A New Generation Rising
The People’s Church first started out in 1998 as a tiny bomb shelter outreach that was planted at Hougang Avenue 10. The outreach soon matured and in 2008, the church went on to be autonomous and independent under the Assemblies of God of Singapore. Now in 2018, the church celebrates its 10th anniversary on August 4. The reason that the church has come so far is definitely God’s goodness and faithfulness toward us
Over the past 10 years, the church went through innumerable storms, yet it is through these very storms that members of the church body actually forged resilient bonds with one another. Corporate prayer, joyous fellowship and love have all contributed to this bond. Generations of youths have emerged in those years—young boys and girls have grown into fine young men and women. Now, it is time for these youths to arise and carry the church forward.
2 Kings 2:9 (KJV) says, “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.’ And Elisha said, ‘I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.’”
In the Bible, it is written that Elisha requested for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit on him. Elisha was considered to be Elijah’s successor. In the modern context of the Church, this can be referred to the “next generation” or the youth of the church. Rev Patrick Cheong, our Senior Pastor, had sought out this guiding vision when he first started the church’s leadership revitalization process in 2016.
Rev Patrick’s preaching reminded our adult congregation that they must be righteous Christians in order to be shining examples for the next generation. They were asked to impart their lessons (from past mistakes) to the next generation. According to Rev Patrick, this meant that every generation would become twice as wise and much tougher than the previous one.
Today, our church places a strong emphasis on leadership revitalization and had appointed two youth mentors in 2017 and six youth leaders in 2018. The church council board had also been renewed with younger board members, with the youngest one being only 23 years old.
This emphasis on the youth was also seen during the church’s 10th anniversary celebratory service. The church invited Rev Yang Tuck Yoong, Senior Pastor and Founder of Cornerstone Community Church to be the guest speaker for the sermon. During the service, the congregation was treated to a special dance performance based on the song, ‘The Hurt & The Healer’ by MercyMe. The dance was based on a powerful testimony. It portrayed a struggling Christian youth going through a dreadful storm. However, she knew that she had a solid body of Christ that she could always turn to for help, and that this body would support her spiritually in all situations. A nostalgic video showing our church’s humble beginnings was also played during the service.
During Rev Yang’s sermon, the Holy Spirit prompted powerfully that the older people in the church were important and not to be forgotten. Rev Yang’s preaching encouraged these older people not to “slow down” in their respective ministries, but to believe that the best years had yet to come. He also exhorted the young and old to come together to renew one another— the youth with vigor and the old with wisdom.
The celebrations concluded with our Executive Pastor, Ps Clement Cheong, praying over our youths for God’s greater anointing to be upon them and that the fruits of their ministry would far supersede what the previous generations had accomplished. As the evening drew to a close, the congregation then gathered for a sumptuous buffet dinner.
May the youths of The People’s Church arise in Jesus’s mighty name!
Watch the video of the testimony behind the dance
This article also appeared in AG times issue 040 Nov-Dec 2018, page 12
It was neither a church outing nor a buffet with good food but The People’s Church celebrated her 8th anniversary by having a three day Seminar on Intercessory Prayer from 5th August 2016 to 7 August 2016. It was through this Seminar that many in the Church drew closer to the word of God and emerged, fully charged and revitalized by the Spirit to continue the great work of building God’s Kingdom. When asked by church members on the arrangement, Senior Pastor Patrick Cheong replied that, “Throughout the 8 years, the Lord has blessed us tremendously and has always provided for our needs. It is only fitting that we have this Seminar together with our 8th anniversary where we can draw closer to God and give thanks for all He has done for us.
The Intercessory Prayer Seminar, which was led by Reverend Dr Margaret Seaward, was conducted with this current world’s busy pace of life in mind. We are always too busy for everything and all of us face an everyday challenge for having to contend with the quotidian ‘things of this world’. Sometimes, many of us even wish that we had 48 hours instead of 24 hours daily in order to accomplish our daily tasks. Even so, the reality is that most of us would still have not enough time and the “I’m busy and have no time” excuse pops up regularly even when it’s time to spend time with God. If this happens and we still conveniently assume that God understands our situation, then we are in dire need of drawing closer to God.
Fear not for God has a solution and that is Prayer. Prayer is a predominant feature in our Christian walk and is our main weapon against all our troubles, but many people have overlooked or discounted this over time. We may not know it, but many Christians are fighting to stay “alive” spiritually and neglect the power of Prayer. Some may have lost that “first love” for God and feel that they can no longer communicate with God. Our problems may vary – some of us may have disobedient children, unreasonable colleagues, dire financial situations or unfaithful spouses but when is the last time did we use Prayer as a means to your problems?
The Intercessory Prayer Seminar was a timely reminder to spend time interceding for others in Prayer and the Seminar attendees were blessed by the words brought forth by Reverend Seaward. It was a thought that was shared by Church member Sister Crystal, who said, “This Seminar had taught me about the importance of prayer and how it is our weapon against the evil one.” The Seminar also challenged the Church members to pray earnestly to see more souls ushered into the Kingdom of God. The Church prayed that God will continue to manifest His Power and Might to bring an endless revival to our church and that the Church is not looking for a momentary revival but one that is consistently burning.
