THANK YOU PASTOR FRANCIS

Pastor Francis,

We at Covenant Community Church would like to send to you our sincerest thanks for generously sharing your time, wisdom, and knowledge with us this past Sunday. Your visit was a true source of encouragement, not only in the words of advice you offered, but also in the fondness to see that our own pastor is blessedly amongst respectable, knowledgeable, and supportive peers. Although God continuously sprinkles our days with endless challenges, He also occasionally reminds us that none of them are wholly insurmountable under His guidance and providence. Because your church and congregation are planted on the east coast, we hope that you would drop by anytime you are on the west (warmer and better) coast again, as our doors are always open. We pray that you have a safe trip back home and we wish you, your family, and your congregation a wonderful new year!


Sincerely,

Covenant Community Church

SERMON TEXT: MALACHI 3:6-10 ESV (COURTESY OF PASTOR FRANCIS)

6 For I the LORD do not change, therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, "How shall we return?" 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, "How have we robbed you?" In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

*This week's sermon was generously provided by Pastor Francis Chang.

BLOGGING TIP #1

Hey All,

I forgot to mention before that there's an easy way to keep up with the blog. I know it's difficult to remind ourselves to check the blog on a regular basis, what with our tightly knit daily routines and all. Sometimes there's no time in our day, or we just simply forget. Well follow these steps and you can keep the blog right in front of you whenever you are online:

1. Open your Firefox browser (If you're still using the virtually obsolete Internet Explorer or Safari browsers you need a serious upgrade. Download Firefox here: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/)
2. Go to this blog (well I guess you're already here).
3. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page.
4. Left of center you will see a link that reads "Subscribe (Atom)." Click that.
5. The next page will ask you to subscribe using "Live Bookmark." Do so.
6. Save in your Bookmark Menu.
7. A "Covenant Community Church" tab should appear at the top of your browser, just under the URL field. Voila!

From now on you can access any and all updates by clicking on this tab.

Contact Eric if you have any questions:

(310) 622.5903

eric.bong.nam@gmail.com

PUPPY NEEDS A HOME

We have a Blue-Nosed Pit Bull up for adoption. She's purebred and AKC certified with all her documentation. She has all her shots for the year. Her name is Lima and she's 2 and 1/2 months old. Super smart and super sweet. She's already fully potty-trained and can follow basic commands. These dogs are hard to come across, and grow up to be beautiful. Lima needs a good home, preferably someone with Pit experience, not because Pits are such a scary breed or anything. On the contrary, Pit Bulls are amazing and very intelligent animals that deserve a proud owner and good care. Let me know if you're interested.

RECIPE: "DANGEROUS" PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

Lord knows I don't need anymore cheesecake, or any other form of cake for that matter. So in the spirit of "letting go" I want to share my cheesecake recipe with you all. Well it's not really mine, it's based off of Emeril's recipe with a few tweaks here and there. Play around with it and see what happens...

















Crust Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups of Honeymaid Graham Cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup of ground pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of regular unsalted butter

Filling Ingredients:

• 24 oz. of softened cream cheese (3 x 8oz. packages)
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• 14 oz. can of Libby's Pumpkin Puree

Kitchenware:

• Oven
• Mixing bowl
• 9-12 inch Springform pan
• Pestle and mortar AND/OR
• Electric chopper
• Shallow baking pan
• Wooden spoon

Steps:

1. Leave cream cheese out of refrigerator in order to bring it to room temperature. Trying to mix cold cheese is like churning asphalt.
   
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. Start on crust by finely grinding graham crackers and pecans. It's a bit more work, but I like to use a pestle and mortar. You get more control over the fineness (or coarseness) of the ingredients, but you can always use an electric food chopper or coffee grinder if you want.
   
4. Mix the dry crumbs, pecans, and cinnamon in a bowl.
5. Melt butter in a microwave for about 1-1.5 minutes, depending on the power level of your microwave.
6. Stir butter into the bowl until the dry ingredients become evenly moist.
7. Pour the mixture into the bottom of the springform pan and press down to an even thickness. The crust should climb up an inch or two up the side of the pan. I like to make a fist and push down with my knuckles and dorsal digits like a gorilla.
   
8. Put aside and work on filling.
9. In a large mixer bowl combine the softened cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract. You can use an electric hand mixer or mix by hand. I burned out two hand mixers in a row making this cake so I now go with the latter method. It's harder on the elbows and you'll end up with small lumps of white unmixed cream cheese in the final product, but the taste is all the same. Mix and beat this until everything is combined and fluffy.
10. Now add the eggs and yolks all at once. Stir slowly until all combined.
    
11. Finally, fold in the heavy cream and pumpkin puree until evenly mixed (or you can mix halfway to make a sort of marbled effect).
12. Pour this mixture over the crust in pan until every last drop is out. I like to think that every little bit I can scrape out is another bite I can have later so I'm usually very thorough on this part. This mentality is also why I should be banned from eating cheesecake altogether.
13. Place the Springform pan onto the shallow baking pan or sheet and place in oven. This because the butter tends to seep through the Springform and can burn at the bottom of your oven. It also helps to evenly distribute the heat.
    
14. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the center. Also do a shake test. The center of the cake should appear almost set when you shake the pan. I once had to cook a cake for over an hour, but this all this depends on how often you open the oven and let the heat out.
    
15. Cool for 15-20 minutes.
16. Loosen the snapped sides and cool for another 30 minutes.
17. Then chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
18. Serve liberally.
19. Smile.
20. Stop nagging your husband.
    

SERMON TEXT: MARK 4:1-20 ESV

The Parable of the Sower

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. 9 And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."


The Purpose of the Parables

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." 13 And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them 18 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And other are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

Happy New Year! Want to encourage everyone to trust the Lord in 2010. May we not worry about our life here on earth for we have our Heavenly Father who loves us and takes care of us. This will be a big challenge but this will also bring us closer to our Father in heaven. Think how amazing it is...we were once sinners, the enemies of God but now in Christ, God the Father obliged himself unto us as our Heavenly Father...we are now his children...we are now his beloved. Therefore, we don't have to worry about what to eat, what to drink and what to wear for our Father in Heaven knows our needs and provides us. This is the reason why we can now seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Our Christian life has to be a relfection of this reality and must be a presentation of our identity in Christ. So let me challenge you...better yet, let me give you the glorious privilege...seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. May 2010 be served for His glory...God bless.

PB