International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley

This week’s text tells the chilling story of a man who came face to face with Jesus with the right question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  And although Jesus offers it to him, he goes away sad, unable to receive it.  Nachfolge is German for “follow me” and is the original title of the book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer translated to English as The Cost of Discipleship.  This man is a warning to all whose lives are going well: we must not allow what we have to cause us to delay in responding to his call to follow.  We may not get another chance.  Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  Though we may have PhDs, we must become like little children.

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ISM participated in the annual Valentines Day of Compassion- one week later since we had our own retreat about learning of God’s love for us on Valentine’s Day.

We just finished up our ISM Winter Retreat last weekend at Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds.  It was a really special time as many of us got to really listen to the word of God, as well as some very informative special lectures by Daniel from Gracepoint Fellowship Church and Acts2Fellowship in Berkeley.  Daniel spoke about how there are things that science cannot explain, such as consciousness, thoughts, and the mind.   He also gave a good summary of a case for the resurrection of Jesus and how it is possible even through the evidence allowed by skeptics!  

Chul and Sharon gave wonderful messages about Jesus’ temptations and how we can encounter Jesus honestly, even with our doubts and all.  Brothers and sisters gave their testimonies about how they experienced God dealing with them about their ambition, moving closer to God in spite of family obstacles, and how they came to know Jesus personally.   Many students received prayer from the staff, and it was a really wonderful time.  As you can tell from the picture, Chul really opened wide his heart to us.  (see 2 Cor 6:13)

Finally, we had a lot of fun playing games like acting out Bible passages as a group.  Meowmeow (and my team in absentia) won with their funny rendition of Noah’s Ark and received coupons for free Dreyer’s Ice Cream.  We also acted out various animals, with Josiah’s money (and Sanghoon’s banana + Shufei as the tree) taking first place.  And I must say, my chicken act with the other guys was pretty funny too…!  Even Mia said it was good, so it must’ve been.  I guess it’s hard to compete with animals when they have props like Shufei. 

As you can tell, we had a blast and a blessed time.  Who says you can’t have both?  Hope you won’t miss out on our next ISM retreat!

Starting February 13, ISM had our 2nd Annual ISM Retreat. We learned about scientific naturalism, the proof and arguements for the resurrection of Jesus, and powerful messages and testimonies from ISM members. At Alliance Redwoods, it was pouring which gave us an opportunity to play games such as “Best of the Best”, ping pong, fuzeball, and billards, as well as act out some Bible stories. We had a great time of listening to the Word of God and hanging out with each other.

Jesus didn’t have to go through Samaria, but he did intentionally because he wanted to talk with this strange woman who went out to get water at noon because she wanted to avoid people.  Through her story, we discover that life is never as bright as we think it will be.  Even if we achieve everything, we never find true contentment in success.  Jesus’ solution for this woman involved talking about her broken past and sin.  His solution for us is no different either.  If we open up about who we are, we just might become like this woman: free, without shame, and able to approach the people we once avoided in fear.

Listen:
 

Seminars by Daniel Kim

Seminar 1
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In this special session, we learn that scientific naturalism actually has no explanation for the mind, thoughts, and free will. However, the atheist has a dilemma: choose free will and knock out atheism, or choose no free will and knock out the possibility of miracles. While the latter seems intellectually satisfying, this lecture says why we actually must affirm free will and deal with the possibility that naturalism doesn’t have all the explanations. And that we may actually have to deal with the possibility of God. After all, according to atheist philosopher John Searle, it’s a miracle that you can even raise your arm…

Seminar 2
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Is the resurrection of Jesus possible? Our natural inclination is to say no. But when we look at the evidence—evidence that is conceded only by skeptical critics of Christianity—we are left trying to explain away 4 facts: (1) Jesus died, (2) the body was gone, (3) the disciples were changed, and (4) hardcore skeptics and persecutors also became Christian. So what’s really a plausible explanation for the resurrection? The theories might surprise you… even convince you that people can come back to life in very very rare circumstances—like Jesus’.

Retreat Messages by Chul and Sharon Kim
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Message 2:  
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Message 5:  

Many of the ISM students and staff attended the winter retreat for Gracepoint Fellowship Church Berkeley this past weekend.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship and bonding, as well as getting a chance to listen to messages from the Bible for an extended period of time.  (and had some very thought provoking video clips as well)  Many brothers and sisters shared their stories about how they came to know God, how they struggled with their personal issues, and how they grew through the process.  It was a great opportunity for all of us to take time out to think about God’s love for us.

The ISM Winter Retreat is coming up!  We hope that you can join us for that if you couldn’t be at the GFC one.  We will have a series of Bible studies to give everyone a deeper understanding about God’s perspective on life, sin, Christianity, and relationships.  Also, we will have some special seminars including topics such as the origin and validity of the Bible, the existence of God, etc.  It will a very informative opportunity for you to explore whether Christianity is rational.  And of course, we will have some fun games, go hiking and enjoy nature!  Sign up is here.