Sermons

6th June 2021 Pentecost 2 (Second Sunday after Pentecost) Title: God’s Will and Jesus’ Family (Scripture Readings: 1 Samuel 8:4-11; Mark 3: 31-35) By Heeyoung Lim We live in arduous times and try our best to discern how to be faithful to God. The Holy Spirit sometimes comes to us in unfamiliar forms. God’s will is achieved in unexpected ways. First thing we can do is asking God and bringing the matters to God in our all circumstances. In today’s text, we can figure out that Samuel asked God His will when Israel did not seek God’s will. Samuel warns the people about the problems they can expect with an earthly king as their leader. Their immoral behaviour was a departure from God’s will, and the faithless seemed to deny the Samuels leadership. This might hurt Samuel’s feelings and he was unhappy. Complaints must have reached the ears of the elders who gathered in a ruling council, but there was no praying and seeking of the Lord’s face. There was no crying out to God. The elders just demanded that Samuel appoint a king to lead the nation just like the surrounding nations. They wanted a political monarch who would defeat oppressive enemies and a visible and tangible leadership. The request of the elders for a king displeased Samuel, but he wisely brought it to the Lord. God’s response to Samuel’s prayer in verse 8 shows that the request of the elders was wrong, but God told Samuel to listen to the voice of the people. God wanted Samuel to know that Israel had not rejected him as judge, but they had rejected God as king. Israel had continuously rejected God from the day He rescued them out of Egypt until then. Despite Israel’s rejection of God’s plan for leading them, God’s grace was continued. Samuel did just what God asked and proclaimed the words of the LORD to the people. (10) Samuel anointed Saul as the first king of Israel because God allowed their demands. The Israelites under Saul’s leadership defeat the Ammonites. God gave them a king, but He did it in His way. God wants us to grow spiritually so that we do not follow the crowd or worldly desires such as power, fame, and fortune. Sometimes people follow a collective unconsciousness without hesitation and blindly jumping on the worldly desires without reflection. There are lots of leaderships we need to follow or respect in our lives, but we can surrender completely to God as King and Jesus as Lord in our lives. The covenant of kingship is achieved through Jesus the Messiah. God is working through His people. I hope we can ask God to show us God’s will every area of our lives and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us God’s way on our faith journey. We can list our worldly desires in our diary or journal and repent of the sin of rejecting God’s will even though God’s leading may not visible, audible, or tangible. Do we pray for the reign of God in our daily prayers? Do we still have many prayer topics regarding worldly desires? God listens to our prayers, but He also hears our praises. We can list ways we can praise God as King and share the ways with others. We can also ask God for the grace and love whenever we try to serve God and others. I hope we can pray more about the kingdom of God and the reign of God. God’s will be done when we choose to follow God’s lead in our lives. It can be started from our family and communities. Family is the place where we feel safe and secure, where we learn to love and grow as a human being. But not all families are loving, and nurturing. Not all families are safe and secure. When I had a short-mission trip to Thailand, I met about 300 homeless people in a station, visited slum village and met many children who were suffering from their parents’ drug addiction and their various unsafe environment, and went to a refugee site there. On the other hand, I also met some missionaries and Thai Christians who so much loved and helped them regularly and dedicatedly. They did not have secure place or loving family, but they were with extended family with the name of Christians. In John’s Gospel, when Jesus is dying on the cross, he looks at his mother and says to her, “Woman, here is your son.” And then Jesus says to the beloved disciple, “Here is your mother.” Even on the cross Jesus was building His family of followers. So, he gave His mother a new son, and his beloved disciple a new mother. We know that Jesus loved and cared for his mother, even on the cross. (John 19:27) In Matthew 3 and Mark 3, Jesus showed and taught us a new priority in family that transcend the normal blood relations known as “family”. Jesus established a new family where all people can belong. His family is a group of people who believe in Him and follow Him in today’s text. When Jesus asked, “Who are my family,” He looked around him at the people sitting there in a ring and said that all who do will of God are his family. Jesus’ family is doing everything in the Holy Spirit who is connects the reign of God. God’s leadership seems to be a reversal of human ways, but the reign of God is always the best even in our torn environment with suffering and vulnerability. One of important messages of the Gospel is about the reign of God that displaces satanic reign or wrong worldly power. God’s work through Christ entails deliverance and mercy all the time. Jesus’ life and mission always revolved around the will of God. Jesus’ family is defined by commitment to doing God’s will. We are called to be around Jesus listening to Him. God

30th May 2021 Trinity Sunday Title: God’s Presence and Glory (Scripture Readings: Isaiah 6:1-8; John 3: 1-17) By Heeyoung Lim God is our creator who invites us into relationship and calls us to lives of faithfulness in accordance with God’s plan. We respond to God with love and celebrate the wonder of God’s presence represented in our lives. Isaiah experiences God’s presence at the temple that is cultural, national, and religious centre at a time when the Assyrians were threatening the Hebrew people. His experience of God’s presence is filled with mystery and power. God called his prophet to confront a faithless king and declare judgment for the present but hope for the future in His glory. The Hebrew word for “glory” means “weight” or “heavy.” It refers to the importance or weight people carry in their lives. We can give glory to God, that is, acknowledge His importance and reputation by honouring Him. We are invited to glorify God. God’s people have no reason to fear worldly powers but need to fear God alone. In today’s text, when God asked, “Who will go for us?”, Isaiah responded, “here I am, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) I hope we can all respond and participate in God’s work as God-fearing people. God’s promise and His work are revealed in Christ, the Father’s gift of the Son for the eternal life and salvation of the world. In John 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, approaches Jesus with what he knows about Jesus, and focuses on signs. Jesus accepts Nicodemus, but He immediately teaches the necessity of being born from above to see the kingdom of God. (3) This term “above” is also translated as both “anew” and “again” in Greek meaning. He asks about the biological possibility of being born again. His misunderstanding continues time and again across Jesus’ word and ministry, but he has openness to come, approach, and listen to Jesus’ words. Jesus’ answer is that he needs to be born of the spirit. (3-4) It means that eternal life only comes through personal faith in the cross and the spirit. (9-15) The cross implies the meaning of both a physical lifting and a spiritual exaltation; it was for our salvation and the recovery of relationship with God. The promise for eternal life is connected and fulfilled in the Spirit brought by Jesus. The message about “being born again” written in the gospel of John invites us to be transformed towards new lives in the relationships with God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are new existence empowered by the grace of God and made manifest in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. We can find Jesus’ communal language, “We” Testimony in verse 11, it is related to faith community. We are one in Christ. The creative love of God, the redemptive offering of Christ, and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit; these Three are One. The Trinity represents God in loving relationships. The Trinity is a Christian belief where God is one in three persons (theological term, it does not mean just person): God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It is difficult to find the right words to explain the Trinity well, that is why many people struggle with the fact of how God can be three distinct parts yet still be one. However, the position or relationship of the Trinity is not hierarchical or scale down version, it is very dynamic and inter relational. The Trinity can be described as a sign and metaphor for our ways of living together, being different and yet being a part of the same life. We need to relate the divine life of the Trinity, that is the life of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, with the life of the earth. I hope we can relate, live, and love together without division just like that God is very relational. John 3.16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.” It is about God’s love and salvation for the world, and the eternal life promised by Jesus relates to the life we live now and here. We need to gain a new awareness of the Spirit as well as of the world, so that we can understand the eternal love of God for the world. I pray we can show others that we are a lover of light when people come to us at night just like Nicodemus. We are all precious, but we will never forget our own sinfulness and unworthiness when compared to Jesus. In Isaiah, God called a sinful man as His prophet to announce his judgment to his sinful people, in John, Jesus gave Nicodemus who came to Him at night with his own knowledge opportunities to be born again through His living words. I hope we can all accept, proclaim, and live out the gospel certifying that God is truth. Salvation is the work of God and the gift of God’s grace internally through the Holy Spirit, but salvation-promised faith and spirit-filled life can be demonstrated outwardly through faith and godly living. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. As in John 3, believers possess eternal life, but unbelievers do not. Believers are not condemned, but unbelievers are condemned already. Believers live in the light while unbelievers live in the darkness. What can we do when many people reject the gospel because they love darkness and worldly life? I hope we can ask God to forgive us for the times we have refused to listen to Him and obey His word. I believe we will experience more love of God whenever we are closer to God because God is love. In John, God is love in action, and the John’s gospel is the Gospel of Love; the gospel of John represents the experience of a loving life-giving relationship with

23rd May 2021 The Day of Pentecost Title: The Coming of the Holy Spirit (Scripture Readings: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Acts 2: 1-21) By Heeyoung Lim We know God’s Spirit is at work; it is for the world, the church, and all people. From the very beginning, Christ calls individuals into community as the church, and the Holy Spirit comes to us in different ways. Pentecost is the festival day marking the birth of the church; it is a good time to reaffirm congregants’ participation as disciples in the body of Christ. God is speaking to individuals who do not feel that belonging to the body of Christ, those who feel discouraged or excluded by the church. He is also giving us the renewal of creation, the liberation from oppression, and the recovery of the torn and broken things. I hope we can discern where and how God is active in the past, present, and the future through the Holy Spirit. In Ezekiel’s vision, God led the prophet back and forth among scattered dry bones. His vision of the dry bones shows the power of God’s Spirit to bring life from death. (Ezekiel 37:1-14) God will revive and unite His people and will defeat those who seek to destroy them. When Ezekiel prophesied as God commanded him, the bones came together. He looked at those bones that were attached, but they did not breathe. God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy a second time, this time to the breath. When the very dried bones are everywhere God restored them. As a result, the bones came to life and stood up on their feet. This message was about resurrection, restoration, and revival of very dried bones which means Israel, but it was not after death. They will be renewed spiritually when God places His Spirit within them in keeping with the new covenant. There are tough times when we are physically struggling, emotionally being exhausted, and spiritually stagnant like scattered dry bones. However, God can do the impossible when our bones are dried up and our hope is gone. God restores us when we live here on earth as God’s restoration was not after death in the text. We know that God is the LORD in our all circumstances. Its emphasis is placed on the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that can give life to dry bones is giving us strength to live lives of faithful obedience pleasing to the Lord. (11) Regarding Acts 2, this is not the first time that the Holy Spirit appeared in the New Testament. Luke introduced him (Luke 1:15) as a witness to the coming of Christ at the incarnation. He also recorded the role of the Holy Spirit in the virgin birth (1:35) and the descending of the Spirit upon Jesus at the time of his baptism (3:22). At the end of chapter 1 the believers gathered in silence and prayer. Obediently, they awaited the promise of the Holy Spirit’s coming and the Lord’s command for them to do nothing until that event occurred. They heard a sound like the blowing of a violent wind. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire. (3) The fire started as one and then separately came upon them. Wind or fire is associated with the presence of God in the Bible. Symbols of the Spirit’s coming were sound of wind and appearance of flame. On the Day of Pentecost, God sent the Holy Spirit upon 120 believers in Jerusalem, and they began to proclaim the gospel in different languages. They did not need to translate because everyone understood in their own language. The experience on the Day of Pentecost was the use of different languages; it seems to happen once without repetition, but other experiences of the Holy Spirit occur with frequency as believers allow God’s Spirit to work through them. (4) Sometimes Pentecost is seen as the reversal of the impacts of the tower of Babel, when the languages of the world were confused, and people were scattered. The Holy Spirit enabled communication possible in Acts 2, but human pride made the communication impossible in the Genesis 11 in which the people of Babel were building a tower and thinking arrogantly. God showed His response to the human arrogance by confusing their languages so that they cannot understand one another and cannot work together in their lives. Genesis 12, God said to Abraham, “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”. The blessing and promise given to Abraham came directly after the Babel tower story which represents confusion, curse, and arrogance. God led His people and fulfilled His promise; He continued His work in and through Jesus and the Holy Spirit even though they were sinners. Luke is implying that the curse of confusion and miscommunication are overturned with the coming of the Holy Spirit. That is a special gift and blessing from God. Everyone’s second language was Greek at that time. Many have seen ‘the gift of tongues’ as the gift of a heavenly sound. 3,000 people trusted Christ through Peter’s preaching and the first church was born. God acted by His Spirit in a new way when Peter connected his preaching directly with the promise of Joel that God would pour out His Spirit among His people. God’s spirit has been poured out upon many people at once and the crowds have witnessed. There are no discriminations and barriers between genders, ages, and social classes. There is no division in God’s salvation, it is just focused on all who call on the name of the Lord. (21) The Lord which in Luke indicates Jesus; all who call on the Lord’s name will be saved. Being saved does not just mean going to heaven when people die, it also means God’s rescuing power revealed in Jesus is in our present lives. The salvation has already begun for everyone who calls on the Lord and believes in Jesus. I hope we can discover how it

16th May 2021 Seventh Sunday of Easter Title: Jesus’ Farewell Prayer for His People (Scripture Readings: Psalm1; John 17:6-19) By Heeyoung Lim We live on earth, which is God’s creation and a gift from God, but India COVID-19 crisis, violence by Myanmar coup, serious conflict between the Israeli Army and Palestinian militants, and many kinds of problems and sufferings are continued in the world. For instance, the airstrikes by both sides continued to kill civilians including children, it raised alarm across the world. I expect that we can pray together for our sisters and brothers who are facing violence and conflict in the Middle East, and I hope God of the nations will give to all people the blessings of well-being, peace, freedom, harmony, and unity. Psalm1 described God-blessed life. The godly does not walk in the counsel of the wicked; the righteous person does not stand in the way of sinners, and the person does not sit in the seat of mockers. In the text, the delight of the godly is in the law of the LORD, the person who knows genuine joy reads and meditates God’s Word day and night. (1-2) The person who delights in God’s law will be like a tree planted by streams of water. The godly are abundantly blessed because they are deeply rooted in God’s Word. Verse 6 summarizes the two ways in life; the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, which means that the Lord has a personal relationship with the godly and is involved with them to guide, protect, and bless them. Blessed are the righteous who do not participate in the deceptions and defilements of this world and who internalize God’s Word. Psalm 1 invites us into the blessed life through God’s words. I hope we will be satisfied in the Lord and will be like a tree that yields its fruit in season. The joy and transformation through God’s Word are also seen in Jesus’ farewell prayer from the gospel of John. John 17 verses 6 -19 focuses on Jesus’ concerns for the disciples. This passage is a part of the ‘High Priestly Prayer’ that Jesus offers up in his role as mediator between God and humanity. But Jesus is not portrayed in a priestly role in today’s text, this prayer shows the proximity of the end of Jesus’ ministry. It seems that Jesus is wrapping up his ministry by telling God what will be needed as the disciples move forward. The first act of the Son was to tell disciples and show them what the Father is like. The disciples heard about God and his plan through the Son. Jesus identified his task in the world to His disciples. Jesus prayed for His disciples; this prayer focuses on those believers God has given Him. In verse 10 Jesus says that glory has come to me through them. In Jesus’ prayer His disciples and believers represent the glory of the Son of God even though they are sinning human beings. In verse 13 Jesus said, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world.” Jesus has come from God, and he is returning to God. This is Jesus’ farewell prayer for His disciples and us. In praying for them, Jesus entrusted His people to the Father when Jesus prepares to depart from the world. God watch over Christ’s people who live in the world though they are not of the world. He wanted us as Jesus’ followers to be kept from evil; Jesus was asking the Father to preserve His people from the tricks and traps of the world. Living in the world does not mean being part of the world. The disciples were able to go into the world because they were not of the world. We are also not of the world; we are God’s people who belong to God the Creator, and through faith in Christ, we have become children of God. We are gifts from the Father to the Son and relate to Him by faith. For Christians who have faith and obedience, infiltration is a better strategy than isolation in the world. I hope we can all be God’s instruments to change the world in accordance with God’s will. Jesus told his followers that they should be one in this world. Jesus said that they may be one, as we are one. Jesus wanted us to be one in our communities and witnesses to the world. There is no excuse for Christians not to passionately and newly work towards the unity Jesus prayed for, even though unity cannot be forced in any relationships. As we know being the same is not the basis of unity. Unity does not mean uniformity or a single standard, it is based on peace and love. We do not need to wait for someone else to make peace, we can be the first to try for reconciliation with love as a peacemaker. It will be a necessary process for us to be one in Christ. The Father sent the Son into the world and now the Son was sending the believers into the world. (18) Jesus is praying that God protect for the disciples with the loving care that Jesus himself has received; this is God’s paternal care that will not leave us but prevents us everywhere. Jesus prayed for their protection and sanctification. Jesus wanted us to sanctify by the truth which is God’s word. God gave us the living words and opportunities to sanctify. The meaning of sanctification is that of being set apart for God’s special purpose rather than just doing of good deeds or pretending to be holy. Jesus prays for the disciples to be “set apart” when they live in the world, since they do not belong to the world. It is not a way of being taken out of the world but

9th May 2021 Sixth Sunday of Easter Title: You Are My Friends (Scripture Readings: Acts 10:44-48; John 15:9-17) By Heeyoung Lim Happy Mother’s Day! May the Lord bless your home and the places of your work with His grace and blessing. I hope that today will be a day of blessing for all mothers, and God’s special grace and comfort will be with those who have parted with their mother on earth. We saw and heard the cries that Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter in the mid-2020 and witnessed hatred and violence against Asian in many nations and across the globe recently. Many people and protesters tried to call for equality, justice, and peace, but some of them had already died undeservedly, and many people around the world are still suffering from domestic violence and abuse. We cannot find love in all these pains, but today the Lord is telling us to love one another, follow my commands, and be my friends. In Acts 10, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word while Peter was still speaking. (Acts 10:44) It happened before Peter had a chance to baptize Cornelius and his family, before he heard their confession of faith. Acts 10:44-48 refers to the ‘gentile Pentecost’. This is the fourth pouring out of the Spirit in Acts, this time prior to water baptism and upon even to the gentile. Peter exemplifies the transformation under power of the Holy Spirit. God is the subject of salvation; Peter was an instrument, not the source of salvation. The salvation has been through the inbreaking of the Holy Spirit even to the Gentiles. The Gentile believers also belong to the household of God because God accepts them as they are. This accounts for the constant relational importance under the help of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who trusts in the name of Jesus for salvation receives the Holy Spirit and the privilege of baptism. Anyone who believes in Jesus needs to be welcomed to His body, the church, for God shows no boundaries and prejudices in the invitation of the gospel. (47) The gospel makes salvation in Jesus available to anyone who believes in Him. Have you ever imagined that the Holy Spirit may have a hard time getting through our stubborn desire to stay the way we are? I think that the Holy Spirit is sometimes trying to break through our unnecessary boundaries and prejudices that have become rock hard in our lives. We can continue to pass on the good tradition from one generation to another, but we also need to open to the Holy Spirit that brings new message in accordance with God’s will. The Holy Spirit broke the barriers between Jew and Gentile and propelled the witness of the resurrection beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem and Galilee. What seems clear is that Christians can rejoice and love in the Lord even in the difficulties of the world’s hatred and injustice. We live in the world full of boundaries, but Jesus’ invitation towards the salvation and the gospel is for everyone. Therefore, the boundaries of prejudice and exclusion need to be broken in the love of God. John 15:9-17 continues Jesus’ teaching on abiding in love and the command to love one another; it tells us to keep the connection between Jesus and us so the relationship will never be broken. The quality of relationships is related to the life, message, and commands of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we remain in Jesus, our lives will be filled with joy and a lasting friendship with the Lord. Love is an absolute command for believers and the chief fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-23). It is also the essential factor in our relationships. John 15 emphasises the great love six times in today’s text the disciples will be told to love one another. The Father loves first; then the Son shows that love by obeying God’s will; remaining in the Lord’s love also requires obedience and brings joy. God is pleased when we obey Christ’s commands and follow His examples. The Lord told the disciples he wanted them to experience the joy he had already found in obedience. He said to them, “I have told you this to make you as completely happy as I am.” Jesus wants us to rejoice in the Lord. It is a blessing that Jesus calls his followers into joy. Christian life is characterized by ‘unexhausted passion for the Lord and unconditional love for others. Jesus’ command is to love each other as He has loved us. He taught us that the greatest way to show love for friends is to die for one’s friends. Jesus said that you are my friends if you do what I command. (12-14) Only Abraham had been called ‘God’s friend’ in the Old Testament; but now the scope widened, and the Lord invited His disciples in. We are Jesus’ friends if we obey Him. But we sometimes forget the fact that friendship is connected to obedience to Jesus’ command to love. A genuine love for one another is one of ways to show love for God; it can be a way to become Jesus’ friend. The disciples were Jesus’ servants, but Jesus taught them the way to become His friends. We need to remember Romans 5:8: “God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God finds and loves us first. Loving each other is central to bearing fruit of life and will be a significant defence against the evil world. Jesus wants us to love others faithfully and fervently. In Matthew 7, Jesus said that “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit, by their fruit you will recognize them” Christians can glorify God by producing fruits as a spiritual character and a lifestyle as long as they remain in the vine our Lord Jesus. God wants us to enjoy being loved

2nd May 2021 Fifth Sunday of Easter Title: The Vine and the Branches (Scripture Readings: Acts 8:26-40; John 15:1-8) By Heeyoung Lim Philip was sent by an angel from Samaria to the desert, and he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. The lay disciple Philip went wherever God sent. (Acts 8:26) Philip was in God’s plan and ministering through the Holy Spirit. (27) When Philip was doing his missionary work among the Samaritans, he received a divine invitation to broaden the boundaries of the Christian message from the familiar surroundings. (40) The mission field has been extended to the desert for everyone’s salvation. God led him to meet an Ethiopian eunuch, treasurer to the queen. The man was on his way home from temple worship, and he was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” (29) Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. The man invited Philip to come up and sit with him; he asked the questions that lead to an introduction of the Saviour. (34) The Ethiopian man was baptised and continued his journey home, “rejoicing.” The joyful return is introduced throughout Luke’s gospel many times. Philip listened to God’s voice through the angel of the Lord, ran to the chariot by the Holy Spirit, and explained the meaning of the Scripture with joy. Leading other people to Christ requires that we be ready, unafraid, able to use God’s Word, and filled with the Holy Spirit. (39) Philip may have felt mixed emotions of the loneliness in the desert and the regret of leaving Samaria where he put his efforts; he would have hoped that this stranger could really understand the Messiah written by the prophet. We know that the Holy Spirit takes place when a willing Christian spread the gospel to a prepared listener. (30) There was a willing servant, living Scripture, and the empowering Spirit in the desert. (39) What a combination. So many Christians own Bibles, but they usually struggle to use them effectively in family worship, personal spiritual growth, and spreading gospel. I hope many more people can come to Christ through our prayers and efforts. Philip is called to share the good news revealed in Jesus without any prejudice. (40) God does amazing things through lay people just like Philip. Luke emphasises that the good news about Jesus is for everyone through the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. I hope we can also be ready to go any place for God at any time just like Philip. There would be lots of unknown deserts and possible chariots in our lives. We do not know when and how God will send us for others in a cooperation of servant, Scripture, and the Holy Spirit, but I believe we need to be ready to catch our chariot whenever and wherever it comes along. Sometimes we need to go to others who still do not know Jesus instead of holding back. To do this, believers need to be ready to spread and explain the gospel after knowing the Bible well. I believe our ability to use the knowledge of the Bible needs to be grow in faith. All service for the Lord must be empowered by His Spirit and seeking Christ in our lives as often as possible. In John 15, Jesus said that I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener: God cuts off every branch of mine that does not bear fruit. He says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself, but only if it remains in the vine.” (4) I am the vine; you are the branches. Without me, you cannot do anything. (5) In today’s text, we listened to one of the “I Am” statements of Jesus. We have to go beyond the actual words and discover the meaning because Jesus sometimes spoke in allegories and images. We are grafted to Jesus and so can receive our strength from Him as His followers. If we break away from Him, and fail to live his ways, we will be like unproductive branches and die and bear no fruit. Branches that remain in the vine, and submit to the pruner’s knife when necessary, live and bear fruit. How do we remain in Him? We must have faith in our community that believes in Him and celebrates Him as its Lord. We can bear good quality fruit by God’s pruning knife. Though it hurts, we need to be in front of God’s pruning knife. However, within the faith community, we must abandon our own pruning knife because we are not qualified as a gardener. We all belong to Jesus; we are all in God’s beautiful garden as His branches. We cannot go it alone; we need to remain in Jesus and our lovely faith community by worship, prayer, and fellowship. It can be the ways to remain in Jesus. Verse 7 says, “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want, and it will happen for you. My father is glorified in this: that you bear plenty of fruit, and so become my disciples.” What a blessing. There are extraordinary promises about prayer and bearing fruit; our personal relationship with the Lord by prayer and our divinely appointed mission by bearing fruit will be our true blessings in our faith communities. Remaining in the Lord is not a temporary work, it is related to long-term health and productivity. It has nothing to do with our age, gender, and situations. We are members of God’s true people and Jesus’ disciples if we are belong to Him and remain in Him. The vine and the branches are about who Jesus and His people really are, and what is going to happen to them.

25th April 2021 Fourth Sunday of Easter Title: Good Shepherd and the Sheep (Scripture Readings: Psalm 23; John 10:11-18) By Heeyoung Lim Today we recognise the 106th Anniversary of ANZAC Day, when we honour a generation of young men from Australia and New Zealand and elsewhere who gave their lives so we can live in the freedom and peace. We need to remember the troops and veterans and their self-sacrifices. As we know ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC day is the day that we remember their loss and sacrifice of the young people who protect other people’s freedom. In this time of peace, we will remember them and pray for them and their families. My previous church, the Korean Church of Melbourne invited Australian veterans who fought for South Korea in the Korean War about 71 years ago and their families to express our gratitude and love once a year. Five years after the end of the Second World War, more than 17,000 Australians with the UN forces served during the three-year Korean War, of which 346 were killed there. They lost their lives for others in a foreign country. We worshipped with them together, shared special meals, gave thank you cards and gifts. Especially all children prepared the thank you cards, sang a song in front of them on the day, gave warm hugs and gifts, and expressed sincere thanks to them every year. We taught children about the history and the meaning of their sacrifices. Sadly, the number of veterans is decreased because time passes by. But we deeply appreciate their sacrifices and commitments which are unforgettable. On the other hand, South Korean government sent face masks and COVID-19 supplies to overseas Korean War veterans in 22 countries. They showed gratitude to every single Korean War veteran who is alive by sending COVID-19 protection items and the delivered boxes contained a message that South Korea has never forgotten them. There are lots of appreciation stories. For instance, a professional Korean photographer visited and photographed worldwide of 1400 of Korean War veterans in 14 countries including Australia. The veterans receive their portraits for free from a thankful young man from the country they fought for. The young photographer was using his own expense for that, he was not looking to be compensated. However, he said that there have always been so many supporters. He believed that photos can be an important tool that can document and convey today for tomorrow. Whenever he was asked about payment from the veterans, he answered that we have a lot of debt, this is just paying it back. He said that he learned the value of freedom, freedom is not free. It has a price, and the price was the life of those veterans. They tried to make nations peaceful and served for liberty and security through their sacrifices. The photographer wants to continue this so that the next generation can also remember and appreciate the valuable sacrifices. We are at peace wherever we stan with God, but the peace maintained and kept by someone else’s sacrifices and commitments. Our salvation has a price too; the price is Jesus’ life-giving love and sacrifice. Jesus told us that he is the good shepherd. The definition of a shepherd’s task is to feed the sheep adequately, care when they sick, keep them gathered, and put their well-being before his own. Such model shepherding might require the laying down of one’s life, it also needs recognition and trust between sheep and shepherd. Through the Psalm 23 we found and felt God’s presence that enables us to overcome the fear that rises in us when being confronted by death. We know the fact that the Lord is our good shepherd even when walking through the valley of death In John 10, we hear that “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus expressed himself as good shepherd. This verse shows us how the good shepherd who is not working for his own profit differs from that false shepherd who runs away from dangerous situations for himself. (10, 14) In contrast to those who steal and abuse the sheep, Jesus is a caring shepherd who takes care of the sheep even to the “laying down his life”. The good shepherd who sacrifices his life for the sheep also relates to them in trust and intimacy; good shepherd dies for the sheep when predators appear. The good shepherd knows his sheep in the same way the Father knows the Son; the sheep know the shepherd in the same way the Son knows the Father. The Lord talked about laying down his life for the sheep five times in eight verses. The shepherd intentionally becomes the sacrificial lamb. (18) Jesus said that He must bring those who have not yet been brought into the one flock which is one body of Christ. (16) His death on the cross did not occur because earthly powers were stronger than the power of the heavenly Father. He willingly laid down his life for the sheep in accordance with God’s will. (17) Christ is the Word of God, the message of the self-giving love of God, who did not want the world to perish. (18) The shepherd alone decides who may enter the fold, but the voice of Christ calls out to all people. The shepherd’s voice is key, but sometimes we go astray just like sheep. Sheep may follow the voice of a stranger, get lost and fall into valleys. Many other voices and distractions tempt us from the right path. However, our good shepherd, Jesus will never leave us, and His voice will bring us back because we belong to him. Sometimes we are getting into troubles and struggling in difficulties, but we always have opportunities to listen to the voice of our good shepherd in our daily choices. We also have chances to be faithful as the Lord’s sheep. We can say ‘No’ to

18th April 2021 Third Sunday of Easter Title: To This We Are Witnesses (Scripture Readings: Acts 3:12-19; 1 John 3:1-7) By Heeyoung Lim “Peace be with you.” As we have seen the video, in the first part of John 3, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon. A man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful. Peter looked straight at him when the man asked them for money. (1- 4) They were on the way to pray, but they looked and helped him first instead of passing their way. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (6) Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. (7-8) All the people saw this well-known beggar walking, jumping, and praising. No one doubted what had happened. (9) This happened at the beautiful gate. Where is our beautiful gate? I hope we can all feel the church door is “beautiful” whenever we are coming to church where we worship God together and look after each other. I look forward we can open wide the door toward the wider community and the world beautifully through our faith and lives. The physical and spiritual miracle occurred in the same man at the same time by walking, jumping, and praising in the name of Jesus. God never asks us to give what we do not have; he expects us to give to those in need from what He has given us, and always to do it in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I hope we can thank God daily for all the great blessings we have in Christ. When we call Jesus’ name? Luke uses “in the name of Jesus” thirty-three times in the Book of Acts. How was this man healed? How is all this possible? Because of Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him. However, using the name of Jesus is not a matter of new kind of magic, there has to be faith in the one who speaks His name. When Peter and John were surrounded by an amazed crowd after the miracle, they said to the crowd “why do you stare at us?” (12) It was not though by our power, it was not us, it was Jesus. After healing Peter and John completely denied their own power and immediately said that all healing power came from Jesus. They proclaimed that God has glorified his servant Jesus; His name itself has made the man strong. (13, 16) Jesus has given him this perfect health through the disciple’s faith. We also remember John the Baptist once said, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). All Christian ministries need to centre on Jesus. Our service for Jesus begins and ends in Jesus’ name, but God works through His people to accomplish His Mission. In Today’s text, Peter reminded us that people rejected the holy and righteous one, Jesus and sent Him to His death; he said “your sins may be wiped out” by repentance in faith. Acts 3:12–19 invites us not to repeat the crucifixion of Christ and leads us to repent and turn to God. Repentance refers to a change of mind, sometimes it describes turning around and walking in a different direction. They crucified the Messiah, but some of them returned to God by repentance accepting Him as their Saviour. They killed our Saviour, Jesus on the cross, but God raised him up. God wants us to be God’s people who does what is righteous. By God’s grace, repentance brings forgiveness through Christ, and that forgiveness is available to all who call upon His name in faith. The name of Jesus makes us grow up, rinses out our sins, and renews us. The resurrection and His work of bringing new life continues to be at the heart of the church. Most importantly, we are witnesses of risen Christ and God’s work. Repenting sins can be a sign of Christians and loving others can be a mark of authentic witnesses. Obedience to God’s commands is also a mark of our love for Him. In 1 John 3, God is righteous and loves us with a great love, and God’s children do not try to live in sin. Especially Ongoing, wilful sin is incompatible with true Christianity. True Christian experience is revealed not just in our beliefs but in our behaviour. 1 John 3:2 starts, “My dear friends, we are already God’s children”, and it says, “we know that we will be like Him when Christ returns”. This hope will make us keep ourselves holy just as Christ is holy as in verse 3. We are witnesses of Christ in the hope. We are loved by unconditional love and redefined as nothing less than God’s children and Jesus’ witnesses. We are also adopted into the family of God even though we have more changes to undergo. Sometimes our lives are twisted by a combination of our own sin and the effects of the sins of others, but our risen Christ gives us His peace when we are broken and imperfect. From time to tome the world does not understand us because we have been given a new identity in Jesus. On the other hand, when we look at ourselves, we know that sometimes our old identity is too strong to ignore and too powerful to escape. We may reflect “Am I a true child of God? when we do fearless self-searching, but we are precious God’s children and Jesus’ witnesses. We may face physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties in the experience of our own brokenness, but we can have a rest on the love of God and the peace of the Lord. We need to

11th April 2021 Second Sunday of Easter Title: My Lord and My God (Scripture Readings: John 20:19-31, Acts 4:32-35) By Heeyoung Lim The risen Christ is with us! The body of Jesus was not in the tomb, but the risen Christ has come to us. Whenever we are looking for Jesus, He comes to us wherever we are. Jesus went back to Galilee where Jesus spent most of his time with His disciples. He returned to His betrayers. Jesus returns to us. The good news was that Jesus not only rose from the dead, but he was seen in bodily form afterwards. The risen Christ keeps coming to us, calling us as His Easter community of believers. In today’s text, we see the followers of Jesus gathered behind locked doors full of fear, but then the risen Christ came to them. They did not come to Him; He came to them first. The risen Christ is coming to us and wanting us to live God’s ways of love, peace, and justice. We are never alone for the risen Christ will never leave us nor forsake us. We have Easter hope because Jesus has risen, and he loves us no matter what. Who is Jesus? Our living Lord has conquered both sin and death. Our resurrected Jesus said to the troubled disciples, “Peace be with you!” when he first appeared to the group. He had promised to relieve the disciples’ grief by replacing it with joy in John 16:20; His promise has been fulfilled. Jesus offered them peace in place of fear; He showed them his hands and his side, and they knew He is Jesus.  He also said to them, “I am sending you” and “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Jesus gave His disciples ‘Peace’, ‘mission’, and ‘the Holy Spirit’ in their times between the resurrection and the ascension. Sending disciples and giving responsibility are gifts bestowed along with the Spirit itself. Jesus has equipped us with peace and the Holy Spirit before He sends us on His mission field. In verse 23, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” If Jesus came to take away the sin of the world (1:29), disciples would continue the work of forgiving and peace-making through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The disciples were fearful despite what Peter and John had seen and what Mary had reported. The Lord appeared to offer them His peace which is totally different with worldly peace before they could respond. The peace Jesus gave would enable them to go out. As God sent Jesus, he sent them into the world. The locked door could not stop the resurrection body of Jesus, it was nothing to our Lord. He showed them the nail prints in his hands and the spear scar in his side. The disciples saw and met the resurrected Jesus who died now living again and standing before them. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. But Thomas who was absent then said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Thomas doubted even though other disciples said to Thomas “We have seen the Lord!” He did not believe them. There would be mistrust between disciples. A week later, in spite of locked doors, Jesus appeared and greeted them exactly as he had a week earlier. Jesus said again, “Peace be with you,” The Lord’s peace was related to individual’s inner peace and a community’s reconciliation at the same time; The peace within the community which needs to be one is significant. The evidence of the crucifixion continues in the resurrected body of Jesus. Jesus did not scold Thomas or condemn his hesitation. He provided the evidence only then did He say to him, “Stop doubting and believe”. (26) Jesus gave doubting Thomas a second chance and Thomas said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God” And Jesus replied to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” God has given us the chance to be blessed by our faith. The disciples rejoiced, but Thomas’ response was praise. Praise and glory be to our God. Their joy was not an end, it needed to be continued to the glory of God. He is our Lord and our God. He is alive. Jesus is coming to us first even when we are in the darkness with grief, depression, and frustration. He is giving us His peace, new mission with the guidance of the Holy Spirit after He breaks through our locked door. He is sending us out to the world in the power of Lord’s resurrection. Jesus wants us to become the Easter community which is a peaceful and Spirit-filled church with great joy. When it comes to spiritual truth, we need to be prepared to believe what we have not seen. We are invited to trust our risen Jesus without seeing. We can overcome our trouble and suffering in the power of our Lord’s resurrection knowing the ultimate victory is His and ours. I hope and pray the transformation of fear into joy will be happening in our lives. We can say to Jesus, “My Lord and my God” and believe in Jesus together hoping the unity of the church in Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection is not just a one-time event, the living risen Christ is the Centre of our lives and our faith community. What does the full acknowledgement of the resurrection mean? It means taking our eyes off the empty tomb and placing them on the Lord. Let us allow the resurrected Lord to handle our hesitation to obey Him in everything. The living risen Christ is the Centre of the church’s creed. In Acts 2:43-47 & 4:32-35, Luke emphasized the unity of the church and added a message about its generosity in chapter 4.

4th April 2021 Easter Sunday Service Title: He Has Risen (Scripture Readings: Isaiah 25:6-9; Mark 16:1-8) By Heeyoung Lim Happy Easter! Jesus is risen. God is praised for his wonderful deeds in many Bible verses. In Isaiah 25, the focus is moved into the future. The prophet Isaiah praised God for His future deeds which could be compared to the great history of salvation. We do not know when and how God’s will be done, but we know God has plans for us and carries them out for God’s people in perfect faithfulness. In today’s text, Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all people, a banquet that is open to all people and nations. Verse 8 says “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.” The Lord has spoken. No longer will the nations hide themselves while mourning over the victims lost in the battle of the last days. The Lord will destroy the power of death and wipe away all tears. God will invite all who are left to feast joyfully. Death, the last enemy, will be conquered, it will no longer threaten the world; mourning will vanish; joy and thanksgiving will last. God is giving us reasons to be joyful. This promise was revealed in the resurrection of our Lord. God’s people can join in praise for his coming kingdom on earth, for his protection of the helpless, and for his victory over death. We can be glad and rejoice in his salvation as in verse 9. In Mark 16, three women who were at the foot of cross wanted to anoint Jesus’ body Saturday evening, but they were on their way to the tomb just after sunrise due to darkness. (Mark 16:2) They did not expect to see him alive; The purpose of anointing was an expression and act of love and devotion. The women had a question; “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But the stone had been moved back when the women arrived at the tomb. Mark does not tell us who moved the stone. When they looked up, they saw that the large stone had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. He said, “Don’t be alarmed, you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” This is good news. They were invited by the angel to see that the tomb was empty. (6) The angel said, “go, tell his disciples and Peter.” (7) When male dominated law and culture discounted the witness of women, Jesus gave mission to the women who were coming to Jesus. The women were God’s instruments for spreading gospel, they were called to discipleship even though they failed to communicate due to their trembling and astonishment. Resurrection is the heart of Good news. We can say that Jesus has risen. The disciples needed reassurance and encouragement during these times, especially Peter. Peter needed to know he had been forgiven and restored. John’s Gospel described how Jesus concerned and cared for His disciples. (John 21). Jesus encouraged and empowered his disciples by appearing and commissioning. Resurrected Jesus empowers us by being, praying, and commissioning to continue spreading the good news. Jesus received Peter’s denial, but Jesus forgave him and cared for him. God’s gracious hand of forgiveness can bring us back. To do this, ‘coming to Jesus’, ‘removing stones,’ ‘forgiving others’, and ‘going and telling’ are necessary in our faith and life. We are responsible for telling the “good news” of Jesus Christ. The good news is not to hide, but to reveal and it is not to contain, but to convey. The tomb Jesus was in on Friday was empty on Sunday. We can see His final victory in the resurrection. The resurrection of Christ is the heart of the gospel. Resurrection is Good news and an actual historical event. Jesus fulfilled His gospel mission by rising from the dead. Disbelief and hardness of heart can be stones that block us from God, it keeps God from working through the believer’s life. God has the power to “roll away” the stones that block us from living life fully. The resurrection of Jesus teaches us that in the darkest circumstances there is always hope. The hope of resurrection came from the tomb. Jesus’ death and the place of death were not the end. We can assume that the behind the scenes from the tomb by angel’s appearance and good news. “He has risen, He is not here.” Jesus no longer stays in the tomb. Jesus was doing during those three days in the tomb even if people were not able to see God at work. (4) This does not mean He is not working, and the emptiness does not mean nothing. The emptiness of tomb means hope and a new start. God is not disappointed when we make a mistake, He is disappointed when we fail to believe Him. We may have doubt in our lives, but Jesus encourages us to rectify previous wrongs and begin again in the power of the resurrected Jesus, our crucified Jesus has risen. In verse 8, “Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” Jesus had already promised them what the angel describes to the women. Jesus is always a step ahead of our fearful journeys. Always waiting for us in Galilee. Always holding us together. He is guiding us back to Himself and reminding us of the calling: “Follow me.” Jesus’ resurrection renews our fellowship, binds it together instead of allowing it to break. The resurrection of Christ has the power to transform. I hope we will be transformed in the power of resurrection. Jesus has risen! Everything has been changed from sadness to gladness, from despair to hope,