lifesong

Parents' Day Celebration 25July 2009

2009-04-16T22:32:00.004+08:00

[...Parents' Day Celebration has been rescheduled to 25Jul and presentation item will be combined with Macedonia choir. Please look out for more update.]

Once again, the Parents' Day Celebration is approaching. Every year, this event has seen a wonderful turnout, with many members honoring their parents by making this a family gathering. Furthermore, this has been a combined celebration with Macedonia Mandarin Service and we witness God's blessings through the many families who have family members attending either the English service of Shalom or the Mandarin service in Macedonia.

The church choir will be presenting two Mandarin songs. Do come and join us in uplifting the congregation on that day! Rehearsals will begin on 08May, Friday evenings from 8.30pm. These are the rehearsal dates :

08May
15May
22May
29May
12June
19June
26June
10July

Hope to see many of you at the rehearsals!

2009-04-12T23:33:00.002+08:00

Thank God for the beautiful presentation this morning by the YFers and YAFers. I truly enjoyed their singing. Keep it up!

Hymn History : "O Zion, Haste"

2009-02-20T22:58:00.006+08:00

In 1868, Mary Ann Faulkner Thomson was sitting with her child who was gravely ill with typhoid fever. It was during this time of watching over her child that she composed the poem, "O Zion Haste".

We do not know the thoughts that went through her mind that day. But often, at times like these, when we are close to losing a dear one, we are able to see the larger picture, to see what is really important and what are trivial. She decided to write a missionary hymn that night, but only completed the refrain three years later.

Perhaps this hymn was written as an encouragement to spread the gospel of Christ. Maybe looking at her child so close to death caused her to wonder if he/she would be lost in shades of night and needing salvation. We are not sure, but it had convicted her to spur others to publish the glad tidings, as is a command for all Christians everywhere.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling
To tell to all the world that God is Light
That He who made all nations is not willing
One soul should perish, lost in shades of night

Behold how many thousands still are lying,
Bound in the darksome prison-house of sin,
With none to tell them of the Saviour's dying,
Or of the life he died for them to win

Proclaim to every people, tongue and nation
That God in whom they live and move is love
Tell how He stooped to save his lost creation
And died on earth that man might live above

Give of thy sons to bear the message glorious
Give of thy wealth to speed them on their way
Pour out thy soul for them in prayer victorious
And all thou spendest Jesus will repay.

[Refrain]
Publish glad tidings
Tidings of peace
Tidings of Jesus, Redemption and release.

Music Director's Farewell Gathering 30Jan 2009

2009-02-03T00:16:00.004+08:00

Fare well. Indeed, this is truly the sentiment many felt and prayed this evening for Augustine as we gave our Music Director a send-off party.

And partying we did! After a wonderful feast of home-cooked specialities such as Jacq Goh’s all-time favourite Dry Laksa and Alicia Yeo’s Curry Chicken, we had a beautiful singspiration session of old favourites. It would have been a perfect unison of hearts and voices, if not for the last song “Ooh Ngia Boh” (which was sung in discord! *Gasp*). The tune of “Sad Movies” was obviously unfamiliar to the young and young-at-heart among us.

This was followed by a team game. What a riot our men were as they sportingly ‘accessorised’ themselves as a game forfeit for the losing team! Thumbs up to you, guys!

We watched a video wonderfully put together by Linda (thanks for the painstaking effort), presented a keepsake box to Augustine (hope you will enjoy reading the heartfelt thoughts penned by our MM members), and heard many share the blessings they received through Augustine’s work as our Music Director. It had been, no doubt, mutually beneficial to him too, as he expressed how much he had learnt and grown, working with the music ministry. Praise God.

And so, the evening ended with much hope in our hearts that as Augustine embarks on the next journey, may he enjoy and flourish in his new endeavour. Surely, he will be as great a blessing to those after us.

4 jan ministry discussion report

2009-01-08T10:25:00.003+08:00

After an enjoyable lunch fellowship in the MPH, Pastor shared words of exhortation from Phil 1:3, I Cor 15:28 and Heb 6:10, after which the members of Music Ministry adjourned to the parsonage for discussion. These views were raised during the discussion session.

Effectiveness and Achievements :

-A point for clarification raised was whether MM has a standard which we hope to attain. August explained that while it is desired that the standard of singing and music be high, we are also aware of the different commitments MM members have in terms of work and family. Thus even if the level of competence may not be as we wish to achieve, it has been, ultimately, the best each member is able to offer. We will not stretch members further with training and excess practices. Therefore, it is presently sufficient that the MM has provided an avenue for these members to serve and praise.

-Still on the subject of achievement, Patrick Yeo expressed appreciation that the MM has attained a strong esprit d’corps among the members.

-The need to tap other available talents and resources was also mentioned. Amelia gave feedback that several youths have indicated interest in participating in song presentation either in choir or small groups. This is very encouraging indeed. We thank Joash too for his reminder that the time commitment by the youths for the YF must not be compromised by their music commitment. We will look into this further.

Challenges and problems :

-Linda aired her conviction on the issue of punctuality, that members should do more to be on time for all practices and functions.

-Jenny Tan is concerned about whether members are checking MM blog for updates and schedule change. A quick show of hands indicated that most members present are not reading MM blog regularly due to absence of updates.

-Yongjie felt that the piano and synthesizer at times clash in the instrument sound, and was wondering if other musicians experience similar problem too.

-Patrick Ang shared his desire to see the ministry develop long term goals for the members so as to encourage members to keep improving their technical and spiritual quality of service.

All these feedback will be looked into in due course.

August thanked members for their faithful support of the Music Ministry and for him all these years. He has tendered his resignation as Music Director. Due to time constraint, we will open for more discussion and update this coming Friday 9 Feb after SSC practice session. Those who do not attend SSC can continue to access MM blog for updates.

Jenny Tan

by Jenny Tan

2008-04-09T09:23:00.002+08:00

MM Gathering on Fri 04Apr was fun! Most agreed. I even managed to squeeze an “it’s ok la!” from a ‘jaded’ youth who had played more hardcore games. Yeah!

The evening began with trickling arrivals, not unexpected, since it was a work day’s night. We were duly rewarded for our patience as every food item was brought and/or prepared with loving kindness, and therefore sumptious. The fried laksa was top of the table, serving also as our staple. It was complemented by wondrously delectable baked zucchini, baked mussels, the ever-popular cottage chicken pies, satay, pizza and the timely arrival of yummmmmy chicken wings. Joseph’s early arrival with his ‘thousand-layered’ crepe cake spared me of nerve-wrecking anticipation, but not the urge to run my finger over its sinfully tempting chocolate sauce topping.

Good fellowship and the usual gentle teasings were interrupted only by platefuls of 2nd and 3rd helpings. And that is the beauty of MM gatherings. We never needed any warm-ups. But I do lament on the inability to communicate and share in depth with each other due to time constrain.

Linda then conducted a game to group up everyone. For those who were present, let me say that I empathised with the ‘rolls’ searching for Royce, and those who were ‘hot’, only ended up with the dogs! Nonetheless, that was the beginning of insanity unleashed. I mean, paramedics should really be present when certain men and women were playing ‘heart attack’! Really…Tsk! Tsk! What about the Jenga station? All these scheming to put others in precarious positions simply isn’t acceptable in church, is it?

So, may I thank all of you for your whole-hearted support and participation last Friday. You have made it an absolutely good evening for everyone else present.

2008-03-25T10:10:00.000+08:00

an exciting weekend has just gone by. i hope both the reflective good friday service and the joyous combined easter sunday service have encouraged you in your walk. from the various presentations to the messages by leonard and rev george lim, i'm sure that at least one of them would have spoken to you. i pray that you will continue to allow what has touched you to work in you.

as a quick recap, here is a summary of the weekend gone by.

good friday service

we caught a glimpse of the life of Christ through the eyes of 3 ordinary people in the events leading up to His arrest and crucifixion. Misha, the baker, who was captivated by Jesus' gentleness and calm; Hobab, the gardener, who was moved by the loneliness and pain of His earnest prayer; and a nameless face in the crowd watching Jesus being tortured and mocked as He carried His cross all the way to Golgotha.

that is why the symbol of the cross is so significant for us today, and leonard reminded us to keep ourselves near the cross.

combined easter service

the service opened with a beautiful mandarin song, precious cross, by a vocal quartet from macedonia [i have to get the score for this]. although it was easter, the song was appropriately meditative and helped to prepare our hearts to worship our Lord with thanksgiving.

our youths then put on a beautiful mime expressing the all-compassing love of God in 'Redeemer, Savior, Friend'. Man turned away from God and all that God had prepared for him, and got himself entrenched in sin before long. But God willingly bore the payment of those sins and rose again to defeat the power of darkness forever. and He once again offers His hand of friendship to us, this time with forgiveness and acceptance.

we also had presentations from the macedonia choir and our children choir, both of whom proclaimed the victory of our risen Lord and Savior.

rev george lim spoke on the meaning and hope of the resurrection; and reminded us to look ahead beyond the present life because we have been promised an eternal future.

a big thanks goes out to everyone who has made this past weekend possible, and for all the meaningful presentations. i pray that you have been richly blessed and may it spur you to do more for our Lord and our community here.

our next presentation will be parents' day in july, but before that, we have a gathering planned on 4 april [friday] so stay tuned for more info coming up!

2008-03-04T09:15:00.004+08:00

with good friday and easter just around the corner, some of you may have been wondering when rehearsals are going to commence. however, for this year, the mm comm has agreed that it would be good for the choir to take a break.

good friday
the good friday program will consist of 3 narratives that will be woven into the service, giving us various perspectives of Christ as told through the experience of 3 different people. sometimes we get so used to reading about Christ from the Bible that the reality of who He is and what He has done is no longer fresh. this good friday service will attempt to help us renew how we understand our Lord and Savior.

easter
the yf and children choir will be presenting items for easter sunday. the yf will be putting up a mime while the children choir will be singing a song.

i hope you are looking forward to the weekend of reflection and celebration! may we continue to honor Him with our best each and every day.

2008-02-20T17:23:00.004+08:00

when i first started the mm blog, i had rather ambitious and unrealistic ideas about what it could be used for. as the months went by, i found it more and more challenging to come up with fresh material; and without regular updates, traffic naturally dwindled.

one year later, it's clear to me that the idea of an online meeting point has failed. nonetheless i believe that this platform can still serve certain functions.

there will no longer be random posts about devotions or songs here. instead, it will serve as a way to inform of the activities of the mm as we progress through the year. as an example, for the upcoming good friday performance, rehearsal details and voice parts will be posted here.

all mm members will also have access to an online photo gallery. click on the tab named 'pic' at the top of the page to find out more. you can share your photos of mm gatherings, performances and other related stuff there. i hope that you will find it a useful tool in archiving and sharing the experiences of your time with the mm!

i wish to thank all of you for your patient and sacrificial support in this ministry. may you find it a meaningful way to thank and worship our Heavenly Father.