- Camping Fund Special Offering - Each year, we invite special giving to our youth and young adult camping fund. Your generosity enables our young people to take advantage of spiritual growth opportunities through camps, mission trips, and more. Great thanks for your 2nd mile giving.
- KCVS Update - On Aeri's recent trip to Uganda, she spent a weekend with our friends in Kumi. We will gather shortly after fellowship to hear updates, news, and respond to questions. You are invited!
- 7th Annual Kumi Benefit Dinner Planning Kick Off - Please plan to attend the kick off planning meeting at 2:00 p.m.
- Summer Intergenerational Sunday School Series: Creative Faith Expressions! You are invited to work together across the ages on a project that invites creativity, teamwork, faith exploration. We gather - on time - at 9:30 a.m. in the Annex each Sunday through Aug. 21st.
- Prayer Invite - Our Western Jurisdictional Conference gathers next week from the 13th - 16th in Scottsdale, AZ. Our own Burt and Pastor Jeffrey will be attending. Please hold both of them and all delegates in prayer as they gather to discern jurisdictional business and, importantly, elect a new bishop.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
English Ministry News and Notes 2016-7-10
Getting to Know Amos
Getting to Know Amos, www.chabad.org
The Prophet Amos lived during the long
reign of King Jeroboam II. Jeroboam the son of Joash reigned over the
Ten Tribes of Israel for 40 years. Under his reign the Northern
Kingdom of Israel enjoyed one of its most happy and prosperous
periods. He recovered every piece of land which had been lost by his
forerunners. He subdued the Kingdom of Moab and captured parts of
Syria (Aram) which had long been like a thorn in the flesh of his
people. Even Damascus, Syria's capital fell to him.
Relationship with the twin kingdom, the
southern Kingdom of Judah, was still strained at first. Jeroboam
maintained the stern control over it which his father had exerted; he
also held members of the Royal family of Judah as hostages to ensure
that the southern neighbor would make no trouble. Later, however, he
realized that friendship and mutual help between the 2 Jewish
kingdoms would be better for both. He helped repair the damage which
his father had done to Judah, and he gave part of the land which he
had taken from Syria to the king of Judah, Amatziah.
Together with the good political
situation came economic prosperity. Many people in the Northern
Kingdom became very wealthy, and began to lead a luxurious life.
Friendly relations with the Phoenicians, who were the greatest
merchants and seafaring people of those days, brought things of rare
beauty and luxury into the Jewish Kingdom. Unfortunately, the unusual
prosperity brought a collapse of moral standards. Ignored were the
great ideals and commandments of the Torah to help the poor, and to
practice justice and loving kindness. The rich oppressed the poor;
might was right; it was an age of corruption. Hand in hand with this
degeneration of the morals of the people went increased idolatry.
People built many altars on mountains to serve the Canaanite gods,
the Baal and Ashtarte. The Golden Calves, which the first Jeroboam
set up in the north and south of the country to turn the people away
from the Beth Hamikdosh in Jerusalem, were worshipped more than
before and the teachings of the Torah and the holy commandments were
viewed with contempt.
Again and again, God sent His
messengers, the prophets, to admonish the people and to warn them
that unless they mended their ways, they and the land would be
doomed. Yet the admonitions were, for the most part, unheeded. The
people went their own way.
One of the great prophets at this time
was Hosea (who we will get to know in 2 weeks); another one was Amos.
Amos was a shepherd before the spirit
of prophecy came over him. He was a herdsman from the village of
Tekoa, and a dresser of sycamore trees. He began his prophecies "in
the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son
of Joash, the king of Israel, two years before the earthquake."
His fearless and outspoken words came
thundering and stirred the people. Characteristic are his opening
words: "God will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from
Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the
top of Carmel shall wither."
Sunday, July 3, 2016
English Ministry News and Notes 2016-7-3
- Today, we mark a new beginning as Pastor Meina officially becomes CCUMC's Associate Pastor. We welcome her and invite your prayers for her leadership and ordination journey. Praise be to God for this gracious blessing.
- Let's start a CCUMC Ukulele Band! If you like music, ukulele might be the perfect instrument for you. It's guaranteed you can play 2-4 chords on your first lesson! Come and find out by staying after fellowship hour today. We have some extra ukuleles for novices to try. Ages 9 and up. Guitarists are also welcome to bring their instruments and join in the fun.
- And We're Off! Adventures in Faith begins this week. Please hold this vital ministry of sharing faith in your prayers. Please pray for the leadership team, the volunteers, and all the wonderful students!
- You're Invited: Yvonne and Albert would like to invite you, the church family, to celebrate Cyrus' high school graduation on Saturday, July 9th, from noon to 4 here at church. RSVP’s are encouraged by Thursday via email (yvonnemschu@gmail.) or phone (510 835 8439).
- Camping Fund Special Offering - You're invited to support our youth and young adults as they take on faith expanding opportunities through camps and missions. This special offering will be taken next Sunday, July 10th.
- Kumi Update - Aeri recently visited our friends and partners in Kumi. She will be sharing during Mission Moment on Sunday, July 10th, followed by a more in depth update after worship. Please plan to attend!
- Kumi Benefit Dinner Planning - support our new leadership (Michelle & Emiko) by pitching in with the benefit dinner planning. First meeting held next Sunday, July 10th, at 2:00 p.m.
Lessons From Naaman’s Healing, Camille Isaacs Morell
Today’s Old Testament reading provides valuable lessons on how we receive
God’s grace and blessings when we are prepared to reverse commonly held beliefs
about people who are different – in race, social status and occupation. The
account of Naaman’s healing also gives a voice to the marginalized and shows
how, as St. Paul says to the Corinthian Christians, “God has chosen the things
which the world regards as destitute of influence, in order to put its powerful
things to shame.” (1 Cor 1:27)
The account of Naaman’s healing teaches us many things –
We're all vulnerable -
regardless of our social standing We are told in verse 1 that Naaman is a great
man, respected by many, including the King of Syria, his boss. This respect is
based on his status as the captain of the victorious army of Syria. But, we are
told, and this is a big ‘but’, that he has leprosy – a disease that relegates
people in Biblical times to ‘outcast’ status. Therefore, we learn that in spite
of Naaman’s social status, his illness in the form of leprosy is a reminder
that regardless of our station in life, human beings are all vulnerable and
flawed in some way, and in need of divine intervention.
Solutions can come from unlikely
sources. In verse 2, the solution comes from an unlikely and seemingly
‘weak’ source – an enslaved Israelite girl who was captured by Naaman’s army
and is assigned to serve Naaman’s wife. We are led to believe that the slave
girl doesn’t hate those who captured her. Driven by a courageous faith in God,
she seeks a way for God to be glorified in her oppressive situation. By
declaring that Naaman can be healed through a prophet in Samaria in the land of
Israel, she offers the possibility for the oppressor and the oppressed to
worship and serve the same God.
We can jeopardize the flow of
God's blessing by observing socially accepted beliefs and practices. In the
ensuing verses, we see how several factors come into play that potentially
jeopardize the flow of God’s blessing to Naaman. Social barriers, the effect of
political oppression, ethnocentric biases and distorted human beliefs about the
knowledge and wisdom of people classed as being of “low social standing” all
come into play.
The
faithfulness of God's people is crucial for God’s will to be done on earth - BUT in spite of it all, it is the
faithfulness of God’s people – the slave girl and the persistence of the
prophet Elisha that predominate. Elisha’s faithfulness to God prompts him to
speak up when he hears of Naaman’s need and the anguish of the King of Israel.
So Elisha summons Naaman and invites him to “see that there is a prophet in
Israel” – physical healing as well as divine revelation are offered. We’re
reminded that God’s people must not, as St. Paul says to the Galatian
Christians, “grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap” (Gal.6
v 9). We, like Elisha, must persist in being conduits of God’s goodness and
healing, even to those who are in a position to dominate and exploit.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
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