On December 24, 2018, the Beijing Fengtai Church held a Christmas Eve candlelight service.
A 50-strong white-robed union choir walked into the church with lit candles in their hands.
Citing John 3:16, Rev. Wang Haiqiang shared the message about "love falling on earth".
"We not only receive God's love on Christmas but live out this love and convey it. Let more people receive this love through us. "
The pastor explained this idea with an illustration about a shoemaker named Martin. One Christmas, some children came to Martin's home and gave him a greeting of "Merry Christmas" . Delighted by this move, he wondered what he could give to Jesus if Jesus were to come. The answer was a pair of kids shoes with gold buttons.
In the evening he dreamt that Jesus would come to his home the next day. Then Martin waited happily for his coming. However, Jesus never showed up.
A tired sanitation worker rested against the window of his house and Martin invited him inside to have some water. Shortly after, he saw a beggar and invited him to eat food at his house. In the evening, seeing a woman holding a sick child in the snow, he invited her to come into his house. Having mercy on the child whose feet were red from the cold, he gave him a pair of shoes. However, he felt disappointed that Jesus had been absent the whole day.
That night he again dreamt of Jesus. He asked Jesus why he hadn't come. Jesus replied that he had come three times and Martin had received him each time. For whatever we had done for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Jesus, we had done for him.
After the sermon, the choir sang a series of Christmas songs, including an annual piece entitled "King of Love" to commemorate the birth of Jesus.
- Translated by Karen Luo
