Announcements for June 8, 2008

PRAISE THE LORD for the love of his people. As of June 1, we have collected $25,863 which was sent to Food for the Hungry, an organization which already has teams in place providing for the needs of those distressed by the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. There will be another opportunity on June 15 to give towards the relief work. Please encourage friends and family to give as they are able to relieve the suffering in these two countries. Checks should be written to CCC and designated for relief work. Donations not earmarked for a specific country will be divided between relief efforts in China and Myanmar.

GRADUATION SUNDAY will be observed next week, June 15. We will recognize our college and high school graduates during the English worship service. If you know of a graduate and have not yet passed on the name to the office, please do so as soon as possible.

CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY Mrs. Gum Yok Goon, who had regularly attended CCC at L Street, passed away on May 22, 2008. May God’s peace and comfort be with her son, William Lee, and his family

THURSDAY’S ENGLISH CLASSES finished last week. A new English class is scheduled to begin in September.

SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR ADULTS A summer class for college students is being held on Sundays at 9:30 am in Room 303. See Michelle Wong or Bert Chee for details. The English Adult Sunday School will resume in July at 9:30 am in Room 102. Contact Peter Wong for details.

ENGLISH ASSOCIATE PASTOR Praise God for continuing to lead a number of pastoral applicants to CCC. Our search effort has resulted in a number of resumes for the English Associate Pastor position. The search committee is continuing the review. While there are no named official candidates at this stage as the application process is still ongoing, and resumes are still coming in, we are inviting a number of applicants to visit our church as guests over the summer months on a rolling basis. Please expect a number of guest speakers at the English service in June/July. Please continue to pray for God’s guidance, wisdom, patience, and obedience.

MAKING SENSE OF CHRISTIAN FAITH We are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) and to give an answer to why we believe (1 Peter 3:15). The third Sunday School class of Seeking to Understand the Christian Faith will meet next Sunday, 12:30 – 1:30 pm in Room 301. We will discuss how the bible relates to science. Does Science support Christianity? Contact Garrett or see flyer on the bulletin board.

CHURCH PICNIC July 13 – Save the date! We will worship at Capital View Homewood Park in Kensington – at 11 am followed by lunch and recreation.

SUMMER RETREAT We have an exciting Walk thru the Old Testament seminar planned for August 10-12 at Messiah College. Pick up a brochure today.

EXTERIOR RENOVATION WORK The formstone is off! Worcester Eisenbrandt is working steadily on paint removal, repairing the window frames, and pointing brickwork. They will continue their restoration work for the next few months.

Prayers

Prayer and praise will be our power house: ‘“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” We urge all believers to raise up the church in prayers, expecting God to move and act. Jesus says the harvest is already plentiful but we must pray (Mt 9:38).

Pray for brothers and sisters in Christ:

• Those in need of healing, and others receiving medical treatments. Please remember especially Rev. and Mrs. Shen as they cope with Rev. Shen’s recovery from surgery.
• Pray for Ms. Fan who is seeking God. A tumor is in her brain. Pray that her daughter in mainland China will get a visa as soon as possible
• Pastor Charles’ family members who are struggling with different medical conditions. May God give the family strength and grace to encourage each other.
• Those graduating and facing life-changing decisions

Pray for needs of the church:

• The Summer Program for children will be an avenue of reaching children for Christ
• Strengthening Bible study groups
• Wisdom for Search Committee as they evaluate candidates for Associate Pastor and the needs of the church to find the one God has called to be our Associate Pastor
• The exterior work on the church will run smoothly
• The church picnic will acquaint many in the community with our church
• Speakers will receive God’s anointing as they prepare their sermons and the worship services

Pray for individual spiritual growth:

• That I learn how to be a good steward of what You have given me. Straighten out my thinking that I am giving back some of my salary to You; help me to realize that, in reality, it is all Yours. Not only is all my money Yours, but everything that I have and own. Help me to be a good steward of all that You have given me. Let me lend my things freely to those in need and in light of my finances, help me increase my tithing to you each year until I hit a plateau of some outrageous percentage that pleases You greatly.
• That I can be joyful in spite of whatever physical ailments I may be suffering. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” - 2 Cor 4:16-18