Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Davis Chinese Christian Church has three goals in 2023. 1. Disciple and Mentor the Younger Generations; 2. Evangelize and Reach Out to the Nonbeliever or the Lost; and 3. Take Care of the Family of God. May the Holy Spirit move us to carry out the mission which our Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted to us.
We may feel like we have three separate goals but actually the three goals are all interconnected and can be seen as one Mission. When we take care of the family of God, the church’s members, by utilizing our individual’s spiritual gifts to reach out to the nonbelievers, supporting and encouraging the believers to continue to grow in Christ. People will see our love for the brothers and sisters in the church and know that we are the disciples of Jesus Christ. When people see our unity, joy and peace, they will desire to have our faith in Jesus Christ.
When I read John 17:20-23, I was very surprised to see how Jesus cared about His disciples and all of us who would believe in Him. Jesus knew that His departure from this earth was near and He would be crucified on the Cross soon. Jesus said, “My prayer is not for the disciples alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through the disciples’ message.” Jesus cared for His disciples and He also cares for us the believers. Jesus prayed for the disciples two thousand years ago and in that prayer, He also prayed for you and me also. Jesus cares about us so much and He wants us also to care for one another in the church.
When Jesus saw people suffering, He had compassion and love for them. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35-36) Jesus loved people and He had compassion for people. Jesus did not only preach the gospel, He healed every disease and sickness.
Love and compassion are the important characteristics when we care for the family of God. At DCCC we have three congregations, English, Cantonese and Mandarin and we all come from different backgrounds and speak different languages and have young and old. For example, the Mandarin congregation, we have more seniors and several people who have just retired or are preparing to retire. The seniors need a lot of care such as doctor visitations, home visits, or transportation needs. Thank God for the caring committee taking on the task to care for the seniors. Several fellowships such as Jia Mei, Gospel and Scholars Fellowships have been reaching out to the seniors by visiting them, sending dumplings, gifts and cards during the Chinese New Year. Many seniors felt so appreciative because they knew church care for them.
Sometimes we focus on the seniors or children, but we shall not forget the young families who are also facing many challenges in life. They need to work long hours to earn a living and take care of their children and aging parents. They also face challenges in marriage or health issues. Let us also remember them in our prayer and support them.
As a pastor at DCCC, I want to thank all the Fellowships’ coordinators and members who have been working so hard to take care of the brothers and sisters in the last three years during the pandemic lock down. They continued to meet through Zoom and divided the fellowships into the small groups so they could pray and support each other. In the Mandarin Adult Fellowship, the senior fellowship, also divided into several small groups with the group leaders to make sure everyone has been cared for.
DCCC is a very caring church. We reach out to those who have needs. We send meals to the brothers and sisters when they are sick or have a newborn baby. The Scholars Fellowship has a tradition of delivering meals to families when they have a newborn baby. One Sunday morning a couple stood up at the end of the Sunday Worship to introduce themselves, “We came to visit our daughter who is working in Sacramento so we came to visit DCCC. Both my wife and I accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior when we studied at UC Davis about 25 years ago. We really appreciated the brothers and sisters’ love and care while we were in Davis. We still remember when our daughter was born, the fellowship delivered meals to us for a month. We missed DCCC a lot.” After we ended the Sunday service, the husband approached me and asked me, “Pastor could you tell me where the Davis Cemetery is?” I asked him, “Why do you want to go to Davis Cemetery?” He replied, “I want to visit the brother who loved me and cared about me so much while I was in Davis.”
Love and caring are so powerful. Sometimes people forget our words but they do not forget our love and care toward them. In the church, the Holy Spirit gives and distributes different spiritual gifts to the believers. Many spiritual gifts besides teaching, preaching, and evangelism, are for the family of God such as Administration, Helping, Encouragement, Organization, Mercy, Giving, Knowledge, Wisdom, Healing. . . (Ephesians 4; 1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12; 1 Peter 4) Every believer shall use our spiritual gifts to take care of God's House, the Church. May God encourage and use us to exercise the spiritual gifts to take care of the Family of God. May God bless DCCC so we can be the church fulfilling God’s Mission for His Kingdom.
（Written by 陳逸生牧師 Pastor Mondy Chen 2/2023）
