Healthy Church Members in an Unhealthy Age

Date: 12 Jul 2026, 9.30 am

Speaker: Ps Daniel Tan Sermon Text: Acts 2:42-47; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Romans 1:16-17

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TRANSCRIPT

Introduction

Blessed Sunday to all.

For those of us who are homebound and are tuning in online, we thank God for technology that allows us to stay connected.

We do look forward to the time when you would be able to join us again and be present with us at Henderson.

As we look forward to our anniversary service, over this next 2 sermons, we want to equip ourselves about what it means to be a healthy church member.

Over the past months, we have journeyed through the books of Hosea and James.

Although they were written in very different times and circumstances, both books confront us with the same searching question - What does genuine covenant faithfulness look like among God's people?

The prophet Hosea ministered to Israel during a time of outward prosperity but inward spiritual decay. Through Hosea's own marriage, the Lord vividly portrayed Israel's spiritual adultery.

Yet woven throughout the book is God's astonishing covenant love, a God who calls His people to return in repentance because He remains faithful even when they are faithless.

Hosea teaches us that God desires not merely religious performance but hearts that truly know Him (Hosea 6:6), and the book concludes with a call to walk wisely in the ways of the Lord (Hosea 14:9).

Then we turned to the first three chapters of James, where the emphasis shifts from God's covenant faithfulness to our covenant response.

James reminds believers that genuine faith is not merely professed but demonstrated.

Taken together, Hosea and James give us two complementary truths.

Hosea asks, "Do you truly know and love the covenant God who has redeemed you?"

James asks, "Does your profession of faith produce a transformed life?"

Hosea and James together give us a beautiful picture of Christian discipleship.

Hosea calls us to love the covenant God who first loved us.

James reminds us that genuine faith will be seen in a transformed life.

Together they teach us that healthy Christians both know Christ deeply and increasingly become like Him.

This question is especially important for us in Singapore.

We live in a society that values efficiency, success, education, and achievement.

Those values can subtly shape our churches. We can become busy without being holy, knowledgeable without being transformed, and active without being spiritually alive.

A church may have, sound doctrine, well-organised ministries, growing attendance, financial stability and even excellent programmes, yet still consist of members who are spiritually immature.

Healthy churches are not built primarily by better programmes or stronger committees.

They are built as Christ, by His Spirit and through His Word, transforms ordinary believers into healthy church members.

Drawing on the first five marks identified by Thabiti Anyabwile, we shall consider five characteristics of the kind of Christians every church should prayerfully seek to become.

It’s timely as we look forward to our church anniversary, to ask - What kind of church members is Christ shaping us to become?

A Healthy Church Member is an Expositional Listener

Acts 2:42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Expositional listening is listening to expositional preaching.

This means it is preaching that takes for the main point of the sermon the point of a particular passage of Scripture.

This means that the agenda of the sermon is determined by the meaning of the Scripture. It is not to be determined by the agenda of the speaker nor of the listener.

So, it means for all of us listeners, we listen primarily for the voice and the message of God as revealed in his Word.

And if that is the case, then, healthy Christians do not merely attend service to hear the sermon, they submit themselves to God’s Word.

Acts 2 says they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. That indicates that they had disciplined commitment and persistence in applying Scripture.

Because expositional listening seeks to understand what God is saying through scripture, we are to ask questions like what does this text say, what does God mean by this, how might I obey?  

In contrast, if we are honest, what normally goes through the minds of the listener would be – was the sermon interesting, did it suit my tastes, did it boost my esteem?

With Ted Talks and Toastmaster training, in modern Singapore, it is common to judge speakers by their charisma, eloquence and influence.

Expositional listeners who hunger for biblical truth however would have a different yard-stick.

The preacher may be ordinary, but should be highly regarded if he enables the congregation to understand what God is saying through the text.

What might the attitude then be of an expositional listener?

Since God is speaking, it means we come to the sermon with humility, with concentration and with open and obedient hearts.

We cannot be like the demons of James 2:19. They know that God is one, they even shudder because of that truth, yet they do not obey.

So there is a saying which I’m very fond of, God’s word applied changes lives. And the emphasis is on applied.

This is the difference between the demons and us who are expositional listeners.

Thabiti, gives some very helpful suggestions as to how we can become better expositional listeners.

Firstly he says, let’s prepare with anticipation to hear from God each week. And we do so by preparing ourselves by reading and thinking about the text before coming to service.

Secondly, discuss them with one another after service. For some, it can help us clarify parts of the sermon that we didn’t quite get and for others, it can also help us appreciate a fresh implication which we did not think of.

Here is where, the sharing of more matured Christians are very helpful.

Your rich and varied discipleship experience can help enlighten younger believers as to how God’s eternal truths can impact the present and the future.

Thirdly, take sermon notes and think about them during the week. This would be part of Scripture meditation.

And since in Hermon/Horeb we go through books of the bible each year, it enables us to appreciate the fuller narrative that God is communicating.

May I encourage mature believers to model this for our younger believers.

And this would be very evident in the way we share during our CG meetings, since our bible study material follows the pulpit.

A Healthy Church Member is a Biblical Theologian

2 Tim 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Many years ago, as a church we went through the book of Hebrews. After going through it, someone remarked to me that it seems we were going through the Old Testament that year.

Hebrews, though in the New Testament, was helping us to see that Jesus was the better Prophet, better Moses, better Joshua, better High Priest, better Covenant, better Temple and better Sacrifice.

A healthy Christian seeks to be a biblical theologian. That means understanding and appreciating the whole counsel of God.

That means, comprehending how the Old and New Testament is one big story of God’s redemptive plan.

2 Tim 3:16 reminds us that all of Scripture, meaning the entire bible is breathed out by God. This means the 66 books are the divine revelation of God to us.

It means the Bible is not human reflections. No, it is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

So the Bible cannot be approached as a self-help book for personal fulfillment.

It is instead God’s blueprint for the salvation and the reconciliation of mankind with God through Christ Jesus.

Thus, if we are to be biblical theologians, we need to view all Scripture through the lens of redemption.

One very helpful book that gives us the macro picture is God’s Big Picture.

For those of us who want to read further, According to Plan, the unfolding revelation of God in the bible is highly recommended.

God’s macro narrative is commonly described in these 4 categories – Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration or Re-creation.

And these 4 categories we will discover, points ultimately to Christ.

In Singapore, we view things commonly through the lenses of meritocracy, material success and pragmatism.

If we seek to be biblical theologians, then we need to ask instead, what does God say about identity, about success, family, money, sexuality and suffering.

2 Tim 3:17 says, Scripture is sufficient to make a person complete and equipe him/her for every good work.

Thus, do we believe that God’s Word is sufficient and relevant for our discipleship, parenting, ministry, ethics, careers, financial management and worldview?

Now for Hermonites who have been with us for some time, not sure if you have noticed that we attempt to not just preach through books of the bible, but we also alternate between Old and New Testament books.

We do this deliberately so that we are familiar with both Testaments. That as a faith community we become more acquainted with the full counsel of God.

This year is actually Old Testament year, so we are going through Hosea and Jonah but we have included James from the New Testament as a bonus.

Some encouragements from Thabiti about being biblical theologians -

Firstly, he suggests that to help us see the unity of Scripture, we can study the Scripture thematically.

That means, to see what Scripture is saying in both the Old and the New Testament on a particular subject.

I’m presuming that we all have heard of the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is the confession of the BP church.

This is what we in Hermon/Horeb use as our guide to how we view the bible.

The WCF enables us to study the Scriptures thematically. Parts of the WCF are taught during our catechism class for those who are getting baptized or transferring into Hermon.

Secondly, since the bible is one story about God’s redemption plan for His people, don’t neglect to familiarize yourself with the Old Testament. Don’t think that the Old Testament is not relevant.

And as we study the Old Testament, the third pointer is that we view them in the light of Jesus.

Jesus said to the disciples on the road to Emmaus,

Lk 24:25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

The Old Testament points to Christ and so we seek to see in the pages of Scripture that all of God’s promises are yes and amen in Jesus.

As an intergenerational church, may those of us who are more mature in the faith, help those who are less seasoned to appreciate this.

A Healthy Church Member is Gospel Saturated

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

What is the greatest need for the world today?

The greatest need yesterday, today and always is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why is that so? Because without the knowledge of God and the good news of our saviour, God’s Son Jesus Christ, man, woman and children will perish for all eternity.

Thabiti gives a summary of the Gospel which I would like to produce for all of us.

The gospel or good news of Jesus Christ is that God the Father, who is holy and righteous in all his ways, is angry with sinners and will punish sin. Man, who disobeys the rule of God, is alienated from the love of God and is in danger of an eternal and agonizing condemnation at the hands of God.

But God who is also rich in mercy, because of his great love, sent his eternal Son born of the Virgin Mary, to die as a ransom and a substitute for the sins of rebellious people.

And now, through the perfect obedience of the Son of God and his willing death on the cross as payment for our sins, all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ, following him as Saviour and Lord, will be saved from the wrath of God to come, be declared just in his sight, have eternal life and receive the Spirit of God as an foretaste of the glories of heaven with God himself.

Is this the first time the Gospel has been presented to you as such? I pray it is not.

But if it is and the presentation you received is not as complete as this, I apologize.

Romans 1:16 reminds us that the gospel is the power of God for our salvation. It’s not just inspiring or exciting for us intellectually.

No, the gospel has the power to transform us. The good news of Jesus Christ has the power to transform us supernaturally.

The Gospel is also not just for our salvation, it is also vital for our sanctification as well. The Gospel is needed for a vibrant, joyous, persevering, hopeful, healthy Christian.

And healthy Christians will make a healthy church.

In Singapore we are very achievement oriented, we pride ourselves in setting milestones and rankings to achieve and to maintain.

The gospel of Jesus, breaks all that. It destroys pride because the cross reminds us that we are more sinful than we care to admit.

Yet, the cross also reminds us that we are more loved than we deserve.

At the foot of the cross, as it brings us all to our knees in humility, it levels us all.

No one is superior, no one can be self-righteous and no one can earn salvation.

For all of us, our salvation is received by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus.

So how can we be gospel-saturated Christians?

Thabiti suggests the following:

Firstly, preach the gospel to yourself and keep your ears open to the gospel in the sermons and Sunday services.

When you hear it, reaffirm your belief in its truth, promises and power in your life.

We are reminded, keeping the gospel in front of us will keep us thankful, grateful and persevering.

Secondly, when the gospel is foremost in our minds, it will naturally result in our lives revolving around the gospel.

It would impact our speech, for we will have gospel conversations with others.

It would impact our actions, for the gospel implications will permeate our activities and attitudes.

Since the gospel is God’s grace – then graciousness, forgiveness and long suffering would flow from us.

And that would have a tremendous impact on our relationships within the family, the church and with our neighbours.

Finally, the gospel will shape our identity. It will help us to see that we are precious in God’s sight. It will help us not chase the status of society, it will help us hold lightly to the praises of fellow men.

A Healthy Church Member is Genuinely Converted

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

A gospel saturated Christian would naturally be genuinely converted.

Now many of us I’m sure have experienced others who have prayed to receive Christ but soon fall away from the faith.

Thus, causing us to ask ourselves, was our friend genuinely converted.

Thabiti thus rightly offers for us the exhortation that we need to seek for genuine conversion for ourselves and others.

He says “Conversion is the radical turn from an enslaved life of pursuing sin to a free life of pursuing and worshipping God.

Conversion is a change of life, not merely a decision.”

Paul writes in 2 Cor 5:17 that when we are genuinely converted, we are a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come.

If our old sinful nature has passed away, then it means we cannot be habitually and unrepentantly living in sin. We cannot by our actions, say we belong to Christ while still desiring to live like the devil.

If we are in Christ, Paul says, we have been reconciled to God. That means we have re-established a right relationship with God.

Knowing that God is our loving heavenly father and we are His precious children, by implication that would mean, we seek to live as His children.

Let’s consider that this would mean, we do not consider His commands burdensome. Instead, we would be eager to obey.

Question - would God desire that we be reconciled just for the day, the day when we have asked Jesus to be our Saviour and Lord?

I’m sure none of us would want that right? It’s natural is it not, to assume that our reconciliation is to be for an extended period of time.

Scripture says, God gift of reconciliation is never ending, it is for all eternity.

And so, may I submit that our eagerness to please God should be faithful and persevering.

So Paul says further in 2 Cor 5:18 that as reconciled children, God has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

As the vertical relationship with God has been set right, now Paul says, God desire is that our horizontal relationships be set right as well.

So the first sign of a genuine convert is seeking reconciliation within the family of God. As children of the same heavenly father, we cannot be enemies right?

I mean, if God loves you and God loves me, how can we then hate the one that God loves?

Second sign of a genuine convert is seeking reconciliation with those who are currently outside the family of God. And that we normally term as evangelism.

We are to tell others the good news that reconciliation with God is possible in Christ Jesus.

Third sign of those who are genuinely converted, is applying the knowledge that it is the Holy Spirit that regenerates and converts.

The genuinely coverted, do not have the pressure of getting the ‘right’ response from those whom we share the Gospel with.

See, our responsibility is just to share, it is not to convert, that is the job of the Holy Spirit.

But since it is our duty to share, then as healthy Christians, may we be so gospel saturated that the gospel permeates our actions and our speeches towards the lost.

A Healthy Church Member is a Biblical Evangelist

As naturally as the proper understanding of the Gospel of Jesus will lead to being genuinely converted, the genuinely converted will naturally be a biblical evangelist, for they know they have received the ministry of reconciliation.

Since we have been given the ministry of reconciliation, Scripture says we are God’s ambassadors.

And we know that in the diplomatic world, ambassadors are representatives of sovereign nations. They represent the nation to others and so they do not speak of themselves, they speak on behalf of the nation that they represent.

A biblical evangelist is the same. We represent God, we implore others on God’s behalf, be reconciled to our loving heavenly father. Our message is the full Gospel that covers creation, fall, redemption and restoration.

Since we are God’s ambassadors, then, the church, which is the gathering of God’s people becomes God’s ambassy.

Each church is like God’s outpost in that geographical corner of the world. Each church, is where God has planted a witness for Him.

A few months ago, there was a wonderful story of how the SAF flew into the Middle East to bring back Singaporeans who were stranded there due to the conflict.

How did they stake their claim for a seat on the plane? It was through their passport that they showed to the Singapore embassy staff in that foreign country.

Just as citizens seek help from their nation's embassy in a foreign land, so those whom God saves are drawn into His local church.

There in the church, they are nurtured until Christ returns.

A healthy believer is a biblical evangelist.

Let’s asked ourselves, am I becoming this kind of witness for Jesus?

If you are, you must be identified with one of God’s embassies, and from that outpost, seek to be God’s ambassadors, declaring what our Sovereign Lord has decreed.

A healthy church member, thus knows the content of the message and the context in which that message is to be declared.

Conclusion

None of these marks are qualities we produce by our own strength. They are the gracious work of Christ through His Spirit and His Word.

The same Lord who promised, "I will build My church," is still faithfully building His people today.

As we continue to sit under His Word, treasure His gospel, and serve one another in love, may He make Hermon/ Horeb a congregation increasingly marked by spiritual health, for His glory and for the generations yet to come.

Our closing hymn, the church’s one foundation, reinforces for us the corporate identity of the church as Christ’s redeemed people.

As part of the spiritual family, we have spiritual union with Christ and His people across all generations.

As Christ is the cornerstone, may we always keep Him at the center of our church, seeking always to live as His holy bride.  

 Reflection Questions

• Which of the five marks of a healthy church member most challenged you today, and why?

  
  

• Hosea calls God's people to return to Him, while James calls believers to demonstrate living faith. How do these two books together help us understand what a healthy Christian looks like?

  
  

• Healthy churches are built by healthy church members. How can our congregation intentionally help one another grow in these five marks?