We will join together again
in-person again & on Zoom
this Sunday!!
21st November 2021
at 10 am.
Simultaneously In-Person and
on Zoom
at Bangkok Christian College (BCC)
In-person worship at BCC
Our regular meeting place, Bangkok Christian College in Sathon Nua Road (next to Surasak BTS station) has just reopened which enables us to meet and worship in-person again for the first time in 7 months.
Please read our attendance rules set out below
For those not able to attend worship in person, ICB will also live relay our service
via Zoom (see details below)
November’s Outreach Partner
is the Thai Tai Church
also known as the
Thai Faith and Music Foundation To find out more and how you can help, please go to our Outreach section towards the end of this newsletter
Ten Attendance Procedures at ICB services
For your own safety and the safety of all others.
1. ICB and BCC expects that all attending will have already been vaccinated against Covid19. Please stay at home if you develop any flu-like symptoms
2. Everyone must wear a mask at all times (unless while drinking water). Wearing 2 masks is encouraged for extra safety. Please keep masks on while singing.
3. All attending are asked to sign the entrance register with names and contact details
4. On entering the sanctuary, please allow us to check your body temperature.
5. Seating will be arranged 1.5 metres apart. Parents and their children may be allowed to sit closer to each other but please understand if you are asked to sit differently.
6. Offerings will be collected in a bag. Please wait for usher to pass this around and do not pass it on to others.
7. In offering greetings and the peace to one another, please do not touch others in any way. Instead, you may wave or “wai” to everyone.
8. We regret that we cannot offer any refreshments other than plain water in plastic packs or bottles. No food will be provided.
9. If the sanctuary becomes full, ICB may regretfully need to prohibit more persons from entering.
10. During the current period, the ICB choir will not be performing. Other usual service activities may also be curtailed.
Most people will be familiar with these procedures which are both expected and well known. We thank you for strictly conforming to them all as they are fundamental for safety and enable us to to meet and Praise God together in person once more.
On-line Relay
If you are unable to attend in person or prefer to stay at home, you may still Join us on ZOOM!
(computer, tablet or smartphone)
Wherever you are in the world, you are welcome to join us online using the Zoom application in the same way as we have been doing during the lockdown period
About ICB worship on Zoom:
Please log-in on time and allow a minute or two to connect.
You will be “muted” upon entering the zoom room.
Please stay muted during the service.
Please be patient as we try to overcome any glitches with a new technical set-up at BCC.
This Sunday’s Sermon
is delivered live on Zoom by our minister, Revd. Chee Keong Yong
Revd. Chee’s sermon theme is entitled: “Christ The King”
Our Scripture Readings are: Prophecy: Revelations 1:5-8* Gospel: John 18:33-37*(*click for online Bible)
Pastor Chee’s brief & notes:
What are the events that currently dominate the news media?
Conflicts in various parts of the world with the names of the different parties and individuals involved.
Climactic change wreaking havoc on our environment and livelihood.
Sports and its multi-million dollar sponsorship.
Entertainment provides thrills of all sorts that take away our blues.
Do we even care that, this Sunday, we commemorate Christ the King Sunday? I will not be surprised if people ask who this is and which country he/she comes from! So as we return to in-person services from different parts of the world, we may perhaps come with different emotions after a long drawn-out lockdown.
We may have survived the lockdown but many have lost so much – closure of business, being made redundant, and not to mention those who are infected and others who have gone on. Do we have what it takes to worship Christ the King today?
How long has the “absentee” king been out of service for which most have forgotten what role he still plays in our world today? Would it be not easier to celebrate what human achievements there are and get on with life? After all, humans are now making great advances into space and beyond in the hope that a home away from the earth can be established.
I would like to suggest to you that given all the chaos that is in our world today, we need to cling to the rightful kingship of Christ the King. It does matter for people all over the world to acknowledge anew what it means to live under the realm of Christ. We are not the ones to nominate someone for the position of King of Kings.
Christ assumes the position as it is rightfully his. He invites us and includes us under his realm. We do not define what this kingdom should look like and who belongs to it. This king, as seen in Mark’s Gospel, lifts up the downtrodden and the weary. He is in the position for the sake of his subjects. This is not a showcase king put on a pedestal.
Give us the real King – the one from the Gospels. The church of Jesus Christ has far too long been giving a different Jesus as King. No wonder our recognition of Jesus as King is so impaired. To see the real Jesus, we need the church to walk the talk of her Lord and King.
Join us this Sunday as we are having a hybrid service – an in-person service at BCC and on Zoom. As we are trying this out the first time, please forgive us for any glitches as we are humans after all. We hope to improve.
Blessings
Chee
Please scroll down below for notices about Sunday school in November, our weekly on-line prayer meeting on Thursday evenings, as well as this month’s Outreach Partner: Thai Tai Church.
We are also announcing our Tree Angel Appeal; this year it’s for Rahab Ministries who offer a new future and hope for former sex workers in the Patpong area.
Stir Up Sunday
The last Sunday of the Church’s year (next before Advent Sunday) is often called ‘Christ The King Sunday’. But in Britain and Ireland it is also known as ‘Stir Up Sunday’, when families join together to stir (up) the Christmas pudding – a traditional dish of old containing many dried fruits.
Few agree which came first, but the prayer for the day in the Church of England (Anglican) Book of Common Prayer begins “Stir Up…, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people… that they plenteously bring forth the fruit of good works”, which is very much the message that we need to honour Christ the King!
ICB is a fully self-supported congregation.
We gladly receive your donations. KBank a/c 003-1-09408-9
More information on the ICB Website
Thank you!
Announcements from our Minister
In-person services are resuming as Bangkok Christian College reopens…….We are delighted that Sunday morning in-person worship services can resume earlier than expected.Please keep a lookout on email, ICB website, Facebook or Line (morning service group) for further announcements about in-person and Zoom arrangements. We will continue to live-stream services on Zoom….
even now when we can meet in-person again.
Please pray and bear with us as we put the technical system into place for relaying our services. We are not professionals and we could expect some initial glitches!
Weekly Prayer Meeting –
Thursdays from 7:00 to 7:30pm (pls join before 7:05)
This is a wonderful opportunity to pause for a few moments, however busy we are, and join together to reflect and pray forour Church, Bangkok, the World and for ourselves. You will feel better for it – and so will God!
ICB Church Council
will meet this Sunday (21 November). If you have any matters you would like the Council to discuss concerning any aspect of our Church, you are welcome to contact Council Chair, Margaret McMillion and/or our Minister, Pastor Chee.
This will probably be the last meeting of the present Council. At the ICB Annual General Meeting (AGM) in January, ICB members present will elect a new Council including the Chairs of all ICB’s standing committees. Nominations for those positions will be sought soon. Please consider prayerfully if you would be interested to take on such a responsibility during 2022. More details will follow in subsequent weeks.
Outreach Tree Angels 2021
This week, we are starting our annual collection to support one of our Outreach Partners during the season of Advent and Christmas. This year, we focus on Rahab Ministries.
The Tree Angels are made by former bar workers who, thanks to Rahab with God’s grace, now earn their income producing and selling crochet products, soft toys and other similar items locally and overseas.
These Tree Angels are being handmade exclusively for ICB.
Thank you for your support in donations. Every time you look at the angel on your Christmas tree you will know you have taken a small but important step in fulfilling the work of Jesus Christ!
CHRISTIAN OUTREACH The International Church of Bangkok
partners with Christian ministries throughout Thailand to advance the work of Jesus.
5% of ICB’s yearly total income goes directly to the outreach partners. Members and friends are also encouraged to give directly.
Bank transfers are easy to do and very welcome Please Donate NOW when it’s Most Needed!! KasikornBank (KBank): 003-1-09408-9
Transfer your donation to the ICB Bank account above and please email your transfer confirmation with the message:
“For Outreach: month/year (or name of O/R partner)” office@icbangkok.org
ICB’s Outreach Partner
for November 2021
Thai Tai Church in Bangkok and
Maha Sarakham (in NE Thailand)
A church serving all regardless of background
The Story behind the Thai Tai Church
After 4 years of Christian mission work in low-income neighborhoods of central Bangkok’s Huai Khwang District (เขตห้วยขวาง), Pastor Revd. Ruth and Director Revd. Inchai Srisuwan soon discovered the spiritual needs of the community had “no soil to grow in”. Churches in the area did not welcome slum dwellers.
As the children and young people had no church to call “home”, they founded the Thai Faith and Music Foundation in 1998, setting up the Thai Tai Church the following year to provide open worship space for all regardless of background. The words Thai (ไทย) & Tai (ไท) mean freedom and independence – “free from slavery and sin”.
Church Planting in Isaan (NE region)
In 2015, Revd. Ruth and Revd. Inchai moved to become full time ministers in Huai Ang in Maha Sarakham Province, where their their son, Pastor Atiraat, had before introduced music and sport activities to reach local villagers. This small church sanctuary, built using Korean missionary funds, was dedicated in March of the same year.
Bangkok Ministry Continues to Expand
Pastor Atiraat and his family moved back to continue his parents’ Thai Tai Church ministry in Bangkok at a new location in Ramkhamhaeng Soi 190. This low-income community houses 2000 families, giving ample opportunity to mingle with locals and spread the Good News.
“What an opportunity to attract passers-by!”
Bible study classes for children are conducted on the sidewalk where street vendors sell their wares. This way, more people are interested to hear the Good News.
ICB’s funding contributes to school scholarships for the youth both in the Capital and Isaan. The students are always very grateful for the continuing partnership with ICB.
Revd. Dr Ruth Srisuwan asks us to pray:
For God to take away Covid 19 from us so we can gather together again in worship. Also, that we will soon be able to resume teaching the children.
For all our Thai Tai Church family: Ruth, Inchai and Pastor Atiraat, his family and our church members who also contracted Covid 19 of whom 9 are still in recuperation. Although we still worship on line, may God strengthen us soon to meet in person.
For ICB Church, may God’s blessing be on all ICB church members to remain far from Covid 19.
We hope Revd. Dr Ruth Srisuwan will join us next Sunday, 28th November, to tell us more about the work of the Thai Tai Church.
If you missed any of the recent sermons or would like to hear one or more again, recordings are available from Rev. Chee himself. Please let him know which Sunday(s) you are interested in and he will send you the link.
Send an email to: minister@icbangkok.org
International Church of Bangkok (ICB)
Advancing the Work of Jesus!
ICB is an English language congregation, composed of native and non-native speakers. We are committed to welcoming people of all backgrounds to Christian worship for a diverse, inclusive and unifying faith experience.
We seek to advance the work of Jesus Christ by promoting and supporting spiritual growth, community and service to others.
Scan these QR Codes to
find out more about
International Church of Bangkok
This upper link will guide you to our
ICB Website
This lower link will guide you to our
ICB Facebook page
For personal inquiries, more information and
church membership, please email
Rev. Chee Keong Yong: minister@icbangkok.org
