Chinese for Christ Church of San Jose
English Worship Service
Worship Service: 10:00 –11:10 am followed by snacks in the Fellowship Hall.
Call To Worship* -Alison Law
Praise & Worship* -Praise Team and Congregation
Welcome & Announcements -Kenny Chan
Sermon “Wake Up to Justice!” Malachi 2:17-3:5 (page 802) – Joey Wang
Song(s) of Response*- Praise Team
Doxology (Words of Praise)*- Congregation
Prayer & Benediction (Lord’s Blessing)* …………… Joey Wang
*Please stand, if physically able. Also, please set your cell phones to “silent.” Please exit through the ‘front’ of the sanctuary at the end of service. Thank you.
Previous Week’s Sermon Notes
We are currently going through a sermon series through the book of Malachi, titled, “A Wake Up Call from God.” The book of Malachi was God’s last words to the people of Israel for 400 years (until the New Testament). The primary purpose was to wake up the people of God from complacency. Malachi 2:10-16 “Wake Up to Faithfulness”
- God asks: Why are you faithless to one another? v. 10-12 v. 10-11a God charges Israel with being faithless and being profane v. 11b God specifically charges Israel with marrying people who do not worship God Implication: While the charges of being unfaithful are against God, the charges are also against one another since they fail to encourage and exhort each other to uphold the covenant v. 12 the seriousness of the charge is seen in the severity of the consequences
- God asks: Why are you faithless to your spouse? v. 13-16 v. 13 Israel wonders why God does not answer their prayers or hear their cry v. 14-15 God charges Israel with being faithless to their spouse despite God being the one who joined them together v. 16 God also exacts a severe consequence of hate, hurt and hardship as a result of their divorce from their spouse
Application:
– As an unmarried believer in Christ, do I recognize that who I date (and eventually marry) impacts and influences not only myself but those around me?
– As an unmarried believer in Christ, will I date (and marry) not only someone who is a Christian in name, but also passionate about Christ and proclaiming His name? Will I strive for those qualities as well?
– As a married person, do I recognize that my pledge and promise (marriage covenant) was made not only to my spouse but also to God?
– Will I extend grace and forgiveness to my spouse just as God has extended grace and forgiveness to me through Christ?
We are glad you are here this morning to worship God together with us! As a church we believe the Gospel – the good news of God’s grace to us through Jesus Christ. This is why we sing, what we preach about, and how we live – centered on the Gospel. This Gospel is what unites us as a church community – regardless of our age, life stage, personalities/interests, or even culture or language.
Announcements
- Serving Lunch: 9 th graders are scheduled to serve lunch today. Please see David Tsao for more info.
- Church Plant Update: A new worship service will be at Palo Alto Community Child Care. There will be a church plantng report and Q&A session at 1:30 pm today in the Sanctuary for anyone who would like to know more. The church plant committee comprises of Elder Steve Cheng, Henry Chien, Edward Chien, and Sammy Hu.
- Care Packages: The Sunday evening group will be gathering today from 4-6:30 pm to make care package for our college and grad students. For details, please see Daniel Chen (dantchen83@sbcglobal.net).
- Community Groups: Our small group fellowship for adults (college, single/married, working, etc.) are meeting next week on Saturday 10 am-12 pm and Sunday 4-6 pm. For more information, please contact Pastor Joey (joeywang@cfccsj.org).
- Saltshakers (Youth Group): We will be continuing our theme of Spiritual Discipline this Saturday (10/24) from 7-9 pm in the Sanctuary. For more information, contact Daniel Chen (dantchen83@sbcglobal.net).
- Blood Drive: Saturday, November 14th from 10 am-3 pm in the Fellowship Hall. See Christine Tsao to register or you can register online. Any questions contact Christine (christine.tsao@gmail.com).
- Family Night: Our church’s annual trick-or-treating alternative will be on Saturday 10/31 from 5:30-8:00 pm at church. This is a wonderful opportunity for your family and your friends/neighbors to come to church to play both carnival-style and family group games (prizes given out). Finger foods will be provided. If you have any questions or would like to help, please contact George Sya (gsya@hotmail.com).
- ESL Teachers Needed: We are experiencing a shortage of ESL teachers for our Friday morning and Sunday afternoon English classes. If interested, please contact Vicky Lan (vickylan28@gmail.com).
Prayer Requests & Praises
- Pray for our college and graduate students both near and far. Pray that they would not only be diligent as students, but faithful as disciples. Pray that in the midst of their studies they would honor and worship God. Pray for our students who haven’t found a church and fellowship to find and commit to one.
- Pray for our upcoming Family Night (outreach) event. Pray for all the volunteers and coordinators as well as that through the event people would be able to connect with our church and God!
- Pray for Recreate Church (downtown San Jose) as they go through a leadership transition. Recreate is a multi-ethnic church that reaches out to people of all socio-economic backgrounds. Pray for Pastor Al Soto as he serves as the interim transitional pastor while they search for a new pastor.
Commentaries on the book of Malachi
The following are some of the commentaries used in preparation for our sermon series through Malachi: Joel, Obadiah, Malachi (The NIV Application Commentary) by David W. Baker
– A very user-friendly commentary that spends equal time on the original context (meaning) as well as the contemporary significance (application).
Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) by Andrew E. Hill
– An excellent shorter commentary that provides good background as well as exposition of the verses.
The Books of Haggai and Malachi (The New International Commentary on the OT) by Peiter A. Verhoef.
– A very technical and detailed commentary that gets into the original Hebrew text (verse-by-verse) and interacts with other scholarly works. Not for the faint of heart but those that want to dig deep into the passage.
New Bible Commentary edited by G.J. Wenham, J.A. Motyer, D.A. Caron, R.T. France
– The best one-volume commentary (on the entire Bible). If you can only have and use one commentary, this is the one. While the information provided on each book won’t be as detailed as single volume commentaries on a specific book of the Bible, this commentary is a collection of the works of some of the best biblical scholars on the different books of the Bible.
New City Catechism (adapted from www.newcitycatechism.com/intro.php)
We hope that this will be a tool for us to use in discipling our children, one another and ourselves as a church community. The New City Catechism is also available online and for your smart phones.
Question 5: What else did God create?
Answer: God created all things by his powerful Word, and all his creation was very good; everything flourished under his loving rule.
Passage(s): Genesis 1:31 – “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”