Chicago Area Christmas Service

  • by WMD
  • Dec 31, 2015
  • 2147 reads

Overview
Skit / Chorus UIC / Special Song-Triton CBF / Special Presentation - Milwaukee
Dance 
Chorus II (Hallelujah) 
Chrous I (Benedictus) 
Message 

We thank God for blessing the 2015 Chicago Area UBF Christmas worship service abundantly with the word from Luke 1:69: “Jesus, the Horn of Salvation.” It was held at Regina Dominican High School on December 20 at 2:00 p.m. At least 888 people attended from various chapters throughout the Midwest, including Milwaukee, UIUC, IIT, Lincoln Park, Wright, West Loop, Triton, Dupage, Hyde Park, and the Chicago UBF area campuses: UIC, Northwestern, Northeastern, Loyola, Truman, Columbia, Oakton, Harper, North Park, and Moraine Valley.

Following the good example set by Dr. Samuel Lee, Chicago UBF members prepared by devoting two weeks to nightly prayer. The meetings were joyful and lively. Many wonderful Bible teachers and speakers, who do not usually have a chance to share publicly, delivered dynamic messages on Luke’s gospel, chapters 1-2. After hearing their messages all attendants prayed wholeheartedly for the Christmas worship service message, skit, dance, chorus and all programs. We also prayed for P. Abraham & Sarah Kim’s world mission journey, various chapters in the Midwest one by one, and for other conferences throughout the world, including the Well conference. After prayer, those in the chorus, dance, skit, and other programs spent time practicing. In this way, many people devoted 2 and half hours a day, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for two weeks in prayer and preparation. Many confessed that after experiencing such intense devotion to Christ, their hearts overflowed with joy and new strength.

The Christmas message was delivered by Pastor Bob Henkins of IIT UBF. While he was preparing, his four children all became sick. He faced seasonal demands from his boss at work, and he had ministry duties for his chapter to carry out. But he devoted himself with every bit of time possible to prepare his message. He humbly received help from other senior leaders. In the end, the Holy Spirit worked mightily through him. His message delivery was very conversational but also very powerful. He proclaimed Jesus, the horn of salvation, who saves us from the horns of Satan and enables us to serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness, before him all our days. The message was offered between two choral presentations—“Benedictus” and “Hallelujah”—performed by a 55 member chorus. It was heavenly. A generous offering was collected which will be used for international relief—especially for Syrian refugees. Susan Calabrese presented a very spirited dramatic passage presentation. Michael Mark  presided over the service with joy and grace. Tristin Pasano of Columbia College, a dance major, choreographed a meaningful dance that presented Jesus as our Savior, together with Courtney Rinehart and Michael Young. It was beautiful and meaningful. A team of Northwestern students and mentors, under the guidance of Sarah Lee, prepared a skit that showed how Jesus destroys the power of Satan and rescues his people. It was so powerful that many were moved to tears. Special programs were offered by Milwaukee UBF (“Who is Jesus to me?”), Triton children’s chorus (“Mary did you know?”), and the UIC chorus “O, Holy Night.” The worship service closed by the prayer of Dr. Augustine Sohn. May all glory and honor be to Jesus, our horn of salvation!