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GBC 57th Anniversary - United in Christ

Perhaps for the older ones among us, the years seem to roll around so fast that the church anniversary may take us by surprise. “Another year gone by already!” we say to ourselves. “How can it be time for the church anniversary so soon?” And yet, however fast the years seem to pass by, it is right and proper that every August we should pause to take stock and give thanks for our Lord’s faithfulness in leading, guiding and sustaining us as a church body and as individual believers living in community.

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This year’s anniversary is likely to persist in our memories for several unique reasons. Firstly, God willing, it is likely to be the only anniversary not observed in our own church premises, due to the rebuilding being projected to cover only one month of August. Thus we had the unusual experience of celebrating our anniversary in the Cultural Centre of SAJC – a vast tiered hall with a huge stage and everything on a grand scale. Secondly, this was the first, and likely to be the last anniversary sermon we will be privileged to hear from Pastor Arnold, which made it all the more significant.

But some things never change! Most importantly, this was a combined English and Chinese service, as it always is for our anniversary, when we come together to celebrate our shared history and continuing strong ties. The most visible sign of our interconnectedness was the combined choir, consisting of members of both congregations and singing in both Mandarin and English, intermingled and united in heart. It was a joy to rekindle friendships across congregations, especially now that we have fewer occasions to cross paths with each other due to the timing of our respective services.

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How apt it was then, that the theme of this year’s anniversary was “United in Christ”. Throughout every part of the service, and in the words of every hymn, we were reminded of our unity: the reasons for our unity and the results of our unity in Christ. As our call to worship reminded us from Ps 133:1: “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” How good and pleasant indeed, when we are united under Christ’s sovereignty so as to be able to sing with confidence A Mighty Fortress is our God; united in our sinful state and redemption through Jesus Christ as declared in the words of In Christ Alone; and united to glorify God in this world as we were reminded by the hymn The Church’s One Foundation.

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Another anniversary tradition is the partaking together of the Lord’s Supper, showing that we are united in our remembrance of Christ. During this solemn observance the song leaders and musicians gave us a beautifully reflective rendering of O Sacred Head Now Wounded, helping us to experience anew the love and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was followed by the offertory given by the choir – Be Thou My Vision – a chance to show by our giving that we are united in our purpose.

The scripture for Pastor Arnold’s sermon “When God Does Something New” was taken from Isaiah 43:18-19:

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.”

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Pastor Arnold reminded us that very often we resist change out of fear, just like the Jewish exiles in captivity who had become so used to life lived in exile that they were even afraid of going back to their own home – a change which one would have thought they should have welcomed. Likewise, we should not become spiritually dead or complacent: rather we should be alert and courageous to seize the opportunities and changes that lie ahead as we move into our new building and welcome a new pastor. We must not dwell on the past to the extent that it eclipses what God is doing now and in the future. Yes we should cherish and honour the past, but more importantly we should treasure the present and the future, and believe that what God is doing and will do is special. So what should our response be? We should humble ourselves and thank God; unite and link our hearts, minds and souls; and embrace new ways of thinking and doing God’s work together. Pastor Arnold’s challenge to us is to choose faith and conquer the fear that comes with change. What a timely and needful message for GBC. We have many changes to face both now and in the future, but we have an unchanging God who will see us through as long as we keep faith in Him.

What anniversary service would be complete without GBC’s favourite hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness? This was our song of response, and as the familiar words raised the roof they were both an affirmation of faith and an expression of our unity in our shared hope for the future.

The service ended with a presentation of a gift to Macpherson Primary School and an update on the rebuilding progress from the Building Committee.

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Written by Rachel Wong