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* – Hannah Lee
Praise & Worship*- Praise Team and Congregation
Welcome & Announcements – Joey Wang
Sermon “Coming To Fill A Requirement… Leaving To Fulfill The Promise”
Luke 2:22-40 (page 857) -Kenny Chan
Song(s) of Response* – Praise Team
Doxology (Words of Praise)*- Congregation
Prayer & Benediction (Lord’s Blessing)* – Kenny Chan
*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.
Sermon Notes
We are glad you are here this morning to worship God together with us! This morning we’re continuing through the season of Advent, the season of waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas. We pray that during these weeks you would be reminded of God’s extravagant love in entering into this world to rescue us!
If this is your first time here, please fill out one the pink cards in the pew and pass onto any of our ushers if you would like us to contact you with more information about our church.
Announcements
1.English Ministry Potluck (12/27): We’ll be having an English ministry-wide potluck gathering this Sunday evening (5:30 – 7:30 pm) in the Fellowship Hall. This is open to all college/graduate students, post-college, working, single/married, etc. Please RSVP at https://goo.gl/0azfLa or contact Pastor Kenny Chan (pkennychan@gmail.com)
2.Food Donation (Barrels): We are accepting canned food donations on behalf of CityTeam Ministries to serve and help those in need during this holiday season. We are accepting food donations throughout the entire month of December.
3.Community Groups: Our small groups fellowship for adults (college/grad students, single/married, etc.) will be meeting next Saturday from 10 am – 12 pm and Sunday afternoon from 4-6 pm. Please contact Pastor Joey or Kenny for more information.
4.Missions Registration Form: To pre-register for our summer mission trips, please turn in the form by the end of January. Information and forms are available in the hallway table. Please contact Edward Lee (aihualee@yahoo.com) for more information.
5.Saltshakers: We will be kicking off the New Year as well as have a time of sharing/reflection this Saturday (1/2) from 7-9pm in the Fellowship Hall. For more information, please contact Daniel Chen (dantchen83@sbcglobal.net).
Prayer Requests & Praises
1.Praise God for this season of Christmas! Pray that this season would be a time of rest, refreshment, peace and joy for us — even perhaps in the midst of difficulties and challenges we may be facing in life.
2.Pray for our College Students Retreat (12/27-29) and Winter Youth Retreat (2/12-15). Pray for the planning, coordination, and preparations involved. Pray also for more volunteers to help out. Ultimately, pray that through these retreats our students would grow closer to God and one another.
3.Pray for our church plant in Palo Alto. Pray for the core team (Elder Steve Cheng, Henry Chien, Edward Chien and Sammy Hu) as they have their first worship service this morning in Palo Alto. Pray that the Gospel would be preached and God would be glorified in this church plant!
Advent Resources
Christmas Reflection on Philippians 2:5-11
by Dennis Hollinger (President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
At Christmas, we celebrate the incarnation. It is the story of God taking on human nature to live in a broken, fallen world with humans who are wounded, contentious and self-centered. It is through the incarnation that salvation for humanity is made possible.
But the incarnation of Christ is also a model for how we should live our lives. In the Church at Philippi, there were conflicts and rivalries among some members of the church. In Philippians 4, Paul pleads with members “to be of the same mind in the Lord” (v.2) and work together for the cause of Christ.
In our text today, Paul explains in more detail what the “mind of Christ” is and the way in which it can guide believers when they are in conflict with brothers and sisters in Christ. We are reminded that our Lord, “Being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.” These words are part of an early Christian hymn that extolled a great doctrine, but one with very practical implications. Christians, following the patter of their Lord, are called to lay aside rights, privileges and power in the service of the kingdom and in the service of others.
In such actions, conflict and factions are overcome.
New City Catechism (adapted from www.newcitycatechism.com/intro.php)
Catechisms are a helpful tool in teaching and learning the essentials of the Christian faith. They are written in question and answer form to help memorize. We hope that this will be a tool for us to use in disciplining our children, one another and ourselves as a church community. [The New City Catechism is also available online and for your smart phones]
Question 16: What is sin?
Answer: Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law – resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation.
Passage(s): 1 John 3:4