BUMC 1st Anniversary Thanksgiving Service
God’s Hand At Work
One year on, and great things are happening at BUMC as it gave thanks to the Lord in a Thanksgiving Service on 7 October 2012.
The Bandar Utama Methodist Centre (BUMC) is mightily blessed to witness the Lord’s hand at work at the preaching point, a place where lost souls are brought to the fold and the faith of believers are further strengthened.
Amazing things have been happening at BUMC in the span of one year since it was launched officially on Sunday, 25 September 2011.
Friends, allow me to share with you how God has been at work through this preaching point of Trinity Methodist Church Petaling Jaya (TMCPJ) for the last one year.
We have one small group meeting every Tuesday night at a member’s home on a rotational basis. The small group does Bible studies together and prays for one another. The plan is in place for a second small group to meet on Saturday afternoons at BUMC for the time being. It is our intention that through the small group ministry, we will help members to develop vibrant relationships with the Lord, be rooted in God’s Word and committed to lead in the cause ofChristin the world.
Every Saturday morning at 7.30am the prayer group will meet at BUMC to pray for one another, our church, the local community and our nation.
On Palm Sunday, 1 April 2012, BUMC launched its Sunday School with five children registered for the weekly lessons.
On 3 July 2012, BUMC hosted the Korean Mission Night, Shalom Malaysia 2012 with the aim of sharing the gospel, especially with the Malaysian youths and working towards a Malaysian church revival. At the altar calls, four people invitedJesusinto their lives and a dozen others re-dedicated their lives to the Lord.
Beginning 5 August 2012, we launched our first Alpha course with 15 sessions, held every Sunday between 1pm and 3pm. Some 25 people participate weekly, of which 10 are seekers.
The launch of BUMC was graced by theRev DrOngHwaiTeik, the President of Trinity Annual Conference. TheRevRickyHo, the then Pastor-in-charge, delivered the inaugural sermon entitled “Birthed through Prayers”.
Indeed, BUMC was birthed through months of persistent prayers. The seed for a preaching point was first planted in early 2010 when the Bandar Utama Home Fellowship (BUHF), a parish group under TMCPJ, was approached to spearhead the setting up of a preaching point around the Damansara region.
The vision for the setting up of BUMC was driven by the Lord’s command to
“go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). In our vision statement, we were reminded that
“we glorify the Lord by loving Him wholeheartedly and by being obedient to His Great Commission through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
This echoed God’s command to Israelin Isaiah 54:2: “Enlarge the place of your tent…” But the vision needed God’s blessing to become a reality. Just as the wise saying goes, “Rome was not built in day”, God, perhaps, wanted to test our commitment to the vision and did not answer the BUHF’s prayers immediately.
It was after some one-and-half years of persistent prayers and intercession that the BUHF received God’s gift – a surprise offer of a four-storey building, fully equipped for worship, as a preaching point and above all, rent-free for three years. The owner had kindly granted TMCPJ the use of the whole building with a fully equipped sanctuary on the ground floor. The building came complete with functional rooms for Sunday School on the mezzanine floor and meeting rooms for other ministries such as the Alpha course on the first floor. The top-most floor may be used as a retreat centre.
With the gift of a preaching point, our mission now is to win people to the Lord; increasing the number of new converts and believers in the faith; training believers to be disciples ofJesus Christ; and sending out committed disciples ofJesus Christwho will multiply themselves.
Psalm 127:1 reminds us that unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. This reminder is timeless, especially for doing outreach work in this preaching point. It is of utmost importance to us to always seek divine wisdom and guidance through the diligent study of God’s Word and through earnest prayers.
In order to help one another to grow in the Lord, five essentials are given due emphasis, namely:
1. Small group ministry for spiritual growth;
2. Tithing/pledge;
3. Serving;
4. Prayer; and
5. Personal devotion.
Friends, the outreach work at BUMC has just merely begun and the harvest is large but workers are few. We are appealing to more people to join us as covenant members as with more workers with various areas of gifting, more ministries can be carried out and more souls can be reached. Although every single saved soul is precious to the Lord, we believe God’s heart is for all the lost souls in this community to be saved and to be reconciled to Him.
All Thanksgiving and Praise be to God Almighty!