Easter Celebration

April 9, 2023

The theme of this year’s Easter Celebration is “He Was Wounded”.

During Refreshing Moment, Pastor shared an article about Easter published on Fox News. It says Jesus’ resurrection affects our past, presence and future. Jesus died on the cross so that our painful past was redeemed. He rose from the dead, telling us that when we have faith in Him, we can have the same power to conquer unthinkable odds in our lives. Moreover, Jesus has guaranteed that one day we will overcome the grave and our soul will spend eternity with Him because of our faith in Him. Therefore, Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus dying on the cross, that is the hope we have as a believer.

After brother Jack and sister Julia welcomed everyone, they passed the time to sister Rosa and her team to lead a joyful praise and worship, celebrating Jesus’ victory.

Then sister Ally from Goodness Group and sister Pik Lin from S&C Group testified about how God blessed them in their work. They are both accountants. After sister Pik Lin started working as an accountant, she realized she also has an interest in IT. When she decided to quit her current job, her boss introduced a new position for her in the company to work in the system development unit. She really thanked God for opening a way for her. Though the new boss used to be very grumpy and always picked on people’s mistakes, he has never scolded her in public. She also prayed to God for peace and prayed that God would soothe her boss. After praying, she could communicate with her boss without any negative emotions. She believed that God has planned each step for her and developed a better her. Sister Ally also thanked God for leading her to work in her husband’s (Alex) IT company. At first, she was not used to the new tasks but after seeing Alex’s passion for his work, she was encouraged to overcome the difficulties. She also thanked God for enhancing their relationship because of having more time to communicate in the company. Both Pik Lin and Ally thanked God for His guidance in their work.

After that, there was a special performance. The first part of the performance was a video clip in which the characters are linked by the good deeds they have done to one another, showing that the love of God is passed to others through people’s kindness. In the second part of the performance, all the characters in the video came onto the stage and sang a song together, further expressing the message of spreading love. What a touching moment !

Pastor Gavin preached on the Scripture Isaiah 53:5. The title of the sermon is “He Was Wounded”. First, pastor introduced the Words of the Year 2022 from Collins Dictionary and Merriam Webster Dictionary, which are “permacrisis” (an extended period of instability and insecurity) and “gaslighting” (modern world of deception and manipulation), showing that people are faced with insecurity and confusion these days. The answer to these problems is peace and healing. The world’s definition of peace may be political stability and harmony in households. However, Jesus didn’t say peace means the absence of conflicts but having peace in spite of conflicts. The peace Jesus gives us is like in the eye of a typhoon, which is calmness and stability. God does not only want to give us a peaceful life but also a healthy life. When our spirit is healthy, that is, when we have a connected relationship with Christ, we will be physically and emotionally healthy, too. Jesus came to bring forth healing to the spirit, mind and body.

Praise God for giving us peace and healing through Jesus. Let us stand firm in His peace and bring peace to the world !