목양연가(牧羊戀歌)

Ezekiel 36:33-31  "A Praying Saint"

Beloved saints!  If prayer was taken away from the life of a Christian saint how would it be?  The life of a saint without prayer has no meaning and it would be like a dry desert.  There are so many privileges on earth as a saint; however the greatest privilege is to be able to pray.  As a mere human being, man is able to communicate only through prayer.  Prayer is a pathway to meet God and is a source of power that mobilizes God’s angels.  The Bible says a prayer has power to move great nature (Joshua 10:12-14, 2 Kings 20:11).  How would it be if we neglect prayer when it is so important in our prayer life?  In this aspect I believe it is so foolish if we do not take advantage of the privilege as a saint.  Therefore we will receive a sermon titled “A Praying Saint.”  I pray God’s grace fill your hearts.

First, our Lord wants us to pray.  Today’s text is telling us that.  Let’s read verse 37A together, “Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them.”  In this verse, let us ponder the words “inquire of Me.”  What does this phrase mean?  It means even though God has already made up His mind to save and to restore, we have to pray to Him so He will do that for us.  Matthew 6:8B says, “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”  And Matthew 7:7A says, “Ask, and it will be given to you.”  These two verses seem to contradict each other.  If Almighty God knows our needs before we even ask why does He wait on us to ask?  Is God annoying us?  No, never.  Then why is this true?  It is because God wants us to pray to keep the relationship of love with us.  Look, let’s suppose because God knows everything we need so He gives us our needs before we ask.  Then we would not even know where the blessings came from, did they come from God or somewhere else?  Perhaps we would say it like this . . . because I am smart and I have ability and skill . . . or we may say . . . I was lucky . . . without thinking of God; only the carnal mind thinks this way and will not even call on God.  Men are foolish and weak, aren’t they?  In contrast, when we are in difficulty we pray to God in hope.  Then God answers our prayer and solves all of our problems.  Then, what do we do?  We thank God and give deep gratitude that we believe in the living God and know He loves us and hears our voice and answers, don’t we?  To maintain this relationship, God tells us to pray.  I believe we must become saints who pray always to God according to our needs.

Secondly, let us think, when do we pray?  That is jwe must pray in time of success and well being.  I see two ways for success and well being.  They are: (a) the case of success and well being by a person stopping at nothing to gain this end by stepping on others by fair means or methods or sin.  But this case of success will not last nor be maintained because unrighteousness and unlawfulness never last.  (b) The case of success and well being by blessings from God.  This case may be slow and take a long time, however, this blessing from God, once received, will go on and on to the next generation to the following generations.  Abraham received this blessing.  There is no nation with well being like the descendants of Abraham.  For example, the great rich top ten in the U.S.A. are all Israelis and not only this but the great spiritual blessing is that Jesus Christ was born Who is the Savior of all mankind.  The Bible says this; the greatest blessing for man is the spiritual and physical blessings in Christ Jesus.  But in most cases, when people get success and well being they neglect their spirituality.  This time is most dangerous.  We must not forget Jesus Who is the source of blessings in the time of well being.  The success that is away from Jesus and prayer life is in serious danger, like the house build on the sand.  A successful, well being, and happy person must humbly pray constantly for more success, well being, and happiness.  kWe must pray even in the time of suffering and despair.  In moderate sadness in our life we are able to cry out and struggle.  However, when the sadness becomes greater we are not able to cry out nor say a word.  When failure after failure comes even our sighs and tears dry up.  Nevertheless, one thing we must do.  What is it?  That is pray.  What did I say prayer is?  Prayer is a tool of the power of Almighty God who moves great nature and mobilizes His archangels.  Who can do the things we can not do which frustrate and give us despair?  That is God; He will do it for us.  For example in 2 Kings 4:1 we see the painful and sad story of a prophet’s wife.  She lost her husband who left a lot of debt and she was struggling to live with two children.  As if this wasn’t bad enough, a creditor came everyday badgering her to pay back the money.  Then when he found out she had no way to pay it back he threatened to take her two sons to be his slaves.  This widow could not bear this anymore and took her plea to God.  God knew her situation and sent His servant Elisha.  In the text it says, “this woman cried out to Elisha.”  “Cried out” means earnestly requesting and praying.  Then God worked through His servant by filling up jars with oil in her house so she could pay back the debt.  Then the rest of it was used by her and her two sons to live on.  God solved her problem when she took the painful story to Him.  Likewise we must take our trouble to God.  Psalm 50:15 says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”  Another example is the famous theologian John Wesley who was raised by his mother, Susanna Wesley.  In poverty, she raised 19 children.  In her busy day Susanna Wesley had one hour of prayer everyday.  Her prayer helped her raise all of her 19 children to be greatly talented.  Solomon in the Old Testament gave 1000 times more in sacrifice.  Giving 1000 times more in serious prayer in sacrifice was in answer to receiving wisdom and wealth and glory from God.  Queen Esther in the Old Testament, through prayer, helped save herself and the lives of her people.  Jesus, our Lord, in the garden of Gethsemane prayed so earnestly that His sweat became blood as He prepared to carry the cross.  As a result He is the great Lord Who saves the lives of mankind.  Because of this you and I are saved.

  Beloved saints!  In conclusion do you know we are committing sin when we stop praying?  Jesus says in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  John 14:13A says, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do.”  This means that the King of kings, the Lord of lords will do it.  Pray fervently.  Prayer is our privilege.  May God’s grace fill your hearts.


By. Rev. Samuel Choi

Revelation 3:14-20  “A Life With Jesus Christ in the Heart”

A person named Henry van Dyke said something like this, “A man with 100 degrees from 100 universities but who doesn’t know the Bible is ignorant and can not be a scholar.”  Newton who discovered the theory of gravitation said, “I know the Bible, which is the word of God, as the most elegant philosophy.”  These are excellent and explicit statements.  Then, such great elegant knowledge as the living word of God, what does the Bible say?  Briefly in a few words from the Old and New Testaments: Men are fallen sinners, to save sinners, God, incarnate in the flesh came to this earth.  Then He was whipped for sinner like us and died on the cross with a beaten body.  Three days after His death He was resurrected and raised to heaven.  Then the Holy Spirit was sent and abides with us, helps, guides, and fills us in our need until the end.  If a person believes this fact they will be saved and if a person does not believe this they will perish.  This is what the Bible says.  In this aspect, can we ignore Jesus Christ, Who is the great redeemer?  I am not a great person, however I say something on my own, like this, “Whoever has Jesus possesses everything.  Whoever does not have Jesus has lost everything.”  Then let us think on a few things about what kind of life it would be to have Jesus Christ in our heart based on the Bible.  I pray God’s grace fill your heart and mind.

First, a person who has Jesus in their heart has the joy of first love and shaken heart jubilation.  For example, look, one day a bachelor suddenly meets a beautiful and lovely young lady who is like an angel.  At first sight they fall in love.  This young man thinks he could give his life for this beautiful woman, so they get married.  This newlywed couple has a wonderful marriage in the beginning, however their love cools down and there is a lot of complaining in every situation.  If it gets worse they may turn their backs on each other.  This may not happen in every case, but it is possible.  This is a sad story for the family who lost their first love.  Likewise, Jesus says in Revelation 2:4-5, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place-- unless you repent.”  What does it mean by “you have left your first love” and “remove your lampstand from its place?”  j”You have left your first love” means that you had strong love to serve other saints, God’s children in the redemptive love of Jesus Christ, however you have left that love.  It means that in the beginning you loved Jesus and loved each other and had respect, somehow, your heart cooled down and that love faded away.  Revelation 2:5A says, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.”  Why is this?  What caused you to do this, search and exam yourself?  k”And remove your lampstand from its place-- unless you repent.”  To remove means a) a heart that has left God b) and lost value as a truthful saint.  It means a person may come to church but have nothing to do with God’s church.  Why is this?  It is because God is love.  In 1 John 4:20 it says, “If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”  We must examine our belief.  Once we may have had love for Jesus more than any others and a burning love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Somehow, has your love faded away and gotten cold?  Do you know that this kind of person comes to church once in awhile and is hooked by the power of sin because of worldly pleasure and enjoyment since it seems much better?  Revelation 3:15 and 16B says, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.”  ^16B “I will vomit you out of My mouth.”  To vomit means to push out of God, may not enter into God but be excluded.  We must have our first love for Jesus and love God and our brothers.

Secondly, only the life in Jesus can give true service and true dedication.  Psalm 84:10 says, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”  Nowadays so many people are self-centered and so many people want to be served.  However Jesus did not come to be served, but came to serve and gave His life for a ransom.  Those who have servant Jesus in their heart want to live like Him.  Furthermore, they serve others in truthful service and dedicate themselves with a truthful heart.  In these days so many saints ignore this fact because they misunderstand that their service and dedication are according to their power, they have no joy of living.  For example, there is a story of a certain young missionary nurse.  This lady missionary nurse left her home and parents and went to work for a leprosy center in a far away country.  One day a newspaper reporter was taking a picture of this missionary caring for one child with leprosy by wiping off the oozing sores.  This was such a strange looking sight for the reporter who said, “I would not do that even for a million dollars.”  At this the missionary nurse lifted her head and said, “I too would not do this for a million dollars.”  The reporter was so surprised and said, “Why do you do it then?”  The missionary replied, “Sir, I do this because of the love of Jesus.”  This is so true.  We too serve and work in the Lord because of the love of Jesus, then it is truthful service.  Beloved saints!  I believe we love our brothers because of Jesus, then our love is truth.  Without Jesus in our life, there is no truthful sacrifice and service.  Only the work in Jesus becomes an acceptable sacrifice to our Lord.  There is no need of bragging or announcing to show people, but only to please our Lord, who sees in secret as we desire to serve Him willingly.  Today’s churches don’t know this and promote activities by making announcements on TV and are proud of themselves which is far from what the Lord wants and it is in vain and not worth their time and energy.  (Matthew 6:1-18. Ref. Jesus’ teaching on doing charitable deeds and prayer and fasting . . .  being seen by people.)  Beloved saints!  I bless you in the name of our Lord that each one here today be a truthful worker.  We must work in joy and delight without complaint, in very difficult tasks, if we have servant Jesus in our hearts.  In conclusion, why don’t people who come to church and say that they believe in Jesus, have joy in their hearts?  This just shows they truthfully don’t have Jesus in their hearts. 

Beloved brothers and sisters!  You know an egg has a little air space inside. Likewise the human heart also has a little space inside.  People may have everything in the world, however there is a small corner left empty.  They try to fill this empty space with everything.  However, if Jesus is not enthroned in that space there is no true satisfaction.  I believe if our hearts are filled up with Jesus Christ our work becomes truthful and our love will be so true that it will bring us happiness in our spiritual walk with the Lord.  May God’s grace and blessings be with you.

By: Rev. Samuel Choi

Ephesians 3:1-9  “A Worker by Grace”

Today we gather to worship in a Thanksgiving Service and also this day is the time to install workers to serve the church, which is the body of Christ.  I pray this blessed day brings glory to God and great blessings to us.  Let us read verse 7 together, “Of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.”  In this we see that the ministry we serve in, no matter what kind it is in the house of God, it is the gift by the grace of God.  How thankful we are for it.  Therefore today we receive grace through a sermon titled “A Worker by Grace.”  I pray God’s grace will fill your hearts.

First, Let’s think about the church of God and its importance.  In 1 Timothy 3:15B it says, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”  As you well know, the word for church in Greek is Ekklesia (ek-klay-see'-ah), the meaning of this word comes from the word Ek and the word Kaleo (kal-eh'-o) put together meaning “to call out” – to call out to life from death, to call out the people to heaven from hell, to call out the people who belong to God from Satan, to call out to light from darkness.”  Therefore the church is the divine gathering of those who have remission of sin through Jesus Christ and are led by the Holy Spirit.  The truthful meaning of the church’s existence is that people come to God and meet Jesus Christ and give glory to God and praise the name of Jesus Christ.  While gathered saints go forward to God’s nation, love each other, and have fellowship they make a beautiful group of people called God’s church.  Every church of God is like an individual branch of God’s nation.  It is such a glorious and great blessing that we are permitted to serve God’s people and His kingdom in such a glorious place.  This is the grace from God to us and a gift from God.

Secondly, there is a spiritual structure for those who serve in God’s church.  This structure is in the leadership, like the pastor, elder and deacon, Sunday school teacher, van driver, and includes everyone.  They are the ones serving in God’s church, the branch of God’s kingdom.  There are three distinctions in ministry.  jOne is the generality in ministry.  It is a belief that our ministry comes from God.  It is not rank, not rule over others, it is only to serve others to meet Jesus and to help them.  It is to believe that the ministry we have comes from God therefore it is divine.  Paul said in Romans 11:13, “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.”  We too magnify our ministry as workers of God’s kingdom.  kTwo, is a classification in ministry.  There are different positions as pastor, as elder, as deacon, as teacher, but the same purpose.  This is the call to work to extend God’s kingdom.  lThree, is to assume responsibility and relinquish rights.  Ministry in church is different than social positions.  How are ones in social areas generally?  They ask for their rights, order others around, and rule over others.  However in church, it is totally the opposite and is to be different.  The command, from God the Master, we obey as a servant.  We are not to rule over other believers or ask for possessions or give out orders.  We seem to have no power in man’s eyes. Nevertheless if servants are ignored or mistreated or disturbed in their work, in that time, God the Master, our Lord Jesus Christ will speak to them.  I believe you will do well in your ministry if you know rightly these three distinctions (generality, classification, and assume responsibility and relinquish rights) and follow them according to your ministry.

Deuteronomy 16; 9-17  Truthful thanks

Since we are having an Installation ceremony for the kwonsa next week Sunday, I’ll deliver Thanksgiving message today.  The churches in the Old Testament time observed Passover, Feast of Weeks and Thanksgiving. However, the churches in the New Testament including our church observe Christmas which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Also, we observe Easter which celebrates Jesus’ resurrection after his death on the cross. Then, we observe Thanksgiving. In this perspective, I think that observing Thanksgiving has a deep meaning.  We know that Jesus came to this earth in the form of body and that He died on the crossed and resurrected after three days. However, if we’re not thankful to God, we can’t say that we have the right kind of faithfulness in our life. Of course, there are many of us who are thankful for God’s grace. Those of you who are thankful should continue to be thankful and those of you who are not should learn to be more thankful so that you receive blessings. Therefore, I would like to share a sermon titled, “A truthful thanks” and receive grace. May the Lord’s blessings fill your spirit and mind.

First of all, let’s think about what kind of person gives truthful thanks? That is, a wise person knows how to give truthful thanks. A wise person knows the origin and the beginning and the end. Therefore, they can have thankful heart. Look, a wise person who knows the parents’ sacrifice is thankful and treat them well. However, a foolish person doesn’t know the parents’ sacrifice. So, he complains to the parents and mistreats them. Likewise, a wise person who realizes and knows God’s grace can give genuine thanks. On the other hand, a person who doesn’t realize God’s amazing grace is not thankful and rather complains. Why is that? It comes from the foolishness of not realizing. For example, the Israelites were this way. God led them as pillar of cloud in the daytime and as pillar of fire in the night. He provided them with quail and manna. When they were thirsty in the wilderness, He made water gush out from a rock. Not only that, when the Pharaoh came after them with his army, the Red Sea was in front of them.  So what did he do?  The Red sea split so that the Israelites could walk on ground. God did whatever Israelites asked for. But, if you look at the bible, what did they do? They blamed God and complained to Him. Instead of thanking God, they blamed him first. Why do you think that is? That comes from foolishness of not knowing and not realizing His grace. If you look at Genesis, Sarah’s servant Hagar didn’t realize her master’s love for her. Instead of being thankful, she despised her and eventually this led her to be thrown out from Sarah’s house. Also, Adam and Eve who lived in the Eden garden by the grace of God weren’t thankful to God. They even foolishly wanted to be like God and got tricked by the devil. They too were thrown out from the garden. Then, it is necessary for us to think about how our life is. Are we not thankful because we haven’t received anything from God?  Or are we not thankful because we haven’t realized the grace that we’ve received from God? If we are blaming him, why are we doing it? When a person who should be thankful is not thankful, it is not a wise thing to do. Dear saints, I pray in the name of the Lord that we become wise and beautiful saints who are thankful to God.  Are we in hardship because of the situation we are in right now? Then, we should be thankful by thinking of the people who are less fortunate than us. In our lifetime, we have difficult times, good times and bad times. Therefore, Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Yes!! I pray in the name of the Lord that we become wise saints who give thanks in all circumstances.

Secondly, what should we be thankful for? That is we should be thankful for God’s blessings. There are two types of God’s blessings. First is general blessing. Second is special blessing. Then, what is a general blessing? That is given to everybody without discrimination. It is the gift of the nature. This blessing was given to believers of Christ and non-believers. The things such as sun, air, rain, clothes, food, stars in the sky and moon are provided for everyone. The believers don’t get more than the non-believers. For the farmers, they are given good harvest because it is part of general blessing. Second, special blessing is given only to the believers of God. The special blessing enables us to believe that God came to this earth in the form of body and he died on the cross and resurrected after three days. Some people can’t believe it but we believe in our heart that Jesus Christ is our Savior. The special blessing is that if we believe, we’ll receive eternal life. St. Paul said in Corinthians 1: 18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” This is indeed the spiritual secret. The one who believes in the message of cross can have an effect which is to become God’s children. Also, it is to have our sins forgiven and receive the salvation. The one who can believe this is the one who received the special blessing. Then, how can we tell who receives the special blessings? That is, first, we know when someone voluntarily comes to God. John 6:44 says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Also, John 6:65 says, “He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” Second, we know when someone says Jesus is Lord. In 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” We indeed received the special blessing since we came to church and open our mouth and called Jesus our Lord and praised him. God made all this possible. We are so blessed to be part of the special blessing of salvation but those who are not are pitiful and they will perish.

Thirdly, let’s think about what we can do to give truthful thanks. First, we should think that even if we don’t have anything, we should still be joyous because of God. If you look at Habakkuk 3:17~, it’s about Habakkuk’s prayer. “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Even if he has nothing, He is saying that he’ll be thankful because of God. I believe this is the right attitude of truthful thanks. Second, the person who is thankful has to understand the mind of the one receiving thankfulness. Look, if the children have thankful heart to their parents, they would try to do things to please them. When they are young, they just need to eat well and be healthy. When they are students, they just need to study hard. When they are grown-ups, they just need to work hard. Then the parents are content. However, if they didn’t have thankful heart, they would hang out with bad friends and not care about what the parents think. Also, if a servant has a thankful heart to the master, he would do his best to complete his job. Likewise, if we have thankful heart to Jesus, we would try our best to please Jesus. Then, what would God want us to do most? There are many but foremost, He wants us to bring the lost souls to the Lord. Why did Jesus come to this earth and be ridiculed and mistreated and died on the cross? What is the purpose for this? Therefore, even one lost sheep was valuable to him and when he found it, he rejoiced with his neighbors.

Dear saints, next week is the Thanksgiving service. Also, we’ll have Installation ceremony. If we have genuine thankful heart, we would be looking at the souls who should come to Jesus Christ. This is the time to harvest the crops in the field. At this time of harvest, if we don’t harvest, the crops will be thrown away in the cold winter. Before the dead winter comes, don’t you want to be part of harvesting the crop of life? I believe the truthful thanks to our Lord is to find lost souls and bring them to Him. On Thanksgiving, it is important to make offering and offer our service with thankful heart. However, what’s more important is to find the lost souls and bring them to the Lord. I pray God’s grace fill your spirit.

 By: Samuel Choi

A Saint Who Steps Up and Stands Through Difficulty(Isaiah 41:8-16) 

As you know we had a presidential election last Tuesday and for the first time in the history of the U.S.A., a black man was elected president.  (Electoral votes: McCain 163, Obama 349)  I’m not interested whether he will do well or not in politics, but my wife and I had a chance to see presidential candidate Obama’s conversation about his past life experiences on CNN News a few days ago.  Now that he is elected president and I reflect on his life, I think he is one who represents many who step and stand through adversity.  He was born from a marriage between a black father and a white mother but he never saw his father until he was 10 years old.  However after this his father left for Kenya and then at the age of  young his mother died of cancer.  He was raised by his mother’s parents, his grandparents, who were white.  It was during this time that he went to Punahou school (located here in Honolulu) where the majority of the students are white.  In this experience, he lost his identity and even experimented (tried, dealt) with drugs.  He said some how he met Jesus Christ and was completely changed in newness at the college he attended (Occidental College). 

As I listened to this (story I realized) the difficulty in men’s lives can be rather good in the Lord.  We see in today’s text, God says for us not to fear.  Nowadays in this world we hear the rumor of war, famine, difficulty in the economy, and all kinds of dismal news.  However, the Lord says to us, “Fear not, for I am with you.” (Isaiah 41:10A)  Therefore today we receive grace from a sermon titled “A Saint Who Steps Up and Stands Through Difficulty.”  May the grace of God fill your hearts and minds.

First, we must believe and trust that God is with us.  God is almighty.  Why do we fear when the Lord of Hosts is with us?  Verse 10 in today’s text says, “Fear not, for I am with you.”  What does this mean?  This doesn’t mean that we have no tribulation, it means even in tribulation God is with us, therefore have faith and do not fear that tribulation.  In Deuteronomy 32:11 we see, when God was leading His people out of Egypt, God put them on His back and crossed as an eagle carrying its young on its wings.  God trained His people 40 years in the wilderness as an eagle trains its young (Deut. 8:1-6).  An eagle is a strong bird with strong wings and has an eye that can see far and watches the land from high in the air.  An eagle always makes its nest in a high cliff or a tree that is on the edge of a high cliff.  She lays her eggs in it and waits and then feeds her babies for sometime while they grow.  When the babies are grown enough the mother eagle brakes up the nest and pushes the babies out of the nest.  The baby eagle falls to the ground in surprise.  As mother is watching she flies quickly and spreads her wings for her baby and flies high up in the air with it.  Then she turns upside down and drops her baby, she does this repeatedly until her baby becomes strong and learns to trust that the mother is with it and it does not fear anything as it learns to be bold.  Its wings gain strength and later on it becomes a most strong and fast bird among all the birds of the world.  We saints are the same way in our life.  One who believes that almighty God is with him will not fear no matter what difficulty, trial, or adversity may come.  Why is this?  It is because in the process of training he believes that God will help him to be a strong and mature Christian.  I believe we must always believe, with a strong and courageous mind, that God is with us.

Secondly, we must understand the trials we face mature us in our faith and character.  Those who have gone through many trials are matured in their personality and have a pure heart and are not drown in dangerous self-illusions.  They rather follow after Jesus.  Jesus was complete from the beginning and grew up as a man.  Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”  He was a complete man with intellect, emotion, and will.  Intellect: is to know God (knowledge of God).  Emotion: is the heart to love human life.  Will: is to bear as Jesus Christ did even till death on the cross.  In Philippians 2:5 it says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”  I give you Joseph in the Old Testament as an example.  Joseph was sold by his brothers when he was of a young age.  He had so many difficulties and wounds as a slave in Egypt.  However, it was because he trusted God that he matured beautifully in his faith and character.  So he was able to show mercy to his brothers and forgive their sins.  He became a mature Christian.  In Genesis 45:3A it says, “Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; does my father still live?"”  (45:4B-5)  “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.  But now, do not therefore be grieved nor angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”  How religious he is before God and how mature before his brothers!  This kind of adversity is a tool that will mold and shape our faith and character by making us grow.  The adversity is not good but through it I believe we become more beautifully blessed.

Thirdly, we need to believe God who helps us and gives us strength.  In Isaiah 41:10B it says, “I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”  God is the God of help providing help to us.  God is our power and He strengthens us.  We see in today’s text it says, “I will . . . you, I will . . . you, I will . . . you.”  This word ‘you’ is not plural but singular.  Therefore God is my God and your God and our personal Savior and Lord.  God’s Son, Jesus Christ, not only saves individual’s souls, but also saves nations which believe in the salvation of God.  As long as we believe in God, I believe the U.S.A., where we live will never be destroyed.  As you well know in the past there was this kind of difficult time.  For example, there was the Great Depression in 1930.  At that time, 1800 banks claimed bankruptcy and closed their business.  The rates of unemployment rose to 50 percent.  Everyone was anxious and thought in their mind that if this continued it may cause the end of capitalism.  It was much more difficult than today.  Do you know who the president was that saved the nation from this crisis?  It was President Roosevelt.  He was lame from infantile paralysis (Polio) so he used a wheelchair to get around.  He gave a famous speech during his inaugural address and said that, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” that is to say a fearful heart.  I believe that faith in God will cast out fear in our hearts.  I believe those in Christ should not have fear.  God saved Daniel from the lion’s den.  God saved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego from the fiery furnace.  God strengthens and keeps His people who trust Him.  Beloved saints!  When you were young you experienced stomachaches.  At that time your mother or grandmother might have rubbed your stomach with a warm hand saying, “Tummy, tummy get better, my hand is a medicine hand.”  Then amazingly your tummy felt better and you fell asleep.  Did you have that experience?  Then how much more is our God’s hand able with great power?  Our God’s hand is a powerful hand, holding up the universe in His hand.  It is the same hand which bled on the cross for our sins.  The Lord’s hand is a hand of power.  Whenever His hand touched those who were about to die they came back to life just like the daughter of the synagogue ruler Jairus.  When our Lord’s hand touches, the blind open their eyes and the deaf open their ears.  The Lord’s hand is the hand that orchestrates history.  With a powerful hand He holds us, you and me today. 

The one who believes this will not fear but will receive strength among the trials.  I believe as much as we meet the time of difficulty, we must have more faith to trust God.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  I believe today’s difficult tribulation will be changed into blessings for good.  Our U.S. is a nation which believes in Jesus Christ.  I believe the U.S. will go through this difficult crisis that will bring great blessings and it will become a stronger nation.  I believe you and I will become saints who are held by the Lord’s hand and will overcome and win over this difficulty.  God’s grace be with your hearts and minds.

By: Rev: Samuel Choi

Luke 16:1-10  “A Steward of the Lord”

The Bible says that we all are stewards of the Lord.  A steward in today’s definition means “a proxy or an agent who takes care of entrusted assets of his master.  A steward is obviously a servant.  He is trusted by his master and entrusted to care for his master’s assets as a servant, and has the privilege to manage other servants according to his will.   Therefore a steward is mostly self-regulating (autonomous) than other servants.  Of course, this is contingent (dependent) on him obeying the commands of his master.  As we see in this dimension, everyone in the world is a steward and it is right to recognize that the Master is in charge.  Therefore we will receive grace from a sermon titled “A Steward of the Lord.”

First, we all are stewards.  There is an old saying we “Came empty handed, go empty handed.”  This is very true.  When we are born by our mothers we receive life and bring nothing with us.  We did not bring things to eat or money to spend.  In spite of this we have lived well thus far.  How is this possible?  Our lives are settled in the place where everything is already prepared with fresh air, fresh water, and bountiful fruit in the field every season.  And with little effort we are able to obtain things to eat and to use.  Then, who was it that prepared everything before we were born?  It was God.  In John 1:3 it says, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”  Because God made everything in the universe He is the Master of all things.  He made all the things that we buy and sell as we wish and eat and live.  In this aspect we are autonomous as stewards.  Then, one among you may think like this, “Pastor, I understand all the things in this world have a master, and the Master is God, however, you didn’t say that my children, who I had, and myself are not God’s?”  I’m sorry to say this, but the Bible says your body and your children are not yours but God’s.  Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.”  Children are given as a reward by God to enjoy them for a while in your hard life.  And in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  ²⁰For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”  This is true.  Look! if our body was ours, we should be able to do anything with it as we wish, shouldn’t we?  It will be ours if when we wished to be tall we were able to be tall, or if we wished to be short we were able to be short, if we were full without eating, no need to take a shower if we were able to be clean, and if we wished to live longer we were able to live thousands and thousands of years.  We need to know the true facts that we are not self-regulating (autonomous) when it comes to living or dying but we are dependent.  We may think our body belongs to us and try to eat well and dress well; however one day, when the Master says to stop living and come to Him, then we must leave all of a sudden without saying a word.  We may insist and say that this time is too soon and it is not time to die.   However, we must go because our body is not ours.  As we see this, we are only a steward and enjoying the things of the Master momentarily.

Secondly, the Lord said to give an account of your stewardship (Luke 16:2).  A while ago, we watched a government audit in Korea (Oct 1997).  There arose a great public criticism because of the Han-Bo case (some iron company).  Why was this?  It was because the government did not manage it right.  I felt so sorry just watching such a tragedy.  The president of the bank killed himself and the chief operating director of the bank and some politicians who were involved in that event went to jail when it came to light.  It is the same in our lives, we must remember that there will be a day when we open the written record of our lives and report to the Master before a multitude of angels and ancestral saints.  At that day, at that moment, how will we appear?  If we were able to stand in proud, commanding, majestic posture, how wonderful would it be?  But opposite of this, the Bible says there will be so many who feel ashamed.  In Daniel 12:2 it says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.”  Now you and I who are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ will go to heaven even though we die now.  It is by faith that we go to heaven and not by deeds.  It is God’s promise and covenant to us that we are saved by believing Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Then what do we have to give an account for?  We need to know that it is about the stewardship that we are entrusted with and the care we take with the Master’s estate.  The day when we open the report of our life as a steward, who has been entrusted to take care of the things of the Master, our God, if we present an empty paper, how shameful we will be?  This is the shameful salvation just like a person who was brought out from the fire which is written in the Bible.

Thirdly, then how do we live as a steward?  We have to live wisely and redeem the time.  We must be faithful and live for God’s glory.  When we look at Jesus’ life in this world, we see that He lived only for God’s glory and died on the cross according to the will of God.  Then how is our life supposed to be as we follow Jesus Christ?  We too live for God’s glory.  In fact, a legend says that all eleven disciples of Jesus were martyred.  We need to pay attention and understand that the way to give glory to God is absolutely not an easy way.  Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 16:24, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.””  Then He says we will be able to transform the world. 
Beloved saints!  How are we?  We normally pursue riches; but the Lord became poor to make us rich.  We seek comfort; but the Lord gave up His life so we may have life, for He was lonely, despised, and gave up His life and died.  We want to be welcomed; but the Lord was rejected and unwelcome.  We try to avoid pain; but the Lord gave up His life for others.  Jesus lived His life centered on others.  Jesus taught this and lived as an example and commended us to follow Him. 

Beloved saints!  I conclude with this, we are stewards who are entrusted with the things of the Master, God and have used them thus far.  We must know there is a day when we will stand before the Master as a steward.  I believe, before we hear the Master’s voice saying “To give an account,” we must use our given time, money, and talents well.  Of course, our Lord does not demand the same thing from each of us as individuals.  I believe when we do our best where we are placed to live, God’s glory will be revealed.  As a lay person, as a deacon, as a pastor, if we do our best God will be glorified.  “Well done, good and faithful servant . . . Enter into the joy of your lord.”   I bless you in the name of our Lord that you all receive praise from our Lord.

By: Rev. Samuel Choi

Mark 9:21-29  “A Powerful Saint”

Beloved saints, we live in a world with identity as children of God.  If we become children of God it means that God, Who is master of the universe, becomes our God.  God poured out the power of the gospel to His children.  However regrettably, we see so many people who say they believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord but have no power of the gospel and authority or blessing from the Lord.  We see them struggle in very poor spiritual condition.  Then why do they struggle in poor spiritual condition and what is their problem?  Therefore today we will receive grace through a sermon titled “A Powerful Saint.”  May God’s grace over flow in your hearts and minds.  Then how do we become saints with power?

First of all, we must meet Jesus Christ in our hearts.  In today’s text, the father of a child originally came to meet Jesus, didn’t he?  But he did not meet Jesus; instead he met with nine of Jesus’ disciples.  Under these conditions of not seeing Jesus but meeting with His disciples physically was comforting to him, so he had high hopes they might be able to heal his son’s sickness, however he became distressed because they could not heal him.  The father was disappointed and sat down without strength and then Jesus came down from the mountain.  Jesus heard of the poor condition of the sick child and told the father to bring his son to Him.  As soon as the child was brought to Jesus the evil spirit left him and the child was clean.  At this point we need to think what happened.  A person came to see Jesus and met His disciples, mere human beings before meeting Jesus.  Did his problem get solved or not?  No! It did not get solved.  Then, at the moment of meeting Jesus he received a blessing by receiving the solution to the problem.  I believe this is a spiritual teaching for us from today’s text.  It is the same in today’s life of the church.  People come to church to meet Jesus.  Unfortunately however, before they meet Jesus, they meet people who are the followers of Jesus.  They meet the pastor, ordained deacons, kwon-sa’s, and lay people.  Those who came to have a problem solved, however, develop more problems.  Then they get disappointed just like the sick child’s father was.  Some even give up and turn back to the world before meeting Jesus, don’t they?  Therefore if we want to live powerful lives, I believe, first of all, we must meet Jesus Christ who is the Lord of power.

Secondly, if we want to be powerful saints, we must have faith.  Verse 23 in today’s text says that.  Let’s read it together.  “Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."”  Yes, this is true!  If we want to be powerful saints we need to meet Jesus first.  After we meet Jesus then we need to believe in Him.  Look, at the time of Jesus, Pharisees and scribes also met Jesus.  However, they did not have faith to believe.  Rather the Bible says tax collectors and prostitutes had faith to believe in Jesus.  It is true that no matter how long a person goes to church and knows Jesus is a savior, if that individual has not affirmed faith to believe then he can not live a powerful life.  At this point let us think about the definition of what faith is.  As Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  What does this mean?  It means that all the things that are not seen in my sight right now, I believe that they are possible in Jesus.  At this time, things that I look for and wish for become true in reality.  If we apply this in today’s text, it is the faith of the sick child’s father.  He meets nine people who are boasting as Jesus’ disciples, before he meets Jesus.  But his problem was not solved.  In spite of this, he did not give up and turn back.  Why is that?  It is because he had faith that Jesus must solve his problem.  I believe Jesus looked at his faith and listened to his wishes.  I believe that to be powerful saints we must have faith to believe.

Thirdly, if we become powerful saints we need to be people of prayer.  Let us read verse 29 together, “So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."”  What do the words “this kind” mean?  That is the difficult problem that the child and his father are facing.  All of the similar difficulties, we generally say by the words “this kind.”  As we live in today’s world, all kinds of problems we face can be summed up in “this kind.”  That is to say that all kinds of trouble and disappointment that we face as problems are solved by prayer, there is no other way.  Do you believe this?  Let’s look at a true example from the Bible.  Hannah was known as the mother of Samuel and is also known as a prayer warrior.  When she was in trouble, lonely, and childless, it was Peninnah, her husband’s second wife who made her miserable and severely provoked her.  It was at this time Hannah went up to the temple with this problem and kneeled down before God and prayed earnestly with tears.  Through this prayer she had a son, Samuel, who became a prominent spiritual leader in the history of Israel.  Actually Hannah escaped from “this kind” of suffering through prayer.  Another example we know well, George Muller who started an orphanage with empty hands, fed over 150,000 orphans until he reached the age of 93 and died.  It says in his autobiography he received answers to his prayers 50,000 times while he was alive, this means that he prayed 50,000 times with 50,000 problems.  “This kind” of problems were solved by the answers to his prayers (in contrast we struggle with few problems).  There is a weapon behind the powerful life; the weapon is prayer which no one can deny.  Queen Esther in the Old Testament prayed and fasted for 3 days about a problem and it was solved through the powerful life.  Elijah experienced the power when fire came down from heaven by prayer and rain came through prayer.  Beloved saints, I conclude with this.  We are the people of God bought by the blood of Jesus Christ and we are His children.  God wants us as His children to live powerful lives.  In spite of this, when we meet “this kind” of problems we sometimes become disappointed and frustrated.  Nevertheless, we learn the way to overcome the troubles and win by the powerful life. 

In summary, we must first meet Jesus.  We must not turn back in disappointment seeing people who are mere human beings before we meet Jesus.  We all have lives full of problems therefore we must meet Jesus.  Then we must become faithful saints after we meet Him.  Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  I bless you in the name of our Lord that we all become precious saints who are free from “this kind, and that kind” of problem by coming before God and kneeling down and praying.
By: Rev. Samuel Choi