September 22, 2024 – “Reason for Hope” 1 Peter 3:15-17

Posted on 21 Sep 2024, Speaker: Pastor Joseph Yu

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Click Here
- - Welcome! If you’re new to our worship service, welcome to our church! You are invited to stay for snacks and refreshment at the Fellowship Hall after today’s service. If you like us to connect with you, please email us at hello@vcefc.org so that someone from the care team can reach out to you.
  - Annual General Meeting to be held on Oct 27.
    Nominees for 2025
    Church Board
    – Chung Yan Ip (re-elect)
    – Christina Lee (re-elect)
    – Selwyn Luk
    CSCC
    – Elisa Chan
    – Lily Chan
    – Lousila Lee
    – Kit Pun
    ESCC
    – Deborah Lum (re-elect)
    – Tommy Chan
    Personnel Committee
    – Martin To (re-elect)Financial Reviewer
    – Sam Keung
    * Members can submit nominations of other church members before Oct 6th.
  - Curious about faith?
    Alpha: Every Friday September 27 – November 8, 6:30pm – 8:30pm at the church Fellowship Hall.
    Join us and invite your friends to “Alpha” for dinner, video and group conversations that explores the Christian faith in an open, friendly environment. Free to join with no pressure to commit. Sign up here or contact us at hello@vcefc.org
  - Special General Meeting today at 2pm for the calling of CSC pastors.
  - Canada Chinese Christian Winter Conference: Living in Good’s Presence. December 27-31 in Richmond BC. Registration at CCCWC.ca
  - Adult Sunday School this week.
    Two new courses:
    “Work & Rest as Worship” (Room 3) – Pastor Joe Yu
    The Bible calls us to a rhythm of work and rest as part of our life of worship.
    Many Christians—from the CEO to the teacher to the stay-at-home mom—spend a great deal of time working and yet do not realize how their work intersects with their faith. They compartmentalize their faith to Sunday morning and see the rest of their week as having little to do with their walk with God. Scripture, however, makes no division between the sacred and secular parts of our lives. God gives us our work, talent and skills so that through them we might worship Him. And yet God also put special emphasis on integrating sabbath rest into our lives. Sabbath is a period of time set aside to stop, rest, delight, and worship. In our era of chronic exhaustion, emotional unhealth, and spiritual stagnation, few things are more necessary than the recovery of this ancient practice of rest.
    “Book of Acts – Part II ” (Senior Lounge) – YC Ip
    Book of Acts, often called the Acts of the Apostles. This is an important book as it describes the birth of the Christian Church and how Jesus’ followers -filled, empowered, and guided by the Holy Spirit—took the message of Salvation from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria and all the way to Rome.
  - VCEFC will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in March 2025. Our church family is holding a logo design competition by the congregation. The selected Logo should be original, innovative, and will fully reflect the theme of our 50th anniversary events. It will be honoured and used not only as a marker for many of our coming up anniversary celebrations; but will also be used to create a 50th anniversary souvenir commemorating the event.
    The theme of the 50th anniversary celebration is: “Bearing Much Fruit for God’s Glory” . Theme verse: John 15:8 – “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
    Looking at the image of the orchard, it reminds us of God’s cultivation as the founder of today’s VCEFC and His many works through different channels and events . We look forward to today’s church members growing into maturity in the Lord and we will hence form a “faithful and joyful Christian community”. Let’s carry on this command and mission ; and eventually, by planting fruit trees, nurturing gardeners, and building orchards, we will produce more fruit for the glory of God!
    Eligibility & Rules:
    – Members of the VCEFC or those who have been regularly attending VCEFC for over 6 months are eligible to participate.
    – Participants can be an individual or a group, but each participating unit can only send in one (1 ) design.
    – The entries must be an original and unpublished work
    – Entries must be in JPG/PDF file format with resolution of 300dpi or above, accompanied by a description of the design concept of no more than 300 words (Chinese or English); briefly explaining the interpretation of the design
    Submission Method and Screening:
    – Please fill in the application form (link) and upload the image file and text explanation
    – The entries will be selected by the 50th Anniversary Committee
    The deadline has been extended to: October 20.
- Please note that the underground parking is reserved for seniors and families with babies/toddlers on Sundays. And to make sure you do not park at the back lane or on our neighbours’ property.
- Open Gym for the church: 3pm-5:30 every 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month at Vancouver Christian School (Entrance through the front garage gate).
- As the church continue to grow, we have noticed that more and more brothers and sisters in church may share the same first and last names. Please make sure to include your phone number (or mailing address) on the Offering Envelop or on the Remarks Section for e-transfer to avoid confusion on your Donation Slip.
- In the event that your contact information has changed (i.e. address, telephone number, or email address), please contact the church office to update the directory.
- Based on the recommendation from the VCEFC Critical Response Team and the approval from the Church Board, the mask mandate is changed from mandatory to recommended starting on April 1. Due to the health and comfort of the others, please consider wearing a mask when there is a mass gathering. Continue to stay at home if you are not feeling well.
- Are you looking for ways to exercise your gifts and to serve the Lord in our church community? We invite you to go to our church’s website to take a look at the descriptions of the various service opportunities available and instruction on how to get involve in our ministry teams. The direct link is https://vcefc.org/1033/serve
- You can download our bulletin and reflection questions for today’s service either through the QR code on screen or through the church’s website at VCEFC.org.
- For ministries, fellowships and small groups to have meetings in Church, please inform the office by email at least one week ahead to book rooms. Room availability can be checked in our website. Please click “Room Booking” under “Contact Us” in the main menu.
- In addition to the regular prayer meetings on Wednesday, we invite you in praying for Mission and Evangelism on the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 to 8:30pm.
- Community prayer time will resume back to meeting every Wednesday night at 7:30. Join us in praying as a community for our church, our city and the world. https://zoom.us/j/446506289
- Small groups and Fellowships are available for all ages and life stages, from teens through college, adults and career, all the way to retired seniors. For more information on our various fellowships and small groups please visit our church website under the “Get Connected” section on the menu tab, or email us at hello@vcefc.org .
- Welcome Team for Hong Kong Newcomers has been established in order to welcome and show hospitality to both fellow Christians and friends who immigrate or return to Canada from Hong Kong. If you have family or friends who have recently moved to or are planning to move to Vancouver, looking for church or some assistance, please feel free to contact Pastor Job Chan (jobchan@vcefc.org) or Yeda Hong (vcefc.welcome@gmail.com). Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/100847038934841/
- ONLINE OFFERING: Now you have the option to give your offering through Interac e-transfer. You can still mail your cheques, or drop off your offering at the church. For further instruction on how to give online, click here.
- CONTACT US: We know that this can be a difficult and distressing time for some. If you have any needs, concerns or prayer requests, we want to hear from you. You can connect with the church through email at admin@vcefc.org or by phone at (604) 254-1242.
- WEEKLY OFFERING UPDATE:

PRAYER ITEMS: Click Here
- Please pray that during the application review process that the PSC continues to be sensitive to the guiding of the Holy Spirit.
- Please also pray for the pastoral candidates themselves as they undergoing the application review process that they continue to receive discernment and encouragement to where God is leading to serve next.
1. Please email your prayer requests to Pastor Joe (josephyu@vcefc.org) indicating if they are private or to be posted.
2. Join us every Wednesday night at 7:30 pm to pray as a community for our church, our city and the world. https://zoom.us/j/446506289

Sunday Sermon

September 22, 2024 – “Reason for Hope” 1 Peter 3:15-17

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Click Here

PRAYER ITEMS: Click Here

Vancouver Chinese Evangelical Free Church