Easter Celebration 2025

Apr 20, 2025

The theme of this year’s Easter Celebration is “Rejected to Respected”.

During Refreshing Moment, Pastor shared on the Scripture Hebrews 4:15. Rejection is very common in our lives. Sometimes it even causes us to have doubts about God. In the Bible, Jesus was also rejected because of jealousy from His own tribe, revealing people’s selfishness. However, His resurrection gives us salvation and eternal life. Praise the Lord !

After sisters Lolita and Julia welcomed everyone, they passed the time to brother Fei and his team to lead the congregation into a powerful praise and worship, immersing in the great love of Jesus.

Then sister Natalie from Gentleness Group testified about how God has blessed her life in her work and health. She quit working as a primary school teacher last year after working for 10 years. In mid-2023, the burdens and pressures from work became overwhelming. She began to have nightmares about work and was so reluctant to go to work every morning. Then God reminded her through the scriptures about the pillars of cloud and fire. Gradually, she became less anxious and her emotions also improved. God healed her heart and gave her strength to face the same work environment. She also prayed for a new direction. She believed that God’s timing was always the best because at that time, she didn’t know she would need to undergo a major surgery under full anesthesia in late August, requiring a month of recovery. If she hadn’t resigned, she wouldn’t have had such a complete rest. Additionally, during her recovery period, she found a new direction – taking a baking course. The start date of the course coincided perfectly with the day the doctor confirmed her complete recovery. She enjoyed the course very much and successfully completed it by the end of last year. After that, God also made a way for her to get an apprenticeship in a hotel. She was the only one who got the opportunity among her classmates. Everything was by God’s grace.

After that, there was a drama performance. The story is about how the main character Chocolate transforms from being rejected to accepted. Chocolate is practicing for a dance competition. However, he is scolded by his coach because he cannot keep up with the rhythm and the team. He feels frustrated and disappointed with himself. Then his friend Anson encourages him with the Bible story about how Jesus accepted the tax collector Zacchaeus. Chocolate feels so relieved and encouraged after he realizes that he should not look upon himself but Jesus who completely accepts who he is. Therefore, he is able to dance freely with his teammates.

Pastor Gavin preached on the Scripture Psalms 118:22. The title of the sermon is “Rejected to Respected”. Jesus was the stone that was rejected and became the cornerstone. The cornerstone is the first stone that is laid down before the construction of a building. It determines the alignment and integrity of the whole building, thus it is most important. In the Bible, “capstone” and “keystone” are also used to represent Jesus. Capstone is the last and top stone to be laid down while keystone is also very important as the arch will fall without it. Jesus is the chief cornerstone, the first and most important and the last stone (capstone or keystone), holding the entire church and our lives together. He is the chief cornerstone of salvation for all humanity, the key for us to be saved.

Then brother Jay’s video testimony was shown, illustrating God’s miraculous work of saving his father physically and spiritually. A few months ago, his father was diagnosed stage 3 colon cancer. Despite the news, Jay felt peaceful and believed that God’s work had begun. Two days before the surgery, he brought his mother to church. She accepted Jesus as her Savior at the service. Then on the same day, his father also accepted Jesus when sisters Rosanna and Success visited him in hospital. Praise God that the surgery was carried out smoothly. Another miracle was that the blood tests showed no detectable cancer cells before chemotherapy. Brother Jay truly experienced real peace and joy when he trusted God and surrendered to His plan. Jesus, the keystone, can bring miracles in our lives. Today we are the spiritual temples of God with Jesus as our cornerstone. And all spiritual temples come together to become the church. As we anchor in Jesus Christ, church is able to offer hope through Christ to people in trouble.

Through Jesus, we are all lifted from rejection to respect. Let us continue to remain in Jesus and live a victorious and joyful life !