St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Scripture Passage Romans 8:14-17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script A Strong Anchor It is important to have an anchor in life. What is the anchor? The anchor is what holds us together no matter how strong the wind may be. A boat with a strong anchor will not be drifted away even though there is a strong wind. In the same way, when we have a strong anchor in life, we will not be drifted away when life's storms hit us. Last week, I received very difficult phone calls from all kinds of people. A person who just discovered she had cancer. A person whose marriage almost ended. A person who has a serious issue with her child. It all happened in one week. Life is not easy. Our circumstances are not always good and stable. I prayed for them. Do you know what I prayed for? Of course, I prayed for their problems to be resolved. But I also I prayed that they may have a strong anchor. I don't know how they are gonna handle all these problems they are facing right now. I felt for them. They need an anchor. What is the anchor in your life? What is one thing that holds your life together? For me, the anchor that holds my life together is the fact that I am a child of God. Whenever I face problems, I remind myself that I am a child of God. Yes, that is our anchor. You are a precious daughter of God. You are a precious son of God. Abba God will never give up his children like no parents will give up their child. That was what Isaiah saw. But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.' Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. (Isaiah 49:14, 15) God will never forget his precious child. That was what St. Paul realized in his life. When we cry, Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are CHILDREN OF GOD (Romans 8:15, 16) Abba is an Aramaic word and it means father. When you call father in a very intimate way, you use Abba. It's like daddy, , Papa. But it's more than that. Only three times, you see this expression in the New Testament. Here, and Galatians, and Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane in Mark. He said, Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.' (Mark 14:36) So it is an intimate way of calling a father but not a childish way of calling a father. Behind calling God as Abba, there is deep spirituality of total dependence. It is like a helpless child calling out her parents, totally depending on them. That was how Jesus used Abba. He had his own wishes but he left his life totally in God's hands. The Spirit Cries Out It is a desperate child calling out the father. St. Paul used this expression. When we CRY Abba Father.'(Romans 8:15) It's like crying out from suffering, crying out for God's helping hands. There is somebody TO WHOM we can cry out. You know what? When we cry out, the SPIRIT also CRIES OUT for us. You are not alone. The Spirit is with you. Recognizing that the Spirit is with you is the beginning of spiritual life. The Spirit cries out with you when you cry out. A little later in the same chapter, Paul talks about what the Spirit does more specifically within you He said this. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26, 27) The Spirit cries out when you cry out. When we feel helpless, the Spirit helps us. When we don't know how to pray, the Spirit prays for us. WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO PRAY - this does not mean that we don't know mechanically how to pray. It means we are so deeply saddened, so overwhelmed by our problems, so helpless that we don't even know how to pray. When we see no way out, when the darkness is too dark, and when we see no future, so we don't even know where to start, that is when we don't know how to pray. That is what St. Paul is talking about. Life With The Spirit When we have no strength left in us even to pray, the only thing that comes out of our mouth is sigh. Karl Marx was not very favourable with the religion. He said that religion is the opium of the people. But he also said right after that, religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature. Yes, he saw it right. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature. Sometimes what comes out of our mouth is not prayer but only sigh. You know what? The Spirit feels our sigh and the Spirit prays for us with sighs too deep for words. The Spirit feels as we feel because we are God's precious child. That's what the parents do. They feel the pain their children feel. The Spirit says, I hear you. I hear your sigh. That's what the Spirit does: the affirmation that we are the child of God. When the Spirit came down on Jesus, that was what the Spirit did. And just as h

Scripture Passage Acts 16:16-34 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Culture in Christianity When you go to Europe, you will see so many beautiful churches and cathedrals. Their culture has been totally rooted and entrenched in Christianity. So many famous artists produced their master pieces with Christian ideas. So many genius musicians composed beautiful music with Christian themes. So many brilliant writers wrote wonderful books about spiritual ideas Jesus taught. Christianity has influenced the whole Europe. Politics, culture, art, architecture, and lifestyle. Do you know where it all started? It was at Philippi. It all began from Philippi. We read the story today. This story was the beginning of European mission. Philippi was the first city in Europe to receive Jesus' teaching through Paul. The entrance gate for the Europe mission. It was Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy who started the mission to Europe. The very first European Christian was a woman and her name was Lydia. She was a business woman. Paul did not plan to go to Philippi originally. He had somewhere else in mind. But the Spirit prohibited him from going to a place he wanted to go. And instead, the Spirit sent him to Philippi. In fact, Paul was sick and he couldn't go where he wanted to go. He had to go to Troas because there were hospitals. And there he met Luke. He was a doctor and also he was the author of this book, Acts. From there, Luke joined Paul to go to Philippi. That's why Luke is using the word we . Because he was there too. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. (Acts 16:11, 12) Luke stayed on in Philippi and Paul went to Thessalonica. Luke used they instead of we . After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. (Acts 17:1) Luke saw all this as the work of the Holy Spirit. That was how Luke saw his life. There may be visible reasons why we did this or did not do that in our lives. Why you chose to go to that school. Why you chose that job. You may have human reasons to do that. Obvious, Visible Reasons! But behind it all, there is the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul was sick and that's why he couldn't go where he wanted to go but instead, he went to Troas. But Luke saw it as the Spirit blocking him from going to where he wanted to go and sent him instead to Troas. That's why Paul went to Philippi and Luke joined him. I agree with the way Luke saw what was going on in his life. The Work of The Spirit Behind what we do, there is the Holy Spirit who is working. We don't understand everything but in retrospect, we will be able to see some of it, not all of it. St. Paul had the same attitude. St. Paul believed that the Holy Spirit was working behind what he was doing. That is the power. That gave Paul joy. Knowing that the Holy Spirit was working behind him gave him joy. He had this joy when he was at Philippi. Whenever he was thinking about people at Philippi, he was filled with this joy. Later when he wrote a letter, thinking about people at Philippi, this was what he said. I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:3-6) Paul never imagined what he was doing at Philippi would be the beginning of occupying the whole Europe. A small thing he started became so big. Paul didn't know that what he was doing was that important. But he had confidence that the one who began a good work among them would bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. That is the power of the work of the Spirit That was exactly what Jesus said. He said therefore, What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.'(Luke 13:18-19) He believed that behind everything he did, there was God and he would make everything beautiful. This belief gave Paul joy. Singing in the Darkness Mission at Philippi wasn't easy in the beginning. The first thing that happened to Paul was injustice, flogging, and imprisonment. He experienced racism there. Anti-semitism. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews (Acts 16:20) He was arrested unjustly and flogged unlawfully. He was probably whipped 39 lashes. In other letters, Paul said he was whipped 5 times of 39 lashes. A typical whip had several strands of leather and at the end, there was either a bone or metal attatched. So you don't get just bruises but your skin becomes ripped apa

Scripture Passage John 5:1-9 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Beth-zatha Beth-zatha! Its meaning is house of mercy. But it wasn't really a merciful place. The pool had the reputation of healing people. That's why there were a lot of sick people. In these lay many invalids blind, lame, and paralysed. (John 5:3) Once in a while, an angel would come to the pool and stir up the water and if you went into the pool when the water was stirred up, you would be healed. But there was a condition. Only the first person who entered into the pool when the water was stirred up, would be healed. Imagine what would happen when the water was stirred up. Imagine how they lived their lives there. How they had treated each other every day. They could not be friends. They were competitors. It was not a merciful place. Only the best of the best could benefit the healing. Only one person who was the fastest could get the reward of healing. Is that mercy? Mercy – It is hard to understand the concept because we don't see it often around us. You deserve what you get – that is much more around us and more understandable. If you work hard, you will get a reward. If you are the best, you deserve the honour. If you are bad, you should get punished. We all live in Beth-zatha. To be healed, you have to be the best. To be happy, you have to be the best. To be loved, you have to be the best. The Best This creates tremendous pressure, stress, disappointment, anger, and hopelessness. We can see this hopelessness in the man who had been sick for 38 years. 38 years is a long time. It is how long Israelites wandered in the wilderness. And the length of time we had travelled from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation of warriors had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn concerning them. (Deuteronomy 2:14) For 38 years, this man lived with the mentality of Beth-zatha. He continuously repeated to himself that he could never be the best. That meant he could never be healed. And he could never be happy. He was obsessed with being the best or the fastest. So, when Jesus asked this very simple question, he couldn't answer him. Jesus asked him, Do you want to be made well? It is a strange question to the man who had been sick for 38 years. Of course, he wanted to be made well. But this man could not even answer this simple question of Jesus. He couldn't say, Yes, I want to be made well. Instead he said, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me. (John 5:7) In his mind, he was thinking, What is the use of wanting to be made well? I cannot beat others. I can't be the best. I cannot go into the pool before other people. He didn't understand the concept of mercy. To him, being made well meant being the best. That's all. There was nothing else. And he could not be the best. Ask yourself. Do you have to be the best to be happy? Do you have to be the best to be healed? Mercy From God Sometimes, we think of our faith in that way too. We think faith is the condition for God's love. Didn't God love us even before we believed in him? Faith is not our condition for God's love but our response to God's UNCONDITIONAL love. Why does God love me when I haven't done anything that deserves that love? That is the beginning of having faith. That was what Paul discovered. Pure mercy of God. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6) But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Unless we understand God's mercy, we won't understand the joy of life. Joy of life does not come from being the best. THAT'S AN ILLUSION. Joy of life comes from experiencing this mercy. This mercy comes from God. When we live day by day, experiencing the mercies of people, and mercies of life, you become very happy. Our life is full of mercy. Salvation comes from experiencing the mercy of God and mercy of life. This is what Jesus said. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. (Luke 6:32-35) Then at the end, he said this. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36) He said that life is full of mercy. Good life is life of being merciful. Jesus wants us to live a merciful life. As you have received the mercy from God, be merciful to each other. Remember God’s Mercy This man who had been sick for 38 years experienced Jesus' mercy. He didn't

Scripture Passage Acts 11:1-18 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script What Peter Saw It is a very interesting story and a weird story. Many of you may not even understand what the issue is here. What's with these animals and eating them? Why was Peter so reluctant to eat them? There are a lot of questions to be answered. It is hard to make sense of this story unless you understand the culture of that time, 2000 years ago. But I won't go there. Peter was praying and he had this weird experience. I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. (Acts 11:5-6) I don't know exactly how Peter saw this. Was it a dream? Did he fall asleep while praying? Or did he have some kind of supernatural vision? We don't know. But that was what he saw. Not only he saw this wonderful vision but he also heard a voice and the voice said to Peter, Get up, Peter; kill and eat. (Acts 11:7) Peter protested, By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth. (Acts 11:8) Peter was very reluctant. Because all his life he believed that these foods were unclean and so he didn't eat them. But the voice told him to eat. This voice was supposed to be the voice of God. That was hard to take for Peter. The voice not only told Peter to eat it but it also said, What God has made clean, you must not call profane. (Acts 11:9) This happened three times. So it was quite clear to Peter. It wasn't what Peter misheard. It was a clear message. Peter’s Prayer One thing I learn about what prayer does from this story. Prayer does not affirm what you are thinking. Prayer changes what you are thinking. Many people use prayer to give themselves absolute affirmation for what they already want and what they already know. To them, prayer is affirmation of who they are, what they believe, and what they firmly hold unto. Through prayer, they don't change. They become more of their old self. But Peter's prayer was not like that. In prayer, Peter's old belief was challenged. What he believed about what was clean and what was not clean was challenged. His attitude, his perspective, and his belief were all changed because of his prayer. Because he met God who was greater than himself. That is what true prayer is like. If prayer is simply to affirm what you already know and what you already believe, then it can be dangerous. What was just your personal opinions before prayer becomes divinely ordained absolute truth after prayer. Your personal opinions become God's will through prayer. That's dangerous. Peter's prayer was very different from that kind of prayer. Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane was the same. What Jesus wanted was not affirmed. What he wanted was not granted. Jesus knew clearly the difference between his personal desire and God's desire for him. That's spiritual maturity. St. Paul's prayer was like that too. Once St. Paul prayed because he had thorn in his flesh. We don't know exactly what that thorn was. But it tormented him. It hindered not only his ministry but also his life. He prayed to God three times. Again three times. He prayed that God might remove these thorns. But God didn't. What he wanted, he didn't get through prayer. He knew clearly what he wanted and what God wanted. That is spiritual maturity. Affirmation and Spirituality God did not remove the thorns but instead, God gave him this great insight. My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) I know we have this tremendous desire to be affirmed. That desire is our idol. We have to be right. We have to be correct. We have to be righteous. We have to be considered as good and perfect. People will do anything to prove this. Of course, people's context will be very different and so in a different context, people will use different ways to affirm that they are great. In the job, going up the ladder will affirm who you are. In a religious circle, being kind and being good will affirm who you are. In an academic field, being smart will affirm who you are. Being spiritual does not necessarily affirm who you are in that way. When you are spiritual, instead of being affirmed, often you will encounter your own prejudice and narrow mindedness. You encounter your own limitedness. You are exposed to your raw self when you are spiritual. God exposes you in this way not to let you down, not to criticize you and make you feel worthless. God does that to expand your life. To expand your vision. To let you see greater truth. God does that to make you grow. God does that because he has a vision bigger than you. In this sense, being spiritual is difficult. It makes you go where you never went before. It challenges you to change who you have been. It forces you to see who you really are but also chal

Scripture Passage Revelation 7:9-17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script John’s Vision The passage we read is a beautiful vision of the future. Multitudes from all the nations worshiping God together. No more hunger or thirst. Every tear wiped away. What a vision! But this vision was far from the reality of the community that this letter was addressed to. John, the writer of Revelation, was writing to people going through great difficulties. They were under great pressure. They faced persecution because of their faith. They were weak and powerless politically, socially and economically. The world they lived in, the world as it was, was not a world that was favourable for them. In these undesirable circumstances, John had this vision of a very different future. It was so different from their present reality. It was a vision of faith. This is where I realized: faith is a vision for a different future. Faith is having a vision and belief that this future can come into being. The Hebrews writer said this: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Many people in John's communities were starting to give up on this dream. They were starting to lose faith. Life as it was seemed too entrenched, too powerful. They started to orient their lives toward life as it was, not on the future that God would bring. They began adjusting and adapting to life as it was, even if it wasn't really what they wanted. John shared his revelation so that they would continue on in faith. To not give up. To hold firm. Faith In a New Future On this Mother's Day, I think of many of our parents, the 1st generation of immigrants to Canada. After experiencing war and poverty, the future they wanted was different from the present they knew. Coming to Canada was an act of faith: faith in a new future. This faith gave them tremendous energy. Starting with nothing, they worked day and night to get established and settled in this new land. Their energy and desire for a different future left them very open to faith in God. They welcomed God to usher in this new future they desired. Their faith led them to sacrifice tremendously for the church. I mean, think about it: they're working at their store from 7am to 11pm, 7 days a week. But still, they managed to go to church every Sunday. I look back now with amazement how I went to church pretty every Sunday without fail. Not only that, they gave so much and so generously. They were not rich or wealthy. But they gave so much (time, money, energy) to build the churches we enjoy today. As I think about them I realize this: when you have faith in a new future, it gives you great energy, and you make great sacrifices to bring that future about. They had faith, and from that faith came sacrifice. John saw a clear picture of this new future. At the end of Revelation, he describes what this looks like: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1-2) He was imploring his communities to hold fast in faith for this future that God would bring. It was a cry for them to keep the faith. The Faith of The Next Generation A common question in our churches today is: where is the faith of the next generation? We see young people leave our churches and leave the faith. This has been the concern of many 1st generations. If you probe deeply enough, I think the question that comes is: why do I need faith? That is really the reason so many have left our churches and the faith. I mean, the 1st generation needed faith. They yearned for this new future, but knew that on their own they were weak and powerless. They had experienced their powerlessness as a nation in the face of the great global powers. They welcomed God's help. But times have changed, and we don't have the same yearnings that they had. Their wishes came true, and we live quite abundantly now. Here's the simple truth: if you are content with your present life, your present situation, and life as it is, then you don't need faith. If your goal is to simply adapt to life as it is, to plug into the world as it is, then you don't need faith. All you need is effort, smarts and good luck. The thing is, I think most people know that all is not right. Even in the midst of our abundance, we feel that things are not all right. We know the problems. We know that things need to change. I don't think people want to simply plug into the world as it is. The problem is, they don't have faith. They don't have faith in institutions and leaders. They don't have faith that anything will change. And also, in this complex and confusing world we live in, people don't have a clear picture of the future they desire. And so people fall into despair or resign themselves to the world as it is. I believe that each gener

Scripture Passage John 21:1-19 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Peter’s Pain Jesus asked Peter, Do you love me? Why did he ask this question? He could have said many other things but he asked only this one question three times. We automatically assume that he asked this question because Peter denied Jesus. Definitely, this must have been in Peter's mind. He connected Jesus' question with his denial. So when Jesus asked him the same question three times, Peter was hurt. He said to him the third time, Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, Do you love me?' (John 21:17) This question was a very difficult question to answer for Peter. A very uncomfortable question. He must have asked himself this question numerous times. Do I really love Jesus? If I do, how could I deny him, not just once but three times? What a coward that I am! Peter was going through a painful time. Deep sorrow and deep regret! When Jesus said, everyone will become a deserter, Peter said I will never. Even though all become deserters, I will not. (Mark 14:29) But Peter realized that these were just empty words that carried no weight. He realized he was too weak. He was filled with fear. That's why he deserted Jesus. So when Peter heard this question, Do you love me? , he automatically connected that with his denial. BUT JESUS WAS DIFFERENT. Peter might have thought of it that way but Jesus' thinking was different from Peter's. His mind was not on Peter's denial. Jesus didn't even mention about Peter's denial. Jesus was not concerned about what Peter did to him in the past but he cared about how Peter would take his future. Jesus' mind was not focused on Peter' past but on his future. Every time Jesus asked Peter, Do you love me? , at the end, what did Jesus say? “Feed my lamb , Tend my sheep , and Feed my sheep. Jesus was very focused not on what Peter did but on what Peter would do. Jesus came to Peter not only to forgive what he did but also to restore his calling and prepare him for the future. What Peter needed was not just to feel better. What Peter needed was not just comfort. What Peter needed was to pull himself out of a rut he was in. Peter was too sad to think about his future. He was too heart-broken to move on. He became stuck in his past. Look at what he did! He went fishing. When he first met Jesus and followed Jesus, he left the net and followed Jesus. But now, he picked up the net that he left and went back to fishing. This whole scene was like the first time, when they met Jesus the first time. They fished all night but they caught nothing. And Jesus told them to cast the net to the right side of the boat and they caught so many fish. Jesus knew that Peter was stuck in his past because of his guilt. Peter was disillusioned about himself. Jesus wanted to take Peter out of a snare of his past. Move Forward You know what happened in the past does not stay in the past. Just because time went by, what happened in the past does not pass by. It still affects us. Especially, our painful past does not just stay in the past. It pulls us back into the rut. It is like a black hole. It pulls us back into the dark hole. People who suffer from PTSD still live in the fear of their past. They can never let go of their past and move on. There are people who still live with guilt, anger, and disappointment because of what happened in the past. Their past holds them back. They can't go forward. We have to go forward. Not because we did everything well in the past. We have a lot of regrets. We have a lot of mistakes that we made. But we cannot get stuck in the rut. This is what St. Paul said Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14) St. Paul also committed terrible sins against Jesus. He persecuted those who followed Jesus. Jesus appeared to Saul and said, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' (Acts 9:4) He wanted to destroy Jesus' movement. He persecuted the church. But after meeting Christ, he realized how sinful he was. He regretted what he did. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (1 Corinthians 15:9) But he didn't get stuck in the past. Forgetting what lied behind, he pressed on. He moved on forward. That was what Jesus wanted Peter to do. Jesus wanted Peter to move on forward. The Future Many of us think that Jesus asked him the same question three times because Peter denied Jesus three times. Maybe. Definitely, Peter might have heard it that way. But I see another reason. Jesus had hard time to say what he had to say to Peter about his future. It's all about Peter's future, not his past. Jesus had to tell him how he would die. It was not easy for Jesus to tell him what the future held for him. So

Scripture Passage John 20:19-31 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Honesty Thomas said, Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe. (John 20:25) He was very specific. He knew exactly the condition for his belief. He demanded this condition to be met before he said he would believe. Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was resurrected. Unfortunately, Thomas wasn't there. The other disciples told him that they saw the Lord. But that wasn't enough for Thomas. He needed to see Jesus with his own eyes. He needed to feel him with his own hands. I can understand how he felt. He could not pretend that he believed when he did not have this conviction. He was honest. I think there is a lesson for us to learn. Honesty is the first step of faith. Honesty is where our spiritual journey begins. Fake Faith Faith is not something you can fake. Faith is not something you can pretend to have. What is the use of it even if you fake it? For whom? Fake faith will not give you peace and confidence. Counterfeit bills may have the same benefits and power as the real bills but not counterfeit faith. Last week, one of ESM members told me that what I said about hope rang true to him. Hope in a good situation is not really hope. And he asked me about hope without action. Is it real hope if it doesn't lead to action? I told him, if it is real hope, it would lead to action. Hope and action are not two separate things. They are connected. One and the same. Faith is the same thing. If it is a real faith, it will give you peace and confidence. Fake faith will not be able to give you that. Thomas could not fake it. He was honest. He showed us a good example of finding faith. Because of Thomas' honesty, he was able to meet Jesus again and see him. His honesty brought back the resurrected Jesus again. Just for Thomas, Jesus came again. Struggle We realize that Jesus will never leave us alone in our struggles. That's what I believe. God never leaves us alone in our struggles. That was what Jesus promised. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. (John 14:18) God wants you to honestly struggle with your questions and even doubts. He would not rebuke you for that. He would not leave you alone as you struggle with your doubts. He would be there and reveal himself to you. That was what Jesus did to Thomas. Jesus knew Thomas' struggle. He knew Thomas' doubt. He did not abandon him. He rather revealed himself to Thomas. When you honestly seek God, God will show himself to you. Yes, that's all you need. HONEST STRUGGLE AND HONEST DESIRE TO MEET GOD. When Thomas met Jesus, what did he do? Did he look for the mark of the nails in Jesus' hands? Did he put his finger in the mark of the nails? That was his condition for his belief, wasn't it? Unless that condition was met, he said he would not believe. But when he met Jesus, this condition was not necessary. Even when Jesus invited him to see the nail marks and touch them, he didn't do that. He simply said, My Lord and my God! That was the highest confession anyone could make about Jesus. Until then, nobody really called Jesus God. At most the Son of God. But Thomas looked at Jesus and said, My Lord and my God! (John 20:28) There was change in Thomas. He thought his faith was BASED ON WHAT HE COULD SEE AND WHAT HE COULD FEEL. He thought it was very much to do with how he perceived. He thought faith was to do with him, his conviction and his assurance. We are like him too. If we feel good about God, then we can say we believe. If we see some assuring signs, then we say we believe. How we feel and how we perceive are very important to us. It's all about me and how I feel about God. Absence When I was in university, I used to study at Robarts library. It is U of T library. 13th floor, Red section. That place was like my second home. When you get to the corner, it faces East and you can see the whole campus. That corner was my sanctuary. It was my sacred place. Jesus often went to the mountain to pray. That was my mountain. I often went there to pray. One day, I wanted to feel God more. So, I asked him. Lord, can you show me a sign? You are almighty. You can use the cloud. Maybe something similar like heart shape? Or do anything to assure me that you are there. God didn't give me any sign. Even if he gave me the sign, soon, I would have wondered whether it was just a coincidence. That is not how faith comes about. In Jesus' time, people were looking for signs too. So when they saw the miracles, they believed Jesus. But that kind of faith did not last too long. As soon as they saw Jesus' suffering, they all deserted him. So Jesus said, An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it ' (Matthew 16:4) When they saw the sign, they felt good and they felt that God was right there and so they believed. BUT WHEN THEY SAW NOTHING, THEY FELT EMPTY, DOUBTFUL AND FELT THE A

Scripture Passage Isaiah 65:17-25 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Importance of Easter HAPPY EASTER! May God fill you with hope on this Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is the most important day of the year for many Christians. It may not be the most fun day. It is not like Christmas. During Christmas, we see bright lights, sing carols, and exchange gifts. Easter is not like that but it is the most meaningful and important day. Easter is the season of welcoming new life. Long winter is now almost over and spring is on the way. Flowers are budding. New life is beginning. We are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not only the resurrection of Jesus Christ we celebrate, we also celebrate the resurrection of ourselves. This is what St. Paul said. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:11) There is the Spirit within us. That is the same Spirit who raised Jesus. That Spirit will raise us too. So we celebrate our own resurrection too. Death will not be the end. Knowing that is wonderful. This gives us hope. We have hope for the new world and new life. This is what John saw in his vision. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.' (Revelation 21:1, 4) Today, Isaiah also shared with us what he saw. For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating; (Isaiah 65:17, 18) They both saw this wonderful vision, the vision of new world and new life. But they saw this wonderful vision, not necessarily because their life was easy and promising. They didn't write this in a beautiful luxurious South American resort where you can see mountain, forest, and the ocean. John wrote his vision in the midst of persecution. Their friends were killed because of their beliefs. There were a lot of temptations of losing their faith because of persecution and false teachings. Isaiah wrote this piece for the Israelites who came back from the Babylonian captivity. They came back home but the home wasn't really heaven. It was home that was ruined. The temple was destroyed. They lost their passion for God. Their reality was harsh. What they saw was not pretty. They were devastated. The Power of Faith and Hope People had a lot of questions about God. If God were real, why didn't God protect us from being captivated? If God really loved us, why did we go through this kind of hardship? What happened to God's promise? Is God real? It is in this context that both John and Isaiah wrote these beautiful words. In the gloomy reality, they saw the possibility of their future. Surrounded by negative things in life, they saw something positive, something hopeful, and something beautiful. That is wonderful. THAT IS THE POWER OF FAITH AND THE POWER OF HOPE. The power of faith and hope allows you to be able to see something beautiful no matter how difficult life may be. They didn't allow their circumstances to blind them, dictate them, and victimize them. Through the eyes of faith and hope, they saw light in the midst of darkness. They didn't define their reality only as being miserable and unbearable. I think that is the wisdom, the wisdom of life. The wisdom is to see both sides of our reality. Our reality is both good and bad. Our reality is both beautiful and can be ugly. Our reality is both bright and dark. The wisdom is to see beautiful things in life instead of seeing only ugly things. You can choose to see only dark side of life. A lot of people do that. It's your choice. But be prepared. If you choose to see only dark and negative things in life, you will get swept away by the darkness of life. They will damage your soul. You will become cynical and critical. Many people have this distorted understanding of life. What is good is not real. What is bad is real and what is good is just fantasy. Because we see so many bad things. Life Amidst Death Yes, our reality can be cruel and scary. We see that in what's happening in Ukraine. We see that very clearly during this global pandemic. We also see it right where we live. House price is going up so much that many people cannot even think of buying a house. The interest rate is going up. Reality can be cruel and scary. Just the other day, I was walking and I experienced gun shot right beside me. It wasn't a targeted shot. It wasn't gang related. This guy just shot a stranger, no motive. The person who was shot died. Then in 48 hours later, he shot another stranger. This guy shot two completely innocent men just going about their lives. It could be very much me. My heart was pounding and my ears wer

Scripture Passage Luke 23:44-49 Worship Video Worship Audio *English sermon begins at 14:10 Sermon Script The Lives We Live Everyone wants to live a good life. We want our lives to be peaceful and enjoyable. But the lives we want to live, and the reality we face, are often very different. There is the life that we want to control and the forces of life that control us. The more we live, the more we see that the life that controls us is often more powerful than the life we control. If the life that controls us brings good things, then we're thankful and have no complaints. But when the life that controls us brings uncertainty, grief, and sorrow, it makes living very difficult. Faith begins when we recognize that our ability to control life is much smaller than life's ability to control us. Faith accepts our need for a power greater than ours. But what kind of faith are we seeking? Are we seeking a God who makes my life better for me when I need it? Or are we seeking to know this God who works in my life? What Did They See? People in Jesus' time were looking for a Saviour. Their lives were so difficult. They were powerless. They had no political power; no economic power. They knew they needed a power greater than what they had. People were drawn to Jesus by his power. Crowds flocked to him to experience and witness healings. They saw him as someone who could make their lives better. Many people indeed were healed. But most of them went on their way after they got what they needed. Their focus was on their own lives. But some who met Jesus began to follow him. A number of women who were healed by Jesus began to follow him. They provided resources to feed, clothe and provide for the needs of Jesus and his disciples. They spent time with Jesus, listening to his teachings and interacting with him daily. They got to know him personally. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, people had expectations. They expected Jesus to change what they themselves couldn't change. They expected political, economic and social change that would make their lives better. They entered Jerusalem singing Hosanna! But the forces against change were powerful and motivated. These forces conspired to arrest and kill Jesus. They hung Jesus on the cross. To the people's surprise, Jesus did not put up a fight. He seemed weak compared to the great power of the leaders. Jesus did not or could not save himself. The crowds who had gathered went home, beating their breasts. When they looked at Jesus on the cross, they saw a weak and powerless Jesus. They saw someone who was defeated. In the cross, they saw their own powerlessness to do anything about the forces that controlled their lives. They turned away and went home, defeated and crushed. Jesus' acquaintances and the women who followed him remained. They stood at a distance and watched. What did they see? With their eyes, they must have seen the same things as the crowds. There must have been sadness and disappointment. There must have been doubt and fear. There must have been confusion and bewilderment. But alongside all of that, I wonder if there was also trust and faith? I wonder if they remembered Jesus' teachings that this is what he had to go through? We can't know for sure. What we know is that they stood and watched, facing the cross where Jesus hung. What was the difference between the crowds who went home and the women who stayed and watched? The crowds had heard of Jesus and maybe even saw Jesus, but they did not know Jesus. For them, Jesus was only useful if he could do something for them. Since he died a weak death, he was of no more use to them. So they turned away and went home. Those who stayed and watched knew Jesus. They had spent time with Jesus. They remembered his teachings. Their hearts were changed. They loved Jesus. The Cross in Faithful Eyes When difficulties strike, when our expectations get crushed, when the weight of life's forces overwhelm our sense of control, what do we do? Do we turn away defeated, beating our chests? Or do we stand, watch and wait in faith? Those who expect God to simply make their life better without any desire to know God will never have real faith. When difficulties strike, they will seek the most expedient way to deal with them. When God doesn't meet their expectations, they will turn away and seek other solutions. God will always be someone who has to prove himself. But for those who follow Jesus, when difficulties strike, we stand and wait. We can be filled with fear. We may be confused. We may be uncertain about what comes next. We may even have doubt. But followers of Jesus do not turn away. We stand and wait. We look our difficulties in the eye. We fix our eyes on the cross. The cross symbolized defeat and powerlessness. But for people of faith, underneath that defeat lies the mysterious power of God. A power that can only be seen with faith. That is why for us the cross is the power of God. The women stood and watched. They were the first to d

Scripture Passage Psalm 31:9-16 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Inside Some of our college students are graduating from McMaster University. When they were in first year, we started a Bible study together. We booked a room in the main library and met there each week. When they were in second year, they moved into a house together, and I would go there weekly and have Bible study with them. Then the pandemic hit, and two whole school years went by. I visited them a week ago to reflect on their journey through their undergraduate years. It was so nice to be together with them again. During these past four years, they've been through many things. Relationships, conflicts, ups and downs with school, and a pandemic for half of their undergraduate life. Many things happened on the outside, but the real change and growth happened inside of them. In fact, during the pandemic, nothing much really happened on the outside, but inside of them, they went through so much change and growth. What happened on the inside is not visible, but it is just as real, and perhaps more significant, than what happened on the outside. What happened on the inside defines who they are. We experience many things on the surface of our lives. That is real. But there is a lot that goes on inside of us too, and that is very real as well. The students at Mac were able to recollect what happened on the outside, but they had more difficulty articulating what happened to them on the inside. Even though what happens on the inside is just as real and perhaps more significant than what happens on the outside, it is more difficult to describe and articulate what happens on the inside, because we cannot really see it, and we don't really notice it. We go day to day in the world without really seeing or noticing what happens inside of us. There is a tight correlation between what happens on the outside and what goes on inside. What happens on the outside affects what happens on the inside. Who we are on the inside affects what we do on the outside, and how we approach what happens on the outside. The only thing is, we often don't see this correlation, because we don't really see what's going on inside. The inside is where the seat of our soul resides, where our spirit is. So what happens inside of us is spiritual. Spirituality relates to what happens inside of us. Our spirituality is affected by what happens outside, and it shapes what we do or how we approach what happens outside. Because we are unaware of what's going on inside, our spirituality is often quite limited. Mature spirituality is difficult, because we are not in tune with what's going on inside of us. There are many things that happen on the outside. Some things, we decide what happens. We decide what to eat, what to wear, where to go. But many things in life happen to us without us planning for it. We don't plan on getting into conflicts with those we live with or work with. We don't plan on bad or unexpected things happening to us. So much of life is beyond our control, and so many things happen to us. How We Respond There are many good things that happen to us. They bring us joy, happiness and contentment in life. But we also know that there are many things in life that leave their marks on us. Even long after those things have passed, their effects on us remain. When bad or unexpected things happen to us, inside of us we get hurt, wounded or fearful. Even after that thing has passed, the hurt, wounds and fear remain. At a given moment, nothing might be happening on the surface. Things may seem peaceful. But we can lack peace because the effects of bad things remain and continue to affect us. There are many words to describe the manifestation of what remains: anger, trauma, depression, fear, worries, numbness and many more. What remains from the bad things that happen to us is suffering. We often think of suffering as what is happening to us on the outside at that moment. The world was shocked and grieved at the way civilians were killed in Bucha, Ukraine, some with their hands bound. They suffered before they died. But suffering is also about what happens inside of us even after events have passed. The families of those killed will suffer from grief, anger and confusion for a long time to come. Suffering from past experiences remain inside that person. We are often unaware of the suffering that resides in us. Suffering is a fact of life. But how we respond to our suffering is the most important thing. One way or the other, our whole lives are a response to the suffering within us. Our fears, traumas and wounds can control us and dictate our thoughts and actions. Or the suffering inside of us can give us new purpose and perspective. Passion Sunday Today is Passion Sunday. Passion means suffering. On Passion Sunday, we remember the suffering of Jesus. We know that Jesus suffered physically when he was beaten and crucified. But his suffering was much deeper than that. His r

Scripture Passage John 12:1-8 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Good Shepherd Knowing others and understanding them is very difficult. Many times, we live our lives, not knowing how others feel. We say things without thinking what they may feel. We do things without understanding how they may affect them. We are so indifferent that we don't care at all about others. When the world becomes like that, there will be many people who feel very lonely and isolated. We will live in a fragmented and disjointed society. Feeling understood is a very important part of a good life. Our God whom Jesus introduced to us is very intimate God who knows us and understands us. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. (John 10:14,15) God knows about us even in such a detail like how many hairs we have on our head. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. (Luke 12:7) Intimate God wasn't Jesus' unique idea. Prophets also knew very intimate God. Jesus continued the prophetic tradition. God said to the prophet Jeremiah, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you (Jeremiah 1:5) God knows our wishes and dreams, our troubles, our sorrows, our disappointments, and our shortcomings. God knows what we are insecure about and what we fear. God knows how we feel. Jesus had this tremendous knowledge about people. He knew what they were thinking and what they were feeling. When Jesus met the Samaritan woman, he knew exactly what her problem was, what she was going through, and what she needed. What she needed was water and Jesus talked to her about the living water. Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. (John 4:13, 14) When he mentioned her secret of having had five husbands, she let her guard down and started talking with Jesus. What we read in today's story was not about how expensive the perfume was. It was not about her sacrifice. It was about how well Mary also knew about Jesus. She knew exactly what Jesus was going through. She knew exactly what Jesus needed. She had the powerful insight about Jesus and what was going on in his life. Let me tell you a little bit of background of this story. The passage begins with this. Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. (John 12:1) When you read chapter 11, you will see the story of Jesus raising the dead Lazarus. In today's passage, they all gathered together to celebrate the life of Lazarus who was raised from the dead. It was a big deal. It was not a funeral reception. It was a party for coming to life from the dead. Raising Lazarus created a great commotion. So many people heard about this news. So they came to see, not only Jesus but also Lazarus who came to life. When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. (John 12:9) So the mood was celebratory. No one was thinking about death. Everyone was thinking about life. No one was thinking about the consequence of raising Lazarus. To them, it was just a fantastic miracle. Raising the dead man? What can be more sensational than this? But not to Jesus. Jesus was thinking about the consequence of raising Lazarus. Jesus knew that raising Lazarus would create commotion and more people would follow Jesus. This would bring a greater threat to the religious leaders. Jesus’ Hour That was exactly what happened right after Jesus raised Lazarus. Many people came and were totally shocked pleasantly but the leaders weren't very happy. They didn't know what to do with Jesus. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.' (John 11:47, 48) So what did they decide? They decided to kill Jesus. Not only Jesus, but also Lazarus. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus(John 12:10, 11) This was the reason why Jesus could not simply enjoy the party. In John, you hear Jesus saying this many times. My hour has not yet come, my hour has not yet come When did Jesus say that his hour came? Right after raising Lazarus. Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:23-25) Raising Lazarus meant t

Scripture Passage Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Imago Dei We are created in God's image. Imago Dei. That is the image of God in Latin. God created us in the image of God. That's what we hear in the creation story. Then God said, Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.' (Genesis 1:26) So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them. (Genesis 1:27) God did not just create us in his image, He gave us the ability to be able to understand God through that image. We cannot see God physically with our human eyes but we can understand God through his image he created in us. But the problem is – that image is distorted because of our sins. Not only that image is distorted, we human beings now try to create God in our own image. When Jesus came to the world, he saw this distorted image controlling people and blinding them. They said they knew God but they were far from understanding God. They were blinded. They could neither see God nor understand God. Welcoming the Sinners Jesus gave us today's story to tell us who our God is. He wanted to restore the true image of God. Today's story began with this. Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.'(Luke 15:1, 2) They were offended because Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them. They were offended not for a cultural and moral reason but for a spiritual reason. They believed that God saw sinners as dirty and untouchable. So it was right for them to stay away from them too. We can see where this kind of attitude could come from. Listen to Psalm 1. The first chapter of Psalm is not only the introduction to Psalm but also to our life. Psalm 1:1 says, Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers (Psalm 1:1) What this passage teaches us to stay away from sinful way of living. But they conveniently separated themselves from the sinners and discriminated against them, saying that they were dirty and untouchable. They would not either welcome them or eat with them. And when they saw Jesus welcoming the sinners and eating with them, they were upset. The Three Stories In this context, Jesus gave today's story. Today's story is the last one of three stories. All three stories were about those who were lost. The first one is about the lost sheep. Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? (Luke 15:4) The second one is about the lost coin. What woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? (Luke 15:8) The last one is about the lost son. for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! (Luke 15:24) All three stories reflect God's attitude toward sinners. God saw sinners not as dirty and untouchable. God saw sinners as being lost. In today's story, the lost son wanted to eat with pigs. Pigs were considered as dirty animals. The elder son saw his brother as dirty and untouchable. But the father did not see his son as dirty and untouchable. To the father, he was his precious son. He was just lost. But he was always his son. There was never a moment when he was not his son. Redefining the Image He believed and hoped that someday he would come to his senses. That was exactly what the son did. But when he came to himself he said, How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! (Luke 15:17) He came to himself meant he came to his senses. That's how NIV version translated. When he came to his senses, (Luke 15:17) The father was waiting for the son to come to his senses. That waiting was painful and agonizing. That was the image of God Jesus tried to portray. God who suffers with us and because of us. When the son came back, while he was far away still, the father was able to recognize him. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. (Luke 15:20) How did he know that he was his son? He knew right away because he was hoping every day that his son would come to his senses and come home. He was waiting every day. That's why he knew. This image is very different from the image that people in Jesus' time had about the patriarchal father. Jesus was drawing a very different picture about God. Jesus used the image of a father but he changed what the real father looked like. Not patriarchal father. He redefined the image of the father. There is Rembrandt's famous oil painting, called, The Return of the Prodigal Son . The image of the father in that picture is not a powerful, wise, dignified, and authoritative father but a weak

Scripture Passage Isaiah 55:1-9 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Beauty is Hidden The attitude we have about our life is very important. Depending on what attitude we have, our life will turn out very differently. St. Paul said, We walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) That was his attitude towards his life. Walk by faith, not by sight? What does this mean? He saw that life is more than what he could see. He discovered that truth about life. Do you live only by what you can see? Or do you recognize that there is something about life that you don't see? What excites me about life is not what I see but what I don't see. We do not necessarily see everything. There are many more things that are hidden in what we do not see. I experience daily that life is bigger than what I can see, touch, and feel. If what I see is everything, it is depressing. What we see is fight, struggles, war, sickness, and death. With God, I can pursue what is much bigger than what I see. My friends, I believe that LIFE'S SECRET is hidden in what we cannot see. Wonderful TREASURES are hidden in what we cannot see. That was what St. Paul said. We look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18) Whatever you can see with your eyes is temporary no matter how beautiful it is. What is eternal cannot be seen with your eyes. Bigger things are hidden in what we cannot see. Beautiful things are hidden in what we cannot see. DEATH is what you can see. But the RESURRECTION is what you cannot see. SUFFERING is what you can see. But the GLORY is what you cannot see. MONEY is what you can see. But HAPPINESS is what you cannot see. Your REALITY is what you can see. But God's PROMISE is what you cannot see. If you accept that beautiful things are hidden in what you cannot see, then you realize that you need FAITH. Faith is the only way to deal with what we cannot see. Comfort With What We Cannot See This is what the Hebrew writer said, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Just because you cannot see ANYTHING GOOD happen in your life, don't get discouraged. Don't give up. When we have faith, we can go beyond miseries, suffering, hardships, hopelessness, and even death that we see around us. Faith helps us to move on even when we cannot see good things happening around us. Even though we do not see the result, we can take a meaningful step with our faith. Martin Luther King Jr. said, Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase. That is so true. Faith is taking a meaningful step even though we do not see the whole picture. With God, we become comfortable with what we cannot see. Isaiah was speaking to people in exile. Babylon destroyed Israel and took them as captives. Life in Babylon at first was hard and difficult. They lost their temple, their home, and they were taken to a foreign land. It was like what is happening right now in Ukraine. More than 3 million refugees had to flee from their homeland. Israelites were taken as captives. They lost everything. We can see the sentiment of the Israelites in the captivity in Psalm 137. By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion!' How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? (Psalm 137:1-4) But later, they got used to lifestyle in captivity. Life in Babylon became very comfortable. Even better than their life in Israel. They were more abundant, more food, more money, more sophisticated civilization. Culturally it was superior to their old lifestyle. But in the midst of it, they lost God in their consciousness. When you don't have God, do you know what happens? You depend on only what you can see. That's what happens when God disappears in your consciousness. Only through faith, you can go beyond what you can see. Their life was filled with a lot of things but somehow there was no satisfaction in them. They had bread and water but it was bread that could not fill them and water that could not quench them them. These things did not give them satisfaction. That's why Isaiah said this. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? (Isaiah 55:2) What he meant was, Why do you spend your money for the bread that does not fill you up, and your labour that does not satisfy you?” They had bread, they had money, and they worked hard but nothing really satisfied them. They were lost. But God did not leave them alone. God invited them to come back to him. God wanted to give them the living water. The Whole Picture There was a woman in Samaria. She failed marriage several times. She wasn't happy and she couldn't find satisfaction anywhere. She met J

Scripture Passage Philippians 3:17-4:1 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Leadership We know that leadership affects other people. A bad leader can cause a lot of harm and suffering. A good leader, however, can inspire people and rally people in unity and purpose. Because of this, we consider leadership to be very important. St. Paul brought people together in the communities he founded. He founded the community at Philippi. The Philippians held a very special place in Paul's heart. Together, they experienced the powerful presence of God. They worked and toiled together to build the community. They were his most loyal community. In some other communities, people turned away from him and started following other leaders. But not the Philippians: they were his ride or die people. When he was in trouble, they were the only ones to raise funds and send money to him. There was a deep bond of love for one another. But once St. Paul left them, they started to have issues. People started looking after their own interests instead of the interests of others. People started competing with one another. Conflict and division ensued. While Paul was there, they had experienced togetherness and looking after the interests of others. After he left, however, personal agendas and interests took over. What Paul was able to do for them, bringing unity and purpose, they were not able to do for themselves. This is common among groups after an inspiring leader leaves. By the force of their personality, conviction and charisma, a strong leader gets people to believe in a common purpose. They lay aside their own agendas and interests for that common purpose, and this creates strong bonds and feelings of togetherness. The leader is the glue that holds this group together. But once that leader leaves, the strength of their personality is gone. The sense of common purpose they instilled often subsides. Much of the unity is often the effect of a leader's abilities and not the maturity of the whole people. St. Paul says this to the Philippians: Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) Paul is telling them not to rely on him to keep the group together. Each of them need to work on becoming mature. They need to be able to hold themselves together without his personal presence. They need to live out what he taught them without him having to be there. The Nature of Immaturity The problem is not so much the lack of great inspiring leaders. The problem is the lack of maturity among ordinary people. It is nice to have great leaders who can bring people together. We celebrate such people and admire them. But often we place too much burden on them. Great leaders become a crutch for people. It becomes an excuse to not do our own work, and rely on the leaders to do the heavy lifting for us. It becomes an excuse to remain stuck in our immaturity. What is the nature of immaturity? It is self-centeredness. Self-centeredness makes us immature. The extreme form of self-centeredness is narcissism. We are living in a world filled with narcissism. Narcissism pervades this world. We have become so self-centered that we don't even know how self-centered we are. It's like the story of two fish: one fish was swimming along and crossed paths with another fish. That fish asked: how's the water today? and the other fish responded what water? Narcissism is so embedded in the air that we don't even realize that we're breathing it in. True maturity comes when we remove ourselves from the center. This is true spirituality and spiritual maturity. Paul says this to the Philippians: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. (Philippians 3:5-8) We see a downward movement of continual self-emptying. This passage captures the trajectory of Jesus' life. His life was a journey of emptying himself, all the way down to death on a cross. Jesus removed himself from the center, but what replaced it was not empty space. What filled his center was God's love and will. His bodily and material needs, his safety and security, his own dignity and sense of honour – did not take center stage. The will of God did. At the Garden of Gethsemane, his self wanted to preserve itself. He struggled mightily, asking God that the cup might be taken away from him. But his final words were: not my will, but yours. God's will was the center of his life. His whole life reflected this. Loving the unloveable. Healing the undesirable. Honouring the unhonourable. Respecting the unrespectable. He expanded the boundaries of who was eligible to experience

Scripture Passage Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Lent As of last Wednesday, Lent has begun. Lent is a period of 40 days before the Easter. Lent is a season of remembering Jesus' suffering and death and his love for us. It is time to prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is time to appreciate God's love for us. It is time to think about how to follow Jesus' footsteps. During Lent, let us think about the spiritual aspect of our lives. During Lent, people do many things that help them spiritually. Some people make new resolutions. Others set aside time for prayer. I think it is important to live our lives, feeling the season. Life has seasons. Season for working and season for resting. Season for celebrating and season for reflecting. Lent is a season for thinking about spiritual things. Today's passage is about giving, praying, and fasting. How appropriate! We can cultivate these three things during Lent. Three Spiritual Principles Giving, praying, and fasting – These were important spiritual disciplines for the Jewish people during Jesus' time. I think it is important for us too. So I would like to reflect with you about these three spiritual principles. Giving First, giving is an important part of our lives. Jewish people have taken this discipline seriously. Even now many Jewish people take the discipline of giving as a part of their lives and practice it. 60 percent of Jewish households earning less than US$50,000 a year donate. Regardless of their economic status, they take giving as an important life principle. God has commanded them to do so, they believe. It is embedded in their religion and in their culture. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbour in your land.' (Deuteronomy 15:11) I think life of giving is a beautiful life. It is a sign of a blessed life. There are many people who practice philanthropy as a significant part of their life. We should incorporate giving as a part of our life. Giving does so much good for us. It teaches us to be generous and generosity is an admirable quality of a person. It is hard to cultivate this character and we can do it by practicing the lifestyle of giving. It is good not only to enjoy the abundant life we have but also to share it with others. When we practice giving, somehow we experience the abundance of life. When you give, you don't become less. You become more. It's like the widow who gave her last meal to Elijah. Her jar became never empty. It also keeps us from falling into the temptation of greed. It is a good way to protect ourselves from materialism. As the exercise does good to our body, the exercise of giving does good to our soul. I notice that people who are giving generously are generally happy. Prayer Secondly, prayer was also a very important discipline to Jewish people in Jesus' time. Typical Jews at that time prayed three times a day. Morning at sunrise. Afternoon at 3 pm. Evening prayer at nightfall. We can assume that Jesus also practiced this discipline. In addition to that, Jesus often went away alone into the mountain to pray. We need time to be alone. The busier we get, the more we need to have time to be alone. We need time to be connected with God. Otherwise, we can get easily drift into worldly things, away from God. We will get stressed out and lose joy of life. You don't get joy by buying things. Joy is a quality of experience you get when you are connected with God. It is not something you can buy; it is something you experience when you are connected with God. Prayer should be incorporated in our daily living. I send you the Inner Voice so that you can incorporate prayer into your daily life. Last Friday, one person told me that he would do fasting one meal a day during Lent and give that money to Ukraine after reading the Inner Voice about true fasting. Jewish people used the Shema & the Tephilla, meaning Prayer. In the morning, they used both. In the afternoon, they used Tephilla alone. Evening prayer was like morning prayer. It is important to have a system of prayer. You need to give break to your mind and your spirit. You need to be reconnected with God daily. You need time to meditate on yourself, your life, and the world you live in. You need to be mindful of what you are doing and how you are feeling. You have people you care to pray for . You have situations that require your prayer. That is what Christian life is all about. Especially, we have a lot to pray for this world these days. People are dying and fleeing from the war zone. Gas price already went up. Food price will go up soon. Especially those countries like Egypt and Turkey – they rely on Russia and Ukraine for 70% of their wheat supply. Many African countries are suffering. The world has already suffered from food shortage during Covid time. It is getting worse now. We need to pray for the world. Even t

Scripture Passage 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Glory of God We all need the GLORY OF GOD. The question is: WHAT IS the glory of God? We hear it all the time. We use it quite often. And yet is it hard to put it into words, or define it. It is one of those words that we experience all the time and yet hard to say exactly what it is. It is like beauty , love , and so on. We know what it is and we use it all the time and yet, it is hard to say exactly what it is. Maybe it is a reality which is too big to describe in a few words. The Psalmist said, The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1) From the poetic imagination of the psalmist, I get a glimpse of what the glory of God is. Manifestation of God – THAT is the glory of God. When the invisible God manifests himself, we see the glory of God. Heavens are telling the glory of God. Heavens manifest the presence of God. Beautiful nature manifests the glory of God. In the Old Testament, we hear the cloud of Shekhinah. The cloud manifests the presence of God. When it comes to the New Testament, Jesus Christ, the Word Incarnate, manifested God. That is the glory of God. This is what John said. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) Two or three gather together in my name, I will be there, Jesus said. Shekhinah will be there. The glory of God will be there. When we pray, when we praise, God's glory will be there. The glory of God is the manifestation of God's presence. When you feel strongly the presence of God, you see the glory of God. It can happen during prayer, during worship, and during Bible studies. Or it can happen when you see a beautiful sunset. Or when you are in the hospital. Or even on your deathbed. It is not necessarily a miraculous and supernatural phenomenon. It is a moment of sensing God's presence in your life. That is a glorious moment. A Veil to Cover Our Minds Moses saw the glory of God when he received the 10 commandments in Mount Sinai. His face was shining. There was a glow on his face. Unfortunately, Moses put a veil on his face because he knew that the glow was only temporary. And he didn't want his people to think that the glory of God was there for a while and faded away. That was how Paul saw Moses' action. Paul was using this as a metaphor in today's passage. Moses covered the glory of God with a veil. That veil was still on the minds of the Israelites and they could not see the glory of God. That was his own personal experience. He knew God's commandments very well but these commandments could not remove the veil. Even though he knew the law well, he could not see the glory of God because of the veil. Do you remember when he first met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus? This was what Luke said about Paul's experience on the road to Damascus. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (Acts 9:8, 9) So, God called Ananias and told him to reach out to Saul. So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.'And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. (Acts 9:17, 18) His veil was removed from him, when he received the Spirit. Now he was able to see the glory of God. Even though he knew the commandment of God, he didn't see the glory of God. Seeing the glory of God is the work of the Spirit, not the law. That's why he said, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:6) Here, the letter meant the law written on stone tablets. Also, he said, Now if the ministry of death, chiselled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? (2 Corinthians 3:7, 8) Having knowledge is not enough. Knowing the law is not enough. It can be a veil to cover our minds so that we cannot see the glory of God. Being a good person is not enough. Our righteousness can be a veil to cover our minds so that we cannot see the glory of God. Having power is not enough. It can be a veil to cover our minds so that we cannot see the glory of God. In Our Lives Our upbringing, our experiences, our education, and our environments shaped us to be who we are. Through these things, we have come to understand our reality better. But we have to realize that they can also limit us. They can be a veil that blinds our eyes and a chain that enslaves us. This week was a gloomy week. It was hurting to see one country invading a

Jonah 4 Introduction If the story ended at chapter 2, then it would be a great story of calling and repentance. If the story ended at chapter 3, then it would be a great story of calling, repentance and a heroic response to one's calling. In fact, a chapter 3 ending would be more parallel to the modern mythical story of our modern society: how one feels a calling, shrinks in fear, but then overcomes that fear to live out a glorious calling. In terms of results, Jonah was the most successful prophet. But the story doesn't end there. We have chapter 4. It's a very confusing chapter, it's mysterious and weird. But we have it. Which means that it means something. And because it's the concluding chapter of our short book, it is a very important chapter. It's perhaps the most important one. It is the key to the meaning of the whole book. So it's very important to reflect deeply on this last chapter. Jonah's Anger The word angry comes up 5 times in English, 6 if you include the Hebrew root for displeased Jonah's anger is a recurring theme, and one you identified in your questions. Jonah is angry that God changed his mind about Nineveh. He reveals the true reason that he ran away: he knew God was compassionate and would change his mind. This statement reveals his intimate knowledge of God. He knows that God is compassionate, merciful and slow to anger. But Jonah's reaction reveals that DP is right when he states that Jonah has no love for Nineveh. If you read his action in Nineveh carefully, you see that all he did was proclaim Nineveh's impending doom. Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! That was it. He didn't offer any way out, anything they could do. Probably he was hoping that this prophecy would actually come true. Jinny asked why he went out to see what would happen. He probably did so to see if God might actually change his mind again at the last minute and actually destroy them. It was like he was giving God one more chance. So in line with some of the questions posed: Why is Jonah so angry about God's compassion and change of heart? What does his anger reveal about Jonah? The Bush Jonah was so happy about the bush. It's like he forgot his anger at God about letting Nineveh live It provided a nice shade and comfort. But God sends a worm that attacks the bush and makes it wither. The sun beats down on him and the wind chafes against his face. The dude is really uncomfortable. And his anger is kindled once again. It's to the point where he repeats what he said about God's change of heart to Nineveh: It is better for me to live than to die The interesting thing is that God asks a second time: Is it right for you to be angry? The first time, he didn't answer, he simply left town. But this second time, he responds: Yes, angry enough to die. What's different about his anger about the bush from his anger about Nineveh? What's the same? What do you learn about Jonah from this? What do we learn about ourselves? Jonah's Repentance and God's Calling When Jonah was in the belly of the fish, he had a deep moment of reckoning. He showed repentance. He said: As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord! Rockey asked if Jonah actually repented in the fish, or if it was superficial. What do you think? What's the difference between his repentance in the fish, and what you see here? On the face of it, it seems like Jonah's calling was to go to Nineveh and cry out against it. Was that it, or was it something more than that? What does this last chapter reveal about the nature of God's calling? What does this say to you? The post Jonah 4 appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.

Scripture Passage Luke 6:27-38 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Eye for an Eye The moral standard of the world is. Do to others what they do to you. It is easy to understand. It is rational. Fair. If they do evil to you, then you have a right to do evil to them. If they took $100 from you, then you have a right to take $100 from them. It makes sense. Logical That was what Moses said too. Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered. (Leviticus 24:19-20) We often misunderstand Eye for eye. We think that this means to revenge. Moses gave this rule not to revenge but to treat others fairly. Don't return with excessive retaliation. If they took your eye, don't take more than eye. But Jesus' teaching is different from the moral standard of the world. It wasn't Do to others what they do to you. It was this: Do to others as you would have them do to you. Treat others as how you want to be treated. How do I want to be treated? I want to be treated with respect and honour. I want to be treated without prejudice and discrimination. I want to be accepted. I want to be loved. Then treat others in the same way. Don't treat them as they treat you. Treat them as you want them to treat you. Just because they treat you badly, don't bring yourself down to their level. Don't let them control how you live. We cannot control how they treat us. But we can control how we treat them. We don't follow what they do to us. We follow what is good. We don't follow the evil they do unto us. We follow the good that is good for all. Understanding Love Understanding this is the first step of understanding love. Love is not about how you feel. Love is not our response to those who love us. Love is doing the good that each person needs whether that person deserves it or not. In that sense, even to our enemies, we do good – that is love. But come to think of it, that is how God loves us. God has been good to us. Not because we deserve God's goodness but because we need it. This was what St. Paul said. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Then in two verses later, he said this. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10) While we were God's enemies, Jesus showed us God's love by sacrificing himself for us. Love your enemies – it is paradoxical. It is oxymoron. Enemies are those you hate by definition. But Jesus said to love your enemies and he showed us his example. Jesus died for us to save those who were enemies to God. In loving enemies, God's mysterious plan of salvation is hidden. God's love for us is like loving enemies. That is God's love. In loving our enemies, the essence of the gospel is hidden. Also, in loving your enemies, the essence of love is hidden. We will find love in its PUREST FORM in loving our enemies. In other kinds of love such as romantic love, altruistic love, love is mixed with selfish desire, selfish motivation, heroism, and personal gain. But in loving enemies, you will be able to see love in its purest form. From this pure love comes true power and confidence. Our enemies cannot intimidate us any more. They no longer become the object of our hatred. Hatred Hatred is hard. Hating somebody takes a toll on us. You don't know how many people live their lives trapped in the ugly feeling of hatred. When we have hatred within us, we can never be happy. Hatred brings evil to all of us. It creates a bad cycle. Hatred takes away freedom from us. We become paralyzed when we are trapped in hatred. Hatred poisons our soul. It is like a bug. When you catch it, you cannot sleep. It makes you feel down and depressed. It makes you angry. It makes you weak. It takes away joy. It damages our mind and our body. It is like a severe disease. It is a disease our enemies bring to us. It is like opening the door for the evil to come in and destroy us. That's what hatred does. What our enemies did was bad enough. Now if we hate them, we are doing what is worse to us than what our enemies did to us. We let the evil come in and take us into deeper darkness. That is not a very wise thing to do, is it? So love your friends and hate your enemies – it sounds logical and it sounds good but it is not really a wise thing to do. Do to others what they do to you – it sounds rational but not a very practical thing to do. Loving your enemies makes much more sense than hating them. It stops them from harming us more than what they already did. It is good to all of us. But the problem is we cannot do it on our own. We don't have that kind of love. Love From God This kind of love comes from God. When we experience this love from God, love enters into our soul. It touches every cell of our body, and strengthens and empowers each cell. It he

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Jonah 3 Paul asked the question: what does this story point to? Very relevant question The text of Scripture always points to a deeper truth In Gospel of John, he calls the miracles of Jesus as signs In other words, the focus was not to on the miracles themselves, but what they point to Not the finger, but the finger that points to the moon Every story in the Bible points to something beyond itself Our knowledge is like small islands in a vast ocean What we know is just a little part compared to the vastness of the ocean Stories in the Bible shed a glimpse into that broader ocean Little by little, our island grows But it will always be an island, never complete What people do is get scared by the vastness of that ocean Take what little knowledge we have, build systems of knowledge and belief We feel safe in that Everything then gets filtered through that system of knowledge and belief It helps us make sense of the world But stories of Bible reveal something different: Instead of fitting built up systems of knowledge and belief, they are stories of how those systems are broken down They reveal greater reality of God A greater reality that breaks systems of belief and knowledge Jesus himself came to break down systems of belief that were built up Returned to the essence of God's reality In Bible study, if we read it from our own existing systems of belief and knowledge, it might feel safer and more certain, but that is not that path to God's greater reality, which is always much vaster than ours Our posture must be one of humility, awe and openness to the vastness of God's universe and God's ways When we come before the Scripture with openness and humility to God's much greater reality, then our own thinking gets changed, our eyes are opened, and our hearts expand That is what we're trying to do here – be transformed by and into God's greater reality We have this wonderful gift of Scripture that was written, collected and passed down through centuries Background Info on Nineveh Last week Paul asked: is this story real or fictional? And does it matter? Related to what I said above, I think the more important thing is what this story points to In terms of historical accuracy, no one can say for sure. In 1 Kings there is a reference to a prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai It is just a reference, there is no story associated with him in the historical books of the Bible Likely there was a prophet of such a name And it's possible that he had some ministry related to Nineveh Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria Assyria was the first major empire in the middle east region It dominated the whole area for some time Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel Policy: assimilation via intermarriage of populations So Nineveh represented the forces that destroyed Israel How do you think Jonah might have felt toward Nineveh? This question will become more relevant next week Nineveh was the largest city in the known world at the time, but it was not a three days' walk across. I think the writer wanted to convey that God thought Jonah's work was very important DP asked a question about whether our calling can have a massive impact on others. What a massive impact is can be subjective The point, though, is that going to Nineveh was Jonah's unique calling, and to God it was a very important calling We too have our unique calling – a unique life we're supposed to live Each will have a different impact, but to God, it is an important impact Second Time Rockey asked questions about v.1 – second time I think this is a very important thing to reflect on What was different about this second time compared with the first? What is this second chance really about? It's a second chance to do what? If the story ended in chapter 2, then it would be a nice story: a story of redemption Jonah refuses calling, goes down to depths, is rescued by God, commits to live differently End of story, nice But story continues and begins with second time What does this second chance say about salvation? Is salvation only about being saved from the bottom depths like in chapter 2? Repentance of Ninevites Jonah had a very simple message: Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! Context: Nineveh being overthrown would have grave consequences Many enemies and subjects who would take revenge Basically, would wipe out No hope, no mercy, no way out It's a simple declaration 40 days: In Bible, time of great trials Great trials, difficult times, hardships But also times of becoming new Noah and the flood Moses spending 40 years in Midian Israelites 40 years in the wilderness Jesus' 40 days of temptations Sackcloth: why did they cover themselves in this? Did they believe in God? What is the prerequisite or criteria for repentance? What did the Ninevites' repentance look like? (DP: they didn't do anything extra. So what did they do?) Was it genuine or performative? What is repentance? What's the difference between repentance and guilt? God Changed

Scripture Passage Jeremiah 17:5-10 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Fraying the Bonds Friendship is more important than justice and the rule of law. That is what the Greek philosopher Aristotle said. When the bonds of friendship are strong, there is consent from the governed and trust in the rule of law. When these bonds of friendship break down, however, then there is mistrust in the system that governs them. We are living in a time where these bonds of friendship are breaking down. Instead of friendship, there is mistrust, suspicion and animosity. Instead of coming together with understanding and openness, people make enemies of those who are different. We see frustrations, anger, and tensions boiling over. We see this in the trucker convoys. We see it in the United States. We see it in places like Ukraine and Russia. We see it in leaders who gain power by targeting groups as scapegoats for their problems. We see it in news media that amplify divisions. We see it in social media that are echo chambers that drive further wedges among groups. We live in a time of rapid changes and uncertainty. This COVID-19 pandemic has just exacerbated all of that. There is a lot of anxiety and vulnerability. People are stressed out, overwhelmed and powerless to manage their circumstances. These things have been fraying the bonds that tie us together. The important question for our time is how we respond to all of these changes and uncertainties in life? Will they drive us further apart? Or will they bring us together in common purpose and unity? Fear What we've seen so far is not encouraging. All this uncertainty has bred fear. When fear strikes, the results are unpredictable. It can manifest in many unforeseen ways. What it does do is divide people. Fear destroys rather than builds up. Fear wreaks havoc rather than bringing peace. Fear creates more mistrust than goodwill. Fear is a truly scary thing. Fear can destroy this world. I think that President Franklin Roosevelt spoke a great truth when he said that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. The fate of this world depends on whether we can manage and control our fear. Fear resides in the heart. From our heart flows our actions. From our heart springs forth the kind of life we live. That is what the prophet Jeremiah is saying in today's passage. He asks a piercing question: whom or what do our hearts trust? When fear strikes, do you trust in God? Or do you turn away from God toward whatever might provide security? Depending on the answer, two contrasting types of life flow from that. The Shrub and the Tree He contrasts a shrub in the desert with a tree planted by water. Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. (Jeremiah 17:5-6) Those whose hearts turn away from God are compared to a shrub in the desert. In other words, those who in their fear turn toward whatever might easily relieve that fear are compared to this shrub. The main feature of their life is that there is so little life-giving water. So they adapt and conserve water. Their whole energies are geared towards conserving what little water they have. Because there is so little water, they remain very low to the ground. They cannot grow large. They are isolated, because there is not enough water for many other shrubs. It is a barren, lonely existence. They have adapted and have survived. They are hardened survivors. But their life is small. They cannot see beyond the low ground, they have very little source of life, and they do not give life to others. This is the kind of life that results when one is gripped by fear. One seeks security in whatever, or whomever, might provide relief from that fear. One clings tightly to whatever security it can find. But this is a barren and lonely existence that lacks vitality. That is the life of the shrub. He contrasts the shrub with the tree planted by water. Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:8) This life is blessed. It is planted with deep roots, so they are strong. Its roots are connected with the stream and have access to a never-ending source of life-giving water. When difficulties come, this tree will not fear. Its leaves will not wither, but stay green. When there is drought it does not become anxious. Rather, it continues to bear fruit. Is your life like a shrub in the desert or a tree planted by water? Jeremiah was proclaiming this to a people who were very afraid. In fear they turned to idols rather than trust in God. In fear they turned to str

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Scripture Passage Luke 5:1-11 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Simon and Peter In today's Scripture passage, we heard about how Peter first met Jesus in a meaningful way. His life was changed totally by meeting Jesus. It is a wonderful story of conversion. He was a changed man. Jesus gave him a new name, Petros, Peter, the Rock. You know names are important. They tell us who we are. They give us our identity. But Simon was nothing like Peter. He was not rock. He was flimsy, emotional, impulsive and capricious. He was not at all like a solid rock. He didn't think about consequences before he spoke. A lot of times, he didn't know what he was talking about. He said he would never deny Jesus. He even compared himself with others. Even if everybody else deserts you, I will never do that. And he denied Jesus, not once, but three times. Knowing all that, Jesus still gave him the name, Peter, the Rock. That wasn't who Simon was but that was who Simon would be. Indeed, he became the rock. On him, church is founded. Today's story was the beginning of that journey. Even after this incident, he was still not like rock. But this was the beginning of that journey. For Peter, it was a journey of change. He found his life. He found what he wanted in his life. He found what was important in life. Finding Importance Finding what is important in life is what we all should do. Our life is beautiful and precious. We cannot waste it away. Every minute of it, we have to cherish it. We don't have time to waste it away. We cannot just follow what others do. We have to live life that is meaningful to us. Nobody can tell me what is meaningful to me. We have to find it on our own. The problem is it's hard to know. It is hard to know what is really important to us. We are shaped and molded by our environment in a significant way. If we were born in a religious family and surrounded by religious people, then being religious becomes important to us. If we were born in a musical family and surrounded by musical people, then being a great musician becomes important to us. So what is important and meaningful to us is very much influenced by our circumstances. In that sense, creating a good environment for our children is very important. In a good environment, they will learn what is important in life. Some time ago, our family met together. And Josh called Nolan and said, Tell granddad two things you learned when we had vacation. Nolan said, Be grateful and be generous. That's how they learn values in life. Peter grew up in a fishing family. Fishing was the most important thing for Peter. That was his value, his goal, and what gave him meaning. He had no reason to think about anything else. Yes, our environment is very important. It helps us know what is important. And it shapes us who we become. But at the same time, it can limit us. It can shape us so powerfully that it doesn't allow us to see anything beyond. We may not be able to see that life can be bigger. We have to provide a good environment for our children but at the same time, we have to also help them go beyond their small world. We should provide them with an opportunity to search for their own life, finding their own meaning. There is life we can teach. But there is life that they have to learn on their own. Callings From God There is life that is given to us. We have no choice for that. We didn't choose what kind of parents we would have. We didn't choose to be born in a certain family, like religious family, musical family, academic family, or an immigrant family. So there is life that is given to us. But there is life that we are drawn to, life that attracts us. There is life that is revealed to us. There is life that falls at us out of nowhere. There is life that shapes the direction of our life. Some people may call it destiny. I want to call it calling. There is calling from God. That was what happened to Peter. Fishing was important to him but he realized that there was something bigger than fishing. When he caught so many fish with Jesus' help, he saw something else, not fish. He saw something more than fish. He said this. I am a sinful man! (Luke 5:8) It was not a typical response we would expect. The typical response would have been, Wow, Wonderful, Thank you. You made my day. But he said instead, I am a sinful man! Was he reminded of a particular sin that he committed on that day? Or was he sorry for questioning Jesus when he told him to let down his nets into the deep water? Come on Jesus, I am a professional fisherman and I caught nothing all night and are you telling me to put down my nets again? I just washed them. Was he sorry for thinking that? I don't think so. It was not because of a particular sin that he committed. His eyes were open to a much larger world. He saw how small he was. He realized that he was nothing but a dust and yet he mistakenly thought that he knew it all. He recognized his shortcomings. That's why he said, I am a sinful man. Jes

Jonah 2 Background Info on Jonah Jonah = unique book Historical figure named Jonah son of Amittai in 1 Kings. But no historical reference to story. Most successful prophet, but most scholars have thought that Jonah is a metaphorical book. Life in the Boat vs. Life in the Ocean Thoughts from TBS Members: Jinny: was confused at first – thought the prayer related to things that happened while in the fish, but after realized that maybe the prayer related with what he experienced in the ocean. Think this is correct. He’s recounting his experience in the ocean. Rockey: asked if he felt more safe on the boat than in the fish. Daniel: feel like Jonah was more awake now than last week. Last week, Jonah was on the boat. This week, Jonah is recounting his time in the ocean. Compare: Life in the Boat vs. Life in the Ocean. What is the difference? What was Jonah doing in each? What’s the difference in the two scenarios? What about your life: where are you? Boat = running away, sleeping through life Ocean = fully engaged, awake Ocean = chaos, disorder In modern life, we life orderly, controlled lives. We don’t handle disorder well. See a lot of anxiety amidst breakdown of orderly, controlled life. Prefer sleep and running away because we fear the ocean. But the ocean is where everything becomes real – where life becomes real. How do we know whether we’re on the boat or in the ocean? In the Belly of the Fish V.2: Jonah’s cry from deep in the water: was it more than just from being deep in the water? What was this “more”? V.4: during his descent, he thinks about God. What does this say about his faith? When your life is “ebbing away”, what or whom do you think of? What does this reveal to you about your faith? V.8 – What are “vain idols”? What do people forsake? The whole chapter takes place in the belly of the fish. 3 days/3 nights. Jonah was all alone. He had time to think. He had nothing else to do but confront his life. Downward journey of descent. “Cast me into the deep” “Waters closed in over me …” “Weeds wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains.” Jonah is at the very bottom of the ocean. His prayer is recounting what happened. But not just what happened. His prayer was his understanding of what happened. History is not just a recount of what happened. It is an understanding of what happened. An understanding of how events are connected and lead to certain results. We do this in our lives, whether we’re conscious of it or not. Jonah’s prayer reflected his understanding of what happened. DP asked: Did God cast Jonah into the deep? That was his understanding: that God compelled him out of his sleep into the ocean. An interesting thing is that in his descent, he thinks about God (V.4). Not just that but if you look carefully, his despair is not in his actual situation. His despair is in how the situation is driving him away from God’s sight, that he will not be able to see God. Holy temple = where God resides. What does this say about his faith? In his downward spiral, he interpreted it as being driven away from God. At the centre of his understanding was the importance of the presence of God. To be close to God was at his core, so to be driven away was the ultimate despair. God was at the centre of his understanding. His understanding of the past shaped his hope for the future, and that impacted his present. History is not for the sake of the past. How we understand the past affects our view of the future, which affects our view of the present. If God shapes how you understand the past (how God rescued me and was present), then God shapes your hope for the future (God will be with me), and that shapes my present (God is with me). Life in the ocean reveals what our faith truly is. Our prayer is for real faith. Images & Metaphors of the Belly What are some images or metaphors for the belly of the fish? What do those images or metaphors say? Use your imagination. Metaphors are powerful images that convey meaning and help us understand. Concept of Trinity is a metaphor: Father, Son, Spirit metaphor helps us understand God better. In a similar way, come up with some images or metaphors that give us more meaning for Jonahs experiencing in the belly of the fish. 1. Ark – God provided a large fish. Saved him from the dangers of the ocean. Gave him space to think. Psalm 121 God does keep us. But, for many people it stops there. God is merely one who keeps my comfort. God does not merely comfort us. 2. Womb V.6 – “I went down to the land whose bar closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God!” Place of new birth. Thrown into the ocean is chaos and disorder. Our former well-ordered life is thrown in disarray. But God creates something new – we are reborn. This is the central Christian message isn’t it? Death and resurrection. God creates us anew. St. Paul – Behold, I am a new creation. Calling: to become a new person. New heart. New view of the world. New person. 3. Sanctuary He’s

Jonah 1 Our Unique Existence V.1: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah Jonah received a distinct word from God. The Bible doesn't say exactly how this word came to him. Just that it did. Do you hear any such word spoken to you? How do we know when this happens? How can we hear it? How does God speak to us? Today's context is very difficult to hear God's word spoken to us. So many distractions. Don't even have blank moments where we just stare at the ceiling lost in our thoughts, because we're too busy staring at our screens. Just like the theme deep calls to deep – God speaks to us in the recesses of our hearts. But to hear God's voice, we need to listen to the inner voice in our hearts. Jonah was called to go to Nineveh. This was a unique calling just for Jonah. God did not call a whole bunch of people. This was a special calling reserved for Jonah. Each of us have a unique life to live. Just like the DNA of each individual is entirely unique, the pattern and shape of our lives are meant to be unique. Irreplicable. We are not all meant to go to Nineveh. Each of us have our own Nineveh to go to. When we think of calling, often we might think of it in terms of a job or career. But calling in the biblical sense is much more than that. It is about the shape and pattern of our existence. That shape and pattern might affect our jobs, but not necessarily. It is much greater than our job or career. It is the overall direction and shape that our lives take. There is no ready-made template for your life. God has fashioned you uniquely, to live a life that only you can live. But what often happens is that instead of pursuing our unique life, we try to follow a template. We seek to go down paths that have been prescribed for us. Jonah was uniquely called to go to Nineveh. But he chose to flee to Tarshish. Tarshish is a city near Spain. Which is the complete opposite direction of Nineveh. Instead of a life pursuing his unique calling, he chose to run away. More specifically, he chose to run away from the presence of the Lord. (v.3 – twice) It's an interesting way the author explains it. By running away from his unique calling, he is running away from the presence of the Lord. In other words, living the unique life that you are called to live is to live a spiritual life in intimacy with God. When we are running away from our own unique existence, we are running away from God. Are you pursuing your own unique life, one that God has fashioned you for? Or are you running away from your unique existence? Perhaps trying to fit your life into a template that is not uniquely yours? Life of Running Away The life of running away: that is what we see here in Jonah. This can depict our lives too. There may be many reasons why we run away. It will be a good exercise to reflect together why we do that. My sense is that the underlying reason is fear. Fear of insecurity. Fear of loss. Fear of well-being. The specific fears we have are as unique as each person. The way these fears manifest are unique to each person too. Part of living your unique existence is discovering and uncovering these unique fears. What are the fears that lead you to run away? Many people say: Well, I don't know what my unique calling is. That's why I'm not pursuing it. That's the most common sentiment today: I don't know my calling. That makes sense: how many of us actually hear a word from God saying this is what I'm to do, or this is where I'm to go? Not many I would say. But here's the question: is not knowing your calling pushing you even more to live out your unique existence, or is that not knowing an excuse to run away? Jonah went into the hold of the ship and fell asleep. Running away and falling asleep. Are these things two sides of the same coin? When we say we don't know our unique calling, it can be an excuse to fall asleep in life. If we don't know the unique path of our calling, then we should be seeking all the harder. Jesus said: Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. Our modern, technological society says we need to know everything. We have algorithms that predict with great accuracy many things. They know about our tendencies and can predict what we want. We can be deceived into thinking that our spiritual life is like this too. But the true spiritual life is all about not knowing. It is accepting the great mystery and unknown nature of God. It is being humble. It is entering by faith into a trusting relationship with God. While we don't know, we continually ask God to reveal, to make more known just some of the mysteries of God. But instead of asking and searching like how Jesus says, somehow we choose to fall asleep. Are you asleep in life? In what ways are you sleeping through life? Storms …such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. (v.4) A mighty storm came and threatened to break the ship up. In our lives too, we face many storms. That is a fact of life. Stor

Scripture Passage 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Division and Immaturity The Corinthian church was a metropolitan church which consisted of very capable people who had many excellent gifts. Not only were they smart but also they seemed to assume that they were very spiritual. They experienced the wonderful manifestations of the Spirit. But somehow the church had a lot of problems. There were all kinds of moral problems. There were quarrels and fights. The church was divided at least in 4 ways. In his letter to the Corinthians, right after the greeting, the first thing Paul addressed was the problem of division in the church. Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, I belong to Paul', or I belong to Apollos', or I belong to Cephas', or I belong to Christ.' Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13) They had wonderful spiritual experiences and yet they didn't know how to live together in peace and harmony. They were gifted people but they lacked maturity. They were childish. They didn't know how to uplift others and recognize others. They didn't know how to honour each other. They were obsessed with themselves. They were busy boasting about their gifts and they insist on their own ways without listening to each other. Their spirituality was very self-centred and it was toxic. The self-centredness – That is the sign of immaturity. As we reflected last week, they didn't know that the best gift was each other. They didn't yet know how beautiful and precious other people were. That's why they easily criticized each other and put down each other with no hesitation through their words and actions. That's immaturity. It was because they didn't have the love of Jesus Christ in their hearts. They knew Christ and experienced the wonderful power of the Holy Spirit but they didn't have the love of Christ. It is strange but it can happen. I saw a lot of that. That's why St. Paul wrote a whole chapter about love. This chapter is famous. It has been used at the wedding quite a lot. I used it too. But this chapter is not about romantic love between two people. It was written in a totally different context. Paul saw the immaturity in the Corinthian community and it took away peace and harmony in the community. Their spirituality didn't help; it made the problem worse. That's why St. Paul started with this. What's the use of speaking in the tongues? What's the use of having faith that removes mountains? What's the use of sacrificing oneself? If there is no love, it is nothing. If I have no love, I am nobody. The Greatest Illusion My friends, Narcissism is the greatest illusion we human beings have. We are nobody alone. I am who I am because of you. We have not become who we are on our own. There were our parents who gave birth, raised us and helped us when we were helpless. There have been people who have prayed for us, supported us, and taken care of us. Narcissists will not see that. They will not recognize that. They are in their illusion and have become a slave to their self-centredness. That is immaturity. A sign of immaturity is self-centredness. That's why St. Paul talked about being a child, in his teaching about love. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. (1 Corinthians 13:11) I put an end to childish ways, he said. That means he stopped being self-centred. love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5) It's all about how you treat others. It is not about you. Love is being considerate of others. Maturity Through Love Love makes us mature. Until we know love, we are like a child. Our age doesn't make us mature. Love makes us mature. Children don't know what parents are going through. In the same way, self-centred people cannot know what others are going through. When we have love, our eyes will be open. Everything becomes clear. We can see ourselves clearly and we can also see others and their needs, their hurts, and their pain. That's why we can empathize with them. That's what love does. It gives us the ability to be able to feel what others feel and know what others go through. Immature people cannot have this ability. That was what was going on in the Corinthian church. So, St. Paul said, For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12) When lov

Scripture Passage 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Principle of Life We just heard a beautiful principle of life. On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member (1 Corinthians 12:22-24) How nice it will be if our world is like this! There will be no discrimination because of who you are. Every person will be respected and appreciated. You don't need to be somebody special to be honoured. There will be caring, uplifting, forgiving, and understanding. In this principle, I see that all human beings are equally precious in God's eyes. I see that all human beings are respected and protected. That is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of UN. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. We can see this spirit in Paul's thinking. It doesn't matter what you are going through It doesn't matter how you may feel about yourself. Every one of you is so precious in God's eyes. So we should treat each other with respect. That's how we human beings are supposed to live. We should honour each other's dignity. That was what God wanted when he created us. We are supposed to take care of each other. If you have more, you share with those who have less than you. If you have gifts, you use them to help and uplift others. Unique and Connected We talked about unique gifts we received two weeks ago. Each gift is unique and it is beautiful and precious. So each person is unique. We should honour and celebrate each person's uniqueness. We are unique but we also have to remember that we are interconnected. We are not alone. We are not supposed to live in isolation. We are connected. Last Thursday, I visited In Ha and Hank's sister at St. Michael. She was in a palliative care. She looked very peaceful. She knew that she would die soon. She asked Hank to call me. So I visited her. She said she was ready to die. She said she was ready for a long time. I have a lot of memory with the couple. It was hard to see her suffer and die at such a young age. It was hard for me to take it.On the way home, I felt very down. She passed away yesterday morning. Yes, that's who we are. We are unique, but we are also deeply connected. That's what St. Paul said, If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26) This world makes us become cold and indifferent. We are good only to those who matter to us. We honour those who are useful to us. Our relationship has become functional and calculating. We have lost the ability to connect with each other simply as brothers and sisters. We have to understand that without you, I am not complete. I am glad that you are in my life because without you, my life is not complete. The Greatest Gift The greatest gift is not what we have. The greatest gift is not the gift of wisdom, the gift of knowledge, the gift of prophecy, or the gift of tongue. The greatest gift is each other. You are my greatest gift. God gave you to bless me. You are my blessings. That's why St. Paul concluded his teaching about the gifts with this. Last 3 verses of chapter 12. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? BUT – A big BUT. Strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:29-31) Then he talks about love in chapter 13. That is the very famous love chapter. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) The greatest gift is each other. Your family is the greatest gift. Your friends are the greatest gift. Your sisters and brothers in this community are the greatest gift. How hard it is to understand this message. Because in this world, we never experience this. We never think that people around me are the greatest gift. WHEN WE HAVE LOVE IN OUR HEART, WE SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL AND PRECIOUS OTHER PEOPLE ARE. When you have love, people around you become your gifts. All One Body That was what was lacking in the Corinthian community. They had many gifts. All kinds of gifts were there in that community. But they were not mature enough. They were not yet transformed by the love of Jesus Christ. So, their gifts were not used to edify and uplift others. Instead of serv

Scripture Passage Acts 8:14-17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script In Our Lives 2022 did not start off the way we wanted. Back in 2021, we were looking forward to a more normal life. A life where we could do more of what we wanted, with whomever we wanted, where we wanted, when we wanted. Sadly, this has turned out not to be the case yet. The interesting thing is that the circumstances of this new year have been met with shrugs and resignation. The need to switch gears was familiar. It was no longer shocking or traumatic We're not as affected on the outside. But when we peel back the layers, the ongoing nature of this pandemic has taken something from us. We don't feel the acute emotions of these changes like they did at first, but instead, we're starting not to feel much of anything now. Instead of shock and sadness, we feel more numbness. Many people just stare at their screens all day and walk around their house in a daze, mindlessly going through the routines of the day. Somehow, the sense of joy, awe, wonder and excitement of life has been taken away. It will take a long time afterward to process everything, but this is some of what I sense is going on. If anything, the pandemic has shown us how little life is in our control. It has shown us that life can throw anything our way at any time. It'll often lead us to undesirable situations that we cannot escape. We don't want to be in this pandemic, but we cannot avoid or escape it. Our lives are like this too. Each of us face things that make life difficult. There are difficult things we don't want to have, but we cannot simply escape them. The deeper I go into ministry, the more I realize that we all face unique challenges that make life difficult or weigh down on us. We may often ignore it, but it is there. This difficulty is an inescapable part of human life. For me, the important question is how we respond to such difficult and unavoidable situations. Do these difficulties make us shrink? Or are we able to overcome and rise above them? How we respond makes all the difference in the quality of our lives. Over the course of this pandemic, we've seen many people shrink. Shrink their social circles. Shrink from communication with others. Shrink the excitement they feel. Shrink the joy they experience. Shrink the size of their hearts. Shrink in their empathy and understanding. Shrink into their own little world. When difficulties first hit us, we might feel confident to handle it. We feel that we can overcome them with our resilience. positive thinking and can-do attitude. But the longer these difficulties remain, the more they wear down on our souls. And as they wear down on us, they make us shrink. Power to Overcome What we need is the power to overcome and rise above our difficulties. Power to endure. Power to fight against numbness and apathy. Power to feel joy. Power to hope. Power to imagine new things. Power to transcend our difficulties and turn them into something beautiful. We need this kind of power in our lives. Without it, our lives cannot flourish. Without it, we cannot remain whole. Without it, life in this world simply drains away our vitality. We need a power that is greater than what we have. This was the power that Jesus promised to his earliest followers. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) This was the last thing Jesus said to them before he ascended into heaven. This was a promise that Jesus gave. That promise was fulfilled at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came, and filled with power, they began to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. People were drawn by the power of the message. The movement grew and poured out into Jerusalem. They did indeed become witnesses in Judea and Samaria and beyond. But you know the interesting thing? It was not by intentional plan and design. It's not like some mission efforts today, where there is very strategic and intentional planning to evangelize certain places. No, they became witnesses in these far-flung places by being scattered through persecution. Jesus' promise was fulfilled through intense suffering and hardship. In the chapter before today's passage, Stephen was the first Christian martyr, stoned to death. After that event, Saul began going house to house, dragging people off to prison. This dangerous persecution caused followers to scatter. They scattered out into Judea, and then beyond to Samaria. Philip and Samaria Today's passage takes place in Samaria. Philip was one of the scattered Christians who ended up there. He went there not intentionally or by design. He went there because he was fleeing for his life. He was running away from danger and persecution in Jerusalem. But the amazing thing is that he did not shrink in fear. Instead, he began to proclaim the good news there! The people of Samaria experienced healing, miracles and great joy. In

Scripture Passage 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Work of the Spirit After meeting Christ on the road to Damascus, St. Paul realized that he was not alone. He realized that the Spirit was with him. At that time, he knew well about the law but he didn't really know about the Spirit. He was foreign to the world of the Spirit. The whole world of the Spirit opened up for him. It was the Spirit who opened his eyes and when his eyes were open, he was able to see who Jesus really was. That's why he said in his epistle to Corinthians, no one can say Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3) Believing in Jesus Christ, knowing Jesus, and understanding him – they are all the work of the Spirit. On our own, we cannot know Jesus. We cannot know God. Unless God reveals himself to us through the Spirit. In that sense what our brain can do is limited in terms of knowing God. Knowing Jesus is not cerebral activity. Knowing Jesus is not an intellectual process. It is totally a different process. The Spirit is with us. The Spirit is given to us. The Spirit guides us to go beyond our personal limitations. The Spirit gives us more understanding than what we can acquire through our intellectual process. The Spirit opens our eyes so that we can see beyond our mundane daily living. The Spirit gives us deeper understanding of our reality. The Spirit helps us to understand the meaning and purpose of our daily living. With the Spirit, we can see amazing things in life. With the Spirit, life becomes interesting. Never boring and dull. The Spirit empowers us so that we can handle challenges that are beyond our ability. The Spirit gives us hope in hopeless situations. The Spirit gives us new strength when there is no power left in us. With the Spirit, we will soar like an eagle. The Spirit brings miracles and wonders. Life is full of wonders and amazement when the Spirit is with us. The Spirit brings healing in our body, in our mind, and in our soul. When the Spirit is with us, our body finds its restoration and equilibrium. Our body becomes alive. When the Spirit is with us, our mind finds peace and calmness. Our mind finds quiet confidence. When the Spirit is with us, our soul becomes free from bondage. Our soul flies with freedom. That is what the Spirit does. The Gifts of God St. Paul called these things the gifts of God. I think he named it very well. The gifts of God. The Spirit brings God's special gifts to us. These gifts make our life beautiful. There are many different boxes of gifts and one person does not possess them all. The Spirit distributes these different gifts to different people accordingly. But together we have them all. So in the community as a whole, we have all the gifts of the Spirit. When we look at each person, each person is so unique. They all have very unique gifts. We should respect and honour each person's uniqueness. When we start seeing how the gifts of the Spirt work in each person in a unique way, we can respect and honour each person's unique existence. Each gift is beautiful and precious. St. Paul lists some of those gifts. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:8-10) Beautiful gifts! But these are not an exhaustive list of gifts of the Spirit. St. Paul talks about different gifts in other letters. There are many, many different gifts. Gift of empathy, gift of hospitality, gift of generosity, gift of leadership, gift of organization, gift of sharp insights, gift of encouragement, gift of sharing the good news, gift of prayer, gift of music and praise, gift of giving inspiration. I am saying all these different gifts because I see them in all of you. These are the gifts I see in my own congregation. Individually I do not have them all. But together as a community, we have them all. The key is we have to use these gifts for each other. That's why St. Paul said, To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:7) Each gift is given for the common good. We cannot be selfish about our gifts. We have to share our gifts for each other. Then we can benefit each other. We can edify each other through our gifts. But in return, we become edified through their gifts. You may not have a gift of healing but others who have the gift of healing can bring healing to you. You may not have a gift of encouragement but others who have the gift of encouragement can comfort you and give encouragement. You may not have a gift of knowledge but others who have a gift of knowledge and insight can open your eyes. So when we start sharing our gifts willingly for the comm

Scripture Passage Philippians 3:12-14 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Getting lost I believe that life should move forward. Our life should not be just circling around, going nowhere. Once I got lost in the woods. For an hour, I walked and walked, thinking I was going somewhere. But I realized that I was circling around. I came back to the same place over and over again. That was scary. Sometimes we feel that our life is circling around, going nowhere. I am sure that was what the Israelites felt when they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Feeling stuck, feeling that your life is circling around – that is a sense of helplessness and many people live with this sense of helplessness. They feel powerless to change anything. Everything seems to be already determined for them and there is nothing they can do to change anything. Helplessness and powerlessness. It is one of the most common symptoms of modern life. No sense of direction, no sense of purpose, no sense of fulfillment. Like the myth of Sisyphus, you push a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. Life of meaningless repetition with no change. Some people say that it is a fact of life. They say that we cannot do anything about it. That's what life is. They give up expecting any changes. To me, that is a very unchristian and unspiritual attitude. Jesus clearly said our life can change. He compared our life with the kingdom of God that changes. Change is Possible The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. (Matthew 13:31, 32) Change is possible even if we have faith the size of a mustard seed. He said to them, Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there , and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.' (Matthew 17:20) The problem is not in the fact that there can be no change in life but that we don't have faith even the size of a mustard seed. Yes, I agree that sometimes we have to accept our situations. We can't just complain about our situations and live constantly in dissatisfaction and anger. But accepting our situation does not mean just sitting around, doing nothing. We can always change. We can always become better. We can always move forward. Yes, change is hard. Real change is rare. We see a lot of pseudo changes. We don't see real changes around us. So I understand that people are skeptical about change. But my friend, God is with us. With God, change is possible. God is the agent of change. God always creates. God always renews. God always restores. In other words, God always changes. Changes us, changes our life, changes the world. That's how God wants us to live, making changes. God wants us to go beyond where we are. The Heavenly Call We heard St. Paul's beautiful words about change today. I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) His life was not just sitting where he was. He was pressing on. Korean translation is interesting – . Running towards the goal. He didn't stay where he was. He pursued towards the goal. Nobody forced him to do so. He found his self-worth. He realized that he was worth so much more than he could just settle for. That's why he pursued to become better. His life was too precious to just waste it away. You have to remember that he didn't write Philippians when his life was going well. You know, when things are going well, it is easy to be positive. We feel like we can do anything. We can have a very positive attitude about making changes. We feel empowered. But when things are not going very well, it is hard to push ourselves. We just want to dig a hole and hide. Never come out of the hole. Paul's situation was not that great. When he wrote these words in Philippians, he was in prison. Not only was he in prison, his fellow believers attacked him and spread false rumours about Paul. But Paul did not dig a hole and hide. He pressed on. He didn't focus on his gloomy reality and sat there in self-pity. He pressed on towards the goal. How could he do that? What was pulling his life? What enabled him to press on? He had a strong sense of calling about his life. He saw his life as calling. I press on towards the goal for the prize of THE HEAVENLY CALL of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) It's like his sense of purpose and meaning. That kept him going. To him, calling was his purpose of existence. That was what Nietzsche said: He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. (Nietzsche) A why to live for is calling. When you have a strong sense of calling, you will not easily give up. You will pursue. Because the moment you stop pursuing, you stop living. The moment you give up trying to bec

Scripture Passage Colossians 3:12-17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Last Sunday Today is the last Sunday of 2021. In a few days, we will enter into 2022. It was another year that wasn't easy. We expected that the crisis of Corona Virus would be over this year and go back to normal life. But the virus will not go away easily. We got the highest number of Covid infection since the beginning of this pandemic on Christmas Eve. Yesterday, it went over 10,000. I feel like this crisis is just beginning again. Also as a pastor, it wasn't an easy year. Because of the decision of the Presbyterian Church in Canada regarding the homosexual marriage and ordination, I saw many people struggling with the decision, especially the KSM congregation. Some people left the church. Even though they are here, they are not like before. They seem distant from the church. As a pastor, I know that this is an important issue but I don't believe that it is an issue that should divide the church and people's relationships. I don't think it has decisive effect on our spiritual growth and spiritual life. There may be people who have different opinions on this matter. But I don't believe that whatever we think should be a reason for us not to be able to coexist. We can respect each other's opinions and live in harmony. That was the spirit of the General Assembly's decision. I may have more open attitude towards this issue than some of you, but that does not mean that my preaching and teaching have been away from the Scripture. I have tried to be faithful to the teachings of the Scripture and will continue to do that. Personally, I read many books and encounter many opinions on various issues, but I don't teach and preach anything without carefully examining it. I select what to teach carefully so that it is beneficial for all of you and it is Scripturally sound. I believe that is my responsibility and my calling. I have preached and taught for last 30 years at this church but I can confidently say that I gave my whole heart to study the Scripture, understand it and teach what is the best for you. I hope that our hearts may not be divided because of this issue. I hope that we can all work together, respecting each other. Peace of Christ St. Paul said today. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:15) St. Paul said we are all called in the one body. I pray that the peace of Christ may rule in our heart. It shouldn't be anger or hatred that rule in our heart. It has to be the peace of Christ. And it is the peace of Christ that unites us. God clothed us with holy characters. As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. (Colossians 3:12) Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience – that is what God clothed us with. We should not take off these clothes. When we take off these clothes, anger, hatred, and darkness will flood in and fill our heart with negative emotions. God clothed us with these good qualities so that he may protect us from evil desires. Even when times are difficult, we should be kind and gentle. We should be always humble. And we should practice our patience. This is what believers do. Of course, we all fail once in a while. We make mistakes. We sometimes take off clothes God clothed us with. But we should clothe ourselves back again with God's good characters. Forgive One Another St. Paul said again. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:13, 14) He said, forgive each other. When you forgive each other, then reconciliation is possible. If we have the attitude of self-righteousness, reconciliation is not possible. Behind every broken relationship, there is hurt, pain, disappointment, and misunderstanding. We do that to each other many times without really knowing what we are doing. It's not because we want to hurt others intentionally. Sometimes we just do and we don't know that we do. We all need to forgive each other and experience the joy of forgiveness. I see a lot of broken relationships around me. During this Covid time, I have counselled more people than before. It saddens me. How much they must have gone through during that process. When we are willing to forgive each other, I believe that our relationships will get better. Forgiveness is something weak people cannot do. Only strong people can forgive. But that doesn't mean that forgiveness comes from a sense of superiority. The strength that I am talking about is the strength that comes from humility. It is the confidence that comes from the experience of being forgiven yourself. When we experience that forgiveness ourselves, we can forgive others. That is the kind of f

Scripture Passage Luke 1:46-55 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Who was Mary? During this Advent season, I did Advent series on Luke's understanding of Jesus' birth. To Luke, Mary was the central figure in the story of Jesus' birth. Mary was a very interesting person. She was born and grew up in a small town, called Nazareth. Nazareth was so small that it was not even mentioned in the Old Testament. Maybe a few hundred people at most. She was a peasant, poor and very low in her social status. One day, she had this divine moment. An angel came to her. The Angel's name was Gabriel. The meaning of angel is messenger. The angel gave her the message of God and the message was that she would give birth to a son. Mary was only a teenager. We have HiC with us today. Can you imagine that you would receive this kind of message? How would you feel? Scared. Won't you be? Of course you would be scared. It is a good news to all of us. We sing, Joy to the world . But not to Mary. It wasn't a simple good news to her. It was a devastating news. The implication was too horrible to even think about it. If the angel told her that you would have a new land or a new house, then it is obviously a good news. But to a teenage girl, you say you will be pregnant! How can it be a good news? In what way? She resisted too. I don't know a man. How can I be pregnant? But in the end, after hearing everything the angel said, what Mary said was totally shocking. Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:38) How could a young girl respond like that? Even Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, could not do that. He was not only an adult but also a priest. He had a wife, Elizabeth, even though they were both old. When the angel told him that his wife would have a baby, he couldn't believe. He had nothing to lose when Mary had everything to lose. There was no devastating consequence for Zechariah and Elizabeth. And they knew very well that their ancestors Abraham and Sarah were in the same situation as they were and they had a baby. But there was no incident of a virgin having a baby. Zechariah would not have been in scandal even if they had a baby. But still he could not accept the message of the same angel. Yes, Mary was a young peasant girl, but she was not just a young girl. She was a poet. She was a theologian. She was a prophet. And she was a revolutionary. Magnificat Today's reading is called Magnificat, Mary's song. She prophesied what the child in her womb would do. She knew exactly what Jesus was about to do. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:51-53) That was very similar to what Jesus said before he started his ministry. Jesus quoted what Isaiah said in his prophecy. What Jesus said was all in Mary's song. This was what Jesus quoted. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. (Luke 4:18, 19) Mary knew this. Her song was filled with quotations from the Old Testament. Psalms 22, 44, 103 and many others. There is an allusion to Samuel's mother, Hannah's song. In other words, Mary knew the Scripture inside out. She was not just an ordinary farm girl. Her thinking was revolutionary. All the Israelites were under the oppression of the powerful people, like Roman emperor and Herod the king. They experienced the abuse daily from the powerful people, from the rich people, especially as a poor peasant. She dreamed that someday, God will lift up people like her. She gave this dream speech in her song. God will scatter the proud. God will bring down the powerful. God will send the rich away empty. It was a revolutionary thinking. No wonder her song was banned being sung or read in India under British rule. Also, in the 1980's, it was banned in Guatemala when the military took over the government and illegally arrested the farmers, tortured them, raped them, and killed them. She was not just an ordinary peasant girl. She was very devoted and her consciousness was fully awakened. For Good Reason God did not randomly choose anybody. God chose a very specific person for Jesus' birth. It was not just physical birth that was important. The whole process of accepting the message of God, giving birth, and raising Jesus – The whole process was very spiritual and very difficult. You know what Jesus' birth brought turmoil in the world. You know how the Son of God would suffer and die. Mary saw all that. Mary was at the cross, seeing her son dying like that. Luke records that Mary was there when the early Christians gathered together and prayed after Jesus ascended into heaven. W

Scripture Passage Zephanaiah 3:14-20 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Joy Joy is one of the most important qualities that make our life meaningful and worth living. Life is to be enjoyed. How else do you live your life? If there is no joy in life, why do we live? You don't want to just sustain your life, you want to live fully tasting and enjoy the treasure of your life. We may not be able to extend our life span too much. I know, living a healthy life is important. But we won't be able to extend our life span too much. What is important is living our every moment to the fullest with a sense of joy and happiness. How well you live is more important than how long you live. The quality of life is not just about what you do or what you have. It is about who you are and how you feel about yourself and your life. Are you comfortable with yourself? Do you feel good about your life? What you feel in every moment of your life, that matters. The Joy of Jesus Jesus saw people in his time and he was very sad because they weren't very happy. This was what Jesus said. But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon ; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners! (Matthew 11:16-19) They couldn't feel anything about their life. They could not dance with those who were happy. They could not weep with those who were sad. Their emotions dried up. They felt numb. They were just filled with a lot of negative emotions. They saw John who neither eat nor drank and they said, He has a demon. They saw Jesus who enjoyed his life eating and drinking and they said that he was a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners. They weren't very happy. That's not how God wants us to live. God wants us to enjoy our life. Rejoice or Joy is the word you see everywhere in the Bible. Both in the New Testament and the Old Testament. Joy is also very much a Christmas theme. When the angel announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, he said, Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. (Luke 2:10) Even unborn John the Baptist leaped with joy in his mother's womb. This was what Elizabeth, John's mother, said. For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. (Luke 1:44) When three wise men saw the star, they rejoiced. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. (Matthew 2:10) And of course, you all know the famous phrase from St. Paul. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4) Living With Joy Living with joy is God's desire for all of us. God designed us to live with joy. That's what life is. LIVING WITH JOY. The reason we cannot do it is because we are somehow damaged. Our spirit is damaged. That's why God sent us Jesus Christ. Jesus came to repair us who live with the damaged self and restore our joy. Jesus himself really enjoyed his life. Jesus came to deliver us from things that take away joy from us. Sin, hatred, fights, and wars – They are all around us. Fear, worries, doubts, disappointment – That's what we experience every day. All these things take away joy from us. Zephaniah spoke to Israelites. Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! (Zephaniah 3:14) The Israelites brought darkness upon them because of their corruption. They followed their own idols, their own desire. They followed their own greed. They didn't pay attention to what God desired, which was justice and love for the weak and the vulnerable. They ignored God's desire. In the end, all they experienced was unhappiness, fear, and disaster. They felt helpless. They wanted to feel the joy but they didn't know how. It came to a point where they felt condemned. To these people, Zephaniah proclaimed. The Lord has taken away the judgements against you, (Zephaniah 3:15) He also said, The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. (Zephaniah 3:15) Yes, we have made many mistakes. We ourselves have brought disaster to our lives. In the process, we have lost the joy of life. We have become filled with guilt, worries, and fear. Even if we want, we cannot go back and fix our life. That's not how life works. We cannot simply undo what has been already done. That's why so many people live with regrets, guilt, and helplessness. I wish that our life so far was a test run and we can now live a real life. But we can't. But you know what. What we cannot do, God did for us. Zephaniah said that God took away the judgements against us. God gave us a new life, a new chance to start again. A clean slate. We don't need to live with

Scripture Passage Malachi 3:1-4 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Faithfulness Today I would like to reflect on faithfulness. Faithfulness is a way of life, and it is the best way to live. There is something wonderful about faithfulness, that makes life more beautiful. A faithful person is loyal, committed and unwavering, even and especially when things get very difficult. Faithfulness brings about deep relationships and community. Faithfulness is enduring. Faithfulness is the word used very often to describe God throughout the Bible. God is faithful to his people, even when they have turned against God and done wrong. God continually forgives, takes care of, comforts, and pursues his people. God is faithful. Faithfulness grows out of love. Faithfulness is the steadfast living out of love through any circumstance. That is how people experienced God throughout the Bible. This is how we experience God too, when we look back on our lives with faith. Because of God's steadfast love and faithfulness, we experience salvation. Jesus was the ultimate example of faithfulness. Jesus was faithful to God and to loving others. When he got persecuted, rejected and abandoned; even when he was crucified, Jesus was faithful. Because of Jesus' faithfulness, we are saved. When we are surrounded by faithful people, we find comfort in it. We feel comfortable, assured and solid. Faithful people bring about trust. Faithful people bless those around them. Faithful living is how we should live life. It's the most beautiful way to live life. In This World But we know that life in this world often lacks this kind of faithfulness. Our own lives lack it. We live in a world driven not by faithfulness, but by seeking the greatest advantage in each situation. We are not constant in our commitment, but shift according to the circumstance. We often believe that those who get ahead in life are those who take advantage of each situation and take care of themselves first. Being faithful seems futile or naive. Living in a faithless world affects us. It makes us more cynical. More jaded. When we see others looking only after their own interests, we too start thinking we should just take care of ourselves first. Living in such a world affects our faith. God doesn't seem present in this kind of world. Faith seems kind of naive and doesn't make sense. We can't see how God is faithful, when everyone else is unfaithful. When faithfulness is not present, there is cynicism and cold-heartedness. Malachi’s Story This was the situation that Malachi was addressing. The fathers and grandfathers of his audience were those who had come back to Jerusalem and Judah to rebuild the Temple after living in exile in Babylon for 75 years. They came back with great hope and expectation of restoring the Temple and the former glory of Israel. But more than a generation had passed since that hopeful return, and the Temple wasn't rebuilt. It still lay in shabby ruins. Not only that, Jerusalem and the land surrounding it remained but a small province of the mighty Persian empire. They didn't have their own independence or autonomy, let alone any of their former glory. The generation that Malachi spoke to lived in a world in which they were small and insignificant. They were surrounded by a much larger world driven by power. They saw those with power using it for their own advantage. They lived in a world not of faithfulness, but one where everyone looked out after their own interests. They knew about the God of their ancestors, but that God seemed distant and irrelevant to them. Malachi begins with God's declaration of love, but they question it. I have loved you, says the Lord. But you say, How have you loved us? (Malachi 1:2) They were cynical when it came to God. This is what they said: It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping his command or by going about as mourners before the Lord of hosts? Now we count the arrogant happy; evildoers not only prosper, but when they put God to the test they escape. (Malachi 3:14-15) In their jadedness, they had no passion for life, and they saw no point in things. When it came to worshipping God, they were half-hearted and faithless. What a weariness this is, you say, and sniff at me, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. (Malachi 1:13) Not only with God, but with other people too, they were faithless. Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? (Malachi 2:10-11) They had become a faithless generation. This faithlessness affected their life together. It broke down their sense of community. It eroded warmth and goodwill for one another. It took away joy and passion for life. The psalmist describes two kinds of life: one that is faithful, and one that is not. He describes the faithful life

Scripture Passage 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Early Christians I am very curious about what the early Christians were like. What did they feel? What really opened their eyes to see their life in a radically new way? What did they discover that they didn't know before? What gave them the strength to go on in spite of all those persecutions? For example, what changed St. Paul and gave him this conviction? He was fine as he was as a faithful Jew. He had all the privileges he could enjoy in his life. He had enough money. He had enough clout. He was well accepted and respected. He was a good man, as good as any human beings could be before God. He even boldly said that he was blameless as to goodness under the law. What changed him? What made him so excited about his new life and Jesus that he would give his life for? I was thinking about it. I think it is LOVE. He discovered love. God he knew, before Jesus Christ, was God of law. He knew God who gave commandments. But Jesus taught him that the greatest commandment of all was love. He knew God of fear. But through Jesus Christ, he discovered the God of love. St Paul What we read today is Paul's concluding prayer for the church in Thessalonica. The first Thessalonians is the earliest letter of St. Paul and it is the earliest document of all New Testament books. So if you order the New Testament by the order of what was written first, it would have been before Matthew. So, we can read Paul's earliest thought. There he said this. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. (1 Thessalonians 3:12) Love was what St. Paul found and everything else became secondary. He heard Jesus' message correctly. Because Jesus said loving God and loving your neighbour is the greatest commandment. That was exactly what he said. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) He said all these important things like understanding of all mysteries and all knowledge, prophetic powers, even faith that removes mountains, the sacrifice of all your possessions, even of your life, they are nothing if there is no love. He said love is the greatest thing. That was what he discovered. Love made all the difference for Paul. God's love was what made salvation possible. God's love defeated the power of darkness and the power of death. God's love was what made everything alive and connected us to God in inseparable unity. He said, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39) He said, I am convinced It came to him as conviction. It was what he discovered. This discovery came to him so powerfully that it became the core of what he believed. God's love made us inseparable from God. Discovery of God's love is the greatest discovery. It is hard to see love because we experience so many things that are not love. They blind our eyes from seeing love. Rejection, alienation, hatred, failures, self-condemnation, judgement, and abuses. These things blind our eyes and so we cannot see love. We live in darkness. We live condemned. We live in loneliness. Love in its Purest form We need to DISCOVER LOVE. When we discover love in its purest form, that is God. That's why John said, Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, FOR GOD IS LOVE. (1 John 4:7, 8) Jesus' death on the cross describes the unfathomable love of God for us. There is no greater love than that, Jesus said. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. (John 15:12, 13) Once we discover this love, we get enormous energy and strength. It is the strength that overcomes our fear. That was what propelled the early Christians. That was what propelled St. Paul. Why do we live powerlessly? Why do we have no passion and no energy? Because we live in fear. We don't live in love but in fear. The word that is opposite of love is not hatred. It is fear. That's why John said, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. (1 John 4:18) Advent Today is the first Sunday of Adve

Scripture Passage 2 Samuel 23:1-7 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Leadership Leadership is very important in our lives. It doesn't matter what we do, we are all leaders. Leadership is not limited to certain people who have important positions. Leadership is needed for everyone. If you are a parent, you need leadership over your children. At work, you need leadership. We also need leadership over our life. We cannot let our life be influenced helplessly by our external circumstances. To live a good life, we need to have good leadership over our life. You don't need to be perfect to be a good leader. Leaders have shortcomings too. No one is perfect and flawless. Trying to be perfect may be even hindrance to good leadership. You can be easily discouraged. Or you may try to become somebody you are not. Trying to emulate a certain leader will not make you a good leader. Everyone is unique and therefore every leadership is unique. Leaders don't have to be always at the forefront and take control. Leaders don't have to be always assertive and demanding. Leaders don't need to have a domineering, take-charge charismatic personality. Each person's unique individuality will shape that person's unique leadership. Leadership is about who you are. You don't have to be somebody you are not to be a good leader. We need to be faithful to who we are to be a good leader. But that does not mean that we get stuck in being who we are. God accepts us as we are but God does not leave us there. God always challenges us, changes us, and transforms us. So, being a good leader is not just being who we are. It starts from there but it does not end there. Acceptance Accepting who I am means to have courage to become who I can be. Accepting who I am means to go beyond our weaknesses and shortcomings. Accepting who I am means I am ready to deal with my own weaknesses and shortcomings. Accepting who I am means to have CONFIDENCE in who I am in spite of my weaknesses. This confidence is a very important quality in leadership. And this confidence does not come from us but it comes from God. King David had this confidence. That was David's characteristic. He had confidence in himself not because he trusted his own abilities but he trusted God. He was by no means perfect and yet his imperfection did not let him down because he knew that God was with him. He wanted to build a temple for God but God did not let him build a temple for God. And David knew why. This was what he said. David said to Solomon, My son, I had planned to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood in my sight on the earth. (1 Chronicles 22:7, 8) Was David angry because of that? Was David discouraged? Did he doubt about himself? No. He knew his own weaknesses and shortcomings. But he never doubted God's love for him. He knew why God did not want him to build the temple for him. But he didn't stop there. He prepared everything so that his son, Solomon could build the temple for God. Solomon's temple was beautiful. Historically in Israel, there were three temples and Solomon's temple was the most beautiful one. David knew his own weaknesses and shortcomings but they did not let him down. He was not stuck in his weaknesses. He didn't doubt about himself. He believed in God. He believed in God who accepted him with all his weaknesses. He believed in God who loved him unconditionally. That's why he didn't shrink in spite of his shortcomings. What we read today is David's last words. After many experiences of his life, this was what he said as a conclusion of his life. We all need to have our last words. What will be your last words that summarize your life? David said, For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. Will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire? (2 Samuel 23:5) David trusted in God and his promise. That was how he overcame his weaknesses. His weaknesses could not paralyze him anymore. He was confident in spite of his weaknesses. Being Comfortable In leadership, having confidence is crucial. Once we lose confidence, we lose everything. David was so confident that he didn't need people's approval. His family had prejudice against him. When Samuel came to the house of David, he was looking for a candidate for a king. Jesse didn't even show David to Samuel. He told him to go and take care of the sheep while he and his sons were doing an important business with Samuel. That didn't bother David. He had the inner confidence. Even when he encountered Goliath, a much more powerful man than himself, he wasn't scared. He had confidence. This was what he said. But David said to the Philistine, You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. (

Scripture Passage Hebrews 10:19-25 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Worship I want to talk about worship today. Worship is the most important thing for Christians. Since it is important, we do it every week. Many of you are very faithful to attending the worship service every week because it is very important to you. I believe that making worship as the priority of your life is the wisdom. When we make the worship at the centre of our lives, everything else will fall into its place. We will find a balance in life. We will find order in life. We are creatures we confess. We did not create ourselves. God created us. Then it is a right thing to do for creatures to worship the creator. That is the natural order. So, making worship at the centre of our lives is to find the order in our lives. When your life is chaotic, when you are not sure where your life is going, don't panic. Come back to the heart of worship and make worship as priority of your life again. You will find the order in your life. Worship is not what you do only on Sunday at the church. Worship is not about what you do. Worship is the mode of our existence. Worship is our life. What does it mean to have religion? It means you give your whole life. That is what religion is. When people say, Oh I do that religiously what does this mean? It means you give your whole thing. That's what religion is. Worship is not limited by time and space. That was what Jesus taught the Samaritan woman. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4: 23, 24) God is spirit and the spirit is not limited by space and time. True worship is not about WHERE AND WHEN you worship. True worship starts from here, the heart. The worship begins not at 12; it begins when your heart is ready. The Right Heart That does not mean what we do on Sunday is not important. It is important but behind what we do, there has to be a right heart. What is the right heart, I was thinking. It is a heart of HUMBLE GRATITUDE. That is the heart of worship. We are all sinners and we are not even worthy to call God's name and worship him. And yet Jesus cleansed our sins and purified us. That's why we can enter the sanctuary with confidence. That was what the Hebrew writer said in today's passage. since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19, 22) We have evil thoughts and selfish desire. But God purified us by forgiving us. That is why we have humble gratitude, and with the humble gratitude, we worship God. That is what true worship is. God does not accept what we do for him. God accepts our brokenness. That's what God sees. Proskuneo In Greek, the word worship is proskuneo. Pros = Towards Kuneo = Kiss You can see an image of a person approaching Jesus, kneeling down and kissing his feet. This was exactly the image of a woman in Luke. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. (Luke 7:38) That is the image of worship. We see an attitude of humble gratitude. We see her brokenness. In worship there has to be an ABUNDANT SENSE OF GRATITUDE for God's overflowing grace. When we look at our lives, we can only confess, O Lord, it is your grace and nothing else. I am who I am by your grace. My life that I enjoy now is because of your grace. When we see the grace of God working in our lives, our heart is then ready to worship God. Then everything that we do becomes worshipful. Our praise, our prayers, receiving God's words, our offering we do all these things in a worshipful manner. When we see the fullness of the grace of God working in our lives, our worship will not be limited on Sunday at this place. Wherever we are, that place and time will become a place and a time for worship. How much more meaningful your worship will be when you get together with sisters and brothers at the same time and the same place and worship God. It is good to worship God alone. But when we do it together, it is much more powerful. Seeking God Worship is not a spiritual entertainment where you just feel good. Worship is not just to observe. It is seeking God. When you seek God with humble gratitude, you will find God because God will reveal himself to those who seek. That was what the prophet Jeremiah said. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord (Jeremiah 29:12-14) So seeking is important. Seeking with humble gratitude. Worship is not observin

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Scripture Passage 1 Kings 17:8-16 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Helping Others I believe that people want to help others. It's how we're wired. Helping others connects us with others, gives us purpose, meaning and joy. Helping others is a beautiful part of being human. We see this in children. Children are very eager to help out. My son was telling me this week how he and a few other students volunteered to skip recess to help out their teacher set up the classroom. We were very proud of him. When crisis hits, our instincts are to come together to help one another. Our desire to help others is a big part of who we are. But somehow, on a day to day basis, that desire to help others gets dulled or snuffed out. It's not that we don't want to help, but we feel like we don't have anything to give. We don't have time. We don't have the energy. We don't have the resources. The demands on our time, energy and resources leave us numb and exhausted. We are tapped out. The Widow This was the case of the widow in today's story. Widows were extremely vulnerable in a male-dominated world. Not only that, she had a son to take care of. And to make matters even worse, they were in the middle of a great drought. I see in this story a widow who has been scratching and clawing to survive and provide for her son. I see a tenacious mother, doing anything she can to keep her and her son alive. She reminds me of many of our immigrant mothers, who work day and night, scratching out a living to support their children. They give everything they have for the sake of their children. The drought was devastating, and the widow was at the end of the rope, with almost nothing left. But in this dire situation, God had his own plan. This is what God says to Elijah: Go now to Zaraphath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you. (1 Kings 17:8-16) Elijah the Prophet Elijah would become the greatest prophet that Israel ever had. But in today's passage, he is at the very beginning of his prophetic career. He is unknown. He is on the run from the King of Israel. He has no allies and is extremely vulnerable. He is so desperate, that the only one who can keep him alive is a vulnerable widow who herself has nothing to give. When Elijah asks her for a morsel of bread, she talks about her plight: As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die. (1 Kings 17:12) Isn't it amazing that in Elijah's desperate, vulnerable situation, God calls another very vulnerable, desperate person to help him? The fate of Elijah and his future ministry depend on this vulnerable woman responding to his need. The widow probably had no idea about who Elijah was or what he was going to do in the future. It shows us that we don't know God's plans when we are called to help. That's not for us to know. The question is whether we respond to the need in front of us. I think the widow wanted to help Elijah, but what she had was so scarce, so little, so small. It was not even enough for herself and her son. She had nothing to give. In this situation, what Elijah said seems kind of crazy: Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. (1 Kings 17:8-16) Who among us would do this? But here, while we and the widow see scarcity, God sees abundance. This is what God said through Elijah: For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth. (1 Kings 17:8-16) That is what God says. But for us, our jar of meal and jug of oil seem to always be on the verge of running empty. We feel inadequate, incapable, depleted, and not having enough to make a difference to others. We're always saying that once I have enough, THEN I'll give. What do we Have to Give? Our circumstances and our fear tell us that we have nothing really to give. But is this really the case? If you take the time to look more closely, you'll see that this is not the case. There is actually much more in us than we realize. While I was Hi-C pastor, one message I said continually was that each of us have something unique to offer to the world that only you have. It might seem small, it might seem insignificant, but to God it is precious. Inside each of us is a source of deep richness, beauty and abundance. Our sin is that we have allowed ourselves to diminish it, be blind to it. The widow believed what God said. She responded with faith. Her jar of meal and jug of oil became a lifeline for Elijah. She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the

Scripture Passage Isaiah 43:16-21 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Anniversary! Today is the 25th Anniversary of this church. God has been good as I look back. We didn't even have the church building when we started. But God has given this beautiful building. We were renting Victoria Royce church at Annete and Keele and we used to come to West Deane Park and had a picnic after the service. I could see this church on the hill from the park and it was so beautiful. I just thought to myself, how nice it would be if that were our church. Who would have expected that we are worshipping right here? God has been good. You all worked so hard to build this community. I remember all those who did so much for the church. Together we have built a beautiful history. As we look back our own personal lives, God has been so good. There were times when we didn't know what to do. There were times when our future was so uncertain. There were times when we felt lost. God didn't give up on us. God never abandoned us. God never left us orphaned. God did not leave us alone. As the gospel song goes, even when I don't see it you're working, even when I don't feel it you're working, God never stopped working. God showed us the way. God made a way for us. That was what Isaiah confessed in today's passage. Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick. (Isaiah 43:16, 17) This reminds us of Exodus. He reminded the Israelites how God had brought them out of Egypt. He parted the sea and brought the Israelites out of the life of slavery. We should never forget what God has done for us. If you write a journal, once in a while, go back to what you have written. You will see the trace of God right there. The Israelite prophets always reminded the people of the Exodus. The people remembered the Exodus event by making festivals and celebrating them like Passover. As We Look Back Our present does not exist in isolation. Our past, our present, and our future are all connected. God who was with us, is with us and will be with us. So, remembering our past is very important. As we look back, we can learn a lot, both from positive experiences and negative experiences. Somebody said, people who don't know the history are damned to repeat it. That's why Isaiah said in chapter 46, Remember this and consider, remember the former things of old (Isaiah 46:8, 9) But in today's passage, Isaiah said something totally opposite. He said, Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. (Isaiah 43:18) Why did he say that? He explains in the next verse. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19) Our past is good to remember and be thankful and learn from it. But we cannot dwell on our past. When we dwell on our past, it will become a dead weight. It will shackle our minds and prohibits us from going further. God wants us to go further. God doesn't want us to stay where we are. We cannot live exactly in the same way as we have lived before and expect a change. Wasn't that what Einstein said about insanity? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. God will not repeat the same thing over again. God is the Creator. God is creative. God is innovative. God always creates new things. Be thankful for what God has done, is a beautiful thing to do. But don't let that be an excuse to stay where we are because we are scared of facing our future. God who has been good to us, will be good to us in the future too. There is nothing for us to be afraid of. There will no challenge that is too big for us to overcome. Greater things are awaiting for us. Be Open to The Future The Israelites were taken as captives and lived as captives in Babylon. While they were there, Babylon was destroyed by Persia. And the king of Persia, Cyrus had a new policy. He told the Israelites to go back to their home. But by then life in Persia was so comfortable. They didn't want to go back. They didn't want to face the uncertainty of their destroyed homeland. They were scared of facing new future. Cyrus even offered to give them money but they were scared of returning to their home country. Isaiah said God would make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. God was about to do greater things. New things that God would do are so wondrous that you will not even remember your former things. That is who our God is. God wants to do greater things through you. But you need to be ready. You need to have faith in God. What God will do in our lives is far beyond our imagination. What God will do through this church is far beyond our imagination. What we need is faith. Be open to the possibility. Be open to the future. Have courage to face your futur

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Scripture Passage Mark 10:46-52 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script A Doorway to Faith Desperation! That is a doorway to faith. No one can come to faith through intellectual reasoning. Faith is not something you choose or conclude as a result of your intellectual exploration. Unless we have a desperate need, faith is hard to come by. So, when everything is going all right, faith is pretty hard to get. Even if we have faith, it is a kind of faith that remains on the surface level. It is something that you merely choose to believe. This blind beggar, Bartimaeus was desperate. As soon as he heard the name, Jesus, he began to cry out. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' (Mark 10:47) No one could stop him. People tried to stop him because he was so loud and it was unpleasant to hear him. The outcry from desperation is not pleasant to hear. It is raw. Not only is it loud, but it is also mixed with a lot of raw emotions. So, it can be unpleasant. So, people around the beggar didn't want to hear it. They tried to stop him also because they thought he was not worthy enough to get Jesus' attention like that. By then Jesus was already a celebrity. People thought that he had no time to waste to pay attention to people like Bartimaeus, a beggar. He was going into Jerusalem to do something greater than hearing this obnoxious outcry of a poor blind beggar. But no one can stop the outcry that comes from one's desperation. Bartimaeus shouted louder. Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, Son of David, have mercy on me!' (Mark 10: 48) The Scripture says that Jesus stood still. Stood still! It gives me an image of Jesus standing there and observing all that was going on. I can also see Jesus' compassion. Jesus stood still and said, Call him here.' (Mark 10:49) Jesus saw this man not just as another poor person in the crowd. He saw that there was something special about this man. To him, Jesus was the only hope. I don't think he was a born blind because he said this. My teacher, let me see again.' (Mark 10:51) There was a time he was able to see. But we don't know how he became blind. But his life was miserable right now. He had no choice but to live as a beggar. He didn't want to live as a beggar. No Option Sometimes life does not give us any option to choose. We just have to accept it and live through it. That's hard. There are people who are struggling with their poor health condition. They just have to live through it. At the last session meeting, we talked about how young people have lost the appetite of life. They lost the zeal and passion, even the purpose of living. They have everything and yet they don't know why they feel that way. Do you think they want to do that? I don't think so. They feel helpless. But it's not just young people but many people feel that they are stuck and life gives them no option to choose. That was what Bartimaeus felt at that time. It wasn't that he enjoyed begging. As a blind man during that time, he had no choice but to beg to survive. To him, the only hope was Jesus, the Son of David. Out of desperation comes hope and our hope turns into faith. My friends, when you feel desperate, don't give up. When you give up, the only thing that is left is helplessness. Helplessness doesn't do anything. It destroys your desire to want something better in life. It kills your spirit. That is when you lose life. Hope We need Bartimaeus' outcry. Bartimaeus' outcry meant he did something about his life. He didn't just sit there helplessly. He shouted out. He refused to just sit there and take his life situation. He shouted out. That was all he could do. He heard about this Jesus before. He heard the rumour that Jesus cured the sick, chased out the demons, and even healed the blind. As a Jewish man, he also had this hope for the Messiah. This was Messianic hope Jewish people had. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert (Isaiah 35:5, 6) He knew about Isaiah's messianic hope. And he felt that this Jesus might be the one. He wanted to see this man Jesus. But as a blind beggar, there was no way he could see Jesus. It was impossible for him to visit Jesus and see him. That was when he heard that this man Jesus of Nazareth was walking by. He was overjoyed. People said he was Jesus of Nazareth. But to him, he was not just Jesus of Nazareth. He was the Son of David. That was the Messianic title. That's why he shouted like this, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (Mark 10:47) Who taught him that? No one. This is the evidence that he heard about Jesus before and he connected him with his messianic hope. Even in his desperation, he didn't lose hope. He was waiting and waiting and waiting. Even though

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Scripture Passage Job 38:1-7 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Job, a Man of Suffering We all know about Job and heard about him. We remember him as a man of suffering. We need to know a little bit of his background to understand about his suffering. Job was a righteous man. Even God recognized his righteousness. This was what God said, The Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.' (Job 1:8) This was the beginning of all his problems. Satan asked this question to God. Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.' (Job 1:9-11) There is an important question this raised. Is there a person who loves God purely for who he is? Or we all honor God because there are benefits?Is our faith simply our response to the blessings given to us? That is the question Job had to ask. Job lost his children, his possessions, and at the end even his own health. Seeing all that his wife cursed him and left him. Can Job still believe in God? Who Can Suffer The book of Job is a book about a man who lost everything and talks about what he went through. His friends tried their best to conclude that these sufferings came upon him because there was something wrong he did. They tried to lead conversation into the conclusion that Job was a sinner and therefore all these bad things happened to him. It is the easiest way to say that our suffering is punishment for our sins. Jesus' disciples did the same thing. As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' (John 9:1, 2) But the book of Job says otherwise. The book of Job says that righteous people can suffer too. Just because you go through your own suffering right now, don't automatically assume that there must be something wrong with you or you did something bad. Do bad things happen to good people? Yes, bad things happen to good people. Our Lord Jesus showed that very clearly. Jesus was a righteous man. But people crucified him on the cross. Seeing suffering death of Jesus, a Roman soldier who was in charge said this strange confession. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, Surely this was a righteous man. (Luke 23:47) Seeing the suffering of Jesus, this man saw the righteousness of Jesus, not his wickedness. We don't know why bad things happen to good people. That is mystery. Even God doesn't answer that. After the suffering, there is a whole bunch of conversations between Job and his three friends. And finally, God appeared to Job for the first time. That was what we read today. He didn't give Job a clear answer for his suffering. But instead he let him see the beautiful creation he made. And asked Job. Did you do any of these? Were you even there? Do you even know how I created all these? God’s Gift God created the beautiful world. We heard Darren beautiful perform that. O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder Consider all The works Thy Hand hath made, I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, Thy pow’r throughout The universe displayed, Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art God made this beautiful world but we don't know how he did it. God is saying that he will also make a beautiful life out of our suffering. And we don't know. Why we suffer is not as important as what God will make out of our suffering. As God created the beautiful world out of chaos and darkness, God will create a beautiful life out of our suffering even though we may go through chaos and darkness when we suffer. When we suffer, we ask this question. Why me? But there is no answer there. Instead of asking why me, let us see what God will make out of our suffering. God is good. God granted to us all the good things. God gave us beautiful gifts. Beautiful family, friends, good job, good health – We should be thankful. But if these good gifts become what we expect and what we demand, then they become no more good gifts. When these things are not given, we will be disappointed and discouraged. We will be even disillusioned. Our good God will make a beautiful life out of us no matter what circumstances we may be in. We should be joyful and thankful in all circumstances. Nothing will be able to take that joy out of us. No suffering can take the joy out of us. The early Christians sang praises and gave thanks even in prison. No suffering could take that joy away from them. Suffering has no power over us. Suffering cannot even harm us. Suffering will only help us. When

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Scripture Passage Job 1:1, 2:1-10 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Why Do We Suffer? Suffering is a reality of life. That is the truth of life that Buddhists recognize. People either live with suffering, or they live in fear of suffering. That is the truth that Satan in today's passage recognized. He saw this truth about people: All that people have they will give to save their lives. (Job 2:4) In other words, people live in fear of suffering and will do anything they can to avoid it. Religious and upright people like Job appear faithful because deep down they fear the suffering that can come upon their lives. He takes that further when he says this: But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. (Job 2:5) He is exposing how fragile and weak our faith is. He is wagering with God that once suffering hits us, we will turn away from God. The issue posed by this passage is: how do we respond to suffering? How should we respond? The question of why people suffer has always been with us. When we suffer, or we see others suffer, the first question is always why ? Why must I suffer? Why must others suffer? Why did little children have to be taken from their homes and sent far away to schools where they would be taught that they were inferior, where they were abused, and even died and placed in unmarked graves? Why? One response to the question of suffering has been that suffering is punishment for sins. This is something I've never been down with. When we consider the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation we just had, I cannot accept the idea that all of those innocent children suffered for their sins, or because of their parents' sins. Most people today cannot accept that. That makes for a very cruel God. The more common response is that God cannot exist because of all the suffering we see in the world. This has become the general operating belief for most people today. We live as though God doesn't really exist. Even if we say with our lips that we believe in God. A World Full of Suffering When suffering and difficulties arise, people try to overcome it by using everything in their power and ability to save themselves from it. The Korean show The Squid Game has taken this world by storm. I haven't seen all of it, but the premise has touched a core nerve in people. The show illustrates the extent to which people will go to survive when they are pushed to the furthest edges. People will indeed give all that they have to save their lives. The show depicts a world that is full of cruelty, unfairness and suffering. It depicts a world absent of God. And because God is absent, people are on their own. In a world without God, people have to use their every wit, skill and trickery at their disposal to survive. The great paradox of faith is this: how can a God who loves and cares for us coexist with a world full of suffering and evil? The conclusion many people make is that this paradox cannot hold. A loving and caring God cannot coexist with a world full of suffering and evil. The biblical writers struggled and grappled with this paradox. All throughout the book of Job, he asks the question that lies at the core of our souls: why must innocent people suffer? Why does God allow that? In the end, he concludes that he cannot understand why such suffering and evil exist. In the Bible Biblical writers do not provide a clear answer for why suffering exists. When Jesus was on the cross, he himself asked the question at the heart of suffering: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46) When we suffer, when evil is inflicted upon the innocent, we feel alone and as if God has abandoned us. Many of the psalms lament the seeming absence of God in the face of suffering. Biblical writers do not answer clearly why there is suffering. What the Bible does witness to, though, is that God responds to human suffering. God responds compassionately and does not leave people alone. Yes, many of the psalms ask why they feel alone in their suffering. But many psalms also declare with joy of how God brought them through out of their suffering. Biblical writers do not avoid the paradox of the presence of suffering and evil coexisting with a loving God. But rather, they declare that God does care about people, and that God does come to comfort and deliver people from their suffering. The Central Point of the Paradox Real faith does not avoid this paradox. But faith focuses primarily on what God does in the face of evil and suffering. We experience difficulties and hardships. We see the great suffering in the world. Yet we also see how God has comforted us. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, all the hopes and dreams of his followers were shattered. They scattered and ran away in fear. That's what the cross represented. Defeat. Humiliation. Death. But somehow, his followers eventually came to see the cross not only as that, but more powerfully, the place where n

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