URC Weekly 9/20/09: Happy Birthday, Union!



Hi Gang,

Ahhh, culinary redemption is such a sweet feeling.  All kinds of buzz and clamoring around our gohm tahng (bone soup) creation, and on Sunday lunch, I heard rave reviews: “I feel like I’m in a restaurant!”; “We don’t usually have something like this!”; “This is perfect!”  Thank you to everyone who helped out with cleaning, place-setting, cooking, washing dishes, and serving because you made those quotes happen.  Of course, they were spoken in Korean, so I’m not really sure if that’s what they actually said.  What a great feeling to cook for, and please, our parents who cook for us the other 51 weeks of the year.  Maybe you can do that at home and have the same reaction…

1) CG: THIS FRIDAY @ 7 PM @ TAE/SARA’S. We’ll continue to learn about praying with power and put it into practice.  We’ll also enjoy a potluck and have pool tourney #1083 afterwards.

2) CHURCH BIRTHDAY: THIS SUNDAY @ 10 AM @ LARGE SANCTUARY.  Joint service for our 29th anniversary as a church, so let’s celebrate God’s faithfulness with the greater Union family.  DO NOT COME @ 9:30 AM @ ENGLISH SANCTUARY, or you’ll be alone, in the dark, and in silence.   Like I said, please take the same approach to worship when it’s joint, and come with a heart to glorify the Lord, rather than “take a week off” spiritually or physically.

We’ll also give our bi-annual “Love Your Enemies” award to Rev. Satya Ranjan Majhi (two years ago to Steve Saint).  Rev. Majhi is a pastor in Orissa, India, and though his grandfather and father were both martyred pastors, he carries on their ministry under severe persecution.  The last two Christmases, Hindu fundamentalists burned churches and Christian homes, wounded many, and killed several pastors.  Rev. Majhi went into hiding to preserve his life, and yet continues to build the kingdom of God in Orissa.  He’ll preach this Sunday, and I think his message will be a tranforming look at how to love your enemies with Jesus’ love.

3) CELEBRATION SERVICE: THIS SUNDAY @ 1 PM IN THE LARGE SANCTUARY.  Kiddos doing their thing, our awesome choir, URC compilation video, we’re gonna celebrate the Lord’s work in our many years of ministry.

4) BAPTISM: We had Holy Communion last week, and our other Protestant sacrament is baptism, where a believer makes a public confession of faith in the presence of Jesus Christ and all the witnesses of the church.  If you’ve never been baptized but have given your life to Jesus, or if you were baptized by tradition in youth and would like to be confirmed by your own will as an adult, let me know ASAP.  Also, if you’d like to have your child baptized, give word.  I’d like to have a baptism service this Thanksgiving or Christmas, and I’ll need to meet with you beforehand for an overview on baptism.

5) WINTER RETREAT: THIS DECEMBER 27-29 (SUN-TUE) @ CAMP MARANATHA.  Please plan accordingly and save the dates.  I checked college winter breaks, and the previous week is before breaks start.  We’ll leave Sunday afternoon and return Tuesday afternoon.  After prayer and deliberation, we’ve decided to have a Union retreat, not joint with other churches, as we’ve had many joint events this year.  I believe it’ll be an incredible time of bonding and deepening our faith.  Also, we’ll be back in the huge house we were in two years ago, so more conducive to hanging out than last year.

6) NO VBALL PRACTICE THIS SUNDAY: Let’s attend the church celebration service and support our kiddos and parents.  Back in action in two weeks.

7) DEVOTIONS: Psalm 65-70 (“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”)

Thank God for His faithfulness to us.