31^st Anniversary Celebration 2023

Aug 6, 2023

Happy 31^st Anniversary to Hope of God Church Hong Kong !

The theme of this year’s celebration is “We are coming – Count me in”. Pastor Gavin shared about the Bible verse Joshua 1:16 before the Service began. Just like Joshua and the Israelites in the past, all of us have embarked our adventure together with one mission since we moved into Hope Oasis in March.

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

Then sisters Nida and Jit from Peace Group testified God’s amazing work in a video. Sister Nida had a heart attack in 2021. Her heartbeat stopped four times during the operation. Sister Jit asked God for protection and healing upon Nida and the whole church also prayed for her. At the same time, Pastor Arlene reminded her that God is faithful. Sister Nida regained consciousness four days after the operation. Because of Nida’s physical needs after the operation, they had to move to a new home. Thanks to the help from brothers and sisters, they were able to settle in a new place. She also thanked God for taking away their pain and will continue to worship God.

The title of the sermon is “We are coming – Count me in”. Pastor Gavin preached on the Scripture Joshua 1:16. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh chose to stay on the east side of Jordan River, which was not the Promised Land. Our Christian journey does not stop in the wilderness. God wants us to enter the Promised Land, that is, finding rest in the Lord. Spiritually, crossing the Jordan River means that we walk away from depending on ourselves but start to walk depending on God. God says we can be strong and courageous in spite of fear. Faith and courage come from the sovereignty of Jesus. As God is with us, we can be courageous. We can trust in the sovereignty of God.

After the preaching, the “Recap 2022-2023” 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.

Then 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.

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“As One Banquet”

It was the first time we celebrated our church anniversary in Hope Oasis, so the ministry team decided to hold the banquet at church. All groups were assigned to prepare cuisines from around the world, including Thai, Italian, British, Japanese, etc. The dishes were so delicious that they were finished up quickly.

After the dinner, there was a special presentation session. The eight groups paired up to perform a five-minute presentation based on the theme “As One”. Brothers and sisters from Kindness and Joyful Groups, Faithful and Peace Groups, Love and Gentleness Groups, S&C and Goodness Groups performed in creative ways to demonstrate unity and “one in spirit”. The whole church enjoyed the presentations so much. Praise the Lord for this wonderful family of God !