Newsletter 2018/1/28

Lord’s Day Message: Matt. 22

¹ And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, ² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, ³ and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. ⁴ Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, ⁶ while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. ⁷ The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ ¹⁰ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹ “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. ¹² And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. ¹⁶ And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

²³ The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ So too the second and third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ After them all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” ²⁹ But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹ And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” ³³ And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

³⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” ⁴³ He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ⁴⁴ “‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? ⁴⁵ If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” ⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Questions for Discussion

1. In the parable of the wedding feast, why did the king call the first group of the guests unworthy? What was the demand of the king for the second group of guests? How can these two situations warn us and apply to us today?
2. From verses 15-40 the Jews ask the Lord Jesus three questions. Please share your thoughts about the Lord Jesus’ answer. Finally why did the Lord Jesus ask the Pharisees whose son is the Christ? If the Lord asked us, “What do you think about the Christ?” what would you answer?

Message Next Week: Mat. 23

Bible Reading Schedule: Mat.23, Num. 26-30

Church Meetings/Time/Place

Home Meetings

Chinese Speaking Young People: 29/1 Mon. 7:00pm, Richard Cui’s  (w/ dinner)

@ Kingsgrove: 30/1 Tue. 10:30am, Shanwon Chow’s

@ Chatswood:  1/2 Thu. 8:00pm, Pan Ming’s

Pursuing of Uni Students:

30/1 Tue. 7:00pm, Yulin’s (w/ dinner)

Sisters Meeting: 31/1 Wed. 10:00am, Hannah Dong’s

Prayer Meeting: 31/1 Wed. 7:45pm,

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

Pursuing of Words: 2/2 Fri. 8:00 pm, David Tan’s

High School Meeting: 2/2 Fri. 7:30 pm, Yulin’s

Saturday Meeting：3/2 Sat. 7:30pm,

Home Meeting: Joe & Lili’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. The young people camp at Wisemans Ferry went wonderfully. The young people enjoyed the gathering and received some supply in the Lord, and were very joyful. We hope each one of them can continue to grow in the Lord.

From this week, the weekly high school young group meeting, originally on Saturday night, will change to Friday night 7:30pm at Brother Yulin’s home.

3. The combined meeting of February will be delayed to the 11^th (the same day for breakfast at hall) and the brothers and sisters who visit the US and attended the church conference will share what they have gained during the trip.
4. There will be a gospel meeting on Feb. 18 for the Chinese New Year. It will mainly a gospel message with some hymns and testimonies. We will also have BBQ and dumpling for the lunch. If any brother or sister have suggestions, please fellowship with Brother Yulin Wang.
5. The Collaroy conference will be held on April 13-15, from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. This conference will include the young people activities as usual, however, the main message will be for every brother and sister. Please set aside this period of time so your whole family can join together.

<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 (7 brothers: Vincent Tai, YuMing Liang, Zylen Liang, Frank Wang, Stephen, William and Yuan Liu as well as 11 sisters: Vanessa Lu, Li Zhou, XiaChun Li, YuRong Liu, Lili Chen, Jenny Zhu, Yun-Yue Lin, Li-Qin Wu, Yun Zhu, Joies, and Ariel Chen. May the Lord establish them in the church life and bless their growth in life.
3. 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. Please pray especially for sister Likun’s recovery.

Serving This Week: (Jan. 28)

1. Message: Patrick Li & Yulin Wang
2. Breaking the Bread: Shanwon Chow & Olsen Yu
3. Serving Bread and Cup: Olsen Yu, Patrick Li, Peter Zhang & Jason Wang
4. Cleaning: Brett & Linda Family, Sean & Wei Qiong Family, Peter Zhang & Jessie Family, Joseph Tai & Lisa Tao Family, Bill & Christine Family
5. Kitchen: Margret & Wei Qiong
6. Children: Supervisor – Hannah

Singing – Christine & Angela

Teachers – Chris & Jono

Serving Next Week: (Feb. 4)

1. Message: Yulin
2. Breaking the Bread: Yulin Wang & Sam Li
3. Serving Bread and Cup: Sam LI, Jason Wang, Richard Cui & Ash Li
4. Cleaning: Brett & Linda Family, Sean & Wei Qiong Family, Peter Zhang & Jessie Family, Joseph Tai & Lisa Tao Family, Bill & Christine Family
5. Kitchen: Lisa Wei & Lydia
6. Children: Supervisor – Hengxin

Singing – Sarah

Teachers – Elsa & Holly