A Liaoning church held a Sunday service to mark the annual Father’s Day which fell on the third Sunday of this June.
After a period of suspension of in-person gatherings, Dalian Fengshou Road Church resumed its services under the normalization of pandemic prevention and control.
It is reported that the church’s activities, including morning prayers, gatherings on weekdays, Bible studies, and Sunday services, have resumed in strict accordance with pandemic prevention requirements, with online ones held simultaneously. The church also controls the number of worshippers, which is two-thirds lower than the one before the outbreak of COVID-19.
The first service started at 7:30 in the morning. Believers entered the sanctuary after their information was registered, temperatures and health codes were checked. With masks, they sat one seat apart to praise, pray and listen to the sermon.
After the greetings, Rev. Wan Shifu, who was dressed in a white holy robe, led the congregation in reading Luke 15: 11-32. In the sermon, he shared the story of a prodigal son who repented and was forgiven by his father. Though loved by his father, he ran away from home but finally came back. The father said to his other son who was unhappy, "He was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." The pastor urged believers on Father's Day not to forget that the heavenly Father forgave them through Jesus' death, encouraging them not only to confess their sins but also to repent.
After the sermon, four female seekers walked to the holy altar, praying to accept Jesus and become Christians.
The congregation sang the hymn The Most Beautiful Blessing in My Life, welcoming them back with applause.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
