Shaanxi Church Continues Virtual Sunday Service

Fengqi Church in Luochuan County, Yan'an City, Shanxi Province
Fengqi Church in Luochuan County, Yan'an City, Shanxi Province (photo: Jonah)
By Jonah ZhangJanuary 29th, 2021

As in early January, the coronavirus changed its appearance and made a comeback, all in-person worship activities of the church were suspended in Fengqi community, Luochuan County, Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province.

On 17 January, the Fengqi Church continued its online worship. A brother named Li Xiaoyong began the service by asking everyone to stand and sing the hymn, “The Lord is in His Holy Temple.” After this, he led the congregation in repeating the Apostles' Creed.

After that, the congregation sang two hymns, followed by a reading of Psalm 22. Then Li read Matthew 6:31-33: “So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” He added, "This is the word of God."

Sister Liu Aiqin gave a spontaneous response on behalf of the congregation, saying, “Thanks be to God.”

Pastor Che Fenping preached a sermon entitled, “The Basic Necessities of Jesus."  She shared that the son of man, Jesus, also needed the basic necessities of life. So by reading the Gospels we could see how Jesus dressed, ate, where he lived and how he travelled. Through looking at these facts, we could believe more firmly that Jesus really had the same body as us. So when we read the Gospels from this perspective, it was easy to find that Jesus' attitude towards basic necessities of life were obviously different from the Jews and Gentiles of the same time.

Che said that it seemed that food, clothing, housing and transportation are daily trifles, but Jesus never felt these things were too small and insignificant to be considered, according to  Mt. 6:25-34; 4:1-4; 8:18-20; 9:35-38. He  demonstrated how we should view and deal with daily life through his own words and deeds during the 33 years of his life.  

As humans were are a part of the world, there was a danger of becoming greedy and desiring only the basic necessities of life. By learning from the good examples of Jesus Christ, and by following in his footsteps, we could lead lives that are redeemed. This was what we could learn from reading about the Lord Jesus in the Bible.

She said, "No matter what we do in daily life, what we eat or drink, the purpose is to glorify God. We should live in the way of  Jesus Christ."

After the sermon, the administrator of the church gave a report that in-person gatherings have been suspended and believers need to again participate in online. 

As Sunday worship time is from 9:00 to 11:00, the church urged its congregation not to send any text linksduring the time. "Don't listen to unknown network sermons and follow unknown links. We should focus on the study of biblical truth."

“Be sure everyone follows the church’s arrangements, and continue to take turns praying all day long for the prevention and control of the pandemic in the Northeast and Hebei Province. We hope we can shake God's powerful hands by our continuous  prayers, so as to stop the pandemic as soon as possible and restore the order of life in the whole country,” the church stated. 

(The original article is published by Gospel Times.)

- Translated by Joy Zhang 

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