{"id":1316,"date":"2001-02-04T22:05:32","date_gmt":"2001-02-05T03:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=1316"},"modified":"2020-12-11T13:12:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T18:12:13","slug":"state-of-the-church-report-2001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/state-of-the-church-report-2001\/","title":{"rendered":"State of the Church Report\u20142001"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rev. Donald Ng<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognitions and Appreciations:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who helped run off the annual reports and the new directories last week<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who spent a whole day collating and stapling these materials together this week<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye Wong and David\u2019s 73rd<\/sup> birthday and the Social Committee for the delicious lunch today<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past Three Years<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Although today is the Annual Meeting to celebrate God\u2019s work among us in 2000, it actually is a time to reflect on God\u2019s ministry with us across three years. Just because one year ends and another one begins, it doesn\u2019t mean that everything stops on December 31st<\/sup> and something brand new starts on January 1st<\/sup>. But rather, God\u2019s work knows no calendar pages or Times Square to tell us that something new is happening. God\u2019s work with us continues year after year and we are just trying to catch up with him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw this short-term thinking when we thought that the world might come to an end on December 31, 1999! We were afraid that all of our life support systems would crash. We read into biblical apocalyptic prophecies and worried that this might be the year. So one millennium ends and another one begins but we know that God reigns both in the old and in the new. God reigned in 1999. He reigned in 2000. And God will reign among us in 2001 and in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while God\u2019s majesty and creative power remains with us, we have not simply stayed the same too. God is making something happening to us. Maybe when we look back in the course of our church\u2019s history, we might only remember this time with just a little paragraph. But as brothers and sisters who have experienced these past three years, something new and good is happening to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Isaiah 43<\/a>, God says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cI am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s New?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

One thing that I experienced new last year was learning how to automatically write 2000 rather that 1999. For all 52 years of my life, I had only needed to learn to write two new numbers every year. All four numbers changed at once! Now I am pretty confident that I can do it (most of the time)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What else is new? Do you remember what the old church looked like? Small and stinky bathrooms\u2026lots of clutter and old things around\u2026dingy and old carpets\u2026un-reinforced brick building. Now we have a beautiful church home with all of the state of the art features and most of all, a very safe building against the threat of an earthquake. We can see this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the retrofit, we could have said that the average age of people on the first floor is 65<\/a> while the average age of people up on the fourth floor was 18! Our building was inaccessible to all of our members. With our new full-size elevator, even your 52-year old pastor uses the elevator occasionally!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For about 12 months, we were praying and searching for a new partner in ministry to join Pastor Mak and me to complete the pastoral staff team. Some of you had to tolerate my sermons at 9:00 worship. Some of you didn\u2019t get the attention and help that you needed to develop programs and projects. By trusting in God, we now have Pastor Chris who is able to care for these ministries that are so important. God is doing a new thing among your staff team that is springing forth good results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you look at our church from the outside, you might not readily perceive that something new and good has been happening. But when you come inside, a new thing is springing forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is almost like we have been getting ready for Chinese New Year since 1999! We got rid of old things that we didn\u2019t need anymore. We didn\u2019t just sweep the floors and dusted the walls, we gutted the whole church from top to bottom. All the dust and dirt, the rats and the cockroaches went out the door along with some of the bad habits that we had. With new pews, carpets, classrooms, lights, heating furnaces, bathrooms, we are ready for God to use us for his mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Faith and Confidence<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

God says, \u201cI am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you perceive it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the things that I just mentioned are definitely new for us. But what is really new is not physical or tangible but nevertheless very real. What is new is that our faith in Jesus Christ has grown! The good and new things that have happened to us have made us stronger and more confident in our faith in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of you have given Joy and me some credit for the good things that have happened. But I must confess to you, that credit is misplaced. First of all, the credit belongs to God who has always remained constantly faithful to his people. And secondly, all the wonderful things that have happened are due to your sacrificial giving of your gifts, abilities, and resources back to God. And God has and is making a new thing happening to us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look around and see the beautiful gifts of talents, experiences, insights, histories, traditions, ideas, languages and much, much more that you have been giving to each other in the name of Christ who has joined us together as the church. It\u2019s you who have made these past three years a new thing because of your faithfulness in the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With GLAD Hearts, God ADDS!<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Look at your happy and glad faces!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual theme for this year is continuing with the 2001 Canvass theme of \u201cWith GLAD Hearts, God ADDS!\u201d When the early church in Acts 2<\/a> was dedicated to caring and fellowship with one another, God began adding to their numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are seeing this happening in our church. Last Fall when we launched the 2001 Budget Canvass to receive pledges for this year\u2019s operating budget, we had one of the largest increases from one year to another. We were concerned that while many were still giving to the Continue the Legacy stewardship campaign, will we be able to make our pledges? As you know, we have received 94.5% in pledges toward our goal with a record number of first-time pledges. We have not been at this high level of pledging for as long as anyone can remember. With glad hearts, God is inviting us to add our resources to his mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With our theme, \u201cWith GLAD Hearts, God ADDS!\u201d we will be addressing the ministry areas of evangelism and Christian fellowship. On Christian fellowship, we will continue to encourage and strengthen the many fellowship\/family groups that we have. This year\u2019s All-Church Picnic will once again be at the conveniently located Bayside\/Joinville Park in San Mateo. What’s new is an \u201cAll-Church Family Fun Day\u201d on Saturday, March 3 when you and your whole family can come and participate in all kinds of games and competitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While these activities are certain to increase our fellowship with each other, they are also ways to reach out to others. They are ways to do evangelism. We invite our friends, coworkers, neighbors, family members because we have this GLAD heart that we just can’t wait to share it with others!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we are able to share our faith with others, we must first grow in our understanding of the Christian faith. For the past few months, Pastor Mak has been working with a group of members who are taking the Evangelism Explosion course. They are learning how to articulate and share their faith with others. For the past year, a number of Bible Study groups have been formed to increase biblical knowledge and how our faith is lived out everyday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group we have in Sausalito is comprised of 13 members. We started last year with a Lenten study. We finished a course on \u201cGetting to Know Your Bible.\u201d We did an Advent study. Now we are in a 9-week study on Jesus\u2019 Parables. There\u2019s ongoing group in South Bay led by Wes and Sheryl Chan. We have had groups in San Francisco and the east bay. Now a new course led by Dr. Chuck on the Old Testament with 15 participants will begin this Wednesday. These things are happening in addition to Sunday school!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something new and good is happening here! People want to learn, to grow, to become more faithful to the Lord. With our glad and seeking hearts to know more about God, God is adding to our lives and our church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is saying, \u201cDo you not perceive it?\u201d He is doing a new thing and it\u2019s springing forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two weeks ago, over 50 of your church officers, board and committee members, chairs of fellowship groups gathered for a one-day retreat. We worked together on how we might more fully implement the ministries of evangelism and fellowship of the theme, \u201cWith GLAD Hearts, God ADDS!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We came up with many ideas. Based on your 50 church leaders, the top three ways that we can be more evangelistic are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        1. Build Partnerships with other community groups and organizations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        2. Prepare Ourselves to share Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        3. Sponsor Events to reach people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we generated more ideas on ways we may enhance Christian fellowship. The top three ways are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        1. Organize affinity\/interest groups to gather people together<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        2. Cross fertilize our existing groups by sharing resources<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        3. More interaction among fellowship groups<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We then ask ourselves why when we have had annual themes in the past that they have had little or no impact on the life of the church. One of these obstacles is that the theme has not been reinforced and followed through. So in good educational fashion, take out a pen and write on your new 2001 Directory, the theme, \u201cWith GLAD Hearts, God ADDS.\u201d By writing it down yourself, you will remember it better!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these great ideas have been typed up and will be used by the pastoral staff and all of the church leaders to explore ways that we can begin implementing them for this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2005, FCBC Will Be\u2026<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

At the retreat, we also envisioned what our church might look like five years from now in 2005. Six different groups were given different tasks to envision. Our future is bright and beautiful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is saying, \u201cI am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you perceive it?\u201d The answer is, \u201cYES, indeed! We do see it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One group dramatized how we will be more inviting of others to our church. Another group built a wooden model of our church with room to grow. Another group published newspaper headlines that read, \u201cSay Yes to God\u2019s Mission,\u201d \u201cAfter 125 Years, Parking Got Easier,\u201d and \u201cBreakfast Lovers Flock to Joe\u2019s Caf\u00e9!\u201d A group composed a cinquain which is a five line poem. It describes FCBC as,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                                            Church<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                                Christlike, Spiritual<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                    Welcoming, Outreaching, Partnering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                    Passionate, Joyful, Hopeful, Loving<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Community<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another group drew a picture that showed that we have annexed Four Seas with a walk bridge that has a basketball court on top and lots of glad and happy people. And finally the last group envisioned the mayor of San Francisco who will be Roger Tom in 2005 giving the church $20 million dollars!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State of the Church<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of my report is to inform you that we as a church are doing exceedingly well. Unlike PG&E, our stocks in our faithfulness to God are not rated junk. We trust our lives in God\u2019s hand to lead us along and for that God is doing a new thing with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s new thing is that he will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. In all the threats and struggles in the world and in our lives, God is saying that he will show us a way out of the wildernesses of our lives. God is saying that he will bring forth refreshing rivers of hope and joy when our lives and the world are desolate and in thirst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For people during Isaiah days, \u201cwildernesses and deserts\u201d made a lot of sense. But for Californians, maybe it should be,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Thus says the Lord, \u201cI am about to do an innovation; now it\u2019s going to happen, do you not see it? I will make an open lane through a traffic jam and give you flashlights during rolling blackouts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As God has blessed our church for 120 years, we pray that God will continue to bless us this year and in the many years to come. Thank God for doing a new thing with us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rev. Donald Ng Recognitions and Appreciations: Those who helped run off the annual reports and the new directories last week Those who spent a whole day collating and stapling theseContinue readingState of the Church Report\u20142001<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2183,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316\/revisions\/2183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}