A word from PJ
APR 2023 - JUN 2023
The Answer To Revival
4 Jul 2023
Dear church,
A month has passed since ‘Hearts on Fire’ Hope Conference. We regathered from different centres and nations, after 3 long years of not being able to do so. I really miss all of you!
It is so good to have all of us in one venue for this year’s conference. There is a difference when we are all present together in one place, worshipping our one God and listening to His one clear message for all of us.
We are one family. We aren’t perfect – we will hurt one another from time to time, but we are still brothers and sisters in Christ. As we renewed our covenant through taking the Holy Communion in Conference, let us continue to reaffirm our love and friendship with one another, reconcile and make right with one another, and recommit our hearts to our Life Group.
Not only does God want to regather us as one Hope family, but He wants to gather us back to His purpose as well. The vision that God has entrusted to us is to fulfill the Great Commission. Our mission is to love neighbours, make disciples and plant churches. Even if our church grows to become the largest church in the world and we do all other things excellently, if we have forgotten our vision and our mission, we have failed.
Church, in order to fulfill God’s purpose for our movement, churches, Life Groups, and individual lives, we got to pray. Ever since we spoke about revival in last year’s session 6, Pastor Claudia and I have taken a lot more time to pray. I’ve learned to let go of my pride, became more receptive to God’s voice, and am so much more convicted to see revival happen within me and around me.
The answer to revival in our lives and in our world is prayer. Not just the act of prayer, but the posture of humility and hunger for God. If you have not started, I want to encourage you to pray at least 10 minutes daily. If you are married, set aside time to pray with your spouse. Let us continue to seek God in prayer and allow Him to set our hearts on fire. This is how revival will happen in our lives, our life groups, our church, our nations, and the world!
In Christ,
Senior Pastor Jeff
STORIES OF HOPE
See how God is reviving hearts in our church!
I no longer have to put up an act.
I know who God is!
Kyle, Hope SG Uni
‘The One with a Facade’ heart at the Hearts Exhibition spoke to me. At first I thought I did receive from Conference devotions. But when I looked back, the reflections that I sent in the Bible App chat weren’t revelations I received from God during my devotion, but things I’ve learnt over the years as a Christian. It made me wonder whether I’m really seeking and hearing from God, or am I just using my head knowledge to write something just to show my Life Group that I am doing my devotions diligently.
I went into Conference praying that God will help to peel the blindness away; to see and recognise when I am just putting on a facade. I wanted to experience what having an intimate relationship with God really looks like.
In Session 3, Evangelist Daniel Kolenda asked us to link hands and describe the miracle we needed in our lives. I have been having back pain for 9 months due to an accident. Honestly, I didn’t have much expectation, as the results of my previous prayers for healing were ambiguous at best. But right after we prayed, I felt that something was different so I tried bending my back. To my surprise, it didn’t hurt!
Even though the pain isn’t completely gone, it’s about 75% healed. I’m really just very grateful for God’s grace in my life. I’m also apologetic towards God for doubting His ability to work in my life. The healing that I received is proof that God is real and good. I no longer have to put up an act infront of others and to pretend to know God; I truly know who He is in my life!
God meets us in our toughest battles
and darkest nights.
Cristy, Filipino
My husband and I are in a long-distance relationship. I started experiencing difficulties in my marriage last year. I was anxious, devastated and in pain. At the same time, I started attending Hope Church after a friend’s invitation. I prayed every morning and night to surrender my troubled heart to God.
Truly, God meets us in our toughest battles and darkest nights. God began to heal my brokenness and I came to know Him as a God who understands my pain intimately. I even saw a vision of a pair of hands from the sky emitting light and knew instantly that God was telling me not to give up as He is with me through this difficult season.
After experiencing God’s love, I felt the need to forgive my husband and share God’s love with him so that he can come to know God as well. I shared learnings from sermons with my husband, and even read the Bible to him. Through persistence, my husband became eager to know more about God.
Conference has affirmed the need to continuously surrender my life to God. I am more assured than ever that I do not have to fight these battles alone; God is fighting my battles for me, and He will never give me what I cannot handle. My marriage is stronger than ever because we are both choosing and loving God together. Thank God for His amazing work in us!
I enjoy giving my best to God
because He is worthy of our praise!
Faith, HopeKids
Campference was so much fun! I love being able to interact with my friends and lunching together.
During worship, I thought of the word ‘surrender’. I really love reading, and God told me to spend my time reading the Bible.
We also learned about King David in Campference. Even though he was the youngest in his family, he could still serve God. Just like King David, if I can turn my heart to focus on God, I can serve Him fully as well.
I joined the Junior Leadership Programme where I’m learning how to serve in worship.
Even though it’s tiring, I’m learning so much. I enjoy giving my best to God and serving Him because He is worthy of our praise!
God reminded me that I’m not alone.
He is sending fellow workers into the field too!
Sarah, Creative Access Nation in Asia
I came to know Christ through an international church in my country, but stopped going after a while as I did not feel connected to the community.
One day, a friend invited me to his church called ‘Hope’ and I visited their Life Group. The Life Group would invite me to their house as we lived near each other. We would even cook together sometimes!
I didn’t know anything about belonging to a church. But when I came for my first Hope Conference in 2019, I saw a picture of how the bigger church is made up of many different Life Groups. I also saw how Hope members grew in their walk with God through one-on-one mentoring. I felt belonged and wanted to be involved, so I decided to join Hope.
Coming back for Conference this year was really emotional for me. Even though I know my church is part of a bigger family, we couldn’t experience it physically due to the pandemic restrictions. By the grace of God, 9 of us managed to come for Conference this year. 5 of them received Christ during COVID, so this is their first-ever Hope Conference!
This Conference, God stirred my heart to reach out and share the gospel to non-Christians in my nation. Earlier this year, I quit my job to enroll into a 5-month YWAM Bible School. I will be equipped on how to serve the community, outreach, and preach, and then get sent to different countries to practice what I learned. Initially, I was afraid because I was going alone to the field. But in Conference, I saw so many young people respond to go for missions. God reminded me that what I am doing is exactly what He has called me to do, and that I am not alone – He is sending many fellow workers into the field as well!
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
