English Ministry News and Notes 3-30-14

*Today, we take a special offering for One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS). OGHS enables the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to live out its mission to alleviate human suffering. UMCOR responds to natural or human made disasters - those interruptions of such magnitude that they overwhelm a community's ability to recover on its own. You are invited to give generously!

*New Sunday School Series Underway - Come and explore one of our 4 ministry priorities: Radical Hospitality. There are just 2 sessions left! We begin promptly at 9:30 a.m.

*Sundays of Uniting Prayer (SOUP) Has Begun - All are invited to follow the sound of the gong following worship for a time of silence, reflection, sharing, and prayer. Great thanks to our soup providers today: Becky & Al, and Charlie, as well as Peggy, our bread provider!

*Last Sunday to Order Easter Lilies! You are invited to order Easter lilies to fill the sanctuary during the worship celebration. Each plant is $10 and can be taken home following worship on Apr. 20th. Orders will be taken through Mar. 30th. To order, please connect with Frances.

*Love Singing? You are invited to join the joint neighborhood church choir lifting song on Good Friday, Apr. 18th. You will be asked to learn the hymn on your own and come to one practice on the day of at 1:00 p.m. Please connect with Pastor Emily for more info.

*Save the Dates:
1. We will be hosting a Children’s Easter Party on Palm Sunday, Apr. 13th, from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. Please plan to invite friends, pitch in and participate!
2. You are invited to a festive Baby Shower on Sunday, April 27th at 11:00 a.m. to welcome Pastor Emily and Steven's twin babies. That Sunday we will be holding parallel worship starting at 9:30 a.m. More information will be forthcoming. Please sign up with Becky, Helena, Elsie or Jane to bring food or ways you would like to help. We look forward to celebrating this joyful time with Pastor Emily and Steven and the babies.

*Stay on top of CCUMC news! Bookmark our blogspot on your computer, smart phone, or tablet at http://chinesecommunityumc.blogspot.com/.

Why Should We Forgive? Donald Miller

Well, there are many reasons, but I’m only going to focus on a few.

• The first is because, believe it or not, forgiveness is a pleasurable experience. No kidding, it feels much better than anger or hate. God has designed forgiveness as a powerful blessing for those who have been hurt. The experience of truly forgiving somebody can make you more happy than if you’d never been hurt in the first place.
• The second reason for you to forgive is that it removes you from being entangled in the rather dark thing that hurt you in the first place. If it was a bad business deal, then you get to be free of it and maintain your integrity. If it was a family member talking behind your back, you get to remove yourself completely from all the complications of gossip. Forgiveness sets you free from being bogged down in knee-deep mud. Forgiveness gives you a taste of what it feels like to be God, and it’s a terrific feeling. God forgave us because it gave Him pleasure to do so. He was happy to do so. Love forgives, and so does God, and so can you.
• The third reason to forgive is that you open yourself up to amazing possibilities for a happy life. When you don’t forgive, you draw the curtains in your soul and your life gets dark. When you forgive you let the light in again, and you go on about your life in peace. And don’t you want some peace? Isn’t it time for some peace?
• The greatest thing about forgiveness is it will allow you to love again. It will allow you to love and be loved. And believe me, it’s worth it. Forgiveness is tough, for sure, but love is infinitely more valuable than the pain of forgiveness costs. No matter what you have to go through to forgive, you’re getting a steal of a deal to be able to love and be loved again. Pay the price and I promise you’ll be happy you did.

English Ministry News and Notes 3-23-14

*New Sunday School Series Underway - Come and explore one of our 4 ministry priorities: Radical Hospitality. There are just 3 sessions left! We begin promptly at 9:30 a.m.

*Sundays of Uniting Prayer (SOUP) Has Begun - All are invited to follow the sound of the gong following worship for a time of silence, reflection, sharing, and prayer. Great thanks to our soup providers today: Leily & Walter, Arlene & Ed, as well as Peggy, our bread provider!

*Prayer Invitation: Please hold Cyrus Ng and Jacinto Obrera in prayer through Lent as they prepare for confirmation.

*Easter Lilies! You are invited to order Easter lilies to fill the sanctuary during the worship celebration. Each plant is $10 and can be taken home following worship on Apr. 20th. Orders will be taken through Mar. 30th. To order, please connect with Frances.

*Need a LIFT? Then, here’s some good news for you. But, let’s start with another easier question. What do 3 choruses, a women’s orchestra and Aeri have in common? Give up? They're all part of a benefit concert for the Food Pantry at Lake Merritt UMC on Sat., Mar. 29th, at 4:00 p.m. As partners with LMUMC for the past 4 years, we’ve had wonderful experiences in helping to feed the community. Let's go further by enabling them to purchase the food we distribute. Benefit ticket prices are Student/Seniors: $20; Gen. Admission, $30; Premium Seating, $50. Please contact Burt for tickets. Cash donations are also joyfully accepted.

*Save the Date - We will be hosting a Children’s Easter Party on Palm Sunday, Apr. 13th, from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. Please plan to invite friends, pitch in and participate!

*Stay on top of CCUMC news! Bookmark our blogspot on your computer, smart phone, or tablet at http://chinesecommunityumc.blogspot.com/.

Praying for Grace Instead of Judging Others - Joel J. Miller

What if instead of judging others, we saw their failings as our own?

Some years back I read Duke Ellington’s autobiography, Music is My Mistress. A statement he made about withholding judgement of others really stuck with me.

“We should recognize that everybody is capable of making a mistake,” he said, “and we should not raise any more hell about somebody else’s mistakes than we expect to be raised when we make one. Who does not make mistakes? Who is not limited? Everybody but God.”

A better musician than ethicist, Ellington did not draw out the thought much further than that, but there is a important idea hiding under the surface of his observation, one that pertains to our common plight as people.

My friend Matt Vest recently pointed me to a statement by Tikhon of Zadonsk that fills in the gaps of Ellington’s thought.

To look upon another — his weaknesses, his sins, his faults, his defects — is to look upon one who is suffering. He is suffering from negative passions, from the same sinful human corruption from which you yourself suffer. This is very important: do not look upon him with the judgmental eyes of comparison, noting the sins you assume you’d never commit. Rather, see him as a fellow sufferer, a fellow human being who is in need of the very healing of which you are in need. Help him, love him, pray for him, do unto him as you would have him do unto you.

Tikhon’s understanding of the Golden Rule is more thoroughly expressed than Ellington’s but they both hinge on the same thought. None of us is better than another. All of us have failings. Sympathy should soften our judgmental edge. That said, it is not enough to say that we all sin and therefore we ought to give each other a pass — which is how some treat the scriptural injunction against casting judgment. What Tikhon says that if we judge our brother, we are judging ourselves. We all suffer together. But we don’t get on by sweeping things under the rug. We don’t need a pass. We need grace and repentance.

This is the full meaning of doing unto others, as it relates to judging them. It’s the full meaning of bearing one another’s burdens. We don’t condemn the gossip, the glutton, the griper, or the groper. We instead pray for their healing (and ours). The unkind, the undisciplined, the unchaste, the ungodly need grace just like we do. If we are doing unto others as we would have done to ourselves, we will pray for their salvation as we hope for our own.

As Duke Ellington said, only God is without fault. And only God can save those who fall short of his glory. That includes the person screwing up and the person judging him for it.

English Ministry News and Notes 3-16-14

*Sundays of Uniting Prayer (SOUP) Has Begun - All are invited to follow the sound of the gong to the Annex following worship for a time of silence, reflection, sharing, and prayer. Great thanks to our soup providers today: Jennie and Lisa, as well as Peggy, our bread provider!

*Prayer Invitation: Please hold Cyrus Ng and Jacinto Obrera in prayer through Lent as they prepare for confirmation.

*Easter Lilies! You are invited to order Easter lilies to fill the sanctuary during the worship celebration. Each plant is $10 and can be taken home following worship on Apr. 20th. Orders will be taken starting this week through Mar. 30th. To order, please connect with Frances.

*Need a LIFT? Then, here’s some good news for you. But, let’s start with another easier question. What do 3 choruses, a women’s orchestra and Aeri have in common? Give up? They're all part of a benefit concert for the Food Pantry at Lake Merritt UMC on Sat., Mar. 29th, at 4:00 p.m. As partners with LMUMC for the past 4 years, we’ve had wonderful experiences in helping to feed the community. Let's go further by enabling them to purchase the food we distribute. Benefit ticket prices are Student/Seniors: $20; Gen. Admission, $30; Premium Seating, $50. Please contact Burt for tickets. Cash donations are also joyfully accepted.

*Stay on top of CCUMC news! Bookmark our blogspot on your computer, smart phone, or tablet at http://chinesecommunityumc.blogspot.com/.

Excerpt from "A Brief Guide to Self-Examination"

One important means of growth in holiness used by Christians throughout the centuries is called “self-examination.” It is simply the act of prayerfully thinking over the events of one’s day at the close of the day, often paying special attention to areas of life in need of improvement. The eighteenth-century Anglican divine William Law writes of this practice, “This examination of ourselves every evening is, therefore, to be considered as something that is as necessary as a daily repentance and confession of our sins. Daily repentance has very little significance and loses all its chief benefit, unless it be a particular confession and repentance of the sins of that day.”

A variety of techniques for this self-examination have been developed in the history of spirituality. William Law, along with Jeremy Taylor, another Anglican, encourage a general review of the day, asking for pardon for what went amiss in the day and giving thanks for what was good. Both emphasize the need for a deliber-ate review and attention to the “prevailing temper” surrounding the moments of victory or defeat.

Puritan father Jonathan Edwards frequently emphasizes the use of particular pas-sages of Scripture in self-examination. Using this technique you would select passages of Scripture that are appropriate to your personal growth in holiness. Then, in the evening, you would set aside a little time to prayerfully rehearse the day reflecting on (1) the activity of your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions, in light of (2) the sense of the passages of Scripture.

Many emphasize the use of self-examination as a tool for learning to recognize the presence and activity of God in their lives. David Mains, a contemporary minister, calls his approach to self-examination the “God Hunt.” At the end of the day, ask, “Where did I find God in my day today?” Then you review the day, playing back the “video-tape” of your memory and looking at the day scene by scene, noting those places where God’s presence or guidance was recognizable. Then you responds by acknowledging this presence or action of God in prayer.

Self examination is especially helpful when used in conjunction with the discipline of keeping a journal, for the journal can be used for recording your progress in areas, noting factors influencing growth in holiness, writing personal prayers, and copying special Scriptures, songs, prayers or quotes from books that can stimulate your reflection.

Self-examination is aimed at informing daily life. By noticing patterns at the end of the day, we hope to be able to recognize the same patterns next time, even earlier. During the day, try to recognize (1) when you are at a “crossroads,” hearing the invitation of God or the attack of an enemy and needing to respond, (2) when elements usually leading to a particular sin are pressing upon you, or (3) when you are in a position to gain victory in a matter. Utilize the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the companionship of a good friend or spiritual mentor to help you create creative and particular steps to “put to death the misdeeds of the body” and cultivate the Spirit where appropriate.

Self-examination need not be a depressing habit of morbid introspection. Rather it can be an honest and thankful review of the day, thanking God for victory and pressing on toward further growth in holiness. Remember, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

English Ministry News and Notes 3-9-14

*Great Thanks to Steve Chan for leading the Sunday School study "Between Heaven and Mirth." May those who participated be blessed with an extra measure of joy and laughter in their spiritual lives. Next week, we begin a new 5 week study with Pastor Emily and guests on Radical Hospitality. You are encouraged to participate and go deeper into one of our 4 ministry priorities. Sunday School begins promptly at 9:30 a.m. in the Annex. You are requested to be on time!

*Sundays of Uniting Prayer (SOUP) Begins - All are invited to follow the sound of the gong to the Annex following worship for a time of silence, reflection, sharing, and prayer. Great thanks to our soup providers today: Gloria, Burt & Jane, as well as Peggy, our bread provider!

*Prayer Invitation: Please hold Cyrus Ng and Jacinto Obrera in prayer through Lent as they prepare for baptism and confirmation.

*Need a LIFT? Then, here’s some good news for you. But, let’s start with another easier question. What do 3 choruses, a women’s orchestra and Aeri have in common? Give up? They're all part of a benefit concert for the Food Pantry at Lake Merritt UMC on Sat., Mar. 29th, at 4:00 p.m. As partners with LMUMC for the past 4 years, we’ve had wonderful experiences in helping to feed the community. Let's go further by enabling them to purchase the food we distribute. Benefit ticket prices are Student/Seniors: $20; Gen. Admission, $30; Premium Seating, $50. Please contact Burt for tickets. Cash donations are also joyfully accepted.

*Stay on top of CCUMC news! Bookmark our blogspot on your computer, smart phone, or tablet at http://chinesecommunityumc.blogspot.com/.

Forgiveness - Peter Enns

Followers of Jesus are commanded by him to forgive others, even those…especially those…who have wronged us. He commands us to do so, because, when we forgive, especially those who have wronged us terribly, we are most like God.

Forgiveness does not mean that we make believe the injustice never happened, or make light of it. It does not mean we leave ourselves open to abuse. It means we cease harboring ill against the other. We let it go.

Forgiveness does not depend on our ability to bring the other to the same realization. Our forgiveness must commence regardless of the other. We can only make the decision for ourselves to move to the center. We cannot force the other to take that same step. We cannot control the other. We can only control ourselves.

Forgiveness is not for the weak, for it means letting go of our need for justice. It is easier to forgive if we feel some guarantee that justice will be delivered in the near future. But that is not forgiveness.

Forgiveness looks only within, what we can do. It does not think of what should be done to the other.

When we focus on the injustice that has been done, it will become the dominant thought, and so we might be tempted to be God’s instrument of justice, to help things along. That makes forgiveness impossible.

If we call upon God to bring justice, he will begin with us, not with the other. So, we should not call down justice upon the other. The role we have been given is to forgive. Justice is what God will do, mercifully.

When we forgive, we are reminded of the mercy that has been shown to us. When we forgive even the most malicious of acts, we begin to see–only then can we see–how we have been forgiven.

When we forgive, we know God more clearly.

Even when the wrong done to us carries with it such an overpowering sense of malice, when we are filled with disgrace, humiliation, isolation–even then we forgive. Especially then.

Because,

When we feel this way, we have the privilege of experiencing something of what Jesus felt–disgrace, humiliation, isolation.

Jesus forgave, and when we forgive, we are most like him.

Following Jesus means forgiving.

Forgiveness is about deciding what kind of person you want to be, what path you will walk, what kind of life you want to live. It is a decision to conform to the image of Christ. That decision is before us moment by moment, and more often than we might think.

English Ministry News and Notes 3-2-14

*Great Thanks to our team of youth for planning, designing, and leading worship today. Please personally greet them and share your encouragement as well as reflections after worship!

*LMUMC Food Pantry Ministry Day - Saturday, Mar. 8th. Thanks to all those who came to the recent review and discernment gathering about our partnership with Lake Merritt. Please join us in prayer as we consider where God is calling us to serve in the coming year.

*We Celebrate the Beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, Mar. 5th @ 7:00 p.m. - You are warmly invited to begin this special season together on Wednesday. We give thanks to Pastor Meina and Aeri for lending their leadership to this time.

*Ready for Sundays of Uniting Prayer (SOUP)? We will observe the 6 Sundays in Lent with a bowl (or two) of hot, delicious, homemade soup and by going deeper into our theme of forgiveness starting next Sunday, Mar. 9th. You are warmly invited to go from worship in the sanctuary directly to the Annex following worship each Sunday. Great, big thanks to all our soup makers and bread bringer!

*New Sunday School Series to Begin Mar. 16th - Pastor Emily will be leading a 5 week exploration of radical hospitality during the 9:30 a.m. hour. This is one of our 4 ministry priorities that God has called us to. You are strongly encouraged to make time for community learning, reflection, and growing!

*Lift Concert - A benefit for the food pantry at LMUMC on March 29, 4pm. Aeri Lee will be performing among other featured talents. See insert for more info.

Forgiveness: A Lenten Study

A few weeks ago, a simple survey was handed out during worship inviting your input to this year’s Lenten theme. Each year, we have observed the season of Lent as a special time to focus on spiritual practice – things we can do with intention and regularity to deepen and strengthen our relationship to God. My first year here, we explored prayer, for example, and last year, discernment. We integrated the theme into both our time of worship as well as Sundays of Uniting Prayer (SOUP), a special time following worship each Sunday. I have heard from many people how meaningful this season is and how much they have appreciated this time of going deep with a spiritual practice. On that recent survey, two possibilities were provided: Forgiveness and Sabbath. In addition, there was space for you to suggest a new possibility. Great thanks to each who responded. It was through your input, that Forgiveness was designated as this year’s theme.

Why forgiveness? In the introduction to her Lenten study, Marjorie Thompson points to the title of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s book titled, “No Future Without Forgiveness.” She invites us to consider that, truly, “without forgiveness there is no future worthy of human life and community as God surely intended them to be in the originating vision of Creation.” Put positively, forgiveness is a key and essential ingredient to life-giving, meaningful, God-filled relationships. We need forgiveness in order to survive as friends, spouses, family, co-workers, and Christian community. In fact, Thompson reminds us that “[t]here is no Christianity without forgiveness.” She goes on to say, “It is impossible to conceive of any expression of Christian discipleship that ignores or excludes a virtue so central to the good news.” Not only is forgiveness essential to all of our relationships then, it is indispensable as a practice for us as followers of Jesus. Do you believe that? Has that been your experience?

My guess is that even if we believe in the importance of forgiveness and understand it as a cornerstone to our living of faith, most if not all of us find this spiritual practice incredibly challenging and difficult. It feels different from prayer, for example. While with prayer, we may see it more as a matter of scheduling it in our calendars, forgiveness brings with it complicated feelings, emotions, and thoughts. It carries the weight of anger, hurt, or resentment with it. Moreover, it often involves another person or persons. The practice of it, therefore, feels a little more tricky and definitely more risky. So…are you ready to dive in, or at the very least, dip your toes into the waters? I surely do hope so and assure you that we will walk this journey together.

Here are our themes for the next six weeks:
Mar. 9th – Beginnings (Luke 15:11-32)
Mar. 16th – Self Examination: Prelude to Forgiveness (Psalm 510 and 139)
Mar. 23rd – Honesty: Engaging the Inner Struggle (Matt 5:43-48 and 7:1-6)
Mar. 30th – Repentance: Getting a New Mind (Luke 23:32-43)
Apr. 6th – Forgiving: Embracing Freedom (Matt 18:23-35)
Apr. 13th – Beginning Again: Reconciliation and Restoration (Luke 7:36-47)

My prayer is that this Lenten season, we will encounter the mighty movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we open ourselves to the healing of old wounds, the letting go of past hurts and judgments, and being set free in our relationships, both with those closest to us and with those right here in this faith community.

Peace & Grace, Emily