by Lito Roldan
GSCC formally bade goodbye to LifeGate Church Nov.17, and moved in to its own church building at 467 Sinclair Frontage Road, Milpitas, CA shortly after holding at the leased gathering hall its final worship service observing Thanksgiving Sunday Nov. 20.
The Sunday earlier, before the worship service concluded, Pastor Oyette Fernando and the Board of Elders invited Lifegate Pastor Scott to pray for GSCC and awarded Lifegate a certificate of appreciation which read: “in profound gratitude for graciously and patiently sharing with GSCC its temple of worship during its nascent years; this act of faith has provided this fledgling church a welcome sanctuary where, in the past six years, it has experienced growth in number and spiritual maturity, evolved its vision and mission and established its identity as a member of the family of God and of the family of Christian ministries in the Bay Area.”
Pastor Scott congratulated GSCC on the exciting new season on its journey to continue God’s work on earth and thanked the congregation for the friendship and cooperation that marked the long standing relationship between the two ministries. He said that Lifegate and GSCC have the same DNA and that in acquiring its own place of worship, God has given GSCC something special. As he administered the final blessing, Pastor Scott encouraged GSCC members to continue demonstrating the incredible life- changing love of Jesus in their encounter with others in their daily lives.
Meanwhile, GSCC celebrated Thanksgiving Sunday as its final worship service at the shared gathering hall with its ”everybody’s birthday” tradition of congregants offering their thanksgiving gifts to the Lord. As celebrants approached the altar to drop their thanksgiving offerings in baskets bearing the respective months of their birth, special numbers were rendered by Pam Serrano-Fernando, the 18 Thoughts, J-YA/J-Youth Band and GSCC Choir.
In his message titled “The Amazing Grace: God’s Edition,” Pastor Jun Caruz said the secret to thanksgiving is knowing the grace of God. “When we hear about God’s amazing grace, it should cause us to open our lips and begin to thank God. We are to continually remind ourselves of God’s grace in our life so that we can continually thank him for what he has done for us,” he said. He encouraged the congregation to build memorials where had God spoken to them.
Pastor Oyette used the occasion to award certificates in appreciation for the church leaders who, for “serving Jesus out of love,” made possible the speedy and smooth renovation of the new building. The leaders who “grabbed the bull by the horn” he said, ran Part I of the renovation to near completion according to schedule. Commended for the job were: Bro. Ed Purificacion, PJ Ranchez, Sis. Joy Roque, Sis. Alice Cantos, Bro. Hermie Cantos, Pastor Jun Caruz, Bro. Efren Bendanillo, Sis. Joyce Fernando, and Edick Fernando.
The thanksgiving service culminated in a fellowship with GSCC members and their visitors sharing an abundant pot luck lunch. Soon after, members, excited at the prospect of occupying the boat, boxed in fixtures, dismantled electronic equipment, and moved out furniture, musical instruments and property the church has accumulated in the past six years. Within hours church property was hauled clean to the new facility and the worship hall was gradually set up preparatory to GSCC’s holding of its first Sunday service in its own temple of worship on Nov. 27. The least contract with Life Gate expired at the end of month and a new chapter in GSCC’s exciting journey has began.
