Monday, January 12, 2015

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Worst Day of My Life by Pastor Nancy Chang

1. CAN YOU REMEMBER THE __________ DAY OF YOUR LIFE?
1 Samuel 30:3 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

2. IT'S OKAY TO __________, TO __________
4 Then David and the people that were were him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to week. ...6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved...

3. __________ YOURSELF IN THE LORD
but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. 7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. 8 And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop?

4. __________ TO THE VOICE OF THE LORD AND __________.
And he answer him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all... 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

5. YOU WILL __________ EVERYTHING AND MORE
18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. 19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing ........

6. __________ IS THE FINAL STEP
26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord;

English Ministry News and Notes 2015-1-11


  • Today we are pleased to welcome as our guest preacher, Pastor Nancy Foon Chang. She is a first cousin of Gloria Gee. She grew up in Suisun, CA, and sovereignly became a Christian at age 16 when she read a tract she picked up at her sister's wedding. She was the first Christian in her family of 7 siblings. After graduating from UC Berkeley and teaching one year elementary school in San Francisco, she vacationed in Hawaii and was awarded a grant to pursue her Master's degree in Education and a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Hawaii. After working at the University of Hawaii for 8 years, she resigned to become Principal of her church's Christian School. In 1990 she became Associate Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Honolulu until her retirement in 2000. She continues to share her testimony around the world.
  • PLEASE check the worship calendar for your upcoming worship duties. You can find the updated schedule at http:chinesecommunityumc.blogspot.com/
  • We still need hospitality sign-ups for 2015! Please sign up in the social hall!
  • Pastor Brenda is planning the AIF schedule for 2015. If you are interested in being a part of this FUN ministry, and are available on a Wednesday afternoon (exact dates still to be determined), connect with Pastor Brenda!

Monday, January 5, 2015

Sunday, January 4, 2015

English Ministry News and Notes 2015-1-4

  • Sunday, January 11, Guest Speaker, Pastor Nancy Chang. Pastor Nancy Chang is a former professor at the University of Hawaii, she has shared inspirational messages all over the world. Come and hear her testimony about overcoming adversity and persevering through trials.
  • PLEASE check the worship calendar for your upcoming worship duties. You can find the updated schedule at http://chinesecommunityumc.blogspot.com/ We still need hospitality sign-ups for 2015! Please sign up in the social hall!

Holiday Greetings from our Covenant Missionaries

Dear partners, supporters, friends and families,
We appreciate very much your faithful prayers and your financial support to enable us serving God in reaching Cambodia for our Lord Jesus Christ.
We also appreciate so much for your partnership to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in sharing God's love and God's salvation to the people in Cambodia.
Please pray that God continues to bless Cambodian Christian people to glorify His name in this suffering land of Cambodia.
May your Holiday Season be blessed with Peace, Love and Joy.
Sending you our HEARTFELT wishes with Joy that never Ends...
A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
Marilyn & Joseph Chan

Epiphany: Revealing, Radiating, Reminding

Barbara Bate former staff member of the General Board of Discipleship.

Epiphany is an unfamiliar word to many of us -- even to many Christians. Here are some phrases that may help it to make more sense:
  • a revealing of the presence of God;
  • the light of God radiating outward and inward;
  • a gift, a reminder that God is here.
Why does this word "epiphany" matter in the church?
 
The time after Christmas is often a letdown within a secular, consumer-focused culture. But in the Christian "kin-dom," the story is different. Light expands into dark places. Newness appears in the midst of routine. Life bursts out of the expected deadness in the natural world.
 
Here is one example. It occurred in Zimbabwe, in the middle of July 1997. I was traveling to the rural village of Bindura to preach and lead a workshop for lay preachers in that area. After worship, I was able to visit a children's village called S.O.S. It is one of several places in Zimbabwe where orphaned
and "dumped" children (that is the word used by the African people there) are raised, schooled, and loved in small groups presided over by local house mothers. Most of those women are active United Methodists, and they bring the children from the S.O.S. house to worship each Sunday.
 
On the day of my arrival, I heard about a newborn infant who had been found in the weeds by a local police officer. He had heard her crying while he was walking home along the path outside the village. He took her to S.O.S. The women on the staff determined that the baby was probably four days old
and apparently unharmed. In the two weeks before I saw the baby, she had been fed, held, given a place to stay, and a name. The name she was given? Christina.

I watched her napping on one Sunday afternoon, and I realized that she was vulnerable and in one sense abandoned--perhaps by a mother whose family would not accept the presence of a child with an unnamed father. But Christina was also a gift -- to the community of people who were prepared to dedicate themselves to her well-being, to the pastor who supported the ongoing ministry of S.O.S., and even to this visitor from the United States who saw the power of God in her young life. She is a reminder that in the eyes of God, every child is sacred -- in Bethlehem, in Brooklyn, in Bindura.

Where are the epiphanies that are awaiting your attention? Watch and listen, and you will find them.

Monday, December 29, 2014