08-24-2020 Newsletter 牧師家書

Dear Friends at 5C:

Things cannot be worse for people living in California these days. The coupling of the heat wave and wildfires made our lives unbearable in the middle of a pandemic. Oh, this is just the beginning of a wildfire season. Thanks to God that we will have cooler weather this week. Hope that this may help the firefighting effort across the state.  Finally we have some good news about COVID-19, the downward of infection cases and death rate nationwide in recent weeks. It seems that mask requirements, social distancing and other public health measures are really working. As some colleges and K-12 schools plan to reopen in the fall, the impact on the spread of this virus remains to be seen. Please pray for parents who have younger children, whether their kids attend school in person or online, this school year is certainly different from previous years. Please remember Cal Poly students in our midst, some of them may return to the campus in a few weeks. May the Lord guide them and protect them during this school year!

On Sunday we resume our sermon series, “The Stories that Jesus Told”. Although every book in the Bible comes from God’s revelation, the gospel is certainly the canon of canons. I believe that the church should revisit the Book of Gospels every year. Whenever I study these biblical accounts, I am amazed by Jesus’ teachings, which consistently challenge our thinking and the way we are doing in the church. Praise the Lord that our congregation always open their heart for God’s Word and rejoice over the inspiration from biblical teachings. Nothing will make the Pastor happier to witness the spiritual progress of our members through the powering of the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, keep the good work! The spiritual blessings that God has in store for us are truly fascinating. Looking forward to the realization of these blessings, one day we will celebrate together in the presence of our Lord.

Ministry Update:

  1. Virtual prayer meetings at 7:30pm Monday and Thursday.
  2. Pastor Chen’s virtual office hours every Friday 10:00-12:00pm.
  3. Chinese Sunday school (Pastor Chen) and English Sunday school (Bianca Lin).
  4. Small group “Joy” will meet through Zoom at 7:30pm on Friday 8/28
  5. The deacon nomination committee is working to nominate new deacons for next year.
  6. Deacons board approves the Good Samaritan Committee guideline.

Prayer Requests:

  1. Pray for new college students of 2020, Amanda Chen (Pastor’s daughter), Jenny Zhan (Annie Tan’s daughter), Hannah Guan (Li and Melissa Guan’s daughter)
  2. Pray for Cal Poly students in our midst, Canlin Cao, David Chen, Ping-Wei Lin, Steven Luo, Karen Ma, Solomon Zhou, Kevin Yu and Ashely Yao.
  3. Pray for the Coronavirus outbreak in the US and around the world.
  4. Pray for the physical and spiritual well-being of our church members.
  5. Pray for God’s protection for people who have to work outside home.
  6. Pray for Crystal’s uncle in South Korea who is still in recovery from kidney cancer surgery
  7. Pray for Samuel Lee’s epidermal inclusion cyst on his back, waiting for surgery date to remove it
  8. Pray for expecting mother- Crystal Cui
  9. Pray for Annie’s sister who suffers Parkinson’s disease.
  10. Pray for Ed Sherman’s son Lane who undergoes treatment for brain cancer.

親愛的中岸教會朋友們:
對於如今居住在加州的人們來說,情況已经不能更糟糕了。疫情期間,在持續熱浪和山火的雙重夾擊之下,生活環境實在令人難以忍受。其實,這僅僅是今年山火季節的開始。感謝上帝,本週天氣會稍顯涼爽。希望這有助於全州的滅火工作。最近,有一些關於新冠肺炎的好消息,連續幾周全國感染病例和死亡率都有所下降。似乎要求戴口罩、保持社交距離和其他一些公共衛生措施確實稍顯效果。由於一些大學和 K-12 學校計劃在秋季重新開放,因此該病毒傳播的影響還有待觀察。請為家中有小朋友的父母祈禱,無論他們的孩子返校上課,還是在線上課,本學年肯定與往年大不相同。請在禱告之中記念在我們中間的加州理工大學的學生們,其中一些人可能會在幾週後返回校園。願主在本學年引導並保護他們!

上主日,我們繼續講道系列“耶穌傳講的故事”。儘管聖經中的每一本書都來自上帝的啟示,但是福音書無疑是正典中的正典。教會應該每年都要重讀福音書。每當研究這些聖經記載時,我都會對耶穌的教導感到驚奇,這些教導一直挑戰著人們的思想和我們在教會中的做事方式。感謝主,大家總是對上帝的話語敞開心扉,並因聖經的啟示而感到歡欣鼓舞。沒有什麼能比見證在聖靈帶動之下我們大家的屬靈進步更讓牧師高興的了。弟兄姐妹們,請繼續努力!上帝為我們預備的屬靈福份實在令人嚮往,期待這些福份早日的實現,有一天我們將在主的面前一同慶賀。

事工更新:

  1. 線上禱告會於週一和週四晚間 7 點半舉行
  2. 陳牧師辦公時間:每週五上午 10 點-12 點
  3. 中文主日學將由陳牧師帶領,英文主日學由張西齡姐妹带領
  4. 『喜樂』小組本週五 8/28 線上 7 點半有聚會
  5. 執事提名委員會正在進行明年新執事的提名工作
  6. 執事會已批准好撒瑪利亞人委員會的指南

禱告事項

  1. 為 2020 年三名新大學生, Amanda Chen(陳牧師的女兒), Jenny Zhan(譚東英的女兒), Hannah Guan(關力和陳慧珍的女兒)
  2. 請為我們當中加州理工大學的學生們: 曹燦霖、陳為、林苹葦、羅智亮、马加恩、周樂、余智鵬和姚嘉林
  3. 為美國及世界各地的新冠肺炎的爆發
  4. 為我們教會所有成員的身體及屬靈健
  5. 為那些必須在外工作的人們祈禱上帝的保護
  6. 為崔琳二姑父的腎癌手術術後恢复及治療
  7. 為李碩俊後背的表皮囊肿祈禱,等待進行手術將其取出
  8. 為待產的崔琳姐妹祈禱
  9. 為裴師母正在遭受帕金森困擾的姐姐
  10. 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

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