The Coming of the Kingdom (Compass Gathering 2013)

Morning. The scripture reading today comes from 2 Peter and the Gospel of Luke, chapter 17.

Luke 17 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletins.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you,

not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,

and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered them,

The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.

Nor will they say, Look, here it is, or there.

For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.

And he said to the disciples,

The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

They will say to you, Look there, look here.

Do not go away, and do not run after them.

For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky,

so will the Son of Man be in his day.

But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man.

They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given to each other in marriage,

until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

It was the same as happened in the days of Lot.

They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building.

But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

On that day, the one who is on the housetop, and whose goods are in the house, must not go down to take them out.

And likewise, the one who is in the field must not turn back.

Remember Lot's wife?

Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed.

One will be taken, and the other will be left.

There will be two women grinding at the same place.

One will be taken, and the other will be left.

Two men will be in the field.

One will be taken, and the other will be left.

And answering, they said to him,

Where, Lord?

And he said to them,

Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.

This is God's word.

How you guys doing?

Oh, come on.

That's pitiful.

How you doing?

Good.

I don't know about you.

Every time I see that video, it's like, whoa.

You just realize, as in most of life, that we are all just kind of little ants

standing on the shoulders of people who've gone before us,

who were faithful and trusted the Lord.

And it's just amazing to be here where we are right now.

This is our second compass meeting.

That means that we as a church have existed for two and a half years,

which I think is amazing, as we dreamed about this many, many years ago.

So we developed and designed this meeting to be kind of like a dinner table at our house,

which is crazy, chaotic, active.

It's going to be running forward.

There's not going to be any food during this time, but there will be food after this time.

But our hope is that you will see what people do in their ministries as laypeople, as staff,

and see where God is leading us.

The goal this time is to look at where we've been, John Bechtel, his dad, 1940s, 1930s, four people.

Where we are now, you sitting here in this sanctuary, which is an IT center during the week,

and where we hope to go.

I don't know how you feel like when you think of where we hope to go.

Sometimes, to me, that's a scary thing.

And it seems like people are talking a lot about the future and where we hope to go,

where we hope to be.

You look at Korea.

You look at all the things going economically.

You look at the world.

And if you are a Christ follower, often you talk about when Christ will come back again.

The Bible looks at time this way, just so you know.

There was eternity past, and in that, God existed.

Not a ball of gas that exploded, but God.

And God spoke, and we have creation.

God's word, he created everything.

And at the end of each one of those things, he said it was good.

Except for man, where he created a partner, community, relationships.

Then we have the fall.

Sometime amongst that creation, man chose to become God instead of follow God.

And everything was broken.

All the relationships that God meant to be healthy and strong were fractured.

Our relationship with God was fractured.

Our relationship with ourself was fractured.

We became schizophrenic because we can't really know who we are unless we know who God is.

Our relationship with people around us became broken.

Our relationship with nature became crushed.

And then one day, 2,000 years ago, God sends his son.

And in that, there's this period of redemption.

So we have creation.

We have fall.

We have redemption.

And Christ comes, and he redeems everything.

He makes all things new.

He binds relationships.

His spirit is like this seed that's planted in the ground, and it grows.

And you see amazing things happen.

And it's not always a boom, but it's slow, and it's steady growth.

And he's redeeming.

He's buying back.

He's fixing things.

He's healing things.

He's making things new.

And then one day, when he comes back again, there'll be what we call restoration.

That he'll restore all things.

The Bible at the end of the last book, Revelations, talks about there'll be a new heaven and a new earth.

So we have creation.

We have fall.

We have redemption.

And we have restoration.

And we, as God's people, are in this middle of this redemption and this restoration time.

Sometimes it's a weird time.

Sometimes it's a strange time.

It's a now time, but it's a not yet time.

We see God moving.

We see the Holy Spirit moving.

But we don't necessarily see the full manifestation of that.

We don't see families totally fixed.

We don't see people totally free from sin.

We still see brokenness.

We still see problem.

Because it's a now time, but it's not a not yet time.

In the not yet time, when Christ comes again, everything is made new and everything is fixed.

And everything is healed.

And we have this passage today.

And Jesus is talking to two groups of people.

The first two sentences, and that's all we're going to look at today.

He's talking to the Pharisees.

In the last 12 sentences, he's talking to his disciples.

And again, he's talking about the future.

And Jesus talked about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God coming more than any other thing in the Bible.

He's always talked about the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is coming.

Up until this point in Luke, we've been going through it for a year and a half,

he's talked about the kingdom of God 27 times.

Okay, and we're only in chapter 17.

So he just talks about it over and over.

And so the Pharisees ask the question, which is a fair question, being that that's what Jesus is about.

When will this come?

They want to know.

They want to know the signs.

They want to know when it's happening.

And so they're in there, and they don't understand that when Christ came, he started this redemption period.

They're still looking back, and they're looking towards the future when Christ comes again in power and strength,

and he restores the kingdom.

He restores everything.

They don't see that Christ started that process when he came.

They have a different expectation of how God should work, and they want him to work a certain way,

and he's not working that certain way.

I don't know if you do that, but I do that all the time.

I want God to work certain ways, and he doesn't work that way, and I get disappointed,

and I wonder if he's still there, and what's he doing?

And this is what the Pharisees said.

And so they said, when is it going to come?

And Jesus never answers the question.

It's interesting.

He always gives another question, or he always answers a different question,

the question probably that we should have asked.

And he says to them in verse 21, it's not going to be something that you see.

It's not going to be observed this first time, but it's going to be something that's quiet and hidden

and working like a seed under the ground.

And then he says in verse 21, which is the words that I just want to end with and we talk about.

He says, therefore, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.

Now, in the Greek, that word is a very specific word.

It means it's among you.

It's around you.

It's in your presence.

But it's just not a word that says this is what's happening or this is what's true.

It's a word that demands action.

It's like you saying, hey, there's a million dollars on that ground right in front of you.

You wouldn't just look at that and go, well, that's cool, and walk away.

Hopefully you would grab it.

Maybe you would ask to see if someone has it or try to be honest with it or something like that.

But you couldn't just look at it and just observe it and then walk away.

And he's saying that to the Pharisees right here.

He's saying God's kingdom is everywhere.

It's in me.

It's moving.

It's like a seed.

But that's just not enough.

The question is, what are you going to do with that truth?

Are you going to accept that truth and allow God's spirit to come in you and heal you and change you and fix you and redeem you?

And as you do that, are you going to allow yourself to be used by God to go out and redeem and fix and heal and choose and help others around you?

So the Pharisees wanted power and they wanted God to come back and destroy the Romans.

They wanted to be elevated and they wanted the end times.

They wanted the restoration time.

But Jesus says, no, we're in this redeeming time.

And so the Pharisees didn't get Jesus.

But if we're honest, sometimes we don't get him coming a second time.

And if we're honest, most of us want the fun, the compassionate, the loving, the gentle, the gracious, the kind, the suffering servant, the guy who washes people's feet.

That's the Jesus we want, right?

But the Pharisees couldn't handle that.

They wanted power.

They wanted strength.

They wanted a king.

They wanted a king for their kingdom.

But we today, we have a hard time with that, don't we?

I mean, to think that we're accountable to God.

To think that there's going to be a king who's going to come and he's going to ask us how he used our stuff he gave us.

To think that there's going to be a king who's going to come and it's his kingdom that we're living for and it's not my kingdom that I'm living for.

And so in one way, we both miss the meaning of the passage.

The Pharisees missed it because Jesus was there and he was doing these things and he was healing these things and it was taken forth.

And we miss it sometimes because we don't ever think about him coming again.

We don't ever think about his kingdom, what it's going to look like.

We don't ever think about what he's going to ask of us.

That's scary to be accountable for everything he's given us.

But the passage is looking towards the future and the question again is the kingdom of God is amongst you.

What are you going to do with that?

We're going to pray right now and we want to bring up some of the staff and the volunteers.

And they're going to share with you what we've been trusting the Lord for and what we think God is doing.

Because this church is not responsible for bringing God's kingdom.

God is responsible for bringing God's kingdom.

God is the one that changes people's lives.

God is the one that heals people.

God is the one that fixes marriages.

The church is just here to be used by God.

Amongst all that.

God is the one that changes people's lives.

And so we want to share with you what God has used us with as his body this last year.

And then we want to share with you some prayers that we're hoping that he will continue to do as we think he's moving us as a congregation.

Father, we just thank you for this day.

We thank you for your goodness and for your mercy.

We thank you for your message and for your word.

We thank you that the message isn't something that is just looking towards the future when you come in power and strength.

But it's a message that looks towards the now and what we will do with your gospel and how we will use it.

And so as a church, Lord, we don't presume to know for sure this is what you've called all of us to do.

We walk in faith and we trust you.

And we walk in faith.

The question for us, Lord, is help us to be found faithful with all these things.

Help us to be found faithful with the stewardship that you've given us.

And help us to have a vision of a big God who's moving and changing and cannot be bound.

And so we lift up this time to you and we pray that you be well pleased and honored as we serve you.

Amen.

Good morning, church family.

Can I hear a good morning?

Awesome.

Good to hear you have some energy.

My name is Natalie Mann and I'm the director of children's ministry here at Watermark.

I'm Sherman M, the children's ministry coordinator.

And we're so excited that you guys are here.

I'm no one special.

He's talking later.

Graham, you're just our support team.

Okay, so we are excited.

This is Graham.

He'll be talking later.

But we're excited to have you here today.

And we want to share a little bit about where Watermark Kids is today and where we want to see Watermark Kids grow.

It's been exciting to see the hearts of our kids change in the past two years.

We've had phenomenal growth in our kids' lives and in our families' lives here at Watermark.

And without further ado, I want to introduce Graham Smith.

Woo!

All right, I feel like somebody again.

All right, I think we must be the only church in the world where our Sunday schools are named by such names as Ocean, River, and Surf.

And when I heard the name Surf, I had in my mind this picture of sunshine, waves, beach.

It was beautiful.

And my first day in the classroom felt like I was surfing in a typhoon rather than sort of a sunny day on the beach.

And I really thought that what I was going to do was walk into the classroom and be teaching the kids about God and about stories from the Bible.

But what I found was that I was actually learning from them, and these kids were incredibly good at teaching me a few things.

For example, one day we actually had to bring the kids back halfway through the service.

So they're getting ready to come in, and I said to them, all right, when we go in, we need to be quiet.

And there was a little bit of grunting and groaning.

And I said, do you know why we need to be quiet when we go back into the service?

And with that, a certain little boy put up his hand and said, yes, because some people will be sleeping.

So you can't argue with that.

And can't argue with that, right?

And then their biblical knowledge also totally astounds me.

We were doing a little bit of a warm-up activity.

And I said to them, what is small, cute, and has two big ears?

And one little girl put up her hand and said, I know the answer is Jesus, but I think it's a rabbit.

But anyway, when I did start, I really did think that I would be going into the classroom and sort of teaching these kids.

And I really thought more of it as sort of a knowledge about God.

But what I found was that God was taking it much deeper, and it was about relationships.

Relationships about me with them as their teacher, them with each other, because we called into a community.

And above all, their relationship with Jesus Christ.

And it's been amazing to see that that's something that's growing and changing in the kids.

And it challenges me every week.

And one thing I did think about when I volunteered, right?

The word volunteer, I always think it's me giving up my time to serve others.

And yes, that is part of it, right?

But it's much more about an investment.

An investment in the lives of these kids.

And I don't see them as the way we're moving forward.

I don't see them as children.

I see them as these are the future husbands and wives of a community.

These are the future leaders in our churches.

And these are the future leaders in our communities.

And just as we see these kids growing, and I think about the privilege it is to be able to invest in their lives,

I see it as an investment, not volunteering.

But also, as we see these kids growing, an investment in my walk with God.

Because I've seen Him say and do things in the lives of these kids, but also in my personal life.

So, if any of you are thinking about volunteering, I can promise you it's not always going to be a great surf.

It's not always going to be sunshine.

But it is going to be an awesome ride.

And not only with these kids, but also with your walk with God.

So, thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Eric Scott.

I'm the youth guy here at Watermark.

And this is Dave McConnell.

He wanted to sit down so that he could have a better view of you guys, I guess.

This isn't going to be David and Goliath.

He's a good Goliath.

So, I just wanted to have Dave share a little bit about his experience serving with the youth.

And so, first, why did you start serving with the youth?

I had no thought of serving with the youth until Tobin asked me.

And I'd served collectively in our community group.

And I'd counted money, which I wasn't very good at, in the offering.

And so, Tobin asked me to meet you.

And you seemed quite normal.

Surprising, I know.

So, I met Eric.

And he said, come once on a Friday or a Sunday.

And if you can't take it, you're out of there.

And he was very generous that way.

And so, I said to Eric, I'd give it a try.

And what are some things that you've learned during your time serving with the youth?

I think the first thing, serving with youth, was, you know, sometimes we are reluctant to leave the congregation because we think we are going to miss a sermon and a message.

And what I really enjoyed with youth was that, you know, there was a sermon which you prepared and a lesson.

And it was an interactive one.

And actually, the kids sharpened my mind.

So, that was the one thing I enjoyed is I never really felt like I was stepping out of the service.

And the second thing I learned is that the kids get along really well.

I thought I was going to have to be like your backup.

And, you know, there would be plates and mobile phones flying.

And it wasn't that case at all.

There was a mutual respect.

And the kids really, it's kind of what Graham said, you know, you kind of, it's mutual respect.

The more you put in, you reap what you sow.

And the kids will share.

And I found that fantastic.

And their hearts are open to the gospel.

And sometimes we have to be reminded we need to have a little bit of fun, too.

And church can't be such a serious thing.

So, if you can grasp that, I think serving in youth is really great.

It'll keep you from sleeping in service, too.

But anyways, the youth group has been growing this year, both as a community and in numbers.

And it looks like it's going to keep growing.

There's a huge group of kids moving up from surf to youth next year.

But as a ministry, we've been doing some really cool stuff, trying to reach out to the community around us.

We've been visiting four different international schools every week this semester, trying to interact with kids there, running alpha programs and clubs.

We started a new outreach this week with kids from our local community opening up the community center and offering to help practice speaking English with them on Wednesdays at lunchtime.

And we had over 25 kids come out for our first time of doing that.

So, as we move forward, we're looking for new ways that we can reach out to the kids in our community.

There's a group coming to Hong Kong, starting work here in the fall called Young Life that does a lot of work focusing on the unchurched.

And we have already started talking with them about how we can partner with them, what we can do together with them to help unchurched kids hear about Jesus.

And with the kids in our own group, we've been working with them as well, trying to focus on how we can help them grow as a community, how we can get them connected to the church.

We've started a new big brother, big sister program where we've connected each of the kids in the youth with an adult from the church to try and get them in a discipling relationship and get them plugged into the church at large as a body.

And obviously, with all this stuff going on, it's not stuff that I can do by myself.

And so we need help.

If you guys feel that this is something that God's calling you to do, please talk to me after the service.

Is there anything else you wanted to add?

I just thought really the youth are part of our church family, and it gives you a different level to communicate to the youth.

And one other thing is I don't know about anybody else, but I've been collecting watermark pens in my house.

And this is the lowest number I think I've had, which is pretty embarrassing.

But I want to give these back to you because, you know, whoever designed that pen, that is the greatest pen.

It lasts forever.

So I want to give my pens back to watermark.

But I think collectively we've been all taking away something from watermark.

And, you know, whether it be friendship or fellowship and our spiritual growth.

And Kip, don't be giving me a hard time after about this, taking pens.

And don't take any yourself there.

But I think, as I say, we've all been taking away something from watermark.

And our hearts are growing stronger and are more open.

And it's just nice to think, wow, maybe pens looks a little simple.

But maybe it would be nice if we give a few things back to watermark, too, given what we've been collecting and benefiting from.

That's my last message.

Thank you.

A tremendous amount of brokenness, loneliness, people struggling with just figuring out life.

And they are right in the heart of our community.

And so from the beginning when we started Watermark, just seeing, getting to know their stories and meeting the students,

it's just been obvious that this is something that is too big for anyone to do.

It's too much for a staff member to do.

It's too much to do for the volunteers, for a whole church.

There are 28,000 students.

And so I just want to share two developments that I've seen over this past year.

The first one is student ownership.

So we have really seen a lot of students not just being on the receiving end but actually stepping up and to see that they need to reach out.

And in the lecture theaters, in the dorm rooms, on the lunch tables, to reach out to their fellow students to share the love of Christ,

to be the hands and feet to their roommates struggling and figuring out life.

And the other part is just church involvement and church integration and people within the church stepping up to getting to know the students that walk through the doors

and using their time and their energy to reach out to the students.

And Jason is representative for many of you who have been using their gifts over this past year to reach the students.

And I just wanted to Jason to share a little bit about their community group adopting the students and what they have been doing.

First of all, I'd like to ask my CG members and those who have been involved in the university ministry work to stand up so that people can recognize you.

They can come to you with questions.

Later on, they also feel called.

Can I have my CG members to stand up?

Only two.

Thank you.

It's really an honor to work alongside with Mike and Katie.

I think they've been doing a fantastic job.

If you have noticed, many of the people who got baptized in our church are from their ministry.

So they've been doing a fantastic job shepherding, reaching out, and helping the university kids.

I like to call them kids.

We as a CG felt called to work with Mike and Katie because many of us were once away from home for school.

And many of us have our own children.

And we think it's very important to help the younger generation during the time in the university because this world has become even more confusing than we were younger.

Our CG has been involved with the university ministry in several ways.

We hosted dinner events.

We were involved in Encounter Cafe, the career forum, and the career panels.

Like all other volunteers, we all feel blessed tremendously when we serve because older people like to talk about ourselves.

So we like to share with us kids our failures and some of the stories.

And when we share, very often we recall how God picked us up when we fell and how we were lost.

And Jesus showed the way and bring people into the doors to help us.

So I would encourage all of you.

It doesn't take a lot of time to contact Mike and Katie to work alongside with them.

And strategically, our church is located very close to Hong Kong.

There must be a reason.

So if you're willing and you are able, please contact them.

And the kids are very lovely.

The questions that they ask are very profound.

And then you'll be surprised that we actually get a lot of enlightenment and help from those kids as well.

Yeah, so just to close, as we look in the future, Tobin shared about the redemption journey and just seeing how things are broken in this world.

But God is restoring things.

He's in Christ to restore things.

And that's, I think, our hope.

And that will be our hope until Christ comes back, that we will see lives redeemed and students that don't know him getting to know him and students that know him being restored in their lives.

And wherever you feel you want to be a part of that, you're welcome to join us and talk to Jason and his community group and learn more about that.

My name is Chris.

I help oversee community groups.

And this is Oscar, who is a community group leader.

Community groups in Watermark are really at the heart of life here, of the church.

And in a place like Hong Kong, where so many people are living isolated lives, lives just focused around themselves and their work, we want our community groups to be real families where people can walk alongside each other, where we can grow together to be like Jesus better.

And over the last year, we've seen groups just developing a greater sense of community together.

We've seen people sending out WhatsApp groups where they pray for each other.

They encourage each other daily.

We've seen people doing hikes together, people walking through the challenges of life together.

And not just that.

The community group is not just also about meeting our own spiritual needs.

It's also about reaching out.

And that's also something we've seen just increasingly over the last year.

We've seen one group spearheading an outreach to some homeless and elderly.

We've seen others going into old people's homes, giving bread.

We've seen other groups which have been holding barbecues or junk boat trips, wine and cheese parties.

All of these with a view for actually encouraging people in a non-threatening environment to see the kind of community that God is creating.

Just this week, one lady who's only here for a week said, you know, I've been spending time around your community group.

And this has been the best week of my life.

She said, I've never been so loved in all my life.

And she actually accepted Christ this week.

And that's really the heart of what community is all about.

So I'm going to hand over just to Oscar just to tell us a bit about his community group.

Sure.

Yeah, as Chris mentioned, my name is Oscar.

And by the way, Graham, I'm no one special either.

I help lead a community group here, Meets on Friday Nights.

I would characterize our group as being pretty diverse, I would say.

We hail from many different countries, U.S., Canada, here in Hong Kong, and Pastor Tobin, even Australia.

We've invited one of them as well.

But even though we sort of come from very diverse backgrounds and have different perspectives, we still face many esteemed challenges of living life in Hong Kong,

whether it's with long hours at work or dealing with relationships or trying to figure out what our ministry calling is.

We all face many different challenges.

And it's great to have Christians to walk alongside for both godly support and accountability as well as we live life in Hong Kong.

For us, dinner is a very important part of our community group.

We believe that sharing a meal is an expression of community and fellowship.

And we're very fortunate to have many talented chefs and bakers in our group.

Not me, of course.

But oftentimes Friday night is one of the best meals of the week for me.

So thank you guys for that.

As Chris mentioned, outreach is something which is very important.

And we're trying to make it a culture in our group.

In the past, we've done musical gigs where some of our members have performed, like Jeremy and Celeste.

And we've invited our non-Christian friends or colleagues to these events.

And it's been a great way just to sort of hang out in a social environment where there's no pressure.

But this is a Christian event.

But at the same time, non-believers can still see that people that believe in God and the Bible are actually quite normal and fun, believe it or not.

And so those are the things that we like to do.

Today, I think a couple of our members are visiting an elderly home.

I think Ed's mom is even going to sing there as well.

So that's great.

So, yeah, I hope this gives you guys a good flavor of our community group.

And if you haven't joined a community group yet, I encourage you to sign up.

Thank you.

So just where we're heading next is we would love to see over the next year new groups started on the Kowloon side, on South Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island side, even Discovery Bay, Park Island.

We're all the time looking to see how we can enter into new areas which can impact the neighborhood around.

To do this, we also want to be raising up new leaders and training new leaders to be able to take on these groups.

We also would love to see present leaders equipped more and groups developing an even greater sense of a culture of discipleship even more.

And finally, we would love to see community groups even working together using their gifts, their talents, their passions to reach out to those around them.

So that as we work together, people can see the love we have for each other and they can be infected with that so that they want to know the love of Jesus.

Hi, guys.

My name is Aldrin.

I'm part of the staff and I'm in charge of the Filipino ministry.

I am Arnel.

I'm also part of the Filipino ministry.

All right.

Just to share a bit of a background, I think this is my sixth month here in Hong Kong.

And during my earlier months, God just opened my eyes to see the challenges of my fellow Filipinos.

And I saw challenges like broken families, loneliness or homesickness.

Some are into drug addiction.

But I also see this hope that God could save them and heal all their brokenness.

And God could use them to reach out to more people, to more families, because most of them are helpers.

And they have access to places or to homes which we couldn't access.

So right now we have two groups.

We have a group meeting in Syingpun that's in the community center after the service at 2 p.m.

Consisting mostly of helpers.

But we also have another group that meets every Wednesday.

And it's in Puyo, which is an island in Lantau, which is a part of Lantau Island,

where many Filipino musicians reside.

And Arnel is from Puyo.

So do you want to share to us?

Yeah, I just transferred there last year.

Yeah, and like Aldrin said, there's a lot of Filipino living there.

And also a lot of expats moving in Puyo and actually in different parts of Lantau.

We meet during Wednesday, during lunchtime.

Yeah, and currently we're ministering to three families already.

The difference with our ministry here in the city is that in Puyo,

we're ministering to Filipino families wherein they've been living here for many years already.

Their kids are born here in Hong Kong.

Yeah, and we just started last year, and God is good.

And we see a lot of opportunity in ministering to these families, especially the kids.

I live just in front of the school, and kids running around after school.

And there's a big opportunity in ministering with these kids.

We are praying for more wisdom in how to bring them the gospel.

And you can help us by praying that God give us more energy and wisdom.

I think that's great.

Right now we are in the process of reaching out to more Filipinos.

We've done outreach just last month, and we also have done a retreat last week.

And we're also emphasizing on training up leaders and discipling more.

And I think there's just a huge potential for this kind of ministry because, as I've mentioned,

most of Filipinos are helpers.

And in Western District alone, there are 13,000 Filipinos.

That's big.

13,000 of them.

Many of them are helpers.

And they have access to homes, to families.

And the good thing is you can take part in this ministry by praying for more opportunities in Puyo.

And also by help us to build network.

By inviting your helpers to join our community.

Because maybe your helpers, each of them have like five to ten friends who are also helpers.

And maybe they don't know Jesus yet.

We just want to welcome them in this community and just share them the love of God.

And through them, the hope is they will also share the love of God in homes, in households, where Jesus is not known.

Right?

So 13,000 of them.

So yeah, just pray for God's wisdom.

Invite your helpers to join our community.

We meet every Sunday at the community center at 2 p.m.

And yeah.

And we're excited for what God has in store.

We hope that this year we'll be able to double our numbers and just really, you know, just welcome them in our community.

Thank you, guys.

My name is Jeremy.

I'm Millen.

Hi.

And we're going to talk a little bit about worship arts.

I just want to clear up and make clear, you know, worship arts is really about using all of the arts in our worship of God.

You know, not just music.

And, you know, today in the church, we often kind of equate worship with music and singing.

And, you know, because I'm leading the singing, I'm often called the worship leader.

But, you know, although worship and music, you know, they do have a lot of similarities in Watermark.

It really isn't the only aspect.

You know, we try a lot of things with multimedia.

We try things with drama and sketches.

Charles has done some amazing stuff before as well as other people.

And so there's different things to that.

And there's also the whole kind of background aspect to it.

Production, audiovisual.

Like in a church of our size, none of the music and the worship arts would really be possible without this foundation that's kind of beneath everything.

And, you know, I kind of, just to share briefly, I remember when I was younger, you know, and starting to lead in my college ministry.

You know, one of the things I still remember as being most memorable about our worship services in terms of serving was, you know, wasn't speaking to my group or playing in the band.

But I remember for some reason, 10 years later, you know, it was setting up chairs before service because, I don't know, it was just so simple.

And, you know, I was just setting up chairs there and I knew I was doing it for God.

You know, I was doing it for my dad.

And I knew that he was happy because I was worshiping him through setting up these chairs.

So, I guess all this to say, what you see on stage here, that really is just one perspective of worship and worship arts.

And I'm reminded that everything that goes into facilitating this place, all the sound, all the preparation, all of that is part of leading worship.

The person who sets up, packs up, rolls cables, all of that is part of setting this beautiful table and banquet table for us to experience fellowship with God.

So, what I want to do is I want to highlight the production aspect of worship arts right now.

Not only because it's an important need in our church, but because there's actually so much potential that we see for community, for serving together,

for actually, you know, experiencing worship leading and serving through production and setting up.

Millen here is a worship leader through production and all things visual and audio.

So, I'm just going to hand this over to him and ask him to share a little bit.

Thanks, Millen.

Thank you, Jeremy.

My name is Millen.

And this is more scary to me than being at the back there handling all the knobs.

I'm the sound tech guy here at Watermark.

And everything I do right now is as a volunteer.

It's crazy, intense, but it is so fulfilling each and every week.

I am not a sound tech guy by profession.

The day Tobin asked me to come to Watermark three years ago was actually when I actually started learning about professional audio.

And there's been a lot of times when batteries would be dead and, you know, have to go up on stage and change it in the middle of the sermon.

But, you know, that's what part of learning has always been about.

We have a lot of really, really awesome musicians here at Watermark.

And the job of the sound tech people at the back is to help everybody worship together.

It can seem stressful and overwhelming at times, but it does get easier.

And once you understand how everything fits together, you know, there is that sense of accomplishment that you have with it.

Parents, I completely understand the fascination kids have with the equipment.

And we are very open to telling your kids help out.

It's also a great way for your kids to get involved.

When I was a kid, I used to take apart stereo systems all the time, you know.

And my bed, underneath my bed would be littered with components and stuff like that.

And, you know, that's how we get started.

We need more volunteers.

We need people who understand sound and can work under a stressful situation.

If you're not tone deaf and can commit to helping at least once or twice a month, you know, starting at 7.30 in the morning, please come and talk to Jeremy or I.

If you're unsure whether you are competent enough, please try at least once.

You never know.

This may be God's gifting to you.

We currently have two teams, but we do want to have up to four teams,

which includes setting up in the morning, manning the soundboard, and also putting the lyrics up on the screen.

Including the sound engineer, we need at least five people each week to help with setting up so that we can be done within an hour.

Because rehearsals usually start around 8.30 in the morning.

If you have previous experience and want to get involved, please come and talk to us.

Wives, husbands, if your other half knows the stuff but isn't stepping forward, please help me give them a gentle but firm kick in the butt.

Thanks, Milan.

And just as Mel said, you know, there's the setup.

There's actually the lyrics that you see.

They don't come up automatically.

Jackie's back there.

And the sound actually mixing.

So there's actually different roles for different levels of skill.

And I really want to just paint this picture of, you know, it would be so cool just to have, like, you know, you know how we have, like, bands?

Like, I actually have, like, tech bands.

You know, we spend time together.

We practice together.

We'll give morning calls to each other.

We'll kind of keep each other accountable.

We'll buy each other coffee and all that.

And I just think it would be an amazing thing not just to grow as, oh, I'm just here rolling cables.

But I'm actually, you know, working alongside Milan and whoever else.

I'm actually, you know, we're actually doing this together and grinding through this together.

So please pray about that.

And, yeah, thank you for listening.

Good morning, Watermark.

The world is very good at celebrating.

I believe that as God's people, we have even bigger reason to celebrate what God's been doing in our church, Watermark, over the past year.

And we are going to do just that by, believe it or not, talking about finances.

Now, this is Franklin.

He's very important, actually.

He's one of our elders at Watermark.

And you can kind of tell with the suit.

My name is Kelvin.

I'm Cindy's husband.

And for those of you who don't know Cindy, if you, you know, if you still need a donation receipt, that's the person you go after.

Now, 17th of June 2012 was a very, very happy day at Watermark.

Instead of being passed around a little bag, if you can call that a bag, to put money into, we were actually given money by our pastor.

You can see up there.

I still keep mine because, anyway.

Yeah, without going into the legality of defacing the U.S. $1 bill or the sermon, which I highly recommend you to go back to, 17th of June 2012.

I had a big takeaway on that week.

Okay.

Okay.

Then the takeaway was, if I were just looking at all the belongings and all the money God has given me, and have a big smile on my face, and say to myself,

Kelvin, eat, drink, take it easy, and be merry, then I am worshipping myself and the money, and not worshipping God who gave me the money.

So, on this slide, you see that, I am very glad actually to report that, the giving in Watermark has increased by 19% over the past year.

Very so often, you hear Tobin saying up here that money is a huge idol in a lot of our lives.

It is an indication of our spiritual health.

It is a strong indication.

And also, it is a reflection of how we respond to the way God is changing our lives and what God is doing in our lives.

And looking at these numbers, without going into too much detail into the breakdown, you know, I believe that as a church, that spiritually we are growing.

Of course, there are many factors that can contribute to a 19% increase.

It could be numbers, number of people, it could be many things, but I believe that God is really changing lives in Watermark.

So, on the next slide, you see the breakdown of the expenses over the past year.

And you notice that the top three areas is personnel cost, Sunday worship and service and worship, and facilities, community center.

Now, some of you might ask, you know, why are we spending such a big portion of our expenses on personnel?

Well, I think the answer to that could be, it depends on whether we believe a church is a building with a pointy roof and a bell going up the top,

or is it a people who believe in God and wants to become part of the mission?

If you were here last year at this Compass meeting, you would have seen me putting up four pictures there, three pictures or four pictures,

of the staff team when we first started the church two and a half years ago.

Today, not in any particular order, you see our staff team growing into about 15 people.

I feel that when I was looking at the video earlier today about how a little church was starting in Mayfue,

and what we are doing right now, I had tears coming to my eyes.

It's because of my unfaithfulness, because I believe, because I never really believed how big our God is,

how big our God is.

So if you look at the mission statement in our booklet today, you all have a booklet on your chair.

Part of it is talking about, if you come here to Watermark, what you will experience is taking and joining us

in taking the next step in becoming fully functioning followers of Christ.

Over the last year, these are some of the things which I've personally benefited and experienced

in making that step.

Baby steps, but making a step.

I'm not going to go through the details of what happened with Michael Ramston teaching us about how to share our faith.

Dr. Hannah giving leadership training to many of the church leaders here

in what they focus on in terms of church planting and so on.

Mark Teder helping us understand, get a better understanding of what worship arts and worshipping,

and how to set the table with worshipping God, either in a service or even on a day-to-day basis.

But the biggest thing that changed, that I benefited from, was the marriage course,

which Tobin and Christina led last year.

I think by now, over 30 couples in the church, so times two is 60 people,

would have actually benefited from that.

And for me personally, it completely changed the way I do marriage,

how we handle conflicts at home,

and also, it just really, when I look back,

it was a turning point in our struggling marriage,

which was a very dark place last year.

So you see this is a very busy slide.

Very busy.

We've been outreaching, and as a church, as a whole,

we've been giving to different organisations.

You see a bunch of logos in the middle,

Redeemer City to City,

Global Mosaic, First Vision,

Ganga, Friends of Hong Kong,

Charities in the middle,

and a pair of hands.

Anyone know that pair of hands?

No?

It's actually a Facebook icon for Worship Planet,

which is the Mark Teter organisation.

It specialises in teaching worship.

On the right, you see,

very busy, right?

We had Easter Outreach,

we had Christmas Outreach at the Community Centre,

we had Christmas Outreach,

Funland,

at Cyberport,

just a few months ago.

And it really breaks my heart,

okay,

during that outreach,

to see that there were a thousand families

who came to the table,

our booth,

who didn't know that Christmas

was really to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ.

And we're so thankful that,

through that experience,

through that exercise,

that Jesus' name was uplifted.

And then the kids and the father and mother said,

oh, really?

Okay, Jesus Christ,

all right, yeah.

Okay.

Sunday school is over here.

Yeah.

It's,

yeah,

it was really,

I feel that it was,

the impact was absolutely huge.

And on the left-hand side,

you see that

there was St. Barnabas Outreach,

up the top left.

We had Stand for Freedom,

going on at the university,

just a few months ago.

That absolutely killed my Facebook,

by the way.

You guys just,

all the videos.

And down at the bottom,

it was

our university mission,

and team,

going out to the Philippines,

to reach out and to help with church planning.

So,

all this,

sometimes we feel like,

hey,

should we pat ourselves on the back?

But no,

it's really God is doing all these things.

And my hope and prayer is,

by next time,

this,

by this year,

sorry,

by next year,

this time,

these pages will be filled with even more opportunities

as God do amazing work in Hong Kong,

using us.

Thank you,

Kelvin.

The Lord has really blessed Watermark tremendously

over the past two years,

not only financially,

but with many dedicated individuals

who were able to carry out the ministries

with limited resources.

We have witnessed the growth of the church

in attendance,

children,

youth,

and Hong Kong youth,

and community groups.

As we look ahead in 2013,

there will be a 22% increase in the ministry budget.

The increase is really into all areas,

which is in your booklet there.

All areas,

we're projecting growth,

as you have heard from the presentations before me.

The biggest increase is in the rent for Cyberport.

As you all know,

this area is maturing.

The rent is always a challenge,

but we are thankful,

and we do not have to switch between three places anymore this year.

As Cyberport committed to give us either a third floor or ninth floor on Sundays,

which is a big blessing for us.

As you all know,

we,

you know,

Calvin just mentioned,

we don't pass an offering back like many other churches does,

but we have witnessed your generosity by giving in faith.

You have shown us that you have not,

you have given not out of obligations,

but truly out of your love for Jesus Christ,

the gospel,

and our growing church family.

For that,

we're very,

very thankful.

As I'm preparing for this presentation,

a verse that came to my mind in Luke 12,

48,

it says,

from everyone who has given much,

much will be demanded,

and from the one who has been entrusted with much,

much will be asked.

So this is the details of the expenses.

There's a little simple chart here

to show that our God is not resting after two years.

And since last year,

we've been amazed at how the Lord continued to move people's hearts,

committing in joining Watermark to plant another church,

not only with great faith,

but with action in giving to the Destinated Offering Fund,

earmarked for church planting.

The fund has reached 1.9 million this year.

Planting a church is not something that a few of us can do.

So we're presenting this challenge and vision

to all of you.

God has already provided us with the seed money,

the 1.9 million.

As you see the diagram,

Watermark itself grow a little bit,

but we're looking at the green,

which is the new church.

He has also brought people along

with many more training planned for the rest of the year.

We'd like to ask all of you to pray together,

asking the Lord to make it clear to the leadership team

as to when and where He will want us to plant the next church.

We continue to see how God has blessed us with godly brothers

who will be equipped and ready to go whenever the Lord says yes.

항상 ready to go through,

Thank you to God for Mark江.

Thank you to Paul здесь.

Thank you to all of our friends.

Okay, so you saw a little bit

of what God has been doing,

and it's amazing as a pastor to see here

and look at what He's doing

and realize that more often than not

it has nothing to do with how skilled I am

or our staff is,

but it's just what God is doing.

and so I want to close here

with just sharing a couple points

and then give you some action points

because we have a meal

so you don't have to worry about catching the meal

you will run out that door

that door is going to be locked

you can't go out there

it's electrified

you have to go out to the food door

but I want to share a couple points

because we've heard a lot of things

in your booklet

there's a lot of things

at the meal time

you'll have the freedom to ask

people who are up here

if you have questions about the booklet

you can look at the elders

and talk to them about those things

and so it's just neat to see

what God is doing

when we started to pray about the church

we started thinking about God's kingdom

and we started asking

what kind of church did God want

for us to plant here

that would help his kingdom

and we realized really quickly

that in some of us

we've never seen that type of church

it was an act of faith

one of the things we kept saying

was that we wanted

felt like God was calling us

to plant a church

that was for his glory

and for the people

who are not in church this Sunday

we start thinking about

what would it look like

to have a church

it was for the unchurched

the de-churched

and for the church

and what would that look like

as we connect people

and bring them together

one of the big values always

was to have the kids

in here with us

statistically

whatever you think

about great Sunday school programs

I think we have a great

Sunday school program

but that doesn't guarantee

your kids walking

a lifetime with God

actually that probably

is against that

what we've seen

and what everyone has said

and I can give you

10,000 pages of information

that what enables our kids

to walk with God

and to understand

that is to have them

sitting with us

seeing their parents

do communion

serve

ask questions

experience it

so that when they go off

to the university

they understand the faith

of their parents

they see their parents

have integrity

they see their parents

live consistently

they aren't just

shuttled off

to another classroom

where they don't see

the parents worship

but they experience

all these things

and over and over

and over

what we've seen

is that that is how

people walk

consistently with the Lord

that's why we have

our kids in here

with us

I know that it's

inconvenient for many

of you until the kids

leave

there's usually about

25 people standing up

until the kids leave

so you can go sit down

but our commitment

is that we would do

things holistically

as a family

and that all age groups

could work and serve

and be a part

to me the most

exciting thing was

two Sundays ago

when the youth band

was up here serving

and when I come in

and I see the kids

pulling cables

and serving in that sense

to me that is amazing

one of the things

we prayed about

as we thought about

God's kingdom coming

is we wanted to be

a church where people

even if they weren't

in church

but they had friends

who wanted to hear

about church

or learn about

spiritual things

that watermark

would come to their mind

and they would say

you know I don't go to church

but I do know a church

it's over there

why don't you go

check it out

and that happens

over and over

and over again

and to me that is

pretty amazing

how God is using people

who aren't in church

to bring people

to church here

in that sense

we continue to pray

about a church

that we can be

theologically sound

that people can come

from different stages

of life

we have people

who come from

all different denominations

here

but we preach the gospel

we are orthodox

in our theology

but that we're also

a place like after sermons

where people can ask

questions

and we want people

to understand

that even if they

don't agree everything

with what we say

or they have a struggle

with that

that there's a freedom

to talk about that

to dialogue about that

and our prayers

that people would walk away

and they would think

wow I don't know

if I agree with everything

but I love the spirit

of those people

and I love what God

is doing in their midst

and that is something

that I hear over

and over and over again

and that is so humbling

to me

to hear people talk

about you

as a church

we realize that people

are not going to see

Christ in you

until they see the church

loving each other

and caring for each other

the Bible says

over and over again

that we're called

to do the one another's

for each other

we're called to love

one another

we're called to care

for one another

we're called to forgive

one another

we're called to serve

one another

we're called to be

exhorting one another

and if we don't do

those things

as we talk about

our faith with people

our faith is meaningless

and so it's amazing

that God is continuing

to develop a community

of faith

which you're sitting

in here right now

in changing people's lives

and he's using that

to reach out to people

and bring them into

the church

you know we prayed

and in your booklet

we pray a lot

about planning churches

we pray a lot

about leadership development

this next year

we have the opportunity

whether you know or not

to develop

over 2,000 leaders

in Asia

they're going to be

in a community center

they're going to be

having these big events

happening

and all of these

are just because

of what God is doing

in the church

because we feel like

God has called us

to raise up leaders

we reach out

at Hong Kong U

do Hong Kong students

at university

do a lot of tithe

no they don't

but they are very strategic

because they are going

to be the leaders

and as they learn

and they grow

and they fall in love

with Christ

all those things

will happen

what do we need

from you as a family

what do we ask us

as a church family

as we live in between

this time of redemption

and restoration

what is God calling us to do

and I want to share

with you four things

and then we're going

to go eat

and the first thing

I think that we are called

to do as God's people

amidst this time

this C.S. Lewis

called it a shadow time

we see God

but we experience pain

and suffering

and we know that one day

he's going to come

and all things

are going to be new

what are we called

to do here

as God's people

first thing is

we're called to pray

God has called us people

to pray

because the work

is his work

we're called to pray

and all these things

that you've heard

all the things

you've read in the book

those are not things

humanly possible

the only way

those things

are going to happen

is if God touches

people's hearts

and shows them

that this is what

we've called you to do

so we ask you to pray

pray for the leaders

pray for the elders

pray for the ministries

pray for your community groups

pray for your neighborhoods

pray for my wife

she has to put up with me

and if you know me

that's really hard for her

so you need to pray

for all of these things

going on

that's a joke

you can laugh

okay

but it's true

but you need to be praying

we need to be praying

as a church

that God's hand would move

the second thing

that we feel like

we are called to do

as a church

in this middle time

is that we're called

to invest

and what I mean by that

is we're called

to invest our time

and our life

and the people around us

we don't have a lot

of programs going on here

we want you to have

free time

in this busy world

because we believe

that you are called

to reach out

to the people

in your neighborhood

who aren't in church

yeah we could do

50 things

we could have 5 things

going every night

but if that happens

as a church

chances are

you're not going to be

out reaching out

to your friends

who aren't in church

because you're going

to be so busy

hanging out with people

who are already in church

which is good

but it's not why

God has called us here

God has called us here

as his people

to reach out to people

who don't know him

and so we want you

to pray

we want you to invest

we want you to volunteer

we want you as

I think as Graham said

we want you to invest

in the kids

in the ministries here

we believe with all our heart

that if you're not serving

you're not experiencing

God's blessing

in your life

I know that's hard to hear

but God has made us

to serve

and he's given

each one of you

talents and gifts

that we desperately need

there are a lot of things

in that book

that aren't in that book

because you're not serving

and we haven't heard

God speak to you

and you haven't been able

to come and tell us

you know God

has been working in my heart

and I think we need

to do this

we need you

to serve

our prayers

that everybody

and it's amazing

we have incredible

incredible servants

and volunteers

in our church

I would say

probably statistically

we have probably

more volunteers

per capita

than most churches

I've ever heard of

and I think that's why

we're so healthy

but I think that we

can't stop there

because we want

to remain healthy

and we want you

to be healthy

and so our prayer

is that everybody

in Watermark

would serve

at least once a month

in some capacity

within the community

so we need you to pray

we need you to invest

in your friends

we need to serve

and volunteer

and the fourth one

is we need you

to give financially

we don't talk about

we don't pass money

but we talk about money

a lot

because it's

it's an idol

in our life

but the things

that we talked about

the things that we shared

the things in those books

those are going to cost

a lot of money

and planning churches

reaching out

to community centers

helping people

in nursing homes

seeing God renew

this part of Hong Kong Island

doing ministry

doing missions

that costs money

and so we

so hear my heart here

I don't want you

to give

because you think

the church needs

your money

please do not do that

okay

my elders will kill me

or someone in finance

will kill me

don't do that

give because you love God

and you know that God

wants you to do that

because it's an act

of worship

did you hear me there

don't give

because you think

the church needs your money

because we're in deficit

we're not

it's amazing God

continue

you are faithful

and you give

give because it's an act

of worship

you love God

and God has called you

to do that

that's how this church

is going to continue

that's how God

is going to use it

and that's how you're

going to be a part of it

so we need you to pray

we need you to invest

we need you to volunteer

or to invest in the people

and we need you to give

of the money

that God has given to you

you're right

you might look at us

and say

well they don't really

need the money

because it's already

1.9 saved up

and you're right

we probably

don't need your money

God will bring money in

through other people

and through other things

but the moment you say that

you've lost the heart

of what God's doing

in the church

you've lost the vision

for reaching out

to people who aren't

in church today

and so we'd ask you

to pray

we'd ask you to invest

we'd ask you to serve

or invest in the people

and we'd ask you to give

okay

so that's where we're at

we're on this journey

to me

every day I walk

into the office

it's not day like

ugh

I mean

this week

this week

I know of five people

in our church family

who came to Christ

five people

who are here

they came in

as not Christ followers

they're asking questions

they're in a community group

they're having people

love them

they're having people

care for them

one lady said

I had no choice

but to do that

because that group

they're like bulldogs

they just clamped on to me

and they kept loving me

and they kept caring for me

and I was like

wow

that's what I want

right

that's what we want

we want to be

we want to be bulldogs

and so I'm going to

what I want to do

is as we grow

we pray for a lot of things

and the biggest thing

we pray for

is just leaders

and so I'm going to ask

two men to come up

who we have put before you

two weeks ago

Andrew McPherson

and his wife Nicole

and Graham Smith

and Irina

we want you to come up here

and I'm going to ask

Christina to come up

and I'm going to ask

the other elders

Charles and Franklin

as we pray

as we think about

planting churches

it's going to mean

we need people

who have a heart for that

they're men and leaders

and so we brought up

Andrew and Nicole

and Graham and Irina

they have been a part

of the church

for two years

I remember my first time

I met Nicole

was at our beach outreach

and they have been serving

you've seen them serve

you've seen them give

and just to be frank

we're talking about

we're here to reach

lost people

and what more lost places

are than Australia

right

so we figured

we need Australian elders

to come in there

and help with that

right

so I'm teasing

okay

I love Australia

they're some of my best friends

but I can't tease New Zealanders

because Kiwis are too sensitive

but I

right Bernard

but I can tease

Australians

right

anyway

so

they have gone through

we've met with them

for over a year

they've been in elder training

we believe they have

the DNA of the church

and the heart of the church

and they are the people

that we believe

that God has brought

before our family

to shepherd you

to pray for you

to care for you

to be the leader

to be the father

an elder is a father

a shepherd in the church

when you think of elders

you think of

what would every family

be like in a church

if they copied their elders

or their leaders

and that is the goal

to have men

who are not perfect

they're sinful

we're all broken

but they're walking

with the Lord

and that is our desire

and so

what we did

is we put together

a plaque for them

you got this one

and so

I'm going to present this

to them

and we're going to pray

for them

okay

so this is

elder certificate

Andrew McPherson

and Nicole

you are the huge part

of that

because behind

every man

there's a woman

ten times better

than he is

Andrew McPherson

is having passed

all the biblical requirements

and qualifying distinctives

of Watermark Community Church

for the office

of church elder

your desire

to serve

your faithfulness

commitment

and sacrifice

has resulted

in countless people

being influenced

for your savior

we love you

the Watermark family

so we want to give you that

and just thank you

for yeah yeah

and then we have

a same

for Graham

Graham is

he's from South Africa

so he's

he's helping in that area

but in the same way

your desire

your service

your faithfulness

your commitment

and sacrifice

have resulted

in countless people

being influenced

for our savior

despite what you say

about people sleeping

in church

when the kids come in

but we are so thankful

for both of you guys

as families

and for Charles

and for Franklin

because I don't want

to be a leader

by myself

and that is very unhealthy

but God has brought

these families to us

and so we would ask

that you pray for them

encourage them

and ask them questions

and they are the ones

God has put over

the Watermark family

for vision

direction

and accountability

for future

so what I would like to do

is I'd like to pray

with you guys

is that good

you want to come with me

so let's just hold hands

and would you guys

bow with us

and let's pray

Father we just thank you

for these couples

who have been serving

for two years

they've gone through

the process

and we've already seen

that they're already

doing the works of elders

we pray for them

we pray for Andrew

and Nicole

and their three kiddos

we pray for Graham

and Irina

and their one kiddo

and one on the way

we pray just for your mercy

we pray for grace

we pray

we pray that we pray

for our leaders

and know that you

have anointed them

to be a part of this church

and to encourage them

as they walk with you

help them to be holy

we know the spiritual battle

is real and true

and so we just thank you

for them

help us to be a church

lifts up our leaders

and prays for them

and exhorts them

and encourages them

in all these things

and so we thank you

for these four

amazing families

and we just thank you

for your blessing

upon them

we pray these things

in your son Jesus name

Amen

Amen

yeah so I think that's

okay

as we grow

there's a thing

the staff is growing

we have three types

of staff

we have staff

we have interns

who raise support

to be working for the church

and we have church planners

and so in this last six months

we've had several staff

come

yesterday we had

one staff join us

for the first time

so Alistair

you want to come on up

Aldrin

why don't you come on up

Alfie come on up

yep yep

Henrika come on up

and so I want to present

these

these are people

that God has brought

to Watermark

to serve

and be a part of this

so Alistair

Alistair and I

have been

fighting

Skyping

for two years

Alistair's a pastor

in Australia

Australians need

the help

we brought him here

and he's in Sydney

with the Anglican Church

and he

when he heard about

what God was doing

in our church

and the desire

to plant churches

and to be a part

of what God

is going on

he has graciously

joined us

and so this is

his first day

as our new pastor

at Watermark

and so you can pray

for him

it's

it's

yeah we're so thankful

you're here

and you'll get a chance

to hear her talk

and listen to his funny

accent later on

Aldrin has come back

Aldrin did an internship

and he's come back

as full time

a Filipino pastor

so now we have

two other pastors here

that are serving

and praying through

what does it look like

for them to plant a church

within those congregations

and so that is amazing

Henrika was a college student

you heard her testimony

she's actually raising

support

right now

so that she can come

to Watermark

as an intern

and serve the church

and so she's

she's raising her own support

so she can come

and serve the church

that's pretty amazing

isn't it

and so she's going

to be involved

in the university ministry

and serving that

so we can pray for her

and Alfie has been here

for six months

Alfie is an intern

he's like a jack

of all trade

he has a heart

for planting churches

he's involved

in the university ministry

he's involved

in the youth ministry

and

what else

are you involved in

yeah set up

yeah

training and teaching

with Chris Thornton

and he has been doing

an amazing job

and so he is actually

here as an intern too

making

not a lot of money

doing a lot of stuff

to serve

the Watermark family

and so I

what I want to do

is I want to pray

for them

and then I'll pray

for our meal

and then you are free

to eat

please grab some time

with these people

meet them

talk to them

ask me any questions

look at the booklets

they're just a snapshot

of what's going on

this last year

but hopefully

it's encouraging to you

and it just gives you

something to pray for

let's pray

by the way

thank you for

these servants

who've come to serve

your church here

and for future churches

as we think about

planting churches

and moving forward

and just the right people

and I know there are people

in this congregation

who will be a part of that

as they step out

in faith

and go to different areas

of Hong Kong

on the south side

and TST

and other places

we've been dreaming

about planting churches

to reach people

who aren't in church

this Sunday

we pray for them

Father

we thank you

that you brought them here

some in amazingly

different and diverse ways

we could never have planned

but it's so clear

that you are moving

and you're changing

your kingdom

help us to be a church

that is about your kingdom

and not our kingdom

help us to be a church

that is about lost people

help us to be a church

that lives well

between the here and now

and not yet

and that we look forward

to when you come again

and you make all things new

so I thank you

for my brothers and sisters here

and the leadership

and for all those

who serve

and are part of this church

everyone in this family

we're all family

pray for us Lord

we pray that we would love you

we would love each other

and we love our neighbors

and we pray these things

in your son Jesus name

amen

and we pray that we would love you

and we pray that we would love you