Dear Friends at 5C:
Praise the Lord for a good weekend of church ministry. On Saturday, the church invited Dr. Jue Wang from Arizona to give a seminar on “COVID-19 and You”. It was a good opportunity to share more information about the pandemic in order to prepare us for a changed world. Many thanks to Brother Raymond Wu who has taken an initiative to organize this event. This event was well attended (51) including nine visitors from our community. During last week, our small groups and prayer meetings continue to meet regularly. As this pandemic continues its influence in the community, it seems that this might become the way of church gatherings for quite some time. On Sunday we continue to study the Book of Ruth. Just as Boaz showed his kindness to Ruth, we all should treat each other with courtesy and respect, especially for those socially disadvantaged individuals. In a word, “Kindness” is our answer to the suffering world at this special time.
Chinese Sunday school will begin a new series in June, “Bible Study Method”. If you are interested in attending, please let Catherine Li know so that we may reserve a book (Inductive Study of the Book of Mark) for you. We will have a regular study time during Sunday school time. In addition, we plan to have another session for those who can’t attend Chinese Sunday school. I would like to encourage all our members to take this opportunity of training to become capable Bible students. More than 20 years ago, my pastor invited me to study this book. Since then without a single day gone by I would not appreciate the things I have learned from this course. For this reason, I believe that your investment in this course is well worthy of the dollars and time.
Ministry Update:
- Virtual prayer meetings at 7:30pm Monday and Thursday.
- Pastor Chen’s virtual office hours, 10:00am-12:00pm every Wednesday and Friday.
- Chinese Sunday school (Annie Shi-Mu) and English Sunday school (Chris Choi)
- There is no small group meeting this week.
- Chinese Sunday school will have a new series, “Bible Study Method” in June.
- Bianca and Raymond are working on church reopening guidelines.
- Chris Choi is working on Good Samaritan Committee guidelines.
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for Coronavirus outbreak in US and around the world.
- Pray for physical and spiritual well-being of our church members.
- Pray for God’s protection for people who have to work outside home.
- Pray for Bianca’s hand surgery on Thursday 5/21.
- Pray for Annie Shi-Mu’ sister who suffers Parkinson’s disease.
- Pray for Ed Sherman’s son Lane who undergoes treatment for brain cancer.
Look forward to seeing you virtually on Sunday.
Blessings!
Jinchang
親愛的中岸教會朋友們:
感謝主,本周末教会的事工進行的非常順利。週六,我們邀請了來自亞利桑那州的王珏醫生,舉辦了有關“新冠病毒與你”的研討會。這是分享更多關於此次瘟疫相關訊息的好機會,讓我們針對現今世界的變化做好準備。非常感謝胡其建弟兄主動組織了此次活動。大家踴躍參加該項活動(51 位),其中包括 9 位來自社區的訪客。上週,教會的小組聚會和祈禱會繼續定期線上舉行。隨著新冠病毒持續在社區中產生影響,在相當長的一段時間內,這可能是教會聚會的主要方式。在週日,我們繼續學習了路得記。正如波阿斯對路得的友善一樣,我們每個人都應該互相尊重,特別是對那些處境不利的人。總而言之,“友善”是我們在這個特殊時期對苦難中世界的回應。
中文主日學將會在六月的第一個主日開始新課程“讀經法”,如果您有興趣參加,請告知李嘉琳姐妹,以便為您預備《馬可福音歸納式查經》一書。我們將在主日學時間定期學習。此外,教會計劃為無法參加中文主日學的人,在其他時間開設同一課程。我們鼓勵所有成員利用這次學習的機會,成為有能力研讀聖經的基督徒。20 多年前,我的牧師曾經邀請我參加學習這個課程。從那之後,我沒有一天不在為從本課程中學到的東西而感謝主。因此,我相信您在該課程中投入的時間與金錢將會非常值得。
事工更新:
- 線上禱告會於週一和週四晚間 7 點半舉行。
- 陳牧師的線上辦公時間為每週三和週五的上午 10:00-12:00。
- 中文主日學將由裴師母帶領,英文主日學由蔡達文弟兄带領。
- 本週無小組聚會。
- 中文主日學六月將開始新課程“讀經法”。
- 張西齡姐妹和胡其建弟兄正在起草回歸教會指南
- 蔡達文弟兄正在起草好撒瑪利亞人委員會的草案。
禱告事項
- 為美國及世界各地的新冠肺炎的爆發
- 為我們教會所有成員的身體及屬靈健康
- 為那些必須在外工作的人們祈禱上帝的保護
- 為張西齡姐妹 5/21 週四的手傷手術
- 為裴師母的姐姐正在遭受帕金森困擾
- 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