Pressing On In Our Vision
In July 2022, HVMC commemorated an important milestone as we celebrated our 10th Anniversary as a local conference. As we gathered from across the generations of pastors, leaders and members of the Church, the occasion prompted us to reflect upon our calling as a church planted on the campus of ACS (International), beginning as a preaching point in 2007. Significantly, it encouraged us to ponder within our hearts why God led us as individuals and families, to be here at HVMC and helped us crystallize in our minds, God’s divine purposes for us as a church.
To that end, as we look to the year ahead, we draw on the imagery that Paul uses in Philippians 3:14 to “Press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” remembering how far we have come, but pressing on in our calling and vision to be, “Nourished to Flourish: Building Up and Reaching Out to Every Generation.”
For 2023, we continue to press on in the five areas of focus which God had directed us to, in the previous year.
1. Rebuilding Worship: Restoring our Rhythms
We are thankful that we are able to return to the regular rhythms of worship in the second half of 2022 and continue to envision our services as one for all AGES - Authentic, Grounded, Engaging and Spirit-filled. While we livestream our services weekly, we encourage congregation members who are physically healthy to return to church for worship and other activities. We will keep our monthly Coffee Time, after service on the last Sunday of every month, to build it as a means for welcoming and directing guests to suitable discipleship platforms.
Aligned with our direction Pressing On, our four sermon series for this year will be :-
| Book of Joshua (Jan, Feb & April) | Pressing on to Trust God's Promises |
|---|---|
| The Lord's Prayer (Mar) | Pressing on through Prayer |
| Gospel of Mark (Jul - Sep) | Pressing on in Following Jesus' Mission |
| God & Family (Oct) | Pressing on to Restore our Relationships |
2. Reclaiming Life Groups: Restoring our Accountability
Life Groups remain one of the most important means of discipleship (Acts 2:42-47) for HVMC. From the early Methodist movement, small groups were encouraged to form and develop, so that members could be accountable to each other, receive support from one another, and be challenged to grow in their faith and discipleship. Taking up TRAC President Rev Stanley Chua’s challenge to recover and practise “The General Rules of the Methodist Church”, we will examine the possibility of making Life Group participation a requirement for church membership. Following the success of last year’s Life Group Convention in July, we will be organising another Convention on 1 May 2023, on the theme of “Adding and Multiplying”. Our prayer is that by 2025, every congregation member of HVMC will belong to a Life Group, including our youths, young adults, families, and seniors.
3. Rediscovering Serving: Restoring our Purpose
As our Church grows, we maintain that God has given every person in our congregation the necessary gifts to build up the Church (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11) and everyone has a role to play. To that end, we will continue to find ways of encouraging more congregational participation in the life and ministry of the Church and uncover means which will help our congregation members be equipped for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12).
4. Refreshing our Ministry to ACS (International): Restoring our Calling
As God has revealed to us our purpose as a Church to provide Christian ministry, and be a “beacon of truth and light” to ACS (International), our ministry to the school remains the central mission of our Church. In 2023, we look forward to further strengthening our relationships with the school leaders, staff and students, as well as partnering with the School to run new programmes. In addition to a group of intercessors who have been praying for the School monthly, a refreshed School Ministry team has been formed from among the congregation. Areas of growth in 2023 will include the Befrienders Programme and the Job Shadowing / Internship Programme which will allow the Church to directly engage the students.
5. Revitalising our Youths: Restoring our Generations
Youths are our leaders today, not just in the future; Youths are disciple-makers today, not just disciples (1 Timothy 4:12). Our Youth Camp in 2022 demonstrated the potential of having our older youths take up leadership roles in the ministry, and we will continue to work at equipping our youths to take on the responsibility of reaching out and building up their own generation. We pray that God will inspire our youths to form a Youth Committee, while continuing to adjust our structure in a manner that will allow us to spend more time with the youths, to disciple them to become effective disciple-makers. One such change was the introduction of the monthly Saturday Youth Service in June 2022 which will be increased to twice a month from January 2023.
As we begin the year 2023, I am ever mindful that it is the work of the Holy Spirit that will bring about the fruit that we desire. My prayer is that we will keep in mind the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:2-3, that, in our life and ministry at HVMC, we may always “Serve one another with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” May God strengthen us that we may press on in our vision, to be Nourished to Flourish: Building Up and Reaching Out to Every Generation.
To God be the Glory, the Best is Yet to Be! Amen.
Rev Jeremy Ong
