HOPE LONDON CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION 2007
For our Christmas service, we managed to secure a larger venue at the Imperial College, next to the Hyde Park in Central London. People from our different centres in the UK (Birmingham, Nottingham, Reading, Ealing and Hatfield) also came and joined us. The hall was beautifully decorated, mostly in red, giving it a very Christmassy atmosphere.
The ice-breaking game allowed everyone to loosen up, especially the visitors. The European Unit put on a Cinderella pantomime that brought a lot of laughter. The praise & worship ushered in the presence of God, which suitably prepared the congregation for Holy Communion and preaching.
After nine years of church planting in Europe, I felt in my heart that our God is not as properly known as He should be. Most people, Christians included, see Him only as a God of love & mercy, as reflected in people like Mother Teresa. As a result, God is often not revered and obeyed.
The Lord led me to preach the last three sermons in 2007 on the three persons of the Trinity – God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, ending with God the Son on our Christmas celebration service.
For the Christmas message, I purposely moved away from teaching about the traditional Nativity Story that is well known to Christians and non-Christians alike. Instead, I expounded on the scripture in Hebrews 1:1-3 to let the congregation (which consisted of Christians from all backgrounds and non-Christians) know that Jesus is the Almighty God, although He humbly died for the purification of our sins. God blessed us with two decisions for Christ.
We finished the service with buffet refreshment at the back of the hall. Nearly everyone stayed around to talk with another for an hour before the congregation left in their various groups for dinner in restaurants nearby. All in all, it was a good day at the office, with a big thank you for everyone who has contributed to a great celebration.
It always gives me tremendous joy to see God honoured and Him encouraging us in the work we are doing for Him. God alone gets all the glory. Amen!
Blessings in Christ,
Your brother,
Pastor PK, Hope London (Website)
HOPE AUCKLAND: THE REASON
This year, Hope Auckland’s Christmas celebrations began a little earlier than usual! A group of about twenty members formed a choir, and on the night of the 17th, travelled across Auckland to visit two different rehabilitation centres where they sang for the people living there.
[Bernard & Angela Soh and family photo]
Those who heard the choir were extremely appreciative and for many of them, it was the first time a choir has performed for them; one which they said brought them much joy. For the members, the opportunity to do this not only served as a timely reminder of the joy God has brought in to each of their individual lives, but also as an eye-opener to the many needs of the people living in New Zealand today.
A Christmas service was held on the 23rd with the theme “The Reason” and the aim was to remind believers that God is the reason they give thanks.
For the non-believers at the service, the message was to show them that they are the reason Jesus came. As part of the programme, the youth group, generation180, performed an energetic, fun and thrilling dance which brought smiles to many faces. There was also a song presentation as well as the sharing of a testimony by Lorine, a lovely young girl who became a Christian three months ago. Her sharing encouraged and touched many, including her mother who had come specially to hear Lorine. It was also particularly exciting that day to see about fifty people there despite many being overseas; a great proportion of this fifty were new visitors too!
To conclude the Christmas celebrations, a barbeque was held at a park on Christmas Day and members of the family group cooked up a feast! In total, about fifty attended and about ten of these were non-believers! All those there had a fantastic time spending time with each other as well as making great contacts. Also, it is almost certain that everyone left with their stomachs fully satisfied!
All in all, Christmas at Hope Auckland was excellent and the church is looking forward to 2008 with great expectation in view of the breakthrough God has promised. Happy New Year!
Bernard and Angela Soh (Hope Auckland Website)
HOPE BRISBANE: AN UNFORGETTABLE CHRISTMAS
Hope Brisbane had morning and afternoon Christmas Services on Sunday, the 23rd of December 2008. The theme of the Christmas Service was called “An Unforgettable Christmas”.
Watch Christmas Service Video
The Worship, Arts and Multimedia (WAM) team performed a fantastic program of worship, choir and drama presentations for this special occasion. The drama team performed a Christmas story which was accompanied by a multimedia presentation and ended with heart touching song by the choir team called: “Jesus, You Are”.
Pastor Lance Wolter preached at the morning service and Pastor Wen’an Zhu preached in the afternoon service, about the true meaning of Christmas. It was indeed “Unforgettable Christmas” for those attending the services. (View video below)
HOPE BANGKOK IF: CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
IF-Bangkok held their Christmas Service on December 23 with tremendous fun and excitement! Each care group presented a special number, starting with the Africans performing a worship dance using percussion instruments. They declared God’s goodness while dancing in circles and waving white handkerchiefs. Their anointed and unique African style of worship touched everyone. Next was the Western Group’s rendition of the national anthems of each nationality representing their group. The Indian Group featured an interesting video of how fond Indians are of dancing. The Japanese sang a Japanese Christmas carol with the audience participating in the performance. Finally, the Filipino group displayed their different cultural dances representing their nation’s various regions.
Each Group painstakingly prepared booths displaying their different native dishes. Afterwards, the worship team treated everyone with a Christmas medley.
Everyone had a great time enjoying the games, food and the special presentations. Pastor Isaac shared a short but inspiring message on the essence of the season. Capping the night was the awards given for best costume, best presentation, best booth and an early bird award.
The celebration was full of warmth and excitement. The family atmosphere proved that it is truly great to celebrate the season with your Christian family.
Pastor Isaac Alamo (Hope Bangkok , IF)
HOPE TAIPEI: CHRISTMAS FAIR
Hope Taipei held a Christmas special event at our new church place on Saturday afternoon 22nd December, 2007. Instead of a traditional Christmas nativity play, we designed this event as a "Christmas Fair".
We used different function rooms for the variety of games that were played and invited many friends to have fun with us. After the games, we gathered in the main hall to praise and worship God, watch a short skit and listen to a short message together. The whole atmosphere was very warm and joyful, and we had a great time with our guests together.
On December 23, 2007, we had a Christmas Sunday Service and some of our old friends came to visit us during this special season. In the afternoon of December 23, we had an internal gathering to celebrate Christmas with all the committed members. Through these different Christmas activities, we have not only built closer relationship with all the friends we invited, but with the brothers and sisters in the church as well. After Christmas, new visitors have kept coming to attend our service and some of them accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour.
We'd like to invite brothers and sisters around the world to pray for us, in this new year of 2008, as we plan to have more creative activities to attract more people to come, and we pray that more souls will be saved in God's time!
May God bless you all! Jessica Jen (Hope Taipei)
HOPE TOKYO: A NEW PLACE FOR CHRISTMAS
Thank God for 2007 because He did memorable things in our church. Since September 2007, our previous venue has been packed, requiring us to look for a bigger one. We prayed for God’s guidance in our search.
To ensure we found a suitable site, we set out the criteria for our new venue with respect to rent, size, access to transportation, facilities and gaining permission to play musical instruments and do Church activities. Though it was very tough to find such a venue, God provided us with a miracle! God answered our prayers with a site that met all our needs by the end of November! This meant that we were able to have a wonderful place to accommodate people for Christmas.
The theme of the Christmas service was “We want to meet you (God)”. We invited friends to the Christmas service and thank God that 44 people came: a record attendance.
Everyone enjoyed the Christmas music, food, games, exchanging of gifts and the special message. After the service was over, we went carolling at the nearest train station and passed out tracts attached with candies to people who were passing by us.
After Christmas, we had a year-end church’s retreat at Nikko. Three visitors joined us. We learned “How to multiply the impact of your life” from the Scripture and planned for the next year.
For 2008, we want to make a positive impact on Japan and reach out to new friends. We have launched a mission last year in Yokohama, and we’ll continue assisting the Yokohama team this year. We have a 4 year plan, from 2008 to 2011, to reach out to the Japanese people.
By 2009, we believe we will be ready to start a service in Yokohama and 2011 in Saitama. We plan to establish two more centres in Osaka and Nagoya (or Chiba) by 2015. Therefore, 2008 will be a crucial year of reaching out, training new leaders and preparing for long-term church growth.
Chew and Masami (Hope Tokyo Website)
HOPE HONG KONG: A NEW SYMPHONY
Praise the Lord for over 500 people attending the Christmas Service and 23 people who accepted Christ at the Sheraton Hotel. To open the service, the orchestra was presented. At first, they sounded terrible, as each musician wanted to play his/her own tune, their own way. This continued until the conductor, led by Brother Allen, came to the stage and encouraged the musicians to unite. As a result, the orchestra played a new symphony beautifully, revealing the great composition of the piece.
Just like Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin who wrote their own symphonies within their lifetimes, Pastor Gavin encouraged every one of us to do so as well this Christmas as we allow God to be the conductor and composer of our life symphony. When we allow God to "conduct" and "compose" our lives, all the different elements of life will gel together. The end result will happen because in "all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
Pastor Gavin shared that life could be rich with Jesus as our composer and conductor of life. Let's give our lives to God and experience a different life that is no longer monotonous but of a great composition with harmonious complexities and varieties! At the end of the message, 23 new souls responded and accepted Christ as their Lord and Savoir. Hallelujah! Thank God for His providence!
The service ended with Christmas carolling. The congregation was joyful to sing and dance to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is a blessing that we are in the family of God and it is our privilege to serve Him. Let's all grow and embark in a new symphony for Jesus!
Pastor Gavin and Pastor Arlene Toh (Hope Hong Kong Website)
HOPE PENANG: LOVE UNLIMITED
Hope Penang has been truly blessed this Christmas. Our annual Christmas outreach was a joyful one with the theme “Love Unlimited”. We managed to book a hall at our local University (Science University Malaysia) with a seating capacity of 400. God also blessed us with a healthy turnout of first time visitors from all walks of life.
The event started with a welcoming dance performed by some of our students and young working adults. This was followed by an in-house video; a touching tale about a rebellious daughter and a misunderstood father. The video featured some of Hope Penang’s local talent. Praise God that the video touch a few fathers’ hearts in the crowd.
Pastor Laurence gave a wonderful message on the gift of salvation and how God is like the father who is always waiting for us to come back to Him. Overall, it was a good night for Hope Penang. We envision doing more outreach to the people in Penang. All glory to God.
