5 pm
Pastor Brian
At the office

Today at the Cantonese service and ENCOUNTER I preached the second message from Acts, “Radical Sharing: Christian Community in Its Original Form,” (Acts 4:32-5:11). The sermon can be listened to at http://fbcchome.info/dnn4/Resources/SermonAudioList/Cantonese/tabid/103/Default.aspx in Cantonese and http://fbcchome.info/dnn4/Resources/SermonAudioList/English/tabid/104/Default.aspx in English (it will be uploaded by Tuesday, September 18!)

Together we did an exercise on sharing what we have with those who are in needs. Everyone has needs; also everyone has things we can share. On the pink response papers, I asked everyone to write down what God has given to us that we can share. On the white response papers, write down what we really need. After prayerful consideration, I want to work with the pastoral staff to match the needs (white papers) with those who can help (pink papers).

We have received 47 white papers and 34 pink papers out of 175 in Cantonese worship attendance (27%); 48 white papers and 48 pink papers out of 164 in ENCOUNTER worship attendance (30%).

A quick survey of the response papers gives me the following impressions:

1. There are more pink papers than white papers. There are more people who have something to give than people who have needs, especially among the Cantonese congregation. Does that mean we have more generous people who want to help or are we still very shy about sharing our needs?

2. The English congregation is much more open with their needs. Some of them share some deep, personal and specific needs. It opens doors for ministry opportunities to meet some of these needs.

3. None mentions financial need of any kind (directly). Some are looking for jobs. Does that mean we as a congregation do not have any financial need? Or again, are we just too afraid to tell?

4. There are lot of prayer requests:

• Pray for the salvation for our loved ones. There is a yawning desire to see our family members to become Christians. The Cantonese congregation has a lot more non-Christian husbands who need our prayer.
• Pray for our second generation for their spiritual and emotional needs.
• Pray for guidance for the future direction.
• Pray for physical healing.
• Pray for friends. There is a longing for deep and abiding friendships.

5. It seems that the English congregation has a lot of young kids. Babysitting for kids so that husband and wife can go out for ministry purpose or for strengthening the marriage is very much needed. And the Cantonese congregation has a lot of willing hearts to babysit. How would our people respond to babysitters whom we don’t know very well from the other congregation?

6. There are a lot of gifts in our congregations. I am touched to see many who are willing to give their time and talent to serve others. There is no lack of gift and willing heart. Motivation and follow-through would be the key to “share everything in common.”

It will be very interesting to match these needs with people who want to help. May the Holy Spirit match people together even across congregational lines! I am excited about what the Holy Spirit is going to do through this exercise.

And I understand why the apostles needed to appoint some deacons to administer meeting needs. I am overwhelmed by the task to match the needs and the gifts! HELP!

My prayer is that we will grow as a church when we learn to see beyond our own world. There are people around us whom we can become a blessing to. We become communities of Christ-like disciples when we learn to share radically with our time and resources.

I love to hear what you have to say! (Email me at brianl@fbcchome.org )