Category: Pastor’s Blog

A Word from Pastor Anne
The Greatest Story

I was looking at my internet browser history for something I had done earlier in the week. It keeps track of every website you look at. I was surprised and reminded of all the things I had gone to and looked at in just a few days, even just for a moment. Try it yourself!

The internet is full of all kinds of stories. It is like a library in your own home or one you carry with you on your phone or tablet. It is up to you to figure out what you want to consider looking at or not.

Some are true and some are not. Some things were important, some were interesting facts, some were just silly, curious or odd. There were sites that I ended up at after clicking one link to another, to another and another. You know how it is….

At times I find it overwhelming how much information is out there and how easily I can spend (waste!) my time reading and looking around the internet. When I read interesting or inspiring or helpful articles, I share them with others.

What makes a wonderful story? It may be meaningful or full of adventure, or have unexpected twists, endearing characters, villains, challenges….

As we begin December, we enter into the season of the greatest story ever—God made flesh. At SAINT PAUL, we are people of Inspiration, Incarnation and Intersection. The coming of Jesus at Christmas is the beginning of this great reality!

Inspiration: Have you ever left an ideal situation to go to a challenging and vulnerable situation? Maybe you were angry, resistant, resentful and wondering why me?! You may not have had a choice or did it for some very important reason. What kind of important reason could there be to do this?

Jesus left the wonder of heaven and God’s presence to do what?! Be with us in the mess of this world. Why would Jesus come? Love. And to give us a future we had no idea of.

Incarnation: Jesus is God in flesh, present in the world as a human. Incarnate means in flesh or to make flesh. ‘Nuff said.

Intersection: Jesus came to cross paths with us. He invites us to follow Him and share our lives together.

What could be more inspiring than to meet God in person?!

SAINT PAUL is a place of Inspiration, touched by the Spirit, changed by grace.

Let’s be open to being inspired this Christmas season!

A Word from Pastor Sun Hee
“Here I Raise my Ebenezer”

“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is one of my mother’s most beloved hymns. I remember hearing her sing those familiar verses all the time.  Verse two of the hymn goes:

“Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.”

I often wondered about that particular word “Ebenezer” in this verse, and when I learned a while back about its meaning, I became fond of the song even more.

You can find the word, Ebenezer, in 1 Samuel 7. On the battlefield, where years ago they had suffered defeat, Israel pled with God for help and He granted them a miraculous victory. Their leader, Samuel set up a monument to remind them of God’s amazing help and saving act. Samuel named the pillar Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”(1 Samuel 7:12) This stone pillar is there to remind them of the time when God turned things around and blessed them. Each time they saw the Ebenezer stone, they remembered God’s help in the past, which help them to rely on God’s help today and to be sure of God’s help for tomorrow.

It’s important for us to do the same today. Remembering God’s help yesterday helps us to trust him for today and tomorrow. Last month, I shared with you about the “Discipline of Noticing”, a spiritual practice where you begin to see God at work all around you. In this month of gratitude and thanksgiving, I hope that we would take time to raise our Ebenezer as well.

Sometimes, it is good to have a physical Ebenezer like my small stone that I have with the words “Faith” and “Love” written on it. I have this from a women’s retreat many years ago, when I was asked to write something that I would like to leave as a legacy to Kevin. Whenever I see this, I am thankful that God is raising him in His love and I am thankful that Kevin’s faith in Him is growing each day.

Sometimes, Ebenezer can be a list of past memories where God has helped you and granted you victory and/or peace. It could also be the memories of those who taught you, showed you and led you to life with Christ. We just celebrated All Saints Sunday where we remembered such Saints in our lives. We remember how meaningful that was for each one of us. Take time to write down those times that you would like to remember. This practice enriches your life of thanksgiving.

Your Ebenezer, your memories and the list of important events can be your present-day monument to all God has done for you in the past. Your memories reveal His presence throughout your life, even when you didn’t recognize His presence at the time. I hope by raising your Ebenezer, you will be blessed with His loving presence and with strength and trust in Him now and the days ahead.

With grateful hearts,
Pastor Sun Hee

A Word from Pastor Anne
An Abundance of Appreciation

This has been a busy fall here at SAINT PAUL! 50^th Anniversary, Crop Walk, A Thanksgiving Event dinner-dance and the annual United Methodist Men (UMM) golf tournament.  Not to mention Stewardship campaign, Step Up to the Plate for Jesus, and our Ministry Center construction.

Special thanks to

• Our Outreach team inviting us to mission for the hungry,
• Linda Canuto, Paz Flores and Vi Bautista for their leadership and planning the dinner dance,
• Our United Methodist Men for another fun day of fellowship and witness,
• Our Finance team inviting us to Step Up to the Plate for Jesus and worship God with our commitments,
• The many people who participated and joined in to help!

When I think about our church, my heart is warmed at the sight of people following Jesus. Our many leaders make these special events happen. Other leaders continue throughout the year in ongoing ministries such as worship, small groups, SPYouth, Kingdom Kidz, prayer team, visitation, caring, Abode Services, Aegis Living, Trustees and Staff Parish.

At the beginning of the year, we talked about how we have about seventy leaders in different positions, offering their gifts and talents to serve God and build this community of Jesus followers more like Him. Kind of like the 72 followers that Jesus sent out two by two in Luke 10:1.

Recently our Committee on Nominations and Lay Leadership met to look at inviting people into ministry and leadership. As I looked through the names of people here at SAINT PAUL, I think we have over 200 people of all ages who serve in some way and many in multiple ways! That is in a church of about 300 (official) members.

I hope you received a letter from me and Ken Mehlhorn, our Finance committee chair, as part of our recent Stewardship campaign. My heart warmed as I saw your names. I thought of you and your family, saw your faces in my mind and where you sit in church. I give thanks for you and the many things that you each bring to this part of the body of Christ at 33350 Peace Terrace in Fremont! May God bless you and continue to grow you as His follower!

Recently there has been a 7-day gratitude challenge going around on Facebook. You are to post 3 things you are grateful for each day for 7 days and challenge 2 other people to join you. What if we do that and challenge one person at SAINT PAUL and another outside so it keeps coming back around to do again and again? What a great thing to keep doing together!