LCH E-News Lite—January 15, 2009

From Pastor Jeff

This morning I walked out onto the lanai with my cup of coffee and leaned against the fence. The morning was a little overcast, muggy, and windy. A small stream winds past our little house in a ravine behind the lanai. I often see small fish, frogs, and even the occasional turtle swimming around the lava rocks and roots of plants growing at the edge of the stream. There is a little white fish that lives under a black lava stone in the center of the stream. I can always count on seeing him dart up and down the stream eating whatever comes his way. But this morning there appeared to be no life. The freely flowing water seemed to have swallowed up all the life. I stood and watched for several minutes looking at the water and thinking about the coming day. Just as I turned to go back inside, I saw the little white fish drift away from the rock where he lives. He had been there the whole time! The problem was not that there was no life in the stream, but that I had been looking at the surface of the water. When I turned to go inside, my depth of focus changed for just an instant, and I was able to see that life was indeed happening in the stream.

The Gospel is like that. It turns us around so that we can focus on deeper things. When we concentrate too hard on surface matters, we can miss the beautiful life promised in Jesus Christ.

A PRAYER FOR UNITY

Please join us for this wonderful service of fellowship with our fellow Christians!

Also, Lutheran congregations are being asked to provide cookies for the fellowship following the service. If you can donate a dozen or more cookies for the event, please contact Pastor Jeff .

Annual Meeting Jan. 25th

Join us for the second-half of the Annual Meeting on January 25th between services in the Nave (worship space).

Punahou Carnival Parking

Don’t forget to sign up to help with the Punahou Carnival Parking Fundraiser Friday, Feb. 6th, and Saturday, Feb 7th. Your help is needed to direct cars into parking spaces, make change, welcome our parking guests, and eat carnival malasadas while talking story with your fellow LCH members. It is a really fun event. The fundraiser assists our youth ministry! Please contact Pam Buckley or Jeanne Castello to volunteer.

Adult Sunday School Opportunity

Join Steve Miller for a fascinating class exploring Phases of Adult Spiritual Development. What phase are you? What phase would you like to be? The first session is this Sunday, and the class will be held each Sunday morning at 9:15 in the Board Room through March 14th. Everyone is welcome.

Fellowship Opportunities

• Kalapana, a popular local music group will be performing a benefit concert at the Richard T. Mamiya Theater on the campus of Chaminade University. Join Pastor Jeff and Jean for an evening of wonderful music and fellowship. The concert begins at 8 PM. Pupus will be available at the theater beginning at 7 PM. Tickets are $50 per person at the door, or you may purchase tickets through Ticketmaster.
• Youth Movie Night Lock-in @ Joy of Christ Jan. 23–24 (Fri–Sat) *8 pm–8 am*
  • The OYEA Movie Night Lock-in will be held at Joy of Christ. The action will start at 8 pm on Friday night and last until Saturday morning at 8 am.
  • Youth are asked to bring a food item/snack to share with the group at the Midnight Potluck!
• Milton’s Paradise Lost—Readers Theater.The Army Reader’s Theater Group is staging a reprise of their acclaimed performance of Milton’s Paradise Lost on Saturday Jan. 24th at 7:00 pm at Lutheran Church of Honolulu. Under the direction of Sylvia Hormann-Alper, the performance of the skillfully abridged play includes a veteran cast joined by our own Michael Burnett and Seth Lilley. $10 admission donation will benefit Bread for the World. Please come and be sure to tell all your friends!

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