Dear Friends at 5C:
We began a new sermon series on the Book of Galatians this year. This book is one of the earliest books written in the New Testament, in which Paul dealt with a serious threat to the newborn Christian faith. In terms of the current challenges we are facing in the midst of the pandemic, Paul’s message is very much relevant for today’s Christians. There are many good lessons that we can learn from in order to hold steady in our Christian beliefs in a post-Christian world. So far our members have expressed a great interest in this series, and we look forward to our studying journey together through each chapter in the Book of Galatians.
As of today, the governor announces to lift up “stay-at-home” order for all counties in California, which means that small businesses may open for the outdoor or limited indoor services. Thanks to God, we finally put this terrible holiday surge behind us. Hopefully the declines of both case number and hospitalization are sustained in the following weeks. Currently Israel is leading all the nations for vaccination rate (about 25%). It is reported that their hospitalization rate is down 60% from the peak, that is wonderful news. If this data holds true in the US (current vaccination rate about 6%), we will see significant declines of hospitalization and deaths in the months ahead.
Please continue to pray for those who contracted COVID-19, Lim’s family and Loan’s mother. Beng Lim was hospitalized last week due to his oxygen level. In addition, Loan’s mother was also hospitalized in Los Angeles due to her complication caused by a virus infection. May the Lord lift them up and they will be fully recovered soon.
Ministry Update:
- Small group leaders are invited to attend a meeting at 7:30pm Monday, 1/25
- Church prayer meeting (in Chinese) is scheduled at 7:30pm every Thursday
- Pastor Chen’s virtual office hours is scheduled at 10:00am-12:00pm every Friday
- Small group “Grace Garden” will meet at 6:00pm Tuesday 1/26 through Zoom
- Small group “Joy” will meet at 7:30pm Friday 1/29 through Zoom
- Chinese Sunday school (Loan) and English Sunday school (Steve)
- Pastor Ray will continue his Genesis series this Sunday 1/31
- Our church will hold a special program to celebrate Chinese New Year on 2/14
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for President Biden and new administration to lead this country with God’s wisdom
- 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 new small groups formed recently in our church
- Pray for Cal Poly students who returned to campus in January, 2021
- Pray for College student returning to campus this spring semester, Amanda Chen (Saint Louis University), Hannah Guan (Barnard College), and Jenny Zhan (Santa Clara University)
- Pray for those who contracted COVID-19, Lim’s family and Loan’s mother
- Pray for expecting mother- Crystal Cui
- 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:
今年,我們開始了新的講道系列-加拉太書。這本書是《新約》中最早寫成的書之一,保羅在書中談到了對新生基督教信仰的一種嚴重威脅。就我們當前疫情中面臨的挑戰而言,保羅的信息對於當今的基督徒依然息息相關。為了使我們在後基督教時代中保持穩固的基督教信仰,從這本書中我們可以學習很好的功課。迄今為止,大家員對該系列表現出極大的興趣,我們期待著與會眾一起,逐章學習本書的信仰之旅。
就在今天,州長宣布取消加州的“居家令”,這意味著一些小型商業可能會開放室外或有限的室內服務。感謝上帝,我們終於擺脫了這疫情可怕的假期高峰。希望在接下來的幾週內,確診數和住院率均持續下降。目前,以色列的疫苗接種率居所有國家之首(約 25%)。據報導,他們的住院率比高峰期下降了 60%,這真是一個好消息。如果該數據準確的話,按照目前美國的疫苗接種率約為 6%,在接下來的幾個月中,我們將
看到住院和死亡人數的大幅下降。
請繼續為那些感染新冠肺炎的家庭祈禱,林家人和謝嬌鸞姐妹的母親。林明源弟兄上週因血氧情況不好而被住院治療。另外,由於病毒感染引起的並發症,謝嬌鸞姐妹的母親也在洛杉磯住院。願主垂顧他們,希望他們盡快完全康復。
事工更新:
- 邀請所有小組領袖,於本週一 1 月 25 日晚間 7 點半出席會議
- 中文禱告會將於每週四晚間 7 點半舉行
- 陳牧師辦公時間為每週五上午 10 點至 12 點
- 『恩典花園』小組 1 月 26 日週二晚間 6 點線上聚會
- 『喜樂』小組 1 月 29 日週五晚間 7 點半線上聚會
- 本週中文主日學將由謝嬌鸞姐妹帶領,英文主日學由 Steven 弟兄带領
- 本主日裴牧師將繼續創世紀講道系列
- 教會將於 2 月 14 日舉行春節特別崇拜
禱告事項
- 為拜登總統和新政府以上帝的智慧帶領這個國家
- 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
- 為教會新組建的各個小組
- 為一月份加州理工大學返回校園的學生們
- 為春季返校的新生們:陳襄(圣路易斯大学),關蔥蔥(巴纳德学院),和詹悅(圣塔克拉拉大学)
- 為確診了新冠肺炎的林家人和謝嬌鸞姐妹的母親祈禱
- 為待產的崔琳姐妹祈禱
- 為馮慶芳姐妹復發性腦瘤及後續的治療祈禱
- 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