Towards the end of the recent Going Deep with Sun sit-down session I had with our dear friend Dr. A. R. Bernard, I asked him to give his honest assessment of our church, considering this year being our 30th in ministry. His words struck me deeply and I thought it would be most apt for me to share it with you. This is what Dr. Bernard shared regarding CHC:

“[Jesus said] whatever His Father has planted, cannot be plucked up. Whatever His Father has not planted, can be plucked up. And City Harvest can’t be plucked up.

“It has been planted by God, and [He] has a vision, not only for its beginning, but for the process and its future. It’s important to believe in that. If God has called you to something, it’s got to be greater than your own lifetime. Otherwise, it’s not God. Because if it dies when you die, then it forsakes the nature of God, which is generational.

“He thinks generationally. He plans generationally. He plants things generationally.

“So City Harvest, more than just a generation of believers, is also a seed that God has planted in the Kingdom, in Singapore and in Asia. A seed takes time to grow, develop and bear fruit. And that fruit has not been borne to the degree that I believe God wants it to be borne.”

Even through seasons of our lives when we felt like we were going to be “plucked up,” time and again we’ve seen that God is not done with us yet.

It has not been a process of plucking up, but one of pruning.

Romans 8:28-29 (NIV) tells us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son ...”

From this very familiar verse, we know that everything that happens to us, both positive and negative, will ultimately come together for our good. That is the perfect will of God for our lives. Yet, what is “good” as we perceive it may not be how God sees it. His ways are infinitely higher than ours and the ultimate good that He has planned for our lives is clearly stated in verse 29: that we may be “conformed to the image of his Son.”

We can be confident of one thing: Whatever we face in life—when surrendered into the loving arms of our Father—will be used for our GOOD, which is of our Father—will be used for our GOOD, which is to become more and more like Jesus.

So take heart my friend, and let’s stand united with one another, believing for mighty times of encounter and revival ahead, knowing that as a seed in God’s Kingdom, our fruit has not been borne to the full degree that God has destined it!

In Christ,

Co-founder/Executive Pastor

2018

Highlights

The Kingdom of God was the focus of the year in 2018. It started off with us “Cultivating Deep People,” which led the church into a greater intimacy in worship, a deeper love for His presence, and a fresh passion for His Word. Being impassioned with a heavenly cause, we revisited the foundations that have shaped us and made us who we are today, aligning ourselves with God’s vision for the church, to “Encounter God, Cultivate Purpose, Experience Family, and Make a Difference.”

Easter

In a combined Easter Weekend, the church celebrated Good Friday and Easter with a drama production titled, Under The Sycamore Tree. Ps Bobby preached a message on the resurrection and redemption of Jesus and shared the testimonies of those who experienced the healing, deliverance and salvation of Jesus Christ. Many were powerfully impacted by the Word of God.

Our JAMs service put up their own Easter skit and held a time of prayer for those who were sick. Harvest Kidz conducted their yearly Easter egg hunt and also prayed for all who were sick.

Attendance  23,930
Decisions  2,453

Christmas

Our English, Chinese and Dialect services came together and celebrated Christmas with a spectacular drama production titled, Once Upon Every Night. Ps Bobby preached an evangelistic sermon with testimonies that bore witness to the power of Jesus Christ in the lives of individuals who gave their hearts to Jesus. That weekend, many came forward to respond to God’s call of salvation.

Meanwhile, Harvest Kidz and JAMs held their own respective Christmas celebrations to ring in the season. Harvest Kidz thrilled the children with their Cookielicious Christmas while JAMs held a Poptastic Christmas, a concert that the special needs individuals thoroughly enjoyed.

Attendance  19,387
Decisions  1,555

City News 10^th Anniversary

City News celebrated its 10^th Anniversary of keeping the CHC family up to date with churchwide news and testimonies to glorify God. Our pool of dedicated writers and volunteers meet up on a regular basis to brainstorm story ideas and ways to engage readers. CN has come a long way these 10 years, covering CHC’s Asia Conferences, APEC 2009 and the Youth Olympic Games in 2010. When court proceedings began in 2013, CN chronicled the trial, allowing the City Harvest family, SOT graduates, affiliates and friends in ministries globally to stay updated. CN’s tagline “News From A Christian Perspective” rang true during the trial.

With a new chapter and a new tagline, “Stories Worth Telling”—CN aims to consciously seek out stories that move the reader closer towards God and the things of God, activities that our members do that glorify Him, and our members in the marketplace who are living out the Word.

Emerge

The highly anticipated Emerge Conference kicked off on Jul 13, with the theme “Generation.” That weekend, from the worship leaders and musicians leading praise and worship on stage to those on the back end—the sound crew, the visual communications team, the lighting crew—all were age 25 and under. A 40-minute dance production—传人—concluded the conference on a rousing note.

Throughout the year, Emerge conducted various other activities:

• Pillars of Faith
• Academic Excellence Workshops
• The Passion Pursuit
• Youth Outreaches: Emerge Assemble, Carpark King, etc.
• P6 Graduation Party
• Emerge Camps
• Varsity & Campus Outreaches

CHCSA: The Good Carnival

City Harvest Community Services Association held The Good Carnival on the weekend of Feb 24 and 25 at Suntec Singapore (Level 3). The Good Carnival was designed to maximize fun for families and friends and help them build good memories and share life moments. In addition, proceeds from The Good Carnival went towards funds for helping families in need.

CityFamilies

In 2018, the CityFamilies Committee got together to strategize for married couples in the church and held the first retreat for marriage mentors—24 couples that had been identified as strong leaders who could help other couples work through difficulties in their marriages. Together they formed and tested the curriculum, before launching the Faith, Hope and Love retreat for the following year.

Aside from this, CityFamilies also conducted three Parenting Workshops in 2018. The first was titled Values or Valuables, teaching parents how to inculcate the right values in their children; the second one was titled Motivating Your Kids and Maximizing their Potential; the third workshop was on how to nurture children in the right climate.

Under the Happily Ever After initiative, CityFamilies also conducted pre-marital classes for those getting married.

Cell Groups

Gender

Age Groups

Occupation

Marital Status

Weekend Services (Online)

In October 2018, the weekly “Service Package” program was launched. Users can now watch any of the past week’s service hosted on YouTube via The CHC App or chc.org.sg.

Social Media

The CHC App

CityRadio

In 2018, together with the launch of The CHC App, CityRadio also introduced three new programs:

• “WORD” - an English devotion series
• “语点滴 灵距离” - a Chinese devotion series
• “Holy Ground” - one hour of worship music

This has propelled CityRadio to a new level in their purpose and objective to engage and connect with their listeners.

CityRadio AIR

Missions

Palu, Indonesia
Humanitarian Trips

On Sep 28, a 7.4-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami struck Palu on Sulawesi island, killing about 2,200 people and displacing more than 220,000.