Sandakan: With one voice and one heart and for the first time, St Mary's Cathedral Parish held a combined Praise and Worship session on 4th September. It was jointly organized by the 3 charismatic groups in the parish; Bahasa Malaysia and the Chinese Prayer group as well as the Star of Yahweh Covenant Community (SYCC).
The attendance was overwhelming despite of the different languages. The event started off with an energetic tambourine dance by the BM group. It continued with praise and worship in 3 languages with hymns resounding, praising and rejoicing in the Lord.
Rev. Fr. Sunny Chung the assistant rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish who came and supported the auspicious event gave his reflection after the proclamation of the Gospel in the 3 main languages. He was pleased and grateful to God that the three different communities are of one heart, harmoniously praising and worshiping our Lord Jesus Christ. He hoped that this combined praise and worship will not be the first and the last. He also wished that the event could be held on a monthly basis so that it will reflect unity among the the various church groups.
He presented his reflections in 3 languages for the benefits of the different language groups. It was such a great joy for all because of Jesus; these communities were able to gather as a big family, the body of Christ. He emphasized that we should not discriminate against one another if we want to praise Jesus. He added, “Worshiping the one who loves you doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s not about your performance or the language. Rather, it’s a “heart” matter—that flows out freely from the believer through a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord. You praise and worship Him because you know that He loves you, and you just want to be in His presence to behold His beauty, soak in His love and tell Him how much He means to you. After his reflection, the 3 communities took turn to lead the praise and worship session with a joyful heart.
He presented his reflections in 3 languages for the benefits of the different language groups. It was such a great joy for all because of Jesus; these communities were able to gather as a big family, the body of Christ. He emphasized that we should not discriminate against one another if we want to praise Jesus. He added, “Worshiping the one who loves you doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s not about your performance or the language. Rather, it’s a “heart” matter—that flows out freely from the believer through a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord. You praise and worship Him because you know that He loves you, and you just want to be in His presence to behold His beauty, soak in His love and tell Him how much He means to you. After his reflection, the 3 communities took turn to lead the praise and worship session with a joyful heart.
Bro. Adaris Sintan the elder of BM prayer group said “You don’t need to have a perfect voice, perfect pitch, perfect words, or perfect melody. Praising and worshiping God can be as simple as singing or humming a tune the Holy Spirit has put in your heart.”
Bro. Philip Mosinoh of SYCC added “The bottom line is, worshiping the Lord is not about your doing. It’s about what He has done for you. It’s your response to His love, His shepherd’s heart for you. It’s surrendering yourself, your concerns, your anxieties, and your pains to the Lord, and getting consoled and comforted in His love for you.”
Sis. Rosanna Sung from the Chinese prayer group acclaimed, "The combined prayer meeting is very encouraging where three different language groups came freely to praise and worship God. As you praise and worship Him, you will find Him giving to you peace and delivering you from all your fears."
The weekly community praise and worship sessions are as follows; BM every Saturday at 3.30pm at St. Joseph's Church, English and Chinese on every Friday at 8.00pm at the Parish Hall and the Catechetical room respectively. At the end of the session, a fellowship was held at the Parish Hall where the communities interacted well with one another as a “big family of Christ.”
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