SIGNATURES - HOPE SINGAPORE'S EASTER CELEBRATION
“Signatures” – Hope Singapore’s Easter Celebration 2011
“The dotted lines of our lives are ever void.
It’s not complete till it’s signed.
That’s what our lives are like.
Always looking for someone to pen down their nod.”
Nic, a 7-year old boy just needs a simple signature for a school consent form but realizes that everyone in his family is so busy with their own things that they fail to even notice him.
His mother, Mrs Neo, is an insurance agent who struggles in the pressures of her dual-role as a working mother to gain the approval from her work and also from her children for her hard work in providing for them.
His sister, Nicole, a teenage girl from a top secondary school where high grades are expected, struggles in gaining the acceptance from her classmates and her mother, due to her poor results.
Ben, a distant relative of the family from Malaysia, is an engineer in his late twenties who lives with them and fails to gain the acceptance of a girl he loves secretly as he lacks the courage to make his feeling known to her.
This Easter, we took a peep into the lives of a Singaporean family searching for different forms of acceptance in their lives through the eyes of the 7-year-old Nic, through our short-film production, “Signatures”. The film showed that in our lives, we all need the signatures from others in one way or another - but more than just requiring an ink mark above a dotted line, what we are seeking for is often more than just the approval, but the acceptance that lies behind it. Pastor Jeff in his “Signatures” sermon message pointed to us that despite our yearning for acceptance, as human beings we often falter in accepting others, as acceptance of others comes with a price. But the good news is that Jesus has accepted us fully as who we are. He looks beyond the obvious flaws in our lives to see the potential of good within each and every one of our hearts. The Son of God accepts us and loves us so much to the point of paying a hefty price by dying on the cross for staying true to His love. That’s the reason for us to celebrate Easter, as we have a God who died for us in His unconditional love, and yet, has conquered death on the cross. We are eternally accepted into His Kingdom and His family, when we accept His unconditional love.
At the end of the two services held at Suntec Convention Hall, 227 friends opened their hearts and accepted the love and salvation from God into their lives. We praise God for His tangible presence as He ministered to us through the film, the message from His word, and the worship of His church. We have been blessed again and again, as we gathered in His Name.
(The “Signatures” moments can be experienced online through the streaming of the film on this link: http://vimeo.com/22829518, followed by the audio of the “Signatures” sermon by Pastor Jeff from here: http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/media/online-sermons/; go to Archives/April 2011/24 April 2011 Signatures).
By Corporate Communications
Hope Church (Singapore) Website
