wfn.org | TCN: Churches Witness Harvest After Hosting Joint-Worship Service

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2961 Edition

>November 24~30, 2008

Churches Witness Harvest After Hosting Joint-Worship Service

>Reported by Chen Yi-shuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

Four churches from Kaohsiung Shou-Shan presbytery agreed to hold four  joint-services every year with each church leading one service. The  theme for this year's joint-services is "Gospel Sunday". Chan-Kon  Church, Fu-Chang Church, Fu-Ze Church, and Zheng-Zhong Church worshipped  together on November 23. The theme of the service was "How Great You  Are" and it was hosted by Chan-Kon Church. Pastor Lu from Chan-Kon  Church named his sermon "It's So Good to Know You".  He emphasized on  the words "so good", "know", and "You" to explain how a person's life  can become dramatically good by including God in his or her life.

On the day of the service, members from all four churches gathered  together for worship and four pastors could be seen on stage welcoming  the crowd. Chan-Kon Church Women Fellowship performed a praise dance  while the youth fellowship orchestra performed some hymns and  contemporary worship songs. The overall atmosphere was festive as the  crowd joined those on stage in worshiping God with dancing and singing.

During the service, each church arranged for one new believer to share  his or her personal testimony. These believers were all baptized in  recent months. One man from Zheng-Zhong Church shared that people  usually come to Christ during a crisis in their lives. However, a lot of  people miss out on opportunities to serve God because they make a  decision to follow Christ during a time of illness or very late in life.  One student from Fu-Chang shared that she was very rebellious during her  early teens. It was her mother's undying love and forgiveness and God's  love that touched her heart and compelled her to turn back. One woman  from Fu-Ze Church shared that her new Christian faith dramatically  improved her relationship with her children. Another woman from Chan-Kon  Church shared about her past as a devout Buddhist. Despite being deeply  religious, her life was filled with challenges. She came to know Jesus  when she witnessed a church elder praying for some children. She  remembers that a strong sense of relief washed over her as she dissolved  in tears. Now, she actively participates in the church choir and women  fellowship. "The greatest gift in life is knowing Jesus," she said.

To prepare for "Gospel Sunday" services, Chan-Kon Church members young  and old took training seminars after church services for four weeks to  enable them to counsel people in making a decision for Christ. On the  day of the joint service, 90% of the people who had stepped forward to  receive Christ during the service confirmed their decision after the  service upon receiving counseling. Pastor Lu believes that as long as  Christians are able to bring their friends to church, there will be  plenty of opportunities to invite them to receive Christ as their  personal Savior. He also stressed that Christmas season is an excellent  opportunity to follow-up on these new believers as local churches get  ready for Christmas banquets, caroling in subway stations, etc. The four  churches plan to focus on ministry issues as the main theme for next  year's joint-services.

Taiwan Church News reported on this story earlier. For more information,  go to: http://enews.pctpress.org/2957/2957_3.htm