A word from PJ
NOV 2022 - JAN 2023
Revival Starts With Me
15 Feb 2023
Dear Church,
At the start of this year, I shared with us the Focus 2023 message: Hearts On Fire.
I believe that God is bringing about a revival in our nations and our world through us. This year as a movement, we will learn what it means when our hearts are revived by the Holy Spirit, and how our personal revival will transform our communities God has positioned us in.
Revival begins with me
Before a nation, a church, a life group or a family can be revived, it begins with individuals.
As we dig our wells, deep and wide, we have access to water, plenty of fresh water. When we are refreshed, the people around us would see our transformations. They would begin to drink from our wells, and they will also be inspired to dig their own wells to quench their spiritual thirst.
Before we know it, a well will grow to become a stream. The stream becomes a river, and the river becomes an ocean.
When one heart is set on fire for God, it will bring that fire and pass that fire to those around him. It begins begins with you, and it begins with me.
Revival begins with holiness
1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life: Power, Sex and Money. We need to invite the Holy Spirit to put a magnifying glass on these areas in our lives.
As the Holy Spirit sets our hearts on fire, He will also refine us to make us holy. The Holy Spirit is not a destructive fire that seeks to wipe us out. He is a refining fire: calling out sins, setting us free, and transforming us to be like Christ.
That’s the Spirit’s part. How about our part? What is required from us? We surrender and yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit to do His work in us.
On 27 & 28 May, we will be gathering for Hope Conferece at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to hear more about ‘Hearts on Fire’ as a global movement. Finally, after 3 years, we are now able to encounter God and lift His Name together as one Body of Christ. Pastor Claudia and I cannot wait to see all of you again. So sign up for Hope Conference here – do not miss out on the revival work God has in store for your life and our church.
May we let the Holy Spirit set our hearts on fire for God’s purpose and glory. Amen!
In Christ,
Senior Pastor Jeff
STORIES OF HOPE
See how God is reviving hearts in our recent churchwide prayer meet, ‘Power Encounter’!
Suei Kang, Hope SG LYTE
I was stuck in the cycle of sin-repent-repeat, which really affected my relationship with God. I felt so sinful and undeserving of God’s love. How could He forgive someone so wretched as me?
At Power Encounter, I was reminded that no one could hide anything from God. I wanted to know how God really felt about my sins, so I decided to face my sins and confess them to Him.
When I knelt at the altar and prayed, God brought me back to the time I left my previous church. I felt that I had betrayed God and had that same worthlessness inside me. But this time, God assured me that I am now in His kingdom. I can leave my ugly past behind because His love for me at that moment is the same love He has for me today and forever.
I felt like I was a new man. I am reminded and assured that my relationship with God is not based on my works, but it is based on the Cross; that God sent Jesus to die for all of our sins as He loves us so much.
I plan to live a life of remembrance for what God is doing and working in my life. To not be caught up with school or work, but reflect in every season on what God has done and provided for me in my life. His mercies and grace are new in every season!
Choosing the ‘more than enough’ mindset
Kenneth, Hope SG Uni
My spiritual life was stagnating and I was struggling to adapt to a new group where I haven’t made any close friends. I went to Power Encounter in January asking God to show me a sign that He is with me.
During the session, the pastor invited us to surrender ourselves to God at the altar. I didn’t go down because I was shy. I was so disappointed at myself and repeatedly teared during worship.
Towards the end, there was another invitation to be Holy Spirit baptised. The sense of shyness came again. But this time, I felt as though someone was lifting me off my seat and nudging me towards the front of the stage. It was as if God was giving me the strength to confront my fears and literally step out.
As the pastor explained what Holy Baptism is, I doubted if I would receive it because I felt I wasn’t spiritually mature enough. But as my Life Group prayed for me, I felt the weight of all my frustration and fatigue lifted off my shoulders. When the pastor asked us to move our tongues using the Holy Spirit, I was initially confused. But when I opened my mouth, words I did not recognise began following out of my mouth. At that point, I realised that I had just been Holy Spirit baptised.
After Power Encounter, two friends asked me if I had experienced God because He prompted them that He would do wonders for me that night to strengthen my faith. I believe that these visions from my friends was the sign I had asked from God. God showed me that He was still walking with me even in such troubled times.
Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” God has always been there for me. I don’t have to blindly go with the flow in seasons where I am stagnant, but I can dare to ask God for what I need!
Capable through The Holy Spirit
Brian & Kay, Hope SG Adults
Haydes, our 10-year-old daughter, has a kind heart and doesn’t like anyone suffering. In the recent Kids prayer meet, she specifically prayed for COVID and the Russian-Ukrainian war. Feeling for the people there are dragged by these situations, she pray for peace and solution. She believes that God will listen to her prayer and cease the disease and the war, finding the best solution to the world and stop any people from suffering further.
As parents, we are grateful she is considerate towards others and that she can take note of what is happening in the world and see the needs of others, even if they are out of sight. Most importantly, she truly believes in God, seeing Him as the ONLY ONE who could help people in tatters.
The kids’ wake-up time of 6am for school and the potential exhaustion after attending Power Encounter is a challenge for us. However, we value every opportunity to praise the Lord together with brothers and sisters, encountering the power of God, and also experience being fulfilled by Holy Spirit. We definitely want to bring our kids to Power Encounter again. We just need to make sure we do not set the alarm clock so we can sleep in the next day!
The theme “Hearts on Fire” is powerful and energising. We are so motivated and feel empowered by God to share the gospel and joy with others at all times. In 2023, we have a desire to settle into Hope Singapore and strengthen our relationships with fellow brothers and sisters, as well as taking opportunities to serve others. We are looking forward to see God move in our lives this year as we fulfill His will!
Stories Of Hope
See how God is reviving hearts in our recent churchwide prayer meet, ‘Power Encounter’!
Suei Kang, Hope SG LYTE
I was stuck in the cycle of sin-repent-repeat, which really affected my relationship with God. I felt so sinful and undeserving of God’s love. How could He forgive someone so wretched as me?
At Power Encounter, I was reminded that no one could hide anything from God. I wanted to know how God really felt about my sins, so I decided to face my sins and confess them to Him.
When I knelt at the altar and prayed, God brought me back to the time I left my previous church. I felt that I had betrayed God and had that same worthlessness inside me. But this time, God assured me that I am now in His kingdom. I can leave my ugly past behind because His love for me at that moment is the same love He has for me today and forever.
I felt like I was a new man. I am reminded and assured that my relationship with God is not based on my works, but it is based on the Cross; that God sent Jesus to die for all of our sins as He loves us so much.
I plan to live a life of remembrance for what God is doing and working in my life. To not be caught up with school or work, but reflect in every season on what God has done and provided for me in my life. His mercies and grace are new in every season!
I was stuck in the cycle of sin-repent-repeat, which really affected my relationship with God. I felt so sinful and undeserving of God’s love. How could He forgive someone so wretched as me?
At Power Encounter, I was reminded that no one could hide anything from God. I wanted to know how God really felt about my sins, so I decided to face my sins and confess them to Him.
When I knelt at the altar and prayed, God brought me back to the time I left my previous church. I felt that I had betrayed God and had that same worthlessness inside me. But this time, God assured me that I am now in His kingdom. I can leave my ugly past behind because His love for me at that moment is the same love He has for me today and forever.
I felt like I was a new man. I am reminded and assured that my relationship with God is not based on my works, but it is based on the Cross; that God sent Jesus to die for all of our sins as He loves us so much.
I plan to live a life of remembrance for what God is doing and working in my life. To not be caught up with school or work, but reflect in every season on what God has done and provided for me in my life. His mercies and grace are new in every season!
Choosing the ‘more than enough’ mindset
Kenneth, Hope SG Uni
My spiritual life was stagnating and I was struggling to adapt to a new group where I haven’t made any close friends. I went to Power Encounter in January asking God to show me a sign that He is with me.
During the session, the pastor invited us to surrender ourselves to God at the altar. I didn’t go down because I was shy. I was so disappointed at myself and repeatedly teared during worship.
Towards the end, there was another invitation to be Holy Spirit baptised. The sense of shyness came again. But this time, I felt as though someone was lifting me off my seat and nudging me towards the front of the stage. It was as if God was giving me the strength to confront my fears and literally step out.
As the pastor explained what Holy Baptism is, I doubted if I would receive it because I felt I wasn’t spiritually mature enough. But as my Life Group prayed for me, I felt the weight of all my frustration and fatigue lifted off my shoulders. When the pastor asked us to move our tongues using the Holy Spirit, I was initially confused. But when I opened my mouth, words I did not recognise began following out of my mouth. At that point, I realised that I had just been Holy Spirit baptised.
After Power Encounter, two friends asked me if I had experienced God because He prompted them that He would do wonders for me that night to strengthen my faith. I believe that these visions from my friends was the sign I had asked from God. God showed me that He was still walking with me even in such troubled times.
Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” God has always been there for me. I don’t have to blindly go with the flow in seasons where I am stagnant, but I can dare to ask God for what I need!
My spiritual life was stagnating and I was struggling to adapt to a new group where I haven’t made any close friends. I went to Power Encounter in January asking God to show me a sign that He is with me.
During the session, the pastor invited us to surrender ourselves to God at the altar. I didn’t go down because I was shy. I was so disappointed at myself and repeatedly teared during worship.
Towards the end, there was another invitation to be Holy Spirit baptised. The sense of shyness came again. But this time, I felt as though someone was lifting me off my seat and nudging me towards the front of the stage. It was as if God was giving me the strength to confront my fears and literally step out.
As the pastor explained what Holy Baptism is, I doubted if I would receive it because I felt I wasn’t spiritually mature enough. But as my Life Group prayed for me, I felt the weight of all my frustration and fatigue lifted off my shoulders. When the pastor asked us to move our tongues using the Holy Spirit, I was initially confused. But when I opened my mouth, words I did not recognise began following out of my mouth. At that point, I realised that I had just been Holy Spirit baptised.
After Power Encounter, two friends asked me if I had experienced God because He prompted them that He would do wonders for me that night to strengthen my faith. I believe that these visions from my friends was the sign I had asked from God. God showed me that He was still walking with me even in such troubled times.
Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” God has always been there for me. I don’t have to blindly go with the flow in seasons where I am stagnant, but I can dare to ask God for what I need!
Capable through The Holy Spirit
Brian & Kay, Hope SG Adults
Haydes, our 10-year-old daughter, has a kind heart and doesn’t like anyone suffering. In the recent Kids prayer meet, she specifically prayed for COVID and the Russian-Ukrainian war. Feeling for the people there are dragged by these situations, she pray for peace and solution. She believes that God will listen to her prayer and cease the disease and the war, finding the best solution to the world and stop any people from suffering further.
As parents, we are grateful she is considerate towards others and that she can take note of what is happening in the world and see the needs of others, even if they are out of sight. Most importantly, she truly believes in God, seeing Him as the ONLY ONE who could help people in tatters.
The kids’ wake-up time of 6am for school and the potential exhaustion after attending Power Encounter is a challenge for us. However, we value every opportunity to praise the Lord together with brothers and sisters, encountering the power of God, and also experience being fulfilled by Holy Spirit. We definitely want to bring our kids to Power Encounter again. We just need to make sure we do not set the alarm clock so we can sleep in the next day!
The theme “Hearts on Fire” is powerful and energising. We are so motivated and feel empowered by God to share the gospel and joy with others at all times. In 2023, we have a desire to settle into Hope Singapore and strengthen our relationships with fellow brothers and sisters, as well as taking opportunities to serve others. We are looking forward to see God move in our lives this year as we fulfill His will!
Haydes, our 10-year-old daughter, has a kind heart and doesn’t like anyone suffering. In the recent Kids prayer meet, she specifically prayed for COVID and the Russian-Ukrainian war. Feeling for the people there are dragged by these situations, she pray for peace and solution. She believes that God will listen to her prayer and cease the disease and the war, finding the best solution to the world and stop any people from suffering further.
As parents, we are grateful she is considerate towards others and that she can take note of what is happening in the world and see the needs of others, even if they are out of sight. Most importantly, she truly believes in God, seeing Him as the ONLY ONE who could help people in tatters.
The kids’ wake-up time of 6am for school and the potential exhaustion after attending Power Encounter is a challenge for us. However, we value every opportunity to praise the Lord together with brothers and sisters, encountering the power of God, and also experience being fulfilled by Holy Spirit. We definitely want to bring our kids to Power Encounter again. We just need to make sure we do not set the alarm clock so we can sleep in the next day!
The theme “Hearts on Fire” is powerful and energising. We are so motivated and feel empowered by God to share the gospel and joy with others at all times. In 2023, we have a desire to settle into Hope Singapore and strengthen our relationships with fellow brothers and sisters, as well as taking opportunities to serve others. We are looking forward to see God move in our lives this year as we fulfill His will!
A word from PJ
Nov 2020 - Jan 2021
OUR MANNER AND MISSION IN LIFE
9 February 2021
Dear church,
I hope that you are having a blessed new year!
After 10 months of living in this new norm, I’ve observed that some of us continued to gather momentum and thrive for God, while some of us began to lose momentum and dwindle in our faith. I believe this difference is due to our life manner. Therefore, I’d like to encourage us with this word that the Lord has spoken to me regarding how we are to live as we pivot upon God in this new year.
One day, an angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoah, an Israelite, telling her that she will be expecting a child. Manoah asked the angel, “what is to be the child’s manner of life and what is his mission?” (Judges 13:12)
This is a crucial question for all of us – after knowing Christ, how should I live (life manner) and what should I live for (life mission)? There are two observations here.
Firstly it is manner before mission. If we live the manner of our life right, we will also live the mission of our life right. If we are only concerned with our mission – busying with our studies, work, serving, and family – but not working on our life manner, we will have what the Bible describes: ‘a form of godliness but denying its power’. (2 Timothy 3:5a) We still do what we are supposed to do, but if our true love for God is gone, what is left is just an empty shell. Therefore, we must build our life manner strong.
Next, it is both manner and mission. We cannot divorce our life mission from our life manner. If we claim to have the right manner, our mission must follow suit. Our mission is the outflow of our manner. It is not manner or mission but both manner and mission.
As we begin this new year, I’d like to bring us back to the basics of building a strong foundation for our life manner:
- Keep your daily appointments with God – God wants us to know Him deeply; it’s in these moments that He will speak to you and refresh you directly. Come daily before God; open bible and open hearts.
- Schedule regular times of solitude and community – Find time to withdraw from people in order to enlarge our soul with God AND also find time to fellowship, carry each other’s burdens and encourage one another in the ways of God.
- Surrender yourself to God daily – Our hearts are prone to wander away from God; be intentional to come before God and surrender our lives to Him on a daily basis.
Just like how God has used these fundamental things to help me walk with Him through the highs and lows the past 20 plus years, I believe that He will use them to help you walk strong with Him as well. As your pastor, I truly love you. I want us to live our lives in proper biblical fashion, so we will have both life manner and life mission right. This 2021, let us commit to get our basics right, and live a life that is both fruitful in God and fruitful for God.
In Christ,
Senior Pastor Jeff
Framing each day in His Love
Since the Circuitbreaker period in April 2020, we have been working from home. With the flexibility from telecommuting, we realised that while mornings were less hurried, there was a tendency to sleep in more. Hence, we had to be disciplined to wake up slightly earlier so that we could still set aside at least 15 mins to read God’s Word before we began our work. In the morning, I (Larry) also began to develop the habit of kneeling down and praying to God, to make it my first discipline. I find that the posture of kneeling helps my focus on praying, frames my day right in God’s love, and see things through His perspective. I find myself less anxious and become more aware of God’s presence during stressful situations at work.
Working from home was also a time where we found it easy to gain weight due to less physical activity. Hence, we decided to eat just 2 meals a day (breakfast and dinner) and have fruits for lunch. With the change in our lunch habits, we decided to channel the time for personal devotion in addition to mornings, where we could carve out about 45mins to worship God, read His word, or tune in to online resources to enrich our faith. Not only were we able to upkeep our physical health, we also received spiritual refreshment regularly. Though we didn’t always manage to keep to this lunch devotion 100% of the time, the habit is now ingrained into our lifestyle.
Besides personal devotion, we also partake in weekly virtual fellowship with our workplace Christian group and remain connected with our Hope spiritual family through small group and 1-on-1 meetups, as well as with pre-believers. We also had opportunities to connect with neighbours better where we collaborated together to build a mini community garden, and became good friends with another young family with children as they come to our house regularly to play board games. While being intentional to reach out to our neighbours, we enjoyed the process of building relationships with them. As we seek to refresh them, we find ourselves refreshed as much!
All in all, we are thankful to God that through this season, He has provided us with the opportunities to build deeper relationships, with Him, and with people around us!
Larry & Kelly
(Hope Singapore Adults Axis)
Finding brotherhood in battle
This Life Group, to me, is truly God-given. It has allowed me to have a solid brotherhood to keep each other accountable for our battle with temptations and lust. Shout out to them for being so supportive and loving in encouraging me to chase Christ in not just fighting for purity, but in surrendering other guy-related struggles in my life like pride to God. The unusually long and encouraging text messages from my leader and calls late at night from my LG mates to stay pure, help me know that other people deeply care about how I’m walking with God.
Every Christian man really needs to have a group of trusted brothers to share and do life with; to train us in putting down our egos and admitting our flaws. As guys, it’s so easy to fall into the temptation of keeping our sin private to maintain our outward image. In that same way, having brothers that platonically love each other creates an environment of authenticity and real brotherly love where our vulnerability isn’t taken advantage of and isn’t ridiculed. Choosing God isn’t easy as it’s not in our nature, but thank God He helps us to choose Him!
Ashley
Hope Singapore Tertiary (NS)
Igniting our faith through His Word
At the start of the pandemic, my sub-district members expressed their doubts and fears about what was happening, hence we quickly jumped to online interactions so we wouldn’t feel alone in this journey. However along the way, some members stopped attending Life Group with excuses like work matters, poor connection, and shifting schedules. It was evident that they have neglected to feed themselves with God’s word daily and were sliding away from Him. That was when God prompted me to gather everyone for group devotions on a weekly basis.
Our devotions focused on igniting our faith through the life of Job, Joseph, Moses and Joshua. Initially only the Life Group Leaders and core team came, but with constant follow-ups and encouragement in the LG chats, members started attending too.
Through this group devotions, we see many members fully connected into the Word of God, with some even taking the lead in the discussions! We were also able to encourage a new believer who joined us in December 2020. She was having a difficult time, but through the group devotions her faith was reignited, and she now fully commits her time to LG and services.
Right now, our sub-district’s prayer and worship life has completely evolved and we can evidently see it in the growth of our people. We’ve had 4 water baptisms during this pandemic, even in our bathtubs. We have members who have grown in their discipleship journey, from A to B, and B to C. Members are sharing more and more devotions in the LG chats, and constantly inviting friends from all over the globe to join our online / hybrid LGs. Prayer requests such as new jobs, approval of passes, healing and provisions have been poured out generously by God. We are really pressing in for more because with Jesus, there is always more for us and more to come!
Deniece
Hope Singapore Filipino
A Safe Space Amidst Uncertainty
When COVID-19 struck, we in Hope Melbourne were immediately thrown into a state of uncertainty. It became increasingly difficult for international students and fresh grads to stay in Melbourne. Even locals and residents lost their employment and people had to move out of the city. As a Life Group, we needed to find a new way to stay connected.
We moved our gatherings online and started to livestream services together. We share our learning from the Word regularly and get very real about our prayer requests. We also have crazy times of games which are both hilarious and competitive to the point of shouting over each other on Zoom (and my parents knocking on my door). We persist in meeting together and at the end of every LG session, our hearts are full to the brim.
The pandemic might be a disruption, but it did not stop God’s work. Prior to that, we were just meeting as Hope Melbourne. But across 2020, we meet virtually across Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide as well as Singapore. As part of Christmas celebration, we even played Secret Santa and sent each other gifts across the continents!
More importantly, I can see how God’s hand is on His community. Even though we gather over Zoom, Hope Aussie has become such a safe space for us to share vulnerably about our struggles in our walk, to embrace and uplift each other when some of us are in doubt or afraid, and to pray and proclaim truth over each other as we look to God above the challenges.
Truly, Hope is better together. Hope Aussie became my home away from home, and I thank God for it every day!
Grace
Hope Melbourne & Adelaide
