January 2004 Newsletter	Close Window
	Monthly Newsletter at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco
	Pray BOLDLY^2 Go!	Pastor Don
	One of the meanings of “boldness” is standing out prominently. For the most part, we don’t like to be conspicuous. We like to sit in the back of the sanctuary instead of right upfront. When Peter and John were questioned by the high priests and rulers in Jerusalem for teaching about Jesus and preaching that Jesus is resurrected from the dead, they stood out. In fact, they spoke with so much boldness that the council of high priests ordered them to stop speaking about Jesus to anyone else. After the council realized that nothing was going to prevent Peter and John from boldly continuing to speak and teach in the name of Jesus, they let them go free. Imagine what would happen if we could just be a little like Peter and John today. Like them, we are mostly “uneducated and ordinary” according to the rulers, elders, and scribes. But when we do good deeds today like the way Peter and John healed a man who was more than forty years old then no one will have any opposition to say about our Christian actions too The 2004 church theme is Pray BOLDLY^2 Go! Its focus is on Prayer and Missions. When we take time to pray boldly for our witness in the name of Christ, we will also be boldly sent into missions. After Peter and John were released, they returned to their friends and prayed to God for all that had happened. According to Acts 4:31, “When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” The All-Church Leaders Meeting is on Saturday, January 10, 8:30-11:00 AM. Your church officers, board members, fellowship chairpersons will meet to launch the new theme for the year. We will exegete the passage, explore its meaning for today and its implication on the church’s ministry. Following this time, new Boards and Committees will have their first meeting in 2004 to select new chairs and set up meetings for the year with our meetings ending by 11:00. To live out our theme, there will be an emphasis to explore the meaning and practice of prayer in our lives. During the Lenten season which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 25, we will have prayer resources for you to use. Another idea is to include a “famous” prayer for you to read as a part of your own devotional life. The Missions Committee is once again considering sponsoring an opportunity for our church to participate in a short-termed mission trip. Your ideas and suggestions on how we might Pray BOLDLY^2 Go! are welcome too. When Bill Leong shared recently about a friend who was miraculously healed from her cancer and believe that this miracle happened because of prayer, I was once again reminded on how we can stand out prominently to pray. The power of prayer in our lives will grant us the daring spirit to do missions in the name of Christ. If there’s anything we can be conspicuous about, let’s pray boldly and boldly go in the name of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior!
	Chinese Speaking Ministry	Pastor Mak
	We thank God for having nine people joined the church on December 14, six by baptism and three by transfer of membership from the 11:15 Congregation. Through the two evangelistic meetings on December 19 & 20, we continue to reach out to our community, friends and relatives. May God grow the seeds of the Gospel which were planted in their hearts. We ended the year 2003 with Christmas Eve caroling and sharing the blessings of God on the last Sunday of the year. The church’s theme for the year 2004 is focused on ‘Prayer & Mission’. The theme verse is taken from the Book of Acts 4:31, ‘After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.’ As a result of the prayer, not only did they spoke the word of God boldly, the following verse (4:32) says, ’All the believers were one in heart and mind… they shared everything they had.’ Prayer is the powerhouse of ministry, as well as the bonding power of fellowship. When people pray together, they care for one another too. Therefore, we’ll add a corporal prayer time in the worship service. Not only for those who have needs, but also practice what the early church did to build deeper fellowship. We may not want our church building be shaken (it’s retrofitted!), but we certainly want to be filled by the Holy Spirit so that we can speak the word of God boldly and build up our relationship in one heart and one mind. We would also encourage the congregation to form prayer partners and develop regional prayer cell groups. In order to enhance fellowship and spiritual support, we’ll select Bible passages, which focus on relationship building, for all the fellowship groups to study. Our summer retreat this year will also focus on Prayer. ‘Speaking the word of God boldly’ also means spreading the Gospel. On the mission side, we thank God for bringing many children and youth to our Sunday school. Under the teaching and nurturing of our faithful Sunday school teachers, these kids are growing up in our church. We’ll continue to develop a spiritual growth path for them and prepare for their transition to worship services. We thank God for what He had done in the FNS ministry last year. We are also thankful for many brothers and sisters who have been involved in this ministry. The FNS ministry team will have a one-day retreat on 1/24. Please pray for the team to review the plan and strategy for developing the community worship service. We’ll also explore the possibility to start a Saturday Outreach contemporary worship. The target group of this outreach ministry will be those bi-lingual, bi-cultural youth and young adult, who grew up in America. We hope that we can work out and share the vision/mission statement, build up the ministry team, and set the time line for the development. With these ministries in mind we surely need to pray together and experience the work of the Holy Spirit.
	Christian Education Ministry	Pastor Chris
	“The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people, and you father’s household and go to the land I will show you.’” Genesis 12:1 From the above verse, we can see the very beginnings of mission! God called Abram out of his comfort zone, out of where he was living to go to a new land and it is from Abram that the nations are blessed with the hope of the gospel in Jesus Christ. Happy New Year! This year our church’s theme is Prayer and Missions – “Pray Boldly^2 Go.” It is our hope that as we draw near to the throne of Christ with boldness, that we will also have the boldness to go out into the world with the love and hope of Christ. This month I’d like to highlight the work of our Missions Committee! Headed by Kit Wong and Steven Ng, the focus of the Missions Committee is education and mobilization. In December our church sent 10 people to the Urbana Missions Conference in Illinois over the Christmas break. This was an awesome experience that you will be hearing more about and this trip could never have happened without the generous support of FCBC or work of the Missions Committee. If you are interested in participating in the work of this committee, please see Pastor Chris O. or Steven Ng. Upcoming CE events: January 9^th-10^th, JUNIOR HIGH LOCK IN…January 10^th8:30am FCBC, 1^st CE Board Meeting of the year…January 13^th, 7:30pm John Tom’s Sports Ministry Committee Meeting…January 30^th, Warriors Basketball Game (please see Pastor Chris O. for more information)…January 30^th-February 1^st, YOUTH LEADERSHIP SUMMIT (Redwood Glen)…
	Young Adult Ministry	Kenneth Tom
	Happy New Year!  With the new year, people look forward to new beginnings, new adventures, and new ideas.  The young adults met recently to discuss our continuing journey in growing a successful fellowship and young adult ministries here at church.  We shared our thoughts and discussed many important topics including the idea of being more welcoming.  How can we be more welcoming to visitors?  How can we create an environment where we feel comfortable inviting our friends.  As Rick Warren points out, "Growing churches love; loving churches grow."  To grow our fellowship and our church, we need to challenge ourselves to be nice and friendly when we greet visitors.  One study has shown that before the pastor preaches, visitors have already made up their minds if they'll be visiting again.  Another survey has shown that over 90% of visitors notice first the warmth and friendliness of the people when they visit a new church.  So, let's spur one another on to share Christian love to visitors by extending care and personally greeting and welcoming them to our church.  Upcoming Xplorers Fellowship Event (January 17) - A delightful culinary celebration..."WRAP up the year and Moo SHOO in the new year"
	Church Annual Meeting
	As Baptists, one of the highlights of the year is the Church Annual Meeting on Sunday, February 1, 1:30 PM. All the fellowship groups, boards and committees of the church will provide reports that summarize their activities in 2003. The senior pastor will offer the “State of the Church” report. There will be memorials of those who have passed in 2003 and a time for prayer and fellowship together. The 2004 Church Directory will be available. Once again, we will be treated to a Fellowship Luncheon from the generosity of David and Faye Wong before our meeting. Make plans to attend this once a year celebration of God’s blessings on FCBC!
	New Bookkeeper/Accountant
	The increasing number of tasks in maintaining the financial records of our church has required the need to hire a part-time Bookkeeper/Accountant. At the December 7 Membership Meeting, the Deacons announced the appointment of Marian Hom to serve in this new position. Marian is a graduate of San Francisco State University, worked in the accounting field for almost 14 years and a life-long member of our church. For the past 9 years, she has performed many of these duties as a volunteer. In this position, her responsibilities will be expanded to relieve some of the work of the senior pastor. We welcome Marian to this new position beginning on January 1, 2004!
	Our Senior Center	By Warren Lee
	Hey! What is this senior center all about? Well, we are starting a club just for seniors and retired people, and all you have to do to join is just show up. You don’t even have to be from the CBC. Your friends from outside of our church are welcome too. Our club will be located in the CBC Fellowship Hall, and we will be open on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesdays of each month. Our hours are 12 Noon to 4 PM. City College has classes until Noon, so don’t come up too early. Starting with lunch at 12:10, the charge is just $4. After eating together, we’re going to hear an interesting talk. On our opening day, February 11, 2004, Alan Wong, former executive director of the YMCA, will talk about his experiences as an activist in San Francisco’s Chinese American community; and on February 25, we have lined up Philip Choy, historian at the Chinese Historical Society of America, to talk about our Chinese American heritage. The talks and all of our activities will be conducted in English. Following the speaker, the talented Pearl Eng will lead us in singing some of our favorite songs. Afterward, we’ll have some more fun learning line dancing steps from Ed and Sally Lui, who are not only excellent dancers but also very patient teachers. Don’t worry. It’s not hard to learn, and you’ll catch on easily. So, that’s our program for February. Our program in the following months may change because we want to reflect the wishes of everyone. This is your club, and everyone has to pitch in to run it. Mark your calendar to be at our grand opening on February 11^th. Come, join us, and have a little fun!
	Foundations of Faith
	The Chinese Historical Society of America at their 41^st Anniversary Luncheon will honor the First Religious Institutions of San Francisco Chinatown on Saturday, January 10, 11:00 AM at the Meriwa Restaurant, 728 Pacific Ave. Our church, founded in 1880 will be one of eleven religious institutions receiving this honor. The keynote speaker will be Rev. Norman Fong and emceed by Debbie Lee. We are planning to have a good representation of church friends at the luncheon. Tickets are $40 for CHSA member and $45 for CHSA non-member; Student and Children tickets are available too. If you are interested in attending this celebration of how religious groups have helped shape the life and health of Chinatown, please contact Roger Tom, also a member of the CHSA 2003 Board.
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