KANI KANI PELE The Monthly Newsletter of Kailua United Methodist Church Volume XVIII, No. 40 December, 2015 1110 Kailua Road, Kailua , HI 96734 “Making Disciples of Christ from All Generations” Christmas Songs We are now in the midst of Advent, which is the start of the New Year in the Chrisan calendar. It is the season of four weeks leading up to Christmas. The term comes from the Lan adventus, which means “coming.” In Advent we prepare ourselves for the “comings” of Christ – whose birth we prepare to celebrate once again, whose presence comes to us through the Word and Spirit, and whose return in final victory we ancipate. So in Advent we prepare ourselves for Jesus’ coming. We get ready to meet Jesus Christ. We get ready to welcome him into our world and into our lives. My favorite Advent hymn is “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus:” Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolaon, hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire of every naon, joy of every longing heart. When we sing, “Come thou long expected Jesus,” we really mean it. We really are waing, ancipang, and longing for Jesus to come: “Jesus, just as you came to Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, come to us. Just as you showed up in Bethlehem, show up in Kailua and across Oahu.” The season of Advent teaches us that we need to prepare ourselves to receive him; we need to get ready. Somemes we ask each other, “Are you ready for this?” That’s the queson of Advent: Are you ready for this? Are you ready for the birth of someone who turns the world upside down? Are you ready for the arrival of someone who makes all things new? Our message series during Advent is Christmas Songs. In the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel, we find four songs of Christmas, and we’re going to look at each of these songs in this series: Mary’s song - The Magnificat, Zechariah’s song - The Benedictus, Simeon’s song - Nunc Dimi’us, and the Angels’ song - Gloria in Excelsis, I hope that you can join us as we come together to sing and live these Christmas songs. One way we’ll be doing that is by, once again, collecng a special Christmas offering. We’re calling it our “Joy to the World Offering” because it is our way of celebrang Christmas in a way that honors Jesus – making it less about stuff and more about good news of great joy for all people. This year we are designang 25% of this offering to the Beacon of Hope House for the life-transforming work it does with women coming out of prison and 75% to the Praise Worship Center in India for electricity in their new building and tables for their a>er-school program. 100% of the money that we receive at our Christmas Eve services will go to this special offering. Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let us prepare our hearts to receive our King, Longing for Jesus, Pastor Tim
Transcript
KANI KANI PELE
The Monthly Newsletter of Kailua United Methodist Church Volume XVIII, No. 40 December, 2015
1110 Kailua Road, Kailua , HI 96734 “Making Disciples of Christ from All Generations”
Christmas Songs
We are now in the midst of
Advent, which is the start of the
New Year in the Chris�an
calendar. It is the season of four
weeks leading up to Christmas.
The term comes from the La�n
adventus, which means
“coming.” In Advent we prepare
ourselves for the “comings” of
Christ – whose birth we prepare to celebrate once
again, whose presence comes to us through the
Word and Spirit, and whose return in final victory
we an�cipate.
So in Advent we prepare ourselves for Jesus’
coming. We get ready to meet Jesus Christ. We get
ready to welcome him into our world and into our
lives.
My favorite Advent hymn is “Come Thou Long
Expected Jesus:”
Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy
people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest
in thee.
Israel’s strength and consola�on, hope of all the
earth thou art;
dear desire of every na�on, joy of every longing
heart.
When we sing, “Come thou long expected Jesus,”
we really mean it. We really are wai�ng,
an�cipa�ng, and longing for Jesus to come: “Jesus,
just as you came to Mary and Joseph and the
shepherds, come to us. Just as you showed up in
Bethlehem, show up in Kailua and across Oahu.”
The season of Advent teaches us that we need to
prepare ourselves to receive him; we need to get
ready. Some�mes we ask each other, “Are you
ready for this?” That’s the ques�on of Advent: Are
you ready for this? Are you ready for the birth of
someone who turns the world upside down? Are
you ready for the arrival of someone who makes all
things new?
Our message series during Advent is Christmas
Songs. In the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel, we
find four songs of Christmas, and we’re going to
look at each of these songs in this series: Mary’s
song - The Magnificat, Zechariah’s song - The
Benedictus, Simeon’s song - Nunc Dimi'us, and the
Angels’ song - Gloria in Excelsis,
I hope that you can join us as we come together to
sing and live these Christmas songs.
One way we’ll be doing that is by, once again,
collec�ng a special Christmas offering. We’re calling
it our “Joy to the World Offering” because it is our
way of celebra�ng Christmas in a way that honors
Jesus – making it less about stuff and more about
good news of great joy for all people. This year we
are designa�ng 25% of this offering to the Beacon of
Hope House for the life-transforming work it does
with women coming out of prison and 75% to the
Praise Worship Center in India for electricity in their
new building and tables for their a>er-school
program. 100% of the money that we receive at our
Christmas Eve services will go to this special
offering.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let us prepare
our hearts to receive our King,
Longing for Jesus,
Pastor Tim
The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 2
Aloha and Mahalo to Pastor Samuel Cox
Since 2001, Pastor Samuel Cox has served Kailua UMC faithfully as our part-�me visita�on pastor. On January 1, 2016,
he will re�re and will accept a new role as an Elder Pastor in the California-Pacific Conference serving the Hawaii District.
Although he expects to con�nue to be an ac�ve volunteer associate KUMC member, he also plans to devote more �me
to his passion for social jus�ce issues.
This passion began in his teen years when he was ac�ve in the civil rights movement and has con�nued to his most
recent outreach ministry, Beacon of Hope Transi�on House, with KUMC the host church. The mission of the Beacon of
Hope House is to demonstrate that churches can be an entryway into the community for women leaving prison. Now in
its third year, he hopes this ministry will con�nue for many years.
Pastor Samuel came to Hawaii in 1965 from Japan where he worked as a social work missionary with the Methodist
Board of Missions for five years. In Hawaii he served as the Execu�ve Director of Moiliili Community Center for nine
years establishing one of the largest a>erschool programs for children in the State. He also was a member of Keolumana
UMC when it met at Keolu Elementary School.
In 1976 he helped found and then directed Hale Kipa for Runaway and Homeless Youth for 23 years, with support by a
dozen churches. A>er his re�rement, he was invited by Pastor Tom Choi to be Part-�me Visita�on Pastor for Kailua
UMC. About the same �me he was also appointed Director of Chris�an Unity and Religious Affairs for the Hawaii District
by the then District Superintendent Rev. Babs Ripple for 6 years.
As Director of Chris�an Unity and Inter Religious Affairs, he helped organize the Bridges for Jus�ce and Compassion that
included Buddhists, Jewish, Muslim, Bahai as well as Chris�ans. This later became the Interfaith Alliance Hawaii (TIAH)
whose purpose was to “promote interfaith dialogue and community coopera�on”. TIAH s�ll sponsors three interfaith
forums per month that meet at Harris UMC, First Unitarian, and now Pohai Nani.
The dedica�on, so evident in Pastor Samuel’s everyday living, has also been recognized by awards over the years from
various community organiza�ons:
Life�me Achievement Award - Na�onal Youth Services Network 1998
Hawaii Social Worker of the Year 1998
Hawaii Living Treasure, Honpa Hongwanji 2008
Mar�n Luther King Peacemaker Award 2014
Flame of Hope Award, Interfaith Alliance Hawaii 2014
Pastor Samuel says the past 13 years with Kailua UMC have truly been a blessing and a �me of con�nued growth for him.
He considers it a privilege to have provided pastoral care for a host of our elderly members in hospice, hospitals, and
care home seOngs including Pohai Nani. Many of these members have now passed away. These include some of his able
volunteer assistants including Kaye Wuest, Marge Kuba, Al Temple, Red Miller and Bob Hockaday. He s�ll considers them
to be his mentors who s�ll guide him.
We consider it a privilege to have benefited from his hearPelt commitment in the life of our church ohana. Although he
will no longer be serving in an official capacity at KUMC, we look forward to Pastor Samuel and Babs con�nued
par�cipa�on, encouragement and wisdom.
The Kani Kani Pele (The “Ringing Bell” in Hawaiian) page 3
December Birthdays
If you are interested in the
December birthdays, please call
the church office at 261-6238
PARSONAGE CHRISTMAS PARTY
Sunday, December 20th
2:00-5:00 p.m.
Drop by the parsonage throughout the a>ernoon
and enjoy pupus, hot apple cider and singing your
favorite Christmas carols.
Hope to see you there!
Please join us for our Christmas Eve services
Come early to join in the carol sing before each service
