Our Compass Gathering

Okay, and if you've done that,

Watermark Kids, it's time for you to dismiss.

But before the kids leave, I want to pray for you, okay?

So let's pray.

Father, we just thank you for this day.

We thank you for the kids that you've brought in our midst.

We thank you that they are the future generations.

Pray for the teachers and for this time

that they would see your son Jesus

and they would fall in love with him.

We thank you for this incredible, incredible stewardship

and blessings you've given us.

And we pray these things in your son Jesus' name.

Amen.

Watermark Kids, you are dismissed.

Wow, that was two years ago.

I think I'm still wearing the same shirt.

Don't say anything, okay?

Maybe I need some fashion help or something like that.

How are you guys doing?

We are in for a neat time.

You know, when we started with the church,

one of the things we wanted it to be like was a family.

We wanted it to be a family setting

where we got together and we discussed

and we felt the freedom just to share who we are

and what we are and be on this journey together

and to ask questions.

And I kind of envision it being like the dinner table at my house

where the kids get around every day at night

whenever we get a chance to eat

and we eat and we talk

and it's loud and noisy and chaotic,

kind of like what you've already been seeing here.

And then we get to this point where we say,

share your highlight for the day.

And the kids will share something that was really important

or exciting for them.

And then we say, well, share your low point

and they'll share something usually they didn't get,

like a dessert or something like that.

And so we wanted to think about this one-and-a-half-year celebration

as kind of something like that.

We wanted not to make this a business meeting.

So I've actually never seen this done before.

This is the first time we're going to try it.

But I love this church because we try everything for the first time

and just see what God does with it.

So we're incorporating our business meeting

into this time of worship.

And so we're going to have some friends come up

and share some testimonies of things that God has been doing it.

We're calling it our Compass Gathering

because we want to look back at where we've been.

We want to look back right now where we are

and then pray and project towards the future

where we feel like God is leading this church.

And pray a lot.

This week has been a crazy week for me.

As I've been on this journey, I'm thankful for my kids.

My kids remind me of things.

They've reminded me of three important events this week.

The first thing they reminded me of was it was my wife's birthday.

So it's always good to have someone remind you of those things

because, guys, that's a bad thing to forget.

So Christina was birthday on Tuesday,

and she was 28 years old.

And so we had a celebration for him, her.

I love you, honey.

And then I was reminded that it was the church's one-and-a-half-year anniversary,

so we have a celebration for that.

And then one of my kids reminded me of a very important anniversary that happened today.

Remember what it is?

April 15, 1912.

The RMS Titanic was going on its maiden voyage.

The Titanic took off, and at that time, people said the Titanic was unsinkable.

And a little before midnight, the unthinkable happened,

and the unthinkable ship hit an iceberg and betrayed everybody who hoped in it.

There was supposed to be 35 lifeboats, but there were only 20.

And because of that, about 1,500 people died in the icy ocean waters of the North Atlantic.

Many of the lifeboats, they left, and they were only partially filled.

Later on, they were going to talk about what the people were thinking

as they heard the cries and the struggles of the people in the water,

and as the people tried to get to the lifeboats.

What were the people in the lifeboats thinking?

And they said basically this.

They said, we can't let them get too close to us.

Because if they get too close to us, they're going to upset things.

And they might tip us over.

I thought about that.

Sometimes I say that as I go through my day,

and God brings people into my life.

I can't let them get too close to me,

because they're going to upset things,

and my life might get tipped over.

One lifeboat, though, chose a different path.

This lifeboat actually went back into the darkness,

because it was pitch dark.

And they listened for the cries and the screams of people,

and they tried to save as many people as they could.

The paper said about this lifeboat that they risked all to save some.

They risked all to save some.

The passage today in your bulletin is about another type of lifeboat in Acts.

Today, the lifeboat is the church.

You and I.

Now, the passage doesn't just begin in Acts.

It actually begins much further than in Acts.

In fact, it begins in Exodus 24.

In Exodus 24, we're told that God sends Moses into the most powerful nation in the world,

at that time, Egypt, to redeem and free his people.

And he does these incredible miracles,

and Moses redeems and frees God's people,

and he brings them to the Mount of the Lord, Mount Sinai.

And on this mountain in Exodus 24, we're told on the day of Pentecost,

seven weeks, 50 days after their deliverance from Egypt,

God comes to them, and he gives them the Ten Commandments.

He gives them the law.

He gives them these sets of laws that is given to the people of God

to show them what they must do in their own power

to reach a holy and perfect God.

The day of Pentecost, Exodus 24.

Now we come to the passage in Acts 2,

and we have another day of Pentecost,

seven weeks and 50 days after Jesus was crucified

and Easter happened, what we celebrated last Sunday.

Christ has come into the world in much the same way that God sent Moses,

but he sends his perfect son into the world

to free his people.

Christ comes and he does battle with the greatest and most powerful thing in the world,

sin.

And he destroys it.

And in this passage, the people are gathered,

and this time, God doesn't give them a law.

God gives them his spirit.

He gives them grace.

He gives them mercy.

He gives them power.

And we see in this Acts passage that as he gives his power to the people

and he sends them off into the chaos, which is the wrecked world,

where people are screaming and dying and hurting and broken,

that this lifeboat called us,

the church,

does amazing, amazing things.

They go out and they start to proclaim the truth of God

and they start to rescue people.

They start to rescue lost and drowning people.

They start to change cultures.

They do incredibly countercultural things.

And the passage you have in your bulletin, Acts 2,

is probably one of the first gospel sermons preached.

The gospel sermon of grace.

And we see there that after this message is given,

what was 120 people turns into 2,000 people

and then into 5,000 people.

And this message and this power and this hope

that was in the people's lives when they heard the message,

it changes everything.

It changed families.

It changed businesses.

It changed communities.

It changed cities.

It changes culture.

When you look at the Acts passage,

you realize that as the people of the church go off,

that they're grounded in very special things,

that their lifestyle has a very specific code of conduct

that is governed by love.

They have a common set of learnings.

They have a common set of fellowship.

They have a common set of worship experiences.

They have a common set of outreach experiences.

And through all these things,

God uses the lifeboat of the church

to rewrite history

and to rewrite people's stories.

I've asked several people today to come up

who've been a part of this lifeboat as a church.

And I just want them to share what God has been doing

in the ministries that the Lord has given them.

Now, there'll be time for questions afterwards.

We're going to have Q&A time after we eat.

No one's going to get out that door.

We're locking that door.

You can't get out that door.

You got to go this way

because we're going to have this massive buffet lunch.

There's a lot of food we prepared for this celebration time.

So you have to go that way.

And we're going to eat.

And if you have questions,

you could ask us there in the tables.

There'll be staff at each table.

But for this time,

we just want to think about what God has done

and praise him.

Hi, I'm Eric Scott.

I'm the youth ministry coordinator

here at Watermark Church.

I got here in September

and started the youth ministry.

Basically, we started from the ground up.

I got here and we didn't really know

if there were any youth or who they were.

And so we said,

let's just start meeting with them

and see who comes.

So we did that

and a few kids came at first

and then eventually

they sort of started bringing their friends.

And we keep meeting now,

getting to know the kids,

getting to figure out what their stories are,

what their passions are,

and sharing the gospel with them as we do.

Here at Watermark,

we have what's called the sandbox.

And in the sandbox,

you can see it in your compass booklet

if you look through there later on.

But it says that our goal

is to help people take the next step

in becoming fully functioning followers of Christ.

Christ.

And so in the youth ministry,

that's one of the things

that we really want to do also.

And we have a few ways

that we are specifically trying to do that.

One of those ways

is by equipping parents

to raise their kids.

Ultimately, we believe

that what we are doing

has an impact on the kids.

Otherwise, we wouldn't be doing it.

But we also believe

that ultimately,

what the parents do at home

is going to have

a much greater long-term impact

on how the kids grow up

and how the kids love Christ long-term.

And so one thing

that we want to do

as the youth ministry

is equip parents,

train them,

and help them

in raising their own kids.

Another thing that we want to do

is give kids a place to belong.

Sociologists today

say that this generation,

in reverse to other generations previously,

needs to belong to a group

before they will believe

that group's faith story.

Basically, you need a group.

In the past,

it was basically

you believe in Christianity

and then you come in

and you can join the church

and be a part of the group.

But sociologists say

that today,

people need to belong

before they will accept

that what you say is true.

So we want to give the kids

a place where they can come in,

where they can be accepted,

where they can see

the difference

that a gospel makes

in people's lives

and that they will say,

hey, I want that.

I want what you have.

And we've seen this already.

There was one kid

back in November.

He just started coming

on Friday nights

with a friend,

met some people there,

kept coming,

eventually started coming

on Sunday mornings,

comes from a non-Christian family,

didn't have any background

in the church or anything,

but just found a place

where he belonged,

saw something that was different

in this group

and kept coming back

and kept coming back.

And now he's told me

that he has believed

and that he is a Christian

because we have this place

where he was able to belong

and see the difference

that the gospel makes

in people's lives.

So that's another thing

that we're trying to do.

And then the third thing

is we want them

to be connected

to the church as a whole.

We want it not just to be,

oh, we got the youth dude

over here

and maybe some volunteers

and the kids go off with them,

but we really want them

to be integrated

into the church

and to be a part

of this family

and this body.

And so at the youth ministry,

we want to help kids

take the next step

in becoming fully functioning,

fully functioning followers

of Christ.

And those are some of the ways

that we are trying to do that.

Hey, good morning,

Watermark Church.

My name is Joshua

and I've helped

to oversee community groups

here at Watermark Community Church.

You'll notice that

community is our middle name.

You heard Tobin

read a passage

or talk about a passage

this morning

from Acts 2.42

and we see a church

that is completely

passionate for God,

passionate for each other

and passionate

for the world around them

to know Christ.

And we believe at Watermark

that that's what God

has called us to be.

We see the church

in Acts operating that way

and I want to tell you

some things that I've seen.

We started off

with a very small group

of people

and with a conviction

that we didn't want

to just gather

in groups of people

just like us

in the church.

We were convicted

that God has called us

to make an impact

in the communities

where we live

and that's where

we need to start.

So we started gathering

with other people

from Watermark

that live in our neighborhoods.

Here's what I've seen

just over the last year.

I've seen groups

that study the word

and that are growing

in the word together.

I've seen people

who have come closer

to Christ

because of what you're doing

in your groups.

I've seen groups

broken and praying

for lost friends

and those friends

coming into this room

after they've heard

the gospel

in their workplace

from you.

I've seen groups

who have gathered

around families

that have new babies

and support them

in their time of trouble.

I've seen that personally

in my own life

several times.

I have seen groups

that will go to the doctor

with a friend

in their group

who hears the news

about cancer.

I've seen groups

that will weep

with each other

when someone

in their family passes.

I've seen groups

in here

who will go out

and who will plan

and pray

how to reach

their neighborhoods.

I've seen groups

in here

that remind me

so much

of what we read

about in Acts.

But we're not finished.

We live in a city

of seven million people.

Most have still

never heard the gospel

and are still waiting.

So in the year to come

we want to tell you

that however long

you're here for

no matter what you think

has brought you

to Hong Kong

that we believe

that God has brought you here

for such a time

as this.

So in the year to come

we want to see

however long

that time in Hong Kong

or in this life is

that you make the most of it.

Most of it

when you're alone

in your workplace,

when you're together

with your community here.

The most of it

when you're here

in this church.

God has called us

to not do this journey alone

but to do it together

as a community.

I look forward

to hearing the great things

that God does

through this church

and this community.

Hi, my name is Melanie Case

and I work with

Watermark Kids

as the director.

Hi, I'm Natalie Mann

and I am the

Children's Ministry Coordinator.

We just want to take

a moment to tell you guys

something about

Watermark Kids

this morning.

We began with

about four ladies

meeting together

in a clubhouse function room

in 2010

just to come together

what do we want

this thing to look like

and we came out

after a few coffees

and a couple hours

with several key points.

One, we want to share

the gospel clearly.

Two, we want to help

these kids see

how their lives

and their stories

can intersect

with that gospel story.

And three, we want to

do this all in a fun way

in community together.

So that was our mission

and that's what we've

kind of gone forward with

and that's what we're

doing now.

So we began with

about 26 kids

in October of 2010

and we now currently

run about 70 kids

in five different age groups.

So God is growing us

and we see him

beginning to redeem families.

One example of that

is a family

a few, well about

one year ago

a lady called the office

and she said

I would like to bring

my girls to your Sunday school.

Do you have a class

for kids or a program?

So I said yes

we'd love to have you.

And she said well

you know I'm not a Christian

so I don't know

is it okay if we come?

I said yes

we really want you to come.

We'd love to have you

so please come next week

and she did.

Since then

her girls come faithfully

and we're grateful

for these parents

for bringing their kids.

They don't know Christ

but it's amazing

to see God doing that

and to see God

working miracles

and bringing other people

to the faith

and using kids

right to do that

and these girls

volunteers are really

encouraged by them.

They bring notebooks

to take notes

and they really have

a spiritual sensitivity

and you can see God

working in their lives

so we're really grateful

to see what God's doing

and how he can redeem

the family

through kids

and parents as well.

This upcoming year

the vision

is to equip parents.

We want to develop

a partnership

with the Watermark Parents

so the Watermark Parents

can help the Watermark Kids

in their spiritual development

and we know

that's happening

in a lot of homes already

but we want to see

that happen

in a greater way

so we want to give

parents resources

we want to give

parents ideas

to help their children

develop

in their spirituality

and also

we also want to take

some time

with our leaders

so thank you leaders

if you're out there

raise your hand.

there's no leaders

in here

the leaders

most leaders

are teaching today

but we want to thank

all of you

and that's another area

in which we want

to look forward to

is to equip

our leaders

better

so they feel

more comfortable

in the classroom

to help our kids

as well

so thank you

for your time today.

My name is Mike

and this is Katie

my wife

and I just wanted

to share a couple

of stories

that happen in lifeboats

in universities

and so

one thing

why the whole

university ministry

journey has been

exciting for us

is because

God both

put that burden

on us

to come to Hong Kong

to reach students

that are lost

and drowning

on the campuses here

Katie came from the US

I came from Germany

we met here

and we got married here

as a part of the

watermark journey

so it's worth

getting in lifeboats

you may meet someone

there that you want

to marry

another thing

is that

when people think

about

what is it worth

to get in lifeboating

people think

oh missions happens

in unreached people groups

and in places of poverty

or HIV orphans

in Africa

we really have to help there

but a lot of people

don't think that

Hong Kong U

one of the most

prestigious universities

in the world

is a big place

of ministry

but seeing

the lostness

of students

over the years

the loneliness

the pressures

the fears

of life

this is where

we feel that

we need to get

on a lifeboat

and go back

and identify

with what's happening

out there

on the campuses

so

just something

that has been

really amazing

for us

joining Watermark

has been to see

all these volunteers

that came alongside us

and feel the same

burden and passion

ministering to students

and just

placing that hope

in their lives

statistics say

that more than 80%

even of Christian students

that step on a university

campus

will lose their faith

in the journey

of being at university

so I think

it's an amazing

calling that

God has placed

on this church

to reach Hong Kong U

and impact

these future

influencers

and leaders

of society

and that will have

a trickle effect

into so many

businesses

and medicine

and law

and wherever

they will go out

later on

and so we're

just really grateful

so as we look ahead

we just wanted to

also

just say thank you

to all of you

who have been a part

of this

and who have been

resourcing

this ministry

and just as

a little glimpse

of what's ahead

we have a couple

of students

that are now

joining the baptism

class for the May baptism

and they're actually

three students

from three different continents

and so we just wanted

them to stand up

real quick

so that you can

see who they are

and so later on

after the service

when we are

at the tables

out at the lunch

and when you go

out this way

they will be sitting

at the table

as well

so if you are

still in the journey

of asking

what does it mean

for me to be baptized

and to follow Christ

and they will be there

with us

they may just share

their story

and you can ask them

about their story

or if you have questions

feel free to talk to us

and we're just amazed

by what God

has been doing

and how he is

building up

this ministry

on this campus

thanks

brothers and sisters

my name is Kelvin

and I'm the husband

of Cindy

I serve on the

transition oversight

board

for our church

and before our group

of elders are in place

and this is Jovi

my name is Jovi

and like many of you

I'm a volunteer

and I serve in the

transition oversight

board

so professionally

I'm an auditor

which means

my purpose of existence

is to make the

lives of accountants

really miserable

and that includes

the one I married

okay

jokes aside

I'm here to share

with you my testimony

of God's great

amazing provision

for this church

and his love

for this community

in Matthew 633

Jesus said

but seek first

his kingdom

and his righteousness

and all this

will be given

unto you as well

and that's

I believe

because he loves us

so what did this church

start out with

in reality

I think we start out

with nothing

but I would argue

that we start out

with a pastor

who really

truly loves God

and the second thing

we started with

was potluck

on the 27th of February

2010

we attended

a first ever

potluck dinner

meeting of the church

planned launch team

hosted by our pastor

and his wife

Tobin and Christina

that night

45 of us

were all given

a booklet

this one

area 15

and we were called

to go and serve

the Lord

they unreached

in the west of

Hong Kong Island

and in Tobin's words

the rich

the poor

the community

God's people

we were all told

that we are doing this

because Jesus is alive

we are doing this

because Jesus is alive

we are doing this

because

Jesus is alive

so over the following

six months

we talked about

vision

value

and purpose

we did bible studies

on what it means

to be great

and how does God

want us to bless

others

I was taught

for the first time

ever

that praying

the praying body

is the most important

part of the church

not the finance manager

and not the production

of Sunday morning service

so sorry Cindy

and sorry Charles

we did not talk

about money

we did not have

any paid staff

well except Tobin

as we kind of

needed him

everything was done

by volunteers

and subsequently

we brought Chris Tang

on board

as the second

full time staff

so how has God

provided us

financially

well love offering

of 1.8 million

was received

from Iden ECC

before Watermark

even existed

since then

we've received

another 500,000

as for the community

centre

that a lot of us

have come to enjoy

we had a renovation fund

and for that

over 800,000

cash

was received

on top of

a whole variety

of furniture

equipment

and professional services

such as interior design

and architect services

that has come on board

now what sort of tithing

then have we been

giving as a church

well

for the

March 11th

tsunami

in Japan

we've given

100,000

the future

church planting

fund

of 1.5 million

has now been

set aside

and additional

to that

we have

300,000

of neighbourhood

watch fund

which is

set aside

to serve

the local

community

so we're

giving away

all these

big sums

of money

are we

as a church

family

financially

healthy

then

well

the more

important

question

that we

really

should ask

is

are we

spiritually

healthy

as

Pastor

Tobin

often

talks about

money

being one

of our

biggest

idols

we have

way under

budgeted for

a lot of

things to be

honest

and none

of us

have planted

churches before

we did not

plan to have

a community

centre

especially

definitely not

in the first

two years

we had no

idea how

much sound

equipment costs

this stuff

and God

presented

opportunity

many of

them

for us

to outreach

to our

local

communities

that we

never

ever

imagined

and some

of them

took place

in

Cyberport

and

Baku Villa

despite our

own

shortcomings

I've

personally

seen

God

sufficiently

providing

for his

work

without

any

disruptions

if you

refer to

the page

31

of your

booklet

or the

chart

that's

shown up

here

the audited

financial

statement

not by

myself

but by

an

external

auditor

for

watermark

the

first

financial

year

ended

August

2011

shows

the

general

offertory

which

came

from

this

congregation

received

7.2

million

Hong Kong

dollars

and the

operating

expenditure

was

5.1

million

excluding

depreciation

we believe

offertory

is an

act of

worship

we've

never

passed

an

offering

bag

around

and we

want to

continue

this

step

of

faith

for

as

long

as

possible

as

God

leads

his

people

us

onto

this

journey

there

will

be

countless

that

we

won't

know

and

cannot

plan

for

and

as

we

know

we

have

now

experienced

that

and

as

we

seek

his

kingdom

first

and

his

righteousness

and

he

does

provide

for

us

to

take

care

of

our

little

steps

of

faith

and

he

is

an

example

of

how

God

has

led

abundantly

and

provided

for

us

through

the

Watermark

Community

Center

which

we

use

to

serve

this

congregation

the

unreached

and

community

around

us

so

brothers and

sisters

what

we

have

seen

so

far

is

the

mighty

work

of

our

mighty

God

in

the

past

18

months

and

18

months

only

isn't

our

God

an

awesome

God

we

are

we

we

are

humbled

by

the

church's

continued

generosity

in

tithing

and

you know

we would

like to

submit to

you the

operating

budget

for the

next

18

months

in

your

booklets

you've

got

these

pie

charts

which

I'm

not

sure

are

we

going

to

have

them

no

you

have

these

pie

charts

which

show

yes

those

ones

how

the

budget

is

planned

for

the

next

18

months

and

you

will

see

a

number

of

6.3

million

Hong Kong

dollars

for

2012

and

8.3

million

for

2013

you

will

notice

a

22

percent

increase

year

on

year

from

11

to

2012

and

a

33

percent

increase

from

2012

to

2013

now

these

high

growths

of

budgeting

reflect

that

the

church

has

grown

much

faster

as

we

had

all

anticipated

when

the

church

opened

its

doors

18

months

ago

and

the

budget

and

you'll

see

the

various

breakdowns

will

reflect

the

continued

investments

in the

core

ministries

of the

church

and

that's

namely

the

university

where

we

continue

to

invest

in

equipping

leaders

in

these

communities

second

would

be

youth

and

church

third

would

be

the

Sunday

services

and

as

well

as

discipleship

now

because

we

are

a

community

church

where

we

are

fueled

by

the

energy

of

the

volunteers

you

will

notice

that

in

the

budget

most

of

it

is

variable

cost

increases

what

does

that

mean

that

means

that

the

cost

increases

because

there

are

more

participants

that

also

says

that

the

fixed

cost

proportion

is

minimized

and

what

we

mean

by

that

is

that

the

support

staff

continues

to be

the

same

there

is

probably

the

addition

of

one

church

planting

pastor

and

Tobin

is going

to talk

about

that

in the

next

couple

of

months

and

this

is

in

keeping

with

the

vision

that

we

want

to

be

a

church

that

will

be

a

bridge

for

other

church

plants

in the

community

so

that's

the

budget

for the

next

18

other

things

to say

here

is

that

we

can't

plan

as

those

of

you

know

we

can't

really

plan

without

a lot

of

fine

tuning

going

down

the

road

but

what

we

have

here

is

basically

a

guide

and

with

anticipation

for

God

how

God

will

use

these

blessings

and

resources

we're

excited

on how

he

would

multiply

these

and

magnify

these

in

the way

he

transforms

lives

so

while

these

numbers

look

big

they're

actually

quite

small

compared

to the

way

the

Lord

transforms

lives

in our

communities

and you've

heard many

stories

previously

and you know

there's hundreds

of stories

that are

untold

so

thank you

so

have you

seen

one

of the

requirements

to

be

on

staff

is

you

have

to

be

able

to

cry

when

you

think

of

lost

people

and

that

is

a

requirement

we want

people

to never

forget

what it

was like

before they

knew

the

Lord

you know

we were

drawing up

and praying

about

starting

Watermark

we knew

that the

west side

of this

island

had a

massive

amount

of people

in it

and very

few

churches

our

church

and

acts

a

church

that

believed

and

acted

a

very

specific

way

the

motto

then

and is

still

today

is

for the

glory

of

God

and for

those

not

in

church

this

Sunday

for

the

glory

of

God

and

for

those

not

in

church

this

Sunday

we

wanted

to

create

a

church

for

the

unchurched

the

de-churched

and

the

churched

we

wanted

to

create

a

church

where

people

could

come

and

they

could

take

their

next

step

in

their

spiritual

journey

of

God

no

matter

where

they

were

this

vision

drives

everything

that

we

do

and

I'm

confessing

to you

right now

that

sometimes

we

don't

get

it

right

sometimes

we

do

not

get

it

right

even

after

being

one

and

a

half

years

old

and

we're

still

learning

and

experimenting

and

trying

to

figure

out

what

does

it

mean

to

honor

the

Lord

but

we

you

should

go

to

Watermark

I

know

that

is

true

because

there's

several

of you

who

are

in

here

right

now

that

your

friends

invited

you

here

and

they

don't

even

come

here

some

of

them

go

to

other

churches

and

some

of

them

don't

go

to

church

at

all

and

that's

what

we

dreamed

of

that

people

would

be

a

part

of

that

and

see

this

as

a

church

of

a

life

and

to

serve

in

their

parents

church

that's

why

the

kids

are

in

the

service

some

of

us

think

it's

crazy

and

it's

chaotic

but

statistics

and

everything

show

that

kids

leave

their

faith

because

they

don't

understand

why

their

parents

worship

they

don't

understand

why

their

parents