GCC Connected | December 2021

Happy Holidays Church Family!

Christmas is finally upon us, and it seems like it came at a blink of an eye. As we enter into a busy holiday season filled with festive decorations, holiday gatherings, music, and gifts, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you the reason for the season. That reason is Jesus Christ! Without His coming to Earth, we would have not have hope in God to fulfill His promises. Without Jesus’ birth, we would not have peace between us and God. Without Jesus, we would not have joy that He has already did the heavy lifting, and certainly without Jesus coming we would not have the perfect example of love on display for the world to see. I encourage you to take the time to get into God’s Word and some Advent related devotionals such as this one (also posted each day on our website). Unfortunately, I don’t have an equivalent for our Chinese congregation, but I know many continue to read Our Daily Bread. Be intentional and make time to read through these with your family, or on your own, on a daily basis. If you don’t carve out a set time, chances are you won’t do it. (You know, kind of like exercise, except we are strengthening our spiritual health.)

With that said here are a few announcements to look forward to!

  • Our Christmas Service will be on Sunday, December 19, at 11 am! Join us as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior! Also, following the service we will have a special holiday lunch that you won’t want to miss! Due to the increase of costs for food, we will be asking for donations for this meal. While we aren’t holding any Christmas Eve and Christmas Day programs, we have encouraged the Fellowships and Life Groups to plan their own smaller gatherings to celebrate together. If you are not yet part of a fellowship or Life Group, please let us know and we can get you plugged in.
  • We will be collecting the Lottie Moon Christmas offering this month and during our Christmas service. This offering goes to support international missionaries all over the world, and your support would be greatly appreciated! Over the next few Sundays, we will highlight some stories that these funds have helped in the past.
  • During our service on December 26th, Pastor David will be sharing what’s ahead in the next year, and some vision casting. We hope you are able to join to see what’s in store for our church!
  • On January 2nd, we will be officially celebrating our 50th Anniversary! We will have a special recognition Sunday to commemorate God’s work through this church, but we will also be planning a bigger celebration in November of next year as that is when our church was fully incorporated and publicly recognized! More details to come!

As you can see there will be a lot happening over the next few weeks and we hope to share in these experiences with all of you! We wish you all a Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year!

親愛的弟兄姊妹節日快樂，

聖誕節終於來到了，似乎一眨眼就到了。隨著我們進入一個充滿節日裝飾、節日聚會、音樂和禮物的繁忙假期時，我想藉此提醒大家這個季節的原因。 這就是耶穌基督！ 如果沒有他來到地球，我們就不會對上帝有希望來實現他的應許。 沒有耶穌的誕生，我們與上帝之間就沒有和平。 沒有耶穌，我們就不會因為他已經完成了繁重的工作而感到高興，當然如果沒有耶穌的到來，我們也不會向世人展示出愛的完美榜樣。 我鼓勵你花點時間去瞭解神的話語和一些與降臨節相關的靈修，比如這個。 不幸的是，我沒有一個與我們中文會眾相似的讀物，但我知道很多人仍在閱讀我們的靈命日糧。 大家要有意識地每天抽點時間與家人或自己閱讀這些內容。 如果你不設定一個固定的時間，你很可能就不會去做。 （你要明白，這就像鍛煉，只是我們是在加強精神健康。）

除此之外，這裡還有一些值得期待的公告！

  • 我們的聖誕節崇拜將於 12 月 19 日星期日上午 11 點舉行！ 歡迎加入我們，一同慶祝我們的主和救主的誕生！ 此外，在崇拜之後不容錯過我們所提供的特別假日午餐！ 由於食物成本增加，我們將要求為這頓飯捐款。雖然我們沒有舉辦任何平安夜和聖誕節活動，但我們鼓勵團契和生命小組計劃他們自己的小型聚會來一同慶祝。 如果你還沒有加入團契或生命小組，請告訴我們，我們可以為你聯繫。
  • 我們將在本月和聖誕節崇拜期間收集慕拉第聖誕獻金。 此奉獻將用於支持世界各地的國際傳教士，我們非常感謝你的支持！ 在接下來的幾個星期天，我們將會重點介紹這些基金過去幫助過的一些故事。
  • 在 12 月 26 日的崇拜期間，大衛牧師將分享下一年的未來發展，以及一些異象傳遞。 希望你能加入，看看我們的教會有什麼樣的發展！
  • 在1 月 2 日，我們將正式慶祝成立 50 週年！ 我們將有一個特別的獎賞星期天來紀念上帝通過這個教會所做的工作，但我們也將計劃在明年 11 月舉行一個更大的慶祝活動，因為那時我們的教會已完全合併並得到公眾認可！ 更多詳情敬請期待！

如你所見，在接下來的幾周將會發生很多事情，我們希望與大家分享這些經歷！ 祝大家聖誕快樂，新年快樂！