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 120^th 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.