As I am writing this, the church is busy preparing for our Annual Gospel Rally.  From the beginning of July, our brothers and sisters have been diligently staying back in church for choir practice every Sunday.  In fact, besides the weekly choir practices, our choir works hard by practicing the hymns in their personal time through audio recordings.  For example, a brother would listen to the hymns while he was driving so he can familiarize himself with the melody.  Most of the choir members are not musically trained and are performing in the choir for the first time.  Under the kind guidance of our instructor, Brother Joseph and with everyone taking choir practices seriously, we were finally able to sing the 4 parts of a difficult hymn “My Jesus, Fair.”  Although it was a mentally and physically taxing process, it has not stopped the elderly from taking part in the choir.

Besides the choir, there is another group of brethren who have answered the church’s call and have volunteered to be ushers to ensure that new friends and visitors arrive at our church safely for the gospel rally.

Everyone in church is proactively inviting friends and relatives to the gospel rally.  In the July and August prayer meetings, we have listed down 20 new friends and have prayed for them that they would attend the gospel rally.  Some of the brothers and sisters have also invited Chinese nationals who are working in the vicinity of our church to attend the gospel rally.  Although a few of us are new believers, they had the courage to distribute tracts and invitation cards to strangers.

Our brothers and sisters in Tree of Life Christian Church are actively involved in the preparation for the gospel rally every year.  Regardless of age or how long they have believed in Christ, once the gospel rally is near, the entire church will be mobilized.  In order to serve our Lord, everyone is happy to make sacrifices.  When everyone is united in serving the Lord, our hearts will be ignited with passion to spread the gospel.  In effect, we would have achieved half of the objectives set for the gospel rally – we have kindled the hearts of our brethren to spread the gospel and established the will to serve our Lord as one.

Paul the Apostle said, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it . . . So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ . . .  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:1-16).

To be united in serving the Lord does not mean that we should all be doing the same thing but we should have the same mindset.  We should use our own unique gifts and talents given by God to serve one another and build the body of Christ (the Church).  By submitting to our head Jesus Christ, we are able to stand united as one.  It is a blessing to serve alongside with the brothers and sisters of Tree of Life Christian Church! Let us continue to work hard and build more lives!