Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 12/15: "Man, your sins are forgiven"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick;I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:31-32). We must all know that Jesus' call is a personal invitation to us. Let us accept his call and follow him.


God Bless,
Maria

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Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 12/8: "Henceforth, you will be catching men!"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

Jesus was ready to perform a miracle long before Simon Peter cast his net. But the miracle could not have been realized if Simon Peter had not trusted the Lord completely to do what may seem at that time to be the impossible. Dear Lord, how weak and faithless we are at times to trust you completely. We know and are honored that you long to commission each of us to advance your kingdom, just as you have commissioned Simon. We humble ourselves before you, pray Lord that through your grace, we may have the faith to allow your miracles to be performed in our lives. We ask this in Jesus' name.

God Bless,

Maria

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Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 11/17: Special Topic - Prayers

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

We have a special guest this week. Yvonne Chow will introduce to us the various forms of prayer and will also lead us in meditative prayer. Thank you Yvonne for spending time to share with us your prayer experience and leading us into more intimate communication with God.


God Bless,
Maria

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Monday, November 06, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 11/10: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me!"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

Jesus spoke with authority when he started preaching in the synogogues. He created both admiration as well as hatredness towards himself in different people. In many ways, he is a true leader who is not afraid of stirring up controversy. His words do not always do down easily for most people, yet he never tried to soften the words. Jesus does want to shake us up so that he can get our attention. He came to proclaim a "good news" unlike anything we might expect, and if we are to listen properly, we will need to be made uncomfortable. How else will we want to part with sin and follow him on the way to the cross?

"Lord Jesus, today you offer us a choice: to accept your words or to listen to the desires of our fallen nature. Help us to be generous recipients of your grace and instruments of your peace."

God Bless,

Maria


posted by Maria at 10:02 PM

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Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 11/3: Catholic Catechism discussion

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.
This week, we begin our first discussion to get to know more about the Catholic faith catechism. Thanks to MingShu for suggesting this and bringing this wonderful opportunity to us. Please read the articles ahead of time and come prepared for the discussion. May God bless and guide us that through these, we can gradually be more equipped and confident in sharing our faith with non believers.

God Bless,

Maria
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Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 10/27: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight!"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

Just what did John the Baptist mean when he said to bring down every mountain, fill every valley, straighten the crooked and smooth the rough ways when he preached the baptism of repentence? What are the mountains, the valleys, the crooked, the rough ways in our lives that keep us from advancing on the path to God's love? Lord, open our eyes and hearts to heed the calling that salvation is about embracing life here and now, in where we planted and what we are given to do. Open our hearts to your word, and show us, in specific, unmistakable ways, how you are at work today.


God Bless,

Maria

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 10/20: Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

The Holy family in obedience to and for the love of God has obeyed the Jewish law. Mary and Joseph had evidently taught Jesus well; their example of love and obedience paved the way for Jesus to be open to all his heavenly Father would teach him. Let us reflect on the love and obedience shown by the Holy Family and strive to follow their example to sustain the mini-church within our Christian family.


God Bless,


Maria

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 10/13: The Birth of Jesus

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

This week we will have a brief introduction by Br. Kuo Ting on the study of Catholic Catechism. We can go to the website: www.catholic.org.tw to preview. Thank you Br. Kuo for taking the time to share with us this important information to start off our exploration of our Catholic believes and Church teachings. We will have our first session of the study of the Catholic Catechism on November 3rd.

Chapter of 2 of Luke's gospel uniquely portrays the glorious and joyous arrival of Jesus Christ when the angels of heavens shook the earth as they sang: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth!" Probably The most important message that was ever announced to human race by God, was said to the lowly shepherds, that a lowly babe was born to a lowly family in a lowly manger. This babe is to be our saviour and king of kings! Lord, teach us to see things through our eyes of faith and acknowledges your grand plan in the most ordinary of things, even if we do not fully understand.

God Bless,

Maria

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Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 9/29: "Blessed are you among women!"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

The gospel of Luke begins with great joy when the first news of salvation were brought to Zechariah and Mary. We continue to see how this joy is lived out through Mary and with the very presence of the Lord God in her that Elizabeth, when greatedby Mary, exclaimed in a loud cry of joy and her baby St. John the Baptist in her womb leaped for joy.

We too through our baptism and the mystery of the Eucharist has Christ in us. We are the living Tabernacle. Lord, teach us each day to live out our faith that others may come to see the joy of the living Christ in us. In Jesus name we pray.

God Bless,


Maria

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 9/22: Special topic "How to be a good Christian"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

We welcome Carol as our guest speaker for this week and thank her for giving us her time and sharing her faith with us. Her topic will be centered around Mark 8:34 " if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me". This also happens to be last Sunday's Gospel.


God Bless,


Maria

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Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 9/15: We will begin a new book - Gospel of Luke

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

Thanks to Angela for leading the last chapters of Acts of The Apostles last week and giving us a good summary of the book we have been studying most of this year. Last week, we also had many new friends join us. We welcome Bethany, Michelle, Heidi and their families and look forward to see them regularly at our gatherings.

This week we will begin to study the Gospel according to Luke. As the name implies, the author of the third Gospel is St. Luke who also happens to be the author of the Acts of the Apostles. It is believed that Luke was a close follower and disciple of Paul. He wrote the Acts through first hand knowledge of having been around Paul throughout much of his journey up till Paul's Martyrdom. Luke also wrote the Gospel through much of Paul's narrative and his own research. Thanks to Mike for the suggestion, we will see a lot of continuity in both books as the central believe, ideal and theme flows from Paul's main teachings: the universality of salvation and God's immense mercy towards sinners.


God Bless,

Maria

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 9/8: The Storm at Sea

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

Praise and Thank God for letting us have a smooth rooms arrangement last week to have both our bible study and the young adult group's 20/20 meeting. We are back to our usual room this week, meeting in the Art room. In Paul's journey as a prisoner to Rome, in chapter 27 we see how God has used what must have been a painful and sorrowful experience for Paul in his captivity, to bring about Mercy for all on the shipwreck.


God Bless,

Maria

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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Reminder - No Bible Study this Friday (9/1)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This is a friendly reminder that we will not have Bible study this Friday because of the Labor day long weekend. We will resume on 9/8/06 and continue our journey through the last couple of chapters in ACTS.

Have a pleasant, safe and joy filled holiday! May God bless and watch over all Cornerstone families!

In Christ,
Maria
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Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 8/25: Paul appeals to the emperor

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

The courtroom drama of Paul's trial reaches a new high point in this chapter. By all standards of our modern day measure, many would have no doubt that Paul is insane. Just as Festus shouted to him saying: "Paul, you are mad!". When given a chance to defend himself before the Roman Emperor when the outcome is either life or death for him, Paul did the most unthinkable by human standard - the challenge to convert his pagan Roman audience to Christianity! How does Paul's actions challenge us to view our own faith with the same singularity of purpose and intensity of passion? Tough act to follow... But his ultimate spreading of the Good News from Greece to Rome even as a prisoner, should be a source of great inspiration that God uses his obedient and faithful servants in great ways beyond our wildest imagination.


God Bless,
Maria

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 8/18: Paul's Defense before Felix

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

As Paul was brought to the governor to be tried, we once again see how the truth was deliberately twisted by his accusers. Does this sound familiar? I'm sure all of us have similar experiences in our daily lives where we feel injustice was being done to us or people around us. What can we learn from Paul's own defense and outcome? Come share your thoughts...

God Bless,

Maria

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Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 6/23: "Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking and do not give up!"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

Paul continues his journey throughout the Roman empire, this time arriving at Corinth and Ephesus. He worked and worshipped in the Synagogues with the Jews with one and only one purpose in mind - spreading the good news and establishing the Christian faith to people who would listen and believe.

I will be on vacation starting Thursday and will not see you at Bible study this week. I wish you all a happy summer filled with God's blessing. See you in about a month!

God Bless,

Maria

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Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 6/16: "In Him we live and move and exist."

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

As Paul meets and introduces to the sophisticated Athenians the concept that all of human mankind are the children of God, it challenges us to reflect on what that means to us personally. Almighty and eternal God, how good it is to be called your child. In our weakness, help us to be worthy of that by our actions and decisions that reflect our faith and complete reliance on your infinite fatherly love. One that will see us through any circumstances life may bring. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

God Bless,

Maria

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Wednesday, June 07, 2006

New Location! (click here for more pictures)





In May, we moved to a new gathering location - St. Joseph of Cupertino School. Praise and thank God for giving us this wonderful facility for growth! We are also grateful to Fr. Kimm, pastor of St. Joseph of Cupertino Church and the faculties of the school for their generosity. May God bless their work and service to his flocks on earth!
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April BBQ (Click here for more pictures)




We had our first 2006 Cornerstone family BBQ gathering at Angela's home!
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Cornerstone Bible Study - 6/9. Special topic: Raising kids

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We will have a guest speaker Cecilia with us this week. Thanks Cecilia for taking the time to share your experience with us. Cecilia will be sharing her own experience in raising kids. This is indeed a much needed guidance and help for many of us Cornerstone parents. We praise and thank God for giving us this wonderful opportunity of sharing.
  • Date/Time: 6/9 (Friday) 8:00pm
  • Location: St. Joseph of Cupertino School. 10110 N. De Anza Blvd., Cupertino. (click on link below for map)

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=10110+N.+De+Anza+Blvd.&city=Cupertino&state=CA&zipcode=

  • 8-8:30pm - Children sing along praise and worship session. Please arrive promptly. Vincent will be our family worship leader
  • Snacks: Michelle will bring snacks. Please bring beverage for your own and your children's needs.
Attached is the schedule for the quarter, please invite a friend!

<<06-q2-cornerstone-bible-study-schedule1.xls>>

God Bless,
Maria
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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 6/2: "In him we live and move and exist"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.
  • Bible Study: Acts: 17:1, Michelle and Angela will lead
  • Date/Time: 6/2 (Friday) 8:00pm
  • Location: St. Joseph of Cupertino School. 10110 N. De Anza Blvd., Cupertino. (click on link below for map)

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=10110+N.+De+Anza+Blvd.&city=Cupertino&state=CA&zipcode=

  • 8-8:30pm - Children sing along praise and worship session. Please arrive promptly. Vincent will be our family worship leader
  • Snacks: Arthur will bring snacks. Please bring beverage for your own and your children's needs.
Hope everyone had a blessed and restful memorial day weekend! After a week's break, I am eagerly waiting to hear sharings of spiritual growths in the last couple of weeks and see the children grow a little bit taller! Praise and thank God for his providence! See you all on Friday… Lucia has a few things to discuss after Bible sharing this week, so don’t miss out!

Our blog: http://cornerstone-bible-study.blogspot.com/

Attached is the schedule for the quarter, please invite a friend!

God Bless,
Maria
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Reminder - No Bible Study this Friday (5/26)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,


This is a friendly reminder that we will not have Bible study this Friday because of the memorial day long weekend. We will resume on 6/2/06. Have a pleasant, safe and joy filled holiday!


Here's a reminder to bookmark the following url which is the Cornerstone blog. You will find past weekly reminders, schedules and event pictures posted there. Do visit from time to time - you may find your beautiful picture posted there.
http://cornerstone-bible-study.blogspot.com/


God Bless, Maria

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Sunday, April 16, 2006

4/15/06 Congratulations to John!

Congratulations to John for his Baptism & Confirmation! (Click the thumbnail to see all pictures)



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Thursday, April 13, 2006

Cornerstone: Divine Mercy

Last night, at the dinner table, while it was still rainy and cloudy, we prayed that the weather would be better since we will have church activities Thursday through the weekend, and it would be difficult to have the outdoor Stations of Cross on Friday if it rains. Praise and thank our merciful God, somehow, the forecasted black clouds and rains have disappeared, and we have cheerful blue sky, white-cotton clouds, and a BIG sun today. Amazing!! We don't know what happened or what will happen tomorrow, but all we know is that we have a loving God.

Tomorrow, is the "Good Friday", our God loves each of us so much that He let His only Son die on the cross for us. I would like to encourage everyone to pray for God's Divine Mercy. Please pray for all families, especially for all the Cornerstone families. We have a wonderful and a very blessed group, and we can see God's special grace for all of us. At this very time, each of our families is facing its own challenges, it might be related to our health, our spouse, our children, our job, our spiritual condition, our relatives, or other things. Please pray that our loving Father grant us the Divine Mercy so we can endure our trials, and shape us to be mature disciples to be close to Him and to serve Him.

The Divine Mercy prayer is one of my most favorite prayer, if you don't know about it and would like to learn it, it is available at Brandon's web site: http://www.faqcorner.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=824#824

We know that, just like the big sun above the cloud, our Heavenly Father, is always there for us.

May God bless us and our families always,
+Tony

"accidents are just incidents in God's good play for you" "when you've been refined by trials, people can see Jesus' reflection in you" - PDL 25
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Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Reminder - No Bible Study this Friday (4/14)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This is a friendly reminder that we will not have Bible study this Friday because of the Holy week festivities. We will resume next week at a new locale - St. Joseph of Cupertino Church. Thanks to Tony and Wendar and Father Kimm. They have made arrangements to use the school facilities where we will have separate rooms for the kids and adults. This should provide a more conducive environment overall.

I will send out details with directions next week. Please prepare your kids to look forward to this new change.

Under weekly bulletin in the SJCCC website: http://www.sjccc.org, you will find the schedule for Holy week celebrations. Specifically there is an outdoor station of the cross on Friday 7:30pm, if weather permits.

Lastly, I want to share an inspirational website that I received from Sr. Rebecca in my local parish.
http://wandascountryhomeinspirational.com/pinetrees/ Enjoy it and have a very holy and blessed Holy week filled with Christ's immense Love, Peace and Joy of His resurrection!

God Bless,
Maria

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Monday, April 10, 2006

Cornerstone Easter Brunch

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Cornerstone,

I would like to organize an Easter Sunday brunch with the group at the Faz Restaurant in Sunnyvale.

Here's the info on the restaurant:
Faz Restaurant Sunnyvale, at the Sheraton Sunnyvale
1108 N. Mathilda Ave. Sunnyvale
(408)752-8000
www.fazrestaurants.com
April 16, at 12:30PM
Adults $26.95
Children 6-12 $13.95
Children 5 and under Free
10% Discount for Seniors (feel free to invite your parents)
Special Visit by the Easter Bunny
Easter Egg Hunt

The elegant Grand Buffet features:
Carving Station: Leg of Lamb, Prime Rib, Glazed Ham. Seafood Display. Oysters on Ice. Poached Prawns. Omelette Station. Eggs Benedict. Pizza Station. And Many More Entrees. Array of Fresh Salads, Breads and Pastries. Fresh House-Made Desserts.

If you would like to join us for the festivities, please reply to this email before tomorrow, as the seatings are limited, and I plan on making the reservation tomorrow morning. Looking forward to hear from all of you.

Happy Holy Week and God Bless,

Wendar & Tony
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Friday, April 07, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 4/7: The message was proclaimed to the Gentiles

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

    • Bible Study: Acts: 11:1, Albert and Alex will lead
    • Date/Time: 4/7 (Friday) 8:00pm
    • 8-8:30pm - Children sing along praise and worship session. Please arrive promptly
    • Snacks: The Holy Spirit will bring the Word of God for us to feast on

(no snacks as our Lenten sacrifice)

Starting with Peter's vision and the Holy Spirit's baptism of Cornelius and the gentiles in Caesarea, the Church in Jerusalem accepted and praised God for giving the Gentiles the same opportunity to repent and live! Thus the Good News was spread afar to Jews and Gentiles alike.

Attached is the schedule for the quarter, please invite a friend!
<<06-q2-cornerstone-bible-study-schedule.xls>>
God Bless,
Maria

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Friday, March 31, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study: March 06 Pictures

Here are some pictures from the March gatherings: (click to see more)





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Cornerstone Bible Study - 3/31: "Whoever fears God and does what is right is acceptable to Him"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

    • Bible Study: Acts: 9:31, Angela will lead
    • Date/Time: 3/31 (Friday) 8:00pm
    • 8-8:30pm - Children sing along praise and worship session. Please arrive promptly
    • Snacks: The Holy Spirit will bring the Word of God for us to feast on

    (no snacks as our Lenten sacrifice)

In the attached email from Tony, please find Fr. Chu's latest health condition. Please keep father in your prayers. There is also a special request to pray at 10:00pm daily this week for the special intention of Fr. Chu's peace, health and mission.

<> <<06-q1-cornerstone-bible-study-schedule.xls>> <>
Attached is the schedule for the quarter, please invite a friend!

God Bless,
Maria

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Legion of Mary log for children 

Dear Ming Shu and Cornerstone parents,

I've been thinking about this and discussed with Ming Shu once, but have
not gotten around to do it yet till now...

Since the Children are really into their Legion of Mary prayer and
"weekly report" each week, I thought it would encourage them if there is
a way to log what they did in the week. Please take a look at the
attached and give me comments on whether you think it's a good idea for
each child to have a booklet made out. The first 2 slides are cover
pages (one for boy and the other for girl). The third slide is the
weekly pages that go in between, The idea is that :

1. you will use one page per week.
2. Write the dates in the "Week of" cell. E.g. 4/1/06 - 4/7/06
3. You child (or with your assistance) will put a tick mark for each of
the chores or virtue they displayed for that day.
4. On Friday's LM meeting, they can report on what they did from the log
book.
5. We will provide stickers so that they can choose their favorite
stickers to paste on each tick mark on the week's page either during the
LM meeting or after.

I think we should have one book for each child or not have it at all.
So, if anyone really feels strongly about not having this, please voice.
It's ok to have differences in opinion :-). I'm not married to this
idea. If you don't like the graphics, I won't be offended... I'm not
very artistic and basically just slammed this together using standard
animation objects I can find in powerpoint. Any volunteer can change
that and make it more sophisticated...

The rows are completely customizable. What I've shown here are Justina's
"hot buttons" and things I think would either be good for her to focus
on now or she can learn to manage. In fact, these should change when
they are ready for newer challenges. So I wouldn't start with too many
pages and the booklet should allow taking out and inserting new pages.
Each child is different, so I would encourage you to think about the
things applicable to your child and customize the rows
(add/delete/change etc)

Lastly, if we do decide to do this, I would be happy to:
- customize the page for your child (if you provide the content). You
can either edit and send the powerpoint file back to me, or give me
hardcopy hand written edits with your child's name on it.
- Make up the booklets for each child
- Get the stickers they would need for each week's meeting

Ming Shu, please provide your input as well. Tony and Wendar, wanted to
copy you too for any comments/suggestions you have... Hope Wendar is
feeling better. We can perhaps talk more about this on Friday.

In Christ,
Maria
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Friday, March 24, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 3/24: The Conversion of Saul

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

    • Bible Study: Acts: 9:1, Lucia will lead
    • Date/Time: 3/24 (Friday) 8:00pm
    • 8-8:30pm - Children sing along praise and worship session. Please arrive promptly
    • Snacks: The Holy Spirit will bring the Word of God for us to feast on

    (no snacks as our Lenten sacrifice)

With God, nothing is impossible! This week we will see how God miraculously transformed his selected servant, Saul - the murderer and persecutor of the early Church to, Paul - a Holy Spirit filled disciple and preacher of the Good News.

In Christ,
Maria

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Friday, March 17, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 3/17: Saul Persecutes the Church

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

    • Bible Study: Acts: 8:1, Arthur will lead
    • Date/Time: 3/17 (Friday) 8:00pm

Please plan to arrive promptly starting this week as we will pilot a children sing along praise and worship session from 8-8:30pm. Thanks to Rae and Tony, they have selected 5-6 simple english children's Bible songs for the kids. Please prep your kid(s) ahead of time for this exciting new activity!

In Christ,
Maria

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Friday, March 10, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study - 3/10: The arrest and stoning of Stephen

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study.

    • Bible Study: Acts: 7:1, Maria will lead
    • Date/Time: 3/10 (Friday) 8:00pm

Since we did not cover the story of Stephen's arrest and stoning last week, I will be lazy and reuse last week's intro :-). In this week's Bible study, we will see the account of the first documented Martyrdom in the Church's history. This is a really rich chapter. I would encourage everyone to read the whole chapter at least once and reflect upon what it means to you during this season of Lent.

Let Saint Stephen's eloquent recount of how God's chosen people have rejected God throughout the history of God's salvation, ending with the strong statement to the Jewish high priests and council: "How stubborn you are!, How heathen your hearts, how deaf you are to God's message!", be an invitation to us, as we begin the Lenten season - to not harden our hearts if we hear God's call today. But respond with a completely renewed heart from within. A new wineskin - the only leak proof way of accepting the new wine promised to us from the beginning of time.

God Bless,
Maria

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Friday, March 03, 2006

3/3/06 The selection of Stephen

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study: Acts: 6:1, William will lead

In this week's Bible study, we will see the account of the first documented Myrterdom in the Church's history.

Let Saint Stephen's eloquent recount of how God's chosen people have rejected God throughout the history of God's salvation, ending with the strong statement to the Jewish high priests and council: "How stubborn you are!, How heathen your hearts, how deaf you are to God's message!", be an invitation to us, as we begin the Lenten season - to not harden our hearts if we hear God's call today. But respond with a completely renewed heart from within. A new wineskin - the only leak proof way of accepting the new wine promised to us from the beginning of time.

God Bless,
Maria

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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Cornerstone Bible Study: Feb 06 News & Pictures

News from February:
  • Jennifer started joining us. Agnes and John are regular members.
  • Alex came back from Taiwan.
  • Jessica (Director of the CCD program) and Kenneth Wang visited.
  • Presented Cornerstone to the Bishop as part of the SJCCC Chinese Young Adult programs.
Here are some pictures from the gatherings: (click to see more)





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Friday, February 24, 2006

2/24/06 Miracles and Wonders

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study: Acts: 5:1, Arthur will lead

This week, we will study a rather controversial topic of Ananias and Sapphira's death because they lied to the Holy Spirit and kept money to themselves. I don't quite understand the rather extreme manifestation myself. Perhaps this could spark some interesting discussions...

God Bless,
Maria

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Friday, February 17, 2006

2/17/06 The Believers Pray for Boldness

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study: Acts: 4:23, Angela will lead

Once Peter and John were freed, they wasted no time, but continued to pray and invoke the Holy Spirit. We will find out how the works of the Holy Spirit has turned from giving boldness and wisdom to the believers in proclaiming the Good News, to that of creating selfless charity amongst the believers…

See you all on Friday.

God Bless,
Maria

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Friday, February 10, 2006

2/10/06 Salvation is to be found through Him alone

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Here is the information for this week's Bible study:Acts: 4:1, Corinna will lead

    The Holy Spirit continues its works through Peter and John and other believers. Giving them extraordinary boldness, wisdom to witness about the risen Christ, speak against the Jewish leaders and converting thousands to believe in the resurrection of our Lord.

    God Bless,
    Maria

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    Friday, February 03, 2006

    2/3/06 Peter's Message in the Temple

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

    Here is the information for this week's Bible study: Acts: 3:11, Lucia will lead

    We will continue to read about Peter's witness to the Israelites about how the lame man was cured through the power of the name of Jesus. His preaching and recount of Jesus' crucifixion by the ignorant crowd, centers around the theme of: "Ignorance leads to sins and repentence leads to forgiveness and Spiritual strength."

    See you all on Friday.

    God Bless,
    Maria

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    Tuesday, January 31, 2006

    1/31/06 New Beginnings

    Lots of news as we begin the new year:
    • Mike and Corinna have opened their new home for our Bible study!
    • Agnes and John have joined us!
    • William got engaged!
    • Maria and Justina are back from their trip!
    Here are some pictures from the gatherings (click on the pictures to see more)




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    Friday, January 27, 2006

    1/27/06 The Apostles perform miracles

    • Welcome and thank you Ana for being the guest Bible study leader!!
    • Welcome Alex and Albert to the Bible study!

    Here is the invitation/summary from Maria:

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

    Here is the information for this week's Bible study. We have a new location this week. After much hard work and blessings, Mike and Corrina are ready to open up their new home for our gathering. Thanks and congratulations! We also have a guest speaker this week. Welcome Ana!

    • Bible Study: Acts: 3:1, Guest speaker: Ana Tsai

    Another announcement and reminder is about SJCCC's Chinese New Year celebration this coming Sunday (1/29/06). Attached email has the detailed information. It is a wonderful way to start the new year and have everyone in our group share the joy of the spring festivities and receive abundance grace. Please rsvp to Kai Min with headcount if you would like to join the dinner right after the celebration.

    God Bless,
    Maria



    -----
    Dear Maria,
    Hope all is well with you and Justina!

    Attached is an invitation from SJCCC to invite everyone to the Chinese New Year celebration. The dinner is $10 per person.

    Would you please include it in the cornerstone invitation email since I think quite a few people are not in the SJCCC alias.

    God bless,
    +Tony

    -----

    Dear brothers and sisters in Chirst,

    Our community has a big celebration for our Chinese New Year this coming
    Sunday (1/29/06).

    Bishop Mc Grath and our friends from the Diocese of San Jose will join in
    with us.

    I am so happy to invite all of you to come celebrate our New Year and to have
    fun.  Please try your best to dress to reflect "Chinese Culture".

    Schedule as follows:

    3:00pm ~ 4:15pm  Mass ( includes parish Jubliee Cross and the rite of
    Honoring Ancestors)
    4:15pm ~ 5:15pm  Reception (inculdes traditional show and red envelopes to
    kids)
    5:30pm ~ 6:30pm  Presentation (at resturanent)
    6:30pm ~ ???     Dinner (at China Stix Resturanent)

    All are welcome.  Please don't miss this wonderful celebration of Chinese New
    Year.

    ps.  If you want to join the dinner party, please let me know ahead of time
    because we need a head count for the resturanent. Thanks.

    May God be with us always and bless us.
    Happy Chinese New Year

    kai min




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    Friday, January 20, 2006

    1/20/06 The coming of the Holy Spirit

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

    Here is the information for this week's Bible study: Acts: 2:1, Arthur will lead

    We will learn about how God has sent his holy spirit to guide his early Church. How does this apply to us? Perhaps an out pouring of the Holy Spirit can help us overcome our own limitations in our quest to be closer to God. Come find out…

    God Bless,
    Maria

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    Friday, January 13, 2006

    1/13/06 Jesus is taken up to heaven

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

    Here is the information for this week's Bible study. We will begin studying a new book - The Act s of the Apostles: Chapter 1, Mike will lead

    Hope your week was filled with much joy, peace and blessings!

    God Bless,
    Maria

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    Sunday, January 08, 2006

    1/8/06 New Year's resolution

    Dear brothers and sisters,
    It was great to see many of you at the Friday night meeting. For those missing the meeting, we look forward to seeing you next week. Maria will send out an invitation/reminder during the week.

    At the following URL, you will find the "Bible reading" sharing I talked about during the meeting. I am sending this to everyone since this is somewhat related to New Year and may help in everyone's New Year's resolution. :)
    http://www.blessed-family.org/
    It was one of my first testimonies from 6 or 7 years ago, please forgive my extremely poor Chinese. My language skills are pretty poor, but God decorate the weak parts with His glorious deeds, so hopefully it is still worth reading. On the site, you can also see a few other bilingual Lent related articles on the site. Over time, I will try to put up our other testimonies that we have published over the years.

    If you are interested in the books or tapes referred to in the article, please feel free to let me know.

    May God bless us to be touched by Him,
    +Tony

    PS, Eugene and Jenny, please forward this to Lighthouse brothers and sisters as well. Thanks.
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    Saturday, January 07, 2006

    1/6/06 The Resurrection

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

    Happy New Year to everyone! Here is the information for the first Bible study gathering of the new year. Bible Study: Matthew 28:1-20, William will lead

    I look forward to seeing everyone again after a long break. Thank you Tony for sending out the notices last month! Praise and thank God for keeping us and our families in his good hands till we meet again. As I'm catching up on the happenings, I learned that it has been an eventful few weeks. Let us all keep each other in our prayers that God's grace will strengthen us and his spirit will continue to move us in putting our complete trust in Him, that all things happen for a reason, eventhough we do not understand it now. I'd just like to share a beautiful verse from Isaiah that I have found solace in over the years:

    "My thoughts, says the Lord, are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts." (Isaiah 55: 8-9) Connecting the dots takes time. Sometimes, it takes more than a life time - Till that happens, lets keep our Faith, Hope and Love high and find encouragement and God's peace through each other's prayers, kind words and actions.

    God Bless,
    Maria

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