Pastor’s corner
January Message
During our January message series, we are looking at four simple truths that shape our faith: Knowing God, Finding Freedom, Discovering Purpose, and Making a Difference. These themes remind us that God places us on a lifelong pathway of growth in Christ.
Knowing God begins with relationship, not religion. God invites us to know Him personally and to trust His heart. “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8).
Finding Freedom is a release from guilt, fear, and the weight of the past. This is possible because of the cross. In Jesus, we are offered forgiveness and peace. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). True freedom comes from resting in God’s grace.
Discovering Your Purpose means remembering that our lives matter deeply to God. Purpose is not about age or ability, but about faithfulness. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). Every prayer, word of encouragement, and act of love has the potential to be ordained by God.
Making a Difference often happens in small, unseen ways. God uses simple acts done with love to bless others. “Let us not grow weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
As we move forward in 2026, may we continue walking closely with God, trusting that He is working in us and through us each day.
Pastor Chris
A Christmas Message: The Word Became Flesh
Every December, we return to a truth so familiar we risk overlooking its depth: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14).
This is the mystery of Christmas—God becoming human. The infinite becomes an infant; the Creator enters creation; and the Holy One chooses humility so that we might finally find rest and peace in Him.
My first message here at CCC after being called as your pastor was on the “Presence of God.” I believe this remains the most powerful dynamic that truly changes us. In Luke 1:35 the angel tells Mary, “The power (dýnamis) of the Most High will overshadow you.” Here dýnamis describes God’s creative, life-giving power—the same power that formed the universe, now planted as a Seed within a young woman in Nazareth.
And as I grow older, I’m learning this not as a theory but as a daily practice—drawing strength from an ever-present and powerful God who comes close, identifies with my weakness, and gives me the grace I need to carry on for Him.
Isaiah 9:6 (another popular Christmas passage) gives Him names that meet us right where we’re at: Wonderful Counselor for our confusion, Mighty God for our weakness, Everlasting Father for our longing, Prince of Peace for our chaos.
So this Christmas, pause and let the presence of Jesus steady your soul. His light has not dimmed, His grace will break through your darkness, and Emmanuel—God with us—is still the hope that sustains all our hearts.
Merry Christmas,
Chris and Jenny Milbrath
December 2025
An introductory letter from Pastor Chris to the church family
Dear CCC Family,
It’s a joy and an honor to step into this new chapter with you as your lead pastor. From the first time I visited CCC, I could sense a love for God and a genuine heart for people. Jesus Himself said this sums up the entirety of Scripture: Love God and love people. I look forward to continuing in that spirit and seeing what God will do in our midst.
As we begin this journey, my prayer is that CCC will remain a place where people encounter Christ, find community, and are equipped to serve both here and around the world. Let’s walk into this next season expectant for what God will accomplish through His Spirit and His people.
I can’t wait to meet you, hear your stories, and discover how we can grow together in Christ.
With gratitude and anticipation,
Pastor Chris and Jenny Milbrath
November 17, 2025
pastor mark’s Thanksgiving Message to the CCC Family
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6).
I like to tell people (and myself) ‘every day is a gift from God.’ It is, isn’t it? We never know if this day will be our last on this Earth. One of the good things about the Thanksgiving holiday is that we are “forced” to stop our busy, self-centered lives and count our blessings. It is so easy to take our blessings for granted!
For instance, you probably know the average American lives between 70 and 80 years. But did you know that if you get to 80, your heart has beat 3 billion times. And you needed every single one of those beats! If someone only lives to 70, we feel bad because that heart only beat 2.6 billion times- still, that’s a lot!
Then, consider that the average person takes 23,000 breaths a day. We don’t think much about that unless we’re sick- or tired from running upstairs- and we struggle a bit to ‘catch our breath.’
Pumping blood from your heart around your body is a complicated thing. So is the process of inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide - it’s a complex and precise task that God designed in our respiratory system. It’s an ‘automatic system,’ so we don’t think about it, but we still enjoy the benefits of our heart and lungs working each day, repeating thousands of times. When I had a triple bypass in 2015, I was thanking God for the amazing symmetry of the body - and I was very grateful that mine was still working!
Do you remember the last time something hit you so powerfully, it ‘took your breath away?’ Or the last time you felt your heart leap with joy? I don’t mean to get all ‘scientific’ in the Thanksgiving Season, but sometimes it is good for us to remember that our mighty God is the one who holds our days and extends them by His mercy, His power and His will. Let us use whatever breath we have left to praise the Lord and give Him thanks for our many blessings! Let’s use each beat of our heart to ‘love the Lord with ALL our heart,’ and apply that gratitude to advancing His Kingdom in this holiday season.
In a time when it seems like almost everyone is complaining about almost everything, let’s remember that every day is a gift from God! So from the ‘bottom of my heart!’ I say, ‘Happy Thanksgiving to you!’ And I want to also say how much Carol and I have enjoyed the blessing of service and fellowship at CCC over this past 19 months.
“Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart… Great are the works of the Lord… He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever. He has shown His people the power of His works... He sent redemption to His people; Holy and awesome is His name! …His praise endures forever!” (from Psalm 111).
With thanks and love,
Pastor Mark and Carol
Thanksgiving 2025
Autumn: a time to reflect with gratitude
I recently read an article describing the top 5 regrets people have when they die. A former Hospice caseworker was interviewed, saying, “many people don't realize their biggest regrets until the end of their life.” These terminal patients, in their final days on this Earth, tended to reflect on things they wish they'd done differently. They wished they'd shown more love, forgiveness and appreciation. The big lesson for the interviewer was “the deathbed guilt and remorse people expressed.” Her article detailed the 5 phrases that she heard most frequently:
-I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not to other people’s expectations.
-I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
-I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
-I wish I'd had stayed more in touch with my friends.
-I wish I had let myself be happier.
The first regret is the one she heard most often. -I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not to other people’s expectations… Most of these people near death felt they hadn't reached for even half of their dreams. They had to die knowing it as their own fault, no one else's. They had let their fear of someone else’s expectations hold them back. They looked back, realizing that they didn’t travel as much as they’d hoped to, or they missed out on an opportunity because they felt they had to stay close to family, or they put someone else’s goals ahead of their own.
Vacation days in the workplace point to the same thing. A recent Harris poll tell us that 80% of vacation days are never taken before they expire!, as people push themselves at work. Too much work drains mental health.
Bill Gates gave a commencement speech once and said, “When I was your age I didn't believe in vacations or weekends. I didn't believe that my team should have those either. Then I became a dad. All that changed. Don't wait as long as I did to learn this lesson,” he said to the graduates. “Take time to nurture your relationships, celebrate your successes, and recover from your losses. Take a break! Take it easy on people around you also.” Most people don't come to realize that happiness is a choice, until it's too late. In the Bible, the book of James warns us about the shortness of life:
…you do not know the least thing about what may happen in your life tomorrow. What is secure in your life? You are merely a vapor- like a puff of smoke or a wisp of steam… that is visible for a little while and then vanishes into thin air. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and we will do this or that.” James 4:14-15 amplified
This is Fall season. Harvest time. A time to reflect on what you are grateful for. Things like,
- a forgiving and loving God who helps you face life and has a forever Home waiting for you;
-people you love and people who love you;
-the measure of health you enjoy
-and the successes and victories of 2025.
Savor these things. Celebrate these things! Life is short. Live it with gratitude- and tell the people you love how much they mean to you. Oh- and take that trip!
Pastor Mark
October 2025
Is America happy? Are you?
You probably saw the ‘happiest country’ statistics that came out a few months ago. Finland #1. Denmark #2. Denmark is even the home of “The Happiness Museum.” USA is #24 - it’s lowest ranking ever, behind Israel and Ireland - even Iceland is happier than us. Not surprisingly, Afghanistan, with all its problems, is the least happy country in the world.
We’re all in an endless search for happiness, aren’t we? When it comes down to it, isn’t that what most people really want? However, it’s common for people to think they’re ‘not quite happy enough.’ Most of us reason, ‘when I get this, when I do that, when I’ve been there… then I’ll be happy!’ Sometimes that is true. When we reach targeted goals, psychologists call that, ‘partial, temporary happiness’. But reaching goals rarely carries over for a lifetime of sustained, deep, lasting satisfaction.
The famous writer Augustine’s early life was a quest for happiness. He finally found it in a deep relationship with God. C. S. Lewis found his deepest joy when he realized, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” That led him to explore the God of all ages (and the true joy that comes to us through His Son, Jesus Christ).
The Bible points us toward the happiness we all want. It explains that emptiness in life comes from being separated from the God who made us and loves us. And the truest road to a life of lasting joy awakens when that connection with God through Jesus Christ. Does that mean His followers are happy, happy, happy all the time? Far from it. There is no magic pill or powder to avoid the messy pain and suffering we all stumble over on life’s bumpy path. But Christians believe that God is with them in the dark times, and that He is big enough to even be at work bringing something good out of the pain at the other end.
Oddly enough, those ‘happy stats’ also tell us that younger people are much less happy than the elderly. It concludes that the 40’s are the least happy years, and the 70’s are the happiest, generally speaking. Doesn’t that seem odd? All those devices, all that energy of youth, all that promising future, but less happy. A visit to the Happiness Museum might make them feel better for a bit, huh? But the real answer isn’t there, either. The God who gives all of us life, and loves us, challenges us to open up our lives to Him: “I have loved you with an everlasting love…” Jeremiah 31:1 Finding that love, forgiveness and peace are the surest ways to real happiness - no matter what your home country ranking is!
If you don’t have a church home, check us out at Chinese Community Church, 10:30 am every Sunday. Come as you are and bring the family- we have classes for kids. Forget Disneyland- a healthy church, God’s Family- that’s the happiest place on Earth!
Pastor Mark
September 2025