Good Friday Service

WHEN: Fri April 10th, 7:30pm

WHERE: ACC John Sung Bldg

Join us and the English congregation for "Portraits of the Passion" at 7:30pm in ACC's John Sung Bldg as we remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. Please arrive on time.

In this week leading up to Easter Sunday, we encourage you to contemplate what Jesus' sacrifice means to you. Personally.  Christ came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Matt 20:28).  The death of the Son of Man was a ransom--a payment made to set you and me free from the deadly power of sin.  Our debt to God was infinite, and takes an eternity in hell to pay it off.  And when Jesus came, he overcame evil by doing what had to be done first--paying the debt--not by persuading people not to sin or to talk them out of sinning.  Only after Jesus paid our debt that we could not pay ourselves, can we enjoy being free and be declared righteous by faith. Knowing this, what does that mean to you? How is that reflected in your life?  (source: John Piper)

Easter service will be this Sunday, at 9:30am in the ACC Taylor gym.  What friends of yours can benefit from hearing about the amazing gift of life that Jesus Christ enables us to have?  As people are more willing to enter a church on Easter day, we challenge you to step out in faith and invite them!

Event with ACCCF

WHEN: Fri March 27th, 7:00pm

WHERE: UT campus, NOA 1.126 (See picture for parking information)

Most ACCCF (Austin Chinese Campus Christian Fellowship) members go to the Mandarin fellowship at ACC.  Even though many of us go to the same church, but we rarely get to hang out with each other.  This Friday, we have the rare opportunity to join fellowship with them.  Let us come together for worship and listen to the talk about cross-cultural missions. 

Our speakers will be Craig Bennett and Tommy Broyles, two adminstrative law judges from Austin.  Dinner is provided (FREE!!!!) and will be served at 7:00pm.  Make sure not to be late! We will also have an ice-breaker game and after the talk, we'll have a chance to get into small groups for discussion!!!  

Please take this opportunity to reach outside of our regular boundary and please bring a friend!!  

Reaching East Asia... from Texas

The OMF (organization founded by James Hudson Taylor, whose vision is to see church-planting movements in each of East Asia's unreached people groups) local Texas team is looking for new volunteers. Have you considered that reaching East Asia's people can happen right here and now?

They are looking for people with a passion to reach East Asia. Perhaps you can't go overseas right now, maybe you have a heart for missions and don't know where to start. BridgeAsia, the OMF volunteer ministry, offers many opportunities to use your gifts, passions and talents to serve in missions. We have positions for prayer, mentors, advocates and event coordinators. They'd even be able to mentor you along in your missions journey if you aren't sure yet.

They have a vision to see a team of volunteers right here making a global difference through these positions.

You can be the someone to make a difference today. E-mail them if you are interested or visit their website to read stories about their volunteers as well as learn more about the roles in which to serve. It only takes a few hours a month to make an eternal impact among the unreached!

If you have any questions, please contact Beth Forshee, the volunteer coordinator for mobilization.

Movie Night

WHEN: Fri March 27th, 7:30pm

WHERE: ACC Carey Bldg, upstairs

Join us this Friday as we watch "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," which takes a look at the debate over evolution--“Wasn’t this all settled years ago?” The answer to that question is equally troubling: “Yes…and no.” The movie challenges Darwin’s 150-year-old theory of life’s origins with new scientific evidence that has recently emerged--DNA, microbiology, The Big Bang, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, and the human genome. Each of these discoveries has, in one way or another, led a growing number of scientists to reconsider the simple view espoused by Darwin that life is a random, purposeless, chance occurrence. The universe, and life itself, is turning out to be far more complex and mysterious than Darwin could possibly have imagined.

We'll be watching the movie on the big screen in the upstairs room of Carey--accompanied by popcorn (made fresh on the spot with a popcorn maker!), candy, and drinks--followed by discussion on the movie. This is a great opportunity for you and your friends who may have lingering questions about creation and evolution. We challenge you to invite your friends!

ACC English Retreat

WHEN: Fri-Sun, March 20-22

Cornerstone will be combining our weekly event with the English retreat this weekend.  We're glad to see so many Cornerstoner have signed up to join us at Camp Buckner! We'll be back at the Carey Bldg next week with movie night.

"And They Will Become One Flesh" (Gen 2:24)

WHEN: Fri March 13th, 7:30pm

WHERE: ACC Carey Bldg, Downstairs

Leslie and Flora Keng will be sharing with us, through their friendship of 13 years and marriage of 7.5 years, about various aspect of a relationship which include dating, long-distance relationships, life decisions, love languages, marriage, and God's faithfulness through it all. 

Appreciation Party for Pastor Walton's family

WHEN: Fri March 6th, 7:30pm
WHERE: ACC Carey Bldg, upstairs

Come join us this Friday, when we're hosting an appreciation party for the Yuen family for their many years of service at ACC. It'll be a great time to mingle with everyone and share your experiences that you've had with them. We'll have snacks, desserts, and drinks... so see you there!

First Base Tutoring... from a player's perspective

The First Base tutoring program was set up by the youth in response to the needs unprivileged elementary school students in south Austin. Janie, a Cornerstoner, went for the first time this past January and shares how God not only used her to help a 5th grader, but also used this opportunity to encourage her! Thanks for sharing with us, Janie!

When I showed up for February's First Base tutoring, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had no idea how many students were coming, how many other fellow volunteers would be helping out, or how to even approach a tutoring situation. I don't have a lot of personal experience working with children, so I was feeling a significant amount of anxiety: How am I going to communicate with the students? Will we be able to connect? Will we have anything to talk about? Will they even like me??

It was a huge encouragement to see about 50 other volunteers show up that morning from all different lifestages in the English Congregation, and I think that was the first of many ways God showed how thoroughly his faithfulness can work that day. I personally had a lot of fun partnering up with one fifth grade student on some really difficult reading tasks because we took several breaks (mostly for my sake), where we had opportunities to talk about her interests and goals for the future. My student was very excited to tell me about how she wants to be a doctor and work with very young children, and it was very cool to be able to encourage her about her future and her interests. We also talked about the scary transition to middle school and her family before I realized we still had some more reading inferences to finish.

Since graduating from college, I've realized that personal leisure time shrinks in alarming ways, and it becomes harder and harder to be intentional with what is left of that time when it makes a lot more sense to use it for my own benefit or enjoyment. I'm grateful for the opportunity to go tutor because I was reminded of how investing in the Kingdom is worth the personal sacrafice it sometimes takes. Several of the students were asking if we came from Ms. Wong's church, and even though we may not have been in the best situation to talk explicitly about Jesus and his Gospel, it was so cool to see fellow congregation members show Christ's love and a little of who he is to the students who came for tutoring. I hope that people continue to pray for or help out with the tutoring program at the school, and that God will use this opportunity to continue drawing the students and their families to him.

Skit Night - hosted by Moses' life group

WHEN: Fri, Feb 27th, 7:15pm (note the earlier time!)
WHERE: ACC Taylor Gym

Have you ever wanted to be an actor? Got acting skills and want to show them off? Even if you don't, come out this Friday as Cornerstone combines with Wildfire for a skit night! All other groups (Lighthouse, Covenant, and Branch) are also invited to attend. Feel free to invite your friends to this event. Prizes will be awarded!

Meet in the Taylor Gym at 7:15pm so you can be assigned to a team as we will need to begin promptly at 7:30. There will be a short game show to start the evening that you won't want to miss!

Soccer Missions

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" Matthew 28:18a

How would you like to join a Christian soccer team made up of men from all over the world and tour through a foreign land? This soccer team is dedicated to the immediate Evangelization of southeast Asia, specifically Thailand!

Sattha soccer is a ministry created by missionaries from Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF). We exist to glorify God by the urgent evangeliztion of East Asia's millions.It all started about 11 years ago with the idea of using soccer (a sport that most Thai boys and men play daily) as a tool to help local missionaries and church leaders to reach out and strengthen their witness to their communities. It took a while to figure out how this ministry could be most effective and it was decided that bringing in a team of non-Thai men to play against local teams in rural areas where they would never have the opportunity to play against foreigners. The first two week tour was about 9 years ago. The team was made up mostly of missionary kids from a school called Faith Academy. Thus, it was decided that the team name would be the Thai word for Faith..."Sattha".

For the last eight years, God has faithfully provided men to join this team for a two-three week tour each summer. Our long term vision is to help local Thai churches to develop a soccer ministry, team, and possibly a league. This ministry is not intended to play against national teams; but to provide a quality level of soccer against teams that may never have the opportunity to play against a team of foreigners or more importanly hear the gospel.

What we do:
- Yes, we play a lot of soccer! We typically play between 15-20 games in a tour.
- We play games against different universities, high schools, government agencies and detention centers. At each game, the Gospel is presented to the teams as well as the spectators.
- We go into schools and teach conversational English as well as participate in a program where the Gospel is shared.
- This is a great opportunity to build relationships with the Thai people and demonstrate our desire to see them come to know Jesus as their personal Savior.
- Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8
Date: July 1st - 22nd, 2009
Cost: $350 (US) plus the cost of getting to Thailand. This will cover your meals (Thai food), lodging, uniforms and transportation.
Other short-term opportunities from US in Asia for those that don't play soccer
Questions: Contact Alice Chao

Singleness

WHEN: Fri Feb 20th
WHERE: ACC Carey Bldg, upstairs

How we understand singleness may not be how God understands it. While society can place undue burden and stress upon an individual who is not married, God desires all people to live out his purpose on earth, whether we are single or not. Let us discover what God's Word teaches when it comes to being single and a Christ-follower.

This Friday, we have a visiting pastor, Arthur Hsu, who is excited to share with us about Singleness. We'll bring some snacks and drinks!

Shop-Off Results

Thanks to all those who came to the Saturday Shop-Off on Jan 31st, which benefitted our Austin area teachers and also an investment in the next generation. Nita shares with us what happened with all those school supplies...

We had about 60+ people (including the kiddos) come out for the shop off. We spent $900.48, plus lots of book donations. So far, the feedback has been very positive for those who went and weren't a part of the planning. I helped Jenny drop all the supplies off, it took both of our trunks to get it to the school. The teachers were thrilled! Thank you all, for the administrative help, prayers, and most of all, for the compassion! I'm excited to see more events where we can come together as a team, and as a church to distribute the mercy and grace so lavishly bestowed unto us!

Victory Over Temptation

WHEN: Fri Feb 13, 7:30pm
WHERE: Carey Building downstairs

Temptations are a normal part of the Christian life. The good news is that God has provided ways to help us have victory over them. We will look at some of the truth and lies of temptation. Our speakers will share how God has equipped us to have victory over sexual temptation. During this time, we will be addressing some of the good questions submitted earlier, part of which will be in separate men and women sessions.

We have the privilege of hearing from some of our own ACC members, Roger and Ilan Huang, speak on "Victory Over Temptation." They are a married couple who have served at ACC for many years, currently serving on the Prayer Team and recently led the ACC English Concert of Prayer. Roger has taught Discovery Group classes, including one similar to the topic that will be discussed, and Ilan has been a part of the ACC women's ministry, Tapestry. They have four beautiful children--Bethany, Hannah, Joshua, and baby Elizabeth.

Game Night with the Tsuei's

WHEN: Friday, February 6th, 7:30pm ~ when PG and Tina decide to kick us out (hope they are not reading this.)
WHERE: Pastor Gaylord & Tina's house (map)

Are you a big time board gamer? Are you feeling lonely because you have no one to play with? Are you looking for someone to beat down on your favorite board game? Well, bring your competitive but most importantly loving spirit to Tsuei's house this Friday.

All jokes aside, just come and enjoy the fellowship. Feel free to bring your own board games to play!

Praise and Worship + School Supply Shop Off

WHEN: Friday, January 30th, 7:30pm - 9:30pm
WHERE: ACC Carey Building (direction and map)

Have you been challenged by the current financial crisis or worried about the tight job market? Even in tough times, we are really quite blessed in the United States. To help put that into perspective, Pastor Enzo Saavedra from Bolivia will be visiting to share about some of the challenges that young adults in his country face. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, and it is experiencing some troubling political changes. Learn how God is working in Bolivia, and how God can use us (even in a recession) to truly be a blessing to people desperately in need.

Annie's life group will also be leading us in a night of praise and worship!

WHEN: Saturday, January 31th, 2pm
WHERE: ACC John Sung Building (direction and map)

Thanks to Jenny and Shelby for sharing about the tremendous need for manpower and resources at their school. Let's join together as a congregation to help these teachers and students start the new year off right by providing them with their needed school supplies!

We will meet at the John Sung Building at 2:00pm before splitting into groups and heading out to buy items on the teachers' wish lists.(Please note: We'll be taking monetary donations on Saturday to help with the cost of purchasing school supplies, so please come prepared.)

P.S. If you are not able to attend the event but would still like to help, we'll have school supply lists available on Sunday outside of Taylor Hall so that you can donate items instead of time. For more info, contact Edwin Woo at edwingwoo@yahoo.com or Nita Teng at nitayateng@gmail.com.

Capital Area Food Bank

WHEN: Saturday, January 24th, 9:00am- 12:00pm
WHERE: 8201 South Congress, between William Cannon Drive and Slaughter Lane (map)

We will be serving the city of Austin by sorting food down at the Capital Area Food Bank. Please wear closed-toe shoes (dress code requirement). If you would like to carpool down together, meet at ACC by 8:15am in the Carey building parking lot. If you will be driving on your own, meet at the food bank by 8:50am.We will come back north after we finish and have lunch together in Chinatown at Braker. Restaurant is TBD. EVITE to follow

Taste Taiwan... in Texas

WHEN: Sun, Jan 25th, 6:30pm

WHERE: Austin Taiwanese Presbyterian Church (5300 Duval Rd, Austin)

It's a boots 'n boba kinda night!  Free on Sunday, Jan 25th?  Of course you are!  Come taste Taiwan at Austin Taiwanese Presbyterian Church at 6:30pm.  Snacks are provided!

Why is a seemilngly "open" country so resistant to the Good News of Jesus?  What are the real needs of Taiwan? Come out and hear the answers to these and other questions through a fun & interactive time! (Also guaranteed to be challenging and enlightening.)  Speakers include Irene Nicholson & Katherine Tang, who are part of OMF--a ministry that serves throughout East Asia in evangelism and discipleship, church planting, tentmaking, student ministry, English teaching and mobilizing and equipping Asian churches for world missions.

Where did the socks go?

609 pairs were raised during the sock auction in December... Janie dropped off the socks the week after the auction; here's her awesome experience!

since we raised so many socks (hooray! God is so good!) mission possible was able to use the socks for two of their major christmas time events that week. the day i dropped off the socks, they were going to pass out ~200 free sleeping bags to people who received vouchers during a church under the bridge service or received them from people who went to the service. 3 groups of about 20 volunteers from a few local churches came in shifts to help pass out the bags + our socks! there was also a large donation of beanies, so mission possible reps were really excited to be able to offer people from the streets warm sleeping bags and accessories this christmas. apparently, a lot of the people who attended church under the bridge gave vouchers to their friends, who rode the buses with them to receive their bags.the rest of the socks were saved for a special christmas eve celebration/bible study that they held that week. usually, the center invites people on the streets to attend a bible study on tuesday and sleep at the center for the night, but they decided to move that week to christmas eve so that people would have somewhere to spend christmas morning at. they were expecting a little over 300 people to show up for the bible study/christmas night stay, so it turned out we raised the PERFECT amount of socks for their christmas activities that week! pretty exciting!

it was cool because i got to talk to some of the volunteers (including people who used to live on the streets) while waiting for the socks to be...whatever it was they needed done to them...and got to hear some really interesting stories. and it was really encouraging to see so many people coming during their holiday break to help pass out sleeping bags to people. the person coordinating the even was saying how this was a huge change from having only 2-3 people organizing this event last year.

CTI Concert

Wed, Jan 14
Dinner: 6pm @ Rudy's (183 & Duval)
Concert: 7:30pm @ ACC John Sung

CTI (Carpenter's Tools International), a music ministry that sends teams to locations around the world to work with established ministries, will be in Austin to hold a concert for us this Wednesday!  Stanley Tso, our worship intern last year, is part of the team that sings, does dramas with a clear gospel message, and give testimonies.  One aspect of their vision is to share the hope of Christ with those who don't know him.  We highly encourage you to invite your friends to this special event!

Since the team will only be here for one day, what better way to introduce them to Texas than with good ol' Rudy's? Please join us for dinner at Rudy's (183 and Duval) before the concert at 6pm.

Be the One to Save a Life

Jodie is a loving 34-year old mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend. She's married to Alex, and together, they raise their 2 children--Tyler (5) and Elizabeth (1). She enjoys, baking, singingin, learning to play the guitar, and being with family and friends. Jodie is an active member of her local church.

In Nov 2008, Jodie's life was changed when she was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia (SAA). Her body can no longer produce any red or white blood cells or platelets necessary to clot her blood, provide oxygen to her body, or fight common infections. A marrow/stem cell transplant is needed for her recover completely.

You can help. Help save the life of Jodie, or someone like her, who is searching for a donor. Register to be a potential marrow/stem cell donor by filling out a form and swabbing your cheek. If you are selected as a potential match for a patient, additional testing will be asked of you. Doctors will plan to collect stem cells either from your marrow OR will plan to do a procedure to collect stem cells from your circulating blood.

There is a severe shortage of people from diverse backgrounds--including Asian and Pacific Islanders. Jodie is of Taiwanese descent and will most likely find a donor of Asian descent. YOU could be a match for her or someone else like her. There is normally a $52 cost for donor tissue typing, but because of the critical need for more ethnic minorities, this cost is completely covered by a grant for everyone of Asian/Pacific Islander descent.

ACC is having a bone marrow testing drive this Sunday at ACC from 11am to 1pm. Please stay after the English service to register and help save a life.