Approaching the Double Ninth Festival which falls next Tuesday, three coastal churches held special services to honor the elderly.
Jiaojiang Church in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, on the southeastern coast of China, held the 16th “Love and Honor the Elderly" Service to celebrate the incoming Double Ninth Festival and the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in advance, reported the church.
Elder Hua Xiaochi, chairman and president of Yuhuan Municipal CC&TSPM shared the sermon with the theme of "Blessed Life", urging the believers to follow Abraham's example and have a blessed life, as well as be a blessing for children and others.
The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday when elders would climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum liquor, and wear the zhuyu plant, according to Wikipedia. Some people also visit the tombs of their ancestors to pay their respects.
In Dushu Luke Church, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, Pastor Xu Zhangfu gave blessings to senior believers, exhorting them to pray for the church and their families and to be an example to the young generation, according to the Suzhou CC&TSPM.
After the service, the medical staff of the megachurch took blood measurements of all the elderly believers, giving each of them a gift.
On the same day, Christ Church in Wuzhong Development Zone encouraged its elderly members in the sermon titled “Gray Hair Is a Crown of Splendor” to walk in righteousness to receive the crown of splendor. Young believers were also exhorted to honor the elderly.
The church distributed a quilt to each senior above the age of 70.
- Translated by Livingstones Shi, Karen Luo
