Building the House of God
Anthony Lee
Introduction
When I was asked to submit an article to the church
extension dedication committee, I did not know where to start. I consulted our
120th Anniversary Book of Commemoration. In the book, I found Rev.
Dr John Munday’s words encouraging. Names such John Munday, Cecil Ip and Ken
Lai certainly ring a bell. Of the three gentlemen, I only have the opportunity
of knowing and working with Ken Lai.
Thinking about the new extension and the old extension that
it replaced, I can’t help but see God’s blessings on Toowong Baptists Church.
The parable of the talents from Matthew’s Gospel comes to mind. Were we like
the two faithful servants? Will we continue to be like the two faithful
servants? What future challenges will we and future generations face in being
faithful servants?
Have we been faithful?
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in
vain. Psalm 127:1
According to the National Church Life Survey (NCLS), in the
1960s 41% of Australians attend church at least once a month. By 1980 this has
fallen to 25%. NCLS found that from 1996 to 2001, Catholic church attendance fel
l by 13%, Uniting Church by 11%. NCLS director Dr Ruth Powell, in a media
release from 2004, older people in mainstream denominations can no longer
attend but these older people are not being replaced by younger attenders. Another word, the typical Australian church
is aging. In light of this trend, God’s blessing on our church is evident in
our ministries span the age groups. These include Children Sunday schools,
University Students (YAF and Joshua) Young Working Adults (Koinonia as well as
Salt and Light), Families (Berean, Canaan and Married Couples) as well Ladies
and Seniors’ Fellowship. We are also
blessed by our cultural diversity. In 1995 when I first attended Toowong
Baptists we have a Chinese (Cantonese) congregation and an English congregation.
And now, we are further blessed by growth in a new Mandarin speaking
congregation.
But wait, God’s blessings does not stop with age and
cultural diversity. Our church is also located within a short distance of The
University of QLD (St Lucia campus) and the Queensland University of
Technology. And now God top this off by
providing us with a new church extension.
In Luke 12:35-48, Jesus taught a parable on watchfulness. He concluded in verse 48 by saying “…From
everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who
has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Clearly, this is Jesus’
cry to rally us to follow in the footsteps of men like John Munday and Cecil Ip.
Have we experience spiritual growth in the building process?
Comparing the building extension to the parable of the talents
does not stop here. Sure Toowong Baptists have been blessed but we are not to
be pew warmers and expect these blessings to simply fall on our laps. We are faithful
co-workers who are called to use our God given gifts to be used by God to
extend his kingdom so that blamed can see, the lame walk and the prisoners are
set free. But just like the faithful
servant in the parable of the talents who are awarded by the master, we too
receive the award of spiritual growth as we work for God. This is particularly
evident when I observed the numerous brothers and sisters (including my wife)
who spent hours on studying plans, preparing applications, choosing colours,
moving furniture. Even the occasional misunderstanding provided opportunities
for us to grow.
What can learn from Pentecost in how we work unity even when we are diverse?
The completion of the new church extension is indeed a time
for rejoicing but we need to heed Jesus’ call to be watchful. Although we are
not of the world, nevertheless we are in the world. Previous generations faced
their share of hardship, the two World Wars, the Cold War and the Vietnam War. In our generation, the typical Australian
churches are in decline. Prominent atheists like Richard Dawkins are enjoying resurgent
attention from the media. Western governments such as Australia and Britain are
fooled into believing that it is discriminatory to limit marriage to be between
a man and a woman. Yet while God closes
one door, he opens another. As Australia become more and more dependent on
trade with China, more mainland Chinese are coming to Australia. Many are young
academics who seek to study and do research in institution such as The
University of Queensland. The NCLS
observed that a quarter of Australian churches now involved ethnic ministries. Some might question how church unity can be
maintained across the different ethic congregations but surely the first
Pentecost is a resounding endorsement that every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord.
