“Discipleship Community” (August 10, 2014)

“Discipleship Community” (Mark 3:13-19)

- Our Core Values IV -

Who Is a Disciple?

Who do you think a disciple of Jesus is? You may call to mind Peter who converted 3,000 people in one day and performed many miraculous signs. Or, you may call to mind Paul who planted several churches and wrote more than half of the New Testament. There is no doubt that they are good disciples of Jesus. They did wonderful things for Christ. But at the same time, we must remember that Jesus didn’t call his disciples to put them to just work for him. Today’s scripture clearly says to us the reasons why Jesus chose his disciples. It says, “He appointed twelve to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and fight spiritual battles” (vv. 14-15). The purpose of discipleship is twofold: the one is to have fellowship with Jesus, and the other is to do his work. I would like to put a special emphasis on the first purpose.  

Jesus Appointed the Disciples to Be with Him.

Jesus chose his disciples “to be with him.” He calls each of us in this room to have fellowship with him. He didn't bring you to himself to make you a slave. He brought you to himself to make you a friend, his companion. The Master of the universe wants to have fellowship with us. This year’s VBS theme is “My heart Christ’s home.” It is based on the book written by Robert Munger. In this story one young man decided to invite Jesus into his heart. He showed him each room in his house. When they arrived at the living room, both of them liked that room. They sat together and spent time together. Jesus promised, “I will be here early every morning. Meet me here, and we will start the day together.” So they started to have their quiet time together. But, little by little, under the pressure of many responsibilities, this time began to be shortened, and the man began to miss a day now and then. One morning when the man was in a hurry, rushing downstairs, eager to be on his way, he saw Jesus was sitting and waiting in the living room. He said to Jesus, “Master, have you been here all these mornings?” And Jesus said, “Yes, I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you. Remember, I love you. And remember, I don’t want your time or even your life. I want you.” Our Master Jesus wants us to be with him.  

In Jesus’ day there were always two types of people: the “crowds” and the “disciples.” The previous passage of today’s scripture says that a large crowd followed Jesus (v.7ff). They followed Jesus because of miraculous signs and wonders. They showed up for free food. They came to Jesus for healing. They were seeking the gifts from Jesus, not Jesus himself. When Jesus said to them, “Unless you eat my flesh and my blood, you have no life in you, many of them turned back and no longer followed him (John 6:53, 65). They were excited about miracles, but not about having fellowship with him. They were interested in healing, but not in becoming one with him. Then, Jesus asked his disciples, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” They answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” A disciple is the person who sits at the Jesus’ feet and has fellowship with him.

Allow Jesus to Do Something in You Before You Do Something for Him.

To become a disciple, it is necessary to spend much time with Jesus first. To be precise, before you do something for Jesus you must allow him to do something in you. Probably, you remember the story of Martha and Mary. One day Jesus and his disciples visited the village of Bethany, and Martha opened her home to them. She was generous and had a gift of hospitality. She began to prepare a good meal at least for 16 people (Jesus and his twelve disciples, Lazarus, Mary and herself!). Probably you know better than I that it is not easy to make a special meal for the big group. Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing, while Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet. Finally, Martha burnt out. The volcano inside her just exploded. Then, Jesus said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” What is the one thing? It is to hear his word. It is to have fellowship with him. It is to allow him to serve you before you serve others. Jesus chose his disciples to be with him, and then to send them out to do his work. Those purposes should be always in that order. If you get them turned around, it will destroy you. You’ll burn out.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, the last thing he did was to wash his disciples’ feet. When he came to Peter, Peter said to him, “No, you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” (Jn 13:8; NLT). One time I attended the youth group retreat as one of the youth leaders. Right before the closing worship service started, the youth pastor announced that he would do foot washing ceremony at the end of the service. I was very embarrassed because at that time I got bad athlete’s foot from the army. The pastor began to wash the youth leaders’ feet first. When he came to me to wash my feet, I almost cried out, “No, you will never wash my feet.” I was really tempted to run away. But the Holy Spirit urged me to stay. While the pastor was washing my feet, at first I felt naked and uncomfortable, but later I felt deeply loved. And my athlete’s foot was completely healed that night. After I was washed, it was my turn to wash my students’ feet. I had done foot washing several times before. But that night, something was different. I really came to know the love of Christ better. I came to understand that only when my feet were washed by Jesus first, I was then able to wash others’ feet. Only when we experience the love of Christ first, we are then able to go out to preach the gospel of love for Christ.

To Be with Jesus Is To Abide in Him.

In the 19^th century there was a British missionary to China. His name is Hudson Taylor. He was a very competent man. He was a founder of “China Inland Mission” which was responsible for 800 missionaries and 125 schools. However, as his own position became continually more and more responsible, he became nervous. He suffered from insomnia and a nervous breakdown. The harder he tried to imitate Jesus and do something for him, the more frustrated he became. One of his missionary friends, John McCarthy, heard of his struggles and wrote a letter to Taylor as follows: “How does the branch bear fruit? Not by incessant effort for sunshine and air… it simply abides in the vine, in silent and undisturbed union, and blossoms and fruit appear as of spontaneous growth. How, then, shall a Christian bear fruit? By efforts and struggles to obtain that which is freely given; by meditations on watchfulness, on prayer, on action, on temptation, and on dangers? No: there must be a full concentration of the thoughts and affections on Christ; a complete surrender of the whole being to Him; a constant looking to Him for grace…” This letter transformed Taylor’s life. It was like a light switch was turned on in his heart. It was so clear, so simple. Since that time, he entered into what he called “the exchanged life.” He experienced “oneness with Jesus” and did bear much fruit for Christ for the rest of his life.

Are You a Disciple?

Let us go back to our original question: “Who is a disciple?” A disciple is the person who constantly abides in Christ until he or she bears fruit. Surely the time will come when we must do something for Jesus. In John 12 about a week before Jesus dies, Lazarus and his sisters invite Jesus to dinner at their home for the second time. Again Martha is busy with preparing a meal. Jesus’ disciples and Lazarus are at the table. So far, Jesus has plainly spoken about his death at least three times (cf. Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:32-34). But no one doesn’t understand it or doesn’t want to pay attention to it. Perhaps Jesus feels very lonely. But there is one person who knows Jesus’ agony. Mary comes in with a jar of very expensive perfume, and she anoints Jesus’ feet, and then wipes them with her hair. The disciples are indignant and say, “Why this waste?” But Jesus says to them, “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Matt 26:10-13). At first, Mary seemed to do nothing. She just sat at Jesus’ feet. But later, when the time comes, she remembers what Jesus said about his death and prepares him for burial. Just in time she does a more beautiful thing than anyone else for the Lord.

Are you a disciple? The first and most important qualification of a disciple is to be with Jesus. While we live on earth, we will be busy with many things. But not necessarily, they are all memorable for Jesus. There is only one way to do something beautiful and memorable for Jesus. You must abide in him and allow him to minister to you first. This morning Jesus says to us, “My son, my daughter, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. I want you!”

“Fellowship Community” (August 3, 2014)

“Fellowship Community” (Acts 6:1-7)

- Our Core Values III -

Church as Fellowship Community

There are several biblical marks of a true church. This morning we will mainly focus on the church as “fellowship community.” The early church has always been a role model of a true fellowship. They met together both at home and at the temple day by day. They shared everything they had. They shared their meals. They shared their possessions and goods with joy and generosity (Acts 2:42-47). And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. How wonderful and how beautiful it is! But then, the devil launched a counter attack. He tried to destroy the church by “division” and “distraction.” In the early church there were mainly two groups of people in terms of language and culture. The majority of the early church believers were the Hebrew-speaking Jews, and there were some Greek-speaking believers as a minority group. Satan tried to distort this "diversity" into "division." For some reason, the Greek-speaking widows were overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Greek-speaking disciples started to complain against the majority group, that is, the Hebrew-speaking disciples. Satan put a barrier between the believers. That "division" made the apostles "distracted" from their ministry. The early church was facing a serious crisis of division and distraction. We can learn very important biblical principles from how the early church overcame this crisis.

“Knowledge” Approach

When we come up against problems, we tend to ask ourselves, "What (who) is right and wrong in this situation?" This is a “knowledge” approach. As long as we use this approach, some people will be satisfied, but not others. There will be winners and losers always. I still remember one incident when I was in high school. One of my friends was very antagonistic to the church. One day he criticized openly the church and pastors. I couldn’t stand it. I refuted his criticism bit by bit. Finally, it seemed that I argued him down to change his opinion. But after this, he became even more antagonistic toward the church. Few months later I heard strange news that he became a Christian! Later, I heard the whole story from him. He had a close friend who was a Christian. His friend never argued with him. Instead, he always listened to him and spent time with him. One day he invited him to the youth special event. After he met church people, his negative prejudices were just shattered. He began to attend the church. Later, he joined the choir and became a Sunday school volunteer. The knowledge approach might be helpful to discern between right and wrong. But the things is in most cases it cannot solve the problems.

“Love” Approach

In today’s scripture the early church used totally different approach. They used a 'love' approach. They did not ask "what is right and wrong?" Instead, they asked themselves, "How can I practice love in this situation?” "How can we build up the church together?" And they found the answer! The answer was to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word of God. The apostles realized that the church would be spiritual united only through prayer and the word of God. So they chose to focus on prayer and teaching the word. They chose to focus on their calling. It doesn’t mean that they neglected the ministry of tables or social service. It doesn’t mean that the ministry of prayer and word is superior to the other. But the apostles discerned that this distraction was from Satan and the cure for this was to go back to their calling. The great temptation for pastors today is to try to control all church ministries. They become leaders in every area of the church ministry, but the thing is they come to neglect their own calling because of other ministries. This is the strategy of Satan: "Distraction." The apostles knew the limitation of their time, energy and gifts. They knew that they were called to be one part of the body, and they chose to focus on their calling. They chose not to monopolize the church leadership. They designated and empowered others. In verse 3 the apostles says, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you. We will turn this responsibility over to them.” This is empowering love! The Apostles overcame distractions through love approach.

Now it is the believers’ turn to choose. The great temptation for believers today is to be outsiders and complain against those different from them. This is the strategy of Satan: “Division.” But the early church believers followed the example of the apostles. They also used a “love” approach. They asked themselves, “How can I practice love in this situation?” “How can we build up the church together?” Then they chose the seven people. We can find a very interesting fact here. All seven were the Greek names. In other words, all of them came from the minority group. The majority of the early church believers did not choose their own people, but they did choose the right persons for this issue. They chose the seven minority people to advocate for and take care of the minority group. This is love approach. 

“Eagerly Desire the Greater Gifts!”

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12, describes spiritual gifts, and then he concludes in this way: “But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.” And then he talks about “love.” So normally, we think that love is the most excellent spiritual gift. But Paul said, “Eagerly desire the greater gifts.” He used “plural,” not “singular.” If he used “plural” on purpose, 1 Corinthians 13 might be translated in this way: “If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. But if I have a faith “with love,” the gift of faith becomes a greater gift. If I give all I possess to the poor, but have not love, I gain nothing. But if I give “with love,” the gift of giving becomes a greater gift.” The more we have love, the greater our spiritual gifts become no matter what kind of gifts we have. Although we have little gifts, they become greater gifts if we have love. Therefore, we must eagerly desire “love” more than anything else.

The Bible says, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). Knowledge knows in part, but love sees the whole picture. Once a famous missionary to Africa was invited to give his testimony at seminary. Because of his reputation, the chapel was packed with the faculty and students. All of them were eager to hear his message. But for some reason his message was incoherent that day. The people were very disappointed, and some of them started to grumble. After the message, a liturgist made the announcement to the audience: “Brothers and sisters, please let us express our gratitude to him, and let us pray for him. Just before he came here, he got an emergency call, and he heard the news that his wife and two sons were killed by the natives. Nevertheless, he came to keep the promise.” After the people heard the announcement, no one complained against him. Instead, they showed respect to him deeply. Knowledge knows in part, but love sees the bigger picture. The early church, both the apostles and the believers alike, never passed judgment with their knowledge. Instead, “with love” they saw the whole picture and built up the church together. Love builds up!

“Is This Love?”

The apostles and the believers all together asked one question, “How can I practice love in this situation?” When they devoted themselves to practicing love, the word of God prospered. The Bible says, “The number of disciples in Jerusalem continued to grow rapidly. Even a large number of priests became obedient to the faith” (v.7; ISV). The point of this verse is not just about the church growth. But, it testifies when we really practice God’s love, the Lord will even soften the hearts of the people, even our enemies, and draw them to his church. My prayer for our church is not to become the biggest church in town. We already have good big sized churches. My prayer is that our church will be known as “the most loving place in town.” Let us follow the example of the early church. Let us ask the one question: “How can I practice love in this situation?” “How can we build up the church together?” Then God will be glorified, and his church will be prosperous! Amen.

“Gospel Community” (July 27, 2014)

“Gospel Community” (Gal 2:20)

- Our Core Values II -

“We Preach Christ Crucified!”

There is one story that I always try to remember whenever I prepare the message. This story is about one church in England. The slogan of this church on the front door was always "We Preach Christ Crucified." But after many years, the church decided to change the sign into "We Preach Christ." They still preached Christ, but not necessarily Christ “Crucified.” They started focusing more on Jesus' moral life, noble character, and his philosophy than on his death and resurrection. Then, many people left the church. After a few years, the church changed its sign once again. It became "We Preach." From that time on, the church started preaching any topics from politics, philosophy, ethics to all kind of social issues. Then more people left the church. And eventually, that church had to close down. This story reminds us of what must we believe and what must we preach to ourselves and to the world. In this respect, today’s Scripture contains the fullness of the gospel in a nutshell: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who lived and gave himself for me.”

“Christ Has Died!” (Prerequisite of Galatians 2:20)

This is the gospel that we must hold fast to forever. Paul says, in 1 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.” Paul knew that the gospel of the cross alone is the power of God. Before he came to preach in Corinth, he was in Athens (cf. Acts 17:16ff). The city of Athens was full of idols. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the good news about Jesus’ death and resurrection to everyone in the market place as well as in the synagogue. When the people heard of this gospel, some of them laughed at him and others said, “We want to hear more about this” and they left. The Bible says “A few men became followers of Paul and believed” (v.34). The fruit of his ministry in Athens was not that impressive. If I were Paul, I would modify the message for the next time. But Paul did not change his message. He continued to preach the same message, “the message of the cross,” in the next city, Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 2:2 he says, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” He knew that the people were asking for miraculous signs and human wisdom. He knew the message of the cross would be a stumbling block and sound foolish to them. But he still preached Christ crucified, because Paul knew that this gospel alone is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Paul himself used to laugh at the message of cross. But in the depths of despair he encountered Jesus who died on the cross to deliver him. Since that time, Paul always preached Christ crucified.

“I Have Been Crucified with Christ!”

Today’s scripture is Paul’s confession of love to Christ. When we experience the deep, deep love of Jesus, then we come to confess like Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ.” It is not a goal to achieve by our efforts. It is a statement of the life we will live when we fall in love with Christ. I want you to pay attention to the tense of this verse. It is the “present perfect.” It is already completed. NLT version translates this verse in this way: “My old self has been crucified with Christ.” When we fall in love with Christ who was crucified for our sin, we become dead to our old self. That’s why in Romans 6:11 Paul says, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” It is not about trying hard to be dead to self. It is about accepting death to self. St Macarius was a well-known church father in 4^th century. One youth asked him, “What does it mean to be dead to self and to the world?” St Macarius sent him to a cemetery to rebuke and then to praise the dead. Then he asked him what they said to him. The young man replied, “They were silent to both praise and reproach.” Macarius said, “And so you too. Be dead like the dead.” Dead men tell no tales. Dead men do not become angry when insulted, nor puffed up when praised. That’s what it means to be crucified with Christ.

“Christ Lives in Me!”

Some of you may say, “Yes, I want to be holy. I want to be dead to self. But it’s hard to keep up.” Now we have “knowledge” of how we should live, but we don’t have the “power” to achieve it. Paul went through the same process already. He really wanted to live a holy life, but at the same time, his sinful nature made him a slave to sin. So he cried out in despair, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:22-24) But this is not the end. We have good news. Jesus promised, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you” (John 14:18) He died on the cross, but on the third day he was raised from the dead by the power of God, and as he promised, he did come back to us to dwell within us through the infilling of his Holy Spirit. William Temple used to illustrate this mystery in this way: “It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a new play just like it. Shakespeare could do it, but I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life just like it. Jesus could do it, but I can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live inside me, I would then be able to write plays like he did. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come and live inside me, I would then be able to live a life like he did.” This is the open secret of how to live as a Christian.

I would like to share my story how the Holy Spirit guides me to live a victorious life. In summer 2010 I went to a short term mission trip to China with the church members. During the trip, there was a time when things became very difficult. The advance group had to transfer several times and skip meal to prepare a special service ahead of time. After the trip, one of the team members shared this experience with other church family members. For some reason, he remembered wrong. He thought I was not the advance team member. So after he shared the story, he said something like this, “Pastor Victor doesn’t know how difficult it was because he was not there.” When I heard this, I was so angry. Immediately, I was tempted to say for myself and cry out, “I was there!” But at that very moment, the Holy Spirit said to me, “Be silent. Be dead.” And then he said to me, “I know you were there.” Strangely enough, my anger subsided. His peace guarded my heart. I truly came to believe if God saw me I was there, that would be enough. I then was able to focus on God rather than what others thought of me. And I was able to be free from how they saw me.

“I Live by Faith!”

Today Paul’s confession is not out of a sense of religious obligation, but it is from sense of freedom and excitement. He shouts with joy, “Yes, I have been crucified with Christ. I no long live, but Christ lives in me, and now I live by faith in him!” The gospel is good news because God deals us according to the finished work of Christ. “By Jesus’ death and resurrection” our old life is gone and a new life burgeons! As I close the message, let me tell you the story of Pastor Tullian Chavijin. In his book, “Jesus + Nothing = Everything” he shares the following story. He says that one time his friend’s daughter, Robin, found herself in a very difficult English literature course that she desperately wanted to get out of. She sat there on her first day and thought, “If I don’t transfer out of this class, I’m going to fail. I can’t do this.” She came home with tears in her eyes and begged her dad to help her get out of the class. So the next day her dad took her down to the school, and they went to the head of the English department. He asked for his daughter’s transfer. Then the dean looked at Robin and said to her, “Robin, I know how you feel. What if I promised you an A no matter what you did in the class? If I gave you an A before you even started, would you be willing to take the class?” Robin was astonished and said, “Well, I think I could do that.” The teacher said, “I’m going to give you an A in the class. You already have an A, so you can go to class.” Later the teacher explained to Robin’s dad how she took away the threat of a bad grade so that Robin could learn English literature. Robin ended up making straight A’s on her own in that class. That’s how God deals with us. Because of Christ’s finished work, we already have an A. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. We have victory in Jesus forever!

Do you want to live a victorious life? I will tell you an open secret. The secret of a victorious life is to die to self everyday, and to live by faith in Christ who lives in us. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Let us believe this gospel! Let us sing this gospel! Let us live this gospel! Then, our life, our family, and our church will be transformed and prosperous in a wonderful way. Amen.

“Worship Community” (July 20, 2014)

“Worship Community” (John 4:13-26)

- Our Core Values I -

Amma, “the Hugging Saint”

One day about three years ago I read a very interesting article. The title was “A hug from Amma.” Amma is from India, and her nickname is “the hugging saint.” She has been hugging more than 26 million people for 30 years. At this time she appeared Alexandra Palace in the UK. Thousands of people came to see her everyday from all over the world. One visitor said, “The time it takes and money it costs to fly over from Australia is worth it for a hug with Amma." He paid $1,000 for a one-way ticket just to see her.

In today’s Scripture we meet one woman whose soul pants for something. She is a Samaritan woman. If we dramatize this text, the story would be in this way: she had an unquenchable thirst. She made every effort to satisfy her thirst through “husband.” She got married with the man who had money. But, she felt something missing. So, she got married a second time with the man who was famous in town. But, she became thirstier. So, she got married a third time with the man who got actively involved in charity work. But it did not help to quench her thirst. So, she got married a fourth time with the man who had a noble character. But soon she got bored with him. So, she got married a fifth time with the man who was in politics. But she was still thirsty. So now, she got divorced and lived together with another man. Her life was just like drinking seawater. The harder she tried to quench her thirst, the more thirsty she became.

“Why Am I Always Thirsty?”

The problem is that she never knew why she was thirsty all the time. This is our problem today. We hunger, we thirst, we feel empty, but we don’t know why! The Samaritan woman thought, “If I had a husband, if I had a happy family, if I made more friends and personal connections, I would satisfy my thirst.” We often think, “If I could just get this job, I’ll be satisfied. If I could buy this house, then life would be grand.” But, Jesus says to us, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again!” (13) Our thirst is not about money, power and sex. The Bible says it is all about “worship.” It is all about “our relationship with God.” We are created to have fellowship with God. We are created to praise and worship God. In Isaiah 43:21 the Lord says, “The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” The reason why we thirst is because our relationship with God is broken. Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”

Have you heard “mad cow disease”? We do not know exactly what causes this disease. However, many scientists assume that it might be because we gave a cow animal feed. A cow is created to have grass. But, when the cow ate animal feed, she went wrong. In the same way, we are created to have fellowship with God and worship him only. But, when we try to meet our needs on our own, we become even more thirsty. The Bible says in Jeremiah 2:13, “My people have done two evils: They have turned away from me, the spring of living water. And they have dug their own wells, which are broken wells that cannot hold water” (NCV).

“Is There Any Water That Can Quench My Thirst?”

Now we know the reason why we are thirsty. Now we know our relationship with God is broken. But still, we have another problem. Although we know the cause of thirst, we do not have the power to solve the problem. So, Jesus came to us first. Jesus came to the Samaritan woman first. John 4:4 says, “Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria.” But it was not necessary. In Jesus’ time, Jews did not associate with Samaritans. When the Jews wanted to go to Galilee from Judea, they always used a roundabout way instead of passing through Samaria. But the Bible says, “Jesus must go through Samaria.” He had to do it to see this woman. She had no power to come to God. So Jesus came to her. We had no power to come to God. So Jesus came first to our life. Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:37-38). Jesus is living water that can permanently quench our thirst.

Earlier this morning I quoted Blaise Pascal. He was a prominent mathematician, physicist, and inventor. At the age of 19 he invented the world’s first mechanical calculator. He achieved both wealth and honor at a young age, but for some reason he felt miserable and empty. He was thirsty. On November 23, 1654 he got a horse carriage accident, but miraculously he was saved. He saw this as a warning directly from God. That night he humbly came to Jesus and encountered him in his room. He kept a record of this experience, and for the rest of his life Pascal carried around it sewn into his coat. It says, "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and scholars...Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy...'This is life eternal that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.' Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ...May I not fall from him forever...I will not forget your word."

“What Must I Do?”                                       

Are you thirsty? What are you thirsty for? The Samaritan woman was thirsty for love and happiness. But now, she pants for God, the fountain of living water! Jesus, the Word of truth, came to her and opened her eyes. At first, she considered Jesus “a Jewish man” (9). But then, she respected him as “a prophet” (19). And in the end she confessed that Jesus is “the Christ,” “Savior” (29). Many people recognize Jesus and say, “Oh, Jesus is my friend and my teacher.” But, that’s not enough! When we believe in Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord, and when we worship him, he will satisfy our thirst. But the act of worship itself does not quench our soul automatically. There is one condition: We must worship him “in spirit and truth.” Message Bible translates this verse in this way: “God is sheer being itself--Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." This is an amazing mystery. When we worship God with all our hearts, He satisfies our thirst and our needs.

True worship revives our souls. We worship God because it is one of the Ten Commandments. But worship is more than that. We worship God because it is the only way to quench our thirst. Without worship our soul dies. It is not “we” preserve worship, but “worship” preserves our life! God is looking for true worshippers. Those who pray for Sunday worship service on Saturday evening cannot be the same as those who watch television after midnight Saturday. Those who come to church early and prepare their hearts before worship service cannot be the same as those who run into the sanctuary during the service. True worship starts not from Sunday morning, but from Saturday evening. True worship starts not at the church, but at home when we prepare for worship. Are you true worshippers? Do you worship God in spirit and truth?

 

“Worship Community”

From this Sunday I will share my vision for our church: “5 core values of the church,” and the first core value is “worship.” My prayer for our church is to become a true worship community. My vision for our church is that anyone who is thirsty can freely come to this place, drink living water by worshipping God in spirit and truth, and go out to share it with everyone in the community just as the Samaritan woman did. I want to close the message with a story of one sculptor because this story tells us who is Jesus and what must we do to him. Once there was a sculptor who sculpted a statue of our Lord. And many people came from great distances to see it – Christ in all his strength and tenderness. They walked all round the statue, trying to grasp its splendor, looking at it now from this angle, now from that. Yet still its grandeur eluded them. So finally, they asked the sculptor what would be the best angle to appreciate the statue. The sculptor replied, “There’s only one angle from which this statue can be truly seen. You must kneel.” Amen.