Worship Videos 2016-7-24

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon

English Ministry News and Notes 2016-7-24

• Our 7th Annual Kumi Benefit Dinner invites you to pitch in - our 2nd planning meeting will be held on Sunday, July 31st at 12:30 p.m. You're invited!
• Save the Date: Sunday, Aug. 28th is Street Fest Hospitality Sunday when we open our doors as a sign of God's hospitality. We invite your active participation. We can only extend hospitality through you!
• Prayer Invite: Last week, an accidental fire burned down the 1 room apartment that Silver Omakenyi and his family (Rachel and Edith) were renting. They lost all their electronics and much else. Please remember them during this time.
• Save the Date - On Friday, Aug.5th, together with our sister circuit churches, we will host 2 special guests from Palestine: Ata Manasra and Adel Hroub. Both are from the village of Wadi Foquin near Bethlehem and part of a community development project sponsored through GBGM. Ata is also a licensed tour guide and will be accompanying the 2017 pilgrimage. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet folks from our circuit, deepen understanding of the Holy Land, and begin discernment about the pilgrimage. (Aug. 5th, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. @ CCUMC) Please sign up today for an accurate count of food."
• Ukelele band practice continues after fellowship hour on Sundays in the sanctuary. All levels welcome. Let’s praise God with song and uke!

Hosea

Today, we meet the final prophet of our series on prophetic ministry: Hosea. Over the last 8 weeks, we have met Elijah, Elisha, and Amos. Hosea follows on the heels of Amos chronologically but is placed before Amos in the Bible. You are encouraged to read the book – all 14 chapters – this week!

SUMMARY The book of Hosea is a collection of prophetic messages delivered by the prophet Hosea and narrative descriptions of Hosea's marriage and the birth of his children (1:2-2:1; 3:1-5). Most of Hosea's messages are announcements of God's anger with Israel (the northern of the two Israelite kingdoms) and God's impending judgment on this people. Hosea's messages focus on Israel's unfaithfulness to the Lord. This lack of faithfulness is seen in Israel's worship of other gods (alongside the Lord). The religious leaders of the people are singled out by Hosea for condemnation. Their job was to lead the people in faithfulness, but they actually did the opposite. The prophet also criticizes the political leaders of the nation for forming covenants with Egypt and Assyria, rather than relying on the Lord. The book also includes messages of hope, most notably the tender image of God as the parent who taught the child Israel to walk and will not, in the end, abandon the nation.

SO WHAT? The messages of Hosea announce sharply that God's relationship with human beings includes judgment--and also that this relationship continues on the other side of judgment, because God is faithful. Hosea teaches that to know God is to have one's entire life transformed in faith and obedience. God's anger was provoked because the people both worshiped other gods and oppressed their neighbors, sins that Hosea sees as related.

WHERE DO I FIND IT? Hosea is the 28th book in the Old Testament. It’s the first of the so-called "minor" (or shorter) prophets, the twelve books that make up the final portion of the Old Testament.

WHO WROTE IT? Most of the messages in the book of Hosea were spoken by Hosea. We do not know if he wrote them down himself; his words were most probably collected by followers who were convinced that Hosea spoke for God. It is likely that an editor placed Hosea's messages in the present order and composed the narrative descriptions of Hosea's family life (chapters 1 and 3). It is also likely that the editor arranged the books so that each major section (1-3; 4-11; 12-14) ends with a word of hope.

WHEN WAS IT WRITTEN? Hosea most likely spoke his messages between the years 750 and 722 B.C.E. during the final years of Jereboam II’s reign. WHAT'S IT ABOUT? The book of Hosea is about God's loving relationship with the chosen people--a love that leads God to judge the people when they love other gods and oppress each other, but also a relationship to which God is faithful on the other side of judgment.

HOW DO I READ IT? A study Bible can help with Hosea's metaphors, references to history and tradition, and references to social practices of his time. Read together, the messages make clear that the judgment proclaimed by Hosea was neither a departure from God's history of dealing with the people nor an end to that history, but an ongoing part of that history.

Worship Videos 2016-7-17

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon

English Ministry News and Notes 2016-7-17

• It's Not Too Late - You can still join in the creativity, fun, and community building that is our summer intergenerational Sunday School. Gather each Sunday, on time, at 9:30 a.m. in the Annex!
• Save the Date - On Friday, Aug.5th, together with our sister circuit churches, we will host 2 special guests from Palestine: Ata Manasra and Adel Hroub. Both are from the village of Wadi Foquin near Bethlehem and part of a community development project sponsored through GBGM. Ata is also a licensed tour guide and will be accompanying the 2017 pilgrimage. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet folks from our circuit, deepen understanding of the Holy Land, and begin discernment about the pilgrimage. (Aug. 5th, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. @ CCUMC)
• Join the Learning - We live in a multi-city, multi-ethnicity, multi-culture, multi-context world. And yet, the church remains relatively monochromatic in its existence and impact. How can we be inspired and equipped to go beyond the walls of the church to embrace the vision of God for God’s Kingdom? Join in for an incredible day of inspiration, information, innovation, integration and implementation as we worship and learn together. Saturday, Aug. 13th, 8:30 - 4:00 p.m. @ St. Paul UMC in Fremont. Please connect with Becky to attend!
• Hospitality Slots Available! Sign up in the social hall now!

The Gospel and Economic Justice, www.gospelpolitics.com

For all its imperfections, the Occupy Wall Street movement successfully focused much attention on economic inequality in the United States. As a result, the relevance of the gospel to economic justice became a hot topic. Politically conservative Christians generally don't see much, if any, relevance; while politically liberal Christians think the gospel has much to say about the increasing economic inequality we see around us. How do we make sense of even in our politics. Those values are all about loving God; loving and treating one's neighbor (and enemy) as ourselves – not only in personal interac it all for ourselves, beyond the labels?

Well...let’s take a look at scripture:

There are so, so many scripture passages that talk about economic justice; about lifting up the poor and oppressed; about reining in the excesses of the rich. In fact, there probably is nothing God talks about more in the bible than this topic. God spoke through virtually all of the prophets of the Old Testament about selfishness and economic inequality. For instance, the prophet Amos said: But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24)

The book of Amos is about a society similar to our own in which the profits produced by the work of the people were going, not back to the people who created them, but rather to the rich landowners. Amos called for economic justice and righteousness. One of the few verses in the bible repeated verbatim is this one: I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. (Psalm 140:12 and Proverbs 13:23)

Later in Proverbs we read: The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. (Proverbs 29:7)

When Jesus began his public ministry, he said: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (Luke 4:18-19 (quoting from Isaiah 61))

Later, in the Beatitudes, Jesus said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God....But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. (Luke 6:20; 24.)

And these are just a sampling!

As with any political question, when it comes to economics, Christians must honestly ask themselves which view best reflects Christian (i.e. gospel) values: individual wealth creation or promotion of the common good?

No matter how you look at it, if we really believe the gospel, then we will believe in the things Jesus believed in. We will live Jesus' values. Yes, even in our politics. Those values are all about loving God; loving and treating one's neighbor (and enemy) as ourselves – not only in personal interactions, but through shaping public policy; sharing what we have with others; and generally promoting a better, more just, righteous, and unselfish world -- for all of God's children.

Let’s take this seriously!

English Ministry News and Notes 2016-7-10

• 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.