Several churches in Jiangsu held Autumn Praise events on September 22, including Shishan Church, St. John's Church, and Huguan Church in Suzhou.
At Shishan Church last Sunday, the autumn praise event featured songs, sermons, dances, recitations, and testimonies, all expressing praise to God.
The Joshua Praise Team and Jeduthun Choir performed hymns, followed by a sermon from Rev. Xu Enbei titled "God's Good Will in All Things," which encouraged the congregants to move forward with gratitude and testified to God's enduring grace. The Festival Ministry Department presented a poetry recitation, while the Yage Dance Group danced. Later, a couple shared a moving testimony titled "We Love Because He First Loved Us."
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, St. John's Church, in collaboration with the Jiangnan Yun Ethnic Music Orchestra, hosted a " Chinese Christian Music Concert." Rev. Meng Yao delivered a sermon titled "God Loves All Beings," offering a prayer of benediction.
The concert began with worship led by the praise choir of the church. Accompanied by the Orchestra, the church choir performed songs like "Ode to Peace" and "Winter Is Past, the Rain Is Gone." They also performed traditional Chinese pieces such as "Gui Lu Yin" – ancient Chinese poetry, "Sweet and holy Jesus’ Name" set to the melody of "Jasmine Flower" in the Suzhou dialect, and "Jesus is the Best in the World" in the Huangmei tune from southern Anhui. The Evergreen Choir presented "The Lord's Deep Love Song," which has a Jiangnan flavor, and "God's Wonderful Works Song," set to the ancient melody "Ping Sha Luo Yan."
The Orchestra performed "Gusu Affection," "Spring Dawn in Gusu," and "The Beauty of Taihu Lake," combining Jiangnan culture. The concert concluded with a grand chorus by the Sunday Choir and Evergreen Choir.
At Huguan Church, around 350 congregants attended its Autumn Praise event. Rev. Lu Fang preached Psalm 145, with a sermon titled "Praise the Lord." The praise team led the congregation in worship through diverse group performances, including small groups, male vocal ensembles, and female vocal ensembles, before and after the sermon.
- Edited & translated by Abigail Wu
