Mission Sunday

March 14, 2004

The Mission Sunday Service was held on 14 March in Hope Centre. For the first time, we received a copy of Hope Hong Kong Mission Quarterly Newsletter – “Reaching Out”. In order to fulfill His Great Commission, it is the mission for Hope of God Church to continue Jesus’ mission on earth – that is to evangelize.

After the usual praise and worship session, sister Catherine Ong from group 2 shared her testimony with us. Sister Catherine visited Nepal on a mission trip with sister Simmy in September 2003. They shared the gospel with the local, which led to their acceptance of God. Despite problems with language, bad weather and living condition, sister Catherine felt that the blessings from God were more than what she gave. Both Catherine and Simmy planed to return to Nepal in April and July this year to strengthen the faith of the children in the school. They asked everyone in church to pray for these new believers in Nepal and encouraged those who had the burden to join them in their future trips.

A video prepared by our Mission Department followed. It showed a testimony from one of our brothers in China who thanked God for His Great Commission and sending people from Hope of God to China a few years ago. Sister Misami and brother Joseph Okamura from Hope Japan and sister Jessica Jen from Hope Taipei also encouraged us to join future mission trips so that more souls would be saved.

Pastor Gavin’s sermon topic was “You Are Called To Be In God’s Mission” and the scripture was taken from John 4:31-38. The essence of the preaching is “The fields are ripe for harvest, but the laborers are few”. Every Christian should have a clear focus in life, which is to evangelize and nurture the new believers in the Lord so that God’s kingdom can be expanded. Hence, we should engage in God’s mission since the most important investment we should make in our life is to invest our living in what matters most to God.

After the sermon, Pastor Gavin challenged everyone to take part in mission work. We can participate in mission trips, prayers, send small gifts or greeting cards. Pastor Gavin also introduced the Mission Pledge for Hope Hong Kong and encouraged brothers and sisters to contribute towards the success of mission work in 2004.