URC Weekly 7/10/2011: Angry Birds



Hi Family,

In order to continue to become technologically relevant, I downloaded the Angry Birds app on Google Chrome today. Unfortunately, I could not get past 1-8. If you know anything about this game, you would be laughing at me right about now.

For those who do not know what Angry Birds is, it’s a video game made popular as a mobile phone application. The gist of the game’s story is that some green pigs steal the eggs of some birds, which makes the birds angry. The player goes through each round with a limited number of birds to shoot from a slingshot. To move to the next round, the player must hit different numbers of pigs, which are often protected by varying amounts of obstacles. The player must not only carefully control the angle and strength of each shot, but also make a good decision on where to land the bird. A hit on the right place can take care of the stage quickly; a hit on the wrong place just wastes the ammo.

This is similar to our relationship with our friends with whom we are trying to share the gospel. Every nonbeliever has varying number of objectives against faith in Jesus Christ. Many of those objectives are protected by deep emotional issues and/or psychological defense mechanisms. We must be cautious in each dialogue we have regarding Jesus to push and pull just the right amount as needed. Some conversations lead to great progress. Other ones close the door to their hearts tighter.

There are a couple of relevant Bible verses we can apply here. Jesus says, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matt 10:16).” Jesus knows that winning the hearts of the people is tough; it takes pure motif and wise action. Apostle Paul says, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some (1 Cor 9:22).” Paul thus emphasizes building compassionate relationships with unbelievers.

Beloved Union family, let us be pure, wise and compassionate, especially to those who do not know Jesus. Let us think of the importance of their souls. Like the bird eggs in the game, these souls were stolen from God by some pigs. Let us fight together to recover them.

• THANK YOU PRAISE TEAM AND OTHERS FOR MORNING WORSHIP
• WORSHIP TIME IS CHANGING TO 10AM ON THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST
• Community Group: 7/15 (Fri) @ Hyonroh’s, chip in for food
• BACKPACKS FOR KIDS: Backpacks coming this month
• DODGERS MONEY: Haven’t paid? Please do as soon as possible
• ALL-COORDINATOR MEETING: 7/17 (Sun) @ 1:30pm
• HANG WITH THE KM YA: 7/24 (Sun), Activity then dinner shot by Jay Yu JSN
• URC BBALL TEAM: Our guys are playing in a league in Ontario; Come support!
• MORE: 8/1 (Mon) – 8/4 (Thu), leaders wanted
• URC CAMPING: 8/14 (Sun) – 8/17 (Wed) @ Lake Cachuma
• SNACKS: Hyonroh Lee
• SCRIPTURE READING/OFFERING: Jacob Kang
• DEVOTIONS: 1 Corinthians 9 – 1 Corinthians 15