The Agape Herald. April Reverend Dr. David Choi

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1 The Agape Herald Reverend Dr. David Choi April 2018 Jesus came into the world as the true light. But the darkness of the world hated him. Eventually, in the days of the Roman empire, those who relied on its power crucified him. The darkness rejoiced that it had won the light. But their joy did not last long. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. The light finally won the darkness. When the light came back, the darkness disappeared immediately. Jesus came to this earth as the true light. He came to kick out the darkness that is in us and to give us his light. The darkness cannot overcome those who believe in Jesus. Christians will be resurrected after their death and will eventually win. Many people suffer from the darkness of the world. Darkness and evil are the same thing. God created the good earth and he did not create the evil. The Bible describes the evil as things that counteract the holy nature of God (Psalm 51:4). With faith in these words, evil exists in the absence of God and goodness, as there is darkness where there is no light. All things are evil against God s will. Constant terrors, wars, massacre, violence, human rights abuse, child abuse, racism, corruptions, economic inequality, injustice, and crimes counteract the holy nature of God. Hate, greed, and anger in humans are also evils because they counteract God s attribute. We suffer from this darkness of the evil. The only way to defeat this darkness is by the light of Christ. When a light comes, darkness cannot exist. Jesus came to this earth as the true light. This light will come to those who believe in Him. If his light is in us, we trust in him and ask his help, all darkness and evil in us will go away. All we have to do is that, we, as disciples of the light of Jesus Christ, must proclaim the light of Jesus to the world. We cannot defeat the darkness of the world with our own strength. It is possible only by the light of Christ. Jesus, who came to us as the true light, taught us how to serve, love, and forgive others. And eventually, he overcame the evils of the world with his service, love, and forgiveness. We must fight the evil of the world to the end. Our weapons to fight evil are faith in Jesus, obedience, service, love, and forgiveness. How can these be weapons? The Gospel is always paradoxical. God uses the weak to overcome the strong. When we are weak, when we serve as his servants to the end with service, love, and forgiveness, we can be strong and eventually win. Believe this. This Sunday is Easter. In the morning of the resurrection, Jesus went to his disciples and gave them hope and courage. On Easter, we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Please come to church this Sunday and receive the hope and blessings that come from God. I pray that your life will be filled with God's grace and blessings during the month of April. Rev. Dr. David Cho

2 Happy Easter to all a. Aloha reception will be a potluck activity for Easter Sunday b. Family Ministries committee will provide beverage, sandwiches, small crudite and cake. c. Please come and enjoy the Easter egg hunt for the children and let s have a good fellowship at the Aloha Reception. There will be surprise treats for the adults at the Aloha Reception, come and see what it is. Family Ministries Aloha and see you all on Easter Sunday. Evangelism Easter is Here!!!2018 has started with sad news about the 17 students and adults in the Florida High School who were killed. Where will this senseless killing stop? When can God s Peace that passes understanding start? Who do we blame? Guns are like our cars. We are supposed to be the brains that motive people to do good. Are we as a nation guilty of not believing in God and not being our brother s keeper? With all the violence and cruel happenings on T.V., movies, and newspapers, are we getting complacent about what is right and what is wrong? Even in our judicial system, a criminal is not guilty until proven guilty, even though he wants to confess and pay for his crime. Are our churches not doing a good job of moral up-bringing? I know I am talking to the choir about this. Pray for our nation, our leaders, and our churches. We need to have God put back in our schools and our lives. Are we not saying the Pledge of Allegiance in schools anymore? I thank President Eisenhower for getting the phase, under God, put in our pledge. Thank you, Jesus, for your great sacrifice of love, that took away my sins and granted me eternal life. Somehow, every person knows there is a God, but many cannot accept Jesus as being one of the Trinity in father, son, and Holy Spirit. Every nation has experienced great pride during the Winter Olympics. One can see the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat in the faces of these athletes. We all feel for each and every athlete that attended the Games. They worked 4 long years to get there. In the end, there was comradery, sharing of joys, and even sympathetic groaning of defeat. Good sportsmanship was rampant and people reached out to other nations in this spirit! Why can t we be like that all the time? With the world getting smaller and the troubles that are occurring, we need more peace-makers. I saw a play where 6 mothers changed their children and brought up another nation s child for 6 months. In the end, the children were returned to their own parents. The wealth of understanding and good will was heart-felt. The parents (mothers) were displaying Christian values that they figured out without the Bible to lead them. I forgot the nations that participated in this experiment, but they were not politically compatible. It does take a very committed and faith-filled person to entrust one s child to an enemy. Very thoughtprovoking!!! Jesus s commandment, Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself fits the bill. The Evangelism Committee wanting to share the good news! Jesus is Lord!! Hallelujah!!!

3 Wahiawa United Methodist Women April Showers bring May flowers Are you tired out from our Spring Fair? Have you forgotten to bring your rummage &/or plants and foodstuff for the Country Store? Not to worry. We may have another Harvest Festive this Fall. We had a wonderful bunch of people come and enjoy our Spring Fair!! There will be more events for April. The list of things we can do goes on and on. April 1 st is Easter Sunday!! Dottie Williams suggested we women make, buy, or create Easter Bonnets for the occasion! Let s do it! Hope to see you all wearing your hats for that special day. We also want to have a display of quilts that will be blessed and given to Kapiolani Children s Medical Center, Maluhia Hospital in Kalihi, and our Wahiawa General Hospital s long-term care wing. There also may be a drawing for Helen Yanamura s lovely quilt. Lots of things are happening that day. April 7 th, Saturday, will be our Spiritual Life Retreat at Keolumana UMC. Please car pool with Carolyn Steuer or Hanne La Rue for the event. The guest speaker is Pastor Sunny Ahn, who resides at Kona UMC on the Big Island. Her Encounters with God and Neighbors in Sacred Spaces has my attention already! April 14 will be our regular women s meeting. However, it will be at 10 am in Room 14, next to the Pastor s Study. This is our time to let each other know what we would like to do for the next couple of months. We may get to visit the Birthing Stones outside of Wahiawa, or go to other places like the Bishop Museum, the Plantation Village in Waipahu, Iolani Palace, Washington Place, Wesley Foundation in Manoa, do an Ubuntu project at our church, etc. The Wahiawa United Methodist Women news. If you are not a member yet, call the church and let us know you want to join. This year, we are promising less meetings for planning, and more fun stuff, educational stuff, and helpful stuff to do. MESSAGE FROM THE DISTRICT LAY LEADER Grace and Peace to you, Hawaii District friends, during this blessed Holy Week. I hope that this Lenten season has provided you with much-needed time of reflection and pray- er in your life as a disciple of Christ. I appreciated that our Conference Communications post- ed daily Lenten reflections that were written by gifted, wise, and spiritual pastors within the five districts of the Cal-Pac Conference. I especially read with pleasure, the writings of our Hawaii District pastors! Praise the Lord for such strong leadership! At the time of this writing, Ewa Beach United Methodist Church officially united with Kapolei Korean Unit- ed Methodist Mission. The Korean mission church is no longer and Ewa Beach UMC now has three lan- guage ministries English, Tongan and Korean. Isn t it rather appropriate that during Lent, the death of one unit is re-born, in a sense, as another? We celebrate the diversity of this local church and pray that the ministries will flourish and grow in Christ, glorifying God in the work that it does together as one body, and in service to the community and the world. Thanks be to God!!! The first quarter of 2018 has been quite eventful for our District and I hope the Laity, especially, have taken advantage of the coaching, worship planning, How-to training and Britt Lectures that were made available to everyone. Not to mention joining in with the MLK, Jr parade and attending the Ho`oku`ikahi worship ser- vice events that affirm our call to live and promote Peace with Justice and practice Acts of Repentance. Stay tuned for more in the remainder of the year, and consider attending District and local church events that will encourage your servanthood and deepen your relationship with God. Annual Conference time will be here before you know it! Lay Delegates, be prepared for lively discussions and agenda items. Pray for Bishop Hagiya and the Cabinet--that they will be God-proclaiming, effective, courageous leaders as they lead us through matters of business and procedure. They are preparing us for the General Conference in At dawn on Easter morning, as we move from darkness to Light, may Christ our Savior be alive again within and all around you! Alleluia! He Lives! With warmest Aloha, Lynn Owan

4 April 14 th 8-10am at the Church Please Sign up for Altar Flowers and Aloha Reception!

5 CALLING ALL CAMPERS OHA ages 9 12 June $300/$350 LOKAHI ages June $350/$400 OPIO ages June $400/$450 CAMP DATE *Cost increases May 1 Registration closes June 20 This summer we will be offering summer camp experiences for three different age groups SUMMER CAMP REGISTER FOR CAMP AT campmokuleia.campbrainregistration.com 2018 HAWAII DISTRICT CONFERENCE Thirst No More Saturday, May 5, 2018 * 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Parker United Methodist Church Waikalua Road, Kaneohe, HI Registration Fee: $15.00 Per Person (Includes materials and lunch.) 18 HAWAII DISTRICT CONFERENCE REGISTRATION REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Friday, April 13, 2018 Make check payable to: HUMU. (PAYMENT must accompany registration.) Three Bento Lunch choices: 1. Regular includes beef, chicken, shrimp. OR 2. Salmon OR 3. Vegetarian Select only one

6 **April** Christian Symbol Phoenix DAILY BIBLE READING Philippians 3:7-11 Matthew 28:1-10 Psalm 119: John 4:19-21 Isaiah 49:13-18 Psalm 119:10-16 Exodus 17:8-16 Psalm 119: Luke 8:22-25 Lamentations 3:21-25 Psalm 16: Corinthians 12:6-10 Luke 11:9-13 Philippians 4:1-9 Psalm 27:1-14 Romans 8:12-17 Psalm John 10:1-5 2 Corinthians 4:8-18 Mark 9:35-37 Psalm 19:1-14 Luke 2:36-38 John 1:1-5 1 Samuel 17:31-47 John 6:25-35 Proverbs 3:5-10 Matthew 6:5-15 Romans 10:1-14 John 14:15-26 Romans 12:17-21 According to ancient legend, the phoenix lived for 500 to 1,400 years (depending on the version of the myth), at which time it would set its nest ablaze and be consumed in the flames. After three days the bird would be reborn and was said to repeat this cycle, rising from the ashes again and again. Early Christians saw in the phoenix a symbol of Jesus resurrection and of eternal life. Bible Quiz In John 10, what metaphor does Jesus use to describe himself? A. I am the gate B. I am the good shepherd C. Both A and B D. Neither A nor B Answer: C (See John 10:9, 11.) Easter is eternal If Easter means anything to modern man, it means that eternal truth is eternal. You may nail it to the tree, wrap it up in grave clothes and seal it in a tomb. But truth crushed to earth shall rise again. Truth does not perish. It cannot be destroyed. It may be distorted. It has been silenced temporarily. It has been compelled to carry its cross to Calvary s brow but with an inevitable certainty, after every Black Friday dawns truth s Easter morn.

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8 1 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Holy Communion Easter Egg Hunt after Church Finance Committee 7pm Bible Study 10am Bible Study 10am 18 Bible Study 10am 5 Grief Share 12 Grief Share Book Bunch 5:30pm 20 7 UMW Spiritual Life 9am 14 UMW Meeting 10am Work Day 8-10am Bible Study 10am Adin Council 7pm

9 5 Edna Ng, Allen Salausa 9 David Ramelb 12 Mokihana Sua 13 Leo Pascua 16 Shane Edra 19 Jeff Macatiag 22 Liam & Landen Valdez Leah Valenzuela 23 Annette Kono 28 Keith Isaacson 29 Edith Cambra 1. Potluck WUM Women 1. Lilies 8. Chloie Laygo 15. Doris Lee (to honor the Grandparents) 22. Pastor David Choi 29. Edith Cambra 14 Sawako & Gary LeMann *Liturgist * Doris Lee Church Office Phone: (808) Monday: 9am-12pm Tuesday thru Friday 9am-1pm Closed on Holidays *Sunday Counters Schedule * Edna Ng and Chuck Tengan Keith Isaacson and Bob Lormand Carolyn Steuer and Daisy Misaka Paul Misaka and Elliott Inamasu Paul Misaka and Bill Nations Address wahiawaumc@gmail.com Web Page Wahiawa United Methodist Church 1445 California Avenue Wahiawa, HI Food Bank Sunday April 29, 2018 Agape Deadline April 29, 2018

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