"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3)
“Jesus
Bleibet Meine Freude” J S Bach, VOVES 8
Hi
Family!!!
It is
quite fresh outside even though little chilly. We may need some extra layers
this morning? Are you ready to take new steps this week after a Good Sabbath Day
Rest? Now, I would like to invite you to take some steps with me this week as a
church together.
1.Take a little moment of meditation
on a couple of words, “marvelous light”, from 1
Peter 2:9b, each day this week.
2.Memorize John 14:1, “Do not let
your hearts be troubled, Believe in God, believe also in me” today!
3.Sing with Psalm 31 each day
this week taking just 5-10 minutes.
4.Pray for the
single mothers whom I know around me for twenty seconds each day this week.
5.Talk to the Holy
Spirit to help me to grow in faith taking one minute each day this week.
6.Keep the grateful
heart all throughout this week!!!
7.Keep God’s call in my heart
from today – “You are a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may
proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. (Peter 2:9, NRSV)”
Now we
have our prayer list updated for this week. Let us continue to call upon the
name of the Lord as we to take our steps following His way, His truth and His
Life. We truly give thanks to God since Christ laid down his own life for us as
the stepping stone for our salvation.
Be
clean and keep your distance from those unseen enemies!!
“...Don’t be dejected
and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
(Nehemiah 8:10b, NLT)
Greetings to you all
in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
It has been quite a journey confined by COVID 19 for the
last whole month of April. However, it was not too bad at all as we look at it
differently with the Christian eyes because we were able to find more time with
God and our family. And it made us think about what the most important thing in
our life is. We took a whole month to rearrange our life bringing God in the
center of our life again even though we have to adapt to the new normal.
One of those new normal most of us have experienced last
month was using social media and its network. It has been around for a long
time since early 1990’s; however, we did not know our life would depend on
social media this much. It means we are doing our church together differently
using social media, worshiping the Lord in spirit and truth continually even
though we may not like it.
I heard someone say, “If Jesus comes to us in the 21st
century, he must use the social media.” It made me stop and ponder as I
prepared each week’s online gatherings with a question mark, “Really?” Some
part of me doubted, “if Jesus comes to us right now, he does not need anything
because he has the power to show people who he is. Jesus does neither need a
Facebook account, nor Instagram, nor Twitter, nor Zoom meetings to get people’s
attention.” I actually don’t know how Jesus would handle this if he comes to us
right now though because I am not Jesus.
Anyway, one thing that I have learned from April was that
lots of people are living in social media, virtual world as real. “Wow! People
share their life virtually, and people find inspiration there - relief,
freedom, healing, and even their own self there, virtual self! And of course,
people find happiness there when others like what they posted! In other words,
when they get other’s attention more, they become
much happier. If not, sad and depressed.” Sounds like people are controlled by
this.
However, no one is free from this. We are longing for
something, something that we don’t find in our real world - from our
traditional face to face world, because we don’t like its smells, its colors
and its voices and because we are too busy to handle them in real life.
Something was totally missing!
Actually, it reminds me the story of a Hebrew slaves in
Babylon about twenty five hundred years ago. Because of the enemy’s attack -
Babylonians, their land was totally destroyed and they were captured by their
enemies and lived as their slaves in a foreign land. Their homeland where they
freely worshiped in the presence of the Lord was ruined and their temple was
totally destroyed through the war. So they were not able to worship in the
temple in Jerusalem any longer. They were not able to gather in their holy city any more. Something very important was truly
missing!
“Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves”, Nabucco by G. Verdi, Metropolitan Opera
So what did they do in exile? They prayed. Then, what
happened? God heard their prayers. So, many years after, they were able to get
back to their homeland and rebuilt the ruined walls in Jerusalem despite of
many challenges in the holy city.
We know they had missed community gatherings in the holy
city in the presence of God. But now, they gathered. Can we imagine that moment
when all gathered together from long years of exile and
rebuilt their ruined holy city, their home land? My heart is even pounding
stronger and faster now and even my eyes are getting wet as I revisit that
story in the Bible.
So what did they do first after they rebuilt their home land, the city walls? According to the Nehemiah
chapter 8, they worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. And the Levites (maybe, pastors in 21st century) read from the books of the Law of God
and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people
understand each passage, which had been missing in their life for many years.
Quite an emotion filled moment, isn’t it?
Now can anyone guess what was happening there as they heard
the word of God in the holy city with their walls rebuilt? They all wept as
they listened to the words of the Law of God. It was the happiest day; however,
they all wept. Why? Maybe their memories of hardship and struggles, and of all
those whom they lost in exile hit everyone’s hearts? Nehemiah reminded them
where they are now, “Don’t
mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord
your God (Nehemiah
8:9b)”
Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we looking forward to
that day of fully rebuilding something missing due to COVID 19? The day will
come. And until then, we will continually worship the Lord in spirit and truth - our real normal!
"Call to me and I will
answer you and tell you great and
unsearchable things you do not know."
(Jeremiah 33:3)
“Make Me A Channel of Your Peace” by Dragon School, Oxford
Hi
Family!!!
Quite
an interesting week so far with rain, wind, fog, cloud and sunshine!! However,
whatever it comes, we are able to find joy and thanksgiving from above as we
keep social distancing from the unseen enemy around us because God is with us
and walking with us as we make further steps every day. Thanks be to God!
For
this week, we are trying to test the Zoom meeting, our very first one. So
please check out the info below our prayer list and plan
to join us!!
Now
we have our prayer list updated for this week. Let us continue to call upon the
name of the Lord as we sing with a blue bird right next to us or among us!! God
will continue to hear our songs of prayer and respond to us in His perfect way!
"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." (Jeremiah 33:3)
“Prayer”, by Rene Clausen, Concordia Choir
Hi Family!!!
How’s your social distancing
affecting your life so far, especially, for your spiritual distancing with
unseen enemies as well as with Christ? We know Christ redefined our spiritual
distancing with him through his resurrection from the dead as spiritual
intimacy.
At this moment, I feel like we
are becoming experts on physical social distancing to keep safe and healthy
from COVID 19. However, this also helps us to rethink about our spiritual
distancing with our unseen enemies so called sin or any sources of sin. Christ’
resurrection power really boosted our power to resist all those unseen enemies
and gave us a divine wisdom to get away from them. Furthermore, it takes us
much closer to Christ. Thanks be to God!
So, somewhat, we, followers of
Christ Jesus, take this challenging time as our opportunity to simplify our
life by putting first thing first. I mean God in our hearts, the center of our
hearts and our lives first! And we become OC Christians - Obsessive Compulsive
Christians, for the spiritual distancing!
However, that is not all.
Through our OC Christian practices so called safe distancing and washing
against all those unseen spiritual enemies, we move toward the Kingdom of God
eternal much closer every day! Even though it has not been easy and it will not
be easy until the COVID 19 situation is cleared, our never ending steps with
our risen Lord, Christ Jesus, will take us into the place where God wants us to
be!!! Isn’t that wonderful? Yes it is!
And now we are truly looking
forward to getting together again and freely worship, pray, study, share, serve
and grow together. Those days are not far from us as we prepare ourselves for
our new beginnings!
Now, again, I would like to
remind you a few things this week. Until all of the dangers from COVID 19 are
cleared, we will continue to practice our faith to grow deeper and stronger in
the presence of God in truth and spirit. In other words, we will pray
together more, we will sing together more, and we will read the words of God
more, making those our habits as our Christian character.
So let us continue to tithe our
time, our energy, our heart and all other resources that God has given us as we
set aside those for our God first … each and every day as we continue to
celebrate the season of Christ’s resurrection!!!
Sounds like we are wading in
the water with Jesus through gathering online to worship together, to pray
together as well as to meet together. So please keep connected with each other
and with our web site for useful information as you practice your faith daily.
And also don’t forget to communicate with each other through those social media
if possible.
If you have any questions or
prayer concerns, please also don’t hesitate to share with me or through the
office. We will be happy to answer you and include you in our prayer list.
If you’d like to keep it in
private, please just let me know when you share with me. I will love to hear
from you all!
Now we have our prayer list
updated for this week. Let us continue to call upon the name of the Lord as we
continue to celebrate the power of Jesus' resurrection! We will hold the peace
that Jesus brought us fully and receive the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent us with
open hearts looking forward to the next steps!
"Call to me and I will
answer you and tell you great and
unsearchable things you do not know."
(Jeremiah 33:3)
“Beautiful
Savior” arr. By F. M. Christiansen, St. Olaf Choir
Hi
Family!!!
How’s
your celebration going at home, the celebration of our risen Lord? It has been
quite interesting days as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus with
cold days with snow, cloudy days with fog and shiny clear days with blue sky
for the last several days since Easter Sunday. Seems like all kinds of weather
is gathering and dancing as we stay at home!!! Are they celebrating this season
for us too!
Anyway,
another question for you. Are we getting used to being OC Christians as we deal
with all those unseen enemies in our life, being clean and keeping distance
from those? It is truly a great day when all of those unseen enemies, sin and
death, are completely defeated by the power of Jesus Christ, his resurrection
power! We all believe that this unseen enemy COVID 19 will be also defeated by
the grace of God, our powerful protection and guide. It will be another day of
resurrection! We are looking forward to that day!
However,
that is not all. Through our OC Christian practices so called safe distancing
and washing against all those unseen spiritual enemies, we will move toward the
Kingdom of God eternal much closer every day! Even though it has not been easy
and it will not be easy until the COVID 19 situation is cleared, our never
ending steps with our risen Lord, Christ Jesus, will take us into the place
where God wants us to be!!! Isn’t that wonderful? Yes it is!
Now,
again, I would like to remind you a few things this week. Until all of the
dangers from COVID 19 are cleared, we will take this challenging time as our
opportunity to grow deeper and stronger in the presence of God in truth and
spirit. In other words, we will pray together more, we will sing together
more, and we will read the words of God more, making those our habits as our
Christian character.
So
let us not forget to tithe our time, our energy, our heart and all other
resources that God has given us as we set aside those for our God first … each
and every day as we continue to celebrate the season of Christ’s
resurrection!!!
Sounds
like we are trying to thrive on this new challenging environment through
gathering online to worship together, to pray together as well as to meet
together. So please keep connected with each other and with our web site for
useful information as you practice your faith daily. And also don’t forget to
communicate with each other through those social media if possible.
If
you have any questions or prayer concerns, please also don’t hesitate to share
with me or through the office. We will be happy to answer you and include you
in our prayer list.
If
you’d like to keep that in private, please call me, email me or message me and
let me know. I will love to hear from you all!
Now
we have our prayer list updated for this week. Let us continue to call upon the
name of the Lord as we continue to celebrate the power of Jesus' resurrection!
Be
clean and keep your distance!!
pk
- - -
Markesan &
Princeton Emmanuel Prayer List
(The Week of April 13,
2020)
This
week's New Prayer Request: Bob G.'s mother is now on hospice. Please remember
Bob and his family as they are going through this time of deep darkness... for
God's comfort and guidance as well as strength.
“The Lord is my light
and my salvation - so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I
tremble?”
(Psalm 27:1, NLT)
Greetings to you all
in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
It has been quite a journey confined by COVID 19. Even though no one can stop us from going out
and doing things outside, we just decided not to go out much
and meet people because we do not want to see this deadly unseen virus
spreading quickly before we have the right medicine. It is our little
contribution to protect each other in this time of uncertainty. So are we being
clean and keeping distance from this unseen enemy that surrounds us? Yes, we
are... and we will continue to do that! And we will do more. We will fight with
that and we will find a victory! But how can we do that just by staying at
home?
Many years ago, my friend King David had an experience of
being surrounded by a mighty army who tried to devour him and attack him.
However, he remained confident and his heart was not afraid because he knew
those enemies would stumble and fall. How come? Because the Lord was his light
and salvation. The Lord was his fortress in the time of trouble!
So what did he do in that fortress? This is what he sang, “the one thing I ask of the Lord
- the thing I seek most - is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of
my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple...
At his sanctuary, I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and
praising the Lord with music.” (Psalm 27:4 & 6, NLT).
Like what we are doing right now even through online, David
continued to worship! Then, he urged people from his own experience.
“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave
and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
(Psalm 27:14, NLT)
“Even When
He Is Silent”, by Kim Andre
Arnesen, St. Olaf Choir
Brothers and sisters in Christ, is this ancient song of
David our song now even surrounded by COVID 19 or other unseen enemies? If we
are God’s temple where there is endless singing of joy, praising God, it is our
song too, isn't it? We are God’s people
and we are a body of Christ!
And as a part of the body of Christ, we will praise God
through our presence, our prayers, our gifts, our service, and our witness.
So now as a body of Christ, I want to remind you our five
spiritual songs which will never cease as a church together. This will help us
to find a treasure of heaven in the time of uncertainty and bring us to a much
stronger and healthier relationship with God and each other!
-Our Presence: Attend online worship on Sunday and other
activities in midweek
-Our Prayer: Pray each day with our
prayer list provided through email and newsletter
-Our Gifts: Send our offering of tithes
and thanksgiving regularly and continually through mail.
-Our Service: Visit our church families
regularly by phone / social media to show our care & support.
-Our Witness: Invite friends and
neighbors to join our online worship and share our stories of victory.
"Call to me and I will
answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
(Jeremiah 33:3)
“Bless
the Lord, O My Soul” by S. Rachmaninoff, Vespers, op. 37, 2., Sigvards Klava,
Hi
Family!!!
What
a peaceful week we are having now as we walk with Jesus through the holy week
this year. Even though we are still keeping social distancing and washing our
hands as OC Christians to slow down the rate of spreading COVID 19, it gives us
more time each day to go deeper level of the journey through this holy week
with Jesus.
We
are thankful because we still have a place to stay, we still have meals to eat,
we still have time to walk, we still have friends/family to call and we still
have everything that God has given us as a gift, our life! I have heard from
several people who went through the time of WWII. Even though this is still not
easy but not that hard comparing to that time of WWII. As God has helped us
through before, God is still helping us through now!
And
we are so grateful because we are still able to worship God in spirit and truth
because God is with us always! And it was quite an existing Sunday last week
when we entered into the city of Jerusalem parading with Jesus and also
received him, into our life, as our King again. Thanks be to God through Jesus
Christ who come into our heart and renew us, strengthen us and anoint us with
the blessings of heaven.
I
pray that you go out, from time to time, and walk for a while to spend your
hours with God much closer this week. We will find many treasures from Heaven
as we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!
We
know that we are still not able to gather for celebrating the resurrection Sunday;
however, we will continue to worship in spirit and truth through online. Our
office is open during our regular hours (M/W/F from Noon till 4:00 p.m.) with
Ms. Izzy, and continues to carry the ministry of Christ’s church in Markesan
and Princeton area without stopping.
So
please continue to pray for us and our ministry without ceasing!! Everything is
depending on your prayers!!
Now,
I want to remind you a few things this week again. Until all of the dangers from
COVID 19 is cleared, we will take this challenging time as our opportunity to
grow deeper and stronger in the presence of God in truth and spirit… even
staying at home. In other words, we will
pray together more, we will sing together more, and we will read the words of
God more, making those our habits as our Christian character. So let us not
forget to tithe our time, our energy, our heart and all other resources that
God has given us as we set aside those for our God first … each and every day
during our holy week!!!
Especially,
when you have to come for dropping off your regular offerings or taking some
resources or information from the church or serving, please also keep washing
your hands before entering and leaving the building with the hand sanitizer provided
or use gloves as well… and keep the healthy social distancing (at least 6 feet)
when you talk each other in the church building. We all need to keep healthy as
much as possible, such a time as this, to carry the ministry of the church
continually until it is over. Victory is ours because of the presence of God
through Jesus Christ! Amen!
Now
our churches are trying to adjust into this new challenging environment through
gathering online to worship together, to pray together as well as to meet together
to grow continually. So please keep connected with each other and with our web
site for further information and also communicate each other through those
social media if possible.
For
this Holy Week, please join us our two special online gatherings, one on Thursday
evening at 7:00 p.m., for Maundy Thursday Service, and the other on Friday
afternoon at 1:30 p.m. for Good Friday Prayer Service. Also another two special
celebration for Christ’ resurrection this coming Sunday. We will worship online
but from the Markesan sanctuary at 9:30 a.m. and we will celebrate the season
with music from the sanctuary at 7:00 p.m.
Also
the most important one… Don’t forget to communicate each other and with the
church through our social network and have more spiritual talk even simple talk
about our faith so that we can learn from each other and encourage each other.
If you find anyone missing in our connection, please also let us know, we will
find the way to connect with them.
This
will be a great growing experience for us to learn from each other and also
share our faith with all those who joined our circle inside of our church and
outside of the church as well. So be ready each time of our online gathering
with expectation… also with your own bible. You don’t have to sit in front of
the screen watching but stand up, when we sing, even raise your hands and
dance!!! Isn’t that wonderful!
If
you have any questions or prayer concerns, please don’t hesitation to share
with me or through the office. We will be happy to answer you and include you
in our prayer list.
If
you also want to keep that in private, please call me, email me or message me
and let me know. I will love to hear from you all!
Now
we have our prayer list updated for this week. Let us continue to call upon the
name of the Lord as we walk with Jesus all through this week… and see how
powerful but merciful and gracious our God is through Jesus Christ!!
