Month: March 2020

April 2020 News Letter

by laurelhillumcUncategorized

Dear saints in Christ of   “The Hill” 

May the Lord be with you in this unprecedented time of global crisis of Coronavirus coming from Wuhan China! We are looking forward to celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ this year at our homes. I will have my sunrise service on Easter at my home, and so will you.

Your safety and strength is my prayer to our good Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this crisis, I do not want you to be fearful of  infection. We have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we want to be “good influences” to our family, community and nation as well as the  world. This month we will not upload the Calendar because we may not have any events for the whole month. Actually, we hope to open the church on April 26, 2020. If you need any help, please call to the church office (804-795-2772) or  (804-912-7957).

Thank you for your prayers and supports for the ministry and missions of God. 

May the Lord bless you and strengthen you!

 

Please click    Newsletter.4.20    for reading it. 

 

new pastor’s family photos

Introduction of New Incoming Pastor

by laurelhillumcUncategorized
Dear Laurel Hill UMC,                                                                                           (Monday, March 23, 202)
This is Yunho Eo, your pastor.
May the Lord be with you in this Lenten season
SPRC Chair, Pam Johnson, introduces the New Incoming PASTOR (Hyeonho Lee). Please continue to prayer for a smmoth transition as well as the crisis we are facing globally.
 
 
Good afternoon,
Your staff-parish relations committee is happy to report that our projected new pastor is the Rev. Dr. Hyeonho Lee. He and his wife, Miyeon, come to us from the Eastern Shore where he has served Guilford and St. Thomas UMC for the past 5 years. Previously, he was serving churches in Northern Virginia.
 
Following the example of Jesus, and also the example of John Wesley, he pursues a balanced faith between acts of piety and works of mercy. The description of the early church in the book of Acts, chapter 2, is his model community.
 
In a recent email to us he wrote, “It was my joy to meet with you and the SPRC members. I pray that we will have a blessed journey together serving God’s people in Richmond and beyond.”
Much more information will be available to you in our April newsletter. In the meantime, let us keep Dr. and Mrs. Lee in our prayers as we enter into this time of transition.

A Special Message from Pastor Yunho on the Coronavirus March 18, 2020

by laurelhillumcUncategorized
 
Beginning this pastoral letter, I want to address the uncertainty associated with the coronavirus. But one thing you don’t want to be uncertain about is your salvation. Today is the day to step across the line and make a commitment to Christ. If there is anyone around you who does not believe in Jesus, let them come to the Lord with this prayer: “Jesus Christ, I ask you to come into my life and save me. I know I have sinned and that I can’t save myself. I need you to be my Savior. I want to know you and trust you. Please help me in your name. Amen.”
 
If anyone just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at yunhoeo@vaumc.org. If you do that, I’d like to send you free materials, “Living Life.” You may start your journey with Jesus.
 
Federal and Local Governments continue to offer common sense steps to contain, reduce, and prevent new infections of the coronavirus. I want you to stand firm in the Lord to this pandemic. How can our hope in Christ remain firm as we walk through this dark valley? Remember that God is always with you. Focus on what is unchanging. And then God can use you to minister to others even in this crisis. We already know in advance that this virus will not last. It’s a valley that we will walk through, and we’re going to walk through it together.
 
In this time of crisis, there are people who need our help. The Homeless Feeding asks us to help to feed people on 31st of March. Our staff wants to help you not to go to grocery stores to buy items needed. We buy and make 100 plus lunch bags. So if you want to help this mission, please send your donation to the church. Psalm 121 reads,
 
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
 
At each point in your life either good or bad, you can lift up your eyes and find the reasons to praise God. We are the people who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus prayed for you 2000 years ago like this in John 17: 8-10, “For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world; They’ll continue in the world while I return to you. Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, so they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind”(MSG).
 
Yunho Eo, pastor of Laurel Hill UMC, Richmond VA 804-912-7957

A Pastoral Letter on the 16th of Marth, 2020

by laurelhillumcUncategorized

All members of Laurel Hill United Methodist Church,  

Greetings of the Lord with you in the season of Lent!

President Trump presented “15 days to slow coronavirus” today. One of them says to avoid 10 or more people gathering: President 15 day coronavirus guidelines  

And our Bishop Sharma Lewis sent her pastoral letter last week saying,

“Please remain in prayer for those most vulnerable in our communities as well as those suffering from COVID-19 and their families. Also, please pray for leaders and healthcare professionals in the United States and worldwide who are working to contain this pandemic and find a vaccine.

Also, it cannot be said enough, please continue to use best practices by regularly washing your hands, avoid touching your face and monitoring updates from local officials on how to best care for yourself and your loved ones during this time.”

We, church staff, feel a tremendous responsibility to continue to monitor and respond to the rapidly evolving Coronavirus (COVID-19) spread globally. Our top priority of Laurel Hill is the health and well-being of you and our neighbors in our community. Since this disease started from Wuhan China, our ears go out to those who have been impacted by this COVID-19. We are deeply grateful to the healthcare workers, local communities, and governments, especially US Task Force for this pandemic led by Vice President Pence. Let’s keep praying for them. I feel so heavily the gravity of this pandemic and pray for all of you.

We are not going to have a Sunday Service either on 22nd again. I am going to do my best through the help of the Holy Spirit as your spiritual leader at Laurel Hill. I will keep you in my prayer and fast. Lord be with all of your lovely people at Laurel Hill. Before we resume our Sunday service coming Sundays, we are committed to doing everything possible to help your needs in the service. We will continue to follow the guidelines of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and global and national health organization as well as VA Annual Conference of United Methodist. And our staff will prepare sanitizing soap in the entrance of the church. Until we get together again, May our Lord lead, protect, and strengthen you In His gracious wings of grace.

 

Psalm 91 says,

 Psalm 91

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

May the Lord bless you all!

Your pastor yunho Eo

March 15, 2020 Sunday Morning Service Order

by laurelhillumcUncategorized
Laurel Hill United Methodist Church closes the church today for the Wuhan China Coronavirus-19. Worship and pray with your family with this worship material.
I pray God lead and strengthen you in this time of tribulation.
 
 
Order of the Sunday Worship Service (Marth 15, 2020)
 
Opening Prayer
 
Hymn #395 “Take Time to Be Holy”
 
Apostles’ Creed
 
Welcome and Announcement
  1. All meetings and gathering of Laurel Hill be cancelled for two weeks for Wuhan China Coronavirus-19.
  2. Our sympathy to Billy Brockmann for the loss of her mom, Mae Holder, who passed away on Wed. Memorial
       service will be announced later.
  3. Let’s Join the National Day of Prayer and Fast!
  4. Church office will open normally during the weekdays.
  5. Help needs for Easter Egg Hunt with small items to put in egg.”
 
Hymn # 347 Spirit Song
 
Offering (you may use the church on line offering or hold it and bring to the church later)
 
Hymn (choose your family favorite song.)
 
Scripture and Sermon Matthew 6:16-18
 
   16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are
          fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
 
   17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
   18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your
        Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
 
Sermon Title: Shine the Spirit in you through Fasting
 
Good morning and welcome to you. This message comes from Laurel Hill UMC. I am Yunho Eo, the pastor. We are located at 1919 New Market Rd. Richmond VA 23231.
The Lenten season is already running to 4th weeks and is approaching to the season of Lord’s Resurrection.
 
In today’s reading text, we are focusing on fast. Fast is an important spiritual piety but is the most neglected spiritual discipline as an anti-cultural thing. We’re a lot more reticent to engage in fasting as a regular discipline alongside prayer and reading Scripture. Of course, recent studies have shown that while fasting is demanding, not only for a spiritual life but for a physical strength.
 
In today’s main text, Jesus points out the Pharisee’s fasting hypocritical.
 
v. 16, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”
 
And yet, in the modern culture, people have a different purpose and motive of fast. Fast is highly demanded for the physical health. They are looking to lose weight and increase well-being. In fact, short-term fasting on a regular basis seems to actually change your body in a lot of positive ways. It increases human growth hormone, weight loss and muscle gain. Improvements in heart health and in the body’s ability to fight cancer have also been noted.
 
Now I want to tell you the real purpose of biblical fasting. Our spiritual nourishment is the most important reason of fast.
 
What is the nature of fasting? The Scripture says that David, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Prophets and even our Lord and His Apostles practiced fasting in their spiritual journey.
 
Before His public ministry began, Jesus fasted for 40 days. In his fast, Jesus totally obeyed the Will of God and won over temptation to go with his will in his ministry (Matthew 4:1-11).
 
If intermittent fasting is about conditioning the body, biblical fasting is about conditioning the soul to be oriented to God.
 
God gave His commandment to Moses in Lev. 23:27,
 
““The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord.”
 
So after the harvest, Israelite gathered before the Lord and gave thanks to God. Before they go to worships and celebrate in thanksgiving, they fast one day to repent individual sins and national sins. So this is called the Day of Atonement. It has the eschatological meaning of the Day of the Lord. For the successful passage of the final Judgement of the Lord, we need the atonement, Jesus Christ, the sacrificial lamb who died on the Cross for purifying our sins. This is the day of fast with repentance.
 
And 2 Chronicles 20:1,3 says, “the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.” God defeated those invaders totally.
 
Our Christian fast is not for a health purpose but for a spiritual fasting. What do you see in global disaster now? China Wuhan Corona virus pandemic is running around the world. People die business and finance market fall apart. In the national of the global disaster, the believers of Christ have to come to Lord with prayer and fast. We have to cry for forgiveness and healing to the Lord.
 
If we come to the Lord with the genuine fast without hypocrite, God is going to give us the rewards. Matthew 6:17-18 says,
 
“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
 
Again, real fasting isn’t about simply putting on a religious show or losing a few pounds. It’s about aligning ourselves with God and God’s purposes. Real fasting helps us to recognize our own needs and the needs of others, turning us toward the things that matter to God: “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke” (Isaiah 58:6). It’s not about merely abstaining from food but sharing it with the hungry, providing hospitality to the poor, clothing the naked, and not ducking the needs of one’s neighbors (Isaiah 58:7).
 
In the kind of fasting God is looking for in Isaiah 58, we empty ourselves so that the needs of others might be filled. With our fasting, God will fill others’ hunger, heal other’s sickness. That’s the kind of fasting that aligns us with God and God’s purposes. We put the brakes on our own perceived needs and focus on what God needs from us.
 
Christian fasting shall be different from the modern intermittent fasting. Our fast is not like a diet plan.
 
Fasting, in other words, is a path toward freedom, not only for others but for us. It’s a means of healing and a way of reminding us that God is the One who is with us and supplies all that we need.
 
We may have reason to fast in this season of Lent. The Wuhan China Coronavirus-19 invades into the middle of the Lent. I think it is not an accident. There is God’s purpose. I believe that God is calling us all to fast and prayer. Our fast should come with our repentance of wickedness and sins of this day. At the same time, President Trump proclaimed today as National Day of Prayer. Let us joun this prayer. Lord have a mercy on us! Let our fast and prayer shine our spirit.
 
Closing Hymn (choose your favorite song)
 
The Lord ’s Prayer (pray in unison)
 
Open Psalm 91 and read it. God will lead and protect you!