Dear Friends at 5C:
Thanks to Pastor Ray’s Sunday message! As a preacher, I know how much time Pastor Ray has invested in his messages. Each time our congregation is blessed by his diligent study and research. In addition, we also receive all the detailed sermon notes for further study. For this Sunday, I am particularly fond of his chart on the comparison of Genesis and Revelation, which bears the highest quality of research on the subject of biblical theology. We thank God to have a Pastor and scholar in our midst.
Our brother Beng Lim was cremated on March 4. Due to the special circumstance, Lim’s family decided not to have any funeral arrangements. Last week, both of his daughters came to SLO, joining Kam and KC for a private family gathering. Through holding a simple ceremony on Pismo Beach, they celebrated Beng’s life and gave praise to the Lord for his abundant blessings to Lim’s family. Meanwhile, Lim’s family expressed their sincere appreciation to our church for delivering meals to Kam and KC. Thanks to 14 families who volunteered to sign up for this food delivery schedule and others who are still eager to join this act of love after the slots are fully filled. Praise the Lord for your love for Lim’s family, and your acts speak more than any words about your love for Christ and this church. In addition, this food delivery for Lim’s family will conclude at the end of March.
Spa shooting in Atlanta became a national headline last week. Eight innocent people died including six Asian-American women. Hate crimes against Asian-Americans became sensationally high since the beginning of the pandemic. Since most of our church members fall into this category, we simply can’t keep silent about these hate crimes in our neighborhood. Is this shooting a hate crime? Yes, surely it is. The gunman believes that his misfortune is somebody else’s fault, targeting vulnerable people such as minorities, immigrants, and women in the community. It is the same thinking that provoked the Nazis to persecute the Jews, and it is the same thinking that promoted the genocides around the world. If this shooting is not a hate crime, I don’t know what it is. Such a sinful act should be denounced by people of all the faith.
Unfortunately, the gunman (Robert Aaron Long) was an active member of a Southern Baptist church. This is not an isolated incident. In 2018, a gunman named John Earnest who also came from a conservative church opened fire in a synagogue, killed one, and injured three others. How come a devoted Christian suddenly became a ruthless killer? Certainly, the church fails to produce the disciples following Jesus. These men were deemed very religious by others, but their lives were never transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now some churches teach more things to hate than the love of Christ. You can name those things easily, such as abortion, homosexuality, stem cells, euthanasia, and even the democratic. If we can only love those who are like us, that is not the true love of God. Hopefully, this incident becomes a lesson that every church leader should take time to think about, what kind of disciples are we producing in our church?
Ministry Update:
- Bianca Lin will lead church prayer meeting (in Chinese) at 7:30pm this Thursday
- Pastor Chen’s virtual office hours is scheduled 10:00am-12:00pm evert Friday
- Small group “Joy” will meet at 7:30pm Friday 3/26 through Zoom
- Small group “Grace Garden” will meet at 7:30pm Sunday 3/28 through Zoom
- Chinese Sunday school (Fengling Li) and English Sunday school (Stephen Casey)
- We will continue the sermon series on the Book of Galatians this Sunday 3/28
- Our church will hold the Good Friday service at 7:30pm on Friday, 4/2
- Our church will hold the Easter service at 11:00am on Sunday, 4/4
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for the Coronavirus outbreak in the US and around the world
- Pray for physical and spiritual well-being of our church members
- Pray for small groups formed recently in our church
- Pray for Raymond Wu’s surgery to heal his back pain on March 23.
- Pray for Lydia Anderson’s resurgent brain tumor
- Pray for Annie’s sister and Anderson’s brother for Parkinson’s disease, Ed Sherman’s son Lane for brain tumor
Look forward to seeing you virtually on Sunday.
Blessings!
Jinchang
親愛的中岸教會朋友們:
感謝裴牧師上主日的講道!作為傳道人,我知道裴牧師在預備講道中所花的大量時間。每次大家都因他勤奮地努力而蒙福。此外,我們還收到他的詳細講道筆記,以供進一步學習之用。我尤其喜歡上主日他製作的《創世紀》與《啟示錄》的對比表,該表在聖經神學研究中絕對屬於高質
量的成果。感謝主,讓我們中間有一位牧師兼學者的講員。
我們的林明源弟兄已於 3 月 4 日火化。由於目前的特殊情況,林家人決定不舉辦葬禮。上週,他的兩個女兒來到 SLO,與母親陳金梅姐妹和KC 一起舉行家庭聚會。他們在庇斯摩海灘有一個簡單的儀式,慶祝林明源弟兄的一生,並讚揚了上帝對林家人的豐富祝福。同時,林氏全家對教會為陳金梅姐妹和 KC 的供餐服務表示誠摯的感謝。感謝 14 個自願參加該服務的家庭。在供餐名額已滿的情況之下,仍不斷有人渴望加入這項愛心活動。為您對林家人的關愛而讚美主,您的善舉充分表達了您對基督和教會的摯愛。此外,教會為林家人安排的供餐服務將於 3 月底結束。
上週在亞特蘭大發生的按摩店槍擊事件成為全國的頭條新聞。八名無辜者喪生,其中包括六名亞裔婦女。自疫情開始以來,針對亞裔的仇恨犯罪率一路飆升。由於我們教會的大多數會眾都屬於亞裔美國人,因此我們無法對周圍發生的這些仇恨再保持沉默。這起槍擊案屬於仇恨犯罪嗎?肯定是的。持槍者認為,他的不幸是別人的錯,歸罪於少數族裔、移民和婦女等無辜的人。這與納粹煽動、嫁禍於猶太人是同樣的思路,且在世界範圍內的種族滅絕行為也是如此。如果這次槍擊不是仇恨犯罪,我真的不知道那是什麼。所有人都應強烈譴責這種種族歧視的恐怖行為。
不幸的是,槍手 Robert Aaron Long 是一所美南浸信會教會的成員。這絕不是一起孤立的事件。2018 年,一個名叫 John Earnest 的槍手也來自一所保守派教會,在猶太會堂裡開槍射擊,導致一死三傷。一位虔誠的基督徒怎麼會突然變成了一個殘酷的殺手?很明顯,教會在培養跟隨耶穌的門徒中失敗了。這些人在其他人看來是非常虔誠的信徒,但他們的生命從未因耶穌基督的福音而改變。現在,有些教會教導的更多是仇恨,而非宣揚基督的愛。您可以輕易想到這些仇恨,例如墮胎、同性戀、幹細胞,安樂死,甚至是民主黨。如果基督徒只能愛和我們相同的人,那絕不是真正的上帝之愛。希望這一事件能夠成為一個教訓,每個教會領袖都應花些時間思考- 我們在教會培養了什麼樣的門徒?
事工更新:
1. 張西齡姐妹將帶領本週四晚間 7 點半的中文禱告會
2. 陳牧師每週辦公時間週五上午 10 點-12 點
3. 『喜樂』小組 3 月 26 日週五晚間 7 點半線上聚會
4. 『恩典花園』小組 3 月 28 日週日晚間 7 點半線上聚會
5. 本週中文主日學將由李鳳玲姐妹帶領,英文主日學由 Stephen Casey弟兄帶領
6. 本主日 3 月 28 日我們將繼續加拉太書的系列講道
7. 教會將於 4 月 2 日週五晚間 7 點半舉行耶穌受難日聚會
8. 復活節崇拜於 4 月 4 日上午 11 點舉行
禱告事項
1. 為美國及世界各地的新冠肺炎的爆發
2. 為我們教會所有成員的身體及屬靈健康
3. 為教會新組建的各個小組
4. 求主通過 3 月 23 日的手術治愈胡其健弟兄的背痛
5. 為馮慶芳姐妹復發性腦瘤及後續的治療祈禱
6. 為裴師母姐姐和林恩深弟兄的哥哥祈禱,他們正在遭受帕金森的困擾;為 Ed Sherman 的兒子 Lane 祈禱,他正在接受腦瘤治療
期待週日線上見
主僕 陳金昌