New Year’s Message

January 1, 2026

Dear brothers and sisters, peace in the Lord!

At the beginning of the year 2026, we come before the Lord with hearts full of gratitude. As we look back on the past year, not everything we experienced was smooth. At certain moments and stages, we may have felt burdens and difficulties. Yet we thank God! Now we have entered the year 2026. This itself is a testimony that God has been with us. It also shows that no matter what storms or hardships we encountered in 2025, they did not overwhelm us. Since we have come this far by God’s sustaining grace, we now entrust the new year into His hands. May we in the Lord “rise up on wings like eagles, soar in the kingdom of God, receive the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit, and live a life of freedom and abundance.”

(This phrase is adapted from the hymn Rise on Eagle’s Wings.)

During the process of attending the CNBC 2025 Annual Conference, celebrating Thanksgiving 2025, and joyfully welcoming the celebration of the Lord’s birth in 2025, God has gradually revealed to us the vision for our church in 2026 — that is, the preaching of the Gospel. The call to preach the Gospel is not a human idea; it is the Great Commission personally given by our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples. For our Gospel Church, it is likewise an indispensable core of our life and ministry. As recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)

In the new year, we also pray especially that the Lord would raise up various gospel ministries within the church and lead brothers and sisters to participate in service. We also hope that through serving, believers may experience renewal in life and practice loving one another. Our Lord Jesus said:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37–40)

May the Lord Himself lead the church and bless all brothers and sisters, so that in 2026 we may be united as one, renewed in life, serve faithfully, and proclaim the Gospel widely.

May the holy, righteous, and loving Triune God be with us, sustain and guide us, sanctify and justify us in Christ, and lead us to walk in the will of God. Amen.

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’  or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”(Revelation 21:3-4 NIV)

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.(1 John 4:12 NIV)

With blessings in Christ,

Pastor Jake Zhai

January 1, 2026