A church in Shenzhen resumed the in-person Sunday service, where the pastor preached to help believers renew their strength.
As the epidemic situation improved, some churches in Shenzhen (except Nanshan District and Futian District) began to resume in-person gatherings. Shenzhen Pinghu Church held its first Sunday service on August 14, which was also the first time in nearly two months that believers got together face-to-face.
The second Sunday service officially started at 10 am, when the Moses Praise Team sang two hymns: "Every time I Praise the Lord" and "Like an Eagle Spreading Its Wings".
After the worship, seekers and believers who came to the church for the first time were invited to introduce themselves briefly. Huang Chuxian, the pastor of the church, led the congregation to offer blessing prayers to these new friends.
That day, the live broadcast of worship was also provided simultaneously. Pastor Huang said that she hoped that believers who attended the online worship could come to in-person gatherings.
The theme preached that day was “How to Renew Strength”. Pastor Huang pointed out that during the epidemic, the church found that many believers were weak in faith due to the pressure from their economy, work and family with no access to in-person gatherings. In this situation, she hoped everyone could learn how to renew their strength with Isaiah 40: 27-31.
She shared from two aspects: “why do we need to renew our strength” and “How can we renew our strength”. The pastor pointed out that everyone will have moments of weakness and a lack of strength, and the real reason why people lose strength is that they have lost faith in God. As a result, first people need to come to God and restore their relationship with Him. Second, people should resume gatherings and restore the harmonious fellowship with each other in the Lord, exhorting each other and walking together. Believers need to learn to wait for the Lord. Confronted with all kinds of circumstances and difficult times, people shall learn to look up to God, think about His greatness and firmly keep in mind that God sits and reigns no matter what the circumstances.
Finally, the praise team led the congregation to sing the hymn “You Sit Enthroned”.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
