Newsletter 2017/12/10

Lord’s Day Message: Matthew 16-17

16:¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” …… ²¹ From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. …… ²⁸ Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

17:¹ And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. ³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴ And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁵ He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” ⁸ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

⁹ And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” ¹⁰ And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” ¹¹ He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

¹⁴ And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, ¹⁵ said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. ¹⁶ And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. ¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰ He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” ²¹ But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.

²⁴ When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” ²⁵ He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” ²⁶ And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. ²⁷ However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

Questions for Discussion

1. Based on your understanding or from the message, why did the Lord Jesus transfigure on the mount? How did this help the disciples? Please also refer to 2 Peter 1:16-18.
2. Peter desired to make three tents, one for the Lord, one for Moses, and one for Elijah? What’s wrong with this? From the speaking from Father and the result of this event (v.8), what would Peter learn? How can this apply to our Christian life today?

Message Next Week: Matthew 18

Bible Reading Schedule: Mat. 18; Lev.9-12

Church Meetings/Time/Place

Home Meetings

Chinese Speaking Young People: 11/12 Mon. 7:30pm, Richard Cui’s  (7:00 dinner)

@ Kingsgrove: 12/12 Tue. 10:30am, Shanwon Chow’s

@ Chatswood: 14/12 Thu. 8:00pm, Ming Pan’s

Pursuing of Uni Students:

12/12 Tue. 7:30pm, Yulin’s  (7:00 dinner)

Sisters Meeting: 13/12 Wed. 10:00am, Hannah Dong’s

Prayer Meeting: 13/12 Wed. 7:45pm,

Lydia’s (Chatswood), David Tan’s (Warrawee)

Pursuing of Words: 15/12 Fri. 8:00 pm, David Tan’s

Saturday Home Meeting：16/12 Sat. 7:30pm,

Young People & Parents: Yulin & Jessica’s

Gospel Group: Olsen & Likun’s

Announcements:

1. We welcome all the new ones who are joining us today. May God bless you and lead you into this family of God.
2. To prepare the new phone list of the church, please come to brother Yulin Wang to update your contact information.
3. On December 24 after the Lord’s Day meeting, we plan to wrap the dumplings for lunch. We welcome all to stay and enjoy.
4. December 31 will be our last combined meeting in 2017. After the Lord Table, the meeting will open to all the brothers and sisters to share what the Lord’s grace we have experienced this year.
5. The 2018 Gospel Calendar has arrived. We welcome all to purchase them. They are $5 dollars per copy. Please put the amount to offering box and write “Gospel Calendar” on the offering envelope. If you are willing, you can use this chance to offer more.

There are also bookmarks for all to take freely.

<Reminder>

1. For the brothers and sisters, please come on time and bring your own Bible and hymn book for the Lord’s Day 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 loud in the kitchen.
3. Please keep the play field and rooms tidy and put all equipments in place after use.
4. 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 (6 brothers: Vincent Tai, YuMing Liang, Zylen Liang, Frank Wang, Stephen, and William as well as 10 sisters: Vanessa Lu, Li Zhou, XiaChun Li, YuRong Liu, Lili Chen, Jenny Zhu, Yun-Yue Lin, Li-Qin Wu, Yun Zhu, and Joies. May the Lord establish them in the church life and bless their growth in life.
3. May the Lord bless the 8 brothers and sisters who plan to go to the US for the church conference. May they receive abundant supply in the Lord as well as peace and joy in their travel.
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.

Serving This Week: (Dec. 10)

1. Message: Patrick Li & Yulin Wang
2. Breaking the Bread: Yulin Wang & Olsen Yu
3. Serving Bread and Cup: Sam Li, Sean Dong, Patrick Li & Richard Cui
4. Cleaning: Sam & Hannah Family, Tina & Fiona Jiang, Hannah Dong & Vic, Patrick & Lily Family, Baolin Lei
5. Kitchen: Margret & DiDy
6. Children: Supervisor – Joe

Singing – Combined

Teachers – Angela & Esther

Serving Next Week: (Dec. 17)

1. Message: Yulin Wang
2. Breaking the Bread: David Tan & Richard Cui
3. Serving Bread and Cup: Benchu Guo, San Li, Jason Wang & Chuan Ma
4. Cleaning: Richard & Flora Family, Lydia, Olsen & Likun Family, Pauline Zhang, Ben & Fony Family
5. Kitchen: Lydia & Hannah
6. Children: Supervisor – TBA

Singing – Esther & Holly

Teachers – Chris & Jono