Easter Celebration 2021

April 4,  2021

Praise God that we could have the Easter Celebration face to face at church this year. The theme is “He Was Crushed”.

Before the service began, there was a funny animation about a character finding his way out of a maze. The symbolic meaning of the story is that the Holy Spirit is our guide who leads us to bear spiritual fruit and to our Heavenly Father.

Then Pastor Gavin explained the meaning of Isaiah 53:5. Jesus was wounded not only physically, but also spiritually. He was crushed in His spirit. Like crushing olives to make olive oil, when Jesus was crushed, His holiness poured upon us. The oil can be used as a pleasing aroma and as medicine for healing.

To start the celebration, an opening video showing the crucifixion of Jesus was shown. Then sister Rosa and the Praise and Worship Team led us to dwell into a powerful praise and worship, reminding us of Jesus’ great love for us and His saving grace.

Then sister Palin from Peace Group testified about God’s goodness for her in a video. Sister Palin is a beautician, and because of the pandemic, she had to stop working for three months. But she thanked God for providing her with some short-term jobs later. She also shared that her child was in debt but God listened to her prayers and take care of her child. Sister Palin was grateful that during the pandemic, she could spend more time with brothers and sisters to pray and serve God together.

After that, there was a skit in which sister Krista and brother Jacky performed in a cookery programme, making Serradura pudding. To make the pudding, Marie biscuits were crushed in a plastic bag, which symbolizes that Jesus was crushed because of our sins. Besides, Serradura pudding was served with grape juice which represents Jesus’ precious blood that cleanses our sins. This is the Holy Communion Jesus prepared for everyone who believes in Him. Then the whole congregation partook the Holy Communion together.

Pastor Gavin preached on the Scripture Isaiah 53:5. The title of the sermon is “He Was Crushed”. There are three terms mentioned in the Bible – “sin”, “transgression” and “iniquity”.  “Sin” means “miss the mark”, that is, failing to live a life as what God intends us to. “Transgression” means that we intentionally choose to rebel and not do what is right, leading to distrust and broken relationships between God and men and among people. “Iniquity” refers to some deeply rooted weaknesses inside our heart, twisting God’s law and standards. Iniquity is the result of choosing our own ways. Jesus was crushed in His spirit because of our deeply rooted sins. Recently, people have been advocating the idea of “self-love”. People have become self-centred and define what is right with their own judgement. This is an idolatry of self. However, instead of pursuing self-love, we should seek to know God’s love for us more. Our focus should be Christ’s love in which we will find peace, hope and power.

Praise the Lord that six visitors accepted Christ in the altar call. Thank God for the wonderful celebration.

Let’s keep following Jesus and sharing His love.