Weekly Update Archive

Dear San Lo Community, an update for the week of January 20, 2013…

Thank you Pastor Eric Yata for the message from Romans 2:1-11, “God, Play Fair!”  Whether it is a toddler learning to play or an adult, we all want people to play fair in the game of life. We want people to follow the rules. We want others to treat us, the way we want to be treated. Translate that over to God, we want God to play fair and be fair toward us. For example, people believe if they are a good person, God will be fair and honor that. Yet, God doesn’t work by what we might hope for. He judges us according the standard of Scripture and His own character. So it’s important for us to understand how God judges each individual. Does God play fair when it comes to how He treats us? How does God judge every person?

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Dear San Lo Community, an update for the week of January 13, 2013…

Thank you Pastor Scott Shimada for the message from Romans 1:18-32, “Revealing God’s Wrath.”  Last week, Pastor Rod spoke on the first half of Romans 1, calling for a commitment from God’s people to Himself and to the gospel.  It was very positive, but this passage is filled with anger, sin and wrath. When you hear the word wrath, what do you think of? Do you imagine eternal punishment with thunder and lightning bolts, fire and brimstone?  Wrath is to provoke to anger, to irritate. It is passionate and denotes a desire to severely punish offenders. How is the wrath of God revealed?

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Dear San Lo Community, an update for the week of January 6, 2013…

Thank you Pastor Rod, for the message from Romans 1:1-17, “No News is Good News?” In police work, staying out of the news might be a good thing, but for Christians, the gospel of Jesus Christ which offers salvation and hope is news worth sharing. As we begin the new year, we should extend care for each other by sharing the Good News. We begin a new study in the book of Romans entitled, Transformed: New Life in Christ. The theme we will focus on: Righteousness from God; Grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ. Looking at Paul’s example, “What can we learn about commitment?”

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Dear SanLo Community — An update for 12/30/12

Pastor Brian brought us the message, “Worship the King,” from Matthew 2:1-12

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Dear SanLo Community, an update for Christmas week, 2012…

Thank you Pastor Eric Yata, for the message from John 1:1-16, “The True Character of Christmas.”  One can enjoy all of the holiday festivities and even celebrate the biblical people of the Christmas story and miss the main point. Even Christians can miss the star of the show. So we don’t miss out on who Christmas is all about, we must center our attention on the reason for the season. We must place our focus upon the Lord, Jesus Christ for He is the true character of Christmas. Jesus Christ is the one who makes Christmas meaningful and memorable. Why is Jesus the reason for the season? To answer to this, we must turn to the Word of God. We find three significant reasons why Jesus is the reason for the season.

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Dear SanLo Community, an update for the week of December 16, 2012…

Thank you to Rev. George Toda, Pastor Emeritus of our OMS Holiness Conference of North America, for filling the pulpit to bring us the message from Matthew 1:18-25 on “Joseph, the Husband of Mary.”  Among the various persons in the Christmas story, Joseph is often overlooked or not fully appreciated because his words are not recorded in scripture, yet God chose him for the very important role of being the earthly guardian and father for Jesus. We can learn from the life and character of Joseph.

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Dear San Lo Community, an update for the week of December 9, 2012…

Thank you to Pastor Scott Shimada for the message from Luke 1:46-55, “Mary Christmas.”  Every Christian has a calling to share with others so they too, could know the same joy, peace, grace and love we have in Christ. As we look at the life of Mary, we can see how she responded when she was called to serve God. Mary was called into the most amazing kind of service for God, to carry the Savior of the world in her womb. As an unmarried teenager, this calling did not seem to offer much hope. There was the possibility of complete rejection, but she still agreed to serve God. When Mary first got the call and was told by the angel what was going to happen, she was probably overwhelmed, anxious, confused, and nervous. She probably wanted to talk to someone, but how do you explain a conversation from an angel and an immaculate pregnancy?  Elizabeth was experiencing her own miracle – being pregnant well past child-bearing age.  Mary knew to go see Elizabeth, who gave her such an amazing greeting. (vv.42-45) In a loud voice, without any note of discouragement, Elizabeth made it clear that she understood what was happening with Mary.  Her words are of hope, of encouragement, of love and of joy. That helps Mary respond in the way that she did. What do we focus on when God calls upon us?

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Dear San Lo Community, an update for December 2, 2012…

Thank you to Pastor Rod Yee for the message from Luke 1:39-45, 57-66, “Oh Boy… O’Joy.”  Luke, a Gentile historian, wrote this gospel which is the most complete account of Jesus’ life. It was compiled from eyewitnesses. It focuses on joy and praise to God for His saving work. Zacharias means “God Remembers.”  His wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of a priest. Elizabeth’s position and life was described as (v.6) “righteous and blameless”. Zecharias says (vv.7, 18) how they are old… well along in years, well past the age of childbirth. An angel of the Lord comes to Zecharias and tells him their prayer has been answered and they will give birth to a son, but he did not believe. So to show a sign from God, he was caused to be mute. How do we respond to the promise of Christmas?

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Dear San Lo Community, an update for the week of November 25, 2012…

Thank you Pastor Brian Tekawa for the message from Joshua 24:14-28, “Doing God Things.” As followers of Christ, our main purpose in life is to bring glory to God.  We honor God through committing to Him our wealth, time, and skills, but God is not always pleased by what we think we are doing for Him.  In Joshua’s farewell message to Israel, he reminded Israel of God’s faithfulness and goodness, then he challenged them to serve God with “sincerity and faithfulness.”  This touches the core of Christian living, living by faith.  Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Anything, done without faith does not please Him. Anyone can do good things, but Christ followers are called to do God things. Many of us do good things, but the question is, “Are you doing good things or God things?”

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Dear San Lo Community, an update for Thanksgiving week, November 18, 2012…

Thank you to Pastor Eric Yata for the message from 1 Peter 1:3-9, “Ceaseless Praise.” The desire and affection to praise God and to give thanks should be an ongoing attitude, action, and thought. It shouldn’t be altered by the chaos of our culture or even by the personal pains of life. The Apostle Peter provides us with wonderful instruction on how to have continuous praise to our Lord, no matter the time of year or the time of life. How can we have an attitude of ceaseless praise? We’ll see three things that we can be thankful for which will help us to always have a thankful attitude.

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