MARCUS TURNS TWO

This post is a little late. Our Marcus turned 2 on Feb 15th. We are so thankful for him. Marcus, I promise to improve on my rice krispy cake :)

SNOW PLAY

Here are some pictures of a recent day trip that a few of the families took together. We went up to wrightwood on President's Holiday. The kids had a lot of fun sledding. Poor Christina was so sick but was super mom that day just so her kids could have some fun. Jerry and Soo prepared kimbap for everyone which was awesome. The kids ate in the trunk of the The Oh's minivan and Jerry made some spicy Shin Ramen on the side of the road with his portable stove. What a memorable trip. Looking forward to more memorable CCC family trips together. Can't wait to go camping together!

SERMON TEXT: MARK 4:35-41 ESV

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already fillling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

2010 NEW CREDIT CARD ACT AND FHA RULES

Sweeping changes have been made to credit card regulations such as the elimination of mandatory over-limit fees and more stringent FHA Loan requirements. I guess depending on which side of the fence you're on some things can be good and some things not so good. Here's a quick list:

New Credit Regulations

SINGLES FROM THE SINGLES

As Valentine's Day fell on Sunday this year the Singles Ministry, well, the men from the Singles Ministry, were nice enough to put together a Valentine's mix CD for all the Covenant ladies. Apologies to husbands, but there was no intention to put you on blast :) For those who got the CD but maybe don't have iTunes, here is the tracklist:

1. By Your Side - Sade
2. Set Adrift On Memory Bliss - PM Dawn
3. Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine
4. The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra
5. First Day Of My Life - Bright Eyes
6. On Bended Knee - Boyz II Men
7. Wonderwall - Oasis
8. When You Walk In The Room - Fyfe Dangerfield
9. Unchained Melody - Gene Vincent
10. I Love Your Smile - Shanice
11. Daughters - John Mayer
12. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
13. What A Wonderful World - Sam Cooke
14. You Are Beautiful - James Blunt
15. I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie
16. Angel Of Mine - Monica
17. Hard To Say I'm Sorry - Chicago
18. Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley
19. Nobody Knows - Tony Rich Project
20. You And Me - The Dave Matthews Band
21. In My Life - The Beatles

Enjoy!

SERMON TEXT: MARK 4:26-32 ESV

26 And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows now how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." 30 And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."

COVENANT + FACEBOOK = COOL

That's right, Covenant is now officially cool, hip, and socially networked. Check out our new Facebook page:

Covenant Community Church's Official Facebook Page

If you have a Facebook account (who in this world doesn't besides Pastor Ben?) add yourself as a fan of the page, and suggest the page to ALL your friends. If you don't have a FB account (ahem, Pastor Ben) then come on and sign up.

This should be a good way for us to keep up with each other throughout the week, keep track of events, drive traffic here to our blog, and just have fun. And if anybody has any good pictures let me know. Also any suggestions or comments, please don't hesitate to bring it up :)

Have a good week!

SERMON TEXT: MARK 4:21-25 ESV

21 And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." 24 And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

SUPER BOWL XLIV

Date/Time:
Sunday February 7, 2010 @ 4:00pm

Location:
304 Medea Creek Lane
Oak Park, CA 91377


It's Super Bowl XLIV (Roman Numerals are confusing, is that 44?). Join the fellowship at Pastor Ben's place this Sunday. Of course there will be plenty of food, fun, and......kids. Even though the Vikings didn't make it, it should still be a good game. Indianapolis Colts versus New Orleans Something-or-other.

Oh yeah, be sure to RSVP to Hetty's Evite so she can get an accurate head count. See you all then!

ROCKS IN A JAR

Most motivational speakers give me the willies. Perhaps it's some inborn cynicism that compels me to imagine these high-horse "motivators" to actually be the most un-motivated people in the room when it comes to what's really important in life. Not that I've attended many seminars or read a plethora of self-help books, but I've definitely come across a fair share of them. And when they begin to speak or write, I always picture them holed up in a crummy no-bedroom apartment on the other side of the river, reflecting on what they should have, could have done to make their lives better, thanking the heavens that they met a PR agent or publisher crazy enough to promote their wacky ideas. I don't know why I think these things. But I'll admit that every once in a while a story or an anecdote will breakthrough my grudging resistance and stick in the back of my conscience somewhere.

The following is my rendition of a story I heard somewhere from someone whose name my subconscious has readily omitted from my memory bank. Perhaps some of you have heard it before.

So there's this professor teaching a group of college students a lesson on time management. He stands at the front of the class, and from behind his podium he pulls out a large, wide-mouth glass jar, and sets it on the table. He then carefully pulls out a score of fist-sized rocks and places them next to the glass jar.

"How many of these do you think we can fit in the jar?" the professor asks his students.

"Where is the old man going with this?" the class collectively thinks to themselves. But in the spirit of good sport the students go along with the presentation and begin to make random guesses. Five. Seven. Sixteen.

The professor begins to gently place the rocks, one by one, into the jar up to the lip of the brim.

"Is the jar full?" he asks. The class quickly agrees that it is full.

He then reaches behind the podium and pulls out a bucket of loose gravel and proceeds to pour it into the glass jar. The gravel fills up all the spaces between the large rocks and the glass. When the gravel has reached the brim and no empty space can be accounted for the professor slyly asks, "Is the jar full?"

At this point the class squints suspiciously. They can kind of see where the old man is going with this. This time they answer "Probably not."

The professor is impressed with his class. He reaches behind the podium once again and this time pulls out a bucket of sand. He again pours the sand into the jar until all the tiny crevices between the rocks, gravel, and glass are filled up. Again he asks "Is the jar full?"

Collectively the class shouts, "No!"

"Very good!" the professor replies. Finally he pulls out a pitcher of water from behind the podium (mind you this is an unusually large podium) and pours the water into the jar. He asks "So what's the point of all this?"

A student in front quickly answers, "No matter how full you think your schedule is, you can always make room for more things in your life."

The professor answers "No, that is not the point of this demonstration and I hope that is not the message you folks walk away with today. The point of all this is that you have to put the big rocks in first or else you will never get them in."

Now I guess it's up to each of us to determine what are the big rocks in our respective lives. I imagine family and God to be the two big ones. But I can also say, speaking for myself, I often forget to put the big rocks in first or even at all, and foolishly let all the gravel and sand take up my limited space. This year I plan to work on recognizing the big rocks (I'm not talking about the 2-karat kind ladies) and to cultivate them.

I guess wisdom takes a long time to gain. Oftentimes it is pride that stands in the way. Maybe that's why I don't like motivational speakers yet.

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.