{"id":3269,"date":"2026-07-01T00:01:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovesingapore.org.sg\/?p=3269"},"modified":"2026-07-01T00:33:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:33:46","slug":"2026-day-1-together-for-a-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovesingapore.org.sg\/en\/2026-day-1-together-for-a-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 1: Together for a Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<figure><figcaption><cite>1 Corinthians 12:12\u201327<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b>Pastor Jeff Chong: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hello, everyone. Welcome to Day 1 of 40 Days. 40 Voices. 40 Prayers. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is Pastor Ian \u2013 he serves as the Executive Director of LoveSingapore. Ps Ian came to faith in a conservative church. He used to lead the choir in church that sang many old traditional hymns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Pastor Ian Toh:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hello, everyone. This is Pastor Jeff \u2013 he serves as the chairperson of LoveSingapore.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ps Jeff came to faith in a charismatic Pentecostal church.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ps Jeff:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The theme for 2026 is \u201cTogether\u201d. We are different, yet it is in these differences that we discover complementary strengths. Together, we become stronger than the sum of our parts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ps Ian:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pastor Jeff is a visionary, a relentless learner. He listens and loves well, seeks God, and leads with wisdom and conviction. He brings out the best in people, placing them where they thrive. It is a privilege to serve with him.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God has arranged the parts so that there would be no division, but rather a deep interdependence where each part cares for the other.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><b>Ps Jeff<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pastor Ian has many strengths. He is disciplined, decisive, courageous and leads very well. He also paints and writes. In addition, he is passionate and has a good understanding of social causes.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the past four years, Ps Ian has helped cover many of my blind spots. I am extremely grateful that God has sent him to serve in LoveSingapore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ps Ian<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This truth \u2013 that there is strength in differences \u2013 is not only limited to Ps Jeff and me. This truth is for every church and every Christ-follower.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Church is beautifully described in Scripture as a living Body, where every believer is a vital part, uniquely formed and intentionally placed by God.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 teaches: \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as a body, though one, has many parts\u2026 so it is with Christ.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d Each member carries different gifts and functions \u2013 some visible, some hidden \u2013 but all are significant. The eye cannot say to the hand, \u201cI don\u2019t need you\u201d, and neither can any believer claim independence from the rest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, God has arranged the parts so that there would be no division, but rather a deep interdependence where each part cares for the other.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not independence, not dependence, but interdependence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ps Jeff:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the same time, the Body does not function aimlessly \u2013 it is led by a Head.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ephesians 1:22-23, the B<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ible says: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And God placed all things under his feet\u00a0and appointed Him to be head\u00a0over everything for the church, <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which is His body,\u00a0the fullness of Him\u00a0who fills everything in every way.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Christ is the Head of the Church, and from Him the whole Body is joined and held together. He gives direction, purpose and life. As each part does its work under His leadership, the Body grows and builds itself up in love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the health of the Church is directly tied to its submission to Christ<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 when we align ourselves with Him, we function properly; when we drift from Him, the Body loses its coordination and strength.\u00a0Therefore, the call for the Church is not just to serve, but to serve together.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ps Ian:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God has given the Singapore churches and Christian organisations three strategic focuses. They are: To turn Singapore Godward, to win the youth and to bless the nations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These focuses are not given to a single church or denomination. They are given to all Singapore churches and believers. To achieve these focuses, we need to do it together.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The health of the Church is directly tied to its submission to Christ.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><b>Ps Jeff<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On May 25, 1961, American president John F Kennedy (JFK) announced that America \u201cshould commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On September 12, 1962, when JFK visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) headquarters for the first time, he noticed a janitor carrying a broom in one of the hallways.\u00a0The President stopped, walked over, and asked with genuine curiosity: \u201cWhat is your job here?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are different but <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God\u2019s purpose for every one of us is the same: God has called us to fulfil the Great Commission.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without missing a beat, the janitor replied with pride: \u201cWell, Mr President, I am helping to put a man on the moon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The janitor did not see himself there to just clean up. He was able to connect the dots. He wasn&#8217;t just existing; he was fulfilling a purpose, a mission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, we are different but <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God\u2019s purpose for every one of us is the same: God has called us to fulfil the Great Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s do this together!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Ps Ian<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Come, let us pray:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heavenly Father, we thank You for calling us to be one Body in Christ, walking together.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lord, forgive us for the ways we have not walked together in unity, and for the times we have fallen short of Your heart. Forgive the pride, and division among us.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We ask that You unite the Church in Singapore \u2013 across denominations, across generations, across languages \u2013 that we may truly be one.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lord Jesus, You are the Head of the Church, and today we choose again to align ourselves with You.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grant us the grace to love one another, to honour one another, and to serve Your will together.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lord, help us, together, to turn Singapore to You, to win the younger generation, and to bless the nations.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We surrender ourselves completely to You.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Jesus\u2019 name we pray, Amen.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 Corinthians 12:12\u201327 Pastor Jeff Chong: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Day 1 of 40 Days. 40 Voices. 40 Prayers. This is Pastor Ian \u2013 he serves as the Executive Director of LoveSingapore. Ps Ian came to faith in a conservative church. He used to lead the choir in church that sang many old traditional hymns. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[468,469],"tags":[43,159,394,463],"taxonomies":[153],"class_list":["post-3269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-40-day-2026-english","category-40-2026-","tag-church","tag-purpose","tag-unity","tag-one","taxonomies-opening"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Day 1: Together for a Purpose &#8212; lovesingapore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lovesingapore.org.sg\/en\/2026-day-1-together-for-a-purpose\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Day 1: Together for a Purpose &#8212; lovesingapore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"1 Corinthians 12:12\u201327 Pastor Jeff Chong: Hello, everyone. 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