2020-09-08 Newsletter 牧師家書

Dear Friends at 5C:

Hope that you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. The heat wave made everybody uncomfortable during this holiday.  Like many places in the golden state, LA county saw a record of temperature- 121 degrees. If you take a look at the fire map on your devices, California is more like a war zone, which reminds us what the end of times looks like. Yes, the world is going crazy and in a total mess, but God is still sovereign over His creation. It becomes clear to all of us that we cannot even enjoy a day of life on earth without His grace. Unfortunately many in this world are still living in delusion, assuming that the Day of Judgement may never come. Sunday’s message talks about the reality of hell, which promotes the awareness that many people die each day without knowing Christ. During the pandemic, more than ever Christians should have strived more for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Please pray for our church as we reorient our ministry in this special time to reach out the lost in our community.

It is about time for the church to elect new deacons for next year. For church members, you may receive a letter from the deacon board as well as a ballot this week. Please fill out the ballot prayerfully and mail it back by Oct 10th. If you have any questions, please feel free to talk to the Pastor or any deacon. Praise the Lord that we have many devoted church members to contribute to the good work for the Lord. Just as Pastor Ray always reminds us, the heavenly reward we are going to receive is far beyond our wild dreams. We also thank God that Rachel Ma’s parents are able to extend their visa until December. What a blessing for this unexpected delay, not only is Rachel able to enjoy more family time with her parents, the church family also enjoys their presence in our midst. I believe that their participation, sharing, and experience continue to inspire us following the steps of our Lord. It is always good to learn from Christians from another culture, tradition, or background since this may open our eyes to see that our God is far greater than this small church.

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 “Goodness” will meet through Zoom at 7:30pm on Friday 9/11.
  5. English Sunday school will study the Book of Daniel beginning on Sept 20.
  6. The deacon board will soon send out the notice of deacon election in 2021-2022.
  7. The deacon board will have a monthly meeting at 1:00pm on Sunday 9/13.
  8. Pastor Ray is going to preach this Sunday 9/13, and we look forward to his Genesis series.

Prayer Requests:

  1. Pray for the US general election in November, 2020.
  2. Pray for the Coronavirus outbreak in the US and around the world.
  3. Pray for the physical and spiritual well-being of our church members.
  4. 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)
  5. 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.
  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 and Anderson’s brother who suffer Parkinson’s disease.
  10. Pray for Ed Sherman’s son Lane who undergoes treatment for brain cancer.

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

親愛的中岸教會朋友們:
希望大家度過了一個美好的勞動節假期。在這個长周末,熱浪来袭使每個人都倍感不適。同加州許多地方一樣,洛杉磯縣更是創下 121 華氏度的記錄。如果在手機上查看火災地圖,您會發現,加州現在更像是戰火蔓延的地區,這使我們想起了世界末日的情景。是的,世界變得愈加瘋狂、混亂無序,但是上帝仍然掌管祂的創造物。我們都清楚,沒有祂的恩典,人類無法在塵世中享受一天的生活。遗憾的是,在這個世界上,許多人仍然生活在幻想中,以为審判的日子永遠不會到來。上主日的講道我們談到了地獄的現實,這更讓我们意識到每天都有許多人在不認識基督的情況下死去。在疫情期間,基督徒應該比以往任何時候都更加努力地分享耶穌基督的福音。在這個特殊的時期,教會需要重新調整事工,以挽救社區中失喪的人們,請為我們的教會祈禱。

現在是教會每年改選執事的時候。對於教會成員,您可能會在本週收到執事會的來信以及選票。請以禱告的心填寫選票,並在 10 月 10 日之前寄回。如有任何疑問,請隨時告知牧師或任何一位執事。感謝主,我們有許多虔誠的教會成員為主的工作做出貢獻。就像裴牧師常常提醒我們的那樣,我們將要獲得的天上的獎賞,這遠遠超出了我們所能想象的。我們也感謝神,馬若曦姐妹的父母能夠將簽證延期到 12 月。這次意外的延誤真是因禍得福,不僅她能夠與父母一起享受更多的家庭生活,而且教會大家庭也很享受和他們一切聚會的美好時光。我相信他們的參與、分享与經歷將繼續激發我們跟隨主的腳步。向其他文化、傳統和背景下的基督徒學習總是一件有益的事,因為這會打開我們的眼睛,使我們看到,上帝的作為遠遠超越這個小小的教會。

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. 『良善』小組將於 9 月 11 日晚間 7 點半線上聚會。
  5. 英文主日學將於 9 月 20 日開始學習《但以理書》。
  6. 執事會將很快寄出 2021-2022 年度執事選舉通知
  7. 本主日 9 月 13 日將由裴牧師繼續講道傳世紀系列。
  8. 本週日 9 月 13 日下午 1 點有執事會議。

禱告事項

  1. 為美國 11 月份將舉行的大選
  2. 為美國及世界各地的新冠肺炎的爆發
  3. 為我們教會所有成員的身體及屬靈健康
  4. 為 2020 屆三名新大學生,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)。
  5. 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
  6. 為崔琳二姑父的腎癌手術術後恢复
  7. 為李碩俊后背的表皮囊肿祈禱,等待進行手術將其取出
  8. 為待產的崔琳姐妹祈禱
  9. 為裴師母的姐姐和林恩深弟兄的哥哥,二位正遭受帕金森的困擾
  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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