Tenrikyo Pearl Church Monthly Service ‘ 2007 December Monthly Service
Good morning. I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to attend the December Monthly Service here at Tenrikyo Pearl Church and thank you for your kind and sincere offerings. I am sure God the Parent and Oyasama is really happy to see you all here today and to have performed the service with joy and in high spirits!
We interrupt our mental dust series temporarily as our daughter Annabella Taylor will give her faith experience speech.
Good morning! My name is Annabella, and I will be giving today's sermon about doing the service. I ask for your complete undivided attention.
Oyasama has always urged the followers to do the service. I believe that it is important to do the service daily because everyday, we accumulate mental dust, and therefore, doing the service helps us to sweep away the dust so that we can see things more clearly. We as individuals clear the dust away and are able to receive bountiful blessings from God the Parent.
I have two examples of when doing the service brought many blessings into my life.
In December 2005, I was getting ready to graduate from college with a degree in architecture. however, my computer shut down and i was not able to retrieve the most recent drawings of my semester project. While i was finishing my courses, my mother came to visit and was helping me pack all of my things into boxes. During all of this chaos, I had misplaced my usb external hard drive. I could not imagine having to redraw all of what I had done in a semester's time in only a couple of days. Without presenting this project, i could not get a grade nor get my diploma.
In January of the new year, i moved to texas to be with my now husband, David, and didnt know what to do. I didnt have my diploma in my hand, and i didnt have a job. I kept meaning to unpack, but never got around to it, while i adjusted to my new surroundings and new lifestyle. One day, while i was surfing the internet for tenrikyo websites, i came across a website in korean that had the music of the Yorozuyo sung by the Shinbashira. I refreshed the site and started doing the service. I had not done the service since moving to texas.
For some reason, i felt compelled to unpack the boxes i had sent there from chicago, and lying there in plain sight was my usb external hard drive. i was so happy, i called my mom and told her the good news. she reminded me that when we clear away some of the mental dusts, we are able to receive blessings from God the Parent.
In that same year, I had the opportunity to attend the Tenri Forum in Japan. David was assigned to a school in Newport, Rhode Island for 4 weeks, so I decided to spend 4 weeks in Japan, after quitting a really bad job. From January til late June, i did not have any luck finding a good firm or a good job. On the third day of doing the service in Tenri, i received an email from the job agency who i had registered my information with. The contact person from the agency told me that there was a job opening for someone of my experience level at an architectural firm. Again, i was so happy and told my mom, who was sitting right next to me. When I returned to Texas, I wrote a cover letter and faxed it with my resume to the employer, and 10 minutes later, I received a phone call for a job interview the following Monday. I was hired on the spot and started work on wednesday.
Although there are many other times that God has bestowed blessings in my life, I wanted to share with you the two most profound in the last two years since graduating from college.
In conclusion, I would like to encourage everybody to do the service daily and sweep away the dust through prayer and through hinokishin so that you too, can receive God's blessings and thus life a joyous life.
Announcements
1. The total collection for UNICEF in the Hawaii Tenrikyo diocese was $550. Thank you again to all those who contributed.
2. This Sunday is Mission HQ monthly service from 9am and the following Monday is Nioigake Day from 9am.
3. On December 21-23, the Aloha band will be conducting their band camp. Please see me after the monthly service for applications.
4. The Mission HQ general cleaning will be done on Wednesday, December 26 after Yohaishiki Service and the Pearl Church general cleaning will be on Saturday, December 29th from 9am.
5. The annual mochi pounding will be Sunday, December 30 from 7am at Dendocho. Please see me or Mrs. Nakao to order your mochi and please join us in the mochi pounding hinokishin.
6. Please start of the New Year on the right foot by joining our annual New Year”s Service which will be held on January 1, 2008 at 7am. It will be our very first service of the new year. Or come join us later for food and fellowship anytime during New Year”s Day!