Videos for 2-26-12

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - "And God Covenanted", Genesis 9:8-17, Pastor Emily

Keeping Lent

Here are some ways you are invited to “keep” Lent:

• Participate in the Lenten Book Study -  The adult Sunday School class is digging into select chapters of the book, “Altars in the World: A Geography of Faith” by Barbara Brown Taylor.  The book explores how we might encounter and experience God in the midst of our daily life.  Taylor is a wonderfully gifted writer and story-teller!  Sunday School meets each Sunday in the Annex at 9:30 a.m.
• Worship each Sunday - Each Sunday, we’ll open up to the transforming power of relationships - with God, with one another, and with the world.
• Make Lenten Commitments - We’ve all heard about people giving up chocolate for Lent, but what about giving up something that might really draw you closer to the heart of God?  Lenten commitments enable you to name your desires to turn back towards God and act on those desires.  Look for the cards in the foyer or at SOUP..
• Enjoy S.O.U.P -  Sundays of Uniting Prayer invites us into a time of slowing down and quiet so that we can hear ourselves, each other, and the Holy Spirit...all over a steaming bowl of delicious homemade soup.  In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to walk with others as you hold to your Lenten Commitments. Soup makers are still needed - starting next week.  Can you pitch in?  Please sign up on the board in the social hall.
• Observe Holy Week - This year, we’ll hold both a Maundy Thursday (Apr. 5) and Good Friday (Apr. 6) Service.  These special services deepen the wonder and celebration of Easter and Resurrection!

The Practice of Encountering Others: Building Community through Covenant, Commitment, and Companionship

Welcome to the season of Lent!  For those of you who are new to Lent and what it’s all about (or those who just need a quick review), here’s a brief, simplified version:


Lent is a 40 day period leading up to Easter Sunday.  This 40 day period begins on Ash Wednesday and excludes all Sundays (because Sundays are for celebrating the Risen Christ!).  In the ancient church, this period was an intense time of spiritual preparation for those getting baptized on Easter.  They fasted and they prayed, and they read and studied scriptures.  It was also a time in which those who had been cut off (or out) of the Christian community undertook acts of repentance and prepared to re-enter the community.  Eventually, rather than having only certain people take part in the 40 days, the whole church was encouraged to do so.  And so here we are!  As you might have noticed, the 40 days is also significant for the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness immediately (!) following his baptism, as well as being reminiscent of the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert before entering the Promised Land.  To sum it all up, Lent is a season in which we open our hearts and seek – intentionally and through discipline - to return and re-align ourselves with God and God’s Way.  We commit to self-examination and repentance, and to those practices – new or old – that support us in finding our way back to God.  


Aren’t you excited?!  I am!


This year, after reflecting on the Hebrew (Old) Testament scriptures of the lectionary, after listening to the tempo of the congregation, and after being inspired by our own Wendy Lee, we settled on a theme for the season: The Practice of Encountering Others: Building Community through Covenant, Commitment and Companionship.   That’s a mouthful isn’t it?  Our hope is to take advantage of the season to:

1. Invite and examine our commitment to God, one another, and the wider world.  What does it mean to commit to love and follow God?  What does that look like in our daily lives?  What – if anything – does our commitment to God mean to our relationship with others and the world?
2. Explore what covenants are and what they have to do with building meaningful community.  What are covenants?  Why did God covenant with people (and all creation)?  How might covenants enable meaningful, faithful, accountable relationships?
3. Try on supportive, accountable spiritual companionship.  How might we go deeper and go stronger with each other?  How might walking with one another – intentionally – grow and transform us?

Our theme is not only a mouthful, but it is also bold and ambitious.  And, I believe, it holds great possibility, life-giving possibility, for us, both individually and as a community.


So let’s throw on some scruffy clothes, grab a pair of gloves, and slip into comfy work boots – we’re about to embark on a journey that will take a bit of work.  We’re about to embark on a season that invites us to stay open, try on new ways of being, and welcome God’s Holy Spirit to transform us!


Lenten blessings,
Pastor Emily

Videos for 2-19-12

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - "That's What Friends Are For", Mark 2:1-12, Pastor Emily

Preparing for Lent

The season of Lent begins next Wednesday, Feb. 22nd, and continues for the following 6 weeks.  This special season marks the 40 days prior to Easter and invites us to prepare our hearts, spirits, and minds for that great celebration.  Here are some ways you are invited to prepare together:

Attend Ash Wednesday Service, Feb. 22nd, 7:30 p.m. - This beautiful, quiet, and meditative service brings focus for our individual and communal walks during the whole season.   
Participate in the Lenten Book Study - The adult Sunday School class will be digging into select chapters of the book, “Altars in the World: A Geography of Faith” by Barbara Brown Taylor.  The book explores how we might encounter and experience God in the midst of our daily life.  Taylor is a wonderfully gifted writer and story-teller!  Sunday School meets each Sunday in the Annex at 9:30 a.m.

Worship each Sunday - Grounded in the Old Testament strand of the lectionary cycle, our theme for the season is: The Practice of Encountering Others: Building Relationships Through Covenant, Commitment, and Companionship.  Each Sunday, we’ll open up to the transforming power of relationships.

Make Lenten Commitments - We’ve all heard about people giving up chocolate for Lent, but what about giving up something that might really draw you closer to the heart of God?  Lenten commitments enable you to name your desires to turn back towards God and act on those desires.  Look for the purple cards in your worship bulletin.

Enjoy S.O.U.P -  Sundays of Uniting Prayer invites us into a time of slowing down and quiet so that we can hear ourselves, each other, and the Holy Spirit...all over a steaming bowl of delicious homemade soup.  In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to walk with others as you hold to your Lenten Commitments.

Observe Holy Week - This year, we’ll hold both a Maundy Thursday (Apr. 5) and Good Friday (Apr. 6) Service.  These special services deepen the wonder and celebration of Easter and Resurrection!

A Deeper Need, Reflecting on Mark 2:1-12

By Derek Lang

One day my dentist asked whether I was under a lot of stress. I told him that I might have been, but asked how he knew. He pointed at the fact that I had been grinding my teeth, and that was a typical sign of stress in a person’s life. He could have just fixed my teeth. Instead there was something deeper that had to be fixed.

The first time I heard the story of the paralytic who was dropped down into the home of Jesus to be healed was when I was a child. It was a cute and encouraging story. It was not until I read the story again that I realize Jesus’ first response was to tell him that his sins were forgiven, rather than healing his paralysis. I wonder what would have happened if the scribes did not complain or grouse. Would the man have retorted to Jesus, “Uh, excuse me. It was nice of you to forgive my sins, but I’m still paralyzed”???

Jesus knew that there was something deeper that the man needed – that even the man probably did not realize. So often it is the things right in front of us that we think are emergencies needing to be fixed. They are the traumatic things in our lives. And yet, those are the relatively easier things to fix. It is the heart and soul things that are more difficult to fix – broken relationships, deep-seeded fears, old hurts that cannot be forgotten. I am glad that Jesus sees right through all my pride, façades, and saving-face, and fixes what really needs healing in my life.

Food Pantry at Lake Merritt UMC

The Wednesday night small group served at the Lake Merritt UMC food pantry this past weekend.  CCUMC volunteers there every 2nd Saturday of the month, and many have signed up over the past year.  Most of the clients who come to get food are Asian seniors who speak mainly Chinese, so volunteers who speak Chinese are very beneficial to this ministry.


About 250 people were given a grocery bag filled with an assortment of canned and fresh foods, and breads.  It's really easy to help prepare the bags, so sign up to serve in the future!