Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

How was your 2010? Did you learn a lot about 1 John? In the new year, 2011 we'll be learning about 1 Peter. We look forward to seeing you again. Let the new year be another year of growth!

1 John 4: 1-10

Testing the Spirits

1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

4You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

5They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.

6We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love

7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

+++++++++++++

Background: He is writing this letter for the purpose of combating the gnostic heresy. Particularly the ideas that Jesus only came in spirit and the need for one to obtain special knowledge in order to know God. John is reminding these early Christians that they have been given everything they need to know God--His word and His Holy Spirit (seed implanted in us) to understand His word.

Recap: Last time, we studied the confidence that we have as children of God. John reminds us we have known the truth that was from the beginning, and he exhorts us to remain confident in Jesus’ redeeming work despite doubts that might arise in our hearts.

Introduction: After reminding us to stay confident in the truth of the gospel, the truth that brought us to Jesus, John turns his attention back to discernment. John warns us not to believe everything we hear or read, but to test those who would claim to speak truth, lest we be led astray.

During this study we learned more about the importance of knowing God's Word. How will you know what false teachings are if you don't know what the truth is? Remember, any teaching that strays from the Real Truth is false teachings. Gnostics lead you to believe that you needed to know Jesus AND "special knowledge" to be saved. The Word says you just need to accept the Lord as your savior, believing that he came in the flesh to atone for our sins with His death before rising again. Equip yourself against false prophets by knowing His Word... read His Word everyday!

Also, rejoice in Him for He is love! Our God is a just God. As sinners we would never be able to stand before the Lord without Jesus' sacrifice. The death of Jesus, the son of God, the perfect, sinless sacrifice allowed us to stand before Him. And remember it was God who sent His son to us in the first place because He so loved us! Isn't that just awesome? :)

++++++++++++++++++++++

Below are some pictures from our Missions team who on the last week of October went to Honduras to build a well, share the good Word and to grow and learn in Him. They'll be sharing their story in more details in the next few weeks at LSCC. If you want to hear from them earlier I'm sure they'll all love to share with you!

Thank you Jesus for bringing everyone home back safely!































































+++++++++++++++++++++

Announcements



Sunday Nov 7th is OCC -- Operation Christmas Child. Please bring boxes, toys, geared towards boys and girls of the different ages (2-4, 5-9, or 10-14). More details in the link: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ Lunch will be provided at LSCC. Also, don't forget, it's $7 a box to ship! No war-related items, either!

Wed Nov 10th -- Huddles at the Shaw Shack. Since the Kongs will be exploring the world (in Asian) the Shaws will be hosting for the next few meetings. **Important-- BRING YOUR DEVOTIONALS CLASSICS book and read ahead-- "the Habit of reading the Bible daily" starting page 281**

Wed Nov 17th -- Bible study at the Shaw Shack

Wed Nov 24th-- No Bible study as this is Thanksgiving week

Wed Dec 1st -- Meet back at the Kong's place for LSFG

Sat Dec 4th -- LSCC Christmas party. Location: TBD. There will be white elephant gift exchange. The gift price should be at $7.

BROOMBALL

Here's the info for our upcoming broomball event.
Please let Marina know if you can or cannot make it.

Who: Living Stones Fellowship Groups, all of them!
What: BROOMBALL!
Where: Ice Center at Vallco Mall at 10123 N. Wolfe Rd, Cupertino CA 95014
When: Friday 15-Oct at 9:30pm - 10:45pm
Why: Time to see one another, catch-up, and create memories
Cost: $5 (much cost is subsidized by LSCC)

Announcements

Oct 15 = Group Activity.
We'll be eating dinner together around 7 and then broom-balling at the Ice Center at Valco Mall around 9pm. Bring your friends and your game face! More details to be provided as the date approaches.

Oct 27 = Combined Small Group activity
LSFG San Jose and Santa Clara will be meeting for an activity night. More details to come!

Living Water International
Please pray for the LWI team. The group needs solidarity in mind and spirit. This is more than just a way to provide fresh water for people in need in Honduras. It's an opportunity to be stretched as we share God's love and His Word. "Heavenly Father, I pray for One-ness as the LWI team prepares to do your work. Guard their bodies and their hearts as they travel out there. May you move them, may you love them. Amen"

1 John 3: 11-20

1 John 3:11-20 (New International Version)

Love one another
11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

We continue on with 1 John as he continues to dispel the gnostic beliefs. He uses extreme opposites to describe our actions if we choose to hate our brothers... To hate your brother puts us to the same level of Cain, a murderer! What stuck out to me is the part that says "He who does not love abides in death". That really stucks out doesn't it? To chose not to act is just as bad as choosing the act wrongly too. So make sure to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Living Water Internation -- Preparations Activity

This upcoming Wednesday we'll be helping prepare for the upcoming LWI auction. For more information on LWI itself, please refer to the LSCC website link:

http://www.livingstonescc.com/missions-10.html

The purpose of the auction itself is to raise money for the well. That is, the people going will be financing their ticket to Honduras and living expenses on their own (or through others). While LWI technically is fronting the well's expenses we're aiming to help them out by raising money through the auction. Bring your friends and let's raise some money for the Kingdom!

LSFG Pool Party

BBQ & Pool Party this Saturday, August 14!

When: 12-3pm

Where: Kao's Community Pool - 2775 Parkside Dr., Fremont Ca 94536

Hope to see you there. Please RSVP to me or Justin if you haven't done so and you're planning on coming.

The Real Deal: 1 John 1:5-2:2

1 John 1:5-2:2

5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an [1] Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Notes from the study:
John writes that God is Holy and in Him, there is no darkness. Therefore, in order to have fellowship with God, we must strive for holiness and not walk in darkness. In order to have fellowship with God, we need to recognize His holiness along with his other characteristics. His holiness is what prevents him from having fellowship with sinners, who are not made holy by the blood for Jesus. It is what causes him to bring righteous wrath on the world that walks in darkness. In the coming day, he will not abide that which is not made holy by His work through Jesus (what do you mean by he will not abide that which is not made holy...). We as Christians need to understand this if we are to have fellowship with God.
John then goes on to contrast those that understand and those that don’t. Verses 6 and 7 are paired as well as verses 8 and 9. One could make the case that verse 10 and 2:1-2 are a pair, but it doesn’t really follow the form of 6/7 and 8/9. The content of 10 and 2:1-2 do contrast each other.

“If we say” verses are lies of the false or Gnostic teachers. They are compared against the next verse, which is truth. Verse 6, 8, and 10 all contain lie or some form of it (v6 lie, v8 truth is not in us, v10 liar). So as to say, if you do this, you are sinning or walking the path of a sinner / walking in darkness.

Verse 7,9 and 2:1-2 all contain the forgiveness of sin, extremely important to the central message of the gospel but even more so as this stands in opposition to v8 and v10 (we have no sin, we have not sinned). We use the term of walking in light as a metaphor for full disclosure, not hiding anything. A man who walks in this way acknowledges his sin and asks for forgiveness (if a Christian). A person who walks in darkness uses that darkness to hide away their sin, thus making the claims that they have no sin or have not sinned or even do not sin. Walk in the light, strive to be holy, and ask for the forgiveness of the Lord and he will forgive us our sins and cleanse us in the blood of his son, Christ Jesus, who paid the price for our sin, nay for the whole world’s sin.(2:2)

++++++++++++++++

Announcements:

No small groups 7/21, Wed as we have in-person prayer on Monday 7/19 at Cheasapeake Manor (34756 Chesapeake Ct, Union City, CA 94587). For more information contact Justin Chien at slk23022@gmail.com.

Vincent has been so kind to set up daily Bible selection distributions to whomever asks. Please let us know if you'd like to be included in these emails.

7/7/2010: HUDDLES: Complete Surrender (St Augustine)

Our session was on the battle within! The body is pretty darn good at listening to our mind-- we want the food, we grab it, we eat. But sometimes the mind won't listen to itself! Habits, bad habits, conflicting wills, get in our way...

We read an excerpt by St Augustine's "Confessions". St Augustine freely expresses the struggle he faces with his own mind! Why can't he just make his decision immediately? What is holding him back? Why are old habits so hard to shake? Who will free him? He was drawn to read the Word and he read a passage from Romans 13:13- 14 and realized the Lord Jesus Christ would be the one to set him free! He needed to get away from his sins and arm himself with the Lord. His hope should be on the Lord, we should no longer be a slave to our flesh, but a slave to God.


+++++++

Other news:

Don't forget to sign up for retreat! Remember, this means submitting payment AND filling out the appropriate paperwork. See details in previous post, below. The early sign up (and cheapest price of $115) is by this coming Sunday.

Pool party on Aug 14th (Saturday): more info to come!

Study on 1 John 1:1-4: Passage and Summary

Incarnation: Fellowship with One Another and Him
1 John 1:1-1:4
1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life--
2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--
3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made

What is the main thing we are trying to get from this study?
Validation of Christ and who he was. John has some authority in this manner, being a close associate of Jesus. This beginning is setting up his assertion of the supremacy of Christ. This was to battle the Gnostic belief that Jesus was never in the flesh. John is linking the spirit and the flesh by saying he was always there and he came in the flesh, and we (John and the disciples) have see him in the flesh.
We’ve heard, touched, seen with our eyes.
V1 is talking about the physical manifestation of Christ. V 2 is talking about the spiritual. Both are important regarding the gospel. V3 is about the gospel and having faith in Jesus which allows you to have fellowship with God. Both physical and spiritual manifestation of Christ is important to the validity and power of the gospel. He could not die for our sins if he was never flesh. He could also not conquer death for us if he was not divine.

2010 Retreat Info

Hey Guys, here's the info for retreat this year.

August 27-29, 2010 (Friday to Sunday)
Westminster Woods
6510 Bohemian Hwy.
Occidental, CA 95465

Register HERE

Early Bird Price (register by next Saturday 7/18):
Individuals - $115

Regular Price (register by 8/1):
Individuals - $140

Late Price (register after 8/1):
Individuals - $175

NOTE: You are not registered until you've completed the registration form AND paid the registration fee. Please pay the registration fee with cash or check payable to LSCC to Alan. Scholarships are available for those with financial need, please talk to Alan.

*the photograph used in this post does not reflect the retreat site, nor is it an accurate representation of Westminster Woods. It is merely used here to encourage you to sign up for retreat.

LSFG San Jose activity: Second Harvest Food bank

For those who want more information about our activity, please contact Marina Kong:


Hey Guys,

We are having a small group volunteer activity on Wednesday, June 2nd from 6-8pm. We will be sorting food for Second Harvest Food Bank at their San Jose Distribution Center located at 750 Curter Ave. San Jose CA. There is a cap of 10 people so please let me know if you can make it. We will be going to dinner together after volunteering at a restaurant in Japantown called Hukilau. Please eat a snack or something beforehand so you're not starving since we will be having a late dinner.

PLEASE READ THROUGH THIS EMAIL, OR AT THE VERY LEAST THE BOLDED RED SECTION. I want an email confirmation from everyone. :) If you want to learn more click here: http://www.shfb.org/volunteer

Thanks!
MarinaPLEASE CONSIDER BRINGING A DONATION OF NON PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS WHEN YOU COME TO SORT

SUBJECT

Living Stones Christian Church Warehouse Food Sort on Wednesday, 6/2/2010, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the San Jose Distribution Center. Please refer to the address of the location listed at the end of this email.

We are looking forward to having your group come and volunteer with us. We value you spending time with us and we strive to start your volunteer experience on time. Please plan on arriving no sooner than 10 minutes prior to and no later than 10 minutes after your scheduled sorting shift time. Specific to evenings and weekend food sorts, due to training and securing of our warehouse, we are sometimes unable to accommodate late arrivals as registration closes 20 minutes past the schedule sorting shift time.

Watch a video about how we work and share it with friends!

ENTRANCE FOR FOOD SORTING

San Jose Distribution Center: Weekday Monday to Friday - use front administrative entrance. Evening and Weekend - use warehouse entrance located on side of building.

REQUIREMENTS

All volunteers must bring completed and signed forms with them to the Food Bank.

The dress code at the Food Bank is casual and comfortable. No shorts and no tank tops are permitted. Closed toe shoes and long pants are required. Please leave all valuables in the trunk of your cars. No purses or backpacks.

ATTACHMENTS - VOLUNTEER FORMS AND DIRECTIONS

We look forward to working with you!

Regards,

Second Harvest Food Bank Volunteer Services Staff

Found it!

The logo for our team! ;p

IRON CHEF (San Jose)

Hello Friends,

I just wanted to post some pictures from our Iron Chef Event. Thanks for all your hard work everyone. I don't have a picture on me at the moment, but Arthur designed a nifty logo for our team! :) It was egg-cellent! We also got praise for the consistency of our dishes and for best presentation! Woohoo! I'm sure the families enjoyed our dishes (and won't want to eat eggs for months after this event, haha!).

Upcoming Activities

March 24th, Prayer Activity for LSF San Jose and Santa Clara groups.
Meet at Yukari and Ansel's house at 7:00 then eat at Chipotle at 7:30. Afterwards we'll have Prayer Activit at Yukari and Ansel's.




LSF Cancelled during the first week of April because....
Good Friday service is on April 2nd.




Easter Sunday Service, April 4
Crowne Plaza Hotel @ Union City



LSF Cancelled April 28th because....
Iron Chef competition amongst small groups on May 1st

Lessons on James

Our latest lesson was on James 2: 14-26:

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^a]">[a]? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"^b]">[b] and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

++++

Our actions should be an overflow of our heart. While we are saved by our acceptance of Jesus dying on the cross as our Awesome God, let us not be "useless" Christians. The next time you are given the opportunity to live God's Word, by all means, LIVE IT!

++++++++++++++++++++

Thanks always for the cooks for feeding our physical bodies!




Even after a long day of work, they keep on smiling.... At least one of cooks is ;p
Fellowship.
After feeding the body.... we feed the soul. Sharing and prayer.

^{1 John 3:16-20:
16}This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Happy 2010~!

Hello friends!

I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year's. Welcome to 2010!

This year we'll be reading devotionals as part of our Bible study. It's called:

Devotional Classics, Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups
by Richard Foster and James B Smith
We'd appreciate $5 for the book. Marina will be collecting the payments.
On our study last week, Jan 6th we read and discussed the first chapter which was a piece from C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity". It's a good read so check it out!

Annoucements:
LSFG San Jose Huddles (Wed, 13th): We'll be either eating out or ordering in at the Kong's place. In any case, after dinner we'll conduct Huddles at the Kong's place. See you there!
Worship training (Sunday, Jan 10th) : If you want to belt it out for Jesus (or play it out for Jesus) Please contact Vincent Mo for sign ups.
Prayer on Mondays -- Justin will be hosting the weekly Prayer sessions as usual. Come by and pray for our loved ones or let us know what you need. :) Please see the weekly emails for the dial in information.
Christian Foundations Classes: Originally geared towards those getting baptized this is also open for those who want to learn the foundations of the Gospel.
Snow trip (Feb 6th weekend): Danny Kai Cheng is the organizer. Please sign up if you're interested. It's should be fun!
Children's Ministry: We're still looking for helpers for Sunday school and Friday baby sitting during the Family Ministry. Please contact Jenny Chien or Elena Liu for more info! We'd love to have you!
Impact Team: Impact Team is looking for more volunteers to create some movement in our community. Contact Bonnie Mo or Will Li for more!


God bless you!

Announcements

Here are the announcements~!!!

LSFG San Jose
There will be no small groups on December 23rd and 30th since it's Christmas or New Year's week.

Sunday, January 4th, 2010
Church service will not be held at Crowne Plaza. Instead, we will be visiting another church. Stay tuned for an email with details.

February 2010- LSCC Snow trip
For those interesting in hitting the slopes LSCC will have it's annual snow/boarding/skiing trip in February of 2010. Contact Justin Chien if interested. It's a good time to get away from it all, fellowship with brothers and sisters, and show your skills on those hills!

Changes / Growth

Hello LSCC'ers!

There's been a change in our South Bay group. Jeff and Justin have decided to head up with the start of a Santa Clara group. This change and the transition is not always easy, but we hope it will allow the San Jose group to have room to grow once again and let us continue to support each other as our brothers step out from their comfort zones.

May God watch over Jeff and Justin in LSFG Santa Clara, and may God continue to build leaders and new members into the San Jose group!

LSFG South Bay!

Retreat this weekend!

Hey Everyone,

Just a reminder that we wont be meeting for small group tonight. Instead, we'll be meeting this weekend in Santa Cruz for our LSCC Retreat! Here's some info below for this weekend.


Retreat Location: Sequoia Retreat Center (11445 Alba Rd Ben Lomond, CA 95005)
Arrival Time: Friday 10/23 @ 7pm
Things to pack:

- Sleeping bags/Own bedding (sheets and blanket)
- Pillow

- Towel
- Toiletries

- Bug spray
- Comfortable sturdy shoes for walking/hiking
- Jacket (check weather)
- Bible
- Journal
- Books "Jesus with Dirty Feet"
- Own devotional materials
- flashlight with fresh batteries

- layered clothing (check weather and pack accordingly)
- Ear Plugs if you're a light sleeper
- Alarm Clock
- Water bottles (Siggs, Nalgene, Camelbak, Contigo!)

- Games to play with the others (board games, card games...)

Directions from San Jose

• Take Highway 17 toward Santa Cruz
  

• Exit at Mt. Hermon Road and turn right at the signal onto Mt. Herman Road.
  FYI: Google maps and navigation systems will take you via Bear Creek Road – while it is possible arrive via Bear Creek Road it is a longer drive.

• Take Mt. Herman Road 4.5 miles through Scott's Valley, on through the hills down to the town of Felton.

• You will come to a "T" with a signal at Graham Hill Road. (If you go straight you will be in the parking lot of a park.) Turn right onto Graham Hill Road.

• Turn right again onto Highway 9 (next signal).

• Continue north through Felton and on to Ben Lomond.

• Go straight through the 4-way signal in Ben Lomond.

• Go 0.5 mile and turn left onto Alba Road. Be careful not to turn too soon or you will end up on Hubbard Gulch Road. Hubbard and Alba are close together.

• Go 1.5 miles to The Sequoia Retreat Center sign on your left. Enter the next left.

• Follow the signs to Check In, park and walk to The Welcome Center for check-in.
  
  
  

Drive safe and see you all there!