November 20, 2020
Dear TCCBC church family,
Greetings in the Lord to you and your family! We are in the era of rapid changes at unbelievable speed. We have heard encouraging news from two pharmaceutical companies on the coronavirus vaccine development progress. The efficacies of their vaccines are reported to be as high as 95%. Stocks of the two companies traded much higher as soon as the news broke. Moreover, the pandemic affected businesses such as airlines and travel also saw their share prices went up as a result. But in the midst of these good news, the coronavirus infection rate in the U.S. has also reached new height within a few days. At this writing, there are over 11.5 million cases of infection, with over 250,000 deaths. With the worsening of the pandemic, many state governors have reinstated shelter-in-place restrictions. Our governor had also declared on Monday (Nov 16) that the Alameda county is returning to the most restrictive “purple tier” with 40 other counties.
The implication of this declaration also means that we have to place the just reopening of our church for in-person worship on hold. All indoor gathering and events are not permitted while we are in the “purple tier”. Certainly, such a ban causes us to feel helpless and disappointed. But we still need to follow the health order and regulations. As a result, the church will return to worshiping online starting this Sunday (Nov 22). It is good that we are already familiar with this arrangement, and will be providing the online links in the weekly newsletter to everyone.
We also have to make plan adjustments for meeting Stephen Choy, our English Pastor candidate the weekend of Dec 6. We will be meeting him over online meetings for introduction, sharing and prayer time together. He will be preaching in all three worship services. We will get to know each other in the Lord over these online video meetings. The arrangements will be similar to how we met with Pastor Michael Kwong before.
Dec. 6, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. Preach in English Worship (YouTube Livestream)
Dec. 6, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. Preach in Cantonese Worship (Pre-recorded on YouTube)
Dec. 6, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Preach in Mandarin Worship (Pre-recorded on YouTube)
Dec. 5, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Introduction and sharing with English congregation (Zoom Meeting)
Dec. 5, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Introduction and sharing with Cantonese congregation (Zoom Meeting)
Dec. 5, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. Introduction and sharing with Mandarin congregation (Zoom Meeting)
No doubt we are in a rapidly changing era today, with many things beyond what can be planned for. We had expected to know the general election results in early November. We still do not have confirmation on the elected candidate due to the procedural litigations between the two parties. These are rarely seen situations in decades, yet they are happening. How this election has evolved is no longer just a U.S. issue. Practically the entire world is paying attention to it. How will this eventually reach a conclusion? It is beyond just the question of who the next president will be. If there were extensive fraud in the election process for a country which is supposed to be the world leader, it will bring significant defeat and shame to its democracy unless there are legal, rational and proper resolutions. As the two parties are determined to pursue legal avenues to clarify the facts, let us quietly wait upon the ruling from the courts. But as Christians, we should not just rely on the court’s ruling, we must trust in God’s power and authority. May we commit our country into God’s hands through our prayers. People may device their own plans, God controls people’s hearts, and He rules over everything! We can depend on our trust in God, and our submission to His authority. Unless the government’s order clearly goes against the fundamentals of our faith, we should submit to the orders from government authorities as much as possible.
How have you been experiencing God in your life during the pandemic? We can be each other’s encouragement through our sharing in the upcoming December publication of the Heavenly Dew. You can submit your articles to Sara Wei (ws30687@nullyahoo.com) before the end of this month, and be a blessing to our brothers and sisters in the church.
Below is what was in last week’s communication letter, included here just as a reminder.
I trust that those who are members of the church will have received the voting ballots from the church before Nov 20. There are three resolutions on this ballot. The first one is to consider approving calling Pastor Michael Kwong to be our Cantonese Pastor. The second is the ratification and approval of the church’s 2020-2021 fiscal year budget. The third is to approve the election of Jachin Hsu to be our church Trustee as recommended by the council. Please promptly return your completed voting ballot to the church after you have received it. I want to remind you to specifically pray and ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance before casting your votes on these matters. If you have not received your voting ballot before next Friday, please let Roddy Kwan know right away. Thank you for your attention on this.
Please consider supporting Operation Christmas Child, prepare and drop off your shoebox gifts to the church according to the collection schedule for the final few days.
- Fri, Nov. 20: 3:00 – 5:00 PM
- Sat, Nov. 21: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
- Sun, Nov. 22: 1:30 – 3:30 PM
- Mon, Nov. 23: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Additional information on Operation Christmas Child is available on our church’s English and Chinese web pages.
Serving God with you together,
Job Lee
Pastor Job Lee, Senior Pastor
With fellow church leadership team
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