A report says that a new born baby faces the greatest risk of mortality during birth and the first 28 days of life. Hence, Chinese celebrate when a baby is one month old. The same, I felt, can be said of the founding of Tree of Life Christian Church. We are now two years old. The past two years, without doubt, was a rough ride. We had to learn to adapt to frequent changes, different personalities, conflicts and limited resources—and there will be other future challenges. Any of these difficulties could have stopped the building of God’s house. God’s grace and mercy, however, overshadowed the difficulties we faced: Today we see lives changed and souls saved. The Lord is good. He has been kind and merciful to use unworthy people like us. Indeed, “unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain” (Psalm 127:1). We must thank God and give Him all the glory.

But again the reason why the Lord is willing to use you to build His house is because you have been faithful. I thank God for all of you. We have little and yet you are willing to stay in this church to build the Lord’s house. The Lord will surely repay you with His blessings and spiritual growth. Your faithful attendance every Lord’s Day is a needed encouragement to all. The presence of one person on a Lord’s Day may be only one. But to this small church, your presence is like the presence of 10 persons. You have been serving God faithfully and may not have been noticed or even remembered by others. But the Lord remembers and I know that what you do is important because without your contribution, the running of the church would have been disrupted. Some of you have quietly bought things for the church and there seems to be an unending supply of things. The Lord remembers. The church has grown in number because you have worked hard in praying and bringing in new friends. The angels in heaven rejoice when one soul is saved or brought back to the sheepfold. Someone says that the power house of the church is the church prayer meeting. Some of you have been praying faithfully for the church both at home and during the Tuesday church prayer meetings. The Lord has heard your prayers. By faithfully attending Adult Sunday School and Fellowship, you warm the hearts of all who come. The Lord loves children. You sacrificed sleep and rest that you might bring your child to Sunday School and Fellowship. You and your family will be blessed because you have the mind of the Lord. I know you have many work and family commitments. To serve God, you have sacrificed your rest time to serve God. The Lord remembers your labour of love. The Lord has built this house thus far through your labour motivated by faith and love for the Lord, and love for His people. Some are in the limelight and many work quietly in the background but the Lord remembers each of you. Paul in 1 Cor 3:6-8 aptly describes the building of God’s house:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labour.

Be faithful in what God has called you to do. You will surely receive your reward because “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothersor parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:29-30). Praise God.