Love Your Neighbor

"Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold." - Acts 28:1-2

The above verse isn't usually used to tell Christians about the need to be active in caring for others.  It is still good, however, because it describes the caring of non-Christians to others and is a reminder that unbelievers will care for others, and certainly we should do no less.  Have any of us not benefited from the care of a non-Christian at one time or another?  The Bible, however, tells us to be different by, um, caring for others.  That should make it clear that a bit of caring now and then isn't quite what is intended. May we have a greater commitment.
 
HIGHLIGHTED PRAYER

Continue to remember Haiti.  May God grant relief and healing to those effected.  May those who are working to provide the relief have strength for the effort.

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.

We've been praying about the next project with Snow Elementary and the possibility of starting a Kid's Club, a moral training class on school campus.  However, the Chinese congregations are looking to start an Awana, a church club for kids, which is similar but different.  Please pray that God will help us discern which path to take.

PRAY FOR THE REST OF OUR CHURCH

AWANA: pray for God's guidance, preparations of coworkers, classrooms and space. The first AWANA meeting has started, so give thanks to the Lord for this new ministry.

Pray for the planning and preparation of the activity to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New year and the Valentine's day on Feb 13th, sponsored by the Good Friend Fellowship.

Stephen Wong has resigned from Cantonese co-worker chairman position due to job difficulty. Please pray for Stephen and the Cantonese congregation for God guidance. Pastor Lai will work directly with the co-workers who are responsible for different church functions.

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

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

A Fresh Start!

January 1 Hiking Please click the above link for more photos.

New Year Hike

Hello Everyone,
What: New Year Hike.

Location: Sunol Park, parking to the left just past the entrance gate.

Start Time:  9:00am

Parking Fee:  $5

Who to bring:  Friends, relatives, dogs.

This is an invitation to join our annual New Year Hike.  

 

We will be doing this in Sunol Park this year which is near Fremont, but not too familiar to most people.  



The park should be scenic and green this time of year, while the trail is almost flat and easy to walk.  We might have a chance to see some wild turkeys and deer.

Snow School Gardening Project

Praise God for the very successful completion of our garden renovation project at Snow Elementary.  The teachers were very happy with the work that we did.  Please pray that we will be able to continue building this relationship with the school.  We are thinking about more service projects.  But we are also looking into asking the school if we can start a Kid's Club -- which is an after-school Bible-based character development class.

PRAY FOR OUR CONGREGATION

As Christmas approaches, we are encouraging everyone to join the Advent Conspiracy, recovering the subversive but life-giving celebration of Christ's birth.  Please pray that we will WORSHIP Christ more fully, SPEND less on gifts, GIVE more relational/meaningful gifts, LOVE all by giving to those in need.

Please pray for all those who are applying for college and those who are dealing with job or financial uncertainty.

 

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.

For the Church's general funds, there is deficit of 24,302.83 $ for the first three quarters, let's put our faith on our Lord that we will be able to close the gap.

Pray for the church wide cross-year prayer meeting on 12/31 evening, pray that there will lots of brothers and sisters show up.

PRAY FOR THE REST OF OUR CHURCH

Mandarin Congregation:  Continue 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.

Cantonese Congregation:  We will have a special Christmas celebration on December 19 from 3 to 7 pm. Pray for the co-workers who are making the preparation and the non-believers who are coming to this event

Pray for the new teachers for the kids Sunday school for the next three month from 12/09 to 02/10, give thanks to the teachers for their faithful teaching from 09 to 11/2009.

PRAY ABOUT HOW GOD IS LEADING YOU ON HIS MISSION

PRAY FOR THREE(3) OFF YOUR UN-CHURCHED FRIENDS/FAMILY

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen

The Advent Conspiracy- Pastor Brian Hui

Weekly Devotional – 12.13.09

Less is more—that’s the idea from which the Christmas conspiracy to save mankind was hatched.  The king who came with less would rule better than the ones with more.  The one who was revealed to the ‘least of these’ would be later be known as the greatest.  The one who showed up to a few would one day be worshiped by all. 

But this idea is counter-intuitive.  Simple math tells us the opposite, that more is more.  The more you spend, the more it must be worth.  The more we receive, the more we must be worth.  It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s how God entered into humanity to bring salvation to us all.

There was a couple that was once asked how they celebrated Christmas since they each made millions of dollars every year.  And after smiling at each other, waiting for the other to speak, the wife finally shared that they’ve made it a rule that they can only spend $5 on each other during Christmas.  And while that might seem like a harsh limitation, they actually talked about how it made them look forward to Christmas that much more.  Because they knew their gifts, which were usually creative and quite personal, while costing no more than $5, would be worth much more than $5.  This couple who could afford to buy anything, longed for something more than what money alone could buy.

As you celebrate Christmas this year, how can less be more?  Spending less time shopping so that you can have more time to experience God?  Buying fewer gifts so that you focus on giving more meaningful, more relational gifts?  Spending less money on gifts so that you can give more of it away to those in real need?  A simpler Christmas can make a more worshipful Christmas.  A simpler Christmas can make a more meaningful and memorable Christmas.  How can less be more for you this Christmas?

  Pray slowly, meditating on the words as you do…

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,  for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.  His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.  He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.  He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.

-- Mary’s prayer, after the angel visits with news about Jesus (Luke 1:46-55)

Advent Devotional- Pastor Brian Hui

The Advent Conspiracy
Weekly Devotional – 12.06.09

An angel of the Lord appeared to [the shepherds] and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  (Luke 2:9-11)
 

The Advent Conspiracy is, at its heart, an invitation to worship Jesus.  God sent his son, who would bring “great joy…for all the people.”  And this threatened the kings of the earth because while they promised joy based on coercion, power and material wealth, Jesus offered a better joy that was based on forgiveness, love and justice.  This is why the angels filled the sky with song; why shepherds  and wise men bowed down in worship.  This was the advent of a different kind of king.
But that can all get lost if all this just becomes a church program.  Or if it just becomes something that adds to Christmas more obligation, more stress and more guilt. 
We still encourage you to spend less on gifts because Christmas is about Christ, not consumerism.  We still encourage you give more relational gifts just like Jesus gave himself relationally to us.  We still encourage you to love all by donating what you saved by spending less—after all, Jesus came first to the poor.  BUT, these things have got to come out of our worship for Christ.  If we let these things overshadow our worship, then it’d be better that we didn’t do them at all.   Because if it’s just more guilt and more stress, then what’s the point?  Christ didn’t come bearing those things, he came bearing “good news of great joy.” 
So our encouragement is to focus first on worshiping Christ, and then let everything else flow from that.  Let your celebration of Christmas—the giving and receiving of gifts—be an expression of that worship.  In fact, take some time to worship Jesus right now, who left his divine privileges behind to be with to be the human embodiment of joy and salvation for us.
 

Pray, slowly meditating on the words as you do…
Christ Jesus, I praise you because you came selflessly, taking on human flesh, to show us the way.  Thank you for your loving sacrifice for me.  And for being a different kind of king.   Help me to experience real joy this Christmas season.  And please help me to find real peace as I carve out time to worship you.
--
Home of Christ Church in Newark
Faith. Community. Justice. Witness.
 

Teaching Jr. High at HOC3-12/04/09

Pleasc click the following link.

Teaching Jr. High at HOC3

Snow School Gardening Project-12/05/09

Please click the following link.

Snow School-12-05-09

Bible Study Small Group- 12/3/09

Small Group Study