During Passion Week and Easter, churches in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province held a series of activities to meditate on the Lord's cross and resurrection, leading believers to have a deeper faith and to live and die with Christ, and also offering prayers for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic to return to normal life as soon as possible.
Suzhou Christianity Apostles' Church held an online Easter Sunday service, during which Rev. Chen Meng shared on "Christ Has Risen", advising believers to carefully think about the meaning of Christ's resurrection, and encourage them to better live the life of Christ in this world.
In the online Easter worship conducted in Suzhou Gongxiang Church, Rev. Yu Huawei quoted Matthew 28:1-10 and preached on the theme of "The Savior Risen from the Dead", inspiring the congregation to always remember the Lord's grace, walk with the resurrected Savior and live the resurrection life.
Starting on April 11, the color palette of Suzhou St John's Church’s public WeChat account changed to dark grey for six consecutive days. The church recalled and pushed the biblical recount of Jesus' words and deeds during the Passion Week, hoping to lead all believers to refresh their knowledge about Jesus’ crucifixion together through online sharing, and to remind them to remember what Jesus taught us — to love each other.
From Lent to Easter, Suzhou Mujia Garden Church provided believers with sharing information and devotionals every day. The church posted the scriptures and devotions of Lent and the Holy Week this year on its WeChat public account.
From April 10 to 17, the church launched a series of online activities of Passion Week meditations and Easter worship, including meditations on the Seven Last Words from the Cross, Easter Sunrise Service, Easter Sunday Worship, etc. The church called on believers to appreciate Christ’s suffering for us, and also to commemorate the pain and distress experienced by patients and medical staff during the epidemic, especially in Shanghai, Suzhou and other regions.
On April 17, in order to commemorate the great redemption that Jesus achieved through his sacrifice, Dushu Lake Church live streamed a morning watch prayer meeting.
From 7:00 am to 8:00 am, pastors took turns in leading the believers to worship and praise, recalling the experience of Jesus on Good Friday, and encouraging them to strengthen their faith that "Jesus died for me, and I live for Jesus". In the end, all the pastors knelt down together and guided the followers to offer earnest intercession for the country, the church, and the believers.
On the same day, through live broadcasting, the church also hosted an Easter online praise meeting, attended by the full-time church staff, to celebrate Jesus' resurrection with all Christian believers with a thankful heart. After the praise meeting, Rev. Wang Tianlu delivered a sermon titled "Resurrection with Jesus", encouraging the flock to live out the life of Christ together and wait for His return.
From April 10 to 17, Suzhou Shishan Church launched a series of activities to commemorate the grace of Jesus, which were all conducted online, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the Holy Week, every morning the pastoral staff led an online devotional and meditation based on the timeline of Jesus' last week on earth. On April 10 in the morning, with palm branches, the church held a Palm Sunday service, during which Rev. Lu Muen preached on "Entering the Holy City". On April 14 in the afternoon, the Eucharist service was streamed for Maundy Thursday. On April 15, two services took place: the meditation and prayer on the 14th Station of the Crucible in the morning and candle meditation on the Seven Last Words from the Cross at night. On April 17, Easter Sunday, Suzhou Shishan Church held the Easter Sunday service. Rev. Meng Yanfeng shared the great news of Jesus’ resurrection in the sermon titled "He Is Not Here, He Has Been Risen".
During Passion Week, Xiangcheng Christ Church held a series of online celebrations.
On Palm Sunday, Rev. Kuai Mo led the worship, during which Rev. Qian Bin delivered a sermon titled "Overcoming Anxiety". On Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Sabbath Day, Rev. Kui Mo, Rev. Xu Enbei, Rev. Qian Bin and Rev. Meng Yao led the congregation to do spiritual devotion on its WeChat public account. The Good Friday Evening Prayer was video recorded by all the faculty members and the church committee members and broadcast in the WeChat group. The Easter Sunday morning service was live-streamed through the WeChat group by Rev. Meng Yao. During the live broadcast of the Easter Sunday worship, Rev. Xu Enbei preached on "When It Is About to Dawn", advising the congregation to be patient and persevering when confronting difficulties. With faith, the darkness will eventually pass, and the light will surely come.
Zhangjiagang Christian Church: Passion Week Online Worship Series
From April 10 to 17, Zhangjiagang Christian Church held a series of online worship activities during Passion Week.
From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, every day there was virtual-led devotional practice and sharing recorded by a pastoral church worker. By sharing Jesus' journey this week, believers meditated on His authority, wisdom, love, teaching, humility, suffering, and resurrection.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
