Mililani Presbyterian Church

09/06/2026

09/05/2026

Aloha MPC 'Ohana,
If we lived in more northerly climes, I might feel like it was Groundhog Day all over again. But, as you know, another hurricane is offshore. Thankfully, models appear to suggest the worst of the storm will miss Oahu -- although let's please be sure to pray for the safety of our friends on Kauai and Niihau.
At the moment I see nothing in the forecast which would prompt me to think the weather will pose us any problems on Sunday. So I anticipate holding church services as usual. That said, as in past storms, please look out the window Sunday morning and use your own best judgment. If conditions seem unsafe to you personally, please err on the side of caution. The service should be live-streamed on Facebook, so watching from home should be an option. Your safety matters to me, so I would rather miss seeing you in person one Sunday than to have you do anything which feels risky to you. Please reach out to your deacon, the church office, or myself, if MPC can be of any service to you in the days ahead. Thank you. God is faithful and with us in all things.
Me ke aloha,
Pastor Ron
PS: Please share this with your MPC friends.

09/01/2026

FOODLAND'S GIVE ALOHA runs for the month of September! If you make a donation at the Foodland checkout to Mililani Presbyterian Church and Mililani Presbyterian Preschool (give our number: 78296), they will make a donation to MPC and MPP too! In the past it's been between 20-24% that they match. They will match up to $249 per person for the month. This is a great opportunity for our donations to be partly matched! Foodland gives a duplicate receipt which you can give to our Business Manager, Char, and she'll include it in your contribution statement. Mahalo, and God bless you!

08/30/2026

08/28/2026

Loved Everlastingly:
Devotion for August 27, 2026

Aloha MPC 'Ohana,
Last weekend, our church was honored to host the Celebration of Life Service in memory of Christopher Claxton, who grew up attending MPC with his family in the 1990s.
In praying about and preparing for that memorial service, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me back to some words which were originally written by the late Roman Catholic writer Henri Nouwen.
The words are appropriate to read at a memorial service. But as I was reading them aloud during Mr. Claxton's service last weekend, it struck me that the words also have something to say to all of us as we are in the midst of living our lives, too. This is what Henri Nouwen said:
“From all eternity, long before we were born, we existed in God’s heart. Long before our parents admired us or our friends acknowledged us or our colleagues encouraged us, we were already loved. Long before any human being even saw us, we were already being seen by God’s loving eyes. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we were already being spoken to by the voice of eternal love, the voice of God. ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love,’ God says to us in scripture. That love was there before we were born, and it will be there after we die.”
Even before we were born, God loved us. Even after we die, God will love us. And at every moment in between, God does love us. That's what it means to be loved with "an everlasting love."
So, please remember that that great truth – the truth of our own everlasting belovedness – applies to you. And me. And all of us. Every day. And forever. Amen.
Me ke aloha,
Pastor Ron






영원히 사랑받으며:
2026년 8월 27일 목요일 아침 이메일 묵상

알로하 MPC 오하나,

지난 주말, 저희 교회는 1990년대에 가족과 함께 MPC에 다니며 성장한 크리스토퍼 클랙스턴을 기리는 추모 예배를 드릴 수 있어 영광이었습니다.

그 추모 예배를 위해 기도하고 준비하는 동안, 저는 성령께서 저를 로마 가톨릭 작가였던 헨리 누웬이 쓴 몇몇 구절로 인도하시는 것을 느꼈습니다.

이 글은 추도식에서 낭독하기에 적합합니다.
하지만 지난 주말 클랙스턴 씨의 추도 예배에서 그 글들을 소리 내어 읽으면서, 그 글들이 우리 모두가 삶을 살아가는 동안에도 전해줄 메시지가 있다는 생각이 들었습니다.
헨리 누웬은 이렇게 말했습니다.

“우리가 태어나기 훨씬 이전, 영원부터 우리는 하나님의 마음속에 존재해 왔습니다.”
부모님이 우리를 아끼고, 친구들이 우리를 인정하고, 동료들이 우리를 격려하기 훨씬 전부터 우리는 이미 사랑받고 있었다.
어떤 인간도 우리를 보기 훨씬 전부터, 우리는 이미 하나님의 사랑 가득한 눈길 속에 있었습니다.
이 세상에서 어떤 사람이 우리에게 말을 걸기 훨씬 전부터, 우리는 이미 영원한 사랑의 음성, 곧 하나님의 음성을 듣고 있었습니다.
성경에서 하나님은 우리에게 ”내가 너희를 영원한 사랑으로 사랑하였다”라고 말씀하십니다.
그 사랑은 우리가 태어나기 전부터 있었고, 우리가 죽은 후에도 있을 것이다.

우리가 태어나기도 전에 하나님은 우리를 사랑하셨습니다.
우리가 죽은 후에도 하나님은 우리를 사랑하실 것입니다.
그리고 그 사이 모든 순간에도 하나님은 우리를 사랑하십니다.
그것이 바로 ”영원한 사랑”을 받는다는 것의 의미입니다.

그러니 우리 모두가 영원히 사랑받는 존재라는 위대한 진리가 여러분에게도 적용된다는 사실을 기억해 주십시오. 그리고 저도요. 그리고 우리 모두도 마찬가지입니다.
매일. 그리고 영원히. 아멘.
메 케 알로하,
론 목사

08/26/2026

💻 A NEW ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS - starts this Sunday , Aug. 30, at 10:30am in the room off the lanai. (where the children's church takes place) after fellowship. Elder Paul K. will be leading Faith and Culture: Christianity and American Politics, an eight week video series aimed at helping Christians understand the political world and approach politics in a Christlike manner. Created by Bridgeway Church, Roseville, CA. Come check it out, it's sure to be interesting! God bless you!

08/26/2026

You are invited to attend the FREE block party the MPC 'ohana is hosting this Saturday, August 29th, to serve our community! Please join us, and God bless you!

08/26/2026

NEW ZUMBA GOLD/CHAIR CLASS - starting this Thursday Aug. 27 at 6-6:45pm on our lanai. This is a very Low Impact Zumba class taught by Dale Delosreyes. This class will be held on the last Thursday of each month.

08/23/2026

08/21/2026

Rooted:
Devotion for August 20, 2026

Aloha MPC ‘Ohana,
I hope you all weathered last weekend’s storm alright. You were in my prayers. If you need any assistance which the church might be able to provide, please be sure to reach out to your deacon and/ or to the church office and let us know. We are here for you.
Monday morning (the day after the storm) while driving in to church, I passed a tall African tulip tree, which had evidently been uprooted by the winds of the storm and which had blown over. I know African tulip trees are invasive, but it was a beautiful tree nonetheless. And it always strikes me as sad anytime a great big old tree comes down.
Looking at that particular tree’s exposed roots as it lay there, I was struck by how relatively small they actually were, compared to the height of the tree itself. And that, in turn, prompted me to think about how important it is for people (as well as trees) to be deeply rooted.
As I understand it, in traditional Polynesian cultures, one’s genealogy, one mo‘oku‘auhau, one’s roots are an important basis for one’s position within society. So much so that a Samoan pastor friend of mine once told me that, before he asked his (now) wife to marry him, he first needed to carefully go over his genealogy with his future father-in-law just to be sure everything was copacetic. Because in that culture, a person’s roots really matter.
As Christians, our roots matter too. Not our genealogical roots, but our spiritual roots. Using a slightly different metaphor, this is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 7:24-27. And it was also what the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to talk about in Ephesians 3:17, which tells us to be “rooted and grounded in love.”
Speaking for myself, after a big storm like the one we just had, I am reminded of how important it is to be rooted and grounded in love when I see neighbors coming together to clean up, people reaching out to each other, folks expressing support and appreciation for first responders and power crews, etc. Because we human beings can be incredibly resilient, and we can come back from all kinds of things (including things way worse than a tropical storm) – but only to the extent, I believe, that our lives and hearts are truly rooted and grounded in love. Amen?
Me ke aloha,
Pastor Ron


뿌리내린:
2026년 8월 20일 목요일 아침 이메일 묵상

알로하 MPC 오하나,
지난 주말 폭풍을 모두 무사히 넘기셨기를 바랍니다.
당신을 위해 기도했습니다.
교회에서 도움을 드릴 수 있는 부분이 있다면 언제든지 집사님이나 교회 사무실로 연락하여 알려주시기 바랍니다.
저희가 당신 곁에 있습니다.

월요일 아침(폭풍이 지나간 다음 날) 교회에 차를 몰고 가던 중, 강풍에 뿌리째 뽑혀 쓰러진 키 큰 아프리카 튤립나무를 지나쳤습니다.
아프리카 튤립나무가 침입종이라는 건 알지만, 그래도 아름다운 나무였어요.
크고 오래된 나무가 쓰러지는 모습을 볼 때마다 늘 안타까운 마음이 듭니다.

쓰러져 있는 그 나무의 드러난 뿌리를 자세히 보니, 나무의 높이에 비해 뿌리가 얼마나 작은지 새삼 놀랐습니다.
그리고 그것은 저에게 사람(나무뿐만 아니라)이 깊이 뿌리내리는 것이 얼마나 중요한지에 대해 생각하게 했습니다.

제가 이해하기로는, 전통적인 폴리네시아 문화에서는 개인의 혈통, 즉 모오쿠아우하우(mo’oku’auhau), 즉 _뿌리가_ 사회 내에서의 지위를 결정하는 중요한 기반이 됩니다.
그래서 사모아 출신 목사 친구 한 명은 (지금의) 아내에게 청혼하기 전에 장인어른이 되실 거라 자신의 가계도를 꼼꼼히 살펴보고 모든 것이 괜찮은지 확인해야 했다고 제게 말해줬습니다.
그 문화에서는 사람의 출신 배경이 정말 중요하기 때문입니다.

기독교인으로서 우리의 뿌리 또한 중요합니다.
우리의 혈통적 뿌리가 아니라, 우리의 영적 뿌리입니다.
약간 다른 비유를 사용하자면, 이것이 바로 예수님께서 마태복음 7장 24-27절에서 말씀하신 내용입니다.
또한 성령께서는 사도 바울에게 에베소서 3장 17절에서 “사랑에 뿌리박고 굳게 서라”고 말씀하도록 영감을 주셨습니다.

제 개인적인 이야기지만, 방금 겪었던 것과 같은 큰 폭풍우가 지나간 후, 이웃들이 함께 모여 청소하고, 서로에게 도움의 손길을 내밀고, 구조대원과 복구 작업자들에게 감사와 지지를 표하는 모습을 볼 때마다 사랑에 뿌리내리고 있는 것이 얼마나 중요한지 다시금 깨닫게 됩니다. 우리 인간은 놀라울 정도로 회복력이 강해서 온갖 역경(열대성 폭풍보다 훨씬 심각한 상황까지 포함해서)에서 다시 일어설 수 있지만, 저는 우리의 삶과 마음이 진정으로 사랑에 뿌리내리고 있을 때에만 가능하다고 믿습니다.
아멘?

메 케 알로하,
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