Videos for 1-29-12

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon -  "Loving God & Neighbor", Mark 12:28-34, Jonathan Snoek, Brenda Wong, Ed Lang

English Ministry News and Notes for 1-29-12

*Happy Lunar New Year! All are invited and welcomed to a joint potluck luncheon following worship. This is an important time of fellowship between our two language ministries. Please make every effort to connect across the language divide!

*Please note: Pastor Emily is away this weekend. She will return to the office on Tuesday, Jan. 31st. Please call her cell phone in case of pastoral emergencies.

*Pitch In! LMUMC's Food Pantry Workday is held on Saturday, Feb.11th at 9:45 a.m. You are invited to join in this time of mission and service. Have questions, connect with Jane or Richard. To sign up, please find the list near the hospitality table.

*An Offering Opportunity - You are invited to bring beauty into the worship space by giving to the altar flower ministry. Please sign up on the sheet posted at the end of the Annex hallway or by connecting with Aeri.

*Sharing Exciting News - The Mission Ministry Team (MMT) has felt called to enable a Mission Exchange between CCUMC and YCVM leaders. The hope has been to invite Grace Among and Silver Omakenyi to the Bay Area during the summer to share the vision and mission of YCVM and their personal faith stories. This would also enable them to connect with new churches and organizations and for us to discern our relationship and understanding together. After a year of prayer and discussion, a proposal was brought to BOAT to enable fundraising for just such a possibility. This was approved at the most recent BOAT meeting. Work is getting underway to enable this possibility. Please keep this Mission Exchange in your prayers. If you have any questions or concerns, please connect with members of the MMT (Steve, Donna, Aeri, Burt, Ben, Jane, Becky) or Pastor Emily.

View from the (Interim) Lay Leader’s Chair

Derek Lang

“And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching--with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’” [Mark 1:26-27]

It sounds like a scene from the Exorcist. Personally, I think I would be hiding or running away if I saw this happen at CCUMC. But you have to admit that Jesus does surprise everyone with this supernatural feat. Jesus had a way of showing everyone something new. It was exciting if you were looking for hope and salvation. It was unnerving if you were part of the establishment. The same can be said even today. My homework assignment as part of my Conference Lay Minister discernment is to read the book “Who Stole My Church?” by Gordon MacDonald about how people deal (and sometimes not too well) with changes at their church.

One change you may have noticed at our church has been the formation of Small Groups. Intuitively we understand that growth is a good thing. But in the last year we have really taken seriously that to grow we need to individually commit to being active in our faith outside of just Sundays. Otherwise, if we are not growing, we are stagnating or dying. Jesus is calling us – calling those spirits of complacency to get out of our bodies so that we can make room for new things. Those new things are developing the practice of seeing God in our daily lives, encouraging others in their faith walk, being comfortable with sharing with others the exciting surprises or simple graces God has  sprinkled in our lives, and being able to spend time in prayer talking to and listening to God.

Indeed change can be scary, especially if you are stuck. But change can be exciting, renewing, and uplifting too if you are looking for hope and salvation in your life.

Videos for 1-22-12

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - "You Will Have Fun", Jonah 3: 1-5, 10, Derek Lang, Certified Lay Speaker

Newness in the Midst of Routine

By Becky Wong
Are you the kind of person who needs routine, for life to be structured and ordered in such a way that you know what to expect, with no surprises? When I began teaching four-year-olds, I learned that routine was important because it gave the children a sense of security and safety, which then allowed for maximum learning to take place. So it meant starting the day the same way every day: greeting at the door, pledge of allegiance, a song, reciting poems, talking about the daily news. Then new lessons began.
Maybe our Christian journey of faith has some similarities. We attend worship, sing songs, read scripture listen to a sermon, hear the benediction, share fellowship hour, and leave ready to practice faithful living as Jesus taught .  Routine is comforting. In fact, another name for the season of Epiphany, which occurs from January 6th until Ash Wednesday,  is Ordinary Time. But within this Ordinary Time, are we making time for the “new lessons” to take place? Educating my students would have come to a standstill if I only relied on the daily routine to set the stage and then did nothing else.  Likewise, to grow in our Christian walk requires that we look beyond the “routines” with new eyes, daily seeking where God is calling us to stretch, to grow, to learn, to bring the life of the Gospel to this sometimes chaotic world in a way that is transforming.
During the latter half of 2011, I was sensing the call of God to leave something familiar, something I really loved and felt blessed in doing: being the chair of the Missions Ministries Team. I can remember years ago Pastor Peter inviting me to consider this position, and I answered without hesitation because it was truly a ministry area that was in my heart to lead. But as I began to realize that new leadership was perhaps what the church needed, I informed Pastor Emily that the time had come to be looking for a new chairperson. While I still plan to be involved with missions, there was an emptiness in not knowing what I should be doing next.
Little did I suspect that Derek would soon be talking to me about the possibility of serving as EMC Chair/Lay Leader/ Member to Annual Conference. Holy smokes! I thought, those are huge shoes to fill! I began to pray and discern if this was indeed what God intended for me to do. It took a while to get over the initial fear (yes fear!) of doing something so different, but I began to look at it as an opportunity to grow, to stretch myself, and to offer my service to God and the church in a new, rather unexpected way.  I know there is a great deal to learn, and I invite you all to pray for both Steve and me as we venture into new territory.
Today we celebrate Laity Sunday. You and I are the laity, the church, the body of Jesus Christ, whom we publicly proclaimed as our Lord and Savior at our baptism. We are daily being called by God to be God’s hands and feet and voice in the church and in the world. And sometimes that call comes in a way that may seem uncomfortable, implausible, or even impossible. But God knows us even better than we know ourselves, and God longs for us to stretch and grow, perhaps in ways quite different from the “ordinary”. In this continuing season of Epiphany, I invite you to intentionally look for ways to BE the church, to offer yourself and your gifts in service, perhaps trying something new in the midst of your ordinary routine. Shalom and God bless.

English Ministry News and Notes for 1-22-12

*Small Group Ministry Celebration & Lunar New Year Potluck - We will worship in parallel next Sunday, Jan. 29th at 9:30 a.m. with our CM brothers and sisters.  Please enter through the Annex gates.  Following worship, we will hold our annual lunar new year potluck.  Please bring a main or veggie dish to share.  No desserts, please!

*Please note: Pastor Emily will be away next weekend (Friday through Monday). In case of a pastoral emergency, please feel free to connect via cell phone.

*CCUMC Seeks Capable Custodian - SPRB is now accepting applications for a part time (10 hour / week) custodian. Please keep your eyes and ears open to someone who may need a job. To apply, please connect with SPRB Chair, Richard Fong, or Pastor Emily.

*Adventure in Faith (AiF) Monthly Chapel - AiF gathers this Wednesday to hear and explore the story of Daniel in the lion's den. Please hold our volunteers and the whole ministry in your prayers. This is an important outreach mission of CCUMC! You are invited to come and pitch in - by being a gentle presence, taking part in the chapel, or helping to prepare a snack. Please connect with Pastor Emily. We will gather at 2:00 p.m. on Jan. 25th.

*Jason (Hong Jun) Weng Graduates from Boot Camp - Jason graduates on Friday, Jan. 27th. He will be home for approximately 10 days following that before heading out again. You are invited to sign a congratulatory card for him during hospitality hour. Please hold him and his family in your prayers.

Videos for 1-15-12

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - "Have You Checked Your Voicemail Box Lately?", 1 Samuel 3:1-10, Rev. Israel Alvaran