Charing's play ground of theology

  Date: November 17, 2024 Occasion: Transgender Day of Remembrance with Candlelight Service Location: United Church of Hyde Park Scripture: Daniel 12:1-3 Sermon title: Those Shall Wake “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart     be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Amen.   “Daniel was called Belteshazzar” (Dan 1:7) by the palace master, as well as Daniel’s three other Jewish friends. Although Daniel and his friends were captured by the Babylonian King, they insisted not to comply with the eating regulations they were asked to follow. Daniel started to interpret King’s dreams because God has given Daniel vision and wisdom during the diaspora. Daniel’s three friends did not comply with the mandatory worshipping code – to worship the Golden Image made by the King, they were thrown into the furnace that was heated up seven times more than was customary. But, they survived. The King was shocked to know that they we...

  Sermon Title: Job1:1,2:1-10; Mark 10:2-16 Scripture: Receive the Kingdom of God Like a Child Date: October 6, 2024 Occasion: World Communion Sunday / LGBTQ+ History Month Location: United Church of Hyde Park   1- Presbyterian Outlook I subscribed to some weekly meditation materials from various sources. The Presbyterian Outlook I received this week has an interesting beginning. Here is the first paragraph: “Dear readers, A lot is going on in the world right now. The Southeast is still assessing the tragic damage of Hurricane Helene, the Near East is shrouded in violence, Sudan is on the brink of famine, the U.S. stands in front of a decision that will impact our democracy ... Watching or listening to the news can feel overwhelming. Where am I to spend my time and energy? How will I have enough capacity?” [1] Bad news keeps coming. The suffering of people, all around the world. We might ask: what have they done? What cause those? When looking at them. We m...

Occasion: Pentecost and Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries Sunday Location: United Church of Hyde Park Scriptures: Psalm 104:25-35 and Acts 2:1-6 Sermon title: What does this mean? Theme: Refuge and New Beginning - Intersection with Pentecost   0. Prayer before sermon “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14). Amen. 1. “Pentecost” In some Christian traditions, 50 days after Easter is the day of Pentecost. This is the day that the Holy Spirit dwells upon the disciples and empowers them to speak in various native languages to proclaim God’s great doings to various audiences in Jerusalem. Traditionally, we call this the birthday of the Christian church. Some churches also celebrate the new baptized members and review the church’s ministries in honor of God. Today is also the Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries Sunday. Our church has a long history work...

Sermon title: " The Images of the Shepherd" Given scripture: Psalm 23 and John 10: 11-18 * link to the sermon video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQPJ8pv0qZ4 We have two scriptures today, and we are going to go through some images present in them regarding “the shepherd” together. And then to see if we can find new meanings in our context. 1. Psalm and David’s shepherd The first scripture is from the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 23. It might be one of the most famous and well-memorized scriptures in the Christian bible. (1) Where and when did I learn Psalm 23. I first learned about Psalm 23 in a small bible study. At that time, I was drawn to the Christian religion and would like to know about that. There were several paintings in the church. One of them is a man holding a sheep. A man with a light skin tone and long white hair held a small sheep in one arm and a shepherd staff in one hand. And there is a glow behind both that man and the sheep. Most of us might also know ...