I just wanted to give a brief overview over all the things that are going on!

Tomorrow! All Koinonia Bible Study! 7:30 PM First Pres (Channing/Dana) – Real Community – Invite your friends!
Fri – Sat! Sierra Lodge trip with Homegroup JE! Contact your staff about rides & info! (Stay tuned for pictures!)
Next Sun – Tues (Spring Break)! Koinonia trip to Yosemite!!! Contact your staff about rides & info!
Fri 4.2! A very special Good Friday service with a special Easter Service
Sun 4.11! A One day Retreat with Ajith Fernando – the director of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka! This is such an amazing opportunity! You most DEFINITELY do not want to miss this special opportunity to hear from this world-renown scholar.
Sat 4.16! William Lane Craig is speaking at RISE! We might have a time where he will be speaking to Koinonia and the UCB campus as well.  Dr. Craig is also another world-renown scholar on Christian apologetics.
Sat 4.24! Worldview Conference with Del Tackett of the Truth Project! This is an area wide conference discussing how Christianity affects our own personal worldview.
Fri 4.30! Koinonia RSF Night after Bible Study! It’s typically a clash between the classes! So start training!

Then pretty much is summer break! This semester is going by in a blur, but don’t let it pass you by without going to one of these! Especially the Ajith Fernando one. Wow, these are such once in a lifetime opportunities!  Don’t miss out on how God can powerfully speak to you through these amazing

Alright our new Guess Who!

Ok, I admit.  It’s been pretty easy so far.  Yumi, well, some people were stumped by that one but it was still pretty simple and the last one, well, we were guessing out of 2, so it wasn’t that hard. Let’s see if you can get this one!

When I was in preschool, I had a close friend who I used to played with all the time. But one morning, I couldn’t find my friend to play with. So I decided to play legos with this other friend of mine. About 30 minutes later my friend shows up, sees me playing with another person and kicks me in my right eye. Next thing I remember, I was removing sand particles from my eyelid which got stuck there after all my tears dried up.

Remember to mark your calendars and let your staff know! We got a lot of awesome events coming up!

Hey everyone, it’s been a while since we’ve been all together huh? So this Friday (3/12), 7:30pm @ First Presbyterian Church (corner of Dana/Channing), we’re back to the all-Koinonia Bible Study! Lem is going to get us fired up about what it means to have real community with each other instead of settling for superficial relationships. Don’t miss it! It’s also a great chance to invite friends and newcomers so spread the word! See you Friday.

Here’s some pics from the day:

Connie and Emily, with Sheri running to congratulate someone else...

Cindy, thinking, "is this really a coconut?" Indeed it was, a first for baptism gifts in the genre of fruit...

Joe, James and Ray ...

Mike with his giant blue card from his friends ...

... and last but not least, Gary!

Congratulations everyone!!!

On Friday, Feb. 26th, the guys had a brothers-only bible study at Sable Pointe, and learned about the ins and outs of Christian Manhood.  It was a sweet time of fellowship and learning, and just good old bonding with the bros.

Don't worry. No one got hurt in the taking of this photo. Everyone had a good time, or at least Joe did.

TOPIC: REAL COMMUNITY
In an age where relationships tend to be shallow , we will be talking about the Biblical picture of community.
Invite your friends!

Location: First Presbyterian
Time: 7:30pm

After Bible Study, our homegroup +Kevan and Jenny’s homegroup are going up to our Sierra Lodge overnight.
We’ll have all Saturday to hang out together, relax, and have snow fights/sledding!

SIGN UP to go to our SIERRA LODGE trip 3/13/10 (Sleeping over 3/12)

Sierra Lodge (a window inside): imagine all the potential fun and memories!

Sierra Lodge Snow Trip (from 2/15/10)

Real Community – 03.12.10 from Gracepoint Berkeley on Vimeo.

Join us on Friday for Koinonia Berkeley’s special talk on Real Community!

Invite your friends and we hope to see you there.

Where? First Presbyterian Church (corner of Channing and Dana)
When? 7:30pm this Friday, March 12th

On March 7, 2010, 20 ordinary men and women got wet.

Very wet.

We are referring, of course, to Baptism Sunday.  That’s right, this past Sunday TWENTY people were baptized at Gracepoint, twelve of whom were from Koinonia.

Of those twelve, four of them were from our very own HGKJ!!!  WOOT!  Here they are.  We will go in order of age, from “youthful” to “old.”

First off is David, sophomore, whose testimony we all got to hear. Next to him is a mysterious stranger who is holding David tightly to ensure that he does not escape.

Following him, older by an entire four months, Mike.  Here he is with his leaders from freshman year, John and Ellen, plus Sangthan.

Then there’s Justin, who Mike and Jesse disapprove of.

And finally, Suzie, pictured here with Kevan, Jenny, their daughter Abigail, and their son, who we believe should be named “Jai.”  Ten points for the person who can find him!

A few more pictures…

Koinonia baptism candidates.  Steve and Suzanne snuck into the picture at the last second.

Our homegroup, HGKJ!!!  Also known as the “HG Cool.”

Afterwards, we all headed over to Buffet Town to enjoy some delicious, cheap Korean food.  This was all they had, however.  Some of us went away hungry.

No, we’re joking.  There was food.  They simply underestimated the power of Koinonia consumption capabilities.  In a word, what you see here is “domination”

But all joking aside, praise the lord for twenty new creations in Christ, brothers and sisters that God has been so faithful to.  If you missed it, the testimonies from this past sunday are here.  Looking forward to other encouraging stories in the future!

Now, on to

Part II

Brace yourselves for this one: THIS weekend, we are going on an epic, legendary, HGKJ and JE-only, OVERNIGHT GETAWAY TO SIERRA LODGE!!!  WOOOOOOT!  Warning: there will be snow.  If you want to go, sign up here.

We’ll be leaving after Friday Bible study (which, if you recall, is going to be all-Koinonia after a month of meeting by smaller groups) and returning Saturday around evening time.  Ask your leaders or somebody old for more info!  It’s gonna be awesome!  Be there, or be…studying.  Or something else probably not as fun as working people in the snow.  See you all around!

Do you remember the crazy relay we had?

Leading by example

mmmmm chocolate

Hmmmmmm.. interesting.. right? Wait! There’s more!

Our Valentine’s Day of Compassion!

And last week’s Myers Briggs! Can you guess which Myers Briggs group these pictures represent?

Ok and finally our Guess who game! Last week, it seems like everyone almost got it! Great! Let’s see if all of you can get this one too.

I admit I was a little chubby as baby. My parents were constantly worried about me because I would put everything in sight in my mouth. Ex: when I was 2 I had to go to the hospital to get my stomach pumped because I drank furniture polish.

I’m recommending the three albums I have been listening to the most.

1. Ginny Owens’ latest album Say Amen: Hymns and Songs of Faith, released in October 2009.  I think her album is the most varied in terms of arrangements.  A couple of soulful, jazzy songs (”Say Amen”); gospel choir sound (”Home in Me”); some more choral and meditative (”Beautiful Savior”); and other styles I can’t quite describe.  My personal favorite hymns on this album are “Do Not Pass Me By (Prayer of Bartimaeus)” and “Be Thou My Vision.”

2. Jadon Lavik’s Roots Run Deep, released in February 2008.  Love the acoustic guitar feel.  If you’re familiar with his other work, it’s consistent in the lilting, slightly bluesy/jazz feel (”Wondrous Love” is a perfect example).  He does venture into piano arrangements, such as the lovely “I Need Thee.”  A very ‘amazing’ rendition of “Amazing Grace.”  And one of my favorites on this album is his version of “Turn Your Eyes.”

*Not on this album, but a song that’s been stuck in my head lately is “Surrender” from his 2009 album The Road Acoustic (also highly recommended).

3.  Chris Rice’s Peace Like a River: The Hymns Project, going waaaaay back to October 2007.  I love Chris Rice’s musicality, similar in ways to Ginny Owens (maybe that’s why I like them both so much?).  They have actually collaborated on various Rocketown Records projects.

A lot of variety in styles on this album as well, though the overall feeling is airy.  Maybe ethereal?  Heavenly?  Not sure if it makes sense, but maybe if you give it a listen, you’ll know what I mean.  What would a Chris Rice vocal project be without a lot of tight harmonies!  I especially like “Before the Throne of God Above” and “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.”  You might recognize the version of “Rock of Ages” since we’ve sung it at church.  And just to throw in something different, I’d like to highlight “O Freedom.”

Check out any or all of the above albums and let me know what you think!  I hope you’ll be blessed by the hymns.  I’m always looking for good hymn albums, so let me know if you have any recommendations as well.  What are you listening to these days?  Are posts like these useful at all to you?  Leave a comment!