November 5, 2020
Dear TCCBC church family,
Greetings in the Lord to you and your family! I am sending this weekly letter to you one day early not because of the General Election (as you will have known the results when you receive this letter), but to share with you a number of important news from the church that need your support.
This coming Sunday is our church’s 43rd anniversary. Our pastors, church council, the worship team and a few guests will gather in the church for this special joint worship and thanksgiving starting at 9:30 am. We understand that we are not able to accommodate everyone to worship in person limited by the government’s health restrictions. Therefore, please be on time and use the link here (https://youtu.be/CtyJfO96Bdk) to join the livestream broadcast of this special thanksgiving worship. If you have a strong preference to worship in person with us, please contact Roddy Kwan for the arrangement.
We are reopening our church by faith for in person worship on Nov 15 for all three worship services. Worship times for all three worship services will remain the same. We welcome brothers and sisters to come back to the church to worship God together. For capacity planning, please register with us beforehand. We will provide the instructions to do so next week. In order to follow the government’s pandemic safety guidelines, please observe social distancing at all times when you come to the church. Remember to wear your face covering, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer frequently. Please plan to enter the building from the front lobby, check in with one of the greeters for safety protocols, and follow the signs to the sanctuary or multipurpose room. You can sit with your immediate family, or follow the assigned seating from the church. Please do not reposition your seat from the assigned location. Observe and follow the safety protocol on the posted signs. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. In addition, we are still looking for audio and video helpers for the Mandarin worship. Please contact Wayne Wong if you are interested in serving in the audio/visual ministry.
We praise God for the opportunity to have Pastor Michael Kwong minister God’s Word to us last Sunday. If you have not listened to his sermon, you can still listen to it on the church’s website or on YouTube. I encourage everyone to try your best to listen to it. Besides listening to a message from God, you can also develop a better understanding of Pastor Michael’s ministry work (please see the attachments from last week’s communication letter). I will update everyone once we have further progress on Pastor Michael’s candidacy.
I also want to share another piece of good news on our English pastor search progress with you today. The Pastoral Search Committee would like to introduce to our congregations, Mr. Stephen Choy, a candidate for the English Pastor position. Stephen is a young married man who received clear calling from God to full time ministry. Even with a promising law career following his graduation from law school, he gave it up in order to follow God’s calling, and committed to a full-time career of serving in God’s ministry. He will be graduating from his M. Div. program in the summer of 2021 from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. The Search Committee has determined that Stephen is committed to serving God and serving His people, with a solid biblical foundation, passion and burden for the gospel, and has the potential to be the second generation spiritual leader of our church. We are inviting Stephen and his wife to visit with our church around the weekend of Nov 29, and to meet with our congregations. The specific arrangements will be announced in next week’s communication letter.
Finally, I want to share some thoughts with you following the General Election. You have all seen the competitive intensity of this election. We still do not know who our 46th president and vice president will be at the time of this writing. But regardless of who gets elected, let us all respect the democratic process. In areas of dispute, let the related government branches work through the facts, and arrive at legal, logical and rational explanations. I suggest that everyone refrain from participating in protest campaigns. We need the communities to return to peace and order as soon as possible after the election. We have fulfilled our obligations. Let us commit the election results into God’s hands. Just as God’s Word tells us, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” (Proverbs 16:33)
Moreover, perhaps the elected leader of the country is not the one you have expected to be elected. However, as God has placed him in that position, let us follow the teaching from the Bible, practice how “to be in subjection to the governing authorities”. Pray for them regularly. Ask God to grant them the ability “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) Until there is stability and harmony in the country will we have peace and prosperity in the land. The current evolving conflicts in the society are worsening. We need Christians to carry out the
mission of harmony as living testimonies of light and salt in this chaotic age. And we let people know that the real hope comes from our submission under Christ and the authority of God!
Together with you under God’s authority,
Job Lee
Pastor Job Lee, Senior Pastor
With fellow church leadership team
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