Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I...

A Publication of First Christian Church of North HollywoodA Congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Robert M. Bock, Senior PastorLouise Sloan Goben, Associate PastorJefferson Beeker, Minister of Evangelism and Membership DevelopmentJustin Floyd, Youth MinisterAlfredo Gomez, Pastor, Spanish Speaking CongregationYoung Lan Kim & Young Jun Yang, Korean Pastors

Volume LXI No. 13 October 7, 2015

Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

thought for the week:thought for the week: just do itjust do it

— Luke 6:46

Page � OctOber 7, �015 First christian news

Looking back on it I have no logical explanation. It might have been “overwhelm” or “pure ignorance” or a “lack of vision” that contributed to it. I really don’t know. In retrospect I easily could have declared some-thing much more practical, such as business administra-tion, law or even religious studies. But I declared my undergraduate major as “English Literature”. Not just any literature, but English literature of the Romantic era.

My constant companions for four years were old authors that no one remembered and few had ever read. I spent hundreds of hours in the library trying to under-stand the words written by the brilliant minds of men such as William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Shelley, John Keats, William Wordsworth and many others.

After graduation I totally forgot about the writ-ings of the Romantic era in England. Unlike other ma-jor studies I could have pursued, that would have had some practical application in the real world, my studies contributed nothing to the decisions of life that follow graduation.

I have not thought of the works of any of those fine old Englishmen for years. Until this morning around 4:30, when I found my mind filled with thoughts of what happened at Roseburg, Oregon last week, and I could not go back to sleep.

Roseburg was another unbelievable tragedy, not

only for Oregon, but for humanity. Like the high school in Columbine, Colorado in 1999, the one room Amish school house in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in 2006 and the elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut in 2012, Roseburg makes no sense what-soever. It is beyond our comprehension to understand what evil power motivates such actions as we will never forget when any of these cities are mentioned.

Roseburg quickly became very personal for me within hours of the shootings. Three of the most criti-cally wounded students, all girls, were airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center at River Bend, a major trauma center in Springfield. Our daughter-in-law Suzy is an ICU nurse at River Bend. Of all the nurses I have ever known Suzy is without doubt the best trained, most dedicated of them all. She has been caring for two of the Roseburg victims and while she cannot talk about her patients or their care, I know that Suzy and her col-leagues are doing everything they possibly can to save these young girl’s lives.

And so this morning, at 4:30, I awoke with the words of William Wordsworth running through my mind. “The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: little we see in Nature that is ours; we have given our hearts away, a sordid boon.… … … So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, have glimpses that would make me less forlorn.”

Wordsworth wrote those words in 1806, a lament about the growing love of money and the loss of ap-preciation for the beauty of Nature. His belief was that in order to grow spiritually that society had to re-estab-lish its contact and love of God’s creation, the beauty of Nature.

First christian news OctOber 7, �015 Page �

We also want to continue to pray for peace, for wisdom for the world’s leaders, and for the people of all war-torn areas of our world.

Arthur J. SzokeR. W. BruceJoshua Bigbee

For those of you who know someone serving in the armed forces, as well as people serving in other capacities, we want to lift them up in prayer... please let us know when they come home!

Christopher A. Bernstein1st Battalion at PendletonChris DiazBrian Johnson

Somehow or another the old poets words could not be dismissed this morning. Perhaps they serve as a warn-ing. Humanity has strayed from God [Wordsworth’s Nature], deserting what it sacred and holy for what is profitable and convenient. As a result, “the world is too much with us.” Some how, some way, may the world never have to witness another Roseburg and may the weight of the world be less for God, and for us, than it is today.

I want to say thank you to Matt and Vivian Hunt for hosting and spearheading a marvelous International Brunch that highlighted our observance of World Communion Sunday. I also thank all the marvelous cooks who contributed an outstanding array of foods from many different cultures and nations. It was a brunch we look forward to from year to year. Thank you to everyone who made it such a marvelous event.

This coming Sunday, October 11th, is our annual Congregational Meeting. It is also time for my pasto-ral remarks regarding the State of the Church. Neither the meeting nor my remarks will be long, but both will be important and informative to everyone within the church family. Please plan now to attend during the Meet and Greet immediately following the morning service of worship.

I look forward to seeing you in church on Sunday. In the meantime have a great week. And invite a friend to church. They will thank you for it.

Pergé! Pastor Bob

I mportant Notice: There will be a

Congregational Meeting following the 10:00

am service this Sunday, October 11, 2015.


PSWR Young Adult CampOctober 23-25 — Loch Leven

Keynote Speaker: Rev. Jonathan HallRegistration: $100

($20 non-refundable t-shirt deposit due October 16)

WOW! Just when I think our International Pot-luck can’t get bigger or better! What an amazing turn-out: of cooks and samplers of foods from around the world. What a great way to bring World Communion Sunday to life! Also special thanks to all the folks who showed up before and after to set up and clean up! FCCNH is amazing!

Matt Hunt

...for making World Communion Sunday such a great success!

Numismatist Needed!

(That’s fancy for coin collector.)

FCCNH has learned that it is a beneficiary to the estate of Shelagh Welch. Shelagh was a longtime member of Hollywood-Beverly Christian Church before she began attending FCCNH. Shelagh died on July 4, 2015. Besides her warmth and smile, Shelagh has left a legacy to the church. Her collection of precious and costume jewelry has been given to the Christian Women’s Fellowship for use in their fundraising for mission work.

Shelagh also left a large collection of coins. The coins are both U.S. and international and many are very old, to wit, French Francs from the 18th Century before and after the French Revolution! In order to fairly understand the value of the collection, we need some help from a person who knows coins or likes to sleuth the value of antiques. Are you such a person? Do you know someone who would donate his or her time to help value Shelagh’s coin collection?

Please contact Rodney Gould at 818-981-1760 or at [email protected] to offer help or guidance.

We rejoice in the life of Shelagh Welch and the blessings she has bestowed upon us in life and in death.

First christian news OctOber 7, �015

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways

acknowledge the Divine presence, and God will make straight your paths. —Proverbs 3: 5-6

You can never trust God too much.Why is it that some people do not bear fruit?

It is because they have no trustEither in God or in themselves. —Meister Eckhart

One of the most amazing gifts that God has ever given to us is the gift of trust. It is a gift that has to be experienced by our willingness in allowing God to be the full and positive expression of perfect life moving through us right where we are.

If we fail to trust that God will continue to bless and nurture us, then we should not be surprised when our life continues to look bleak and void.

When we trust God amazing things happen. We understand that God sent us Jesus as an example of how we can live our lives. When we trust in God we understand that God sent us the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to surround us with a never ending, unlimited blessing of the Divine presence.

The gift of trust is amazing because this gift we unwrap is not the gift we always possess. Once

unwrapped, if we continue to place our belief in an abundant and all-powerful God, our trust will grow. The gift will expand and it will grow right along with us, through all of our life experiences and through each and every thought we have.

I have learned that it is safe to let go and tear down the walls we too often build between God and ourselves. I have also learned that we must be diligent in our trust or we run the risk of building new walls, thicker walls and taller walls. When things are challenging we can feel alone, but our ability to trust tears down that wall and gives us new insight into God working in and through our lives.

Allow God to deliver to you this day a new trust in the possibilities of God in your life. This then will not be just another day, but perhaps your best day ever.

Affirmation: This is the best day ever, for I place my trust, my belief and my faith in the

presence of God’s abiding goodness.

Jefferson

If you would like to read any of my previous “Be Still and Know” columns follow my blog at

www.revjefferson.wordpress.com orfollow me on Twitter @jeffersonbeeker for daily

affirmations and words of encouragement.

Be Still and Know

For information on Young Adult Disciples in Action (YADA) contact Rev. Jefferson

Beeker at [email protected].


DisiplesPSWR.org

Well, our XPLOR residents have completed their first month with us and it’s safe to say that they are now settled in. They all seem to be very pleased with their work sites and the feedback we get from the sites has been very positive. Beyond that, they are actively look-ing for ways to make a difference in the community. Jack’s project is to help strengthen ties with our fellow DOC congregations and has already visited FCC Bur-bank a couple of times to explore ways we can do that, while Ryan and Elsie are looking for one they can do together.

They have also been taking part in the life of our region. On the 26th, they went up to Loch Leven for the “Rock the Loch” benefit concert. All of them had faithfully attended church camp as they grew up and they were eager to see ours. They will also attend the Regional Gathering on the 17th to help spread the word about the program to the PSWR as a whole.

Unsurprisingly, the congregation has once again shown their support of the XPLOR mission. When Mary Heiss heard that the XPLORers were vegetarians, she gave them a questionnaire as to what they could and couldn’t eat. She has already supplied a couple of dishes based on that info and others have stepped up as well.

So after a month, I think we can safely say “So far, so good”. And there’s a lot more to come in the months ahead.

With peace,Jeff Henderson,

XPLOR Host Church [email protected]


sPONsOR XPLOReR RYaN FeLBeRAIDS Walk Los Angeles is Sunday October 11th in West

Hollywood. It’s the 31st year of the event and the largest fundraiser of the year for my work site, AIDS Project Los Angeles. It’s also the longest running HIV/AIDS fundraiser in the world as well as the first AIDS Walk which has now expanded across the globe. You can sponsor me at https://la.aidswalk.net/RDFelber.

I’m trying to raise $1000 and I’m half way there at the moment! It’s also not to late to register to walk... https://la.aidswalk.net.

Ryan Felber,XPLOR Resident

Just a few of those who attended the Blessing of the Animals service this past Sunday, October 4th. Photos by Rev. Louise Sloan Goben.


I am excited to be participating in Trunk or Treat this year. My plan is to decorate my red car as Santa’s Sleigh and me as Mona Claus . I am looking to bor-row from anyone who may have the reindeer antlers and red nose that clip onto cars. Rest assured, your Ru-dolph décor would never leave our church parking lot except in pictures. Here are a couple of images of what they look like:

I’d also welcome any decorating elves to help.

Thank you,Mona Levin

[email protected]

dO YOu Have aNtLeRs & a Big Red NOse???

Please join us Wednesdays at 7:00 pm

in the chApeL for Guided & SiLent

RefLectiOn & MeditAtiOn

First christian news OctOber 7, �015 Page �

My daughter, who just turned 9, got a picture frame that says “Friends” at the top and has space for three photos. She said “I’m going to put a picture of me and so & so in this slot, a picture of me in this slot because I am my friend, and a picture of me and so & so in this slot” as she pointed to each of the picture slots.

Wow, isn’t that a great statement? “I am my friend.”

As adults, we know it can be a challenge to be our own friend, to love ourselves and accept our wounds and scars that this life has left us with. I’ll be honest here, I need to lose ten—twenty (ok, forty) pounds. I looked at myself in the mirror the other day and said to myself “Ugh, I look like a mom with worn out yoga pants, unwashed hair in a ponytail, and larger love han-dles than I’d like. What happened to the girl who was destined to be a soap star?” And then later that day I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a picture of a family high atop a mountain that they’d just hiked. The mother, father and two sons were sitting on a rock look-ing exhausted but happy. When I first glanced at the mom I thought, now that is a cool mom with her extra pounds, mis-matched socks pulled up to her knees (not in the cool kid kind of way) and a cargo vest that looked to be filled with enough survival materials to keep them alive for several days should they have strayed from the path. And I had a moment of revelation… yes, that woman is a cool mom. No, she did not look like she just walked out of a magazine, she did not look like she’d spent hours being pampered or waited on or sweating at the gym… she looked like a woman who was enjoying

her life and her time with her family. And that is what makes her a “cool mom”.

All this to say, yes, I do look like a mom. My kids don’t care if I’m the mom with abs of steel in the cute tank top or the mom in worn out yoga pants and baggy t-shirt. My kids care that I am with them and that I love them. Honestly, that is all that matters to me too. I am my friend. Thank you Charlette for opening my eyes… I am my friend and this allows me to be a good friend and neighbor to those around me.

As Jesus said in Mark 12:31 Love your neighbor as yourself, there is no greater commandment than these.

Christi Anderson,Director of Children’s Ministries

We NeedYour TruNks!

For more info contact Christi Anderson:[email protected] or 818-207-1776.

OctOber 7, �015 First christian news

i will

sing

unt

o the Lord as long as i live ...

p s a l m 1 0 4 : 3 3

fOOd pAntRy VOLunteeR cOntActSDirector and Primary Contact:

Luis Oliart at 818.939.1187Transportation Teams:

Chris Wilkinson at 818.515.5753

anoTher Way To donaTeYou can now make recurring donations to the

Interfaith Food Pantry through the FCCNH web page (www.fccnh.org/Donate%20Cash).

THE FOOD PANTRY IS IN NEED OF:Canned tuna, canned chicken, rice, canned beans (pinto, navy etc.), boxed cereal, diapers, powderd

milk, baby food, peanut butter and tomato products!

Paul Was Not a ChristiaN: recovering Paul

from Dogma

7:00 pm Mondaysin the Social Hall

In the course of teaching the Bible over the last 20+ years, I frequently encounter the sentiment that many Christians gave up on Paul long ago. “Just give me the teachings of Jesus. I don’t like Paul.” This impression is especially strong among modern women.

However, one-third of Christian Scripture was written by the Apostle. We can’t just throw him out. Instead, let’s engage Pauline thinking… his ethos and ethics and understand him as a deeply committed Jew who understood Jesus to be the Christ.

Bring your questions about Paul!

Oct. 12 • “In the World, Not of it…” Oct. 19 • The Gifts of the Spirit Oct. 26 • Paul and the “End Times” Nov. 2 • Paul and Women Nov. 9 • Paul the Mystic

Co-Facilitated by Rev. Ed Esau and Rev. Louise Sloan Goben.

Thursday 10/8#5 Rosey Tamkin Shayne Tamkin Barbara Berdahl Heather Hatch Clayton Ferguson

Sunday 10/11#4 Steve Johnson Luis Oliart Chris Wilkinson Ken Wilson Barbara Berdahl

Wednesday 10/14 Studio City Team

Sunday 7/18#6 Kevin Kenney Heather Hatch

Wednesday 10/21 Studio City Team

Sunday 10/22#1 Barry Dantagnan Terry Hall Jackie Fecske Claudia Rudolf

Our Annual Chili Cookoff has been moved to November 15th. Check upcoming newsletters

for details about how you can participate.


chuRch StAffRobert M. Bock Senior PastorLouise Sloan Goben Associate PastorJefferson Beeker Minister of Evangelism and Membership DevelopmentAlfredo Gomez Pastor, Spanish Speaking CongregationChristi Anderson Director of Children’s MinistriesJustin Floyd Youth MinisterTyana Parr Director of Children’s ChoirJoshua Elson Music DirectorDavid Rigsby OrganistChristine Karasseferian Director of Finance and Human Resources Sara Rushing Administrative SpecialistDiane Hirsch Administrative Assistant/Web Master/Publicity CoordinatorTerri Burton Church PublicationsMichele Amundsen Wedding Director Elmer Maldonado Building & Grounds SuperintendentLauren Muscarella-Huizar Christian Nursery School DirectorJennifer Nieto Christian Nursery School Assistant Director

VOLunteeR StAffJosé Pretlow, Susan Marble, John Henry Kreitler, Jeff McFadden, Denise Ovaldson, Tom Louie, Robin Stallings, Richard Johnson,Martin Smith, Jason Tuttle Sound Technicians

Luis Oliart Security

in MeMORiAMEarle Immel Minister of Music EmeritusMerle E. Fish, Jr. Minister Emeritus

PLEASE SUBMIT ARTICLES VIA EMAIL [email protected]

or in the office M-F from 9am to 5 pm.

is midnight sunday!

n e w s l e t t e r

By WAy Of RepORtOctOber 4, 2015—WOrld cOmmuniOn Sunday____

10:00 AM Worship 164 5:30 PM SpiritSong Worship 54 7:00 PM Evenlight Worship 11 7:00 PM Wednesday Worship 10 Sunday School Children 48

10:00 AM Worship $6,691.25 5:30 PM SpiritSong Worship $938.00 7:00 PM Evenlight Worship $410.00 7:00 PM Wednesday Worship $18.00

Reconciliation Sunday $45.00

tOtal General OfferinG $8,057.25

save tHe dateFCCNH Blood Drive

Tuesday, November 24, 2015 12:45 PM to 7:00 PM

in the Social Hall

First Christian News First Christian ChurCh oF north hollywood

a Congregation oF the Christian ChurCh

(disCiples oF Christ) 4390 ColFax avenue

north hollywood, CA 91604 - 2898

First Christian Church of North Hollywood818/763-8218 • FAX 818/763-8457Web Site: www.fccnh.orgemail: [email protected]

Pastor & senior editor Robert M. Bockart direction Terri BurtonWeb Master Diane Hirsch

Production services

Billie Kline Mary Ann SteutermanJean Johnson Heather Kenney

eMeritus

Michele Amundsen Lillian CarlsonAnita Bené Jerry & Edna McCormackMargaret Defibaugh Cathy MelendezFern Donald Chuck MontCindy Kaller Barbara RhinelanderWanda Kanoy Helen ScarnaChuck MacCannell Kay SmithJessica McConahey Betty Van ZantenShirley McClure Deborah Wheeler Virginia Stebbins

October 11, 201510:00 am Cindy Kaller (O) Glenda Morgan Brown (C)5:30 pm Bill Hayes7:00 pm Julie Houlihan

Diaconate: Loretta Rodriguez, Prepare Joey Vallero, Prepare Geriann McIntosh, CU Debbie Geraci, CU Mary Heiss Maura Ross Ann Jones Linda Finnell Ken Campbell Luke Hallada

Upcoming Diaconate: Oct 11 Loretta Rodriguez & Joey Vallero

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Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I...

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