Newsletter 2015/4/12

Lord’s Day Message: John 11:1~44

¹ Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Message Outline

• To overcome death – The ultimate accomplishment of the the Lord Jesus Christ’s salvation

Lord Jesus did not only make Lazarus alive from his bodily death, in fact, He also dispensed revelation and power into those surrounding Him

• Resurrection –

1. To the disciples: They followed the Lord, yet they need to know the power of His resurrection
2. To Martha – She served the Lord and knew the truth, yet she needed to experience the reality of the resurrection in faith
3. To Mary – She loved the Lord and sacrificed to the Lord, yet without the resurrection, love and sacrifice would lack in power
4. To the Jews – They knew Jesus is full of power and love, yet it is only through faith that they can gain the salvation of the power of resurrection
5. To Lazarus – He was bound by death, yet the word of the Lord is full of power to overcome it.

• Our testimony: The Lord is the resurrection and the life

For this, it requires us to know and experience the power of resurrection in our daily life.

Next Topics: John 12

Church Meetings/Time/Place

Chinese Bible Study: 12/4 Sun. 1:30pm, Cancelled

Home Meeting: 13/4 Mon., 7:30pm, (Dinner @ 7pm)  Richard Cui’s

Young Professions Meeting: 14/4 Tue. 7:30pm, Meeting Hall

Sisters Meeting: 15/4 Wed. 10am, Cindy’s

Prayer Meeting: 15/4 Wed. 7:30pm, Meeting Hall

Pursuing of Words: 17/4 Fri., 8:00pm, David Tan’s

Young People Meeting/Pursuing for Adults：18/4 Sat. 7:30pm, Richard & Lamee’s

Announcements:

1. We welcome all the new ones who are joining us today and hope that you can leave your information for us to contact you in the future.
2. We thank the Lord for His blessings during the young people conference at Collaroy last weekend. Through the singing, messages, and fellowship many have touched the Lord and understood concerning spiritual growth. The Lord especially blessed and led five of them (Tina, Fiona, Angela, John, and Fiona) to be baptized in the sea. We thank and praise Him for all these blessings.
3. Today after the Lord’s Day meeting we will have another three brother and sisters to be baptized, Brother Zhao Yuan, Sisters Wu Meng, and Yang SuLan. Please come together to support and bless them.

<Reminder>

1. Please take the Bible Reading Supplement for your daily Bible reading.
2. Please come on time for the meeting. During the meeting, please turn off your mobile phone or put the volume on silence.
3. When you prepare the love feast for Lord’s Day lunch, please do not prepare any food containing nuts that someone may have food allergy. After the love feast, please remember to bring back your plates.

 Intercession:

1. May the Lord keep us fervent in spirit to serve in the church together so that the Lord may give us more and greater blessings.
2. Pray for those who are newly baptized. May the Lord lead them to grow and be built in the church life so they may become a blessing and testimony for the church.
3. Pray that the Lord can continue to bless His gospel work to show His great love and power so that the gospel friends among us, especially among the young people and our family members, can receive salvation and become a member in God’s family.
4. Pray for the brothers and sisters who are weak in body or spirit. May the Lord care for them and give them grace. Also pray for some relatives of our brothers and sisters (Jack, Pauline, Susan, Brett) that the Lord may heal and care for them.

Serving Today: (Apr. 12)

1. Sharing:  Yulin Wang
2. Breaking the Bread:  Shanwon Chow & Patrick Li
3. Serving Bread and Cup:  Richard Cui & Jason Wang
4. Pianist:  Hannah Cui
5. Cleaning:  Brett & Linda Family, Jack Lee, Sean Dong & Wei Qiong Family, Lisa Tao Family, Margret Yang

Serving Next Week: (Apr. 19)

1. Sharing:  Yulin Wang
2. Breaking the Bread:  Yulin Wang & Jason Wang
3. Serving Bread and Cup:  Sean Dong & Patrick Li
4. Pianist:  Nelson Chen
5. Cleaning:  Richard & Flora Family, Joyce & Chris, Olsen & Likun Family, Pauline Zhang, Rebecca Li