West Tokyo Union Church Weekly - Sunday, April 3, 2016 worship

Pastor:  Rev. Teresa Thompson Sherrill     wtucrev@gmail.com

April 3rd – 11:00 AM Worship Service – Pastor Teresa will bring the sermon, loved and freed by who is and who was and who is to come, from Revelation 1. Communion will be served. Kazuko Sacon will lead us on the organ. Carolyn Morikawa will be bringing the children`s message. Please enjoy Fujiko Nielson`s Easter Season art installation. Our special Easter offering for Second Harvest Japan will be taken. Our delightful robust fellowship time will be after the service.

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Every day is Easter season

When Thomas touched the wounds

and set himself free – it was Easter season

When Peter’s three “yes’s” to Jesus

finished his three denials – it was Easter season

When Mary ready to embalm the dead

ran in fear from the empty tomb – it was Easter season

When the disciples looked from afar

at a breakfast of fish on the beach – it was Easter season

When Emmaus became synonymous with welcome

and the breaking of bread with strangers

it was Easter season

When Paul was blinded by the light

and recognised the voice niggling in his head – it was Easter season

When the hungry are fed at the table

the same table as the rich – it is Easter season

When weapons are beaten to ploughshares

and peace is a word to be shouted – it is Easter season

When the stranger is welcomed in community

and the lonely are restored to relationship – it is Easter season

~ Roddy Hamilton, http://www.nkchurch.org.uk/index.php/mucky-paws

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about the special Easter offering if you have not yet had an opportunity to give – Second Harvest Japan – Charles McJilton as director of Second Harvest Japan  shares about Japan`s first food bank. “We receive donations from manufacturers, retailers, farmers and individuals and then distribute them to those in need. All of the food that we handle is unexpired and safe for consumption. We give this food a second life by distributing it to welfare agencies, orphanages, women shelters, people without homes, and those in need. Second Harvest Japan aims to create a Food Safety Net in Japan. In order to do so, we deliver food to children’s homes, single-mother shelters, centers for the disabled, as well as many other welfare organizations and individuals in need. In order to deliver enough food to those who lack food security, 2HJ cooperates with food manufacturers and other companies, and hopes to use food to create new partnerships between corporations and the community. In our first year of incorporation, we delivered 30 tons of food. Since 2002, we have delivered over 12,000 tons valued at over Â¥5 billion yen. Your support of Second Harvest Japan helps us achieve our motto, ‘Food for all People’.

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Upcoming Preaching Ministry and Community Events

April 3 – Pastor Teresa preaching, Communion will be served. Organ: Kazuko Sacon.

April 10 – Multigenerational and Adult Sunday Schools, Covenant Players in worship, Youth and Friends leading worship.

April 17 – Pastor Teresa preaching, Communion will be served.

April 24 – Multigenerational and Adult Sunday Schools, Hiro Morikawa preaching, Organ: Kazuko Sacon.

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Looking for mentors for our wonderful confirmands

This church year Aidan, Anna Z, Emma, Kai, Karen, Ken, Matai, Sophia and Tristan have been meeting monthly to prepare for confirmation on Pentecost, May 15th. They will be preparing their “creed” to read during the service. WTUC matches up a mentor with a confirmand to continue their journey of spiritual formation and growth. If you would like to be one of these grand kids mentors, please let Pastor Teresa know.  Thank you for your prayerful consideration.

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Little Kidz: Please remain in the Easter worship.

ES/MS Youth: Sun. April 24th  5:30-7pm. @ ASIJ for Pool fun, Devotion activity and Pizza!

Confirmation Class: Working on their “creeds” that they will share at Pentecost.

HS Youth: Still gathering usable cloth to continue with quilting projects.

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MULTIGENERATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL!! ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL!! 

We have Multigenerational Sunday School from 9:30AM in the cafeteria the second and fourth Sundays of the month. Who is welcome? All ages. We will be creating, discussing, playing games, acting out bible stories and more. At the same time, the Sacks host the Adult Sunday School, also at 9:30AM in their living room. The method used is the, “Swedish Bible study  method,” interacting with the texts for the service through our own life experiences. Their home is right across the Lutheran Campus from our sanctuary. Best coffee in town = ) Come and enjoy! (At times Adult Sunday School is held in the Upper Room, hosted by Dr. Toshi Sasao, on the 2nd floor above the Sanctuary.) All are welcome. Need more information, contact wtucrev@gmail.com any time = ) Next Sunday Schools – April 10th and 24th! All friends invited!

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WTUC  Announcements:  *Questions or concerns?  Feel free to email wtucrev@gmail.com anytime *Please enjoy and refer our website https://wtuc.net/ and FB page (West Tokyo Union Church) to others. Please make any suggestions for additions to the Pastor Teresa and/or Steering Committee. If you’d like to be added to the WTUC church email list, are interested in baptism or membership, please contact Pastor Teresa *If interested in joining the WTUC Prayer Chain, let Pastor Teresa or Prayer Chain Coordinator, Kayo Ozawa, know of your interest. Please submit prayers to wtucrev@gmail.com or Kayo. *Sign up for snacks for fellowship time with Ann or Jill. We appreciate your contributions to our community life!

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Text for the sermon – Revelation 1:1-8

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near. 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.