Valley Vision. How My Watch Reminds Me of Christ

Transcription

1 Valley Vision JAPANESE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF WALNUT CREEK Worship Discipleship Evangelism Ministry Missions December 2011 How My Watch Reminds Me of Christ By Pastor Chris Doi I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life John 8:12 About 7 years ago, Tomi gave me a Citizen watch for Christmas. I was used to wearing cheap $20 watches that only lasted a few years. But it was very nice to have a good quality watch that has lasted this long. Even the crystal has remained clear and scratch free; and I do not want to tell you how watches I have scratched up through carelessness. The other day I wondered why I never had to change the battery. It was not until I looked closely at my watch that I saw the words, Eco-Drive, and remembered what it meant. Eco-Drive refers to a solar conversion panel and energy cell, giving it the ability to use light from any source to generate electrical power. Thus, the supply is limitless and free. Even when the watch is in a dark place for a prolonged period of time, it simply goes into hibernation and soon awakes when exposed again to light. My watch feeds off the energy of light. Likewise, according to John 1:5 and 9, Jesus was the light who shines in the darkness. He was the true light, which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. When we look back at creation, we see that the world was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep until God said, Let there be light; and there was light. By the time of Jesus birth, the world was already immersed in darkness of sin. There was also a feeling of hopelessness as the Jewish people were under the iron rule of the Roman Empire. Jesus, our Messiah was the light who pierced through the darkness and now provides a pathway back to our Heavenly Father. During Advent season we are reminded of how we can experience hope, peace, joy, and love as a result of confessing of our sins and loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. But the writer John states that not everyone will accept Christ as the light of their lives as he wrote in John 3:19-20, This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. As Jesus is the Light of the world, we know that He will be coming back to permanently over throw the god of this word, Satan, and all his evil influences. Christ calls us to be like a light shining before people in such a way that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father who s in heaven. I look at my eco-drive Citizen watch and see that it has to be generated from a light source. In God s Word, we remember that light is a symbol which pictures the transcendence and immanence of God; it is from above, but it permeates our everyday life. Let us continually be plugged into God as our light source through Christ, and energized by the Holy Spirit to carry on the Lord s work. 1

2 Nichigo Calendar Regular Meetings Bible Study Classes at Church: Sunday at 11am: 2 classes class w/ Pastor Fujioka & class in Jason s Room. Hanna-kai - every Wed. at 10am. Baby-sitting available including alphabet & hiragana lessons. (Little children s Bible Story Time at 9:30am) Prayer Meetings at Church: Every Thursday at 7pm Every Wednesday at 9am (prayer for kids). Cottage Meetings: Concord at Sugimoto s Wed, tbd at 7 pm Walnut Creek at JCCWC Fri, tbd at 10 am Other Gatherings: Nichigo Choir rehearsals Sunday at 8:30 am Acacia-kai (time of sharing and prayers) Sunday at 11am Announcements Nov 27 th Nov 27 th Dec 6 th Dec 10 th Dec th Dec 15 th Dec 16 th Dec 24 th Dec 25 th Jan 1 st Calendar Advent Season Begins Hanging of the Greens come decorate! Senior Activity Christmas Program Advent Prayer Stations Gift Wrapping at BARM Youth Christmas Party Christmas Eve Service Combined Christmas Service New Year s Lunch Every Tuesday Prayer Meeting at church at 9 am Pastor Chris December Preaching Schedule Dec 4 th A Voice in the Wilderness (Mark 1:1-8) Dec 11 th Stay Away from Religion (Jn 1:6-8, 19-28) Dec 18 th Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) Dec 25 th the Real Gifts at Christmas (Is 52:7-10) Angel Tree Christmas Ministry JCCWC is participating in Angel Tree, a program of Prison Fellowship. We are giving children of prisoners a gift on behalf of their parents who are in prison. If you re interested in participating, see Pastor Wai to: buy a gift or make deliveries. In addition, let s all continue to lift up these families in prayer Senior Activities for December The Seniors will be meeting on December 6 th to put together the Christmas goodie bags for the Christmas celebration (which will be on Dec 10 th ). In addition, on the 15 th, we will be going to Bay Area Rescue Mission to wrap gifts to be passed out to underprivileged kids. Bible Studies As part of God s family, we can and should help each other grow. If you are not in a Bible Study group, we invite you to join one. English-speaking Bible Studies are below. Japanese-speaking Bible Studies are posted in the Nichigo calendar. If you are interested in joining a group, please contact the group leaders or contact Steve Dawkin, Cell Group Chair, at Senior Adult Bible Study/Fellowship/Lunch Location: Christian Ed. Building, Room 6 Day/Time: 2 nd Tuesday, am Men s Sunday Study Leader: Pastor Chris Doi Study: The Reason for God by Tim Keller Location: Main Building, Pastor Chris office Day/Time: Sunday, 9.30am Women s Prayer and Sharing Leader: Rae Shimizu Study: tbd Location: Main Building, Pastor Jiro s office Day/Time: Sunday, 9.30am Families with Growing Children Leaders: members Study: Effective Parenting in a Defective World by Chip Ingram Location: Main Building, Conference Room Day/Time: Alternate Saturdays (and potluck dinner) Friday Adult Bible Study (two groups) Leaders: J/L Kiyoi / S Dawkin Study: Deuteronomy, Becoming Holy People Leaders: E Nishioka S Matsumoto Study: Philippians Location: Christian Ed Building Day/Time: Friday, 7 pm Men s Saturday Discipleship Leaders: members Study: The Reason for God by Timothy Kelller Location: Main Building, Conference Room Day/Time: Monthly Saturdays mornings (and breakfast) Youth Group (Jr & Sr High) Leaders: Pastor Wai Day/Time: Fri, 7 pm or Sun 11am (schedule varies, see Pastor Wai). 2

3 Special Holiday Events Advent Season and Prayer Stations From Nov 27 th to Dec 24 th, we will be observing the Advent Season as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Each Advent Sunday is celebrated by the lighting of an Advent candle and special readings during service. In addition, this year, JCCWC has prayer stations set up during Dec 13 th to 16 th (5 pm to 8 pm each evening) to help us prepare our hearts to celebrate the most joyous gift we ve ever received, the gift of Jesus Christ. Each station is focused on Jesus, culminating in the last station at the cross. Christmas Program Our Christmas Program will be on Sunday, Dec 10 th, following the English service. We will have a light lunch, Christmas carols, video presentation, gingerbread houses, childrens message and candy bags. Please invite your friends and family to enjoy this special time with us. Youth Christmas Party Our youth group will be celebrating Christmas at the Kiyoi s house on Dec 16 th. We will have a gift exchange, so all youth who want to participate should bring a gift (value about $15) and get ready for some fun. All youth families, including siblings are invited to this dinner / gift exchange time. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Join us for a Christmas Eve service at 6 pm on Saturday, December 24 th. We will celebrate with a time of songs and fellowship. Combined Christmas Service The English and Nichigo congregations (and youth) will join together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Sunday, Dec 25 th at am. It is always special when our entire church family worships together. Bring your friends and family to rejoice with us. New Year s Celebration On Jan 1 st, we will have a guest speaker, Rich Bartlett from Gideon International come speak to us in the English service. Following the service, we ll enjoy a New Year s lunch together. 3

4 Prayer List Please pray for the following people who are recovering from or battling illnesses: Carolyn Ng: for healing of breast cancer. Cherry Kobashigawa: for healing of leg. Edith Ichiuji: for healing from pulmonary cancer Pastor George Toda: for strength. Hugh Gregg: for health. Pastor Jerry Higashi: for relief from Fibromyalgia Linda Kiyoi: breaking and passing of kidney stone. May Doi: for relief of pain on right side. Naomi Pruitt: for relief of hip pain. Patricia Kuo: from healing of thyroid cancer. Dr. Ross Wakai: blood pressure stabilizing and effective seizure medication. Dr. Ross & Kathy Wakai: successful pregnancy. Sam Sawamura: for healing spinal stenosis Setsuko Sugimura: for healing from cancer. Simon Lee: for full recovery. Tomi Doi: for successful peroteneal dialysis Tomoko Mills: for healing. Rev. Tetsuo Kagiwada: for healing from hip pain. Yoko McGowan: for continued and steady improvement and full recovery. Rev. Yuji Nakamura: for healing from colon cancer and speedy recovery from last surgery. If there are any additional prayer requests, please to Come join our prayer meetings: - Thurs, 7 pm for Nichigo - Tues, 9 am for English We need to be a praying church to be a growing church. Please pray for our local and overseas missionaries: JEMS: Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society Bay Area Rescue Mission JCCT: Japanese Christian Community of Tucson Mt. Olive Ministries: Rev. Nakano Pat Kuo of Campus Paul & Naomi Pruitt and family, OMF International Lillian Shinoda of OMSI & OMS Holiness Church of North America Roy & Nancy Toma and family, of Campus Jody & Lois Kubo and family, of Campus Greg & Carolyn Ng and family, of OMF International. Pauline Nishida of Campus RBC: Radio Bible Class (Daily Bread) World Vision: Youth/Children's Ministry December Worship Team Schedule Worship Leader G Imazu Date Clean up Crew Praise Team T Wollenweber & team Dec 4 th S/M Matsumoto, S/E Nishioka Ushers D Kamiya & O Doi Dec 11 th Youth Group Greeter P Endo Dec 18 th F Tanji, J Kiyoi, J Aono, M Whitley Prayer Warriors F Tanji / T DOi Dec 25 th K Garvey, E Hiura, M Yuen, N O Neal 1 D Kamiya, Tomiko 2 A Gray 3 R Sugimoto 4 E Hiura 5 S Hamilton 6 A Aono 7 Y Downer 8 P Endo 9 J Wong 10 S Nishioka / J Wong 11 S Dawkin 12 A Dawkin 13 S Dawkin / H Sandstrom 14 M Matsumoto 15 M Gregg 16 S Nishioka 17 L Wang 18 G/M Tanaka 19 T Doi 20 H Gregg / Whitley 21 H Kiyoi / Whitley 22 M Angevine / Whitley 23 Y Miike / W Gong 24 G Imazu 25 F Tanji 26 P Gong 27 E Hiura 28 E Hiura 29 M Angevine 30 E Kerr / C Kobashigawa 31 M Tanaka / M Sashahara Don t forget to pray on your scheduled day. Let s keep our church bathed in prayer. If you would like to sign up, please fill in a date on the calendar posted on the church bulletin board. Financial Information Aug 2011 Sept 2011 Oct 2011 Monthly General Fund Income 18, , , Monthly Expenses -20, , , Monthly Net Income -1, , , Dec Birthdays Shinano Angevine, 14 General Fund 28, , ,

5 Thanks Thank you to everyone who participated in the Christmas in October. Our missionary families kids will enjoy a gift from us to thank them for their ministry to the Lord. Thank you to everyone who came out for our Fall All Church Clean-up. Thanks also to those who helped with the food. Thank you to everyone who brought food to contribute to our annual Thanksgiving Luncheon. Thank you also to the ladies who organized and cleaned! Thank you to everyone who hosted an International student for Thanksgiving. What a rare opportunity for them to experience this most American of holidays! Thanks to the October & November coffee hour hosts. Thanks to the October & November worship teams and cleanup crews. Japanese Christian Church of Walnut Creek Sunday Schedule Japanese Worship Service 9.15 am Sunday School 9.30 am English Worship Service am Chris Doi, English Pastor Office: Home: pastorchrisd@gmail.com Jiro Fujioka, Japanese Pastor Office: Home: j_fujioka@earthlink.net Wai Gong, Youth Pastor Home: Cell: wai.gong@gmail.com Valley Vision is a publication of the Japanese Christian Church of Walnut Creek. Our website address is If you have any questions or comments, please send an to Patty Gong at patty.gong@gmail.com. Vol. 14, No