Palm Sunday Virtual Service and Pastor Cheol’s Sermon: Strengthen Hope in the Passion

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Please join us for our Palm Sunday Virtual Worship Service!  You can reach the service on YouTube by clicking the following link:  https://youtu.be/btVHEYuydko

 

Please be sure to turn up the volume on your PC or tablet.  Enjoy!
Send prayer requests and announcements to the church office if you would like to be included in next week’s virtual service.
We are excited to be able to remain connected during this challenging time.  Feel free
to share the service with friends and family.

April 05, 2020 [Red or Purple]
Passion/Palm Sunday (Sixth Sunday in Lent)
Psalm 46:1-3; Matthew 27:57-61

 Strengthen Hope in the Passion

The gloomy season

Weather in our New England is so fickle, especially, around this time of the year. It’s warm one day and just the next day cold again. I am always confused about whether the month of April is spring or winter. Spring has come and Easter is just next week, but emotionally I felt like I had to start the Lenten journey all over.

Liturgically, this Sunday is also one of the hardest days of the entire church year on which the Son of God was betrayed and killed by the humanity whom he so loved. Through our Palm/Passion Sunday, we are invited to see our capricious hearts that welcome the Christ by shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” with a song of praise one moment, and nailing him to the cross the next. This story is not about some other people at some other time. It is about all of us.

Walking with Joseph

Today, we are walking with a man named “Joseph” whom we don’t know much about. According to our Gospel lesson for this morning, he has the courage to ask Pontius Pilate for Jesus’ dead body because he wants to carry it from Golgotha to the tomb. His pace will be slow with such a heavy burden.

Perhaps Joseph is numb from the horrible events of the day; Jesus who was hailed by people as their Messiah was just crucified as a criminal and died on a cross. Looking at the dead body of Jesus, he might say to himself, “How could the man called the Messiah end his life like this? How come the righteous man was killed, and Barabbas, the notorious murderer, can be allowed to roam the streets? If this is the kingdom I have been hoping for through this man, I don’t want any part of it!”

This unexpected event must have caused him to struggle with all kinds of negative thoughts. He might be worried about the prospect of life without Jesus in this world. He might be disappointed with the fact that all his disciples and followers ran to their homes and locked the doors. He might even doubt his promise of God’s kingdom. Whatever his thoughts, it is certainly a gloomy walk.

His questions and concerns are familiar to us today, aren’t they? Just like him, we are shocked to see our world has been shaken by this invisible enemy. Just like him, we are in a panic and afraid that this ruthless virus is roaming on our streets.  Just like him, we are  disappointed that we must stay home to keep “social distancing” and even “self-quarantine.” Just like him, we are struggling with those negative questions of “Why this” or “Why me.”

Joseph’s broken heart is ours; his concern is ours; his disappointment is ours as well. Once again, the Passion story is not about some other people in some other time, but it is our story of today. Carrying the dead body of Jesus, he may have also struggled with a question like “How can I get through this trial?” And we know this is also our question of today.

“God is with us”

My answer to this question is so simple and clear: “Raise your head and live with “hope!” I can even say that we can use this tough trial as an opportunity to deepen and strengthen our hope in God. “Hope? What are you talking about? Don’t you know what happened to our world?” … Friends, if our time is always perfect without any worry or challenge, we don’t need to have hope and we don’t need to rely on God our Savior. Then, what is the reason for us to live with hope in this time of anxiety and uncertainty?

When I was in my prayer time as usual, God gave me the passage from Psalm 46. The verse 1 in this poem says that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” And I was inspired to have in my mind the picture of a little lamb and the shepherd: the lamb was stuck in down at the bottom of a deep valley covered by thorns and thistles, and the shepherd reached out to pick up his lost lamb. What I can see in this picture is that God is not there to stop the tragedy from happening, as much as we might want, but God is there to help us climb back out of the valley.

In our worship or in our prayer, we like to confess our faith such as God is our heavenly Father; God is stronger than anything; nothing is able to separate us from God’s love in Jesus Christ our Savior; God already dwells in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. Most of all, we believe that Christ was risen from the grave; after his own resurrection, he visited his disciples hidden in the dark room, saying “Peace be with you!” He promised to give us the Holy Spirit who will teaches us what to say and what to do when we are being persecuted.

All we say or confess in our faith is, in a word, to believe “God is with us,” doesn’t’ it? If we really confess this and believe this, friends, what are we afraid of? Does “God is with us” mean that there is no trouble in our life? You know this answer is No! God never promises in the Bible that there would be no trouble in our lives because He is with us, but God promises that when we are in trouble, we are still given hope because He is with us. God is there to help us when we are in our trouble. That is our hope!

Regardless of this coronavirus outbreak, we know life is hard, life is unfair, life is so fickle that we don’t know what will happen next moment. When we have to get through the stormy time, our hearts are more agitated about looking forward to a new day. But friends, let me remind you of this truth which you have already learned from your life journey: Without dark nights, can we really appreciate sunny days? Without heavy rain, can we really expect to see a rainbow in the sky? Without tasting the pain of defeat, can we really know how wonderful the final victory is?

Although we are always tempted to rush to the glory of Easter, we know we are called to get through Passion Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday: days which all talk about the cross of pain and suffering. We have to wait a little longer to hail the final victory. While waiting, we will not be afraid and panic but remain strong in hope because we know we are not alone but with God.

Walking in hope

Today we are walking with Joseph full of concerns and disappointments. Just like him, we also are surprised to see that our world God so loves has been shaken by this invisible enemy and this ruthless virus is roaming on our world. How dare this happen!?

Yet, unlike Joseph, we don’t want to walk in gloomy thoughts. Rather we still want to walk in hope because we are not carrying the dead body on our shoulders but we are carrying the Good News that “God is with us.” As we trust the promise of God’s presence and keep this risen Christ deep in our heart, we can always have tremendous hope for today, tomorrow, and all eternity. Our faith of “God is with us,” that is our hope, our shield, our shelter, and our rock for our life journey in this time of trial.

March 29th Virtual Service and Pastor Cheol’s Sermon: Do not panic, but pray in times of suffering

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Please join us for our March 29th Virtual Worship Service!  You can reach the service on YouTube by clicking the following link: https://youtu.be/UTICweRxu5g

Please be sure to turn up the volume on your PC or tablet.  Enjoy!
Send prayer requests and announcements to the church office if you would like to be included in next week’s virtual service.
We are excited to be able to remain connected during this challenging time.  Feel free
to share the service with friends and family.

Sermon Message

March 29, 2020 [Purple] Fifth Sunday in Lent
James 5:13-18

Do not panic but pray in the time of suffering

Out of our control

Ever since the coronavirus was announced as a pandemic, fear has been rising all around the world. Just a few weeks ago, all the schools were closed and churches had to cancel their services. Then last week, we got a strict order from the governor stating that all of the nonessential businesses must be closed and we must stay home for the whole week. Last week was probably the worst week in our history. But I have heard that following weeks will be much worse, and that this horrible situation will continue for months. Lots of people shouted in panic, “I have never experienced these things in my life.”

From time to time we find ourselves in the middle of a crisis. Whatever it is that happens, if it is out of our control, we begin to be afraid and panic. And this coronavirus is something that is out of our control. Have you ever asked anyone how they’re doing, and they responded, “I’m doing okay under the circumstances!” You know there are things simply out of our control. Think about the weather. Whether you like today’s weather or not, you have to live with it. You can’t control your circumstances at work. You can’t control your neighbor’s lifestyles. You can’t even control your own kids, right? There are so many things we can’t control by our power. It is just because we are human beings. Maybe, we have to set aside our worry and just entrust this coronavirus to God as we know God is the only one who can control all things that happen.
The power of praying together

Anyway, I am just like you guys. When things are not in my control, I feel agitated in my heart. Along with you, I am so upset that I can’t see you guys and worship God in our church. “O Lord, didn’t you call me to serve your people and worship you with them as their pastor or friend? But how can I do my job unless we can come together? How can I comfort your people from anxiety and strengthen their faith? What can I do at this challenging time?” These are the questions I have been struggling over the past week… With my anxious heart, I come to the church, kneel down to pray, and lift up all your names. I feel so powerless because there is nothing I can do only except pray. One day when I prayed to God as usual, however, He inspired me with bible verse from the book of James: “Are any among you suffering? You should pray.” (v. 13).

When I talked with you on the phone last week, just checking on how you are doing, I came to realize that my questions are yours as well. Each of you asked me “How are you doing? How is your mom doing? How are our sisters and brothers doing?” Of course, you guys are also God’s servants, and as God’s servants you want to take care of people in suffering, right? Just like me, you are struggling with questions like “What can I do in this time of suffering?” To help answer your questions, let me share with you my inspiration and ask you to pray with me. “Are any among you suffering? Let us pray!”

In today’s passage, James calls us to pray for healing when we are suffering: “Are any among you suffering? Are any among you sick? [you should pray!”] (vv. 13-14). But if we read it carefully, we realize that his instruction is not an individual prayer but a communal prayer, which means praying all together for those in suffering.

If my sense is right, however, most people are not good at sharing their vulnerability with others. If they happen to suffer from illness, their first reaction is to try to handle it on their own. But that is not God’s will for the body of Christ. Instead, James instructs us to call the elders or leaders of the community, bring other members together, confess our sins to one another, and to pray for one another, so that we may be healed (vv. 14-16). He really says when we pray together, healing grace will be given to us.

Yes, we believe God hears our prayer and prayer changes things! But we also know sometimes that’s not true. Maybe there have been times when you prayed and nothing seemed to happen. Even faithful people can become terribly sick and die although they pray for God’s healing. How do we reconcile this reality with the promises of God’s healing in this passage?

Perhaps the healing James mentions is not just about physical healing. If it is only for physical healing, he should recommend that we take the sick to a physician. Perhaps praying together for the sick goes deeper than the physical condition. If you know someone is praying for you, you may feel your heart, your emotion, your spirit is touched by God’s hands, and you may get assurance that you had partners for the journey ahead.

Prayer is not only about our pleas to God. Rather it builds a relationship. It brings us companionship. It connects us with God and one another. Indeed, James calls us to pray together, sing songs of praise together, call for the elders and members together, confesses our sins to one another. These are all about relationships, companionship, and loving and living together as a family. Even if we suffer for a while, we can quickly overcome it because there is always grace and power when we share things together as a family.

Friends, I haven’t seen you for the past two weeks. Yet I feel much closer to you than ever before. I believe it is because I keep you all in my prayers every day. In today’s passage, James instructs us to ask the elders of the church to pray for the sick (v. 14). I want to let you know I am in prayer for you, my family. I pray for God’s protection for your lives, your family, and your workplaces. But friends, a pastor is not the only one who is called to pray for the church family. Each one of us is called to pray for one another, that we may have God’s healing grace (v. 16). And I know you have kept me and all of us in your prayers. We must not let anyone among us suffer alone. We as a family in God should reach out to each other in prayer.

With this spirit of our family-ship in God, let us look around our world. Just as the church is the body of God, this earth is the body of God. Just as all the members of this church are our family, all human races living on the earth are our family in God. Today our world has been shaken and threatened by the power of the coronavirus, and we have to see millions of people who are suffering. We feel broken-hearted because we know they are also God’s children and our brothers and sisters in God. What can we do in this time of challenge? We should take this global disaster as ours and pray for God’s salvation for our world.
The power of prayer

We must never underestimate the power of prayer. God answers our requests for help exactly as we ask, but sometimes not. Either way, the Bible calls us to be faithful in prayer. Ephesians 6:18 teaches us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” In James, we hear that “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly… that the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.” (vv. 17-18). Was there magic in his prayer? No, prayer is not about magic. It is about moving God to take action. James even says in today’s passage that it is more powerful and effective to pray all together than pray alone.

Our world is suffering and many people among us are suffering. What can we do? In the midst of this challenging time, let us stop panicking but pray for one another, pray for those who are suffering, pray for those who fight on the front lines, pray for our leadership and pray for our wounded world. The Bible says that “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” (v. 16). Amen. —— =

March 22nd Virtual Service and Pastor Cheol’s Sermon: Keep Your Eyes On Jesus Christ

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Please join us for our 1st Virtual Worship Service!  You can reach the service on YouTube by clicking the following link:
Please be sure to turn up the volume on your PC or tablet.  Enjoy!
Send prayer requests and announcements to the church office if you would like to be included in next week’s virtual service.
We are excited to be able to remain connected during this challenging time.  Feel free to share the service with friends and family.


March 22, 2020 – Fourth Sunday in Lent

Keep your eyes on Jesus Christ

Why me?

Just like you, I am also upset, anxious, and scared about this ongoing global outbreak of coronavirus. Over the past week, I got lots of cancellation texts from my counselor, my dentist, my social discussion group, my cat’s vet, etc. The other day when I went to the gym, I saw a notice on the door that they had closed the gym. Out of my painful heart, I also had to decide to cancel our Sunday worship service and all other activities in our church. What’s even more concerning is that we don’t know when we are coming back to worship again in church. I hope it is just before Easter Sunday, which is only three weeks away, but some of us said that we may not be able to return until Christmas, which is ten months later. Well, I know it was a kind of joke, but it can be a reality. Everything is uncertain and that is our panic.

Along with you friends, I am also concerned about how this corona concern will affect our worship and ministry. If it continues for a long time, no doubt it will cause our membership to decline, financial income to decline, spiritual decline… “Where are you leading our church, Lord?” I had to sigh when I prayed. “Lord, I had been praying for growth of our church, but what is this, why did you let it happen, why did this bad thing happen in this time, why, why, why?” I had to grumble to God.

Keep our eyes on Jesus

When I was struggling with this kind of negative “why” question, I got an email from our District Superintendent, Rev. David Calhoun. In his message, he was trying to give us a pastoral guideline, just like I have sent you my emails and letters just try to comfort you. Let me share with you a part of his message:

“My thoughts and prayers have been with you during this challenging time… In times of pain we often ask the wrong questions, such as, Why me? Perhaps the right questions to ask are, What can I learn from this? What good can come from this? What can I accomplish in spite of it?  … We need to hear the important words of hope that are essential, in times such as these… It is my prayer that each of us try to develop a mindset that refuses to give up and become discouraged. No one welcomes pain and discomfort, but with the right attitude we can bring about transformation.”

This is a very powerful and uplifting guideline, isn’t it? It reminds me that Christ’s disciples are called not to shrink in fear but to jump with courage in the crisis of our world and fight the good fight. This message switched my mindset and prompted me to ask God, “What can I do in this time of challenge?” And I hope all of us have this kind of positive question and confront this time of challenge. In doing so, we can turn this stumbling block into a stepping stone!

How can we do that? You know God is much bigger and stronger than the coronavirus. You know when we come before the Lord, God will put a shield of protection around us. Under the shade of his merciful hands, we can always find true peace, true safety, and true life. Perhaps this is the time we must show our faith, our discipleship, and our commitment more, as we seek God’s saving hands.

In today’s scripture from Matthew’s Gospel, we see the disciples were in panic as their boat was battered by the storm. When the disaster happened and they were terrified, who showed up? Jesus was walking on the water. And what did he say? “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (v. 27). But Peter looked around and saw the storm coming up to him, and he began to sink again. The key lesson in this story is, don’t look around but keep your eyes on the Lord.

Yes, we live in the time of anxiety and uncertainty. This coronavirus is a global challenge and we are really concerned about our future. Yet if we are honest, we know this coronavirus is not something new. We have been shouldering this kind of heavy burden, stress, and anxiety all the time. The best image to describe about our life-struggle is the “rat-race.” We rush about here, and we hurry over there, and then we see ourselves always tired, hurt, anxious and scared. Perhaps, this coronavirus is just an addition to our rat-race.

The bad news is that if you stay in the rat-race, even if you win, you’re still a rat, always getting stressed and anxious about your future life. The good news is that the Savior Jesus shows up when you are in trouble. But there is one condition if you want to hold his saving hands, that is, you must keep your eyes on him, not look around. If you look around, you will go back to your rat-race full of storms of life. But when you keep your eyes on Jesus Christ, you can always walk on the water.

Jesus’ eyes on us

I need to confess that I sometimes fall into the rat-race. I sometimes feel too tired to answer emails and phone messages… I am sometime anxious about everything… I sometimes feel like bleeding in my heart… I am sometimes tempted to stay alone, away from all of people.

Then I think about my Lord Jesus and I know from the Gospels that he was also very busy with his ministry, often broken-hearted, and even threatened by his enemies. How did he handle or overcome the moment of crisis? Did he give up? Did he run away? Did he close the doors? Did he stay away from all the crowds, just like we are doing now from this challenge of the coronavirus?

In the Gospel of Matthew 12:14-15, we can see Jesus was intimidated by the Pharisees; they tried to conspire against him, so they could destroy his life. It means Jesus confronted a terrible threat. When you happen to hear someone is coming to kill you and you don’t think it’s quite time to die, the first reaction you will have it to escape and hide in a secret place, right? And I believe that is what we are doing today. Like us, Jesus also decided to move away and hide somewhere just to protect his own life. But the following passage says that in his own refuge, he still welcomed people and healed their illness. Even in his own critical situation, Jesus still kept his eyes on others’ needs.

Nothing prevents Jesus from loving and caring for his people. No matter what situation he had to struggle with, he never withdrew himself from people; he never closed the door of his heart; he never ignored people’s need. The cross Jesus took up was pretty heavy and stressful, but his cross was not like ours. If ours is the cross of rat-race, the cross of anxiety and uncertainty, Jesus’s cross is for serving us and giving us salvation.

Take Jesus’ yoke

Don’t get me wrong, my friends, I don’t encourage you to open your doors and rush into people right now. We must be reasonable and practical as we follow the advice of the CDC and the medical professionals. But while staying home or wherever you are, I want you to remember this and practice this. That is, when we happen to be in trouble, our Savior Jesus comes to us and gives his hands to save us (remember this); and we should keep our eyes on Jesus (practice this), that we can have a true protection around our lives, and further, we can even give our hands to save others who are still walking around living in fear.

May the God of all graces bless you and keep you all and may you keep your faith tight in Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Sermon: Lost and Found

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September 15, 2019
Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Luke 15:1-10
Pastor SeokCheol Shin

Lost and Found

The Gospel Within the Gospel
How many of you have a habit of losing things, things like a wallet, a key, a credit card, or, a pair of socks or earrings? What did you do when you lost one of those? Did you just say, “Oh well, no problem, I can always get another one?” No, I believe you would search everywhere you had been until you found what you lost. I bet finding the lost is the most important thing in your life at that moment. 

God knows what it feels like to lose something. To find the lost, God even sent his only Son Jesus Christ to the world (Jn 3:16). God is always searching for something, not because he can’t remember where he lost it; he knows where it is. He knows who we are, where we are, and what we need. He always finds us and brings us to the fold. 

The parables of Luke 15 are called “the Gospel within the Gospel;” they talk about “lost and found!” More correctly, we are lost but found by God! “We are never lost!” This is the Good News for all of us! 

 Seeking, Finding, and Celebrating
In the first parable, Jesus talked about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of his sheep strayed away from the flock and became lost. Sheep are silly and simple animals; they always look down as they nibble on grass. Later, the sheep can end up in a place where they become the eaten rather than the eater.

When the shepherd knew one of his sheep was lost, he left the other ninety-nine to find the lost one. During his search, the shepherd might confront deep ravines, hidden corners, steep hills, or even wild animals in the wilderness. But he certainly went through a trial to find the lost sheep. When he found it, he was so excited that he called all of his friends and said, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep” (v. 6). 

We are sometimes like sheep, not necessarily because we are sinners. We get lost even without meaning to get lost. Like the sheep, we probably never look up; we only look down, just chasing after what we need for our daily life…and before we know it, we are lost! We went too far, and we don’t know how to come back.  

However, if we are like sheep, we know we will be found, not because we know how to come back but because a shepherd found us. Jesus is our Good Shepherd who always comes and finds us when we are lost. 

In the second parable, Jesus talked about a widow who had ten silver coins. When she lost one coin, she didn’t say, “Well, I still have nine others, so I don’t care about the lost one.” In Jesus’ day, one silver coin was worth a day’s wages. That is to say, one coin could feed the whole family for a week. That’s why the widow turned on every light in the house, swept the floor, and searched everywhere until she found it (v. 8). 

We get lost just like the coin. The coin in this parable had been in a dark corner. Likewise, life sometimes takes us away into some dark corners. We feel alone and that nobody cares for us. Perhaps some of you have said in the darkest of moments, “I don’t deserve a happy life anymore; I don’t belong here; I am forgotten; No one is looking for me…” At times like that, we might feel home-bound, shut-in, or isolated from all the social connections in our communities. 

But in this parable, Jesus tells us that God comes to find the lost. God knows us, God knows our hiding place where we slip into from time to time, God searches for us, and he won’t stop until we are found. In this parable, the woman turned her house upside down to find her lost coin. Why? Although it was a little coin, it was precious to her. Likewise, every one of us in this sanctuary, everyone in this world, is precious to God. All human beings are created by God, which means all are God’s children, so God would turn the world upside down to find the lost, even if it is only one soul in the world. 

That’s exactly what God did. Through Jesus God turned the whole world upside down. The God of the universe came among us as a human baby named Jesus. He lived and died as one of us and stretched his arms out to us from the cross to welcome the lost, the least, the losers, and even the sinners. He sacrificed his life for all human beings, whether or not they deserve it. If we truly love this Jesus and want to follow his way, like Jesus, we’d also stretch our arms to welcome anyone to us, even for one lost person. 

Reflecting on this parable, I want to remind you that Jesus Christ built his Church as a welcoming community. We should treat everyone as God’s beloved child! We should welcome everyone to God’s house, no matter who they are, what they do, and where they journey in the world. We should celebrate when someone who has been lost is found and joins our church services.  

The woman celebrated when she found her lost coin. It’s significant that she didn’t save it but used it for a party with her friends and neighbors. Doesn’t it sound foolish? She tried hard to find one coin and then used it for a party with many others! The party might have cost more than the one silver coin. Is it nonsense, or is it grace?

If we are like the coins which have been lost and found, then we must be thankful that we are God’s precious ones. We must also realize that God wouldn’t just tuck us away in some safe-deposit box. God would say to us, “Let’s have a party now.” If we see ourselves as God’s precious souls, we will be willing to use our time, money, and energy to celebrate our grace with many others.

Dancing with Christ
There are lots of things that happen only in the movies. For example, when one person starts dancing in the street, then suddenly everyone else starts to dance along with him or her. And they know all the steps! With their joyful dancing, the square turns to a festival field and everybody there is united with each other in joy and jubilation. But we know it happens only in the movies. 

Likewise, Jesus’ parables in today’s text are not quite logical to human minds. A shepherd leaving 99 sheep to look for one lost sheep and a woman throwing a party after finding a lost coin does not make sense. Does anyone actually do that? It seems unreal like in the movies. 

But this unreal-looking-ministry is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus goes a long way just to find one lost soul. When he finds the one, he is delighted to waste his money and have a party with people. Throughout these parables, Jesus is calling us, saying “Is there anyone who wants to go with me just to find the one lost sheep? Is anyone willing to stretch one’s arms to welcome even sinners living around us? Is anyone willing to offer one’s time, talents, money, hands, and heart just to have a party to celebrate our rescue mission?”

If we are truly found in God’s grace, we won’t be reluctant to join Jesus’ dancing in the streets. I am sure that we know all the steps to his dance. It is the step of reaching out to one soul, the step of stretching our arms to welcome anyone, the step of forgiveness and reconciliation with sinners, and the step of dedication for the sake of Christ’s prodigal grace for all in the world. Amen.

Sermon: The Cost of Discipleship

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September 8, 2019
Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Jeremiah 18:1-11; Luke 14:25-33
Pastor SeokCheol Shin

The Cost of Discipleship

Mega-Church
Today we celebrate our annual Rally Sunday to welcome our children back and start our Sunday School year. Through this Rally Sunday, our Grove Street Music, pick-up choir, and youth group will come back. I am so excited about the things we are going to do together this fall season. As we are now coming back from our long summer vacation, I believe we will have more attendees to our Sunday worship service.

“How many do you have on a Sunday morning?” We are kind of obsessed with counting numbers. We are envious of so-called mega-churches. Mega-churches look more dynamic than small churches. We feel good when we have lots of people joining our service because we tend to consider a large crowd at our church as a success.

The Cost of Discipleship
Since he was always surrounded by people, Jesus probably was good at mega-ministry. The Gospel lesson for this morning starts with the sentence, “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus” (v. 25).

The crowds were free to come and go. Jesus had a chance to grow his ministry as he got huge crowds following him. If I were Jesus, I would try to meet every person in the crowds, shake hands with them, give my business card, and get everyone’s name, phone number, and home address. Of course, I would have a fun chat with them while drinking a cup of coffee together. I would do my best to make them happy with me, so they would feel good and come back again and again.

But I think that Jesus wasn’t a good recruiter; when he spoke directly to people, he told them how difficult it is to become his disciples and follow his way. Let us hear again what he said to the crowds: 1) “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple” (v. 26); 2) “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (v. 27); 3) “Any of you who does not give up everything you have cannot be my disciple. (v. 33).

If I translate his words in our language, it would be like this: “Friends, thank you for joining in our service today, but I’ll tell you how hard it is to join our membership. First, you’ve got to hate your family. Then, you must carry a cross like condemned criminals. Along with that, you have to give up everything you have worked hard to have. Do these things otherwise you can’t be a member of our community.”

Jesus came to the world to save many people and bring them to God’s kingdom. But I wonder why he spoke those harsh words and made them feel scared of following him. It is because he was deeply concerned about people’s spiritual growth rather than the size of his community. In Jesus’ own word, he was concerned about making disciples in his ministry.

It is important to note why large crowds were always following Jesus. Some followed him because they were curious about who he was and what miracles he brought. Some were spies from the Jewish government; they wanted to see what Jesus might do that they could report back to their headquarters. Some came looking for healing, some looking for bread, and some looking for fellowship. Not everybody who followed him was there for the same reason, but they all followed him because they believed he could satisfy their needs.

Whatever reasons people gravitated to Jesus, our good Lord never turned his face away from anyone who came to him. However, he was also aware that the crowds would turn away from him if he didn’t satisfy their needs (John 6). Jesus cried out those harsh words not to drive people out but to look for disciples among them who could go with him until the end for the sake of his salvation ministry.

Yes, it is the disciples who can go to all the nations to baptize people in his name. Not the crowds but the disciples can even die for God’s kingdom. Not the mega-church but the church who has faithful disciples can carry on the good news of Christ.

So what can we do with those harsh words Jesus spoke to the crowds? Do we need to shout it to convert some people to discipleship? Although Jesus was demanding of people with his message, people still kept following him wherever he traveled. It means that Jesus provided something exciting and something effective to satisfy their needs. Following Jesus’ methods, I hope we can have lots of fun activities in our worship and ministry, so people would like to join us. On the other hand, we should strive hard to make disciples in all our gatherings.

In God’s Hands
I want to take the Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah as a reference to Jesus’ discipleship in Luke’s Gospel. God sends Jeremiah down to the potter’s house to make a point that God is the potter, and we are his clay: “‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?’ declares the LORD. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel’” (v. 6).

Yes, God is the Creator, and we are his creatures. God is the Lord, and we are his servants. The bottom line of our relationship with God is that we are in God’s hands. As we are in God’s hands, we are not the crowds who are free to come and go, but we are disciples who will stay in his community and follow his way until the end. As we are his disciples, we will become his heart to love each other, his feet to reach out to those in need, his hands to touch the broken-hearted, and his mouth to speak the good news to the world.

And friends, believe that our discipleship is not all about hardship but it can be fun! How come? Two thousand years ago, the large crowds were happy to follow Jesus. There must be something exciting in Jesus’ ministry. When we are committed to God’s ministry, we will have the same fun and same authority as Jesus. Discipleship is a demanding thing. Discipleship is a delightful thing. If you would follow Jesus Christ, come with all you are and with all you have. Amen.

2019 Peach Festival

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Ham and Bean Supper with Peach Shortcake
August 17, 2019
5 to 6:30 pm
Adults: $15
Children 6-12: $5
Children 5 & under: free

Ham, beans, potato salad, and our very own Peach Shortcake!

Credit Cards Accepted
Take-out is available.  Walk-ins welcomed.
Call for information/reservation 860-875-6562

Take home a snack from our baked sale. 

Sermon: Waiting for the Holy Spirit

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June 2, 2019
The Day of Ascension
Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53
RUMC, Pastor SeokCheol Shin

Waiting for the Holy Spirit

Difficult to Wait
I have never been good at waiting. When I go to attend a meeting, I always take along a book or a magazine. When I come to McDonald’s to buy a cup of coffee and see there is a long line to stand, I move on to Dunkin Donuts or any other convenient store. When I drive my car and stop at a red light, do you know what I do? I pick up my cell phone and check my emails or Facebook messages. Honestly speaking, I am not good at waiting. Waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting in the post office, and even waiting for water to boil, all of these raise my blood pressure! Unfortunately, our life journey is all about waiting, waiting for birth, waiting for graduation, waiting for marriage, waiting for having children, waiting even for death…

The world makes us wait, but God also says “wait.” When we pray to God, God answers us sometimes with an immediate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ based on his will and wisdom of what is best for us. However, I believe more often God answers us with his third response, “wait.” We pray hard but we are still broken-hearted because God says “wait” and we are not good at waiting.

Commandment to Wait
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus called his disciples and commanded them to go out to the world and preach the Gospel to all nations. But just a few seconds later, he told them “to stay in the city of [Jerusalem] until they receive the power from on high” (v. 49). And then in Acts chapter 1, Jesus was suddenly carried up into heaven (v. 9), which we now call “the ascension of the Lord.” Jesus commanded “Go out but stay!” How can we understand this contradiction of Jesus’ commandment?

While meditating on this Scripture, I imagined myself as one of the disciples in the upper room. So after the Lord has disappeared, I see myself shrugging my shoulders, saying “What?” I might look around to see the other guys there, and complain, “He just gave us a job to do, and we are all ready to do it. Then why doesn’t he just let us go and do it? What are we supposed to do in our waiting time?”

More anxiously, Jesus didn’t say how long they should wait. So I am wondering to myself why didn’t he just come right out and say, “I want you to wait ten days until the Feast of Pentecost.” If my Lord said the time period to me, perhaps I would have asked “why 10 days, Lord?” And Jesus would probably answer, “That is just part of my plans, you don’t need to know but just trust and wait.” Well, I might be disappointed and still wondering, but at least I would have known what the time limit was, and so I could wait for 10 days. But the problem is that Jesus didn’t let them know how long they had to wait. That just drives me nuts.

I am not good at waiting, and in this case I don’t even know how long I should wait. So after waiting several days, I would probably do a slow burn about my waiting. I would even think that I am only wasting my time doing nothing. But it is clear that Jesus Christ demanded his disciples to wait, and I’m glad it was them and not me.

The Lord knows I am not good at waiting, and as far as I know the world around me isn’t good at waiting either. In fact, all of us live in a world that teaches us constantly not to wait for anything; “hurry and get it now, otherwise you will lose it.” We don’t like waiting because waiting means denying ourselves and admitting we are not in control.

As a servant of God, I follow the strength God imparted to my heart to do good work for the sake of God’s glory so it may be a win-win for both of us. But it seems that God often directs me to wait, and I have to remain powerless with my anxious heart.

Yet, I believe when God says, “wait,” God doesn’t want us just to remain idle and get lazy. There will be something we need to do to prepare for God’s work. When God says “wait,” our question must be not “Why do we wait or how long do we have to wait,” but “What can we do while waiting on God?”

Waiting in God’s Discipline
Maybe, there is something we need to do during our waiting period: In today’s Scriptures, Jesus Christ calls his disciples to go out and preach the Gospel of God’s forgiveness of sins in his name: “The Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (v. 46-48). In other words, Christ gives us authority to forgive sins and set people free from the bondage of their sinful life. What a powerful authority Jesus’ disciples have!

Yet, even though we are called by God to forgive others in Jesus’ name, we know we are not special people; we are not better than anyone else in the world; we are also foolish people before the Lord. Thus, we know we don’t deserve the privilege to forgive any others living around us?

The Lord also knows that we are not perfect enough to forgive and bless others. That’s why he commands us to wait until God touches and purifies our hearts. Before we go out in the name of Jesus, we need to stay and wait until God comes and transforms us first, so that we can go out to help others and lead them to the way of God’s forgiveness and salvation.

For Christian, waiting in the name of Jesus doesn’t mean that we just sit and waste our time doing nothing. To Jesus’ disciples, waiting means daily disciplines. When God says wait or when we feel left alone, it is a time for us to look into our own hearts. We must recognize that we are poor and weak, kneel down before the Lord, and submit all of our powers to him. Confess God is the Lord and I am his mouth, hands, and feet to serve his people. In our waiting, we may deny ourselves, give up our own powers, and completely rely on God’s power and grace, so that we may stand as “witnesses of those things” that Jesus Christ our Lord entrusts to his disciples.

Waiting in Hope
As God’s children we don’t have any doubt in our faith that God is our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is our Savior. Nevertheless, we still happen to experience the time of wonder, the time of thirst, and the time of anxiety. We feel like we have been only waiting and waiting and waiting, but God’s grace is still far away.

Why? Why do we have to wait, and how long do we have to wait? Maybe God wants us to wait more until we completely submit ourselves to God only. During our waiting time, we may be more desperate for God, more dependent on his power, and more humble and faithful in our relationship with God. Thus, even if we feel left alone as we wait, it can be a time for us to get closer to God; it can be a time for us to experience God’s power and grace.

Waiting is not easy at all, but let us continue to wait in our prayer and hope because the Lord has promised us that he will send upon us the Holy Spirit when we trust and wait in our faith for his promise. Amen.

Sermon: The Holy Counselor

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May 26, 2019
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Psalm 67; John 14:23-27
RUMC, Pastor SeokCheol Shin

The Holy Counselor

Emotional Roller Coaster of Life
What a beautiful season we have enjoyed these days! The weather is getting warmer, the days are lengthening, the sky is dazzling blue, the air is fresh, and our yards are shining in green. We are surrounded by all sorts of signs pointing to the beginning of summer, and I am sure that we all have been looking forward to this seasonal change.

One major event of this time of year in our country is graduation— graduating from kindergarten, elementary school, high School, college…. If your family is celebrating a graduation this year, congratulations!!! Last Sunday our church had a special service dedicated to and led by our children and youth from the Sunday School. During our service, we recognized kids graduating from their schools, or promoted by one grade, and we prayed for their next adventures. I am so proud of our kids and thankful of all the teachers who have nurtured them in our Christian teachings.

Yet I believe graduation often brings us complex emotions. You must be so excited with the fact that “you are done,” feeling like you are going up to the top. But when you think about the reality with a question, “now what,” your feeling will be completely turned upside down. Maybe it is like riding a rollercoaster.

I think this “rollercoaster confusion” is a pretty good term to describe the feelings of the disciples in our text from John’s Gospel. Following Jesus, they must feel like they have all things in the world, but suddenly Jesus says that he is going away and that they can’t come with him. Their world is about to be turned upside down. It is no doubt their emotional rollercoaster is now heading down to the bottom.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit
John 14 is the chapter called Jesus’ farewell speech. It is time for him to say goodbye to his disciples and they will never see him again face to face. He knows that all his disciples must feel discouraged, and that’s why he starts with the encouraging message, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me” (v. 1). And then in the following two verses, he is comforting them with an essential promise: he is going to prepare a place for them and will return and take them with him to that place, so that they can be with him forever (v. 2-3). What he promises to them is God’s salvation and eternal life in heaven.

It is always good to know that we have a place to go when we die in this world. When we lose our beloved, we give thanks to God because we know he or she is in a better place with God. But we still wonder how we are going to make it without our beloved. How is it really possible for us to endure all those challenges and trials in the world without our Lord Jesus Christ? This is probably what the disciples were worried about when Jesus said goodbye to them.

As the disciples are deeply concerned about their life without him, Jesus assures them that he is not going to abandon them like a bunch of orphans; he is going to send to them another Advocate who will be with them forever (v. 16). What he promises to them is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

What was true of the disciples is also true of you and me of this day. Without the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, lead us, and protect us, we too will not make it. Without the abiding help of God, no one is able to live faithfully and godly. If we have to do it all in our own power, we will soon find ourselves very exhausted and even give up. As little children of God, we need the Holy Spirit who can guide and help our journey in this rollercoaster-like world.

In the yellow page of a telephone book, you can find all kinds of counselors: marriage counselors, wedding counselors, drug counselors, job counselors, school counselors, etc. Of course, you can always go to listen to them if you need. By the way, what is the purpose of counselors? Do they solve our problems or help us to solve our problems? We all have blocks in our paths to maturity. We all have painful trauma in our emotion, or persistent personality problems, or addictions that prevent us from living a good life. As far as I know, counselors don’t fix our problems (they are not like a mechanic), but help us to overcome them and grow stronger.

Sometimes, when we are in a difficult situation, we pray and hope that God just comes down to fix our problems and make important decisions for us. But this is an immature faith. The Holy Spirit does not solve our problems or make any decision for us, just like any good counselor can’t decide for us. Rather, we must see the Spirit as the “Counselor,” who comes to our side and gives us strength, courage, and wisdom, so we can make difficult or important decisions; and with that help we can solve our problems.

Some of you may be wondering, what if we happen to make a wrong decision because we still have to make decisions for ourselves? We don’t want to be deceived. We don’t want to go on the other way. Yet we want to go and be on the right way. For this, we don’t need to worry about our decision because we have the Spirit. Particularly, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Truth” (v. 17). Because He is the Spirit of Truth, He will not lead us astray. If we trust and follow Him, we will arrive at truth. Jesus Christ already proclaimed, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” As we belong to Jesus, we are also in the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth (v. 17).

When we follow this holy guide, we are taking in the Spirit of Truth. This Spirit is what helps us to see and respond to God’s grace and love. The Holy Spirit is the One who will take care of us, strengthen us, and lead us in the way we should go. In the wonderful treasured words of the disciple Paul, we may therefore be sure that nothing, “neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come … will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.”

Peace from the Lord
Often in life, there is a stark contrast between the resurrection in heaven and the actual trials in the world. We see it in a fractured economy, in the poor leadership of our government, in the loss of our beloved, in the struggles with our own health issues. Outside in the world, we have been celebrating the most beautiful days. But inside of our life, we have to struggle hard to survive in this world.

In the midst of this troubled life and this uncertain world, Jesus says to all his disciples and us today, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (v. 27). We can have peace even in the midst of the darkest time because we are not alone, not abandoned, not orphaned, and not deceived by anything false from the world. The Risen Christ is always present in our lives to help guide us by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we are afraid or when we are in want, let us always remember that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit as our Counselor to advise us, and guide and help us. This is what Jesus promises his disciples and what we should believe. Thanks be to God! Amen!