Sunday Service on December 31, 2023

Triangle Family Church Sunday Service on December 31, 2023

END OF YEAR REPORT 2023

1. As the sun sets on 2023, we can look back with pride on the aspirational and remarkable accomplishments we created in a challenging but rewarding year. 

2. We didn’t live in the past, but we invested in the future as we reached out again and again, tirelessly, unapologetically, to our young families with picnics, game nights, easter egg hunts, Christmas parties and Sunday school lessons.  We never stopped trying to reach our young people, and we never will, for they are the future which gives meaning to our sacrifices.

3. In the previous year, 2022, remember 2022? I often felt I was working alone, not because no one else was lending a hand, but because we were working at cross-purposes, cancelling each other out, as we struggled to define our priorities.  This year was different.  Everything we did was collaborative.  Someone did the planning, someone did the execution.  Someone prepared the music, someone prepared the food, and someone invited the guests.  Some set it up and others took it down.  Each event was organized by a team, and what an amazing team we were.  If we put our collective minds to it, I’m convinced there’s nothing we can’t do.

4. What did we do in 2023?  We visualized a prayer room, and then we created it, as a model for other churches.  We went on picnics at the lake, had easter egg hunts and invited Santa to entertain the children.  We shared a feast at Thanksgiving and celebrated Christmas together with a community meal.  We prayed and fellowshipped with dozens of pastors at convocations sponsored by ACLC and UPF.  We found tenants, inviting our friends at Armed and Ready Ministries to share our facilities.  We did all this while maintaining weekly worship services with good music, uplifting messages for the parents and for the children, and wholesome fellowship.  You should give yourselves a hand.

5. I’m especially grateful to the Church Council, these guys are amazing.  Tim and Gail, Hide and Theresa, and Mark and Carol Anne.  I also am indebted to Mamoru and Carolina, John and Sharon, Jack and Chiemi, Andrea, and John Henry and Sherry.  I would not be the pastor without John Henry.  When I was discouraged and ready to quit, he said: That’s not what leaders do.  I also appreciate our young couples: WonGin and Hanmi, Benjy and Hitoe, Gene and Marina, and InSoo and Ijin.  (Your parents should be and are so proud of you, and we love you, too.)

6. We are a remarkably resilient and close-knit community.  Community means that we lift up each other, we protect our blessed families, and we follow God who is leading us.  Where is God leading us right now?  True Mother is emphasizing two things: Prayer and taking care of each other.  She is encouraging us to find our way in this new year of 2024 through serious prayer, and she is encouraging us to visit with each other and forge stronger relationships between families.  This is going to be essential in the coming year, when we are faced with wars and rumors of wars, deep divisions in this country which we love, and unprecedented challenges to society.  People of God increasingly will stand out in a world that has turned its back on civility, which has lost its respect for human life.  We need a loud voice, not a lone voice, we need the voice of a community.

7. What will the New Year look like?  Will churches even be necessary?  We are a community; not a building.  We have so much in common: we all studied DP, we all went fundraising, we were all blessed by True Parents.  I see a change coming to the Christian world, not the mainstream churches; they will be the last to change.  But to the peripheral churches, those who have been persecuted and marginalized.  Many are embracing a faith which is moving away from judgementalism and fundamentalism and emphasizing a God who is with us in our darkest hour.  When we live in rhythm with that God, then we will find contentment, passion and love, and, like David, our cup will runneth over. 

8. To enter this new year and new age, we should be honest and vulnerable in front of each other and in front of God.    God Bless You.  

Slide 1: Photo slideshow of Holy Day celebrations, Easter picnic service, ACLC and UPF events, Christmas service pictures

Slide 2: 2023 overall financial report. Dec. has not been finalized yet. It is tentative.

2023 church finance was very good thanks to members’ donation and the building rent income. We kept contributing 10% of donation income to the national HQ and another 10% to Sub-region 2 HQ. In addition, we started a $300 monthly contribution to the national HQ as the building usage fee, which the national HQ asked each church center in the US. We are financially independent and help the national HQ and Sub-region 2. We appreciate all members’ hard work and donation. 

Slide 3: Highlights of 2023 finance

Our bank balance increased to over $17,000 from $13,496.31 in 2023
The total tithing in 2023 will be over $40,000.
It was $34,440.58 last year.
We had $4,904 in building rent income.
We spent a lot of money for the building renovation last year.
It bore fruit this year.
Thank you to those who worked hard to renovate and maintain the building.

Slide 4: 2024 Budget draft

Yellow highlighted expenses are necessary expenses regardless of our activities.

Slide 5: Sunday school report

Sunday Service on December 24, 2023

Triangle Family Church Sunday Service on December 24, 2023

Musical Offering

Sermon - Historical origins of Santa Claus

Summary:
The sermon discusses the historical origins of Santa Claus, from St. Nicholas to his association with gift-giving and kindness. It also mentions the traditions in Holland and the evolution of Santa Claus throughout history.

Key Insights - The historical origins of Santa Claus can be traced back to St. Nicholas, a Catholic Cardinal known for his acts of kindness and gift-giving. - Santa Claus's story and traditions evolved differently in various cultures, such as Holland's celebration on December 6th and the association with "Black Peters." - The transformation of Santa Claus from a gift-giving figure to a symbol of the spirit of Christmas is influenced by writings like those of Washington Irving and Clement Clarke Moore. - The shift from Santa Claus to Christ Child as the gift-giver during the Reformation shows the desire to focus on Jesus' birth as the central theme of Christmas. - The tradition of decorating the Christmas tree has ancient roots and has been influenced by both Christian and pagan practices. - The historical context, such as the occupation of Holland during World War II, has influenced the way Santa Claus is portrayed and celebrated in different regions. - The spirit of Santa Claus represents kindness, joy, and helping others, emphasizing the importance of our actions and the impact they can have on the world.

Sunday School - First Christmas

Sunday Service on December 17, 2023

Triangle Family Church Sunday Service on December 17, 2023

Sermon

Summary:
The sermon discusses the importance of facing and feeling our anger, using Jesus flipping tables as an example. It emphasizes the need to heal our emotions and find righteous anger, while avoiding becoming jaded or denying our anger.

Key Insights:

• Anger is often seen as a negative emotion, but it can be a powerful force for positive change when acknowledged and understood. By facing our pain and anger, we can become wiser and more open-hearted individuals.
• Jadedness and cynicism are prevalent in society, leading to a lack of curiosity and emotional healing. It is important to confront and address our own jadedness, as well as encourage others to do the same.
• Mind-body unity involves recognizing the wisdom of our emotions and allowing our minds and bodies to work together. Emotions, including anger, provide valuable information and should not be denied or dismissed.
• Unconscious anger can be harmful and lead to violence or a lack of empathy. By consciously acknowledging and understanding our anger, we can channel it into righteous anger that drives positive action and change.
• The sermon concludes with a prayer for guidance in experiencing love, connection, and spiritual vitality. It highlights the importance of maintaining open hearts and minds in order to grow and develop strong relationships.

Santa Claus Came to Triangle Family Church

Photo Album

Sermon transcript  Japanese translation

I was thinking something probably simple something short something like warm. There's lots I can pull from because if you look at Jesus's life Jesus was great to poor people. He was super gracious and so I ultimately landed on that I really wanted to talk about Jesus flipping tables. It's just been on my heart. 

I'm going to acknowledge that I'm going into a topic with great risk because what I don't want to do is to fuel any flame because there's a lot of misguided flames especially politically, hating the conservative party, hating the Liberal Party, hating the activist, hating the non-activist. I just feel like there's a lot of like misguided anger but I want to talk about anger today. 

When I think about Jesus, when you first think about him, it's often in a very like peaceful, like Jesus has kind of got this level head. There are times where he got angry, flipped the table, and said; "hey this is Temple for prayer, not for your money schemes". When I think about what made Jesus a really great man, I think Jesus was willing to face his pain and by facing his pain and I namely mean his anger and his sadness and grief. It actually allows him to be this wise peaceful figure with an open heart to the point where people were going to kill him and he was still had an open heart towards these people. 

I had a career change and I've been talking to a lot of people, doing coaching around emotions. It's often anger. I find that people have a poor relationship with their anger. Anger is painful emotion. It's meant to be metabolized and there's so much goodness available to those willing to face and feel their pain with open-heartedness, curiosity, and peace. But so many people are afraid of pain. All of us have some level of being afraid of old wounds. If we're afraid of our pain and we do not face our pain, we actually end up fleeing or freezing. If it goes on for too long, you end up being jaded rather than openhearted. 

This word jaded has been on my mind a lot because I've actually been talking to a lot of people, a lot of second gen, and jadedness is almost like an epidemic. We just went through a a pandemic. But jadedness is actually an even thicker pandemic going on. I've been thinking a lot about it and I've actually had to even confront my own jadedness which was hard to look at. When I think about jadedness, I think about cynicism and resignation. They marry each other and have a baby called jadedness. The problem with it is that it kills curiosity. That's why I feel strongly about speaking to it today. I've been doing a lot of work and training in regards to my own emotions and I found that there's a lot of wisdom within my emotions. So I think about this concept that we've grown up hearing Mind Body Unity. I believe that there's kind of a misconception that my mind should direct my body so that my actions are following my mind which is aligned with good truth. But I don't think that's actually what Mind Body Unity means. That would be more mind over body. I think when you think about like a husband and a wife, man and woman uniting. The man has certain things he brings to the table. So does the woman. Together they both play a role in creating a family. In the same way, our body brings something very important to the table. It's got a lot to do with emotions.

We need to heal our emotions, our anger, and our sadness. If you look at kids, kids are naturally very emotional. They just can't help it. Their body responds instantly. It's very honest. It's actually adults. We stop feeling our emotions. We stop wanting to feel our pain. We even will put that on our kids. We'll get really uncomfortable with the kid feeling sad. But sadness is such a natural beautiful emotion and so is anger. I'm not going to talk about sadness today. I am going to talk about anger in Jesus flipping tables. 

I want to share that I went to a men's retreat 4 years ago and I did work on my anger. It was really weird because honestly I don't think of myself as an angry person. I've never felt like an angry person. I don't get angry at many people. It was surprising that in this men's retreat what came out was a lot of anger. I wasn't even sure what I was angry at. It was just coming out of me to the point of exhaustion. After being really tired and losing my voice, I ended up feeling lightness. I could get this anger that's been there for so long, get it out. Since then, it's always gotten me curious about anger and how I relate to my anger. 

I'm going to give an example. I was planning the date night. I was preparing a song so we could sing a song together to our baby who was incognito at the time. It was really cute idea. I was learning a guitar to play a song. I was learning the notes. I told my wife that date night was starting in five minutes. She's typing away on her computer doing her work. I think 20 minutes went by. I was practicing my guitar a little bit more. I think 45 minutes passed. She finished and came over. I was pretty angry. I was feeling blown off a bit for work. I was feeling like it's a little hypocritical. She's gotten mad at me for blowing her off for my work. She sat down and said; "Honey, this looks super cute but if you want me to sing right now, I really don't feel like singing right now." I learned this guitar song for an hour. I was feeling a little upset about it. Ultimately, I had to recognize that even though my anger was directed at my wife, it wasn't anger at my wife. I was angry that I had invested in this inspired idea based out of love for my wife, and it was now all for nothing. I was angry about that and that was disappointing. I told my wife that I was disappointed that I planned out this date night and it didn't happen. The point of date night ironically is for us to develop our relationship and love, not for withholding love for my wife and being cold. When I get angry at my wife I get cold, shut down, and don't I don't want to talk. It's very ironic because that's not the point of date night. We were ultimately able to get over it. You don't want to sing. That's okay. We don't need to sing. We ended having a nice date night. We just watched some baking show. 

I had to get past the anger to get back to love. I've been trying to ask myself whether I am conscious of my anger and why it's there because anger is dangerous only when it is unconscious, it becomes violent, and it becomes like a spiritual killing off like I don't care about you and you become cold. This is actually hijacked anger. It's actually not anger at its root. Anger at its root is an important emotion. It's actually the core emotion that drives us to change for the better. It drives us to grow and to be mobilized. It's very common to feel anger in your limbs because it mobilizes your body into action. It's a very important emotion. The key for anger is to get to what is the righteous anger. That's where the Mind Body Unity comes into play. You can't just say this anger is bad and write it off because that's denying our body and what our body is bringing to the table. You act but your mind is meant to bring the truth for my body feels angry and my mind will work together with my body to come up with a truth that both the mind and the body can agree on. That's finding this righteous anger. 

I want to give a few examples of righteous anger. I've noticed in my own life. First, I'll start with my daughter. She gets angry when we control her. That's usually when I pick her up and say no more or I put her in the car seat. She'll get really angry and start flailing. It makes sense that she gets angry because being controlled is a violation of free will. It's worth being angry about. I just accept that she's angry and I say I totally get that you're angry and I'm being controlling right now. I love and adore my dad but I was angry at my dad for a long time. I was angry because I wanted a good relationship with my dad. I was angry and blaming him because I felt like I wasn't getting enough love. I love my dad now. Everyone, don't worry. We're on good terms. I was just trying to deny my anger. But if I look deeper, the absence of love is worth being angry about. If you can see that is the root of the anger, it can mobilize me to say okay. I needed to put love into my anger at my wife during our date night. I believe I had an inspired idea based on love and it was rejected. At the end of the day I believe anger is our protector and it's our advocate. When we're blamed, it makes sense why we get angry because responsibility is something that I want to claim for myself. I want to claim I want to be responsible for my relationship with my wife and loving my wife. But I don't want to be forced. I think it's very natural to not want to be forced or controlled. Anger will naturally come up same with being made fun of. I've been made fun of mostly in my youth. It makes sense to be angry at being made fun of because it feels like they don't care about me and that is worth being angry. Our spirits naturally want to belong. Cutting off belonging like you don't belong here, it makes sense why our anger would get activated. I want to wrap up by encouraging us to be willing to feel our anger rather than deny it but to bring our minds into it because it's very easy for anger to get hijacked and to go wrong. If you're ever angry at a person, I'm going to say that anger is hijacked. When I was angry at my wife, my anger was hijacked. Anger at its core can only be mad at evil that despises goodness, love, and beauty. That's really the only thing worth being angry at. Thank you Jesus for flipping a table. I'm going to wrap this up with a prayer.

God I want to thank you for this opportunity for us to come together as brothers and sisters as your children. I pray that we can grow to see your heart, your wisdom, your grace for each every one of us, and that we can mature so that we can experience the great amount of love, connection, and spiritual vitality that you want for all of us. I pray for your wisdom. I pray for your guidance. I pray that you can be with us that we can keep our hearts open and our minds on you. I report this in my name Amen.

Sunday Service on December 10, 2023

Triangle Family Church Sunday Service on December 10, 2023

Musical Offering

Sermon - Identity Crisis

Summary:

This sermon discusses the theme of identity crisis and the struggle to understand one's place within the church. It emphasizes the importance of unification and love for all races. The speaker also talks about the significance of Blessed Families and the need to care for one another.

Highlights:

The sermon highlights the importance of unification and love for all races. It emphasizes that loving one's race is fine, but not at the expense of other races. Violence perpetuated by racism is seen as a problem for society and for God.

The power of prayer is emphasized, with the speaker mentioning the creation of a prayer list for church members. The act of praying for others, especially those who may not be actively involved in the church, is seen as a way to strengthen the community and support one another.

The story of Jonah is used as a reminder to obey God's voice. It serves as an example of how trying to escape from God's calling can lead to hardships, but ultimately, following God's guidance can lead to growth and positive outcomes.

The sermon emphasizes the importance of community and supporting one another within the church. It encourages members to be there for each other, whether it's through simple acts of kindness or more significant forms of support.

The speaker expresses gratitude for God's guidance and patience with imperfect individuals. The love and support from God are compared to the love and support a parent has for their child, highlighting the unconditional nature of God's love.

The upcoming Christmas party is mentioned as an opportunity for the community to come together and strengthen their bonds. It is seen as a way to support one another and build a stronger community.

The sermon concludes with a prayer for unity, guidance, and the completion of God's vision. It emphasizes the need to continue striving towards God's vision and to be there for each other on the journey.

UPF Event Report

The event's success was attributed to the hard work and dedication of volunteers from various faiths, emphasizing the importance of unity and cooperation.

The talent within the group, such as Bob's musical abilities, added to the overall beauty and enjoyment of the event, showcasing the diverse skills within the community.

The water ceremony stood out as a highlight, symbolizing spiritual significance and leaving a lasting impression on the participants.

Building relationships and supporting other organizations played a crucial role in the event's success, highlighting the power of collaboration and community involvement.

The presence of individuals from different faiths, including Hindu, Muslim, and Nation of Islam, demonstrated the event's commitment to fostering interfaith dialogue and understanding.

The event not only celebrated peace but also served as a platform for individuals to share their personal stories and experiences related to peace-building efforts.

The discussion of the future Bridge of Peace event showcased the organizers' commitment to creating opportunities for unity and dialogue between different groups, emphasizing the importance of overcoming religious and cultural barriers.

UPF Event photos and videos

Sunday School: Story based character education - "It's Perfectly True" 

The story tells how stories can come from the smallest things, and they can change and spread as they are passed on. The story is about a chicken who plucks out her feathers, but it ends with a different outcome than expected.

Moral: Don't gossip or listen to gossip.

Sermon transcript  Japanese translation

I chose this topic because I myself struggle to understand who I am and where I am. I seem to be out of step with a lot of the other members even though I have a strong relationship with God.  But I'm also frequently frustrated by what I call Church politics and I don't mean politics by that I mean the church hierarchy. I'm speaking to the members who feel that the unification church is no longer relevant, which would basically be those people that are not here today. 

For for me the Unification is more important now than ever, so our life as a search of identity we try to figure out who we are, where we fit in, how we relate with God and with each other. I grew up at the beach. I'm a musician. I'm a southerner. I'm a son of God. You might even say that I am God. John 4:12 says no one has ever seen God but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 

I'm white. We all love our race. It's fine to love your race but when we love our race at the expense of other races that creates a problem for us, for society, and for God. Violence perpetrated by racism has been a big headache for God for a Heavenly parent. It's like the murder of Cain by Abel. Murder of Abel by Cain repeated on a loop over and over but God has a solution for that. God sent True Parents to create these blended families where the children identify with multiple races. We used to say that Sunday is the most segregated day of the week. But when I come to church, I see all the races worshiping together. The UPF rally organized by Sharon was like the United Nations. I was sitting on a table with two Muslims, a Bahá'í Buddhist, a Hindu and two unificationists. When we answered the question what is your faith's contribution to World Peace, everybody was so invested in making the world a good place even though some of us identify as senior citizens to retire.

Mother says in her Memoir.

“At the end of the day I reflected that I'm now nearly 80 years old and there's a limit to how long I can live on earth. However since I'm the only begotten daughter and Mother of Peace, I must go anywhere. Even in our 80s if people are searching we must go to them.” 

God called me when I was 21 years old and at that time I really believed that the kingdom of heaven was coming on earth in my lifetime. But as the years and the decades passed I lost that inspiration. I lost that vision of what we're here to do. I forgot my true identity. I'm the father of six children. My family is my greatest joy and it's true for everybody because I know that I'm loved and when you are loved there's nothing you can't do. I wish I had known when I was a child that I was loved. 

In 1954 Father painted a sign with the words Holy Spirit Association for the unification of World Christianity and hung it in front of a house. 30 years later he took the sign down and raised the flag of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. It indicates two things. First, World Peace comes on the foundation of the family. Second, we need a community to protect those families. Recently we started something new for this area. We got the idea from Dr. Achille in Washington DC.

They made a prayer list. They put everybody connected to our church on the list. They came up with like a thousand names. They just started praying for them. So I started to do that here. We have around 140 to 150 people on the list. It doesn't mean just peripherally connected to the church. I'm talking about Blessed Families with Blessed children. We have so many blessed children in Raleigh and the triangle area. It's mind boggling how many there are. I think next week we're going to have a Christmas party here. I think a lot of them are coming. That's great news because it makes our community stronger whatever we can do together and it doesn't have to be coming to church. 

We started to pray for the list and then I had to give a report to Dr. Achille about how many come to church, how many I've been able to touch in some way by call or by seeing them. I figured out that about 20% of church members are somehow they've been to church or they've been involved in something. 

I found out recently that one of our early families who was here when I joined the church divorced and three of their children moved to Germany but one of them; Michelle, is still here. I put her on my prayer list. She's a blessed child living in Durham.

We haven't contacted her for many years. But she's a blessed child. So I feel like I have to pray for her. What is a blessed family and a blessed child? According to our theology, we have no connection to original sin that our blood lineage comes from God. We're connected to God's blood lineage but it's hard sometimes to know what that means. If I was a child and you told me you don't have original sin, I would say I don't know.

The point is that we are standing in Able's position whatever that means. We're standing in Able's position. What does that mean? It means we have to take care of Cain. We can't go in front of God without Cain, the person that hates us, the person that's struggling so much in their lives. We have to find them and take care of them. I think about God calling us to take care of his lost children. It puts me in mind of Jonah. 

What happened to Jonah? God sent him to Nineveh to minister to the people there. He tried to escape. He said; “I don't want to do that”. He got on a ship and he just sailed away. He thought God won't find him. Then a storm came up and the sailors were afraid to lose their lives. Jonah said; “It's my fault. God is angry with me. Throw me in the ocean to save yourselves.” So they threw him in the ocean but God worked through. He sent a whale. Jonah was able to survive and the whale spit him out on dry land. Jonah resolved that he was going to obey God's voice.

It puts me in mind of our sister; Davetta lived in Durham for 2 years. She was less than 5 miles from here on Duke Street. She was just right there. We never knew she was there. Look at her now. She's the state leader. She was here yesterday. She's amazing. The conclusion here is that whatever you're going through, you don't have to go through it alone. We have a beautiful faith community here. We can be here for each other. I've had blessed children asking me for a letter of engagement who were looking for a job, a letter of recommendation, stuff like that. If we believe in True Parents, we're part of this community. If you were blessed by True Parents, you're one of us. There's no one way to worship God. Everybody worships God in their own way. I certainly don't worship the same way as Tim does. But we respect each other's way of going to God and being true to your conscience. If you get to heaven first, pull me up. I get there first, I'll pull you up. Please join me for a prayer.

Dearest Heavenly Parent,

This morning we've been talking about family and community and faith and all the ways in which we strive to relate to you and relate to each other and we just know that you have loved us so much that you never abandon us no matter how much we think we're inadequate and we are inadequate. 

But father, your patience with us is similar to our patience and our love for our own children. You've taught us so many things. We've come so far and now we pray that we can go this last mile to finish what we started not allowing this world to become the trash pit but lifting this world up to be what you originally envisioned all the families living together as we did yesterday at the UPF event caring for each other and working things out by listening and by speaking with soft words, not harsh words. 

Father, every day is a new revelation. We know that every day you're guiding us then every single problem that we have in our lives. You're always there to help us find a solution for it and for that we thank you for everybody here today and we thank you for all the Blessed couples and children whether they come to church or not. Father, we just feel so much that each one is so precious to you. Thank you, Father. We pray this in the name of the Blessed Central Families.

World Religions and God; An Interfaith Sharing and Experience

World Religions and God; An Interfaith Sharing and Experience Dec. 9, 2023 at Triangle Family Church

Blessing for the Meal

Entertainment song - "If I Can Dream"

Introduction to Universal Peace Federation 

Beverly Yekeson, Ambassador for Peace from Liberia, shared her experiences and discussed the importance of interfaith collaboration in building a culture of peace. She emphasized the shared values among different religions and the need for working together to create bridges and promote peace.

Discussion: How does your faith tradition encourage a peaceful world?

- Christianity emphasizes love, charity, and forgiveness as exemplified by Jesus Christ. These qualities are seen as important for creating a peaceful world.

- Islam highlights the importance of justice and inner peace. Individuals must find peace within themselves before creating a peaceful environment.

- Hinduism, Buddhism, and Unificationism focus on cultivating inner peace and replicating it in the world. The idea is to create an environment of peace and promote unity among different religions.

- The family is considered a critical point in building world peace. Balancing power, finding beauty in nature, and promoting shared values are also seen as important factors.

- Interdependence, shared values, and respect for religious backgrounds are essential for creating a peaceful world. By working together and listening to each other, an environment of peace can be fostered.

- Islam believes that justice and peace are interconnected. Prioritizing the rights of people and adopting an unbiased perspective are crucial in seeking justice and achieving peace.

- It is important to recognize biases and explore different perspectives. By acknowledging historical events and understanding the impact of bias, a more holistic view of peace can be achieved.

Entertainment song - "What a Wonderful World"

Interface Water Ceremony with Interfaith Leaders

It discussed a water ceremony, where representatives from various religions poured water into a bowl to symbolize shared interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universal brotherhood. The water was then sprinkled as a symbol of spreading the love of God and promoting peace.

The water ceremony represents the shared interdependence and values among different faiths. Each representative pours water into a bowl to symbolize universal brotherhood and peace. The water is mixed together to symbolize harmony and shared peace. The bowl of water is sprinkled on people at the tables to spread the love of God and promote peace. It concludes with a sense of unity and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Closing Remarks

Photo Album

Sunday Service on December 3, 2023

Triangle Family Church Sunday Service on December 3, 2023

Musical Offering

Sermon - Adversity and Attitude

Summary:

The speaker discussed the topics of adversity and attitude. He emphasized the importance of recognizing our own worth and the love that God has for each individual. He also explored the idea of creating ideal families and the role of religion in achieving this. He shared stories of miracles in history, highlighting God's handprint on America. He encouraged the audience to maintain a positive attitude and to approach adversity with love and understanding.

Highlights:

-  Emphasizes the preciousness of each individual and God's love for them

-  Discusses the creation of the world and the importance of ideal families

-  Encourages maintaining a positive attitude in the face of adversity

-  Shares stories of miracles in American history

-  Highlights the role of spirituality in changing our perspective

-  Explores the power of attitude and love in overcoming challenges

-  Encourages viewing others with understanding and compassion

Sunday school - Bible Study: David and Goliath

Sermon transcript Japanese translation

Today's talk will be about adversity and our attitude so before I begin, I wanted to mention to you something about how precious each one of you really is. 

I was traveling to Las Vegas for an original substance Divine principle a few years ago and on the way, we stopped by what they call the Petrified Forest. It had a timeline of human history showing how much time it took to create from the very beginning of the universe to the end and so they compressed that timeline into one year, so we know the Earth is in the development of the universe is billions of years old. So, you can imagine even one second is very meaningful. All that history and all of that effort and all those billions of years that took human beings appeared on December 31st the last like 10 seconds before the year closed that's the amount of effort that God made to prepare the world and the universe for his children that's how important you are to Him.

Creation represents the love of God. It's the result of billions of years of effort on God's part to prepare the world, the womb for human beings. God was looking forward to seeing you every day. The day is meant just for you God created for you think about how much effort and how much love and how much expectation God has for each one of us. I just wanted to start off on that note that everyone in here is historical and precious because God's dream  is not to form of religion, God's dream is to form a family centered on God we live together with God the center of our family and that's only accomplished by ideal families blessed ideal families populated in the nation and the world otherwise God's dream cannot be realized. In Father's words it says God is not interested in a world of worship and religion this is not what we're created for, He wants a world of true families, where everyone belongs with Him, becomes one with Him representing Him in heart and in love. We have that kind of relationship that we're supposed to share with God. It's not about the religions about creating ideal families. 

I was thinking the other day we go through a lot of struggle in life. I go through a lot of struggles. It can be a financial struggle, it can be emotional, it can be so many different things and a lot of times I feel like I'm on a roller coaster because you look around the world and there's so much injustice in the world and it gets you angry, it gets you really upset. How can I be a Godly person in that kind of situation? What can I do to separate myself from this kind of situation by looking at the world the way it is today. That's why I titled this talk or sermon adversity and our attitude.

When you look at True Parents, True Father has an amazing attitude even when he's confronted with his own enemy who's totally 180 degrees opposed to him. When he was in a courtroom and prosecuted, He went up to shake the hand of the prosecutor. It shows the attitude and love that our Father had. We need to have that kind of attitude in our own hearts when we face adversity and trials and tribulations.

I thought back in history, the way America was formed, and our founding fathers. There are some amazing things that our founding fathers accomplished. They went through the adversity and the struggle to form a nation that was like in chaos, fighting for its very existence against the mighty British Army. I printed out some articles about miracles that God has created in our nation. Going back to the founding fathers, George Washington was a young man like 23 years old and he volunteered to be an aid to General Edward Braddock in the United States during the French and Indian War. Fierce fighting broke out as troops were ambushed by the French and the Indian foes as they marched through the woods becoming pinned down in a ravine then the fighting brought down nearly every officer among Braddock's forces except young Washington more than 900 died in a chaotic battle including General Braddock. 

Washington rallied the troops from the horseback to an easy target only 30 ft away from the firing line well within range the remaining troops with Washington retreated to Virginia he later discovered four musket ball holes in his jacket. He described the miracle of his survival but by the all-powerful dispensation of the Providence; "I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me yet I escaped although death was leveling companions on every side of me."

This is just one story and there are many of how God's handprint is on America and God's expectation for America. Another story that I have to tell you is a really amazing story. About 800 cannons were sent from France and under the command of Admiral Duke to make attack and claim Louisburg Nova Scotia from the British. There was a struggle between these two great Empires over the land and the new world according to their plan the forces would then attack the coast of New England and onward to as far as South as Georgia and perhaps even some of the islands of the Caribbean. It caused great fear in the hearts of those living on the American Colonial East Coast. English colonies had nothing which could stand against a great Fleet. The towns on the Atlantic coast could not really hope for a win any sort of heads-up fight nor could they protect their homes. French could bring the soldiers on board that could attack into the streets of various towns once the ships landed. The word spread among the colonists about the coming French Fleet and the people responded in the great numbers to the governor's declaration by reports the churches were very full. They were praying to God for help and protection in Boston Massachusetts at a church called the Old South Meeting House. Both Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin would eventually be members of this Puritan built Church though perhaps they were not present on the day. Reverend Pastor Thomas Prince went up to the pulpit. He asked the Lord to deliver them from their enemies. He asked the Lord to raise his right hand and send the powerful storm to where the French fleet was sailing. On the day a mighty wind came out and shook the church against the windows. Though no one was in the steeple, the church bell rang twice. The belfry startled people. The pastor knew this to be something out of the ordinary, immediately raised his arms, and cried out to the Lord that they had heard His voice, His answer to their prayers. He cried out amen amen. Soon the events of that day in the Old South Meeting House were heard all over the area lending hope. Nearly the whole French fleet, 13,000 men 800 cannons, were lost. French Fleet had sailed off. The threat was gone by God's power and Providence. 

There are many stories like this. America is the model nation of God. Every single one of you is precious part of this Providence that God had planned. Many times, in my life of faith I can pray to God but I don't necessarily get an answer. I sometimes feel God is not hearing the prayer. We sometimes feel we're all alone like Father has mentioned in some of his speeches. Where do we turn to? What can we do? I have to look inside myself and I think about Father's words what Father would do in the kind of situation that I'm in right now. Maybe you have financial hardships. There could be an innumerable number of things that are beyond your control but the only thing you can really control is your reaction to it. How do I react even in the worst kind of circumstances? How can I become a holy person? How can I become a Godly person? How can I become a Son of God? Can I control my emotions? Can I look at things the way God sees them instead of looking at person as my enemy? If circumstances were different, what kind of person would he be? He might be my best friend. We don't live in a Godly environment so rather than judge a person maybe we can look beyond that and to take Father's Heart and attitude to love that person think of what happened that person to turn him into the kind of person he is today. Our attitude is very important. 

I came across this little book. It's how to gain spiritual help and it has a very interesting way of spirit looking at all things that seem to be plain or nondescript and attaching a spiritual meaning to it like there's certain part of spirituality that governs the way we see things and the way we think about things. There are some key points here. The Lord knows we need spiritual help to be able to accomplish things that we're asked to do but it says here so what attitude do we need to nurture in order to move the entire spirit world. 

We need to change our concepts. Our attitude is an environment that must be prepared in order to receive spiritual help. We must use father's words and make ourselves channels to receive spiritual power so the spirit world wants to be part of everything that we do. Whatever we may look at, we may search for the nobility in it and treat as if it were owned directly by the True Parents then everything becomes an expensive antique a God-given treasure each object is waiting for your touch hoping to feel the vibration of God through you consider all things holy. Why does a handkerchief owned by a holy man become so valuable? Because of the vibration of the holy man, everything that we become people that we encounter they are the sons and daughters of God. Now everything we see in nature is molded and created by God's hand. Every drink of water is created for God to keep us alive and nourish. The food that we eat has a holy meaning to it if we have the right attitude and the right heart behind it. Even the little things can make a difference. 

The world can be crazy around you but if you have the right attitude and the right heart your heart can resonate with God's heart. You probably heard the term resonance. Things vibrate at the same frequency. Your heart begins to vibrate at the same frequency as God. Your relationship with God deepens and you act on your inspirations. You feel God's heart and situation. 

You try to do something about it. It can be small. You might want to go over and talk to somebody. We have to really embrace each other as true brothers and sisters and really love one another as God looks at us and loves us. That's very important we're not here to judge each other or anything like that but we're here to support and love one another and help all of us become better human beings. It's a process. Through the blessing we have the second generations. They have the opportunity. They have a tremendous opportunity to go much further than we can go and after each generation passes and passes eventually there will be no more sin on the earth.

I heard True Mother once said we have to get to the point that it won't even be a memory it has never existed because it's a stain and a hurt and a pain and we don't want to remember. God never want to remember. 

I can't leave out something called prayer we've all heard so much about prayer but prayer is very important. Mr. Sudo said that prayer is like food for our spiritual soul. When we connect in prayer, we can connect with God in most deep and meaningful way. We really need that now because we're asked to do miraculous and incredible things. We can't do it on our own. We need prayer. We can pray about how we connect to God. It has to come to a kind of life of respect. No matter what kind of person they may be as a child be respectful towards elderly people think over your words three times before uttering them and always have a humble attitude always share with others the best things you have so sharing and living an unselfish life and God being the most unselfish being is a way that we can really transform ourselves become other centered and learning this great joy and serving and helping others achieve their full potential as God God's son and daughter and that's why community like this is so important because we're here to help each other not just go about our daily activities but we're really here to help each other. 

I have weak points. We can overcome with a strong community, and we don't condemn each other we don't try to judge one another. We try really to love one another and then that can bring God into our hearts and our minds into our community. This is my basic message.

I look back at people like George Washington in Valley Forge under the most incredible circumstances. Most of his men didn't even have shoes in cold of winter. They are marching in the snow without any boots on frost feet. They kept going. They had that kind of incredible faith and love for God. We can't run away from God. You may think you might be losing by giving up your life for God or trying to do something to help God's situation but actually you're gaining everything. We live we're preparing this life as a preparation for our eternal life. We will live for millions for rest of eternity but what we do here now is very important how much we can love each other how much we can demonstrate that love to other people.

I go out selling roses on Thursday and Friday. Sometimes I don't want to go out. It's cold. It's windy. It's rainy. I have no idea where I'm going. I pray and then something happens and for some reason I go and suddenly God works and then people the way they greet you they notice little things about you. It's something about your spirit. People feel something about you so you may think you don't know the difference but you do make a difference. They look at you like family. Suddenly we have this kind of connection. We get a connection and they really respect you and they even encourage you in what I'm doing. We do have an impact just the fact that we have this kind of spirit around us influences our environment and influences the way people react toward us not in every situation but in a lot of situations. God really loves you. You're historical people. God deeply loves and cares for you and but God needs love too. That's my message and I hope I can  offer this to God. 

I always pray that God can use me to try to deliver whatever He wants to say to you all. Thank you very much. Now I'd like to offer a prayer.

Dear Heavenly Parent,

We gather here together. Heavenly Parent, we're so grateful. Heavenly Parent, we have each other that we have Divine Principle, and we have the True Parents and our deepest heart and deepest desires to share this Blessing with other people. Heavenly Parent, it's amazing that we live at this time in this age when it's such a critical age and such a critical time when what we do and what others do. Heavenly Parent can make a difference of the entire direction, humanity will take in the near future. We pray Heavenly Parent for True Mother who's the beacon of light and hope in the world as a mother of peace is just wants to bring all people together all races, all cultures, all religions. We don't need titles but we're a fond family under God so I pray you can utilize each one of us each brother and sister and their talents and abilities. We can help support you and support the ideal for it is the only thing Heavenly parent really worth living for to create a world of joy and love the way we're meant to be with each other. Heavenly Parent and with you at the center so we thank you that we could meet here today. We thank you for all that you do for us each and every day and I pray and I offer this on behalf of all here present as I pray in name of Tim Davis family Aju.