just to say “hello” September 9, 2009

Hey everyone!

It’s Jimin, dropping by to let you all know that I am doing well.  I hope everything over in Toronto is fine!  I really wish I was there for the church’s birthday celebration, so you guys better eat double the amount you usually do in remembrance of me (hehe)!!

So today was the first day of school.  Nothing too dramatic or exciting, as this class had a lot of 2nd year MA students in it as well, so the prof decided not to do introductions or anything.  But we did have a program orientation last Friday, so everyone was familiar with everyone…except I arrived late to the orientation because my internet technician was setting up my internet at my apartment, so I missed the introduction part!  But the program director decided to put me on the spot and asked me to introduce myself when I walked in late.  It was kind of nerve-wracking as I seriously had no clue who anyone was (and needless to say, the only asian girl there), but one of the PhD students recognized my topics of interest and asked “Did you write that essay about High School Musical in the U of T student journal?”  Which kind of surprised me, but I was very flattered because he said he liked it and thought it was funny.

I think being the only asian girl in the entire program is kind of working towards my advantage, because ALL my profs seem to know who I am even though I have never met them.  I suppose I will stand out – which is good!

So far I have made a few friends within the program.  On the day of orientation, I just grabbed a couple people that seemed to be taking the same courses and negotiated splitting the cost of the coursepacks with them (they are soooooo expensive), because we have access to the copy machine in the office.  I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, but we are all starving students!

Anyway, other than school, I have been attending Grace Montreal Church (gracemontreal.com) for the past 2 Sundays.  The pastor (Chris Lee) is a 2nd-gen Korean from Toronto who planted the church in Montreal about 9 years ago.  From what I can tell, his vision is to help students away from their home churches/families to stay on the right track with God, and make Montreal a more Godly city (he once referred to Montreal as “sin city”!)  He is a very articulate and interesting speaker, but what I really like about him is that he isn’t afraid to get straight to the point and attack relevant issues.  The church is very small (only 1 service on Sundays), but it has 5 very active small groups, and I think there is a pre-school ministry (but I’m not sure).

I asked Pastor Chris how to make our church more multi-cultural and multi-ethnic like GMC, but he said that it’s really hard in Toronto, especially when one is attached to a stereotypical “Korean” church.  I suppose that the French-ness of Montreal brings a different spin to things.  The annual GMC retreat is coming up in October and the topic is about marriage, love, and relationships, so I will hopefully be attending that as long as my school schedule doesn’t kill me.

Wow – this is getting long.  Oh, but I have to share one last thing with all of you.

I’m sure all of you know that finances were such a huge worry when making the decision to move to Montreal.  And I was even MORE worried when I found out that my tuition was $7000 per semester (I almost died of shock, to be honest).  And then I found out that OSAP was only releasing $9000 for the entire school year, so I was really really unsure of what I was going to do.  I was panicking trying to find random grants and bursaries, or even a part time job, but I’m basically ineligible for any job since I am not a French/English bilingual.  But today, I found out that there is this silly online form that I need to fill out and nearly half of the cost of my tuition would be removed from my tuition.  So YAY! 

This was my first year having to seriously worry about finances on my own, and I felt like a sinking ship in a storm of debt, but God really does work in mysterious ways and taught me a lesson to always carefully read all instructions, to seek advice, and to trust in Him.  Gee, if I only had done that in the first place…

I will repost soon with pictures of my apartment and some other updates.  I miss you all and I can’t wait to see you all again!

 

-jimin

Three Big Temptations (Luke 4:1-13)…. July 19, 2009

coming soon…

hahah….i was gonna write it in tonight but my notes are so jumbled that i would have to re-read it and try to get a clear thought running…but i don’t think that’s gonna happen tonight!! (notes are TOO messy and written in the moment…ie/scribbles and arrows and brackets everywhere). anyways…i know it’s been a while since i’ve written a new post but i will try to get it up as soon as possible…esp. while it’s still fresh in my brain.

however, if there is anyone else who is willing to post a summary of today’s sermon feel free to post a way..otherwise i’ll have it done sometime later this week!! thanks for your ongoing patience in this matter. hahaha….man did we have good eats today! and thanks to all who shared a bit of their testimony today…it was on the spot but it still spoke to us!!

-jen

If you know God (Philippians 3:7-10)…. June 2, 2009

hello all….sorry for not posting for the past couple of weeks, but i’m back with posting sermon notes. again…feel free to add to the posts through the comments!!

 

so yesterday’s sermon was fairly straight forward…and han msn used daniel to illustrate what you do and who you are if you know God.

so if you know God then… (i added the ‘then’)

1) you have great energy and passion for God (i didn’t really have any notes that elaborated on this point…haha..sorry)

 

2) you have great thoughts of God – for daniel, God is a God of knowledge and power. in daniel 2:20-22 daniel says “Praise be to the name of the God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he set up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness. and light dwells with him.” he also refers to God as great and awesome in daniel 9:4. how do you describe him? – as an awesome God? as a merciful God?, …etc

 

3) you show great boldness for God – in daniel 3:15-18 there were three jewish men; shadrach, meshach and abednego, who did not worship or bow down before the image of gold that king nebuchadnezzar set up. they show great boldness for God. ”O Nebuchadnessar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worsihp the image of gold you have set up.” they were loyal to God and were willing to risk their lives for Him.

 

4) you have great contentment in God - knowing God and knowing that he knows you gives you peace. you can have peace because if you know God, then you know that he works for those who love him, therefore in knowing this, the peace of God can rule your heart.

 

so, in knowing all of this now, do you have a desire to know God? do you really want to know Him and do you want to have fellowship with Him? hosea 6:6 states how we should acknowledge God and press to know him.

 

han msn’s finishing thoughts:

God has come down for us to meet him and joini n fellowship with him. he personally invited us to know him and serve him-he called us. what a priveledge is it that someome so great would open up himselg to us – to know him, to serve him, to have conversations and fellowship with. the best thing that can happen in our lives is to know God. so…have you accepted his invitation?????

Dreaming of a Happy Family (Exodus 20:1-17)… May 7, 2009

Since Mother’s Day (Parent’s Day) is soon approaching, MSN found it appropriate to focus last Sunday’s sermon on ‘Dreaming of a Happy Family”. (Just to let you know, I’m almost certain that I missed a couple of key points. I’m looking at my notes and they’re shorter than usual. So if there’s anything that I missed from last Sunday’s sermon, please add it on to this message. Thanks!! )

 

So, although the Bible scripture was Exodus 20:1-17 (The Ten Commandments), the main focus was suppose to be on v.12, commandment 5 – “Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

 

God gave us this commandment, to honour our fathers and mothers, but how can we do this? Well, what I got out of the sermon was that we can do this by caring for their emotional health as well as their spiritual health. By caring for their emotional health means to acknowledge how much our parents do for us and to understand and share their burdens. We can acknowledge, understand, and share the budrens of our parents by spending time with them in conversation. Just asking how their day went or how they’re doing can make a huge difference in our relationship with them. Spiritual care for our parents can be done by praying for them.

 

This commandment is so important to God that he made it the first commandment on the second tablet of commandments, so that through this we may know how to honour (have healthy relationships) with not only our parents, but to others as well. By honouring our parents we can extend our honour to everyone else (so says Apostle Peter).

 

Not only can we care and pray for our parents, but of course our parents are caring and praying for us too. Esphesians 6:4 says “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” This is an important message for us to know not only as children – to know that our parents are doing what they can to nuture our minds, bodies, and souls and to raise us with a knowledge and love for Christ – but also as future parents. We will one day know the blessing of having children and raising them in a way that will honour God. And it’s in this that he writes “Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” MSN calls this (the bolded portion of the verse) a generational blessing – parents will continue to ‘train and instruct’ their children and children will continue to ‘honour their mothers and fathers’ and this will continue on when these children become parents themselves and when their children have children…etc etc.   

 

So, in knowing all this, we should/can visualize how we are going to raise our own children!

God’s passion for us is our hope (Psalm 42:1-5).. May 1, 2009

Thanks for dropping by!! I’m going to try to keep this nice and short because the message last Sunday was plain and simple, and loud and clear: “Wake up from your spiritual slumber!!”

 

MSN really heard God’s message for us because I think we are lacking passion for Him, his work and his people. But God’s passion for us is not lacking, but is full and everlasting–so where is our passion for him? It’s in Him!

 

We must respond to God’s desire to cultivate a passion for him. This can be done through prayer, worship, and Bible study. Through prayer we open our hearts to God and shows our longingless to be in his presence. Through  worship and Bible study we again are in his presence and spiritual growth begins. We need to be willing to spend time with him and we need to frequent ourselves to be in his presence. Even if we only have a few moments to spend with him (prayer, worship, Bible study..) HE will take advantage of that time. As the psalmist writes “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1) 

 

The psalmists also writes to remind himself that when he is downcast to turn back to God and wait upon Him patiently. He says this twice in Psalm 42 -  in verses 5 and 11 (”Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”)

 

So, to sum it all up;

 

His passion and love for us is everlasting.

Our passion is continuously challenged and compromised. But we can restore our passion by returning back to him when we stumble, when we feel weak or dismayed, or when we want to give up –and this can be done when we go to the presence of God through prayer, Bible study, and worship because our passion comes from HIS passion for us!!

 

note: After reading this over, it didn’t seem too plain and simple afterall. Sorry if I didn’t write it too clearly, but I still hope that the message was loud enough for you to Wake Up!! :)

Three Gifts the Risen Lord gives to us (John 20:19-23) April 20, 2009

Today’s sermon was about the three gifts Jesus gave to us; peace, guidance, and power.

Here are some of the notes that I took during service. Feel free to share, add, or comment on what you took out of today’s sermon.

 

 1. Peace

- “Peace be with you!” ~ These were the words of Jesus to not only his disciples but also to us. He said this to them before he was put on the cross and also said it to them when he visited them after his resurrection. John 20:19 states that, “the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”. Jesus came to calm them and reassure them and “Peace be with you” was the first thing he said to them.

- peace = tranquility in the midst of trouble; a sense of calm in spite of life’s storms; opposite of worry (worry and peace cannot co-exist)

- “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

- Pray and have trust in the Lord. Turn your cares into prayers. Cast all anxiety on him for he cares for you. Do not let your hearts be troubled.

- God never says “Oops!”. He never makes any mistakes; “The mind of a sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace..” (Romans 8:6)

 

2. Guidance

- Jesus was now taken away and the disciples didn’t know what to do next. They didn’t know what they were supposed to do. Were they to return to their old lives and forget all that had happened or continue to move forward with their ministry?

- When Jesus visited them after his death and resurrection he helped them ‘chart a new course’ –now their ministry begins, their responsibility increases (liberating people from the bondage of sin). With the guidance of the Holy Spirit they were able to move forward.

 

3. Power (of love)

- Jesus gave his disciples (and us) the power of the Holy Spirit (love); “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. (John 20:22)

- This relates to the creation story in Genesis; “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.”(Genesis 2:7). We experienced the breath of life in Genesis, and now we get to experience the breath of the Holy Spirit (in John) who gives us new life and power.

 

Han MSN ended her sermon with a simple statement/question;

            “The risen Lord Jesus wants to enter your world, to give you peace, direction, and power. Have your welcomed him?..”

My Dear Friends… April 13, 2009

My dear friends! Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I would like to remind you that the crucified Lord is risen from the dead! He is no longer in the tomb. He is alive. I hope all of you meet the risen Lord. He is welcoming you all to meet him. He wants to give you hope when you are in despair, comfort when you are sad, peace when you are troubled, healing when you are sick, rest when you are tired and burdened, and a direction and meaning of life when you are lost. He is the way, the truth, the life! Trust in Him, he has overcome the world! I hope to see you all tomorrow at 11:00. a.m., and we will witness our friends, Sang Ji, William, and Emi professing their faith in the Lord and share joy of the Lord for God’ reassurace of love for them. Congratulations to you, Sang Ji, William, and Emi! Your pastor, Rev. Han

hello all…. :) March 30, 2009

hey EM young adults!!  it’s sunday night and i’m on the ‘unofficial’  EM young adult web/blog page trying to make it ‘official’!!

 

i know you all have your respective blog pages that your awesome cell leaders have established for you, but i think it’s also important that we have one common page that we can all contribute to.

 

i’ve already added jimin’s group to this site and have also sent out invitations to jiye’s group, to join wordpress and this page.

 

i hope we can utilize this web/blog page to keep in touch with each other during the week(s), and to lift each other in our spiritual walk with Jesus! 

 

thanks….and once again, WELCOME!!!

-jen

WELCOME February 21, 2009

Welcome everyone to TECOW!