EVERGREEN SERVICE - JANUARY 8, 2011

On January 8, 2011 an Evergreen Service was held on the Sabbath Day, first to worship God and to honour the elderly members in the church.

Preacher Luke Hsieh officiated at the service to commemorate this special event called "RISE BEFORE THE GREY-HEADED." The hymns chosen were "Come to the Feast and Amazing Grace."

SERMON: Leviticus 19:32

• Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.

I King 12:1-20

After King Solomon's death, his son Rehoboam reigned in his stead. The inhabitants were unhappy with Solomon's reign for they said Solomon put a heavy yoke upon them and asked Rehoboam to lighten their burden. He promised them he would give them an answer in three days.

In the meantime, Rehoboam went to consult the old men who advised Solomon during his reign and their answer was recorded in I Kings 12:7.

• And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.

Rehoboam ignored the old men's advice and sought the advice of the young men who grew up with him. This was the answer given in verse 10-11.

• And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
• And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

Rehoboam ignored the wise old men's advice, and all the ten tribes of Israel in the north fled from King Rehoboam except the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. This was how the ten tribes of Israel separated from Judah.

Because Rehoboam listened to his young companions, he lost the ten tribes of Israel. Young people should always listen to older and wiser men who have more wisdom and experience in matters of life than younger folk who are more hot headed and impulsive. They have not gone through life and so they cannot forsee the consequence of their behaviour.

ADVICE TO THE YOUTH

The younger members of the church should also be grateful to the elderly who established the church under the guidance of God. They have gone through hard work and labour to bring the church to its present state. God be praised for the pioneers of the church. The older members are concerned about the interest of the church and what is happening in the world. The youth should grow up and learn at the same time and their joy will impact the church.

Pr. Hsieh spoke about an elderly woman on a plane to visit her daughter. The plane encountered great turbulence, and everyone was terrified, but the old woman remained very calm. Later, the pastor interviewed the woman and she replied that she had two daughters. The elder daughter had passed away and gone to heaven. "If the worst thing happened, I would join my daughter in heaven. However, if things go right, then I would go and live with my second daughter. What was there to fear?" quoted the woman.

Sis. Ann Hsieh spoke and Bro. William Chen interpreted in English. Two speakers were invited to address the congregation, Deaconess Nornie Wong and Elder Jason Hsu (90 years old) from Taiwan.

TRIBUTE TO THE SENIORS - JANUARY 8, 2011
Dns. Nornie Wong

Hallelujah!

Praise and thank God that Pr. Luke Hsieh had asked me to address the younger members with regard to the elders. Today's service is called "Evergreen Service" to honour the senior members who are in the church.

The church is one big family, and the service is for everybody, from the youngest to the oldest. The Bible has given us examples on how to treat the elderly. Only fathers and mothers are mentioned with regard to discipline. Since we are all children of God, we should treat everyone with respect in the church.

I TIMOTHY 5:1,2

• Rebuke not an elder, but treat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;
• The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

First we must consider the relationship between our parents and ourselves. Our parents brought us into the world, took care of us, provided us food, clothing and shelter for at least 18 years of our lives. Our parents consoled us when we were sick, congratulated us when we did well in school and taught us rules of right and wrong. They also disciplined us when we made mistakes. God entrusted our parents to discipline and mature us into upright adults.

GOD'S PROMISE TO LENGTHEN OUR DAYS ON EARTH

EXODUS 20:12

• Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

If we wish to have a long life, we must honour our parents for God promised that He will lengthen our days on earth.

God said we are to treat the elderly members as fathers and mothers, so if we obey God, we will live long on earth. We have here today three elderly persons, Elder H. M. Huang (98 years), Elder Jason Hsu (90 years) from Taiwan, and Sis. Ann Chen (88 years). They live such long lives because they have followed God's law in honouring parents (5th Commandment). Until the year 2010, Elder Huang was on the pulpit giving sermons to the church. His memory was still good and he even travelled on the bus by himself. God has been kind to the elder for He remembers his work for the Lord.

I am sure all youth would like to live long on earth and to achieve that we must also treat the elderly in the church as we would treat our own parents. If we cannot love our parents, we will be unable to love other elderly persons. Love is the most important factor in our Christian lives.

The most important commandment in the Bible is to LOVE GOD and to LOVE MAN as ourselves. If we are unable to fulfil the two laws, we fall short of the glory of God.

MATTHEW 22:36-40
MARK 12:29-31

• Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
• Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
• This is the first and great commandment.
• And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
• On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

LEVITICUS 19:32

• Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear.

PROVERBS 23:22

• Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

SPECIAL DUTIES OF YOUNG PEOPLE

LEVITICUS 19:3

• You shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

EXAMPLES OF FILIAL HONOUR

PROVERBS 1:8

• My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.

EPHESIANS 6:1

• Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

COLOSSIANS 3:20

• Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

Elder Jason Hsu (90 years) is visiting his daughter, Sis. Jennifer Tsai, and son in law, Dn. K. C. Tsai. He spoke about his second visit to Toronto and saw snow for the first time. His mind is very clear and he can quote verses from the Bible without looking at notes..

To Elder Hsu, health is very important in a man's life and at 90 years he is able to walk without a cane and his hearing is good. He said, "When one has good health, he can renew his soul and able to still work for the Lord God."

Following the speeches, Dn. Apollos Lee presented Gift Cards from Wal Mart to all the seniors present at the meeting in appreciation of their service to the church. There are 28 elderly members in the church, but three of them are living in retirement homes and not able to attend. Dn. Ho Hoo Kong is 94 years and Sis. Mary is 96 years.

A Tribute to the SENIORS http://hubpages.com/hub/atributetotheseniors

To conclude the service, the Youth Choir sang three hymns, Beyond the Sunset, His Eye is on the Sparrow and Let All Things Now Living. The whole congregation stood up to sing "AMAZING GRACE" followed by prayer to the Almighty GOD.

After the service, a reception was held in the dining hall where the elders had the privilege of sitting down at a table, while the younger members milled around two long tables of special Taiwanese food and fruits.

The service was enjoyed by young and old members. All the elderly were given corsages and more attention specially focussed on them, whlle the youth displayed their musical talents. The very young from one year and above enjoyed more food than usual.

REFLECTION

The Evergreen Service has given the church a chance to energize, activate and harmonize the church into action. It is a good enough reason to have it annually. The elderly are thankful, the youth are being focussed on respect and honour, those working behind catering for the reception have a chance to show their skill and serving whoteheartedly for love of the community. The Church Committee worked hard for this activity for they had various decisions to make, for instance, what sort of gift to give, who should buy the gift, who should present the gift, etc. There are a number of small details to make.

Response was good from the guests who attended the function. One member remarked it was well planned and enjoyable. Another lady guest remarked to me the speech was very appropriate and well delivered. Children should be reminded often of their responsiblity to the elders, church and to God. We hope that the next Evergreen Service would be better than the present one.

It is important to have it annually so the youths would remember to respect the elderly and the eldely can enjoy the respect which should not be forgotten. The Evergreen Service should continue to flow continuously like the stream of life and not cut off in mid stream. Life should flow continuously, Members should be free to invite their families and friends to celebrate this joyous occasion. Praise the Almighty Lord God who gives us life to enjoy the fruit of our labour. Thanks go to Bro. Gordon Yen who organized the gifts and photgraphy and Sis. Claire Lin who was in charge of the food.

NAMES FOR REGISTRATION WITH CANADA MINISTRY

Dn, Zachaeus Wong (1973), Lee Yeng Wong (1973), Estella Wong (1971), Dns. Nornie Wong (1968), Julie Wong (1971), John Wong (1971) Vancouver, Tuck Lee Wong (1971), Sophia Ho (1975), Daniel Tsui (1975), Edmonton, Peter Yaw (1977), Christa Yaw, Tamara Yaw, Natasha Yaw, Shui Ngi Chung (1979), Jackson Hwang (1977), Shiow Yueh, Judy Hwang, Lucy Hwang, James Hwang.,

First Deacon in Canada: Dn, Zachaeus Wong (1973)

First Ordained Deaconess: Dns. Nornie Wong (August 9, 1981) by Elder John Yang

4 out of 20 Original members present: Dns. Nornie Wong, Tuck Lee Wong, Jackson Hwang, Shiow Yueh were present at the Evergreen Service.

FATHER'S DAY: A MAN OF GOD ESTABLISHES CHURCH http://hubpages.com/hub/fathersdayamanofgod

MOTHER'S DAY: MOTHER'S INTERESTING LIFE http://hubpages.com/hub/MOTHERS-DAY-MOTHERS-INTERESTING-LIFE

HONOUR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER http://hubpages.com/hub/honourfatherandmother