Today, 27th August 2023, marks the last worship service of Berith B-P Church. As your pastor, I am very sad to witness the closure of the Church. I am thankful to each of you for being such faithful “sheep”. Thank you for bearing with my weaknesses, and for supporting me through your prayers and encouragement.

I thank the Lord for His grace and strength that have enabled me to nurture and watch over the Berith flock. For the past 16 years, we have experienced the Lord’s blessings upon us. We may not have grown much in number, but we have certainly grown spiritually in the grace and knowledge of God. The Lord has also graciously provided for our needs and sustained our ministries.

Words of Encouragement

Indeed, it is a painful thing to end any ministry. For one, it pushes us out of our comfort zone. We are so used to going to the same church week after week, fellowshipping with the same brethren and even sitting in the same pew.

It is never easy to join a new church. We may not be familiar with the people and may feel uncomfortable in a different environment. We will need to “start all over again” and make adjustments. Coming from a small church, we may find it challenging to adapt to a bigger one. At a time like this, let us encourage ourselves with the following thoughts:

1. The Lord is faithful (Lam 3: 22-23). Incidentally, our name, “Berith” which means “covenant” in Hebrew, was chosen to remind us of God’s faithfulness. The underlying principle in any covenant God made with man is His grace and faithfulness. I believe God will continue to show Himself faithful to guide all of us to a Bible-believing church where we will receive pastoral care, and where we can worship and serve Him with God’s people.

2. The Lord is sovereign. Clearly, the dissolution of our Church is of the Lord’s leading and not man’s. We have just completed our study of Genesis at our final Prayer Meeting on Tuesday. Remember the precious lesson of divine providence. Joseph understood this doctrine well when he forgave his brothers for their cruel deed that had brought him great suffering and pain. He did not blame them because he saw God’s providential hand guiding and permitting the events for their good: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Gen 50: 20).

Right now, we may not understand God’s purpose to “disperse” us. Much as we would like to stay together – as we have done for so many years – we must now part and go our different ways, as ordained by our sovereign Lord. He has a far better purpose which He may reveal to us in His own good time (Rom 8: 28).

Brethren, the parting may be sad and painful. But I pray that these thoughts of the Lord’s faithfulness and sovereignty will comfort and encourage us to persevere in our walk with the Lord. Remember the Lord’s promise that “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13: 5). As we go our separate ways, it is my prayer that we will conduct ourselves circumspectly and uprightly. Abide daily in the fear of God and be ready to meet our Saviour when He returns for us. May the Lord bless and keep us till we meet again. Amen.

– Pastor