A Word from Pastor Sun Hee
FAITHWORKS: REFLECTIONS FROM OPENCIRCLE’S SPRING RETREAT
On April 24 to 26, seven of us from SAINT PAUL joined three other churches for OpenCircle’s annual young adult spring retreat at Mount Hermon Conference Center. As usual, the weekend was filled with deep moments of faith as well as light-hearted moments of hilarity! Passionate worship was led by our own SAINT PAUL worship team (Brian, Boots, Meesh and Deborah), and Rev. Theon Johnson III, Associate Pastor from Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, powerfully delivered the messages.
We gathered under the theme of “FAITHWORKS”, exploring the need to intentionally bridge faith and works together in our daily lives. Rev. Theon preached on Parable of the Good Samaritan, the healing of the paralytic brought to Jesus by the four friends, and on the ever famous Micah 6:8 passage. We learned that we should not underestimate the power of the faith of our friends and were challenged to go above and beyond to meet the needs of struggling people in the world. Clearly, Rev. Theon’s words resonated deeply with the young adults that gathered for the weekend. And we, as young adults of SAINT PAUL, were reminded of our blessed connection with our friends in OpenCircle.
On Saturday evening, after a day filled with singing, volleyball playing, challenge rope course engaging, we ended in an intimate candle lit circle where people were invited to share a prayer, a praise or a push (God’s nudging or call). It was incredibly moving as individuals shared from the depths of their hearts – tears, laughter, and love were all intermingled as we gave praise to God for all that God was doing in our lives. One thing was clear: OpenCircle has come to mean so much to so many. And this was certainly true of our young adults as well.
On Sunday morning, after an inspiring communion service led by Pastor Sam of Los Altos, we put ourselves to the task of having our “faith express itself in love” and spent time to package 100 hygiene kits that will be distributed to the clients at Hope’s Corner in Mountain View (a feeding ministry for the poor and homeless that is reaching over 200 people each Saturday). Truly God was moving in our midst and moving in our hearts.
My prayer is that the revival we felt this weekend will continue in the hearts of those who were able to participate in this weekend, and also spill over into the rest of the community and life of SAINT PAUL! Thanks be to God for faith that really works!
Experiencing Mountain High,
Pastor Sun Hee
St. Paul United Methodist Church 