HOT-Adventure II

Jul 16, 2023

Thank God for being with us !

The 7-week journey of reading the book of Genesis had been completed, over 100 brothers and sisters gathered at Hope Oasis at 3:30pm and sister Penny, with sister Ivy’s interpretation, led a prayer to kick off the activity on this Sunday.

To begin with, the 7 selected groups creatively shared the 14 major events in the Genesis through various performances, filling the house of God with joy and laughter:

• brother KT’s group (Group 14) shared chapters 1 to 3, which describe God’s creation and what they learnt through a well-edited video. Then the group shared the history of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God through a live voice performance with a slide show. By emphasizing the power of God’s speech, the group learnt that we should be careful with what we said, and the importance of taking Sundays off to join Worship service;
• brother Jason’s group (Group 17) presented chapters 4 to 8, which tell the history of Cain’s jealousy towards Abel through a short skit and video, emphasizing that giving to Christ is good and pleasing God. The group also presented a video about Noah and the flood, which was about perseverance and trusting God;
• sister Zoe’s group (Group 8) shared chapters 9 to 11, through a drama and a rap performance describing humanity’s growth from Noah’s family and the history of the Tower of Babel, the group highlighted the importance of following God throughout one’s life;
• sister Ivy Car’s group (Group 2) told the history of God’s calling to Abraham and the birth of Ishmael and Isaac by a solo storytelling performance covering chapters 11 to 23. From the Bible verses, the group shared the importance of walking with God, stepping out of our comfort zones, and receiving blessings, faith, and guidance through Jesus as God’s beloved children;
• brother Sam’s group (Group 11) shared chapters 24 to 30 covering the history of Isaac’s marriage and Jacob’s theft of Esau’s blessing through a funny short skit. The group pointed out the importance of humility and surrendering to God’s plan, as well as the significance of forgiveness and learning from God’s word;
• sister Ceres’s group (Group 13) presented chapters 31 to 39, which describe Jacob’s return to Canaan and God’s presence with Joseph even in slavery. Through a stage performance with a slide show and pops, the group emphasized that God has a plan for each of us and we should trust in Him like Joseph did;
• sister Samret’s group (Group 19) shared what they learnt from chapters 40 to 50, which describe Jacob and his family experiencing a time of great famine and eventually settled in the land of Goshen. The group highlighted how one person’s faith could bless their entire family or even their entire race.

After the wonderful presentations, all 22 groups took turns to answer 3 required Bible quiz questions that were designed by 13 groups of brothers and sisters. Although it was a quiz, all participants took part with one spirit, and actively shouting out the best answers, tackling the questions and supporting each other joyfully.

Then Pastor Gavin expressed his gratitude for God’s will and direction for our church in reading the Old Testament. He emphasized that God’s words teach us to stand strong in the battle between two worldviews: the biblical worldview and the secular worldview. Controversial topics such as abortion, transgenderism, gay marriage, evolution, euthanasia, polygamy, racism, and infanticide in the secular world are based on man’s words. As described in Genesis 3:1 and 3:5, the serpent deceived mankind by creating doubt. The seed of doubt aims to making people to rely on man’s words and not to follow the Lord as mentioned in Ephesians 4:14. This trend is reflected not only in the generation after Joshua in Judges 2:10, but also in younger generations being more prone to atheism in modern times.

And it is crucial to rely on God and understand His will by studying the Old Testament. By doing so, we can share Christ’s love and interact with people’s challenges without compromising our faith. The foundation of the biblical worldview is to trust in the words of God, which is the only solution.

The next target of our HOT-Adventure is to read the book of Exodus, which is scheduled in the coming 10 weeks. 5 groups have been selected to share the contents of the book.

At the end, brothers and sisters were invited to leave their fingerprints on a map as a commemoration of our journey of reading through the Old Testament.

Thank you Jesus ! By learning the Old Testament together, we are all equipped and will keep growing in the movement of the Life Adventure too.