Videos for 2-24-12

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - "Renew Our Trust" Genesis 15: 1-8, Pastor Emily

English Ministry News and Notes 2-24-13

*The Season of Lent Has Begun! During this special 40 day season, we are invited to intentionally (re)turn to God. We do so through self-examination and taking on practices that draw us back to the heart of God. As a way to observe Lent, you are invited to participate in weekly S.O.U.P (Sundays of Uniting Prayer.) We will gather each Sunday after worship in the Annex (listen for the gong!) for a delicious bowl of hot soup, time for contemplation and praying. Great thanks to Becky & Al, Laura & Steve for preparing the soup today.

*Youth Gathering...Today!  After SOUP in the Gather Room.

*Congregational Vitality Workshop, Saturday, Mar. 2nd @ Lake Park UMC. There’s still room for your participation!  Please connect with Pastor Emily.

*LMUMC Food Pantry Workday, Saturday, Mar. 9th, from 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

*Prayer Invitations:

• Pui Fong, our Minister of Spiritual Growth & Formation, presented her comprehensive exam proposal this past Wednesday Feb. 20th, and passed! Praise God!
• Silver Omakenyi informs us that YCVM will hold two Board Meetings in the upcoming weeks: on Sunday, Mar. 3rd, and again on Sunday, Mar. 10th. Let us hold them and the ministry in prayer.
• Please pray for all those who are considering and discerning baptism, confirmation, and membership here at CCUMC.

*Are You Interested in Baptism, Confirmation, or Membership here at CCUMC?  Please connect with Pastor Emily consider your journey as an active, intentional disciple.

*Seeking: Financial Secretary  - Have you noticed that it’s taken us extra long to get you your annual acknowledgment letter?  It’s because we need a Financial Secretary!  We give great thanks for the many years of service that Laura Chan devoted to this role.  She ended her time in December.  We are in great need of someone to step up and say, “Yes!”  Please connect with Pastor Emily or Adrienne, Finance Chair for more information about this role.

The Way of Discernment

The poem below by the much appreciated UMC pastor, Rev. Steve Garnass-Holmes, seems perfect for this 2nd week in Lent as we continue along the Way of Discernment.  Last week, we were invited to broaden our focus, to look around, and to intentionally become aware of God’s presence and movement around us.  This week, we consider the place of trust in discernment.

The Beckoning Will Be Your Home,"I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess."  —Genesis 15.7

Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.    —Philippians 3.20-21

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?     —Psalm 27

The promise seldom comes as a voice—
more like a nudge, a beckoning from nowhere
that tips you off balance
and something in you keeps walking,
something in the part of you
that is beyond you.

The beckoning itself will be your home,
a belonging from elsewhere
that will lead you through strange places,
dry places where you are the only one,
where others refuse to understand,
and the dark, confusing alleys of the unknown,
but belonging still,

a home from which you can't be removed,
that moves with you
like the moon through the trees,
a presence that does not send you
but accompanies you,
walking the most frightening streets with you,
holding you close under the sheets of your despair,
knowing what you are too weary to see,
the body of your humiliation
radiant with glory,
by nothing but love.

Walk on, and do not be afraid.

Videos for 2-17-13

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - "First Things First" Deuteronomy 26: 1-11, Pastor Emily

Sharing God's Extravagant Generosity

In November 2012, the Board of Administration and Trustees (BOAT) affirmed its previous decision to earmark 75% of any profit from the Homework Club Ministry’s first year to missions. At the time the decision was first recommended and voted on, BOAT did not have any clear sense how much money this represented. When Adrienne, our Finance Chair, presented the number to us in September, we were astounded. The amount for missions came to $36,825! As you can imagine, there were some second thoughts about disbursing all these funds. After much conversation, discernment and prayer, BOAT affirmed that this was an unexpected blessing and that we wanted to pass it on. We wanted to practice extravagant generosity!


BOAT designated the English Ministry’s Mission Ministry Team to come up with a recommendation about how best to disburse these funds. The whole congregation was invited to provide input. The recommendation was then brought back to BOAT for final approval.


BOAT is thrilled and grateful to share the first recipients of CCUMC Mission Grants:

Local & National Mission Grants:
• Asian Community Mental Health Services, Oakland: $10,000.
• Gum Moon Women’s Residence, San Francisco: $5,000
• Alameda County Community Food Bank: $2,500
• Family Bridges, Oakland: $1,410
• Asian Health Services, Oakland: $1,410
• City Team, Oakland: $1,410
• Lincoln School Science Camp Fund, Oakland: $1,410
• United Methodist Committee on Relief Disaster Response Advance: $1,410

Global Mission Grants (These grants were divided with half going to missions in Asia and mission in other areas of the world.)
Missions in Asia: (approximately $1022 going to each).
• UMC Missionary to Cambodia, Rev, Joseph Chan
• UMC Missionary to the Philippines, Rev. Jae Choi
• UMC Missionary to the Philippines, Rev. Grace Choi
• UMC Missionary to Cambodia, Marilyn Chan (#3020789)
• Community Health and Agricultural Development (CHAD) in Cambodia (Advance Special: #14916A)
• Cal/Nev UMC Annual Conference Philippines Solidarity Task Force

Mission in other areas of the world: (approximately $1535 going to each)
• UMC Mission Liaison to Palestine/Israel, Janet Lahr Lewis ( #14183Z)
• Youth & Child Visionary Ministry: outreach ministry
• UMCOR - international disaster: Haiti (#418325)
• UMC International Community Development Site: Wadi Foukin, Palestine

We praise God for the opportunity to be generous and to practice extravagant generosity! We look forward to how God will continue to use us to transform the world! Please hold these missions in prayer throughout this coming year.

English Ministry News and Notes 2-17-13

*The Season of Lent Has Begun! During this special 40 day season, we are invited to intentionally (re)turn to God. We do so through self-examination and taking on practices that draw us back to the heart of God. As a way to observe Lent, you are invited to participate in weekly S.O.U.P (Sundays of Uniting Prayer.) We will gather each Sunday after worship in the Annex (listen for the gong!) for a delicious bowl of hot soup, time for contemplation and praying.

 

*Prayer Invitations:

• Pui Fong, our Minister of Spiritual Growth & Formation, will be presenting her comprehensive exam proposal this Wednesday Feb. 20th. Please hold her in prayer.
• We just got an email from Silver Omakenyi that two sponsored children: Sheilaand Sarah are both ill and bed ridden. Let us surround them in God’s care.

 

*Please Note: The church office will be closed on Monday, Feb. 18th, in observance of President’s Day. Also, Meina Ko, Minister of Discipleship will be on vacation during the coming week. She will return to the office on Tuesday, Feb. 26th.

 

*Adventure in Faith Monthly Chapel - We will hold our monthly chapel time with 49 children on Wednesday, Feb. 27th. We will gather at 2:30 p.m. for run through and prep. You are invited to pitch in and/or pray for this ministry.

 

*Congregational Vitality Workshop, Mar. 2nd - There's still room for you to be a part of this exciting day. Thus far, we have 8 people attending! The workshop will be held at Lake Park UMC, from 9:30 - 4:30 p.m. (The day is broken into 2 sessions. If you are able only to make one, you are still welcome.)

 

*Seeking: Financial Secretary - We give great thanks for the many years of service that Laura Chan devoted to this role. She ended her time in December. We are in great need of someone to step up and say, “Yes!” Please connect with Pastor Emily or Adrienne, Finance Chair for more information about this role.

The Way of Discernment

Our theme during the season of Lent is the spiritual practice of discernment. The following is an excerpt from the book: Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment.

A compass, no matter what direction we turn, always points us to the north pole—a destination most of us will never teach in this lifetime. In that way, a compass makes a good metaphor for our spiritual lives and the work of discerning God’s will for us.

Many times I wish God spoke as clearly and as obviously as MapQuest or Google Maps or a GPS. But God doesn’t. Maybe that’s because we don’t navigate the life of faith via anything remotely resembling a GPS. Instead the divine compass points us to our spiritual true north—the mind and love of God. Our sacred compass operates in our souls and calls us to life with God—life abundant and adventurous, even when we wish living was less of an adventure. The sacred compass leads us on a life of pilgrimage—a hike to wholeness and holiness.

In pointing us always to God, the compass helps us with our soul’s deepest question, What am I supposed to do with my life? The question of how to live our lives especially presses on those of us who sense we are not merely humans trying to be spiritual, but are deeply spiritual beings endeavoring to live as fully human.

Everyday begins with that “what” questions. We wake up each morning with a cavalcade of choices before us—beginning with whether or not to get up. Things get more complicated from there. The very act of making a choice—any choice– shows us that our lives are more than our own. We belong to ourselves, but we also belong to others—our family, our neighbors, our pets, our coworkers. Most of all, we belong to God.

Discovering spiritual direction is simple—but in an amazingly countercultural and counterintuitive way. It is about heeding the Holy Spirit. Learning to follow the divine compass means stopping and paying attention instead of looking for a magical map with the shortest route highlighted in yellow. Learning what God wants for us means letting the Holy Spirit guide us in to the deep places of our souls. We learn to look for God in those deep places and in all the places our lives take us.

When we travel through life attentive to the sacred compass, we find that God’s direction changes us. We discover that spiritual discernment is about sensing the presence and call of God, and not just about making decisions. The process of following the sacred compass awakens us to a life of constant renewal of our hearts, minds, wills, and souls.

This renewal moves us deep into personal transformation. And as we change, we also change the lives of the people around us, and ultimately, the world. Such transformation is not accomplished by following a pre-published route mapped out in The God’s Will Guidebook. Rather, true transformation happens when we let the map (and any idea of a map) flutter from our tight grasp and instead begin to use the sacred compass that God provides—the compass of the Holy Spirit’s work within us.

Videos for 2-10-13

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - "Grace, Generosity & Restorative Justice" Luke 15: 11-24,Sandra Sanders-West

English Ministry News and Notes 2-8-13

*We Welcome Sandra Sanders-West!  We are thrilled to welcome Sandra, a 3rd year student at the Pacific School of Religion to be with us today.

*Thank YOU!  Great thanks for the warm hospitality and participation you shared while the Rev. Odi, YCVM Ambassador, was here with us.  Let us continue to share with each other, talk together, and listen for how God is leading us in relationship to YCVM.  If you have any feedback, reflections, or questions, please connect with any member of the Mission Ministry Team.

*Happy New Year!   We celebrate the lunar new year with a fellowship potluck meal after worship.  Please help to transform this worship space into meal space following worship.  All are invited!

*Ash Wednesday Worship - please mark the beginning of Lent together on Wed., Feb. 13th at 7:00 p.m.  This will be a special service in which we are marked with ashes.

*Seeking: Financial Secretary  - We give great thanks for the many years of service that Laura Chan devoted to this role.  She ended her time in December.  We are in great need of someone to step up and say, “Yes!”  Please connect with Pastor Emily or Adrienne, Finance Chair.

*Congregational Vitality Workshop for YOU - We all love the church and want it to grow...but how? What questions do we need to ask?  How might we need to transform in order for growth to happen? Please mark your calendars now to participate in a special workshop lead by our Conference Superintendent of Congregational Vitality, Rev. Bener Agtarap, Saturday, Mar. 2nd, 9:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. right here in our neighborhood!  You are invited to sign up with Pastor Emily or any of our EMC leaders (Becky, Steve, Aeri, Ben, Charlie) today!

The Way of Discernment

On Wednesday, Feb. 13th, we begin a whole new spiritual season: Lent.  For those of you who are new to Lent and what it’s all about (or those who just need a quick review), here’s a brief, simplified version:

Lent is a 40 day period leading up to Easter Sunday.  The 40 days begin on Ash Wednesday and excludes all Sundays (because Sundays are for celebrating the Risen Christ!).  In the ancient church, this period was an intense time of spiritual preparation for those getting baptized on Easter.  They fasted and prayed, and they read and studied scriptures.  It was also a time in which those who had been cut off (or out) of the Christian community undertook acts of repentance and prepared to re-enter the community. Eventually, rather than having only certain people take part in the 40 days, the whole church was encouraged to do so.  And so here we are!  As you might have noticed, the 40 days is also significant for the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness following his baptism, as well as the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert before entering the Promised Land.  To sum it all up, Lent is a season in which we open our hearts and seek – intentionally and through discipline - to return and re-align ourselves with God and God’s Way.  We commit to self-examination and repentance, and to those practices – new or old – that support us in finding our way back to God.  

At CCUMC, in addition to the individual spiritual commitments you undertake, we also focus on a particular spiritual practice together.  In past years, we have explored and practiced prayer, forgiveness, and community.  This year, our communal focus will be on discernment.

Now you might be wondering, “I hear that word a lot….but what does it mean?!” Great question!  That is exactly what we’ll be delving into together over the next 6 weeks.  One writer, Diana Butler Bass, puts it like this, “Christians believe that human beings have the capacity to hear, see, touch, and feel God – a genuine sensing of truth and beauty through which we know God and know God’s will.  Christians call this discernment.” (Christianity for the Rest of Us, p. 91).  In other words, discernment is the practice by which we lift our deepest questions – Who am I?  Who are we?  How are we supposed to live?  What does God want me, want us to do with our lives? What is true? – and listen for the movement and invitation of God. Bass goes on to write, “Discernment serves as a kind of spiritual compass, helping us negotiate the unfamiliar territory of our truest selves as we seek to find meaning in God’s call.”  I find that image helpful: to think of discernment as a compass, always pointing out true north.


There are all sorts of ways to grab hold of this practice and go deeper.  I invite your full participation:

• Through Worship – we will shape our worship around the way of discernment and invite time for reflection and prayer.
• Through Sundays of Uniting Prayer (SOUP) – following worship each Sunday, we will gather quietly in the Annex to share a hot bowl of homemade soup, listen to some provoking thoughts about discernment, and then gather in small groups to reflect, share, and pray.
• Through Adult Sunday School – I will be teaching a 5 week class on discernment that begins on Mar. 3rd.
• Through Small Groups – Small groups are wonderful places for discernment as you gather around the Word to listen to how the Holy Spirit invites you to respond.  CCUMC has 3 groups meeting.  Please connect with me if you are interested in participating.

In anticipation for what the Holy Spirit will do, Pastor Emily

Videos for 2-3-13

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - Philippians 1:21-22, Rev. Martin Odi, YCVM Ambassador 

Rev. Martin Odi afternoon presentation

We are thrilled to have The Rev. Odi amongst us today.  He has been in the Bay Area since Wednesday evening and will be departing tomorrow.  The Rev. Odi was a local church pastor for 10 years, a Bishop of over 200 churches for 10 years, and now serves as a Bible and conference teacher/trainer in East Africa . He started many development initiatives in the eastern region of Uganda. This include community based organizations, non-profits, schools, revival meetings, and churches.  In addition to serving as the Board Chair of YCVM until the end of 2011, Rev. Odi also chaired many other boards in the past.  He writes, "My heart is now in Africa: to see revival in this continent; through Biblical training for church leaders and ministers of the gospel."  Rev. Odi and his wife of 30 years, Helen, have 4 children: 2 adopted children and 2 biological sons.

Rev. Odi answered questions about YCVM's boarding school, Kumi Christian Visionary School.

English Ministry News and Notes 2-3-13

*CCUMC Warmly Welcomes The Rev. Martin Odi, Youth & Child Visionary Ministry (YCVM) Ambassador - We are thrilled to have The Rev. Odi amongst us today.  He has been in the Bay Area since Wednesday evening and will be departing tomorrow.  The Rev. Odi was a local church pastor for 10 years, a Bishop of over 200 churches for 10 years, and now serves as a Bible and conference teacher/trainer in East Africa . He started many development initiatives in the eastern region of Uganda. This include community based organizations, non-profits, schools, revival meetings, and churches.  In addition to serving as the Board Chair of YCVM until the end of 2011, Rev. Odi also chaired many other boards in the past.  He writes, "My heart is now in Africa: to see revival in this continent; through Biblical training for church leaders and ministers of the gospel."  Rev. Odi and his wife of 30 years, Helen, have 4 children: 2 adopted children and 2 biological sons. Please extend a personal welcome to Rev. Odi following worship.  You are 
strongly urged to be a part of the congregational meeting following our hospitality time.  We will gather in the Annex at 1:00 p.m.

*LMUMC Food Pantry Work Day: Saturday, Feb. 9th, from 9:45 a.m.—1:00 p.m.  Please connect with Jane to participate!

*Lunar New Year Parallel Worship & Fellowship Potluck, Feb. 10th (next Sunday).  Please note, we will be worshipping at 9:30 a.m. in the Annex.  For those with last names of A-K, you are invited to bring a main or meat dish to share.  For last names L-Z, please bring a veggie dish to share.  Dessert will be provided!

*The Lenten Season Begins - A new church season begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13th.  During this special season of heightened spiritual practice, selfexamination, and penitence, we will be exploring the spiritual practice of discernment.  We will do so in worship, through adult Sunday School, and through Sundays of Uniting Prayer (SOUP).  Our theme will be, "The Way of Discernment."  Each of the 6 Sundays in Lent, worship will be followed by SOUP: a time to share a delicious homemade bowl of soup and an intentional time of prayer with brothers and sisters.  You are encouraged and invited to participate.
Please note, soup makers are still needed!  Please consider signing up on the hospitality board for the Sundays between Feb. 17th and Mar. 24th to be a soup maker.  Many thanks to those who have already signed up.


*Congregational Vitality Workshop for YOU - We all love the church and want it to grow...but how?  What questions do we need to ask?  How might we need to transform in order for growth to happen?  Please mark your calendars now to participate in a special workshop lead by our Conference Superintendent of Congregational Vitality, Rev. Bener Agtarap, Saturday, Mar. 2nd, 9:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. right here in our neighborhood!  You are invited to sign up with Pastor Emily or any of our EMC leaders (Becky, Steve, Aeri, Ben, Charlie) today!

Youth & Child Visionary Ministry (YCVM) and the Dream of Kumi Christian Visionary School

Since 2001, a relationship between a small, East African village and members of Chinese Community UMC has been growing.  It all began with the friendship between Aeri Lee, our worship ministry chair, and Silver Omakenyi, her talented music and worship student at the Reformed Theological College (Kampala.)  The Holy Spirit gave Silver a vision to care for the most vulnerable within his community of Kumi: orphans and children.  As that vision took shape through conversation with other community members, it began to look like a school.  Not just any school, but a school that would love and care for children in Kumi and develop competent, skilled young people that loved God and were committed to serve in the Kingdom of God.  That school is the Kumi Christian Visionary School (KCVS).

Chinese Community UMC has been instrumental in partnering with YCVM to make God’s vision a reality.  This happened first through the generosity and commitment of individual members (weddings, birthdays, and funerals), then through the dedicated work of the Missions Ministry Team (Volunteer in Mission trip, benefit dinners, mission itineration), and now through a growing network of people and churches in the Bay Area and beyond.  KCVS is entering a key stage in its building and is working hard to open its doors to its first students in less than a year (January 2014).

We give God great thanks for calling us into this transformative relationship that has helped us discover new depth in our own faith as well as a new call for transforming the world as disciples.  We give God thanks for brothers and sisters in Kumi who challenge us to trust, stretch, learn, and grow alongside them.  We give thanks for the 8 sponsored children and all the volunteer staff and Board of YCVM.  We give God thanks for the vision of KCVS and continue to pray for the fulfillment of God’s purposes in and through the school.

Rev. Martin Odi, former Board Chair of YCVM, will be sharing updates and answering important questions during today’s congregational meeting.  This is a precious and rare opportunity to share hopes and concerns, clarify misunderstandings, and learn more.  Please stay and be a part of the conversation!