Greater Things Are Still To Be Done In This City

"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it." -  Luke 19:41

Certainly Jesus loved the city of Jerusalem and the people in it to weep over it.  This year's winter retreat will be in San Francisco.  Please pray over this event as those who are planning prepare something for us and we consider our participation individually.  May the Lord challenge us to a closer relationship with Him, even as we seek to reach out to others around us.

PRAY FOR OUR CONGREGATION

Please pray for our Winter Retreat which is coming up on President's Day Weekend (Feb 12-14).  Pray that it will be a spiritually meaningful experience.

Our youth group will be experimenting with holding meetings at Ben & Angela's house starting in February.  The hope is to provide an environment where more of the youth's non-Christian friends will be willing to come to "church."  Please pray for them as they try this out.

Please pray as we start looking into the next project with Snow Elementary and the possibility of starting a Kid's Club.

Thanks to the Lord that the Christmas Game Fair on 12/12 was held successfully. There were over 65 kids and a lot of them from the neighborhood.

PRAY FOR THE REST OF OUR CHURCH

Mandarin:  Continue to pray for our worship team, which needs new members and piano player, pray to the Lord that we will establish a strong Worship team to lead our Sunday morning singing inspiration.

2010 goal for the Cantonese ministry is to develop a children ministry. The congregation can only attract younger generation of worshiper by having a children Sunday school. Please pray to God for His guidance.

PRAY ABOUT HOW GOD IS LEADING YOU ON HIS MISSION
  
PRAY FOR THREE(3) OF YOUR UNCHURCHED FRIENDS/FAMILY
  
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
  
Amen

Two Are Better Than One

"If one falls down,

his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls

and has no one to help him up!" - Ecclesiastes 4:10

This Old Testament poem is quite familiar, but took on a new meaning with our retreat if we consider that much of the wordly imagery of the Old Testament is understood in the New Testament in spiritual terms. It is so easy to fall in our spirit, but so often even the church is not a place where we can find a friend to give us a helping hand when we are hurting inside. Can we change this?

Brian Morgan gave us a lesson in expressing ourselves via poetry last weekend. In spite of the shock, there is an important lesson in it: Frequently we don't even know that our friend has fallen, so how can we help him up? May God grant us wisdom in supporting each other and may we use the things we learn about others only to build others up, recognizing our position and shortcomings before the Lord.

HIGHLIGHTED PRAYER

Praise God for a very meaningful retreat. We not only learned about the Psalms, but we also shared poems that we wrote over the weekend. The honesty and vulnerability was immense, but it opened us up to God and each other in a very new way. Please pray that, as a result, we will be able to converse and pray with each other about the things that are truly in our hearts and minds; that we will move beyond mere nice-ness and engage in deep friendships with each other.

PRAY FOR OUR CONGREGATION

We still have a few initiatives that are in the brainstorming stage, but we need God's guidance to see if they need to be brought into fruition: a monthly couples group, a prayer network/interface specifically for our non-Christian friends/family, an initiative to grow our relationship with the Compassion Network for the benefit fo the poor, among others.

Please pray that we will reach out and bring to Christ both non-Christians and new believers this year.

Please pray for those among us who are being negatively affected by the economic downturn. Pray that they will have faith in God and that God would provide for them.

PRAY FOR THE REST OF OUR CHURCH

Pray that the Lord will grant us wisdom as we try to reconfigure schedules for our three congregations and Sunday School programs for when the new building is available.

The Mandarin group is seeking more people who are gifted towards serving in the worship team. May the Lord provide them faithful and enthusiastic brothers and sisters in this ministry who are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The Cantonese group is having a small group leader meeting this weekend. Pray that God will grant them willing leaders who are gifted as needed and that these groups will grow in unity and in their relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

The remodeling work is happening! We anticipate completion by Easter Sunday. Many details are popping up and demanding swift attention. Please pay that we will have good and clear communication between everyone.

PRAY ABOUT HOW GOD IS LEADING YOU ON HIS MISSION

PRAY FOR THREE(3) OF YOUR UNCHURCHED FRIENDS/FAMILY

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen

Pray for Our Retreat

"When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying." - Acts 12:12

This is the story of Peter's miraculous escape from prison when Herod was plotting to kill him. The believers gathered together for prayer, but apparently expected little. As the story continues, the servant Rhoda exclaims, "Peter is at the door!". The response is in Acts 12:15 -

"You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."

Whether you will join us for the retreat or not, please pray for our church as we try to grow closer with one another while we seek the Lord. We really want our church to grow as a body that is spiritually healthy and pleasing to the Lord. May we also be encouraging of one another and building each other up.

HIGHLIGHTED PRAYER

Winter Retreat is this weekend! Praise God that 23 people have signed up. Please pray we will learn to be vulnerable before God and one another. And through the process our relationships with him and each other will be transformed.

PRAY FOR OUR CONGREGATION

We have a few initiatives that are in the brainstorming stage, but we need God's guidance to see if they need to be brought into fruition: a monthly couples group, a prayer network/interface specifically for our non-Christian friends/family, an initiative to grow our relationship with the Compassion Network for the benefit of the poor, among others.

Please pray that we will reach out and bring to Christ both non-Christians and new believers this year.

Please pray for those among us who are being negatively affected by the economic downturn. Pray that they will have faith in God and that God would provide for them.

PRAY FOR THE REST OF OUR CHURCH

The Mandarin group is seeking more people who are gifted towards serving in the worship team. May the Lord provide them faithful and enthusiastic brothers and sisters in this ministry who are empower by the Holy Spirit.

Praise God for the last week's fellowship meeting that featured witnessing, music by our Cantonese choir and evangelistic preaching by Pastor Lai. 35 people attended including several new comers. Pray for the non-believers who were in the meeting.

The remodeling work is happening! Many details are popping up and demanding our swift attention. One is the sanctuary flooring. Another is the A/V system. Please pray that we will have good and clear communication between everyone.

PRAY ABOUT HOW GOD IS LEADING YOU ON HIS MISSION

PRAY FOR THREE(3) OF YOUR UNCHURCHED FRIENDS/FAMILY

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Amen