam Baptist Church, Penang, Malaysia. We were humbled and honored as he preached to us specifically on the epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians Church, Holy Bible verses Philippians 2: 12-18. We record our heartfelt appreciations and love for Reverend Canon Fred David, our BMBC Pastoral team and all the other Pastors who have been with us in the past, present and in future.  Our prayers and His Peace be with all of you and May God Bless You Graciously and Richly in His Kingdom.