Pastoral Letters are weekly communications from our church pastor to the congregation. They are mostly original reflections on the Word of God in response to church events or current affairs, local or beyond, with the primary intent to exhort Christians to live rightly before God in the real world. Short bibliographies are sometimes featured towards the same end.
We pray that these writings will be a great blessing to you!
In the late years of AD 60, the Roman emperor Nero was persecuting Christians. Some Hebrew Christians who were once believers of their Hebrew religion, Judaism (the Old Testament religion), were considering giving up the Christian faith and returning to Judaism. In this very difficult time of persecution, the author...
Jesus once told his disciples that “if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). This verse teaches us several things. First, it tells us how Christians can receive from God whatever we desire. Read...
Many things can lead us astray in our faith journey. We are surrounded by all sorts of media and publications, as well as non-Christian family members, colleagues and friends, who are influencing us incessantly with values and ways of life that are of the world. At times, we also experience...
The author defines the rod as a parent, in faith toward God and faithfulness toward his or her children, undertaking the responsibility of careful, timely, measured and controlled use of physical punishment to underscore the importance of obeying God, thus rescuing the child from continuing in his foolishness until death. ...
We do not know much about what Jesus was like when he was a young boy. The only account in the Bible records an event that happened to Jesus when he was twelve years old. Why twelve years old? During the ancient times, a Jew was responsible to God for...
Today is the final Lord’s Day of the year 2015. As we come into the Lord’s house, our hearts are filled with gratitude for God’s mercy. He has kept us safe through the year 2015: “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. ...
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here” (2 Cor 5:17). If you humble yourself before the Lord Jesus Christ, acknowledge that you are a sinner, ask Jesus to forgive your sins, and receive Him as your Lord and...
The author laid out two biblical methods in child bearing — communication and the rod. The rod is essential to address the sinful nature of a child. I have extracted a section where the author states the reason on using a rod as essential to child bearing. Children are not...
Today is the first Sunday of December. The weather is cooler, some are planning to go overseas for holiday, and children are happy too because it’s school holidays. It’s a holiday season. For Christians, this time too is a most joyous season because we will soon celebrate Christmas. Why are...
Every Christian must serve God. Furthermore, your service for God has a very specific purpose: to help your local church, in this case, Tree of Life Christian Church, grow. This truth is according to what Paul teaches: “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit [spiritual gifts for serving]...