05-10-2021 Newsletter 牧師家書

Dear Friends at 5C:

Praise the Lord for a wonderful gathering on Sunday!  Raymond and Bianca have done a great job of outlining our effort to safely reopen in-person service in June. I also thank God for church members’ support and understanding in dealing with this complicated issue. By God’s grace, we trust that the church is able to make a smooth transition back to the church campus. Please keep this reopening plan in your prayer, and we hope that the remodeling of the Student Union will be finished in favor of our schedule.

Just as we said on Sunday, our assessment of this pandemic shows that it is safe to reopen the in-person service in SLO county. With more and more people vaccinated in the US, the infection rate continues to move lower, which is in line with the data from Israel that vaccines demonstrate the exceedingly high effectiveness to suppress the spread of infection in spite of variants circulated in the country. Therefore, we have good reasons to believe that, with all public health measurement in place, the risk of contracting the virus in the church gathering becomes minimum, at least no more than our other routines such as shopping in malls, dining inside restaurants, or gatherings with family and friends.

Our church decides not to prescribe the eligibility of attending in-person service. We trust that each of the church members, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will make a wise decision to protect himself or herself while enjoying Sunday worship to the greatest extent. Let us not lay any burden on one another, because it is our Lord who is carrying our burden; Let us not judge one another, because it is our Lord who is solely given the authority of judgement. So we may practice loving one another by accepting people who make different decisions from us, no matter what the circumstance is, for people are old or young, vaccinated or unvaccinated, healthy or with underlying conditions, attending in-person service or staying online with Zoom, please treat each one of our members with equal love and respect.

Brothers and sisters, we have come a long way since the beginning of the pandemic. Together we have been witnessing the amazing blessings from our God in this uncertain time. Therefore, I am fully confident that this body of Christ will prevail again. Thank you for being a part of this faithful community, and I keep each of you in my prayers.

Ministry Update:

  1. Annie Shi-Mu will lead church prayer meeting (in Chinese) at 7:30pm this Thursday 5/13
  2. Pastor Chen’s virtual office hours is scheduled from 10:00am-12:00pm Friday 5/14
  3. Small group “Goodness” will meet at 7:30pm Wednesday 5/12 through Zoom
  4. Chinese Sunday school (Anderson) and English Sunday school (Bianca)
  5. Our church decides to reopen in-person service on Sunday June 13
  6. Our church prepares to launch a disciple-training program in the summer

Prayer Requests:

  1. Pray for the Coronavirus outbreak in India and around the world
  2. Pray for physical and spiritual well-being of our church members
  3. Pray for the church reopening on Sunday, June 13
  4. Pray for small group ministry in our church
  5. Pray for the launch of disciple training program in the summer
  6. Pray for Lydia Anderson’s resurgent brain tumor
  7. Pray for Annie’s sister and Anderson’s brother for Parkinson’s disease

Look forward to seeing you virtually on Sunday.
Blessings!
Jinchang

親愛的中岸教會朋友們:

感謝主,我們在上主日舉行了一個美好的聚會!感謝胡其健弟兄和張西齡姐妹向我們概述了 6 月教會重新開放的計劃。我也感謝神,教會成員們在這方面給予充份的理解和支持。靠著上帝的恩典,相信我們教會能夠順利過渡實現回歸教堂。請繼續祈禱教會的重返計劃,希望學生中心的裝修進度能夠按計劃完工。

就像在上週日所講的,對這一疫情的評估表明,SLO 縣重新開放教會敬拜是安全可行的。在美國,隨著越來越多的人接種疫苗,感染率持續下降。這與以色列所提供的數據相符,疫苗對變種病毒的傳播產生抑制,也顯示出了極高的有效性。因此,我們有充分的理由相信,在所有公共衛生措施均已到位的情況下,在教堂聚會感染病毒的風險已降至最低,至少不超過我們在商店購物、在餐廳用餐或與家人和朋友相聚的風險。

教會決定不規定參加教堂敬拜的資格。我們相信,每個教會成員在聖靈的引導下,將會做出明智的決定。在最大程度享受主日敬拜的同時,也合理地保護自己。希望不要彼此增加負擔,因為是主耶穌在背負著我們的重擔。也希望不要彼此論斷,因為只有我們的主才擁有審判的權柄。因此,讓我們操練彼此相愛,接受與我們做出不同決定的人,無論年長的或年輕的,無論已接種疫苗的或尚未接種的,無論健康的或有長期疾病的,無論參加線上的或到教會聚會的,讓我們以同等的愛和尊重對待我們當中的每個人。

弟兄姐妹們,自疫情開始以來,我們已走過了一段漫長的道路,取得了長足的進展。在這個充滿挑戰的時代,我們共同見證著上帝給予我們的祝福。因此,我完全相信,這個基督的肢體將再次獲勝。感謝您成為這個信心群體的一員,我會為教會的每一位成員禱告。

事工更新:
1. 裴師母將帶領本週四 5 月 13 日晚間 7 點半的中文禱告會
2. 陳牧師本週辦公時間為週五上午 10 點至 12 點
3. 『良善』小組將於 5 月 12 日週三晚間 7 點半聚會
4. 本週中文主日學將由林恩深弟兄帶領,英文主日學由張西齡姐妹帶領
5. 教會計畫於 6 月 13 日重返教堂
6. 教會計劃於夏天開展門徒訓練計劃,歡迎所有教會成員參加

禱告事項
1. 為印度及世界各地新冠肺炎的爆發
2. 為我們教會所有成員的身體及屬靈健康
3. 為 6 月 13 日的重返教堂
4. 為教會各個小組事工
5. 為教會開展的門徒訓練計劃禱告
6. 為馮慶芳姐妹復發性腦瘤及後續的治療祈禱
7. 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氏綜合征的困擾

期待週日線上見
主僕 陳金昌

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