📣 PLMC UPDATE – 22 Nov 25, 9.00am

⛪ Worship Services Online
🔗 English: live.plmc.org (Sun 9am)
🔗 Mandarin: ms.live.plmc.org (Sun 11.15am)
🔗 Youth: youth.live.plmc.org (Sat 4.30pm)
🔗 Filipino: facebook.com/plmcfs (Sun 2pm)

⚠️ Advisory Regarding Facebook
It has come to our attention that there is another Paya Lebar Methodist Church profile on Facebook and WhatsApp linked to a foreign phone number asking followers to make a donation, in return for prayers.
This is not from us, and we have made the necessary reports about the fraud profile. PLMC will never ask for monetary donations or transfers via text messages, or to make donations in exchange for ministry.
PLMC only has one official profile on Facebook and Instagram, follow us here:
FB: @plmc.sg | IG: @plmc.sg

🩺 Functional Screening
The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) will hold a functional screening exercise for senior residents in Braddell Heights at PLMC on Tuesday 9 Dec, from 9am to 1pm. If you are a Singapore citizen aged 60 years and above, you can also come for the screening of your vision, hearing, and oral health. This is also an opportunity for us to befriend the neighbourhood elderly who come for the screening.
9 Dec 2025 (Tuesday)
Time: 9am – 1pm
Venue: PLMC Fellowship Hall & Gabriel/Haven/Michael Room
Cost: $0 (Pioneer Gen), $2 (Merdeka Gen, Blue/Orange CHAS), $5 (other eligible Singaporeans aged 60 and above)

🙏Missions Prayer Cards
The Missions team have prepared cards so you can support God’s work in the nations through prayer. Do collect your prayer cards after the service and use the prayer pointers and uphold the various nations daily.

View more announcements, stories and resources on our website:
🔗 plmc.org

Please do not reply, send any messages or call this number as this phone is unmanned.

❣️ Sermon Reflections & Discussion // 23 Nov 2025

In her sermon, Ms Jemima Ooi invites us to adopt a posture of humility, presence, and compassion, not only in missions but also in everyday relationships. Drawing from 14 years of serving refugees and survivors of war in East Africa, she shares lessons learned through walking alongside the suffering.

Honouring Pain: Hosting Hearts Before Fixing Lives
In the midst of overwhelming suffering—war, displacement and poverty—the natural instinct is to offer solutions or take action. Before rushing to fix problems, God invites us first to honour the pain of others by slowing down to truly listen, and host their hearts so they feel seen and known. Going 'low and slow' means resisting the need to appear strong or knowledgeable and embracing a posture of humility and empathy.

Incarnational Missions: Following Jesus’ Way
Incarnational missions means emulating Jesus, who came as a baby—vulnerable, dependent, and fully identifying with human suffering. When venturing into new spaces or cultures, we adopt the same posture: be learners, not experts. By receiving instead of only giving, and allowing others to lead or teach us, we give them the blessing to bless us. Our meekness communicates honour and builds relationships that are truly safe.

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Jesus
Jesus demonstrated humble leadership through actions such as washing His disciples’ feet. In John 13:12-15, He served before instructing, softening the disciples’ hearts by serving them, which prepared them to serve others. In Matthew 11:28-29, He reveals Himself as ‘gentle and lowly in heart’, offering rest for weary souls. His humility becomes our model for how we relate with others.

Being Broken: Knowing their Pain
God sometimes allows us to experience brokenness so that our compassion deepens. He is close to the broken-hearted, and as His people, we are called to carry His tenderness. Whether in missions, workplaces, or homes, we slow down even for a single heart—just sitting with someone for a few minutes can profoundly impact lives.

Ask God for the grace to see others through His eyes of love, to share in their suffering, and wash their feet with gentleness.

💬 Reflection Questions:
1. What part of the sermon’s “low and slow” approach resonated with you, and why?

2. How does Jesus’ example—coming as a baby, washing His disciples’ feet, being gentle and lowly—shape your understanding of true humility and Christian leadership?

3. In your current season (home, workplace, ministry), who is one person you can go “low and slow” with? What is one concrete action you can take this week to host their heart rather than fix their problems?

▶ Revisit the sermon in our library:
🔗 plmc.org/sermon

📣 PLMC UPDATE – 29 Nov 25, 9.00am

⛪ Worship Services Online
🔗 English: live.plmc.org (Sun 9am)
🔗 Mandarin: ms.live.plmc.org (Sun 11.15am)
🔗 Youth: youth.live.plmc.org (Sat 4.30pm)
🔗 Filipino: facebook.com/plmcfs (Sun 2pm)

🎄Christmas 2025
Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, which is also the start of the full Christmas light-up of PLMC. Do enjoy the lights nightly around the church and especially at the plaza with the new set pieces commissioned for this year. The highlight of our celebrations this year is our Christmas Village from 19 to 21 Dec. Pray and invite your loved ones and friends to come share the joy of Jesus’ birth and the Good News He brings. Forward the e-invite and start to create JOY!
🔗 Click here for the full list of Christmas activities

🙏🏻 Dec Corporate Prayer Meeting
Our next Corporate Prayer Meeting on Wed 3 Dec will be a time of worship, after which we will go on a prayer walk within the church and in the neighbourhood. We will seek the Lord’s covering and blessing over our church for our Christmas activities, especially the Christmas Village. As we walk, we will also ask for the Lord’s presence in the community and a softening of hearts to come for our Christmas Village and other events in Dec.

📅 Wed 3 Dec
🕘 8pm - 10pm
📍 PLMC Sanctuary & neighbourhood

✝️ DISCIPLE Courses 2026
Registration for next year’s Disciple courses is now open! DISCIPLE is a four-part study programme that brings you on a journey through the Bible from survey of the entire Bible (DISCIPLE 1) to deeper understanding by focusing on individual books (DISCIPLE 2, 3 & 4). The aim of this series is not merely information, but also transformation of heart and mind as you allow God’s Word to get into you and change you.

🔗 Register by 4 Jan 2026 here

View more announcements, stories and resources on our website:
🔗 plmc.org

Please do not reply, send any messages or call this number as this phone is unmanned.

❣️ Sermon Reflections & Discussion // 30 Nov 2025

As we step into Advent, we remember that Christmas is God’s move toward us — a love that never fails, a relationship that holds us steady and invites us to declare its joy. In 2 Corinthians 5:14-20, Paul reminds us that this love doesn’t just comfort us; it changes us. It shapes how we live, how we see people and how we respond in a world that can feel rushed, divided and discouraged. Christ’s love compels us, reshapes our vision and redirects our actions.

1. Christ’s Love Compels Us
“Christ’s love compels us” means His love doesn’t just inspire — it holds us together and pushes us forward.
The greek word for 'compel' — sunecho describes something that closes a wound or keeps things from falling apart. That’s what His love does for us. Before knowing Jesus, our lives were driven by ego, success, money and self-preservation. But His love narrows our lives to one clear purpose: living for the One who died and rose for us.
Even when we feel stressed, stretched, or overwhelmed, His love is the steady force holding our hearts together.

2. See Others Differently
Because Christ’s love shapes us, we no longer look at people the way the world would. Whether it’s a slow cashier, a reckless driver cutting our lane, relatives with difficult questions, or someone who seems “not very useful” — our natural reaction is to judge or dismiss.
However, Advent teaches us to develop “manger eyes” — eyes that see people the way Jesus sees us. God looked at our broken world and moved toward us with compassion.
Many around us struggle during Christmas with feelings of loneliness, grief and exhaustion. Instead of seeing people as interruptions, we remember: Christ died for them too. We ask God to help us see others with His eyes, even those who have hurt us.

3. Act Differently
Seeing differently leads to living differently. As people reconciled to God, we are now His ambassadors — people who take the first step to restore peace. Reconciliation means choosing to close the gap, just like God did for us.

Christmas often brings up old tensions, family wounds, or awkward gatherings. However, followers of Jesus aren’t thermometers that simply reflect the room’s dynamics — we are thermostats that set the atmosphere with grace, patience and forgiveness. The Christmas story breaks all boundaries when shepherds and magi stood side by side at the manger when Jesus was born.

As ambassadors of Christ, every space we enter becomes an embassy of the King. We represent His character, His compassion, and His message of reconciliation. Don’t just sing of His love, live transformed and compelled by it.

💬 Reflection Questions:
1. Where is Christ’s love holding me together or redirecting me?

2. Who do I judge easily, and how does remembering Christ’s sacrifice for them, change my view?

3. What step can I take to reconcile or comfort to someone forgotten this Advent?

▶ Revisit the sermon in our library:
🔗 plmc.org/sermon

📣 PLMC UPDATE – 6 Dec 25, 9.00am

⛪ Worship Services Online
🔗 English: live.plmc.org (Sun 9am)
🔗 Mandarin: ms.live.plmc.org (Sun 11.15am)
🔗 Youth: youth.live.plmc.org (Sat 4.30pm)

🎄 Christmas 2025
It’s December and we are gearing up for a joyous Christmas Season at PLMC. The highlight is of course our Christmas Village from 19 to 21 Dec. Other festivities are as shown – please pray and invite loved ones and friends to come for the events, for hearts to be touched to receive the joy of Jesus’ birth and the Good News He brings. Tap ✨here✨ to download the Event Guide, where there will be more information about the Christmas Village.

👧 Inclusive Discipleship of Children
The church is mandated to disciple our children by teaching them everything the Lord has commanded us. This responsibility includes discipling children with special needs and disabilities. A special two-session course is being organised to equip children’s ministry leaders and volunteers with biblical insights and an understanding of common special needs among children. It will be conducted by the Koinonia Inclusive Network (KIN), which will share ways to adapt teaching methods and activities as well as useful behavioural management strategies to help us show love, engage the children meaningfully to foster belonging in the church family.
📅 31 Jan & 14 Mar 2026
🕗 9am - 12.30pm
📍 Jordan Hall
🔗 Register here by 25 Jan 2026

🙏TRAC Prayer Conference
This is more than a prayer meeting.
It’s a movement – one heart, one voice, one family – saying “Yes, Lord” to His call. Join all 21 TRAC churches as we gather in a united moment of worship, prayer, and surrender, seeking God’s leading for our churches, our communities, and our world. This significant event welcomes pastors, leaders, and members to stand before the Lord as one family.
Registration is now open and you are encouraged to sign up early, as registration will close once capacity is reached.
Together, as one body, let us respond to God with one heart and one voice: “I Say Yes.”
📅 Sat 14 March 2026
🕘 2pm - 6pm
📍PLMC
🔗 Register here

View more announcements, stories and resources on our website:
🔗 plmc.org

Please do not reply, send any messages or call this number as this phone is unmanned.

❣️ Sermon Reflections & Discussion // 7 Dec 2025

The season of Advent is about hope in waiting for our Lord Jesus’ coming, both for His incarnation and His promised second coming. And the theme of hope is apparent throughout the passage in Romans 15. We can see in Paul’s writing how there is a need for hope in our lives, we have the certainty of this hope and lastly, how we can live a hope-filled life.

The Need for Hope
Paul establishes our need for hope in Romans 3:23. Because we have all sinned and missed the mark in our lives, we all need the hope Jesus Christ offers on a universal level, so we can be who God wants us to be. Paul also writes about this need on a personal level, where believers, upon receiving hope, need to give hope and help others find that hope (v1).

The Certainty of Hope
The English use of the word ‘hope’ in phrases such as “I hope so” has an element of doubt and uncertainty, but the biblical point of view of hope implies confidence in something that one knows is going to take place. There is a certainty about biblical hope, because God is the source of hope (v13). When we have faith in the God of hope, the power of the Holy Spirit will enable us to abound in hope. We have this certainty also because God has confirmed and fulfilled His promises (v8). He is a faithful promise keeper and can be trusted so we can hope in Him. But now comes the important question: How does it look like to have this hope in our lives?

A Hope-Filled Life
There is a common understanding that hope is a type of battery or energiser that fuels our endurance for the challenges in life. But Paul flips it around in stating that it is endurance that produces hope. In Romans 5:1-5, he writes that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. In our difficult times, Jesus teaches us to turn to Him. When we are yoked to Him, He walks with us through the suffering, shaping and forming our character, producing hope in us as we experience His power with us.

This Advent, may we continue to hope in Jesus who not only gives hope but is our living hope.

💬 Reflection Questions:
1. Who are the people around you who need the hope in their lives? How can you be a help to them?
2. What promises of God are you hoping in for your situation now? Share and pray for each other.
3. How has God used the challenges in your life to shape your character and produce hope?

▶ Revisit the sermon in our library:
🔗 plmc.org/sermon

❣️ Sermon Reflections & Discussion // 14 Dec 2025

The shepherds were ordinary people living ordinary lives when God interrupted them with extraordinary news. These men lived and worked in darkness, both literally and socially, yet God’s glory broke into their night with overwhelming brilliance. As with the shepherds, God continues to come to ordinary, messy and imperfect people. The shepherds’ response to Jesus teaches us how we, too, can respond when God’s glory shines into our lives, turning the ordinary into something extraordinary.

They responded with urgency
When the angels left, the shepherds did not hesitate nor delay, but immediately went to Bethlehem. They dropped what they were doing and responded to God’s message with urgency, intention and purpose. Their obedience shows us that when God speaks, the right response is to trust, obey and act. Faith often begins with a willing and immediate step of obedience.

They believed even when things looked ordinary
When the shepherds saw Jesus, there were no angels, bright lights nor crowns, just a baby in a lowly manger. Yet they believed that Jesus was the Saviour, Christ, and Lord as proclaimed to them by the angel, the true sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world. Their faith was rooted in God’s word of love and hope to them, not in what they could see with their eyes.

They shared what they had seen
After encountering Jesus, the shepherds shared what they had seen and heard with everyone around them. They became the first witnesses of Christ, boldly proclaiming the Good News despite having no status or training. Though their external circumstances remained the same, their hearts were transformed through the encounter with Jesus, and they returned with a changed purpose, glorifying and praising God.

God still comes to humble and ordinary people and calls them to experience His extraordinary love. This Christmas, let us not just hear the story, but also step into it. Will you be like the shepherds and run to Jesus, worshipping Him deeply and proclaiming Him boldly? When we encounter Christ, our hearts are changed, and we too can become His extraordinary messengers. May the true King bring His light, peace, and salvation into our lives this Christmas.

💬 Reflection Questions:

1. Where in your life do you feel most ‘ordinary,’ overlooked, or stuck right now? How does God interrupting the shepherds in the field speak into that area?”

2. The shepherds responded with urgency, faith, and proclamation. Which of these responses do you struggle with most and why?

3. The shepherds returned to the same fields, but with changed hearts. How does a transformed heart of peace, hope and joy look like to you?

▶ Revisit the sermon in our library:
🔗 plmc.org/sermon

📣 PLMC UPDATE – 20 Dec 25, 9.00am

⛪ Worship Services Online
🔗 English: live.plmc.org (Sun 9am)
🔗 Mandarin: ms.live.plmc.org (Sun 11.15am)

🎄Christmas Village
It's Day 2 of our Christmas Village – which means two more days for us to share the JOY of Christ! Be sure to catch our carollers, Mandarin Service choir, Filipino family, singers, dancers and youths as they perform amidst the games, bubble play, food, fun, lights and snow!

🕔 5.30pm - 9.30pm
🔗 More details here

Do note there will be no Youth Service today, no Coffee Corner, Filipino Service & Silver Boxes tomorrow.

🎄Christmas Services - Thu 25th Dec
English - 9am & 11.15am (Sanctuary)
Mandarin - 9am & 11.15am (Chapel)

Do note there will be no breakfast counter and Silver Boxes on 25th Dec, and no breakfast counter and Filipino Service on Sun 28th Dec.

🍷Wesleyan Covenant Renewal Watchnight Service
On New Year’s Eve, we will be having our Wesleyan Covenant Renewal Watchnight Service from 10.30pm, followed by a Teochew porridge supper prepared by our WSCS ladies. Please bring condiments to share. Get creative – if you can’t cook, you can dabao your favourite zichar, claypot or cai png dish. Let's look forward to our first fellowship of 2026 as a church family.

💒Vision Sunday Combined Service
We will have a combined celebration service on the 1st Sunday of 2026 (4 Jan).

Do note there will be no Youth Service on 3 Jan, and no Silver Boxes and Filipino Service on 4 Jan.

View more announcements, stories and resources on our website:
🔗 plmc.org

Please do not reply, send any messages or call this number as this phone is unmanned.

❣️ Sermon Reflections & Discussion // 21 Dec 2025

The account of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 comes after the account of Jesus talking to Nicodemus at night in John 3. Both passages are about individuals coming to Jesus and meeting Him alone as He shared about the Holy Spirit and eternal life. However, they were two very different people in society’s eyes. Nicodemus was a Jewish religious leader held in high esteem while the Samaritan was a woman and an outcast on many levels.

The parallels and contrasts strongly suggest that these two accounts are meant to be read as a coherent unit. Most importantly, they show how everyone matters to Jesus, regardless of background and societal standing. Jesus models how we too can meet people where they are.

God often appoints people for us to meet – it is no accident where He has placed us. As we connect with God regularly and as we get to know others better, we can grow in being sensitive to God’s leading to connect others to Him, the giver of life.

Pray regularly. Ask God to give you insights on how to meet your loved ones where they are and show you how to bridge the gap so they will see their need for Jesus. Ask God to help you see how the Good News is Good News for them in their context.

It may just be one person, but we never know the ripple effect that may have: Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman while she was fetching water, and from that one encounter, she was transformed and went on to reach many more people for Jesus, the source of living water. Our greatest joy will also come from knowing we have reached one more for God, who rejoices over every salvation.

Reflection Questions:
1. Recount a time you encountered Jesus. Share how He has transformed you, and remember in thanksgiving.
2. With whom have you shared Jesus with? Share your experience in reaching out.
3. Who is the one person God has placed in front of you? How will you commit to daily build the bridge to connect him/her to Jesus? Take some time to pray for this person, and ask God to empower you.

▶️ Revisit the sermon in our library:
🔗 plmc.org/sermon

📣 PLMC UPDATE – 27 Dec 25, 9.00am

⛪ Worship Services Online
🔗 English: live.plmc.org (Sun 9am)
🔗 Mandarin: ms.live.plmc.org (Sun 11.15am)
🔗 Youth: youth.live.plmc.org (Sat 4.30pm)
(Do note there will be no breakfast counter and Filipino Service tomorrow.)

🍷Wesleyan Covenant Renewal Watchnight Service
On 31 Dec, New Year’s Eve, we will be having our Wesleyan Covenant Renewal Watchnight Service from 10.30pm, followed by a Teochew porridge supper prepared by our WSCS ladies. Please bring condiments to share. Get creative – if you can’t cook, you can dabao your favourite zichar, claypot or cai png dish. Let's look forward to our first fellowship of 2026 as a church family.

💒Vision Sunday Combined Service
We will have combined celebration services at 9am and 11.15am on 4 January, the first Sunday of 2026.

Do note that there will not be separate Youth Service on 3 Jan, nor Silver Boxes Children’s Ministry, Living Stones Mandarin Services and Filipino Service on 4 Jan.

R.O.A.D. Bible Reading Plan
Start the year by committing to immerse yourself in God’s Word. To help you, we have a two-year reading plan so you can cover the entire Bible in 2 years. As a church family, let’s embark on the ROAD together – to Read, Observe, Apply and Do what the Lord reveals to us in His Word. We are finishing with the Year 1 readings, so from 1 Jan 2026, we will start reading through the Year 2 passages.

🔗 Download it here

View more announcements, stories and resources on our website:
🔗 plmc.org

Please do not reply, send any messages or call this number as this phone is unmanned.