Congreation & Church Concerns 2009/2/15

CONGREGATION & CHURCH CONCERNS:
1. Annual Congregational Meeting is scheduled for today Feb. 15, 2009 at 1:30 pm following the fellowship luncheon. New church council members will be elected. Ministry reports will be received. Please take a copy (English or Chinese) of the 2008 Annual Report which is placed on the table at the end of the sanctuary.
2. This Friday Feb. 20, 2009 evening 8 pm Rev. Gerry Fuller and his wife Norma will lead Bible study and prayer in the dinning hall. We are studying Jesus’ sermons on the mount. We will pray for our church as well as for individuals’ blessings. All are welcome.
3. Arthur Alberelli, our beloved caretaker has resigned. We are grateful for the 10 years of faithful service to OCUC. We wish him well in his new position at Lob laws. Please give the names and résumé to Frank Pan, Winson Orr or Bruce Newman for replacement. The deadline to submit resumes is today Feb. 15, 2009. Only those selected for interviews will be contacted.
4. The “Mission O Retreat” for equipping leaders for intercessory prayer warriors will be held on Tuesday Feb. 17 to Thursday Feb. 19 in Camp Iawah Ontario. Rev. Fred Milnes and Rev. Wilson Chan are attending this workshop so that they can come back with more resources to lead the leadership training program. Please pray for the prayer ministry of our church.
5. Individual annual offering receipt for the year 2008 has been issued. Please approach Treasurer Brother Liang Yi to claim your receipt for tax return purpose.
6. This Saturday Feb. 21 in Brother Frank Pan and Sister Linda Yi’s house Bible study and fellowship will be held beginning at 7:30 pm. Please come and bring a friend if possible to expand our fellowship of love and care..

会友与教会关怀：

1. 教友大会定於2009年今天2月15日下午1点半崇拜及午餐後举行。新堂会职员将被选出。去年工作报告将被接纳。请在礼堂後面的桌子上取一份中文或英文2008年周年报告书，并参加教友大会。
2. 本星期五2月20日下午8点，GERRY牧师和太太NORMA女士将带领查经和祷告。我们现在查考耶稣登山宝训的经文。我们为教友的事情和教会的事工，同心合意祷告
3. 本堂清洁工友Arthur Alberelli先生服务本堂十年後现须转职在Lob law’s工作。有意填补空缺者可於今天（2月15日）将履历交潘文，柯文生或Bruce Newman考虑。合则约见。
4. 本星期二2月17日到星期四19日，陈伟甡牧师和Frd Milns牧师将往Camp Iawah Ontario参加“Mission O Retreat”祈祷勇士使命退休会。他们会把大会所得带回来发展祈祷勇士领袖训练事工。请为本堂的祈祷事工代祷。
5. 2008年教友个别捐款收据已经制妥。请向司库梁毅弟兄领取您的全年收据以作报税之用。
6. 本星期六2月21日下午7点半在潘文弟兄和衣晓霞姊妹的家庭有查经团契。请带你的朋友一起来，扩大这个爱的团契。

本周默想分享

今天是周年教友大会主日。我们年复一年的开这大会。我们有没有问过这大会的宗旨是甚麽吗？保罗在提多书2章13节告诉我们它的宗旨是甚麽。他说：“等候所盼望的福，并等候至大的神和我们救主耶稣基督的荣耀显现。”没有追求的目标和盼望的对象，就使人散漫迟钝，不肯努力向前。许多信徒不冷不热，走入歧途，也就是由此而来。追求世界的一切不过是捕风捉影，毫无意义，只是欺骗，迷惑，虚空，痛苦而已。有人是在这里追求属灵的事，但也无所适从，感到困难，究竟要怎样做才好呢？
圣经中给我们有一个很清楚的指示，能解决我们许多属灵追求的问题。将这样事抓住，其他就能迎刃而解，这件事不是别的，就是专心盼望主耶稣基督再来，等候那所盼望的无比的福分。有了这个目标，心就定了，路就直了，灵性生活工作都有了方向。若知道这个为前提，为依归，为中心，事情就简单了，力量也有了。
我们可以问问自己，是不是天天盼望主的显现，等候并迎接祂的再来，为此已作好准备。或是别有所追求，盼望，没有为此作好准备，那样将来的损失太大了。懊悔是无法挽回的，趁着还有一点点的时候，将一切摆上唯恐不及，哪里还有闲时馀力去想别的呢？
甚麽时候失去这个有福的盼望，不预备等候基督荣耀的显现，属灵的生命就发生问题了，就要停顿，甚至退後了。让这个盼望如极大的磁石不住地吸引我们，如极亮的晨星一直照明我们，使我们摆脱一切连累，奔那前面的路程，直到见主的面。

Spiritual Thought for the Week
Today is Annual Congregational Meeting Sunday. We hold this meeting year after year. Is it a formality we have to go through or is it a vision we have to affirm every year? Paul knew what he was doing with church when he admonished Titus in these words: “while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,” (Titus 2:13). Without vision and hope, a man will run without an aim. He will work but lacks incentive. Many believers grow into neither cold nor hot believers. They go off the track because they miss this vision. They go after success which promises them worldly results. They end up in vanity. They find themselves deceived. They came with a noble reason and a spiritual motive. But they left with their worldly purpose not being realized.
What advice can we give to these unfortunate people? The Bible gives us a very clear direction. It calls us back to the vision. If we grab hold of this vision, other pieces will fall into place. This vision is nothing else but the waiting for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we have this vision and hope, we are the most blessed believers of Christ. When we have hope, our fear is gone, our path is straightened, our spiritual life has direction, our destination is focused and our strength is renewed.
Let us ask ourselves these questions every day. Are we hoping for Christ’s glorious reappearing? Are we welcoming His return? Are we ready any time for His return? Or are we caught up with another endeavor for another hope? Is another hope taking up all of our time and energy leaving us no time for Christ’s return? If we lost our hope, our loss will be great and irreversible. Regrets will not get us anywhere. But repentance will. There is not much time left. We will never have enough time to get ready for Jesus. Why bother wasting time on other hopes and goals?
Whenever we lose the hope of Christ’s return, our problems arise, our progress stop, our spiritual life decline. Let this hope attract us like magnet attracts iron, like morning star leads us to find Christ. Let us put aside things that get in our way and strive on the journey until one day we meet our Lord in His face.
——End——