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 – Daniel Chen
Advent Candle – Albert Hong
Sermon “Jesus in the Old Testament” Luke 24:25-27, 44-45 (page 885)- 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.
Last Week’s Sermon Notes
“Growing (Outward) on Mission…”(Acts 2:42-47)
What is the Mission?
- To Make Disciples who Make Disciples (Matthew 28:18-20)
- To Love God and Others (Matthew 22:37-40)
How to Live on Mission?
- Loving the World through Gospel Demonstration (Deeds) (Luke 10:25-37, Galatians 6:10, James 1:7)
- “Living [and proclaiming] the gospel on a daily, ongoing basis, we reach out in love as an implication of the gospel…All day, every day.” Matt Chandler
- Prayer: “Lord open my eyes to see the needs around me – open my heart to love those around me, open my hands to help those around me.”
- Loving the World through Gospel Proclamation (Word) (Mark 1:15, 6:12; Romans 10:14-15)
- “Evangelism is the most basic and radical ministry possible to a human being. This is true not because the spiritual is more important than the physical but because the eternal is more important than the temporal….We shouldn’t love people in order to share our faith with them. Rather, we share our faith and ourselves with them in order to love them.” Tim Keller
We demonstrate and proclaim the Gospel….
….Together
- “If the gospel is to be at the heart of church life and mission, it is equally true that the church is to be at the heart of gospel life and mission.” Tim Chester
….Fueled by the Gospel
- What often hinders our proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel is fear.
- The only way to overcome our fears is to: 1. Faith (trust) in God’s power and character (who He is), 2. Love of others – love for others will overcome our fear of others, and 3. Discipline – taking initiative, effort and intentionality (cf. 2 Timothy 1:6-8, Romans 1:16)
….For God’s Glory
- “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate.” John Piper
Reflection/Application:
- How are you – and we as a church – doing when it comes to living on mission in gospel demonstration and gospel proclamation?
- What fear(s) hinder and prevent you from living your life on mission? In what ways do you need to grow in faith, love and/or discipline?
- Who are some of the people in your life or in your “circles” in which God is calling you to proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel to? Someone to serve and help – someone to share the gospel with.
Lord, during this Advent season, help us to be reminded of Your faithfulness in keeping Your promises to us through Jesus and help us to honor You as our King, Prophet and Priest as we wait Your return!
Announcements
- Advent Reading: Free copies of “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” are still available. We started reading through the book last Sunday (Chapter 1), and will be concluding it on Christmas Day (Chapter 22) as a church. You can still start today with Chapter 8. Our hope is through the readings our minds and hearts would be stirred in greater awe and wonder of Jesus!
- Prayer Meeting: We’ll be gathering to pray for our church this Wednesday from 8:00-9:15pm at Jeff & Ruth’s house.
- Sacred Heart Service Event: Next Saturday & Sunday afternoon (1-4pm) we have the opportunity to serve and love our city by helping out with food distribution and toy packing. There is a maximum of 10 volunteers needed for each day/time slot. You can register online at goo.gl/uaPrAo for Sat, 1-4p or goo.gl/FCWNpE for Sun, 1-4pm.
- Saltshakers: We will be gathering for our end of the year Christmas Potluck on Sunday (12/18) from 6-9pm in the Fellowship Hall. For more information, please contact Daniel Chen (dantchen83@gmail.com)
- Summer Retreat: We are looking for 2-4 individuals (adult and/or youth) to be a part of our 2017 Summer Retreat Planning Committee. Our 2017 Summer Retreat (6/16-18) will be a special entire church (English-Chinese) joint retreat. Please contact Pastor Joey (joeywang@cfccsj.org) if you’re interested (or for more information).
- Pastor/Minister Severance Benevolence Fund Update: Praise God for the love & generosity from our church community as we have already received more than what we need for Pastor Kenny and his family. Per our church’s policy, the excess funds will be kept in the fund for future use & need.
Prayer Requests & Praises
- Pray for our college students during these next several weeks as they prepare for finals. Pray for them to be diligent in studying and for them to be reminded of God’s faithfulness and love during this finals season.
- Pray for the upcoming College Student Winter Retreat (12/27-29). Pray for the planning/preparation of the retreat as well as that the students attending would be able to reconnect with God and each other.
- Pray for CenterSet Church – a new church plant led by Pastor Ali Roohi and Clint Bartley. Pray for God’s provision for facilities and a core team – as well as open doors to share the gospel in schools, public areas and the work place.
New City Catechism (from www.newcitycatechism.com/intro.php)
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 & for your smart phones.
Question 9: What does God require in the first, second, and third commandments?
Answer: That we know and trust God as the only true and living God. That we avoid all idolatry and do not worship God improperly. That we treat God’s name with fear and reverence, honoring also his Word and works
Passage(s): Deuteronomy 6:13-14