25th December, Christmas Service Glory to God in the Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:8-20) By Heeyoung Lim Merry Christmas! Jesus is born! Peace be with you! Jesus came to be with us as our Saviour. Jesus is the promised Messiah and Saviour who brings salvation to people from all classes, races, and nations of the world. His role as Saviour was proclaimed before his birth. We are grateful Jesus’ salvation is intended for all people. There were the Saviour’s Earthly Birth and Heavenly Mission. The story of the shepherds and angels is set at dark and quiet night. Then, suddenly light and singing in the dark and quiet. The first words from angels were “Do not be afraid.” The angel choir brings good news of joy for all people. But the fear comes first, and then the shepherds listen to the song of Good News. Light from the dark and singing from the quite are gifts sent by God. The shepherds heard Good News and experienced God’s grace. When did you hear Good News for the first time? How did you respond to the Good News? Specific time, place, and ways regarding conversion would be all different in accordance with our character, personality, and our faith. There would be gradual conversion, sudden conversion, and crisis conversion, and so on. God’s ways and His timing are also different according to individuals. Many people cannot point the born-again moment when our heart was carried into the presence of Christ. However, all the fear we had were in and out, and the turning point in our lives is not the end, but it is simply a new beginning. God’s glorious angel terrified the shepherds, but quickly brought them reassurance: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (10-11) Gospel provokes joy which is the inward feeling of happiness instead of fear. Joy comes to all people, and it comes from God’s gift. In Bethlehem, shepherds were nothing more than the ordinary. They would watch their flocks by night. One of the biggest surprises of Christmas is that shepherds were first to know about the coming of Jesus! God’s messenger could have gone to anyone, but chose the Shepherds, who became the first listener when God had the biggest news of all when they were simply at work. God visited the shepherds through sending angels and lifted them to first witness to his salvation. It happened when shepherds were counting the sheep constantly and looking after them. Shepherds were in love and care, and they responded in worship and praise. Telling the ordinary people first was important. It means that Jesus did not just come to the rich and the high even though the baby in the manger was God himself with all power and all authority under heaven. He came to the poor and the helpless, the sick and the lonely. Most of us could probably be identified as an ordinary person like the shepherds in the field. I believe we share the privilege of hearing the Good News and encountering the living Christ with others even though we are still battle fields. An angelic chorus burst on the scene, confirming the Good News, and singing heavenly praise to God. God revealed his glory, so that the shepherds could recognize. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” (14) God gains glory and people find peace through hearing Good News and praising God. Angelic presence does not last forever, and angels leave. After the angel’s appearance what do the shepherds do? They made an immediate decision to go to Bethlehem to see what angels told them. They wanted to be a part of the work God was doing in this world, they saw God’s work in the face of a baby lying in a manger. I believe we are all already included in God’s awesome work of salvation and immediate decision is necessary for God’s work instead of delaying or holding back. That is one of reasons of joy and moving forward. Shepherds found in a manger the Saviour, the Messiah, the Lord himself. Baby Jesus was in the feeding place. This baby is resting in a manger on the night of his birth. (14) It can be connected to table where community gather around. And after going to the stable and finding the baby wrapped in a manger, what do the shepherds do? They go home praising God for all they have seen and heard. (20) We can go into the world glorifying and praising God because we encountered Jesus. I hope and pray all we can run to Jesus and spread the Gospel so that we can share the words of glory and praise with others. I am confident many of us would like to live singing praise to God and passing on important news to the people around you. This Christmas I hope we can do as those ordinary shepherds did and keep on praising God so others may hear about the birth of Jesus. We are all witnesses to God’s coming into the world as Jesus Christ our Savior. The Good News of great joy that is for all people, and I hope we can extend the ministry of our church to all people whom Jesus came to save. We can expect to find God at work in places where people would never think and live each day in obedience so God can use us when his time comes. I am sure God is with us always if there are congregants who are crying to the Lord especially among our church members in many reasons. And I believe Jesus is with us all the time for all individuals and families who are struggling with grief, depression, loneliness, and illness. Only God can count and

Advent 4, 20th December 2020 The Inbreaking and the Favoured in God’s Love. Readings: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:26-38 By Heeyoung Lim Christmas is nearly here! Our Advent wait is nearly over! On this 4th Sunday in Advent, we lit the candle of LOVE. Soon Christmas day will arrive. We are challenged to reveal that same LOVE as we live out our faith here. We thank God for a love beyond our human understanding and await the birth of God’s LOVE this Christmas. We are still in a COVID affected unstable world. How can we go back to the stable? We can stay stable in a manger of stable. Now, just before Christmas, we can get back to the basics of our faith which is God’s unconditional love freely given and received in a changing, uncertain world. There are famous scenes such as angels, shepherds, wise men and stars in the Christmas stories, and Today’s gospel is more focused on Mary’s story regarding the Jesus’ incarnation. However, all the Christmas related topics need to indicate Jesus. As we celebrate the birth of the Christ child in the stable of Bethlehem where Jesus’ inbreaking incarnation happened and the inbreaking is still happening to us. Where is our spiritual stable and Bethlehem? Can we all invite and welcome Jesus in our inner stable today? As we are getting back to the centre of our faith and back to the core of what we believe, the distance with Jesus will be closer and closer. God fulfills his promises, and He often accomplishes his will in unusual and unexpected ways. God’s promise that Jesus will “sit on the throne of David” fulfils the covenant in 2 Samuel 7:1-11 and reveals God’s faithfulness from the prophetic quote. The angel visits a young woman named Mary. The angel Gabriel represents of the presence of God. The angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.” Mary is the favoured by God and she has experienced God’s undeserved grace in a special way. This does not change who Mary is, but she became a special instrument whom God chose to use in his gracious plan of salvation. Mary is elected to a particular purpose in which she wholeheartedly participates, but she is not sinless. (The favoured is not about favouritism.) The favoured by God is a blessing, but it does not mean she is “worthy of praise. The grace Mary received was God’s presence with her. However, the highly favoured becomes sometimes the greatly troubled in this world. The appearance of divine messenger like an angel would be powerful and enough to stir up her thoughts. The heavenly messenger understood her troubled mind, so the angel said to Mary “The Lord is with you” and “Do not be afraid”. The angel’s message did not ease Mary’s confused mind immediately, because confusion reigned, and questions aroused. She had never received such a greeting! What are our obstacles in a blessed event from God? Our spiritual blindness? The habit of saying “No thanks” to God? We are sometimes not ready to receive even greetings, blessings, the favoured by God, and we often misunderstand about God’s plan and will when the ways we face are totally different with ours even in a blessed event. There was a divine birth announcement for a baby named Jesus and Son of God in the Bible. Mary is described as favoured and perplexed, and depicted as the model Christian believer when she questions, believes, and submits to her vocation. God’s messenger had the answer to the confused Mary. The Holy Spirit will come upon Mary, enabling her to do and be more than she could by herself. The angel informed this child would be born through the Holy Spirit and a special miracle of God. (35) Both Mary and Elizabeth were in the divine miracle. In humble submission, Mary was now ready to serve God and follow his will. (38) Both agreed to do what God required. With his mission accomplished, the angel left. Mary was responding to God’s command in absolute obedience. God was at work again in wonderful ways. God’s grace removes all fear, and He does the impossible. Then and now! God will surround her completely with his sovereign power. God’s love will always care for us whenever God takes the initiative because God is love. Mary is the “blessed one” who is called by God to bear the Christ child, the “servant of the Lord” who desires that God’s will come to achievement through her. (38) There were voices from an angel in the presence of God, those were “Do not be afraid”, and “you have found favour with God”, and “nothing is impossible with God.” We can hear the voices when we are anxious, sad and in darkness. Mary’s response to Gabriel’s remarkable announcement of the coming birth of Christ were “Here I am, and I am the servant of the Lord”. Mary’s obedience is neither optional nor forced. She has no choice but to submit to God’s will. Mary acts freely when she offers herself as a servant of the Lord. (38) We are being called to be used by God, our existence and responses need to be before God. I hope all we can say ‘Here I am, and I am the servant of the Lord’ before God. In addition to inviting us to think about who we are and what we do in relation to God and God’s work, this passage challenges us to be reoriented by what the incarnation tells us about Jesus. The inbreaking of Jesus changed our whole life in God’s love. God is giving us the salvation and continuous love through the inbreaking of the holy, the favour of God, and being with us. The holy being came into a particular time and place (v. 26), sent by God to a particular person and community (v. 27). We cannot anticipate the ways that God will

Advent 3 13th December 2020 (Isaiah 61:1-11; Like 1:46-55) By Heeyoung Lim Gladness and Praise in God’s Garden The God in whom we rejoice, prepares our hearts for the coming of the Lord. We light the candle of joy on the 3rd Sunday of Advent. We are glad indeed, to be together in the House of the Lord! I hope God will fill us to overflow with the joy of the Lord, and our hearts will be filled with laughter. Light and joy flashed from God’s words. Two couples looked forward to the birth of their first child. A hint of fear and wonder tingles the expectancy and excitement. Mary’s faith displayed itself in praise, Mary praised God for his great acts for her. Her praise included two actions: giving glory to God and rejoicing in the presence and actions of God. The Lord had looked down on Mary with loving care. Knowing the low socioeconomic status in which she was embedded in. God had placed her in a state of blessing, because of Jesus. She did nothing to earn or deserve this, but the almighty God had caused it with his mighty acts. (Luke 1:46) He reaches down in mercy, finding in each generation people who worship him. He also pays careful, loving attention to the humble, raising them up to new people of importance (50) Loving salvation for an undeserving people, and God does what he promises (54) God gave her a song of praise, and Mary was willing to bear the disgrace to become God’s instrument of grace. (56) In Isaiah 61:1-11, God sends his messenger to bring good news and help to all those in need who are in the post-exilic community. In Isaiah 61: 1-2, God’s salvation is related to good news, healing, liberty, and comfort. We can hear good news when we are poor, and we can hear words of freedom when we are captive or when we are addicted to something. In addition, we will be released from what binds us when we are kind of prisoners, and we receive comfort given by God when we are mournful. Our hearts will be also healed by the Lord when we are broken-hearted. Where is God’s transformation revealed today? In our whole life, the house of the Lord, our homes, workplaces, communities, and this precious place with the name of Leighmoor, where Jesus offers blessing for all. I believe God will be pleased more through our transformed life in Jesus. The message from Isaiah is imaged both as a restored city and as an abundant garden (4, 11) The world will see what God has done for Israel in the past and will know they are a people whom the Lord has blessed. (9) That is, Isaiah’s vision is not an empty promise. It cannot be described as the pie in the sky. There is a similar expression in Korea, too. It is expressed as the bread (rice cake) in the picture. However, God’s deliverance is real. God saved people in all of the past, present and future, and God’s salvation is here with us now. All we are invited to participate in God’s salvation through Jesus. That is our true joy, and it will be experienced by others who still do not know Jesus in the future. The good news for God’s salvation and deliverance is for everyone. The anointed is to deliver good news to the oppressed, to wrap for healing the broken hearts, to declare liberty for the captives and an opening so the imprisoned may find release. The anointed cannot avoid vulnerability or rejection by continuous preaching and divine service. God’s anointed must confront the perpetrators and sources of oppression, marginalization, hopelessness, and despair. They lived with shame and disgrace, and they were devastated. They experienced downfall and abandonment by God, but the prophet Isaiah told them and tells us that God’s presence is real. The scripture reveals God’s special treatment and care for the lowest, and the weakest. The words spoken are full of promise. It is not a temporary promise, it is an everlasting covenant. From verses 8 to 11, the topics of justice, hope, anticipation, deliverance, and blessing are spoken to the people. It was a promise and a reminder that God has not forgotten them. Isaiah 61:10: I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness the prophet begins to give praise for what God is going to do. They will dress in a fashion that indicates their rejoicing in God’s faithful act of deliverance. (10) God restores his people to righteous living and glorious worship because the Lord loves justice, and He will let the people wear the robe of righteousness. (10) God will glorify his people by bringing them back to his house of worship. We cannot overlook the fact that many people are feeling oppressed, broken-hearted, captive, or imprisoned in some way today, and some of them are wondering when and how God’s transformation will take place in our lives. We may have a feeling about God’s silence when we are facing difficulties and sufferings. What do you do when that disappointment happens? There would be many things to do such as seeking, praying, and waiting! Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for God to transform the world through Jesus Christ. Isaiah’s words tell us that the transform is not to be an empty hope but a sure promise, because the promise for recovery is already given and will be given by God. The restoration for God’s people was God’s mission and His desire for salvation. That is why salvation is related to mission and our response. Where and how mission will happen in our lives. There would be lots of unexpected losses in our lives, but God will provide for us and will redeem our losses. In addition, a restored