Newsletter 2016/7/17

Lord’s Day Message: Basic Lessons for Christians (9) – The Church Life

The church is the gathering of God’s children who not only need to have a close relationship with the Lord to live a sanctified life, but also need to receive the life supplies from others and care for each other in the corporate life.

A. The reality of the church life

1. There are disputes among brothers and sisters, yet we need to solve them with the prayers and in the presence of the Lord (Mat.18:15-20)

¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”  (Mat.18:15-20)

• This is the second time that Lord Jesus mentioned “church” in the gospel and it is to solve disputes among brothers. This reminds us that we are not perfect. We are sinners saved by grace and are still in the process of transformation.
• Here the authority of the prayer of the church as well as the presence of the Lord are for the brothers to be built up together.

2. In the positive side, the church life is for us to encourage each other and to love another  (Heb.10:24-25; John13:34-35)

²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Heb.10:24-25)

³⁴ “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John13:34-35)

B. The importance of the gathering (meetings) in the church life

1. Do not neglect meeting together which will cause to lose the motivation for church life as well as the Lord’s presence (Heb.10:24-25)
2. Our gathering is to seek God’s will and to enjoy the Lord’s presence (Mat.18:19-20)
3. Through every portion from everyone we can be built up in the meeting (1Cor.14:26)

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.   (1Cor.14:26)

C. Different meetings in the church life

1. The Lord’s Table – a meeting set up by the Lord to remember Him (Mat.26:26-28; 1Cor.11:23-26)
2. Prayer Meeting – To fight together for God’s will in the church and intercede for others’ need (Act.1:12-14)
3. Ministering Meeting – including the Lord’s Day message, gospel meeting, Bible study, conferences and trainings, which are for the Lord’s testimony and supply for the saints (Acts17:11; 20:7)
4. Home gathering and others – to pursue the Lord in a sweet and peaceful atmosphere (Acts2:46-47)

No matter what kind of meeting we are in, first, the Lord is always the center for us to enjoy His presence (Mat.18:20), to pursue the riches of divine life and to care for His interest on earth. Second, we need to put our portion in (1Cor.14:26). Do not be proud of what you have, yet do not despise it either. We need to learn to participate, to support and supply one another for building up.

Notes: The name of the church in the Bible

1. The church in someone’s home (Rom.16:5; 1Cor.16:19)
2. The church in certain city (1Cor.1:2; 2Cor.1:1; 1Thes.1:1; Rev.2-3)
3. The church(es) in some region (Acts.9:31; Gal.1:2)
4. The church of God – emphasizing the nature of belonging to God (Act.20:28; 1Cor.1:2; 1Tim.3:5, 15)
5. The church universal (Eph.5:25; 1Cor.12:28)

We name our church as “the Church in Sydney” just simply is biblical and it is for us to receive all the believers and to practice the oneness of the Christians.

Message Next Week: The Spirit in the Christian living

Church Meetings/Time/Place

Home Meeting: 18/7 Mon., 7:30pm,  (7:00 dinner) Richard & Flora’s

Pursuing of Uni Students: 19/7 Tue. 4:00pm, Yulin’s

Sisters Meeting: 20/7 Wed. 10:00am, Anne’s

Prayer Meeting: 20/7 Wed. 7:30pm, Meeting Hall

Pursuing of Words: 22/7  Fri., 8:00pm, David’s

Young People Meeting/Home meeting for Adults：23/7 Sat. 7:30pm, Olsen & Likun’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. After meeting please stay for lunch and enjoy the love feast together with us.
2. On August 7, the church will have an English speaking gospel meeting that the hymns, testimonies and message will be prepared by young people and English speaking saints. Please support it in our prayer and invite our friends to come.
3. The church will have a Spring Conference from October 1 to 3 (Sat. to Mon.) and will invite Brother Titus Chu to share the messages. Please remember this in our prayer. For practical serving, Brother Patrick Li will be the coordinator, but we hope many brothers and sisters can work with him.
4. If any brother or sister is willing to serve the children service or Kitchen service, please contact Sister Jessica Chao.

<Reminder>

1. Brothers and sisters, please bring your own bible to the meeting.
2. Please come on time for the meeting. During the meeting, please turn off your mobile phone or put the volume on silence and not to walk around or to wonder in the kitchen.
3. When you prepare the love feast for Lord’s Day lunch, please do not prepare any food containing nuts as someone may have food allergy.

Please refrain from bringing uncooked food for the love feast so we may lighten the work for the serving ones in the kitchen.
Recently many more have been joining us for lunch, so we ask that everyone could help to prepare and bring more food.

After the love feast, please remember to bring back your plates.

Intercession:

1. Pray for the Basic Lessons for Christians in the coming Lord’s Day meetings that every brother and sister can receive the life supply and grow stably in the Lord.
2. Pray for the gospel work of the church and may the Lord keep us fervent in spirit to preach the gospel. Pray that the Lord will bless the gospel friends to believe into the Lord and to be baptized into God’s family.
3. Pray for those who are baptized this year (David Hu, Gerald Huang, Bangde Liu and Peter Zhang, 4 brothers and Li Li, Mandy Zhou, Leonie, Berry Fei, and Jessica Li, 5 sisters) May the Lord establish them in the church life and bless their growth in life.
4. Pray for the brothers and sisters or their relatives (Richard Chen’s Father) who are weak in body or spirit. May the Lord care for them and give them sufficient grace. Pray especially for the health of Brothers HinSang Woon and Brother Shanwon Chow.
5. Pray for those year 12 students among us. May the Lord give them wisdom to meet the needs of the exam and help them to know His presence as their encouragement and timely help.

Serving This Week: (July 17)

1. Message: Richard Chen & Patrick Li
2. Breaking the Bread: Shanwon Chow & Olsen Yu
3. Serving Bread and Cup:  Richard Cui, Jason Wang, Benchu Guo & Sean Dong
4. Cleaning:  Richard & Flora Family, Lydia, Olsen & Likun Family, Pauline Zhang
5. Kitchen: Susan & Terri
6. Children: Supervisor – Hannah, Singing – Sarah/Vasya, Teachers – Jono/Pris

Serving Next Week: (July 24)

1. Message: Yulin Wang
2. Breaking the Bread: Yulin Wang & Chuan Ma
3. Serving Bread and Cup:  Sam Li, Sean Dong, Patrick Li & Richard Cui
4. Cleaning:  Richard & Flora Family, Lydia, Olsen & Likun Family, Pauline Zhang
5. Kitchen: Likun & Cindy
6. Children: Supervisor – Terri, Singing – Jono/Pris, Teachers –  Elsa/Lian