Newsletter 2016/9/25

Lord’s Day Message:Basic Lessons for Christians (17) – The Lord’s return

• The promise and prophesy of the Lord’s return (Mat.16:27; 1The.4:16-17)

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. (Mat.16:27)

¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1The.4:16-17)

• Preparation of the believers today

1. Be watchful and be ready (Mat.24:42-44): By preparing flasks of oil (works of the Spirit) with their lamps (Mat.25:1-13)

⁴² Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Mat.24:42-44)

¹ “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Mat.25:1-13)

2. Be faithful and wise to serve (Mat.24:45-51): By using the gifts given by the Lord (Mat.25:14-30)

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat.24:45-51)

3. Loving His appearing (2Tim.4:8): As the bride adorned for her husband (Rev.21:1-4)

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2Tim.4:8)

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev.21:1-4)

• What will happen to the believers and/or overcomers during and after His return

1. Judgment and rewards (Mat.25:1-30; 2Tim.4:8)
2. Resurrection and meeting the Lord in the air (1Thes.4:16-18)
3. Transfiguration (Phil.3:20-21; 1Jhn.3:2)

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Phi.3:20-21)

… we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1Jhn.3:2)

4. Enjoyment of God’s presence and reign with Him in the New Jerusalem (Rev.22:3-5)

³ No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Rev.22:3-5)

Message Next Week: Spring Conference – The Lampstand of the tabernacle

Church Meetings/Time/Place

Home Meeting: 26/9 Mon., 7:30pm,  (7:00 dinner) Richard & Flora’s

Pursuing of Uni Students: 27/9 Tue. 7:30pm, Yulin’s

Sisters Meeting: 28/9 Wed. 10:00am, Anne’s

Prayer Meeting: 28/9 Wed. 7:30pm, Meeting Hall

SPRING CONFERENCE: 1-3/10  Sat. – Mon., 9:30am, Meeting Hall

Young People Meeting/Home meeting for Adults：

1/10 Sat. 7:30pm, cancelled

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. 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.

Invitation cards for the conference are ready for everyone to pick up and distribute. May the Lord bless each invitation, so that many can join us to receive God’s word.

Please note that the meetings during the conference will start at 9:30am. There will be another section at 1:30pm only on Saturday and the Lord’s Day. Please come on time! Lunch will be provided on all three days. There will have no breakfast Lord’s Day morning, but remember that daylight savings will start that morning (2/10).

For the conference, please join this coming prayer meeting that we can support each other and fight together in the spirit. May the Lord speak to us and bless the church.

3. The church would like to encourage the young people (with their parents too) to attend the conference in Cleveland in the end of this year. If you are interested to go, please contact Brother Yulin Wang or Thomas Wu.

<Reminder>

1. Brothers and sisters, please come on time and bring your own bible to the meeting.
2. During the meeting, please turn off your mobile phone or put the volume on silence and not to walk around or to wonder/talk too laud 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.

Intercession:

1. May the Lord bless the gospel friends among us that they can know how precious the Lord is and are willing to believe in Him.
2. Pray for the new believers (David Hu, Gerald Huang, Bangde Liu, Peter Zhang and Michael Qiu, 5 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.
3. Pray for the coming spring conference that the Lord can speak to us and give us His abundant grace to revive our spirit and our church life.
4. Pray for the brothers and sisters or their relatives  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 Shanwon Chow and Sister AhSeng Chow.
5. Pray for those year 12 students among us. May the Lord give them wisdom to meet the needs of the HSC exam and help them to know His presence as their encouragement and timely help.

Serving This Week: (Sep. 25)

1. Message: Raymond  Young & Yulin Wang
2. Breaking the Bread: Yulin Wang & Olsen Yu
3. Serving Bread and Cup:  Sean Dong, Patrick Li, Richard Cui & Jason Wang
4. Cleaning:  Sam & Hannah Family, Tina & Fiona Jiang, Patrick & Lily Family, Baolin Lei
5. Kitchen: Terry & Likun
6. Children: Supervisor – John Ji, Singing – Chris/David, Teachers –  Holly/Fiona

Serving Next Week: (Oct. 2)

1. Message: Titus Chu
2. Breaking the Bread: David Tan & Jason Wang
3. Serving Bread and Cup:  Olsen Yu, Richard Cui, Patrick Li & Sean Dong
4. Cleaning:  Sam & Hannah Family, Tina & Fiona Jiang, Patrick & Lily Family, Baolin Lei
5. Kitchen: Special arrangement
6. Children: Supervisor – Special arrangement, Singing – Special arrangement, Teachers – Special arrangement