Celebrating the Birth of Christ
CHRISTMAS AT HVMC
Christmas light-up at HVMC
HVMC had an eventful programme lined up for Christmas 2023. It included the Advent Sermon series, exploring the joy we have through the birth of Jesus, over four Sunday services. Then on the evenings of 16, 17, 23 and 24 December, we went beyond the Church to bring Christmas cheer to Holland Village, followed by Advent Carols by Candlelight on 22 December and the Christmas service on 25 December.
Bringing Christmas Cheer
The Witness & Evangelism and Worship & Music ministries came together to organise HVMC’s first ever Carolling @ Raffles Holland V.
The Carolling event provided an opportunity for our Church to go out in public and sing about the birth of Christ and proclaim the love and grace of God. We were truly blessed with passers-by stopping to listen to the carols, singing along and taking photos and videos. Some families with young children even danced to the Christmas tunes.
During the four evenings of carolling, our congregation was given the opportunity to participate in outreach, regardless of their age or ability to sing. They also helped to give out gifts and invitations to our church services, to bring awareness of HVMC to the neighbourhood in Holland Village.
Mark Fyffe
Witness & Evangelism Ministry
Advent Carols by Candlelight
Advent Carols by Candlelight was initiated in December 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic when we could not gather together during Christmas. Life groups and families met over Zoom, taking turns to read scriptures and sing carols. On 22 December 2023, we held our third and the second in-person Advent Carols by Candlelight in church. We had about 150 people join us and as a result of our carolling efforts at Raffles Holland V, we were pleased to see new faces!
Nine Life groups led us in reading scriptures and singing carols, up from the previous seven. Seeing more participation is heartening as this is the essence of the Advent Carols by Candlelight. It is not meant to be a well-scripted show executed by performers and watched by spectators, but it is a gathering of our church family. Like any family gathering, everyone chips in, in various ways, inviting guests and playing host. As this Candlelight event becomes a mainstay in our Advent Calendar, we know this is a platform for us to serve fellow brothers and sisters right here in HVMC.
Theophilus Tan
Lay Ministry Staff (Worship & Communications Ministry)
Ending the Year on a High Note
At Christmas service, we were treated to the HVMC choir’s rousing rendition of “Angel Song” and blessed to have Bishop Dr Gordon Wong deliver the message, “The Promise of Christmas”. He brought us back to the meaning and significance of Christmas by drawing on the two names of the Christ child in Matthew 1: 21-23:- “Jesus” - Salvation from Sin, and “Immanuel” - God With Us. His message of the good news of Christ’s coming tied in neatly with Pastor Jeremy’s message the day before, of holding on to hope, even through darkness, because what God promises will come true, as evidenced by Christ’s birth.
On New Year’s eve, the Covenant Renewal Service was held during Sunday morning service. Pastor Loretta challenged the congregation to take a spiritual inventory of our walk with God in her sermon entitled “Running the Race in 2024”. She exhorted us to pray that God will “lead us on to higher ground” from the hymn “Higher Ground”, as we consider what it means to be a servant of Christ. The service ended fittingly with a time of quiet personal reflection following Holy Communion.
For me, the thread that ran through all the messages and songs was that of a God come down to us, and of us in turn reaching out to Him to lead us to higher ground, even as the Holy Spirit whispers “Come”! What a fitting way to end 2023 as we look forward to starting anew in 2024.
Yeoh Chee Koon
MOSAIC Editorial Team
