20211024 English Bulletin

Vision: Building a Church after God's Own Heart SUNDAY 24th October WELCOME TO CAMBERWELL METHODIST CHURCH We are a faith community that is growing in our love for Jesus, who died for our sins, and is raised from the death. We are called to follow Jesus, and to make disciple of all nations. If you would like to know more about God, Jesus, or our church or the bible, please use [email protected] / Minister-in-Charge Rev. James Kong 0413 953 238 / English Pastor (Part Time) Ps. Allan Quah 0402 675 219 to Get in Touch. 58 Cooloongatta Road, Camberwell, VIC 3124 • Tel: (03) 9889 0702 • www.cmca-camberwell.org.au

Silent Prayer ORDER OF WORSHIP Call to Worship Adoration & Praise (24 October 2021) Prayer Responsive Reading <Be Still in the Presence of the Lord> The Lord’s Prayer Welcome/Notices Psalm 42:1-11 Offering Intercessory Prayer 396 <Give of Your Best to the Master> Scripture Reading 1 Peter 2:4-12 Proclamation of the Word Standing Firm as His Chosen People Chorus of Response Benediction Ministry Roster 24/10/2021 Preacher LP Chris Ting Worship Leader Rev. James Kong Song Leader Felicia Teng Backup - Pianist Adeline See Keyboardist - Accompaniment - Cajon - Bible Reader - Multimedia Wesley Chew Live Stream/PA Jonathan Liew Ushers - Floral - HC Prep - Preacher LP Lina Lim Ministry Roster 31/10/2021 Song Leader Wesley Chew Worship Leader Michael Fung Pianist Adeline See Backup Albert Wong Accompaniment Oscar Ling Keyboardist Venus Kang Bible Reader - Cajon Bryan Law Live Stream/PA Jonathan Liew/Jin Loong Wong Multimedia Yew Fong Lim Floral - Ushers - HC Prep - 2

“God looks for those whose hearts are prepared to be intercessors before Him ...Intercessors can be the only ones standing between an individual or a nation and God’s wrath.” Henry Blackaby Weekly Praying for the Church 1. Pray for coming back to church to 3. P ray for Annual Conference continue worship to be faithful in leading all churches in Australia, that we may work together to 2.1 Pray for ongoing streaming work to bring the gospel to the those who are be effective, and glorifying God; lost, and discipled to be fisher of men and women. 2.2 Pray for wisdom to discern how to allow congregation to come back to 4. Pray for Jimmy Kong (therapy worship with limited seat capacity due treatment), Ken Hii, Clarence Yek, Uncle to social distancing; Hii, Aunty Su King Ting, Mdm. Lu (Mrs. Kong’s mum), Su Sing (Leong’s brother); 2.3 Pray for the small groups, and Christina (Boon Koh’s sister, Canada), fellowships continue to connect with Flora (Singapore), and Ben (USA). Thank each other, and reach out to other; you all for upholding them in prayer. 2.4 Pray for God’s break through in 5. P ray for students sitting for VCE (Jer- all that church is doing so that we ry, Henry, Isabel, Charmaine, Jacklyn, may experience renewal in the life of Venus, Samuel, Joan, Damain, and community and ministry. Stephan); university students. 2. Pray for LCEC 2021 and English working Committee that they may work together to reach out to families, our young people, and our community. Please pray for the search of suirtable new pastor for English Congregation. 3

“God looks for those whose hearts are prepared to be intercessors before Him ...Intercessors can be the only ones standing between an individual or a nation and God’s wrath.” Henry Blackaby Weekly Praying for the Church 6. P ray for our church family continue to 7. P ray for spiritual awakening experience living God in each of these household at Camberwell Methodist 1.1 your plead with the Lord to be Church. We pray for deeper relationship merciful to us and graciously draw us among the family members, deeper back to Himself and His ways. Ask Him to relationship between husband and show us unfailing love and grant us His wife, and deeper relationship between salvation that we may rejoice in Him. parents and children. I cannot stress more than saying this is the time, God 1.2 restore us again, O God our is at work through and in our families. Saviour...Will you not revive us again, Let us not look else where but instead that your people may rejoice in you? look within our daily relationship and Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and our family. God is right there with us. grant us your salvation (Psalm 85:4,6-7); Seek Him first and His kingdom, all these things shall be added to you. 1.3 Thank God that He is willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. Cry out to Him for an outpouring and mighty working of the Holy Spirit in our day. 1.4 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. (Luke 11:13) 4

All that’s going on around Camberwell Methodist Church COMMUNITY WATCH Welcome • faith leaders broadcasting services and ceremonies at places of worship, with the minimum number of We welcome everyone who join our worship service. people required for the broadcast to occur; ... May the peace of God be with you! If you are a new friend to the church, please introduce yourself. (https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/authorised- provider-and-authorised-worker-list) Restrictions All church attendees are required to be fully vaccinated and will be required to show proof of VICTORIA’S ROADMAP National Plan: Phase B (For vaccination (except those who have a medical Metro Melbourne) From 11.59pm 21 October 2021 exemption), this can be either a Covid Certificate, At 70% fully vaccinated, lockdown will end in Doctor’s Certificate, or Immunisation History. Melbourne. Face mask must be worn properly, (to cover the nose Social and Recreational: and mouth fully), at all time. • R easons to leave home and curfew no longer in Social distancing of 1.5 Meters to be maintained in church building. place. As such, there will not be any physical worship • 1 0 people including dependents can visit your service at the church for Sunday (24/10). All services (9AM Chinese & 11AM English) will be live streamed home per day (YouTube) from the church. All fellowships, small • 15 people can gather outdoors, community sport groups, and Sunday Schools will be conducted on the online platform until further notice. training returns for minimum required to hold For next Sunday (31/10), we invite the serving team training. (liturgist, preacher, pastors, praise & worship team, • P ubs and clubs can open to 20 fully vaccinated pianist, multimedia operator, PA, live streaming, people indoors and 50 outdoors. ushers, no more than 20 persons) to return for physical • R eligious gatherings, funerals and weddings worship. allowed for 20 fully vaccinated indoors, 50 fully Please observe the restrictions, uphold, and care for vaccinated outdoors our brothers & sisters in prayer and in love. Do keep Mandatory Vaccinations for Authorised Providers and yourselves update-to-date of the latest government’s Authorised Workers announcement on the COVID-19 situation in Victoria. The Victorian Government has announced We will keep you informed through Facebook Group mandatory vaccination requirements for all Camberwell MC Online and WhatsApp groups authorised providers and authorised workers (APAW) regularly. who are not working from home. All workers – in Melbourne and regional Victoria – Combined Mission Prayer Meeting on the Authorised Worker list who cannot work at Thursday (28/10) 7:30PM home will require their first COVID-19 vaccine dose by Friday, 15 October. From 26 November 2021, the Prayer Meeting to be led by Rev. James Kong via requirement will increase to having had two doses or Facebook (Camberwell MC Online group). Let us a medical exception. Authorised workers: Any person serve one another through prayer. who performs work that is essential for the continued operation of: • …… 5

All that’s going on around Camberwell Methodist Church COMMUNITY WATCH Pastoral Needs Proverb Challenge and Personal Testimony If you have any pastoral needs, please do not Due to the inability to access the previous email hesitate to seek Rev. James Kong (0413 953 238), Ps. address, please resend your submission to chookai@ Allan Quah (0402 675 219) or local preachers: Lina gmail.com We also encourage you all to write your Lim, Chris Ting, or Joo Soo Lim. If you need the pastor personal testimony and send to the email address. to pray for you, do approach Rev. James Kong or Ps. Allan Quah after the service. The Christmas Ensemble Ministry Family Devotion The Christmas Ensemble ministry are now inviting anyone who can play an instrument or who enjoy We encourage families to start a regular family singing to express your interest to join them for this devotion each week. It is our main thing for our year’s ensemble for our Christmas Day service. church because we will grow stronger, closer, and Of course, this ministry will be subject to COVID more love for God and one another. Let us not restrictions. If you’re interested in joining this ministry, waste this time of being together…. explore every please speak to Sarah Ha (0411 861 255) for details. opportunity to play, to read, to do something together, to pray and to sing together. Offering detail Description Abbreviations Bank reference Thank you once again for brothers Tithing TITHE C9/E11 C9 TITHE Paul WONG and sisters who faithfully support the ministry of the church through General GEN C9/E11 C9 GEN Paul WONG finance, prayers, and participation. May God bless you. Here is the Thanksgiving TKS C9/E11 C9 TKS Paul WONG bank detail for your reference: Account name: Chinese Methodist Mission MIS C9/E11 C9 MIS Paul WONG Church in Australia Camberwell; BANK: ANZ; BSB: 013 225; Account Theological student THE C9/E11 C9 THE Paul WONG Number: 4939 79025. Offering $20,039.30 (10/10-15/10/2021) Special SPE C9/E11 C9 SPE Paul WONG Others OTH C9/E11 C9 OTH Paul WONG Building fund C9/E11 C9 Camberwell mc Paul WONG, E11 Mercy mc Paul WONG…...... 6

Devotion Week 42: 24th October 2021 Theme: Let’s Dig Deeper Bible verses: (Proverbs 2:1-9) My son, if you receive my word and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; Solomon has taken us into a place of hard work, but he will lead us to a valuable discovery. As I look closely at these nine verses in Proverbs 2, I find that they can be divided rather neatly into three sections: 1. The Conditions: “If . . .” emphasizes the worker (vv. 1–4) 2. The Discovery: “Then . . .” emphasizes the treasure (v. 5) 3. The Promises: “For . . .” emphasizes the benefits (vv. 6–9) I find four realms of discipline that we must come to terms with if we hope to live beyond the grind of shallowness. 1.The discipline of the written Word of God “My son, if you will receive my sayings, and treasure my commandments within you . . .” (v. 1). It is essential that we receive God’s Word. We absorb them on a regular basis and allow them to find lodging in our minds. Few things affect our world more detrimentally than ongoing biblical ignorance. We maintained a Christian worldview, held God in high esteem, revered the Bible as authoritative, knew God’s Word well, and adopted its precepts as their moral foundation. Our knowledge of biblical wisdom led us to first think deeply and then make decisions based on principles rather than pragmatism. 2.The discipline of inner desire “Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding” (v. 2). If we read this verse correctly, we must lend an attentive ear to God’s reproofs and cultivate an open heart before Him. The Bible repeatedly warns that we are naturally inclined to selfishness, short-sightedness, and shallow thinking. In no uncertain terms God urges us to remain closely connected to Him: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you. (9:10–11) 7

3. The discipline of prevailing prayer “Cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding” (v. 3). Perhaps the single most overlooked discipline in the Christian life—and among the most difficult—is consistent prayer. Prevailing prayer. Ongoing, unceasing prayer. Let us cultivate a mind-set oriented to prayer and a lifestyle that includes a sustained, running conversation with the Lord throughout the day. Plagued by worry? Let that prompt you to unload your concerns before God. Dismayed by conflict? Share them with the Lord and ask for His intervention. Perplexed by a problem? Ask God for insight, understanding, and discernment. Don’t save up your problems and questions for a long session later in the day. Converse with God moment by moment as you experience life. Pray as you go, but don’t neglect time for reflection. Be sure to set aside a few minutes throughout the day—five to ten minutes as often as necessary—for solitude, for a place and time that will allow you to clear away distractions and give your mind a break. Don’t be surprised when clarity displaces confusion. 4. The discipline of daily consistency If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures . . .” (v. 4). We’re talking diligence and effort here! The saying calls us to seek God’s truths as if we are digging for silver and to search His mind in the same way we would pursue hidden treasures. It’s an earnest, diligent pursuit of the mind of Christ! We must cultivate a desire for His wisdom that’s no less intense than our natural lust for wealth. Cultivating a desire for divine wisdom begins with the decision to make it a priority and to begin pursuing it. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Solomon declared that our cultivating an earnest hunger for wisdom will be rewarded: “Then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:5). Reflections: Examine our daily routine. How do we put these 4 disciplines into practice? Let’s pray. 8