“Put up your forefinger.  

“What is this finger for? This finger is meant to serve every other part of your body. No part of your body exists for itself.

“When this finger is cut, it has an injury. It needs all the other parts of the body to bring healing.

“It cannot heal itself. If I cut this finger, the other hand grabs it to keep blood from flowing. My feet start walking towards the medicine cabinet. My mouth speaks: ‘Mummy, help me.’

“Other parts of your body come to the rescue. To do anything important with this finger, I need the cooperation of all the other parts of the body.” 

Senior Pastor Derek Hong of Good Gifts City Church used the above analogy in his short message, “Body Beautiful”, to more than 1,000 pastors and church leaders at the LoveSingapore Summit 2025 held last week (January 13 to 16, 2025) in Kuala Lumpur.

He was following on from LoveSingapore Chairman Pastor Jeff Chong’s message about how the diverse body of Christ can build a unity of Spirit. 

Ps Derek shared eight times from his 50 years as a pastor when other parts of the body of Christ rallied around him. Here is an excerpt: 

Let’s read from 1 Corinthians: 10:16-17: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

One of the most powerful and beautiful pictures in the New Testament of the church is the Body of Christ.

The celebration of this communion is to remind and reinforce this powerful truth: That we are part and parcel of this Body.

This is the image Paul gives us for the church. We are many, but we are one. We must recognise that every part of the body is important, and every part has a role to play.

The celebration of communion serves as a reminder of this powerful truth: We are part of something much bigger than ourselves. We are part of the body of Christ.

This is what I want to share with you today in my message, “Body Beautiful”.

In fact, God has a strong word for people who hurt the body of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, we read: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

The “you” in this verse is in a second personal plural pronoun. It’s therefore addressed to all of us. It’s a plural,  corporate “you”.

“We are part of something much bigger than ourselves. We are part of the body of Christ,” said Ps Derek, introducing the idea of the “Body Beautiful”.

Let me share a few brief personal testimonies of my experience of the Body Beautiful.

1. A comforting welcome

Many years ago, when I first started as a pastor at Church of Our Saviour (COOS was then at Prince Charles Crescent), I was very young and new to ministry. One day, a pastor named David Wong rang my doorbell and introduced himself. He said: “Welcome to the area.”

He is Bible Presbyterian. I am Anglican. We worship differently, we don’t even read the same versions of the Bible. But he said “Welcome”. I was surprised when I learned he was younger than I was (this year, he is 75 years old, and I am 77).

It was so comforting. 

(Editor’s note: At that time, Pastor David Wong and his wife Jenny were living in a rental flat at Prince Charles Crescent.

Pastor David Wong and his wife Jenny had just returned from UK after his studies, and resumed pastoral ministry at Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church, then located at a shophouse in Lengkok Bahru. Photo courtesy of the Wongs.

Ps David told Salt&Light: “One evening we went for a walk in the neighbourhood and walked into Church of Our Saviour. Meeting Pastor Derek Hong, and learning that he had also just moved in after us, I said jokingly, ‘We moved in first so we welcome you to the neighbourhood.’

“Years later, I would learn that our welcome meant much to him. God did a wonderful thing. Our words encouraged him and he went on to grow the church to what it is today.”) 

2. A declaration of strength

On the 20th anniversary celebration of COOS acquiring the cinema at Queenstown, I encouraged some pastors from the LoveSingapore committee to celebrate with us.

I was feeling very discouraged – big church, big problems. Nobody, not even my wife, knew how down I was.

At the end of the service, I invited the visiting pastors to come onto the stage to pray for us. Pastor Eugene Seow was among them. I knelt down and he prophesied over me. He shouted: “Spirit of the warrior, arise! Warrior Spirit, rise up!”

Those words did something to me. I got up, strengthened, and God vindicated me. People continued to get saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and the church grew.

(Editor’s note: Pastor Derek celebrates his 50th year as a pastor this year; God blessed his leadership at Church of Our Saviour. The church had a congregation of 75 when he took over in 1975, and 4,200 when he stepped down 36 years later in 2011.)

3. Caring as Jesus would

When I stepped down from COOS in 2011, I received a call from Pastor Lawrence Chua.

He invited me to be part of his church, Living Sanctuary Brethren Church, supposedly as a consultant, but really to take care of me. He provided a small office, staff support, and a nice stipend for two years, and preaching only once a month.

When he took over Good Gifts Church, Ps Derek received support in many forms from friends across the denominations – such was the relational unity he experienced.

4. An invitation that saved a church

Then I took over Good Gifts City Church.

Over a very casual lunch, I met Wee Tiong Howe. When he found out what I was doing, he asked whether we would like to use the facilities at City Missions Church for services. At that time, Good Gifts was renting a space in Macpherson that cost us a significant amount of money – it was bankrupting the church.

He invited us to use his place. How much did we have to pay? Less than 10% of what we were paying a month at MacPherson. It saved the church.

5. Sharing kids’ ministry resources

Someone connected me to Pastor Samuel Phun of River Community Church, and he invited me to visit his church. Then he showed me the storeroom in his office. It was filled with all kinds of stuff for the children’s ministry – organised like an Amazon warehouse.

Next he said: “Pastor, take anything you need for your children’s work.”

6. An act of sacrifice

Some of you know that I used to run a post-secondary college of liberal arts and sciences. Pastor Lawrence Khong was very interested in it, and invited my team to do a presentation to his leaders, and he donated a significant sum towards the project.

Sadly, we could not sustain the work because there were many, many restrictions and challenges of running a private school.

Pastor Lawrence had to answer to his board for my failure, and took the fall for me.

7. Genuine concern for a brother

Soon after COVID and the lockdown kicked in, I received a call out of the blue from my successor at COOS, Daniel Wee (now Archdeacon of Singapore). During that difficult period, the first question he asked me was: “Do you have any financial needs?” Thankfully, at that time, I didn’t need anything. 

Before the year was up, I met with Ps Jeff Chong to discuss my future involvement with the leadership committee. I realised my shelf life may be running out. We chatted about it. And he also asked: “Do you have any personal financial needs?” Thankfully, I was okay.

8. Sharing a blueprint for a youth ministry 

When we started the youth ministry at Good Gifts City Church last year, my youth pastor Nicholas Tay met with Pastor Liaw Zheng Kai from Hope Singapore.

I want Nicholas to share about this meeting.

(The following is shared by Nicholas:)

“When we first started the youth ministry, the first question was: ‘How ah? What do I do?’

“During my prayer time, a name came to my mind: Zheng Kai. 

“I called him and said, ‘Bro, we have just started the youth ministry. I don’t know what I’m doing. Can I get some advice from you?’

“We met at a cafe. He was so nice, he refused to let me buy him coffee. We started talking, I asked so many questions and was learning so much from his perspective as a youth pastor.

“Within an hour, he practically laid out the whole structure of his youth ministry, including sharing a link to all of his training and equipping discipleship material.

“He said, ‘Use it as you please.’

“I was so amazed by his generosity and willingness to share. That was such a wonderful experience for me, or what we do for one another in this community.”

Honouring one another

The body of Christ is far from perfect; the more you are involved, the more you see. But this is my experience of the Body Beautiful.

Ps Derek shared his message to encourage church leaders to keep pursuing the relational unity that God has given them and to build on it.

Jesus says: “The world will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

Let’s take care of each other, just as the Body cares for every part.

I share these precious memories and my gratitude to all the people mentioned. And encourage you to keep pursuing the relational unity that God has given us and to build on it.

The culture of honour is very important to the body of Christ. Honour is giving credit where credit is due.

Never forget what has been done for you. Pay back when you can.

Keep praising God and affirming one another. All the glory goes to God, but we must also give credit where credit is due.

Let’s take care of each other, just as the body cares for every part.

Additional reporting by Gemma Koh.

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