Three churches in northeast China's Liaoning province resumed gatherings on the same day after the Spring Festival.
In Changtu Church, Tieling City, which had just finished more than a month of renovations during the COVID-19 lockdown, a face-to-face service and praise meeting were held.
After believers read the Bible, prayed, and praised, Elder Chen Yu, dressed in a clerical robe, preached a sermon titled "Grateful to God", encouraging churchgoers to repay the Lord and count His Grace based on Psalm 116: 1-19. She declared that believers should praise the name of the Lord, fulfill their vows to Him, and dedicate their lives.
During the worship and praise meeting following the service, church staff, groups, and other churches presented 26 programs, including dances, couples' choruses, male believers' choruses, dance songs, and a program played in an allegro tempo.
Following a ten-month break in on-site gatherings beginning on April 10, 2022, Taoyuan Mountain Church and Yuanbao Mountain Church in Dandong City resumed their Sunday services on the same day. The number of worshipers in these two churches was roughly the same as it was prior to the epidemic.
Rev. Zhang Chunyu said, "I thought the number would be one-third of the number before the suspension of in-person services, but the attendance has not been declined and almost remains the same." Next, prayer meetings, praise meetings, and Bible study gatherings will be gradually resumed.
Many Christians didn’t come back to worship God in some reopened churches, and even a church with more than 1,000 people has only above a hundred Christians left.
Zhang said, "Pastoral care is to build relationships with believers, a spiritual kinship. If you get close to them, they will naturally be willing to get close to you and talk to you if they have problems. Firmly united in love, they come back now and I don’t forget them, either." He added, "It can be said that 'I believe in the communion of saints'! Then the body of Jesus is built up."
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
中国东北的辽宁省的3个教堂恢复聚会。
2月12日的上午，辽宁省铁岭市昌图教会迎来了因疫情“双暂停”之后的首次年度线下实地聚会和感恩赞美会。
利用疫情暂停聚会的间隙，一个多月的时间，教会对教堂内部进行了一次比较大的修缮。（加超链接）
今天的聚会现场，众位弟兄姊妹们安静读经、祷告、赞美。陈宇长老身着圣服登上圣台，带领会众读圣经诗篇116篇1至19节的经文，以《向神感恩》为题，分“数算主恩”、“报答主恩”两个方面为主证道。与大家分享称扬主名、向神还愿、一生奉献的内容。
证道结束后，教会举行了感恩赞美会。教会的同工们、各个小组和友情出演的老城教会等，把26个舞蹈、合唱、夫妻合唱、弟兄合唱、快板、歌伴舞节目献上
2022年4月10日丹东的各教堂开始“双暂停”，到2023年2月12日恢复聚会，整整停了十个月。今天的主日是丹东桃源山、元宝山教堂
双暂停10个月来的第一场实地线下聚会，这是丹东两个教堂此次恢复聚会的一个特点：信徒没有在恢复聚会后，因为疫情“双暂停”而减少。
张春宇牧师深有感触的说：“原本以为能来三分之一就不错了，但是今天前来聚会人数没有受影响，基本是暂停聚会之前的人数。” 随着教堂恢复聚会，包括祷告会、赞美会、查经聚会等都可以逐步的恢复。
一些教会虽然已经恢复线下聚会了，但是不少信徒流失了，甚至有1000多人的教堂聚会的仅有百余人。
张春宇牧师说：“牧养其实就是建立关系，建立一种属灵的亲人关系。你去亲近他们，他们自然也愿意亲近你，有事情也愿意找你交通分享，才能不偏左右。信徒心牢牢的被爱心拉住了。我没忘记大家，恢复聚会大家就又回来了。”“这也可以说是‘我信圣徒相通’吧！身体就建造起来了。”
辽宁3教堂恢复聚会
Three churches in northeast China's Liaoning province resumed gatherings on the same day after the Spring Festival.
In Changtu Church, Tieling City, which had just finished more than a month of renovations during the COVID-19 lockdown, a face-to-face service and praise meeting were held.
After believers read the Bible, prayed, and praised, Elder Chen Yu, dressed in a clerical robe, preached a sermon titled "Grateful to God", encouraging churchgoers to repay the Lord and count His Grace based on Psalm 116: 1-19. She declared that believers should praise the name of the Lord, fulfill their vows to Him, and dedicate their lives.
During the worship and praise meeting following the service, church staff, groups, and other churches presented 26 programs, including dances, couples' choruses, male believers' choruses, dance songs, and a program played in an allegro tempo.
Following a ten-month break in on-site gatherings beginning on April 10, 2022, Taoyuan Mountain Church and Yuanbao Mountain Church in Dandong City resumed their Sunday services on the same day. The number of worshipers in these two churches was roughly the same as it was prior to the epidemic.
Rev. Zhang Chunyu said, "I thought the number would be one-third of the number before the suspension of in-person services, but the attendance has not been declined and almost remains the same." Next, prayer meetings, praise meetings, and Bible study gatherings will be gradually resumed.
Many Christians didn’t come back to worship God in some reopened churches, and even a church with more than 1,000 people has only above a hundred Christians left.
Zhang said, "Pastoral care is to build relationships with believers, a spiritual kinship. If you get close to them, they will naturally be willing to get close to you and talk to you if they have problems. Firmly united in love, they come back now and I don’t forget them, either." He added, "It can be said that 'I believe in the communion of saints'! Then the body of Jesus is built up."
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
3 NE Churches Reopen After Spring Festival
