U Matters
Happy New Year! Trust you and your family had a Christmas and New Year filled with love, joy and peace.
The holidays can be wonderful, but they can also be stressful and challenging. Managing expectations, competing agendas, family dynamics and traveling, can create additional challenges resulting in conflict.
Conflict is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s how you manage the conflict that counts. The Greek word for conflict is “agen” and it is where we get the English word “agony.” It can be agonizing to be in conflict with others.
For the next four weeks we are going to embark on a new series entitled Biblical Peacemaking. We are excited about this new series and hope you will engage through the sermon series, Recharge (starting Wed Jan. 8th) and small groups.
Although conflict can be complicated and affect many aspects of our life, we will try to keep it simple using the four G’s of Peacemaking.
1. Glorify God - go to higher ground
2. Get the Log out of your eye - get real about yourself
3. Gently restore - gently engaging others
4. Go and be reconciled - get together on lasting solutions
As we explore this theme together may God give us courage and hope. Ezekiel stated, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezek. 36:25-26
May we continue grow in our relationship with God and in our relationships with one another,
Pastor Michele
P.S. If you aren't in a small group currently, this is a great time to join one, or come on Wednesday to ReCharge. Check out the invitation here - https://www.youtube.
Welcome Lunch
If you've just started attending Union in the last few months, we'd love for you to join us at a Welcome Lunch, Sunday, January 12, after 11:15 service. Please stay and let us get to know you better!
We hope that you will join with Kowloon Union Church for a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, English service.
Date: 21 January 2020 (Tues)
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: Kowloon Union Church, 4 Jordan Road, Kowloon
Theme: "They Showed Us Unusual Kindness" (Acts 28:2)
Preacher: Rev Mark Rogers, St John's Cathedral
Recharge
ReCharge is taking a break and will resume Wednesday, January 8 with some new classes including:
Discipleship Explored: Discipleship Explored helps followers of Jesus go beyond the actions - attending church, praying, reading the Bible - and focuses on the heartbeat of discipleship: the love of Christ. This journey through Paul’s letter to the Philippians is ideal for new believers, those recommitting to their relationship with God, or anyone who seeks to deepen their discipleship.
Peacemaking: Resolving Everyday Conflicts - We all encounter conflict - whether it be with a coworker, family member, friend, or complete stranger. Resolving Everyday Conflict is a practical, biblical, and concise guide to peacemaking in everyday life. This biblical guidance will take you beyond simply ending conflicts and into true, life-changing reconciliation. Separate groups for adults, youth and young adults.
Small Groups
A new year is a great time to make a new commitment to fellowship and growth with other Christians! If you aren't currently in a group, we encourage you to try it out. There are groups for women, men, couples, day-time, night-time, etc. Interested? Contact Monte Peterson to start the new year off right!
Upcoming Events
Men's Dinner - Save the date - Monday, 13th January. Details to follow.
The 5th Annual Ladies Retreat will be held in Penang on Friday February 28th to Monday March 2nd. There are early and late flights available to accommodate individual preferences. Hope you can join us. Please sign up at the welcome table and complete your formal registration by completing your details online using the QR code or the link - https://forms.gle/5Z9vdgVmDsMQUTiX9. Deadline for sign up and payment is 31 January 2020.
Book Group
Love to read and discuss books? Join the Union Book Group! Our next book is Change of Heart: Justice, Mercy and Making Peace with My Sister's Killer, by Jeanne Bishop. An emotional, true story of forgiveness and reconciliation, which takes a real-life look at the call to peacemaking we are talking about in January. Books available at the Welcome Table ($100), and also available on kindle. We will meet to discuss the book on Tuesday, January 21, at 7:30pm. Join us!
Opportunites
Love is in the air! Join an ICM vision trip to Bohol/Philippines 14-16 Feb 2020
14 Feb is not only reserved fro Valentines but also to show love and care to the ultra poor. International Care Ministries invites you to see what impact their Transform Program, Family Academy, and Thrive (Pastors gathering) have on the population on Bohol Island. The program will also include visits to Christian & Missionary alliance (CAMACOP) church planters. If you wish to stay behind after the program you may visit the Chocolate Hills or plan a beach holiday on nearby Panglao Island.
For sign-up and more information, please contact Marga Wulfgram at Phone: 61717334 or Dennis Hopton at Phone 98318959.
Registration Deadline: 19 January 2020
Approximate cost: HK4,000
Join the Union Team:
We are looking for an Assistant Youth Director, and a Crèche Coordinator. Please contact
stating which role you are interested in. We will contact you with more information about the role.
Prayer at Union
All are welcome to join us for weekly prayer.
Tuesday Morning Prayer - 7:30 AM
Wednesday Prayer and Discernment for Union Church - 6:15 PM to 7:00 PM
Discernment & Prayer Group:
Thank you for joining us in prayer and discernment for Union Church, both individually and corporately. Now that several weeks have passed and as previously mentioned, we would welcome the opportunity to hear what the Union Church community is discerning. In the coming weeks there will be opportunities to share as we would like to hear from you. If you would like to send any comments, please look for a box at the Welcome Table. Additionally, the Deacons will continue to meet with small groups and other pockets of the congregation. If you are not in a small group and would like to meet up with any of our Deacons, please look for opportunities to do so next week and in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact us.
Youth
We'll be taking a break from our regular Friday and Sunday Youth Group activities for the holiday season.
Our regular Youth Group activities will resume on the following dates:
Friday Youth Group: January 10th
Sunday Youth Group: January 12th
Kingdom Kids
SUNDAY SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS
Sunday, 5 January 2020, 9:45AM & 11:15AM: Children’s Sunday School Resumes.
Sunday School 2019/2020 Registration
All children enrolling in our Sunday School and Creche Center MUST BE REGISTERED by filling in and signing the Registration Form HERE. For more information, please visit Union Church's website or contact us at CHILDREN or 21010414.
Missions
In keeping with the history of our church and the Great Commission, Mt. 28:18-20, we are excited about missions.
We are excited about the many ministries we support annually, both locally and internationally, and we hope you take advantage of opportunities to get involved. Each week, there will be a missions committee member at the welcome table; please ask them how you can participate or if you have questions. Additionally, please tune in to the video in the foyer to learn more.
We hope you welcome the many Lutheran Theological Students from Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand who are attending Union.
Sons & Daughters
Sons & Daughters share God's love with men and women in the red-light districts of Hong Kong. They have asked for our assistance with providing practical items, such as food, toiletries, and household items, for use in their drop-in centre and family home. If you are willing to donate items, please see the list of items needed at the Welcome Table.
To get involved with these and other ministries, please talk to any member of the missions committee: Nick Appel (Chairman), Kathy Foley (Secretary), Dennis Hopton, John Jamison, Melody Landes, Jeff Cheung, KK Ip, Yan Yu (Deacon), Catriona Woodrow (Deacon), Michael Birley (COM). Additionally, David Ashton-Howorth and Pastor Michele attend meetings.
Filipino Ministry
1:00PM - 1:50PM Congregational Prayer
2:00PM - 2:50PM Bible Study Groups
3:00PM - 4:00PM Worship Service
Every 1st Sunday of the Month from 9:00AM to 12:00PM Outreach & Evangelism.
Stephen's Ministry
A Stephen Minister can help. Stephen Ministers are members of our congregation who listen, care, encourage, and provide emotional and spiritual support to people going through a crisis or a difficult time. Please contact Pastor Michele if we can help ( )
Ladies
Fertility & Pregnancy/Infant Loss Support Group - Struggling and could use some fellowship, friendship and support? Contact Sonia Lee.
Baptism and Membership
If you have been attending Union Church for a while and have never gone through the official process to become a member, now is your chance! Please collect a green form and make it official!
If you have never been baptised and are interested, please see Pastor Michele.
Family in Need (FIN)
If you would like to help support our family in need ministry, which helps people monthly with basic needs, please mark your envelope "FIN".
"The End Of The Story" by Monte Peterson
In the light of the recent protests and their impact on Hong Kong, we need to ensure the safety of our congregation and staff. We will always try to hold our services as normal, but we will implement the following procedures for our Sunday services when needed:
• All services will proceed as normal as long as there is no protest planned for the area directly around Sunlight Tower.
• In case of spontaneous events that might impact our congregation coming to Church, then our staff will make a decision on whether to suspend services. An email will be sent to all of our members to inform them of which services will be suspended.
We will try wherever possible to give as much notice as possible should we feel the need to suspend any service. Please make sure that you check your email before setting off for Church. You can help us by ensuring that we have your most up to date contact information. If you think your information may be incorrect, please contact
At this time, we would also like to remind you of our Typhoon/Severe Weather policy:
All Church activities remain unchanged when tropical cyclone warning signal number 1 or 3 is hoisted. They will also be unaffected by the amber or red rainstorm warning signals.
When the Hong Kong Observatory issues a ‘Pre No.8 Typhoon Warning Signal’ on a Sunday, we will complete any service taking place and ask people to leave the Church and make their way home. Services planned for after this will be suspended. When the black rainstorm warning signal or tropical cyclone warning signal number 8 or above is hoisted on a Sunday before 07:30AM, all Church activities (Worship services, Classes, Youth and Children’s programs etc.) scheduled at 9:45AM or before will be cancelled. If the signal is subsequently lowered 2 hours before the 11:15AM service, the 11:15AM service will be held as scheduled. If the signal is lowered after 1PM, the Church will remain closed for the rest of the day.