Dear Friends at 5C:
Praise the Lord for a wonderful service on Sunday! Due to a church family’s wedding held in Southern California, it was anticipated that a smaller size of congregation participated in Sunday worship. Surprisingly many of those attended the wedding have joined Zoom remotely for either Sunday school or Worship. Some even drove all the way back in the early morning in order to attend the worship in time. I am delighted to see how much you love to get together with the church body. It is just like our messages on freedom in Christ, a good habit formed and deeply rooted in our lives.
Church secretary Cheryl Lu has decided to move back to Asia. Therefore, our church is looking for another person who can fill in this position. If you know someone who is interested in serving as a church administrator, please contact the deacon board. A detailed job description will be released by the deacon board soon. Meanwhile Cheryl continues to help the church remotely until she departs from the US in the near future. We thank Cheryl for her faithful service in the past few years, she is very capable and effective, and has done a wonderful job in assisting Pastor and the church in our daily ministry. We wish her good luck in a new journey ahead.
Now we are weeks away from church reopening on June 13. As we are waiting for the final words from SLONaz church, our leaders have all the things ready for this milestone in the church’s history. I believe that our members may also get themselves ready for this new beginning. We pray for this special service to be a time of praise and thanksgiving, reunion and celebration, reflection and remembrance. Thank God for bringing us all back to the church campus safely, and I look forward to seeing you in person soon.
As the time of our physical separation comes to the end, So does Pastor’s weekly newsletter. This newsletter has served its purpose well during the pandemic, so it may evolve into a new format in the months ahead. I would like to continue this form of communication with our members. Therefore, this will be the last weekly newsletter you received, and Pastor’s newsletter may become a monthly newsletter starting in June. Thanks to all who have faithfully followed this communication! I deeply feel your love for the Lord and your loyalty to this body of Christ.
Ministry Update:
- Raymond will lead church prayer meeting (in Chinese) at 7:30pm this Thursday 5/27
- Pastor Chen is taking time off this week on Thursday and Friday.
- Small group “Joy” will meet at 7:30pm Friday 5/28 through Zoom
- Chinese Sunday school (Hong Cao) and English Sunday school (Pastor Ray)
- We will continue the sermon series on the Book of Galatians this Sunday 5/30
- Our church decides to reopen in-person service on Sunday June 13
- Our church prepares to launch a disciple-training program in the summer
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for the Coronavirus outbreak in India and around the world
- Pray for physical and spiritual well-being of our church members
- Pray for the church reopening on Sunday, June 13
- Pray for small group ministry in our church
- Pray for the launch of disciple training program in the summer
- Pray for Cherry Lam’s mother in Hong Kong who is seriously ill
- Pray for Lydia Anderson’s resurgent brain tumor
- 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:
為上主日的崇拜讚美主!教會家庭上週末有在南加州舉辦婚禮,因此預計只會有較少的會眾參加主日崇拜。但令人驚訝的是,參加婚禮的許多人都通過 Zoom 參加主日學或崇拜。有些人甚至清晨一路開車回來,以便及時參加崇拜。我很高興看到各位熱衷於教會聚會。就像在主日講到的基督裡的自由,這是一種已經深深紮根於我們生活中的好習慣。
教會秘書呂京瑤已經決定搬回亞洲生活。因此,教會需要尋找另一位可以勝任此職的人。如果您認識誰有興趣擔任教會行政管理,請聯繫執事會。執事會將很快發布詳細的招聘啟事。與此同時,呂京瑤也將在她離開美國之前,繼續遠程協助教會辦公。我們非常感謝她在過去的幾年中所做的工作,她非常能乾和高效,在協助牧師和教會的日常工作方面做得十分出色。我們祝她人生道路新的旅程一切順利。
現在,距 6 月 13 日教堂重新開放還有幾週的時間。在等待拿撒勒人教會最後通知之時,領袖們已為教會歷史上這一里程碑做好了一切預備。我相信大家也已經為這個新的開始做好了充份的準備。祈禱這場特殊的崇拜將成為一個讚美與感恩、團聚與慶賀、反思和紀念的時刻。感謝上帝將我們所有人安全地帶回教堂,期待著很快與大家面對面。
隨著我們分離的日期即將結束,每週的牧師家書也將與您道別。牧師家書在疫情期間起到了很好的溝通作用,在接下來的幾個月內,牧師將會繼續以這種形式與大家進行溝通,不過方式將會有所改變。因此,這是您收到的最後一封每週家書。從 6 月開始,牧師家書將每月發送給大家。感謝所有關注牧師家書的弟兄姐妹!我深深地感受到您對主的摯愛以及對教會的忠誠。
事工更新:
1. 胡其健弟兄將帶領本週四 5 月 27 日晚間 7 點半的中文禱告會
2. 陳牧師本週四和週五休假,週五的辦公時間暫停一次
3. 『喜樂』小組將於 5 月 28 日週五晚間 7 點半聚會
4. 本週中文主日學將由曹紅姐妹帶領,英文主日學由裴牧師帶領
5. 本主日 5 月 30 日將繼續《加拉太書》講道系列
6. 教會計畫於 6 月 13 日重返教堂
7. 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. 為印度及世界各地的新冠肺炎的爆發
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. 為林智慧姐妹在香港病重的母親禱告
7. 為馮慶芳姐妹復發性腦瘤及後續的治療祈禱
8. 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症的困擾
期待週日線上見
主僕 陳金昌