Hey TD!
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families! Click on the link below to view pics and videos from A TD Thanksgiving feat. Offerings 8 and Sandra’s 60th birthday, courtesy of Peter. Thanks Peter! (apologies if your pic didn’t get in)
Hey TD!
Here’s that great video our Bring Me Hope team showed at TD on Friday (thanks Megan!). I’ve been singing this song all day today (ok, maybe not singing, since I don’t speak Chinese, but definitely humming!). Study the faces of the orphaned children and consider what their lives may be like. Look at their joy, pride, … and dignity, and then please say a word of prayer for the millions of orphaned children they represent. Then begin praying what future part you will have in His story in the lives of some of this world’s orphaned.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
Hey TD!
We’ve had a great summer series hearing from some of TD’s leaders in “The Books We Love”!
This Friday will be the series finale, as we hear from Kathy, Daniel, and Rebecca! Don’t miss it!
Last week, we had a blessed time hearing from Abigail, Robert, and Sandra 🙂 You can listen to their “book reports” on mp3 below, including a full-reading from Sandra:
Abigail (incl. an intro on reading from Arthur) – The Lord of the Rings (mp3) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Robert – The Scarlet Letter (mp3) by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Sandra (full reading) – The Velveteen Rabbit (mp3) by Margery Williams
Hey TD!
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! As I told my SS class today, even moreso, I hope God had a great Thanksgiving with you!
With thanks to Peter, you can take a look at pics from A TD Thanksgiving by clicking the link below. Thanks Peter!
You can also listen to Abigail’s Thanksgiving devotion, her first at TD! Great job, Abby!
A TD Thanksgiving – pics
A TD Thanksgiving Devotion – Abigail (mp3)
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me … A CHILD BORN TO SET THE WORLD FREE!! On this twelfth and final day of our gift giving to Jesus, we have a poetic extravaganza to give to Jesus – four original poems crafted for Jesus’ heart and our blessing! Thanks Eunice, Josh, Sam, and Abigail! Enjoy and Merry Christmas, TD! – Arthur
Christmas Prose
by Eunice Im
Christmas is a season full of longing and expectation. For instance, the Christmas lights and other pleasant decorations induce a romantic feeling in air, which put us in ‘the mood.’ We look forward to time off from school and work, for Christmas morning when we get to open presents, and for that one time during the year when the radio plays Christmas music all day long (okay, some of us enjoy the music). With all the child-like anticipation building up, this season can turn the grumpiest of Scrooges into kind and generous men; it can also remind us of deeper hungers yet to be fulfilled. Gift exchanges may promote kindness and appreciation, but also stir within us a desire for this kindness to last throughout the year. The extra family gatherings warm our hearts, but also remind us of lost loved ones and relationships that need mending. Isn’t it funny how heightened expectations can and often does lead to a deeper sense of expectation? That’s probably the reason why this season is painful for so many – it’s a reminder of all the things yet to be fulfilled. Before we prematurely call Christmas a hoax, a fake, a huge trick, let’s remember Christmas in its true essence. On that historic night, many years ago, God met with us, not in a deceitful way (like the many advertisements that promise slimmer bodies and happier times but do not deliver on their promises), but He truly, humbly, genuinely met with us. He promised from ages past through prophets like Isaiah, and He came through. This Christmas, let’s celebrate how He began the process of fulfilling all those deeper longings for reconciliation, true kindness and eternal life. Let’s celebrate…and wait for He is not done yet.
Christmas Poem
by Joshua Hsu
The splendor and the grandeur that must have been there when the Son was born.
Well actually, I don’t remember that in the Bible mentioned on that Christmas morn.
He was born in a stable,
Humble to the lowest state.
He was the King of Kings
And yet he didn’t even grow up on an Emperor’s rich estate.
He came to die for sins that He never made
God loved us so, that He was sacrificed for condemned man that shouldn’t be saved
He bridged the gap, which was impossible for us to cross
As he hung there bleeding for us on the Cross
Amazing Grace, that’s what the Christmas story is.
In history, it’s His story of salvation and the love He gives
Don’t get me wrong, its not about us, Its all about Him
He is a jealous God, pointing us constantly to Him
He is the answer, but yet we don’t have the power to see
And maybe thats why it is so hard for us to believe
A revelation
I get it
Now I finally see
The Christmas story is the story of the loved sinners now redeemed.
On Christmas Day
by Samantha Chen
On Christmas the sun shines bright
A single glint shines on a little girl’s eyes
She quickly awakens to the light,
Because Christmas day has finally come
She rushes fast down as if in flight
To find all the presents under the tree
But one particularly caught her sight
A single box wrapped in a bow
She quickly opens the box as if in rage,
Only to find a leather book inside
A single book with thousands of pages
Was what she least expect on Christmas day
Running up to her parent’s bed
She shows them her leather book
“It’s a gift for you,” They said
“And in it a greater gift lies”
“This book tells of a God who created,
Protected, and loved us a lot.
But because of the sin we committed
We were doom to a road to death”
“However because God love us so
He planned a gift that would given be to us
A gift we did not deserve but now we can hold
Was born on Christmas night”
“He was God’s only son named Jesus
And He lived a perfect sinless life
He performed miracles and healed weaknesses
And showed His Father’s love to many others”
“But that’s not only why God sent Him
He sent Him to us so that we may live
He sent Him to die for our sins,
Even though He lived a sinless life”
“This is the greatest gift given to us,
By a Great and Loving God”
With this they leave to clean up her paper mess
As the girl looks and wonders about the book
She eyes the book in a different way
As if it is a treasure to uphold
Because on this special day
She saw what Christmas was really about
The Twelve Days of Christmas
by Abigail Suen
On the first day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the second day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the third day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the fourth day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the fifth day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Five green wreaths,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the sixth day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Six meals for the poor,
Five green wreaths,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the seventh day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Seven gifts for needy children,
Six meals for the poor,
Five green wreaths,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the eighth day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Eight gospel tracks for neighbors,
Seven gifts for needy children,
Six meals for the poor,
Five green wreaths,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the ninth day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Nine home visitations,
Eight gospel tracks for neighbors,
Seven gifts for needy children,
Six meals for the poor,
Five green wreaths,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the tenth day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Ten Nativity plays,
Nine home visitations,
Eight gospel tracks for neighbors,
Seven gifts for needy children,
Six meals for the poor,
Five green wreaths,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Eleven church services,
Ten Nativity plays,
Nine home visitations,
Eight gospel tracks for neighbors,
Seven gifts for needy children,
Six meals for the poor,
Five green wreaths,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
We gave to Jesus,
Twelve pious prayers,
Eleven church services,
Ten Nativity plays,
Nine home visitations,
Eight gospel tracks for neighbors,
Seven gifts for needy children,
Six meals for the poor,
Five green wreaths,
Four lovely cards,
Three cheerful carols,
Two offerings,
And our hearts, strength, minds, and souls.
