Sermon: Reflections on 2015

Today Pastor Choi takes a moment to reflect on the goal of 2015 for Manahawkin Congregation: the Year of Knowing Jesus.  Out of many lessons he learned through the year, he shares the following three: first, love the Lord with a pure heart.  Next, do everything for the glory of God and His pleasure (I Corinthians 10:31).  Thirdly, brighten the corner where you are.

 

     Reflections on 2015

 

 

Following is a summary of the sermon:

 

Reflections on 2015

Today we have the cantata, so my message will be brief.

First of all, as pastor of this congregation, I would like to thank God for His faithfulness.  He has blessed us to finish this year strong, therefore, let us praise our Heavenly Father who sustained us both physically and spiritually.  I also thank all of you for loving the Lord and being faithful to His ministry through your presence, gifts, and talents.

I’d like to take a moment to reflect on our goal of 2015—“the year of knowing Jesus.”  I hope and pray that all of us have made progress in our faith and practice.

Personally, this year was one of the most productive years in terms of growing spiritually.  I have discovered Jesus in new and refreshing ways that, in turn, energized my walk with the Lord.

I’ve made over 30 discoveries throughout the year in knowing Jesus and they can be squeezed down to the following three:

First, love the Lord with a pure heart.  The Lord taught me to check on my motive why I wanted to know Jesus on a deeper level in the first place: it is never for selfish gains such as ‘doing great wonders and miracles’ or ‘making our church ten times bigger than it is now.’  Rather, He wants me to know, enjoy, and love Him with a pure motive for the sake of relationship not for the benefits thereof.  E.g. In any healthy and thriving relationship, no one looks for what’s in it for them first; rather, they love each other first, and enjoy the benefits thereafter.

Next, do everything for God’s glory and His pleasure (1 Corinthians 10:31).  Often times, I find myself keeping God’s commands for fear factors such as ‘to avoid the consequences of sins’ or ‘not to fall into temptations.’  The Lord wants me to change that attitude: keep His word, not because I’m afraid if I don’t, but because I love Him.  E.g. English sentence: I don’t have to, but I love to.  From now on, I will keep His Word not because I have to, but because I love Jesus (John 14:23).  Jesus also reminds me of this: whenever I keep His Word, it pleases Him.  E.g. Eric Liddell “God made me fast.  And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”  Let us do everything, from reading the Bible to prayer, from worship to our words, for His pleasure.  When He is pleased, it makes us pleased in turn.

Thirdly, brighten the corner where you are.  I realize more and more that the Lord doesn’t expect me to save the entire world (it is the job for Jesus).  Rather, He expects me to brighten the corner where I am and to blossom where I am planted.   E.g. A young man in 1930s wanted to liberate Korea from Japanese occupation by joining the armed resistance.  His mentor’s advice was to stay home instead and brighten the corner where he was.  What matters most in the sight of the Lord is: not how many great achievements we make but how much we love people around us with Christ-like love.  “Fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22, NASB).

2015 is almost over.  However, knowing Jesus doesn’t stop on December 31.  It is an ongoing process for us.  Let us keep growing in His love, knowledge, insight so that we may test and know what matters most and stay pure and blameless until Christ comes (Philippians 1:9-11).    Amen.

Sermon: Rejoice

Today Pastor Choi talks about true joy and where we can find it: in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Sharing stories of three believers in Christ who found true joy in the Lord, he exhorts the believers to do the same by fixing their eyes on Jesus the true source of joy and light in the world.

    Rejoice

 

 

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Rejoice 

Philippians 4:4   New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

Introduction

Have you been in the mall lately shopping?  Have you ever closely observed people’s faces?   Were they all happy, beaming, or joyous?  Or, rather, empty, tired, and even grumpy?  I’ve seen more weary faces than merry ones in this season of joy.

During this season of Christmas, we hear and speak a lot about joy: Christmas joy, joy to the world, and so forth.  One question arises in my mind: where’s the joy in this season of joy?  What has gone wrong in our celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ?  Although joy should’ve been the central theme of the season, some of us find burden in our hearts instead.  Some folks even suffer from ‘holiday blues.’  Sure, we can find fault with commercialism for the loss of our joy.  Yes, we can also blame our kids for their unreasonable requests of very expensive toys.  Yet, seriously, what happened to our joy?   How can we find true joy and where should we look for it?  That’s the topic this morning.

Contents

Where can we find joy?  Would you believe if I said that you can find joy in the midst of cancer treatments?  Would you say amen if I said that you can find joy even in a prison cell?  Would you agree if I said that you can find joy even in your disabilities?

I am going to tell you stories of three individuals who found their joys in the midst of hardships.  After their stories, I will briefly speak about the common thread that binds them together.

First, please come and meet a sister in Christ.  I will leave her unnamed.  I will simply say she was one of my parishioners some years ago in Michigan.  She was very ill at that time, because she had cancer and had been through a series of chemotherapy.  As a result, she lost all her hair and no physical strength was left in her body.  Believe me: none of us wants to be in such a state.  One day I met with her to pray for her healing and strength.  Humanly speaking, she had nothing to be joyful about.  However, that day, on her face I saw something priceless and heavenly: a smile.  In fact, I haven’t seen such a beautiful smile on anyone’s face in my life.  It left such an indelible impression on my mind that I wondered where this kind of smile / joy came from.  You simply cannot buy such a smile with money for sure.  Her smile definitely didn’t come from her circumstances, either.  Yet, I witnessed it.

Next, come and meet a brother in Christ who found a similar joy in a place where we would least expect to find it: in prison.  His name is Paul a.k.a. the Apostle.  In today’s passage, he says to us, “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say rejoice!”

Now, please consider the circumstances in which he wrote his letter.  He wasn’t vacationing in Hawaii basking in the sun.  Rather, he was sitting in a dark and damp dungeon in Rome.  He was a prisoner for Christ.  Mind you that he was not enjoying benefits of modern prison such as TV, internet, library, three square meals, medical benefits, exercise room, and so forth.  As far as his sentence was concerned, he had no hope of release.  Why?  Because he was on death row.  He was waiting for his last day on earth.  Yet, writing this letter with his own hands to the believers in Philippi, he commanded them twice to rejoice in the Lord.  How can a person on death row encourage the people outside to rejoice always?

Have you ever visited with a man who was terminally ill?   You go there to comfort him.  Yet, instead of comforting, you come out being comforted by him.  The same thing was true with Paul and the Philippian believers.  Humanly speaking, Paul was the one who needed to be comforted big time by the believers outside, because he was in prison with no hope of clemency, waiting to be executed.  The saints in Philippi, on the other hand, were the ones who were free and able to do whatever they wanted to do.  Furthermore, they had lots of blessings to be grateful for such as family, food, clothing, and shelter.  As far as material possessions, Paul had nothing to share with others.  Yet, the one with nothing actually did comfort those with much.   ‘Rejoice and again I say rejoice,’ the same prisoner urges us this morning.

Here’s the third story to ponder.  Feel free to guess who this lady is.  She was born in 1820 and died in 1915.  She became blind when she was six weeks old through an improper medical treatment.  She was married to a blind musician and had a child who died in early infancy.  She was rather petite in appearance; less than five feet tall and weighed less than one hundred pounds.  To some, she was physically unattractive —“a long face, prominent front teeth with a gap between them; thick, wavy hair parted in the middle and pulled backward in curls that hung to the shoulders”; she also wore the dark rectangular glasses obscuring her sightless eyes.  “Yet, when she spoke, it is said that there was an unusual charisma about her, as her face lit up with an expression that gave her great charm and attractiveness” (Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 More Hymn Stories, pp. 239-240).

You need more hints?  She wrote lots of poems for the Lord, and, in fact, we know well a number of hymns she wrote: “Blessed Assurance,” “All the Way My Savior Leads Me,” “Rescue the Perishing,” and etc.  Got the idea now?  Yes, her name was Fanny J. Crosby.

By the way, folks, do you know that she had a true conversion experience at a Methodist revival meeting, and said about her conversion experience as follows? “The Lord planted a star in my life and no cloud had ever obscured its light” (Ibid., p. 240).

Now, speaking about the light, Jesus says He is the light of the world (John 8:12).  As long as He is in you, no cloud in your life will ever obscure His light, and you will walk in the light.  Jesus is also the source of our joy and delight.  Can you imagine a person like Fanny J. Crosby, who was blind, did one of the most wonderful ministries in history?  What did she do?  She led numerous souls to Christ through her songs.  Although she could’ve pitied herself for her handicap through her entire life, she was never imprisoned by self-pity.  Rather, she stayed very active for the Kingdom of God for years.  Who made all the difference in her life?  Wasn’t it Jesus Christ the Light and the Joy of the world?  She lived for 95 years on earth and now is with the Lord.  What do you think she would say to us, if she became alive at this moment among us?  Wouldn’t she say the same thing she did through many words of hymns she wrote?  That is, the best blessing anyone can have is Jesus Christ–Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

True joy is found in the Lord:

I promised at the beginning that I would briefly share with you one thing that is in common among these three individuals.  They were all Christians.  They all had the same faith in Jesus.  Their circumstances were different, yet they all found the same joy in the Lord—the source of true joy in our lives.  Let me say it one more time: True joy is only found in the Lord.  It doesn’t come from anything material.  That is, you still may have emptiness even when you are surrounded with a plethora of things.   However, you can have true joy without spending a dime, too, as long as you are in the Lord.  True joy also transcends circumstances.  That’s why I would call it true joy.  It doesn’t depend on circumstances.  Prosperities don’t guarantee it.   It doesn’t disappear in adversities, either.   It is unshakable.  It is immovable, because it comes from eternal God.  Circumstances may change, but God never does.  Therefore, let us learn to refuse to fall into your mood swings that go with the circumstances.   Rather let us tell God that we will put our 100% trust in Him no matter what.   E.g. Fanny J. Crosby story again.   “At the age of eight years she wrote her first poem:

Oh what a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.

How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don’t;
To weep and sigh because I’m blind
I cannot nor I won’t. (http://www.truthfulwords.org/biography/crosbytw.html)

Conclusion

Do you remember what happened on the first Christmas Eve in the region of Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-12)?  That night the heavenly angels appeared before the shepherds out in the field and proclaimed the good news of a great joy for all the people in the world.  Since then, Jesus Christ has been the true joy to many.  He may be the greatest joy for the world, but He can’t be yours, unless you too have Him in your heart as your Savior and Lord.

Do you miss joy in your life?  Does your soul cry for help?  Have Jesus Christ right now in your heart.   Have Him as your personal Savior and Lord today.  Ask Him to come into your heart and be the King in your life.  Then, your heart will be filled with heavenly joy.  You can have this joy all the time as long as Christ reigns in you.  Fix your eyes on Jesus, because He is the only one who can give you true joy.  Ask Him, and He will give it to you.    Shall we pray?

“Say after me, if you would like to have true joy in your life.  Lord Jesus, I repent my sins.  Forgive my sins through your precious blood.  Please come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior.  Be my true joy for the rest of my life.  In Christ’s name, I pray.  Amen.”