Camping Retreat 2014 recap

It has been just over a week since we have returned from our camping trip at Rocky Gap State Park (Flintstone, MD)!  This summer we extended our retreat to 4 days and 3 nights and had the privilege of experiencing both cabin and tent life!

For our EM, comment on your favorite moment at our camping retreat for this year!  (i.e. As a result of 2 days of rain, our first night [ever] in a cabin!)

Special thanks to Elder John Kim and Joyce Kim for funding our retreat t-shirts; thank you to the women’s ministry for fully funding our retreat and our choir “kwon-san-nims” for the extra prayers and affections for our trip.

Of course, a big thanks to Pastor Kim and Mrs. Kim — without them, we would have been foodless, shelterless, sopping wet, and one shuttlecock short of a full badminton set!  Thank you!

Annual Summer Camping Retreat!

Our long awaited summer camping retreat is finally around the corner! We’ll be leaving right after church at 4:00PM to Rocky Gap State Park in Flintstone, MD (ETA will be 6:00PM). We will return on Wednesday, July 16, at around 3:30PM.

Here is a list that Jacqui made for recommended materials for camping – 

• Bible 
• pencils/pens
• sleeping bag**
• towels
• clothes 
• warm clothes (it gets cold at night!)
• pajamas
• underwear
• socks
• flip flops
• shampoo/conditioner
• soap
• toothbrush/paste

** Let Becky or Jennifer know if you do not have a sleeping bag.  

Here are some optional items and reminders for other personal things you may want to bring –

• pillow
• bathing suit
• flashlight
• sunscreen
• hat
• sunglasses 
• camera/charger
• qtips
• lotion
• band aids 
• bug spray
• hair ties 
• brush

Thanks, again, Jacqui!

Remember to bring all your things with you to church on Sunday!  

Happy birthday, June people!

Matt and Khalia, hope you had a blessed birthday (July 30)! We celebrated their birthdays on Saturday and had a cupcake social after service on Sunday.  The third picture is a snapshot of life after service…getting nails done? Yes, getting the nails done.

He is patient with us

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9  NIV

Today’s verse of the day from BibleGateway is both peace-bringing and heart-challenging.

It’s peace-bringing in the sense that it reminds us of God’s heart for everyone — He wants us to repent and be reconciled with him forevermore.  Our God doesn’t delight in us perishing; living a life that is used and abused by sin; that does not know of God’s love for them; or has never tasted the forgiveness that has already been afforded by the bleeding Savior.

Today’s passage is heart-challenging in that the Lord is being patient in keeping his promise.  What promise?  The promise that He will return to the world, literally.  Okay, so then why is Jesus slow in returning to earth?  The Lord is not returning because he is being patient for the others to come to know Him…for you to come to know Him.  When Jesus fulfills His promise of returning, it will be both a time of jubilation and judgement.

Do you have a relationship with the Lord?  Can we say that we (and all the other people in our lives) are ready to face the day of Judgement or do we need time to preach the Gospel of salvation to our family, neighbor, professors, baby sitters, and co-workers and understand the Gospel ourselves?  Let us intentionally live, walk-out, and speak the Gospel.  There’s no time to lose.

Bible Study: Mark 16, Galatians 1-2

Hope you’re all enjoying the sunny, cloudless days of early spring!  The college folks are almost out of school — start studying for those finals and writing those papers early.  Summer vacation is so close…

We’ve finished the book of Mark after this week, and are now getting into the epistles (Paul’s letters to the early churches).  Keep recording those thoughts and impressions in your journals, and bring them out to Friday night  See you at 5:30PM in the MP room tomorrow.

Word on Your Heart

Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.  Job 22:22

For the past several Sundays, one of our elders came adorned with a new accessory:  a blue lanyard.  When he was asked what the lanyard was, he replied that he was trying to memorize scripture.  He said, “We must keep God’s Word in our hearts,” and he revealed what was hanging on the end of the lanyard.

Hanging from the lanyard, inside a plastic card holder was a piece of paper with scripture written on it.  It’s a pretty genius idea, but even more profound is how much he took to heart Job 22:22, to lay God’s word on his heart.  He took that message literally and figuratively; close to his chest was a passage that he wanted to inscribe onto his memory so that God’s word is truly on his heart and conscience.

The passage on his card that week is Proverbs 3:5-8:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.^[a]

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

This reminds us of how all of us are not too busy or not too wise to put a concerted effort toward memorizing scripture.  If our 85 year old elder can memorize scripture and have God’s word transcribed onto his heart, so can all of us!

He Has Risen!

Here’s a recap of Easter 2013 at Crystal:

• English Praise led by our EM team – Christine, Jennifer, Caroline and Becky (“How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin and “Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective Experiment) during Korean service
• PowerPoint of Christ’s life with piano accompaniment by Susie
• First communion of English Ministry at Crystal Church
• Distribution of Easter care-packages (must make a personal memo to take more pictures!)

Here’s the help we had in creating the Easter care-packages on the Saturday before Easter:

By the way, constructive feedback is welcomed regarding any of the bullet-ed points above!

Bible Study: Mark 4, 5, 6

Happy spring break to the UMD kiddos!  Remember to read, journal, and meditate on Mark 4-6.

Easter is coming in just under 2 weeks!!  On Saturday, March 30 at 1:00PM, we’ll be meeting in the MP room of church to dye eggs and assemble the greatly coveted Easter packages for our congregation!  Praise practice will ensue afterwards (prepare to be there for a longggggg time)!

Bible Study: Mark 1, 2, 3

We are going to continue our studies of the Bible with the book of Mark.  Exciting times — Mark gives us a brief 16 chapters starting with Jesus’s adult life.  We’re going to take this slow, as we know that there will be plenty of things to unpack and discuss regarding each chapter.  Remember to continue writing in your journal as you read each chapter.  Record the verse(s) that spoke to you the most along with your thoughts and impressions of the passage.  See you Friday!

Bible Study: 1 John, 2 John, 3 John

We just finished reading the book of John for the first time as a group, and now it is time for us to continue reading and studying the Word.  For this Friday, be sure to prepare for Bible study by having read 1 John, 2 John and 3 John.  Remember to mark at least one passage per chapter that spoke to your heart, and record your thoughts and impressions of the passage.  See you Friday!