Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. As we step into a new year, our hearts are filled with anticipation for the journey that awaits us. I am excited to share the vision that God has planted in our hearts for the year 2024 and beyond.
As we prepare to celebrate our 40th year as a church together in 2025, let us focus on 3 areas this year.
1. Remembering Our Roots
In John 15:1-8, Jesus likens the church to branches connected to a vine. This is a picture of complete dependance. The branches depend on the vine even more than sheep depend on shepherds, or children depend on their parents.
It is tempting for a church with our history to rely on our accomplishments, our legacies, and our deeds instead of the gracious work of Jesus in our story. Let us not forget about our roots! The grace of God working in our midst is the foundation of our vision and our ministry. We are saved by his grace, and everything we do is a response to that grace.
Our church’s journey began in 1985 with a vision of being “a church for the unchurched.” We focused on reaching out to new immigrants from Hong Kong. Through the years, our ministry has expanded, and today, we have Cantonese, English, and Mandarin people groups. In 2020, our vision grew to reflect the mission field God has placed before us. Today, we exist to build up the whole person for the whole world. God has called us to build up our people so they can bless our city and beyond.
As we move into 2024, let us recount the stories of God’s grace to each other. We need to write them down, share them, and celebrate them. God’s grace continues to sustain us. Let us also rely on the grace of God going forward. Let us anchor ourselves this year through worship, Word and prayer.
2. Pruning and Strengthening Our Branches
Jesus speaks of pruning and strengthening the branches for optimal growth. Our lives, like branches, need pruning and strengthening. Let us commit to a few areas that can be pruned and strengthened:
Re-prioritizing Discipleship:
Commit to growing in Christ
To grow, we must be intentional about it. No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, you must develop a personal growth plan for the upcoming year. Our Intentional Discipleship Pathway (IDP) is designed to help you on this journey. Start by making sure you have taken all four primers (E1-4).
Learn more here: rhccc.ca/e/next-steps
Re-kindling Relationships:
Commit to pouring your life into others
To learn how to love, we need to be around others. You cannot practice love without being in the proximity of others. Our aim is to build deep communities of love where we learn to serve and care for one another.
Learn more here on how to join or start a small group: rhccc.ca/connectwithus
Re-energize Ministry:
Commit to serving your church family
To find fulfillment, we need a role and responsibility where we can express the gifts God has given us. Our hope is that we can connect you to a ministry that aligns with your gifts and passions.
Learn more about how to serve: rhccc.ca/weserve
I’m excited to share that RHCCC will be having 3 church-wide sermon series on three topics, starting with a 5-part series on “Life Together” (Relational Renewal) in the winter.
3. Bearing fruit in abundance
What does Jesus mean by fruit? He means two things: The first is inward transformation, and the second is outward multiplication. Fruit is beautiful and useful. In your own life, fruit-bearing means the Fruit of the Spirit will grow in your life. You’ll be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kinder, gentler, and more self-controlled. And what grows in your life, will spill out from your life: Your evangelism will grow to be stronger. You will be more energized to serve others. You will be a blessing to others in so many creative ways. This is our end goal of the IDP: Every member on mission. Fruit is coming forth out of every person’s life here. We want to see every person here bearing fruit together.
Now the natural picture here is that RHCCC is a gigantic, beautiful, fruit-bearing tree. But is this our destiny? What we want is not just to be a singular large tree, but to be an orchard. We want to see the planting of new trees. We want to see many trees spread across the land bearing even more fruit. Every piece of fruit has seeds within it — those seeds are meant to reproduce into new trees. That’s where God is leading us.
We desire to be a church blessing to the whole world. Toronto’s diversity offers a unique chance for our church to have a global impact. In 2024, we plan to explore the possibility of new campus sites; work with partners across our city and the globe; and find more opportunities to share the gospel with our neighbours, co-workers, and friends.
Thank you for being part of RHCCC’s family. Let’s make 2024 a year of vibrant growth and impact — remembering our roots, pruning and strengthening, and bearing fruit. Together, let’s build an orchard of blessings for our city and the world.
God bless,
Pastor Ho-Ming Tsui
