About Us

"I will abide in Thy tabernacle forever." (Psalm 61:4)

Welcome!                     

We warmly welcome you in the holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you will profit from this e-ministry of Criswell Tabernacle.

Criswell Tabernacle was constituted as a local branch of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ in the year 2000 in the eastern part of the Republic of Singapore. The name "Criswell" is the name of the premises we are using. "Tabernacle" is the place where God met with His ancient people. It is our prayer that this church will be a place where sinners will find Christ and meet with God in peace.  

Criswell Tabernacle exists to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever. The only rule God has given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him forever is the Holy Bible (2 Timothy 3:16 17). Hence Criswell Tabernacle exists to proclaim and teach the Word of God so that people would come to know what they are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of them. Our Lord Jesus teaches us specifically in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

In this article we will briefly explain what we believe and why we do what we are doing as a Church:

First, in doctrinal terms, this means that Criswell Tabernacle upholds the doctrines of the Holy Bible. We believe the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms contain the system of Bible doctrines taught in the Holy Bible. In other words, we uphold and teach the historic Reformed Faith in our teaching and practices.

The Reformed Faith means different things to different people today. Many churches claim to be "reformed" but when we examine their church beliefs and practices in the light of the historic Reformed Faith, we discover that they are bordering on making a false confession. However, Criswell Tabernacle takes seriously the historic Reformed Faith in its teaching and practice, especially as it is stated in the Westminster Standards.

Second, in practical terms, Criswell Tabernacle seeks to teach the whole Bible systematically in all its ministries, such as, Catechumen Classes, Bible Study Classes, Sunday Worship Service, Church Prayer Meeting, etc, We follow the Bible teaching principle of Matthew Henry, which is to teach the Holy Bible from Genesis to Revelation once in ten years so that those who stay in the church for that period of time would have the "whole Bible" taught to them so that they may know "every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

Due to this Bible teaching principle, we believe in a broad approach to the study of the Holy Bible. We believe it is far more important for Christians to have an overall idea of the whole Bible so that they can live a full and fruitful Christian life  personally and corporately. The "in depth Bible Study" may be pursued on an individual and personal basis so that the Church ministries could build on the broader approach.

Criswell Tabernacle upholds seriously that the only rule God has given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him forever is the Holy Bible. This is our guiding principle in all our ministries.

1. In Sunday Worship: We believe God is to be worshipped according to His revealed will. We may not worship God according to how we wish to worship God or else we will be in danger of the sin committed by Cain (Genesis 4:1 15). God has instructed in His holy Word how He is to be worshipped. In other words, we believe the Holy Bible teaches the Regulative Principles of Worship. This basically means that we may not worship God except in the way, manner, elements and methods that He Himself has instructed in the Holy Bible. All that we do and practice must be governed by the Holy Bible alone. This is the reason why we believe in a simple, spiritual, solemn, serious and pious worship service where the worshippers could spend a period of quiet meditation and prayer before God. We believe the elements of holy worship are prayer, offering, congregational singing, Bible reading, Bible preaching and benediction. We believe a church worship hall is a holy sanctuary and it should not become a concert hall or theatre which typifies many modern churches.

The sermons by our Pastor are expository but not ¡°slow and draggy¡±. His approach is to provide an overview of the Holy Book with careful attention given only to important portions of it so that the worshippers could see the "big picture".

2. In Catechumen Classes: We believe it is the duty of the Church, in cooperation with the parents, to teach the children that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Based on this conviction, we actively teach the Word of God systematically to all our children by using the Catechism method of instruction from the time a child is able to read. A child who goes through this training would complete the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation three times progressively by the time the child finishes Primary 6. The child would then proceed to study Bible Doctrines and the Reformed Faith in detail after the child has built a strong Bible knowledge. All these lessons and studies have been systematically planned for all our children. Again, we believe that our children must be taught the seriousness of Bible study. In practice, it means we do not trivialize Bible lesson with cartoons, puppet shows, colouring, etc. We have an important message for our children and we believe we must have the right attitude and approach when we teach them. (Free lessons are available.)

3. In Bible Study Classes: As explained earlier, we believe it is far more important to know the overview of the whole Holy Bible rather than simply knowing a few selected Books of the Holy Bible. Hence, the various Sunday and Weeknight Bible Study Classes emphasise on knowing the "big picture" of God's Word. On Sunday morning, we meet after the worship service for our Doctrine Class.

For the Weeknight Bible Study Classes, we have completed lessons on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, The Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Old Testament History and some topical subjects. (Free sample lessons are available)

4. In the Church Prayer Meeting: We believe that all true Christians are prayerful people. As J C Ryle noted, "A prayerful Master cannot have prayerless followers. To be prayerless is to be Christless." A Christian may not read the Holy Bible because of illiteracy but a Christian cannot be prayerless because only a dead person cannot speak.

When we examine the pages of the Holy Bible, we find God's people praying. In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we find the early Christians gathering regularly in public prayer meetings. We believe the effectiveness and usefulness of a local church is to be judged by the unity and zealousness which the church members exhibit in the church prayer meeting. God uses and hears the cry and supplication of a united church in prayer. There is also a systematic reading of the Holy Bible at the Church Prayer Meeting.

We hope the above brief explanation has provided you with a picture of what Criswell Tabernacle is all about. We hope you will seriously consider uniting with us in order to glorify and enjoy God for ever. We hope you are lovers of the Holy Bible and are convinced that the Holy Bible is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God for ever. We hope this conviction would move you to see the logic of studying the whole of the Holy Bible systematically and to teach the children to do the same as young as possible. We hope you understand why we are doing what we are doing in Criswell Tabernacle. It all has to do with our conviction that all of our beliefs and practices must be governed by God's Word alone.

Our Lord taught us to pray that God's "will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). We seek to do this in all our services to God, In short, we aim to be a picture of heaven on earth, which is the calling of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth.

The Protestant Reformers cried, "Tota Scriptura, Sola Scriptura" or "All the Holy Bible and Only the Holy Bible". Man changes. Man's opinion changes. Man's taste and style change. But the Word of God stands forever the same. It is the Word of God that gives life and salvation to all (John 8:32).

Oh, let each one of us pray that God's Word will be "a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path" always (Psalm 119:105). Amen.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.