迎月Home Fellowship @ Lawrence家 09/15/07

New study material to be used in the fellowship

We want to beef up the fellowship programs with more Biblical material and we’ve been looking for the right package. With God’s timely provision, we’ve found a DVD curriculum "Faith Lessons on the Promised Land" with study guides. That is the first volume of the “Faith Lessons” series, and there are other volumes with different themes. Filmed on location in Israel and Turkey, Faith Lessons is an in-depth video tour of the buried, distant, or otherwise forgotten places where the stories of the Bible actually happened. From this cultural perspective, teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan challenges long-held Western assumptions about even the most well-known Scripture passages. The first Faith Lessons volume focuses on God putting his mark on a people and their land, a mark he has extended through ancient Israel to the faithful of today. Each episode comes with Bible scriptures and discussion section. We are looking forward to learn together with this curriculum. Expected start date is mid November.

Content:
 Tel Gezer - Standing at the Crossroads
 Jordan River - Wet Feet
 Tel Jericho - First Fruits
 Tel Beth Shemesh - Confronting Evil
 Tel Azekah - Iron of Culture

Link for more detail:
http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310678700&QueryStringSite=Zondervan

Video samples:
http://www.zondervan.com/media/samples/video/excerpt/0310678560_videosample.wmv
http://www.zondervan.com/media/samples/video/excerpt/0310256003_videosample.wmv

Pictures from Retreat 2007

Messages from the 2007 retreat

Message 1: Status of a channel 管道的身份

1. Be humble (2Cor 4:7)
2. Be clean (2 Tim 2:20)
3. Be a catalyst (Phil 1:21, Gal 2:20)
4. Be submissive to be shaped or molded
5. Be available (Isa 6:8)

We, as the worthless clay pot, was carrying dirt in the past. We are now cleaned by God to carry something precious from Him. Still, this clay pot will be forgotten like the catalyst after the chemical reaction. The potter designs the pot and shapes it for his purpose. He will also test it continuously.

Message 2: Be a channel of... 作一個......的管道

1. Truth/God's message (2 Cor 4:2)
2. Gospel (2 Cor. 4:3)
3. Life of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:5,10 and 11)
4. Light (2 Cor 4:6)
5. Grace and Thanksgiving (2 Cor 4:15)
6. Love (1 John 4:19-21)
7. God's power (2 Cor 12:7-10)
8. Comfort (2 Cor 1:4)

These are all blessings from God.

Message 3: Become a channel for God 成為神的流通管道

1. God has already prepared a backpak filled with tools you need for the jounrey. (Exodus 35:35)
2. God will work in us and help us. (Phil 2:13)
3. Find and understand your spot in God's church. The "Sweet Spot" is where you will glory God the most. (1Cor 12:18)
4. Come face to face with God. Our ultimate life purpose is to reflect God's glory. (2 Cor 3:16-18)
   
   
   

Fellowship Retreat 2007@Sugar Pine Cabin, Twain Harte, CA

Praise the Lord with a thankful heart for the past weekend. It was wonderful in many special ways. The teachings, the sharings, the good time, the tears and laughters, the food, the place, the whole experience...all are still vivid in our mind. Share your thoughts by adding comments to this post. We are all thrilled to witness how Aggie received the salvation. Pictures are being collected and soon will be available here. Also, the main points from the messages of "Be a channel of..." will be posted here soon. Stay tuned.

Seek Him First and Pray For Each Other

• Movie outreach night in Oct--Pray for those we will invite and for the preparation of the event. It is a good opportunity for us to experience God and to work with others in unity.
• New pastor for English congregation--Pray that God provides the wisdom, the path and the selection, and through this process we all see His vision and direction as one body of Christ. Pray for the interim arrangement and the patience to seek His will. At the same time, thank God for Pastor Darren and his family for being faithful servants all these years and pray that God lead them every step of the way in the coming days.
• Fellowship retreat. Pray for the preparation going on right now, our speaker Pastor Clement, the safety on the road and most of all a heart to learn from God’s word and each other.
• Janet’s taking the driving test on Friday. Pray for her safety, confidence and calmness. (Pray for the DMV examiner and other cars on the road too. Hahaha…)
• Si-Yin’s knee and back pain. Pray that God will guide her through the treatment and give her the assurance that God’s watching over.
• The Chinese students in CSU East Bay. Pray that God prepares a way, through our church or others, to reach out to them and to build a bridge to the Good News.
• Chinese class will begin in Sept--Pray for the kids for a willing heart to come and their parents for opportunities to build relationships with them. Pray for the teachers and their wisdom and perseverance and especially their loving hearts. It is also a great way to disciple the teenage helpers.
• Choir--Choir practice has resumed, and we pray that God provides us more people in His time.

Home Fellowship and BBQ 8/18/2007

Last Sat we had home fellowship at Alvin's place. After singing some songs, many of us shared on things God allowed us to experience during the week....from jury duty to God's guidance at work to drinking the water from a swimming pool scheduled to be cleaned. In the special program, each of us had to teach the others some skill or trick in 5 min. We learned some Mandarin tongue-twister, poker card trick, exercises, origami craft and maintenance on car, teeth and cat. The fun time continued with the BBQ dinner and later some interesting conversation and card games. It was great that some of our parents and family members were able to join us too. What a blessed day!

Below is the 绕口令 Aggie taught us. Can you do it?

yī píng pén miàn,lào yī píng pén bing,bing pèng pén,pén pèng bing.
一 平 盆 面 ， 烙 一 平 盆 饼 ， 饼 碰 盆，盆 碰 饼 。一 平 盆 面 ， 烙 一 平 盆 饼 ， 饼 碰 盆，盆 碰 饼 。