Worship Leader Thangkhanhau opened the morning service by reading from Romans 5:8 and 1 Timothy 1:17. The worship team then led the church in a praise and worship session before Elder T Thiankhanmuan dedicated the offerings of the day to the Lord.
Pastor T. Lamkhanthang shared briefly on hope and reassurance in the Lord before leading the congregation in a mass prayer. Following this, he provided announcements about the upcoming weekday program titled “Seeing Others as Christ Loves”, which will feature a message from Local Chairman Elder H. Kamsuanthang. Additionally, Cece Chinthianneih will share her testimony during the program. Pastor Lamkhanthang encouraged anyone interested in sharing their testimony after the camp to contact the appropriate individuals. After the announcements, there was a short time given for dedicating a child to the Lord.
The sermon speaker for the day was Pastor Suankhanhau, who spoke on ‘Oneness in the Caretakers of the Church’ which was themed around Ephesians 4:1-6. He talked about the history of the church and the leadership struggle between the pope (Europe) and the patriarch (Asia) and concluded the need for unity among the leaders and caretakers of the church.The pastor further explained that the nature of oneness can be good or bad. Examples of unity that is of a bad nature in the Bible have caused floods, separation and division through different languages and, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah. Meanwhile the good kind of oneness has brought the Holy Spirit into the lives of true believers. Whether it be the caretakers (leaders) or the church, the need for unity is a very important feature as it is found in Christ Jesus’s prayer itself (John 17:21). The prayer highlights that Oneness among the believers lets the world know Jesus who is in Heaven has sent us as his disciples. The verses 22-23 further provide that our unity will let the world know the Lord loves us.
The pastor then elaborated that we ought to know it is not easy to achieve oneness among us hence, we need to put in the effort no matter how great or small we are. He also highlighted on why is it important to have unity:
- It leads to triumph and blessings
- It makes us a witness to Christ
- There is growth in the spirit
- There is peace/ resolution of conflict
- There is confidence and security in each other
There were also several barriers to unity:
- Ego and pride
- Inability to adjust and tolerate other people’s conflicting opinions and interests
- Miscommunication
- Putting our views above the view of the Lord
- Unforgiving spirit
To conclude his sermon, he illustrated on the numerous consequences of disunity among people and gave an example of the 2013-2018 Civil War in South Sudan that costed the lives of about 3 lakh people due to a conflict between the leaders. Lastly, the pastor ended his segment with a prayer.
Welcoming the first time attendees as well as introducing the newly registered members of the church, the TBUC Secretary started his short segment of the program. He shared with the congregation about the blessing we have to be able to celebrate Christmas and New Year in our own church. In the spirit of that gratitude he asked anyone blessed with the heart of giving to send their donations for the Christmas program as the Christmas Committee has now been formed. After this, Pastor Lamkhanthang prayed over the new members of the church.
There was a short praise and worship session that was followed by Elder Chinsum who made the closing prayer for the morning service.
