LW Sermon, Worship

BLC #Lent 2017

blc-lent-2017

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, where we find ourselves kicking off another thematic series for the season. Throughout Lent, we will be challenged to deepen our faith in God afresh. Lent culminates in Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday and ends with Good Friday, before we celebrate the glorious Resurrection at Easter.

All events are open, so all are welcome – please feel free to invite your loved ones.

Date Topic Reading Preacher
5 Mar Viewing Slumdog Millionaire from the Wilderness Matthew 4:1-11 Rama Ramanathan
12 Mar The Spirit and New Birth John 3:1-17 Rev. Dr. Sivin Kit
19 Mar Thirsting For Living Water John 4:5-42 Rev. Dr. Sivin Kit
26 Mar New Eyes To See I Samuel 16:1-13 Rev. Dr. Eric Trozzo
2 Apr The Mechanics Of Confession Psalm 51 Rev. Dr. Tan Soo Inn
9 Apr Palm Sunday: The Way Of Jesus Philippians 2:5-11 Rev. Dr. Siew Woh
16 Apr Easter Sunday Matthew 28:1-10 Rev. Dr. Sivin Kit
LW Worship

BLC #Lent2016 – Deepening Faith, Surprising Grace

Year C 2016 Lent PromoWith Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of Lent, this year we journey through the season meditating on “Deepening Faith, Surprising Grace”.

These series follows from our meditation throughout Epiphany, when the Messiah was made known to us. Throughout Lent, we will be challenged to deepen our faith in God afresh.

Beginning with Ash Wednesday, we remind ourselves of our mortality. We are then invited to journey through the wilderness to reexamine the struggle of our will to follow Him; to reconsider the fruitfulness of our lives; to confront our sense of unworthiness as people who are ‘lost’; and express once again a Grace that is costly not only for God but also for us in these trying times.

While these thoughts may seem very heavy on the “law”, the Gospel is proclaimed in a way that surprises us with grace: from how God desires to gather us back to Him; how He gives us time to return to Him and bear fruit again; how He embraces us even though we are unworthy; and in the example of Jesus accepting Mary’s costly offering,

The deepening of our faith merely opens us up to appreciate God’s surprising grace in our lives anew, which empowers us to press on especially when times are hard.

Throughout Lent, we will be using this Lenten devotional together, “Jesus Is A Rock In A Weary Land” – available in both regular and large print versions (click links to download PDFs).

Lent culminates in Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday and ends with Good Friday, before we celebrate the glorious Resurrection at Easter.

All events are open, so all are welcome – please feel free to invite your loved ones.

Date Topic Readings Preacher
14 Feb Wilderness Christianity OT: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

NT: Romans 10:8b-13

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

 Rev. Thomas Low
21 Feb God’s Desire vs. Human Will OT: Genesis 15:1-12,17-18

NT: Philippians 3:17-4:1

Gospel: Luke 23:31-35

 Rev. Dr. Sivin
28 Feb Barrenness or Fruitfulness OT: Isaiah 55:1-9

NT: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

 Leigh Wong
06 Mar No Longer Worthy? OT: Joshua 5:9-12

NT: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

 Rev. Dr. Sivin
13 Mar Costly Grace OT: Isaiah 43:16-21

NT: Philippians 3:4b-14

Gospel: John 12:1-8

 Ps. Daniel
20 Mar Palm Sunday: A King With A Difference OT: Isaiah 50:4-9a

NT: Philippians 2:5-11

Gospel: Luke 19:28-40

 Rev. Phillip Lok
LW Music & Arts, Worship

REMINDER: Ash Wednesday Service 2016 – 10 Feb 2016, 8pm

Please join us tomorrow, Wednesday, 10 Feb 2015, at The Father’s House, Bangsar Lutheran Church, at 8:00pm for our Ash Wednesday Service, to mark our journey into the season of Lent.

We will be meditating on Isaiah 58:1-12:

True and False Worship

58 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.

    Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins!
2     Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
    and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
    that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
    pretending they want to be near me.
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
    ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
    and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.
    “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
    you keep oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting
    when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
    will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves
    by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
    like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
    and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
    Do you really think this will please the Lord?

6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
    lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
    and remove the chains that bind people.
7 Share your food with the hungry,
    and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
    and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
    and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
    and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
    ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
    Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
10 Feed the hungry,
    and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
    and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
    giving you water when you are dry
    and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like an ever-flowing spring.
12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
    Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
    and a restorer of homes.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent… a season marked by stripping away the non-essential and the unimportant, by listening in quietness to the groaning of all creation as it writhes in sinfulness, by reflecting on our own sinfulness and mortality as well as on God’s gift of forgiveness and life eternal which comes through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We will hear the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” and we are so marked with the dust of ashes. The non-essential is stripped away. The unimportant is removed. In this act, we finally confess that all our finery, our clothing, our possessions, our abilities — all that we think that makes us who we are — is not at all who we are. We are only dust, and we stand as like beings before the Lord.

LW Music & Arts, Worship

Ash Wednesday Service 2016 – 10 Feb 2016, 8pm

Please join us next Wednesday, on 10 Feb 2015, at The Father’s House, Bangsar Lutheran Church, at 8:00pm for our Ash Wednesday Service, to mark our journey into the season of Lent.

We will be meditating on Isaiah 58:1-12:

True and False Worship

58 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.

    Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins!
2     Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
    and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
    that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
    pretending they want to be near me.
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
    ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
    and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.
    “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
    you keep oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting
    when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
    will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves
    by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
    like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
    and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
    Do you really think this will please the Lord?

6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
    lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
    and remove the chains that bind people.
7 Share your food with the hungry,
    and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
    and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
    and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
    and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
    ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
    Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
10 Feed the hungry,
    and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
    and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
    giving you water when you are dry
    and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like an ever-flowing spring.
12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
    Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
    and a restorer of homes.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent… a season marked by stripping away the non-essential and the unimportant, by listening in quietness to the groaning of all creation as it writhes in sinfulness, by reflecting on our own sinfulness and mortality as well as on God’s gift of forgiveness and life eternal which comes through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We will hear the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” and we are so marked with the dust of ashes. The non-essential is stripped away. The unimportant is removed. In this act, we finally confess that all our finery, our clothing, our possessions, our abilities — all that we think that makes us who we are — is not at all who we are. We are only dust, and we stand as like beings before the Lord.

LW Music & Arts, Worship

Tonight: Ash Wednesday Service 2015 – Combined LCM Service at Luther Center

BLCLentEaster2015 Poster

Please join us this evening, 18 Feb 2015, at The Father’s House, Bangsar Lutheran Church, at 8:30pm for our Ash Wednesday Service, to mark our journey into the season of Lent, meditating on the theme, “In the Cross: Upwards & Outwards.”

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent… a season marked by stripping away the non-essential and the unimportant, by listening in quietness to the groaning of all creation as it writhes in sinfulness, by reflecting on our own sinfulness and mortality as well as on God’s gift of forgiveness and life eternal which comes through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We will hear the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” and we are so marked with the dust of ashes. The non-essential is stripped away. The unimportant is removed. In this act, we finally confess that all our finery, our clothing, our possessions, our abilities — all that we think that makes us who we are — is not at all who we are. We are only dust, and we stand as like beings before the Lord.

LW Music & Arts, Worship

Reminder: Ash Wednesday Service 2015, 18 Feb, 8:30pm

BLC-Lent-Easter-2015-Poster

Please join us this Wednesday, on 18 Feb 2015, at The Father’s House, Bangsar Lutheran Church, at 8:30pm for our Ash Wednesday Service, to mark our journey into the season of Lent, meditating on the theme, “In the Cross: Upwards & Outwards.”

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent… a season marked by stripping away the non-essential and the unimportant, by listening in quietness to the groaning of all creation as it writhes in sinfulness, by reflecting on our own sinfulness and mortality as well as on God’s gift of forgiveness and life eternal which comes through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We will hear the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” and we are so marked with the dust of ashes. The non-essential is stripped away. The unimportant is removed. In this act, we finally confess that all our finery, our clothing, our possessions, our abilities — all that we think that makes us who we are — is not at all who we are. We are only dust, and we stand as like beings before the Lord.