32^nd Anniversary Celebration 2024

Aug 18, 2024

Happy 32^nd Anniversary to Hope of God Church Hong Kong !

The theme of this year’s celebration is “We are Conquering – God with Us”. Pastor Gavin shared about the Bible verses Joshua 5:13-14a before the service began. After Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, the first city they had to conquer was Jericho. When Joshua asked the man with a sword whether he was on their side or the enemies’, the man replied, “I have not come to take sides but to take charge. I am the Commander of YAHWEH’s armies.” Today Jesus comes to our life to take charge and therefore we can overcome the battles in our life.

After sister Lolita started the celebration with a prayer, brother Jun led us to dwell in a joyful praise and worship.

Then brother Alex and sister Ally from Goodness Group testified how they experienced God in a video. When their son Chi-Nok was born in February, he was in a very critical situation and had to stay in hospital for months. There had been negative reports from the doctor from time to time. But Alex and Ally still held onto God and believed in His mighty power and healing upon their son. However, at one moment, Alex was feeling so hopeless and lost faith. He noticed that something went wrong and reminded himself that God is the one who gives blessings, not disasters. And there was a voice telling him that “a bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out” and “a broken and contrite heart, God will not despise”. Then on the next night, brothers Bong and Chun were touched and went to Alex’s home to encourage them and help strengthen their faith in God. Praise God that Chi-Nok’s situation has become more stable. Alex and Ally really thank God for keeping His promises and His healing, and thank their family, friends, brothers and sisters for their constant prayer support for their son and the whole family.

After that, Pastor Gavin preached on the Scriptures Joshua 5:13-15. The title of the sermon is “We are Conquering – God with Us”. For Joshua and the Israelites, crossing the Jordan River was just the beginning of getting what God had promised. Joshua was thinking about how to pull down the wall of Jericho. For us, what are the walls that stop us from getting what God wants to give us? They can be self-confidence or self-seeking. We should take silent moments with the Lord like Joshua to let God talk to us. Just as the man with a sword told Joshua that He was the Commander of YAHWEH’s armies and He came to take charge, Jesus came to our life to take charge. Therefore, to crack the walls of our life is to let Jesus take charge. Joshua took off his sandals once he heard the order from God’s army commander, showing his vulnerability. We should also show our vulnerability, crack down what we are prideful about, break down our self-protection or self-confidence and let Jesus take charge. Then we will see breakthroughs in our life.

After the preaching, membership awards were presented to members who have joined the Hope Family for 7, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years. Praise God for this great family.

Then “Recap 2023-2024” video was shown. It captured the joyful and touching moments of our church in the past year. Thank God for all His leading and guidance.

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“Tea Time, Group Performances and Special Programme”

Same as last year, all groups were assigned to prepare different cuisines for sharing, including chicken, duck, pork, and seafood dishes, etc. The dishes were scrumptious and beautifully arranged.

After the tea time, each group came up to the stage and did a special performance, demonstrating creativity and the spirit of breakthrough. There were singing, dancing and skits. The performances were so wonderful that all of us had a great time. There were awards for dress code and food as well.

The highlight of the afternoon session came when brothers and sisters were given the “souvenir” of this year’s anniversary celebration, which was a ceramic heart. Brothers Fei and Jacky told us to carve things we wanted to overcome on the heart. Then we used the given tools to break the heart, symbolizing our breakthroughs. After the heart was broken, we could find beautiful “jewellery” pieces in it. We then put the pieces together, showing “Unit3y 2gather”, which is the slogan of this year’s anniversary celebration, meaning “unity of spirit, heart and mind together”.

Praise the Lord for this wonderful family of God !