1st Sunday Service of 2009

This morning we held the first service of the year in my church Grace Methodist. Enjoy the photos! Sanctuary.
My cell group was on duty. They did an excellent job! Holy Communion.

1st Cell Group Gathering

To celebrate our first cell gathering, we had a steamboat dinner at my home last night. Most people prefer to have steamboats in restaurants because the preparation of food varieties can be quite tedious and time-consuming. But that does not apply to my cell group because my members are "highly-acclaimed chefs" when it comes to food, LOL!

We were blessed to have the young and dynamic Pastor Connie Yong as our guest! And I shamelessly asked her to pose, hahaha! Son Aaron warming up for the Praise and Worship. Roseline and I prepared gifts of appreciation for cell members. The Juniors were too engrossed in their own activity.
Taking a group photo before dinner.

Smiles. Food, food and more food...



What do the two signs (Sign Language) mean? xD The thumb pointing to the lips means "delicious" and the other other sign of "pulling the chin" means "salivate".

All glory to God as we seek for a blessed 2009!

A Holiday Tradition Continues

It was joyfully not a "Silent Night" when my cell group gathered yesterday evening. A holiday tradition continues!

The Christmas caroling last night brought us the spirit of warmth and love of Jesus Christ as the SIB Krokop Evangelical Church youths visited us upon our invitation.

Suddenly and so rarely, my neighbourhood was alive with much cheer!

Thanks to Bro Garry Lin, who took the photos using a Nikon D60. You can click on each picture for a bigger view.

Taking a group photo before the caroling

Getting ready
What a beautiful photo!
Using Sign Language to sing

Our appreciation to Pastor Grace Gundersen and her hubby Bro Kurt

We also wish to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Pastor Solomon Bulan for arranging last night's caroling for us.

Last but not least, we also want to thank Bro William Ting who dropped by to help take photos too. Enjoy the nice pics taken by him at this slideshow!

Beautiful evening

The Visit of the Shepherds

Luke 2:15-20

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (KJV)

The Christmas Parade and celebration last night at Miri City Fan was awesome. Thousands of worshippers from different denominations arrived at the venue as early as 5:00pm. Thank and praise God for the excellent weather!

We arrived at 4:00pm to do the finishing touches.
View from the Pustaka around 5:00pm.

The view from opposite side, facing the Pustaka.

The Praise and Worship team (in white) on stage. Watch the opening video here.

Our church members arrived early too!

Y.B. Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr. George Chan declared open the parade by drumming.
The Boys' Brigade from Methodist churches - our pride!
So cute!

A wise young man and a shepherd boy.

As chief usher, Roseline had her hands full!

The walk around the town.

The working committee group photo. All but one of the volunteers were from my cell group. It was a great priviledge to be able to serve our Lord.
After completing our job we went for supper. xD.
We want to thank and praise God for giving us the opportunity to celebrate Christmas and remembering the birth of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ! It was a beautiful evening we will treasure in our hearts forever.

Combined cells

Last night we held a combined fellowship with Sis Sii Ling's cell group. Planned two months ago, it was a first for my new cell to get to know better the other members from church under a joint endeavor.

No fellowship can be quite complete without Bro William Ting, the church's Cell Group Coordinator and my close buddy. We were really glad when he and his family turned up. The food theme for last night was "wrapped food" (as creatively suggested by Sis Chang Yi) and we were overwhelmed by so many varieties! I was impressed to find out the many hidden talents in our church!

We started off with a prayer of thanks. Then dinner. We opened the Praise and Worship with the song "How Great is our God" lead by Aaron. Reminded by the following verse, I could feel God's grace and the presence of the Holy Spirit as we sang our hearts out to the Lord!

"Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst." - Matthew 18:20

Yes, the bible quiz. To encourage unity, we purposely mixed the two groups together to form two teams. I selected the questions that were tough and easy, from the Book of Matthew. Sis Mui Foon kindly helped to be the judge.

Following the quiz we took time to share some personal experiences. It was encouraging to hear stories of love and care experienced in cell groups. I took the opportunity to invite Bro William to share on cell group ministry. I also grabbed the moment to thank Bro William, the "Ananias" in my spiritual journey. We also presented a gift to Sis Mui Foon who has helped my new cell members to build a strong foundation in topical studies since we started the new group two months ago.

My wife and I thank all present last night and thank the Lord for His rich blessings!

Now enjoy the beautiful photos from Bro William!

At the table
Wow...wrapped food from Sis Chang Yi! Sis Chang Yi calls it "fusion food" - impressive and delicious!
Look at the 5-star variety - a gourmet fest!
D-I-Y Taiwan-style popiah by Roseline. A favourite health food!
We sang out our hearts out!
Bible quiz in session
Bro Victor invited a senior Japanese couple
Sharing by Sis Chang Yi
Sharing by Bro Richard
Attentive listeners
Bible quiz winning team
Bible quiz participating team
Appreciation gift for Sis Mui Foon
Appreciation gift for Bro William Ting