My Experience in a Community Group

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Act 2:46-47)

Sunday Worship at CPC North Campus

My family and I joined a small community group which is a nice way to meet and make new friends as we are attending this big church -- Central Peninsula Church (CPC).

Studying His Words

We meet regularly (once/twice a month) at our group leaders’ house on a Saturday. Dinner begins at 5:30pm. Our group leaders provide the main dish and each family brings a side dish to share. After dinner the kids go off to play on their own while the adults meet in the living room for Bible study. Our study is based on the last Sunday’s sermon, going by a list of questions that the pastor prepared for us. Each one of us bears witness to the Spirit of God working in our life.   We are encouraged to freely exchange our views and talk about what we have learned from the sermon and how we can apply it in our life.  I love to hear from others their inspiring and encouraging stories / testimonies that helps to strengthen our faith in the walk with the Lord.  We are coming together not as strangers but as brothers and sisters in Christ. We pray for one another those who are feeling hurt, facing struggles and having concerns.  We are usually finished by 8:00pm then we stay for awhile longer for dessert. This is what we do together in devoting our time in the Lord: in fellowship, in studying His word and in prayers.  My family and I enjoy the hour of sharing while the kids are having so much fun playing out in the backyard.  We are blessed to have joined CPC Community Group where we find a sense of belonging and many thanks to our group leaders who warmly open up their home where we can all meet.

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. 

(1 Thessalonians 5:11)

May the love and peace of Christ be with you

For more information about CPC, please visit:

http://www.cpcnorth.org/

The Cosmos

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

(Genesis 1:1)

Future Astronaut / Astronomer

Here is a student looking into a telescope for the first time in his life and saw the planet Venus at a distant. What an awesome experience. Before telescope was invented, it is said that man could count no more than 6,000 stars visible to the naked eyes.

Chabot Space & Science Center Observatory

But long before the telescope, God had already said that it is impossible to count the number stars in the heaven.   "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." (Genesis 15:5). As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured (Jeremiah 33:22). 

Painting: CME headed towards Earth

Only God knows how many stars there are in the Cosmos. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name (Psalm 147:4), because He was the One who created all those stars as uniquely as He has created each one of us. Just as our hair on our head are numbered (Matthew 10:30) our days are also numbered  (Psalm 39:4).

Chabot Space & Science Center
International Space Station

He stretches out the north over empty space; 

He hangs the earth on nothing 

(Job 26:7)

Painting: The sun, moon, and stars

The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what He has done. Each day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. They don't speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice. Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world. In the heavens a tent is set up for the sun. It rises like a bridegroom and gets ready like a hero eager to run a race. It travels all the way across the sky. Nothing hides from its heat (Psalm 19: 1-6/CEV).

Chabot Space & Science Center
CCCP Soyuz Spacecraft

Chabot Space & Science Center
Space Suit

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?  (Psalm 8:3-4)

Chabot Space Observatory

From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God (Romans 1:20/NLT). 

Science confirms the Bible is true

All things were made through Him (Jesus), 

and without Him nothing was made that was made 

(John 1:3)

Track Meet

I press toward the goal for the prize 

of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

(Philippians 3:14) 

Praying before the race

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 

(1 Corinthians 9:24)

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us 

(Hebrew 12:1)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith 

(2 Timothy 4:7)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me 

(Philippians 4:13)

My Place to Unwind

All things were made through Him (Jesus),

and without Him nothing was made that was made

(John 1:3)

Work is the story of my life. There seem to be not a moment where I can go to escape from my busy life. So after dinner one early evening and while there was still enough daylight, I decided to go to the beach alone for awhile to unwind. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been down to the beach. I missed getting sand in my shoes and watch the waves crashing against the shore. I loved the wind and the occasional sprinkles of sea water on my face. As I turned toward the easterly wind blowing in from the ocean, I took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly my work seemed to be as far off as the distant clouds. There was no rush to return back to my work any longer and my thoughts became clearer on what really matters most in life.

See how peaceful and calm this bird is, looking out into the vast ocean. It was a moment for me to also connect with nature, a moment with God to try to comprehend the breath of His creation (Job 38:18).

Look around and you’ll see the earth is filled with the knowledge of God as much as the water cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). And know that He had made the sea and His hands formed the dry land (Psalm 95:5).


See how He had laid the foundation of the earth, determined its measurements, stretched the line upon it and fastened its foundation (Job 38:4-6).

All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; 

to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again (Ecclesiastes 1:7).

Fishermen and those who make their businesses out at sea, knows the works of the Lord and the wonders in the deep (Psalm 107:23-24).


Have you entered the springs of the sea or have you walked in search of the depths? (Job 38:16) There are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great (Psalm104:25).

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness (Psalm 96:11).

I will be back real soon to this very same place.

For by Him (Jesus) all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,

visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

All things were created through Him and for Him

(Colossians 1:16)

Easter 2012

Easter Sunday Service at CPC North

He is Risen Indeed

Easter Choir

"Today is the day You have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it...."

New Life

Celebrating
Victory 
Over
Sin
and
Death

A Message of Hope

Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:19 

Pastor Rob preaching on "Running to Faith"

CPC North has two services: 9:15am and 11:00am, and the turnout in both services were filled to near full capacity. Easter service was beautiful and I saw some were moved to tears of joy around me. 


Pastor Rob gave a wonderful message about what Jesus' resurrection means for those who have simple faith, grieving faith, and struggling faith. I invite you to listen to Pastor Rob’s inspiring message, “Running to Faith” here at Pastor Rob's Sermon link

Hope you had a wonderful Easter

Sunday Service: 9:15am and 11:00am

Address: 300 Piedmont Drive in San Bruno


For more information about CPC North, please visit: 
http://cortex.cpcfc.org/groups/cpcmillbrae/

A Glimpse of Heaven

Title: Bride prepares for her Bridegroom

But as it is written:

"Eye has not seen,

nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.

(1 Corinthians 2:9/NKJV)

On one Sunday church service, my pastor was concluding his series on the Apostles’ Creed with a sermon about heaven.  He gave everyone a small glimpse of heaven from various passages in the New Testament. While listening to the pastor, I remembered some of the documentary films that I had watched before on television about people who had had a near death experience such as from a heart attack, drowning and the like. After being revived, some of these people could recall traveling through a tunnel towards a very bright white light that didn’t hurt their eyes and which was the source of the overwhelming love they felt. They had no words to truly describe their experience, except that it was beautiful and peaceful. In this white light, some say they saw a figure of a man who told them that it was not their time before their spirits were returned back to their body. Some said their out of body experience felt even more real than their physical body. These people say they no longer afraid of dying because they know where they will spend eternity. Could this man really be Jesus as some claim?

What the pastor pointed out was an interesting passage that I thought might help shed some light as to who the man was that people claimed to have seen in the white light. If you know the Bible, Jesus at one time took His disciples, Peter, James and John up on a high mountain where He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light (Matthew 17:2/NKJV).  Note that although Jesus’ transfiguration before His disciples was as bright as the sun, but the intense light didn’t blind or hurt their eyes. They saw Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah who were the Old Testament Prophets centuries before.  In a way, were the disciples given a glimpse into the heavenly realm or caught up in the third heaven in how the apostle Paul described it? The apostle Paul wrote: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows -- how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter (2 Corinthians 12:2-4/NKJV). It is believed that the apostle Paul was being humble and was really talking about himself as the person who at one time was caught up in Paradise or what was known as the third heaven.

The pastor also pointed to us this passage about why there is no need for sunlight in heaven. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:5/NKJV).  Is it possible that the man people had seen in the beautiful bright light was really the Lord Jesus in all His glory that we have read in Matthew 17:2?

Beloved,

now we are children of God;

and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,

but we know that when He is revealed,

we shall be like Him,

for we shall see Him as He is.

(1 John 3:2/NKJV)

I Believe In ...

What do you believe in as the ultimate truth in life?


I Believe in ...

TITLE: Eternal Destiny

We are traveling along this road called the journey of life without knowing how much further we will go. We seem to be caught in this brief moment in time like vapors in the midst of eternity.  Whatever this life means to you some would wonder why we MUST be born, what are we supposed to learn in this lifetime and what is waiting for us just beyond the grave. Being alive is not enough for some of us without knowing the WHYs of life. For some, if we know the mysteries behind the purpose of life, perhaps it might help us to live out our lives more productively with purpose and meaning, to prepare us for the eternity that is coming. We have so many questions with so little time; life is a never ending quest to find the truth. What do you want to believe in as the ultimate truth that you can live by? I don't know what you are looking for but I want to share with you what the Bible (as the only source of truth) says about where we can spend eternity.

According to the Bible, there are two sides of eternity as represented in this painting. The idea of this artwork came from a sketch a pastor quickly drew for me at one time. On the left side is a place of desolation (Hell) and on the right side is Paradise (Heaven). These two places exist even now in the spiritual realm (Luke 16:19-30). Think of it as a parallel universe. Whether we are ready or not, the Day of Judgment is coming for all of us. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28-29/NKJV).

Do you think you are a good enough person to enter Paradise? Even criminals in prisons think of themselves as good persons. But if you ever examined your life using the Ten Commandments, you would not like what you see about yourself. You will quickly see there is no way anyone can stand righteous before the Holy God. The Bible says that there is none who is righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10). Spiritually we all stand condemned already; we stand on the left side separated from God by a chasm. There is no amount of good works that we can ever do to earn ourself a ticket to Paradise (Ephesians 2:8-9) because to God, our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23/NKJV).

But the good news is that God has provided us a way by sending His only Son, Jesus who was to be crucified on the cross as a punishment for our sins; our sins were nailed to the cross so we can be set free from the eternal condemnation that we deserve. It is like you were caught drinking and driving but Jesus stepped in to pay for your fines and bail you out of jail. Because Jesus, who was sinless, was 100 percent man and 100 percent God, He can represent us before God on the Day of Judgment. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5/NKJV).

So what are we supposed to do in order to be saved on Judgment Day? Because Jesus is the only way to connect us back to God (John 14:6), we need to place our faith and trust in what Jesus has done for us.  Jesus is like a life buoy to a drowning man at sea, like a parachute to a pilot in a plane on fire and like a bridge as a way that delivers us to safety.  Without Jesus, we would perish, like the drowning man at sea, like the pilot going down with his plane on fire, and we would be left standing on the side with the eternally condemned, without the bridge to safety. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17-18/NKJV) 

When we accepted Christ as the Son of God and acknowledge in what He had done for us on the cross, we became part of God’s family. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us is a form of deposit that ensures that our salvation is eternally secured and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It would be like hearing Jesus say to the theft on the cross who had never done anything good in his life, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43/NKJV)

Will you accept what Jesus had done for you on the cross on the day Christians remember as Good Friday?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish

but have everlasting life

(John 3:16/NKJV).

~

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of Heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day, He rose again.
He ascended to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

Who Is Your Valentine?

  My Valentine is God's Gift to Me



Dinner flowers arrangements

 

When we first met

It began with candlelight dinners
just us two.

As years past, our love for each other
remains true.

 

Now and forever

We made vows to keep,

as for one we never part;

just keep holding on

to each other in our heart.

 

A lifetime journey together



Always cherish our time together

and don’t let memories fade,

and keep on sharing dreams
along the way.

 

She is God's gift to me







I thank God for my wife,

His gift to me.

What God has put
together, let it be. 



God's love letter to us

 



Trust in the Lord in times

of good and bad,

 keep each other in prayers in times
of happy and sad.







He came from heaven to earth to show us the way





God came down from heaven so we may know

His greatest gift of love from all blessings flow. 





Agape love

Even as we celebrate our love for each other on this Valentine,

we live to remember how He first loved us -- His love divine.

 
 

Fish Tale

Shore of Galilee



Two centurions were walking along the shore of Galilee, also known as Lake of Gennesaret. They noticed a lone fisherman not too far from shore who had just caught a large fish. One of the soldiers asked, “How many fish have you caught so far?”

“This is actually my first catch sir,” said the fisherman. “And my Lord said this very first fish should have a coin in its mouth.”

“Really!” said one of the soldiers. “I like to see that for myself.” The two soldiers looked at each other in disbelief and laughed.

The soldiers watched the fisherman pry open the fish’s mouth and reaching in with his fingers, he pulled out a coin. “Here is the coin just as my Lord had said I should find in the first fish I catch!” said the fisherman.

“So what other tricks do you have up your sleeves, fisherman?” The two centurions laughed again.

So many fishes, which one has the coin?

Question: How could the fisherman be so certain that on this particular day and time that there was such a fish with the coin in its mouth just waiting for him to lower the fishhook? Think about how many other fishes could be swimming about under his boat that could have competed for the same bait.

The fisherman explained, “It’s no trick at all. If you only know my Lord, nothing is impossible for Him.  At one time, my Lord got into this boat with me and told me to put the boat out to this very spot.  There were many people standing ashore from where you two gentlemen are standing listening to Him teach. When He finished speaking, He told me to let down the nets, and the next thing, there were so many fishes that the nets began to break as even two boats couldn’t hold all the fish.  What was amazing was that just the night before we had caught no fish at all and suddenly with so many fish, our two boats began to sink.”   

“Your Lord must be an amazing fisherman,” said one of the soldiers. 

Tilapia

‘Yes, you can say that,” said the fisherman. “Would you gentlemen like to have this Tilapia for your breakfast?  I caught this one fish only to retrieve this coin to pay for the temple tax as my Lord had instructed.”

“You are a strange man, but we have to be on our way,” said one of the soldiers.  “What is your name?”

The fisherman replied, “It's Peter.”

Just as they began to walk away the other soldier asked, “And who is your Lord that you speak of?”

“Jesus sir, it’s Jesus! Would you like to know Him?”

This fictional story was based on the reading of

Luke 5:1-10 and Matthew 17:27.

* * *

The next time you have fish for dinner, perhaps you will remember this Fish Tale.

Bon Appetite

Tilapia with Mixed Vegetables

Do you remember how God had gathered the animals to Noah's ark? Perhaps it was in the same way how God directed this one fish that had the coin in its mouth to swim towards Peter's fishhook.  In looking through scriptures, Jesus consistently demonstrated that He was omniscience, omnipotent and omnipresent and therefore with God nothing will be impossible (Luke 1:37). 

I hope such stories, although fiction, will help bring to light some of the unexplored possibilities in the richness of God’s words.

My December Getaway

A nice little getaway with my family where it was warm 

for the December timeframe was Palm Springs. 

 

We visited the Indian Canyons and it was:

BEAUTIFUL

SERENE

TRANQUIL

PEACEFUL

AWESOME

You and your family will also enjoy the surrounding beauty while you go hiking and picnicking.

                                                                                                                        

You are going to also love to visit the
Mount San Jacinto State Park
up at 8500 feet elevation.

And the way we got up there was by taking a tram.

And you'll love the tram ride.

At the very top, it was very beautiful

and the weather was perfect.

I could feel the warmth of the sun
and there was much unmelted snow everywhere.

We watched kids playing in the snow.

And don't miss

the spectacular view of

Palm Springs from above.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see – kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:15-16/NLT)