Hope Newsletter. f ree. Journeys. From the Pastor's Desk

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1 Hope Newsletter Journeys From the Pastor's Desk Issue 22 July 2011 f ree Dear Friends of Hope Lutheran Church, There are as many journeys in life as there are kinds of people in this world. Some journeys are desirable while others are painful, but each journey leads to the potential for significant growth and opportunity for spiritual awakening. The recorded account in Luke 24:13-35 of two disciples on their journey to Emmaus is an example. Very little is known of these two disciples, except that one was called Cleopas. Whoever they were, they were completely discouraged. During Holy Week, they were in Jerusalem, witnessing the arrest, the trial, the sentence, the crucifixion of Jesus, and the rumors of Jesus resurrection. They had followed Jesus, but they were disappointed and disheartened at the conclusion of Holy Week. Their dreams and hopes of Jesus were shattered when Christ was crucified on Good Friday. It was a difficult journey back to Emmaus. As they were walking on the road, talking over all the things that had happened that week, Jesus came up and walked beside them, but they did not recognize Him. Now, let s consider this for a moment. We all have our Gethsemanes, times when we feel like crying out, Father, please let this cup pass from me. I don t want to drink it! It s too much! It s too hard! Why is everything happening to me? We also have our Calvarys when we feel so alone and we cry out to God, Why have you forsaken me? It is also possible for us to have a resurrection. The Apostle Paul reminds us that all who have been baptized in Jesus have also been baptized into His death. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we too are raised to walk in a new life. In Jesus we pass from death to eternal life. If we have our Gethsamenes, Calvarys, and even a resurrection, is it possible that we can have an Emmaus journey too? Here we are, traveling down the road of life, our hopes and dreams broken and shattered, our prayers seemingly unanswered. We try to deal with everything by ourselves and suddenly Jesus shows up. He walks beside us; He encourages us; He never leaves us alone. But do we recognize Him? As these two disciples left Jerusalem, they were moving away from the fellowship of the other (please turn over) Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Thank you for your responses to our last issue of Hope, in which we shared stories from Hope s family. Were you able to match the precious baby photos to the names on the Who am I? page? We at Hope Lutheran Church are blessed to have a caring network from whom we can gain support and encouragement and with whom we can share our stories. Because we see the value of sharing our stories and adventures, the Hope newsletter team has decided to dedicate the next two issues to the theme of Journeys. Many of you have embarked upon and (please turn over) Hope Lutheran Church and School 55 San Fernando Way, Daly City, CA Tel.: (650) HOPE Fax: (650) For questions, comments or to submit articles, please contact Esther Chan [echan@sfsu.edu] or VanessaFan[lowbvan@yahoo.com] 1

2 (Editor's notes continued) experienced such interesting and magnificent journeys, so please feel free to share them with us. If you were not able to submit a piece for this issue, please consider contributing to our next issue. In this issue, you ll find descriptions of journeys to specific places, and reflections of journeys that have led to a deeper understanding or awareness of something. I m sure you will enjoy reading the pieces in this issue, learning from the life lessons that are shared in each piece, or simply sharing in the knowledge that in each experience we encounter, our Lord is there to guide us. Our contributors have reconfirmed God s everlasting love and His promise of blessings. Happy reading! Esther Editor-in-Chief (From Pastor's Desk continued) believers, moving away from church. Disappointment, discouragement, and frustration often can cause us to walk away from the fellowship of believers, away from church. When Christians allow themselves to become preoccupied with their broken hopes and frustrated plans, they often withdraw from the strength found only in the fellowship of believers. With that in mind, the best sign of recovery from spiritual depression is a desire to come back to the house of God--the church. Perhaps, you wonder why Jesus appeared to these two disciples? Based on the text, Jesus appeared to them because He wanted to build them up again. Jesus knew their hearts and their needs. They were hurting and Jesus cared We can take to heart today that Jesus often makes His most remarkable revelations to the least remarkable people. Here we have two disciples whom we have never heard of before and never see again after this. The point is: There are no unimportant people to Jesus. To them and to us, Jesus says, I had to go through the cross, and you have to carry your crosses too. I m not going to take this road away from you, but I will walk with you, even though you may not recognize me. I will walk next to you, empowering you every step of the way. The grief of these two disciples blinded them. Their attention to their own loss and pain prevented them from focusing on God and finding out what God was doing for them at that very moment. The truth is Jesus was always there, walking beside them, talking with them, leading and guiding them. Jesus says in Matthew 28:20, I will be with you always, until the very end of the age. My friends in the Lord, do we recognize Him? I pray that you do. In His service, Pastor Woo Bible Class Journey John Rixe After I retired in 2002, I started on a little journey of spiritual growth that has proven to be exciting and a lot of fun. Every Wednesday morning I look forward to driving over to Hope to attend Pastor Woo's Bible Class. As most of you know, Pastor Woo is an outstanding Bible teacher, and his interests and abilities are focused in this area. Also, in recent months we have had the privilege of Pastor Mabry's supplementary participation. We have a good lively group of adult students who are not at all hesitant in asking questions and joining in the discussions. Many of us are retired but all ages are welcomed. If you are free Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. come on over and check us out. "Exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come (1 Timothy 4). 2

3 Journey Sandy Ma I remember when I was young, my family always traveled to different countries on family trips. We traveled to Europe, Australia, America, and Japan. It was a lot of fun because we got to explore different places, food, and cultures. However, since I was so young, I rarely recall how the trip went, except through photos that we took during the trips. As I have grown older, I have come to realize traveling is a luxury and something that I look forward to. The planning and the anticipation give me a sense of hope when I have a tough day at work. Kevin and I would plan short trips and just spend time together, although usually the anticipation for the trip would not quite match up to the actual trip. Still, I like to travel. I like the planning and the anticipation. Sometimes, people say traveling is like a journey. You may not know what will come or whom you will meet, and the surprises can be good or bad, but you will always learn something. You will explore the different places, food, and cultures of others but you will make sense out of it and adapt it to your own values. My life is just like a journey. The older I get the more people I meet and the more I learn. I hope I will collect everything into my memory and learn something out of it. Even though there are difficult people and challenges, when I look back, everything seems to fall in the right place, and we can t call it coincidence because it s just impossible. If you know my God, you will agree with me that He is behind everything. Here, I share with you one of my favorite songs, Journey, by Corrine May. 'Til I know where I'm supposed to be And I don't know if I can believe When shadows fall and block my eyes I am lost and know that I must hide 'Til I find my way home to you Many days I've spent Drifting on through empty shores Wondering what's my purpose Wondering how to make me strong I know I will falter, I know I will cry I know you'll be standing by my side And I need to be close to you Sometimes it seems no one understands I don't even know why I do the things I do When pride builds me up 'til I can't see my soul Will you break down these walls and pull me through? 'Cause it's a long, long journey 'Til I feel that I am worth the price you paid for me on calvary Beneath those stormy skies When Satan mocks and friends turn to foes It feels like everything is out to make me lose control 'Til I find my way home to you God is Good I am so glad I belong to the family of God, washed by the spirit, cleansed by His blood, Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this road. I am so glad I belong to the family of God. I want to thank all my friends and family for all the love and prayers for me when I received the news of Wayne s health. I want you to know that the love of God was so wonderful. I could feel the Holy Spirit s work in comforting me. There is truly comfort in the power of God. Thank you and may the Holy Spirit continue to work in all of you as you come to hear of more needs of comfort from other family members. God is so good. He is so good to me and all of you. Lovingly, in Christ Jesus, Junette Cockerill 3

4 I went to Disneyland and went to Space Mountain. It was very scary but fun. I went upside down and sideways. I went to shoot the Zurg things. It was fun. I went to the rocket and rode fast. It was cool. ~ Benison I went to Hawaii and felt excited but I didn t like being stuck on the plane. When I got off, I was active since I had built up all my energy on the plane. I wanted to run around. After a week, we got back on the plane. I was sad that the trip was over. ~ Tiffany Jiang Describe a journey you went on. (2nd to 6th graders) I went to Hong Kong and visited my aunt. We went to Ocean Beach and my sister, Florence, and I got a toy penguin. Although it was raining, it was still warm. Once my brother, Edwin, Florence, my aunt, and I went to my parents apartment and rang the door bell. They didn t answer, so we rang it again. Our aunt called them, but there was no answer. We finally figured out that they were in the bathroom. We had a lot of fun in Hong Kong. ~ Fiona Chau On Friday, June 10th, my family and my friend, Bethany, went ice skating. When we got to the ice-skating rink, we were too early, so we took a few pictures with Snoopy and Charlie Brown. Later, we went and picked our shoes. My dad picked the most comfortable style for us. I asked for size 13 and Bethany asked for size 2, but the workers gave me size 2 and Bethany size 13. We had to switch the shoes. Finally, after we put on our shoes, we went in the ice-skating rink, but after half an hour, we had to get a change of shoes because our shoes were not balanced. I fell and after a few rounds, we had to leave. ~ Kaylie I liked it when I was umpire at our baseball game for the 5th graders and teachers. It was very tiring because we stood up for an hour. Our teachers didn t let us sit down, but it was still fun. ~ Kristina My Trip to Windsor On Thursday, June 9th, I went with Pastor Woo s family to Windsor. When we got to the hotel, Kaylie s mom went to check in, but the hotel workers told us we had to wait until 3:30 to check in, so we went to Walmart. After we got a room, we got something to drink and then we went swimming. The next day, we went swimming again, and we went to Snoopy s ice-skating rink. That was one of the best trips ever! ~Bethany 4 I went to Sea World in San Diego. I saw a person fall in the water, but a killer whale saved the person because the killer whale was trained. Afterwards, I went on a boat and people shot water at us when we passed them. ~ Brian I went to Malibu with my brother s friends. We played miniature golf. There were 20 courses. I felt really happy! ~ Grant I went to Disneyland with some of my friends at church. We rode on a ride called Splash Mountain about five times and we truly got soaked. Almost every night I slept in a hotel room with my BFF, Crystal Yu. We watched a small preview of the movie, Tron Legacy, and my sister, Fiona, almost lost her hat at the theatre. We watched the beautiful fireworks on New Year s Eve and we didn t go to sleep until 4:30 AM!!! Our last ride at Disneyland was It s a Small World. I slept through most of the ride home, because I was really, really, really tired. ~ Florence Chau I went to Hawaii and the plane ride there was really boring. When I got off the plane, I had to wait for hours. (It was 30 minutes but to me, it felt like hours. I was only 6!) Finally, we went to the hotel. The trip was fun. When we left, I was sad. ~ Emily I fell down a small hill at church because Jeffrey and his friends were playing with invisible string. I tripped, and I had to get stitches. When I was about to get my stitches, I had a vision of a doctor skateboarding. ~Tiffany

5 Directions: Test your knowledge of Bible trivia by answering the following questions. Submitting your answers: Please write your answers on a separate sheet of paper and drop it off in our feedback/offering box at the rear of the Sanctuary. Submission Deadline: July 31, 2011 at 12 p.m. Names of winners (those whose answers are 100% correct) will be posted in the next issue of Hope s newsletter. Paul's first Journey 1. How many missionary journeys did Paul undertake before his journey to Rome? 2. Who did he take with him on his first journey? 3. What relation was John Mark to Barnabas? 4. On which island did he preach on his first journey? 5. Who did Paul heal at Lystra? 6. What was the name of the city where Lydia was converted? 7. To where did Paul & Silas flee? 8. Where was Paul when the Lord spoke to him in a vision? 9. Whose house did Paul go to in Caesaera? 10. What was Paul s home town? Congratulations to our 4 winners for getting 100% of the answers correct on the Trivia Pursuit questions in our Spring issue: Dee West Velda Chin Grayson and Barbara Tammy Ma Answers to April s Trivia Pursuit Questions: 1. Solomon threatened to divide the child 2. Jesus 3. Eli 4. The hearts of the children will turn to their fathers 5. The hole of an asp 6. Five loaves and two fishes 7. He was a shepherd 8. He was eight 9. Paul 10. Timothy 5

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