by admin | Jul 3, 2017 | News
OFFICE CLOSED on Tuesday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day!
SUMMER BOOK GROUP Kahu Akana leads our summer book group at the parsonage, 3281 Waikomo Road in Koloa, on Wednesday evenings. The group gathers at the parsonage at 6 p.m. for dinner and then discusses the book Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most, by Marcus Borg. In this book, Borg reflects on his life and how he developed his most bedrock convictions–and why they matter. Please pick up your book on Wednesday for $10, and sign up on the bulletin board so that Kahu knows how much food to prepare. Kahu suggests that you read chapters 7 & 8 for July 5.
PRAYERS & SQUARES Contact Angela Dressel if you would like to get involved in praying for people in crisis or helping to make quilt squares for those in crisis.
SAVE THE DATES for KOLOA PLANTATION DAYS….
Monday, July 24: “Plantation-style Living: An Afternoon of Art, Stories and Refreshments” at the Smith Memorial Parsonage, 3281 Waikomo Road.
Saturday, July 29: KPD Parade, “Many Cultures, One Community” at 10 a.m. We will be asking volunteers to decorate our float and also wear and carry items representing your ethnic culture or one that is part of our church and/or community.
by admin | Jul 3, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“Heaven and Earth”
On Sunday, I shared how the idea of heaven evolved over time in the histories of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Up until about 160 years before the birth of Jesus, there is no indication that the main characters of the Old Testament (Abraham & Sarah, Moses & Miriam, the great prophets…) prescribed to a belief in the afterlife. The word heaven (or “the heavens”) is mentioned a lot, but most likely referred to the skies above us. In the opening verse of Genesis, “God created the heavens and the earth,” the first hearers of those words naturally understood them to mean, “God made the skies and the land.”
About 160 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Daniel wrote about a time when God’s people would be delivered and all who died would come back to life. Some will awaken from their “sleep” to everlasting life and others to everlasting contempt. Daniel was most likely the last of the Old Testament books to be written.
By the time Jesus was born, a lot of Jewish people (but not all!) believe in an afterlife. We know that Jesus believed in an afterlife. We also know that he talked a lot about the “Kingdom of Heaven.” However, his focus here was not on what happens to people after they die, but what can happen here on earth if we choose to recognize the value in all people and show compassion to them.
For Jesus, heaven was not a distant place where God lived—far away from the earth. Jesus taught that God lives right here among us—in our uncertainty, painful and messy world—and God loves the world, a love which includes all people and extends to all of creation. Therefore, God is not loving us from a distant place called heaven; God is loving us right here among us.
May we recognize God’s loving presence everywhere, and may we love all that God loves—all people and all of creation!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Videos of Kahu’s sermons are uploaded onto YouTube most weeks. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to our church. You can also subscribe on YouTube ; that way you can receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
by admin | Jun 26, 2017 | News
Rock’n Bowl
All ages are invited to bowl to Rock’n Roll music!
This Friday, June 30, at 7 p.m.
Come early to get your shoes and a ball!
Lihue Bowling Center
4303 Rice Street in Lihue
The cost is $14.
Please contact the church office to sign up.
______________________
SUMMER BOOK GROUP Kahu Akana will lead our summer book group at the parsonage, 3281 Waikomo Road in Koloa, on Wednesday evenings, beginning June 14. The group will gather at the parsonage at 6 p.m. for dinner and then discuss the book Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most, by Marcus Borg. In this book, Borg reflects on his life and how he developed his most bedrock convictions–and why they matter. Please pick up your book on Wednesday for $10, and sign up on the bulletin board so that Kahu knows how much food to prepare. Kahu suggests that you read chapters 5 & 6 for June 28.
PRAYERS & SQUARES Contact Angela Dressel if you would like to get involved in praying for people in crisis or helping to make quilt squares for those in crisis.
SAVE THE DATES…..
July 4, Church Office Closed (Happy 4th of July!)
July 24, Monday: “Plantation-style Living: An Afternoon of Art, Stories and Refreshments” at our Smith Memorial Parsonage, 3281 Waikomo Road. We need volunteers to host and serve refreshments.
July 29, Saturday: Parade, “Many Cultures, One Community” 10 a.m. We need volunteers for decorating, wear and/or carry items representing your family background in the parade.
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“Weekly News of the Church” is provided by Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference. Join us at 3289 Poipu Road in Koloa!
by admin | Jun 26, 2017 | Message from Kahu
Happy Anniversary United Church of Christ!
On Sunday, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the United Church of Christ. I shared with the congregation how I came to the UCC during a time of searching, disappointment with my former denomination, and self-reflection. In the denomination in which I was originally ordained, certain individuals were not welcome…or, shall I say, their welcome was limited. LGBTQ people were told, “You are welcome to worship with us, but you may not hold office or be ordained.” People who held theological viewpoints and opinions that were different from those of the denomination were not allowed in certain positions.
When I first began attending a UCC worship service in Salt Lake City, I heard the words, “No matter who you are or where you have been on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” The people of this church not only said these words, but they meant them. They lived them in their extravagant hospitality and language. I later attended a very large UCC church in Dallas and saw those same words being lived out by the pastors and people who attended. Within a year, I was working as an associate pastor at that church and began the process of transferring my standing (ordination) into the UCC.
Our denomination’s motto is: “That they may all be one.” The idea is that we can be united in our love for God, each other and the world, even amidst our vast differences in lifestyles, beliefs and ways of seeing the world. I shared on Sunday that we may not always do this perfectly, and sometimes we do not feel very united. However, the motto comes from Jesus’ final prayer for his disciples when he was with them at the last supper. In her book, That They May All (Finally!) Be One, Mary Susan Gast (my former Conference Minister), writes, “Jesus’ prayer is an expression of yearning for the continuation…of the community that is one in the love of the Holy.” What she is saying is that Jesus is stating his deepest longing for his disciples and the disciples that would follow, that we would all be united in our love for God and for all that God loves, which includes every person and expands to include all of creation. This too can be our longing and, in fact, is our longing if we are truly followers of Jesus.
May we all long for a world where all are loved and invited to share their love with others!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
____________
Videos of Kahu’s sermons are uploaded onto YouTube most weeks. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to our church. You can also subscribe on YouTube ; that way you can receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
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