목양연가(牧羊戀歌)

Philippians 4:10-13  “A Victorious Year”

Dear beloved saints!  Today is the first Sunday of the year 2009.  May God be with you and your family as we usher in the bright, hopeful new year.  I pray that God will bless you with the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, furthermore, the blessing of a healthy physical body.  Now we begin the year of 2009, the beginning of what it will be is very important.  The right start leads to the right destination.  We may lose wealth, treasure, fame, and position, such things we may gain again.  However, the things given to us like time and chance will not come back again if we miss them.  Therefore we must run well in the God-given time of 2009.  Therefore today we will receive grace through a sermon titled “A Victorious Year.”  May God’s grace fill your hearts.

First, if you want to have a victorious year, you must have a right and beautiful dream.  Every human being has desires and dreams.  If we look closely at them we may put them in to three different categories.  They are jdesires and dreams according to God’s will, kdreams according to human being’s greediness, and ldesires according to temptations from evil.  Let me explain this fact more closely; jdesires and dreams according to God’s will; Joseph in the Old Testament is a good example of this.  He had a dream that 11 stars and the Sun and the moon bowed down to him, which was not of his own making.  This was from God and according to God’s will.  The great dream that Joseph had from God finally came true.  It is the same in our lives.  If we have a beautiful desire and dream according to God’s will, it will come true by a beautiful blessing.  kA dream according to human being’s greediness is like that of wanting to be a great scholar, to be rich, to be a politician, or be a doctor, etc.  If all of these are for greediness they are dangerous.  If the desires come true or not, it does not matter, the greatest problem with these is the sinful nature in the heart of human beings.  A person who only focuses on his success, his spirit and conscience will get sick and his thoughts will get dark, the consciousness becomes dull and he speaks lies and becomes hypocritical in his conduct.  This kind of person, even if he gains the whole world, when he dies, the things he holds on to will only decay and his spirit will go to hell.  Then does this mean we should not become scholars, rich people, doctors or politicians?  No, it does not mean that.  All the dreams that are for the glory of God and lift up Jesus’ name are beautiful.  lDesires according to temptation, which comes from evil, such as the stories of David and Samson recorded in the Bible, are good examples of this.  And another example is that of Adam and Eve.  The desires of wanting to pick and eat or keeping things to ourselves when we should not are from the temptation of the evil one.  How do we discern this?  We can discern this by the word of God and the law of this world.  I believe we will overcome when we have a right and beautiful dream in Christ, like Joseph.

Secondly, if we want to have a victorious year we must have a enthusiastic attitude in our faith in every situation.  We should not give up easily nor be discouraged in our lives.  We should be more like this in our faith.  The apostle Paul in today’s text gives us great strength for our faith. (Philippians 4:13)  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  What does this mean?  It includes a strong message that we have a God Who strengthens us in our needs even though we are weak and weary.  I believe you and I would hold on to these strong words.  Look at Jesus, He was the most positive and affirmative person.  He created the cosmos, which is surrounded by darkness, into a beautiful, orderly form, with one world.  Jesus did not give up on the human race when they disobeyed and left God, choosing to die, but He had a plan to create them anew; He came to this earth in human flesh as the Savior and carried the cross, taking the penalty of sin for human beings (Romans 6:23).  He was not discouraged in the midst of suffering on the cross.  Therefore, whoever believes Jesus Christ has salvation.  You and I believed Jesus and have remission of our sins and are saved and became a new creation; therefore we too must not be disappointed or discouraged in any circumstances, but only follow Jesus with a positive attitude in our faith for a victorious year.

Thirdly, if we want to have a victorious year, we need to become a prayer person.  In this human life, we may have small or large difficulties like the storms and waves are, as long as the sea exists.  The boat Jesus’ disciples were in was in a storm.  The objective was how to control the storm and waves.  I believe that the only way for them was to pray to Almighty God.  Peter, who was walking on the sea, sank in the water because of fear.  However Peter said shouting, “Lord! Save me.”  Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and saved him in response to Peter’s cry for help (Matthew 14:30-31).  Yes it is true.  When we are in a crisis, sinking in the water of testing, if we pray to Almighty God, immediately Jesus saves us.  For example, in 1777, when America’s war for independence was going on, General George Washington was the commander of the military.  It was a very cold winter before the battle of Valley Forge.  Soldiers were sick and many of them were wounded.  On top of this there was little or no food supply and gun powder had not been re-supplied.  It was a devastating situation.  At that time General George Washington kneeled down on the cold, snowy field and prayed to God.  “Oh God! Bless our nation; we need freedom of faith and a faith in God.  Oh God, have pity on us and bless this battle.”  At that time, God answered his prayer; He turned over the battle totally and brought great victory for the U.S.A.  This historical fact was a great teaching which helped make the people of America a prayer people who trust God.  Abraham Lincoln was also a prayer person.  He was able to bring victory in the battle between the North and the South because he kneeled and prayed to God.  No one can deny this fact.  Therefore America was a Christian nation and they were prayer people when something happened.

  Beloved saints! Do you want to have a victorious year?  Then I believe you need to become a prayer person who kneels and prays to God.  The victory or defeat of one individual or one nation is determined by prayer.  The fervent prayer of a leader of one tribe will change the fate of the nation.  It is the same for an individual and a family.  Our Jesus overcame the crisis of the cross by prayer.  We learn from Jesus that we too can overcome in our crisis.  I wish we would not have crisises and difficulties in 2009.  However if we do, I have confidence that our Lord will save us immediately with His hand of salvation if we pray.  May God’s grace over flow your hearts.

By Rev.Samuel Choi