Pastor Thang is on Mission Trip

Dear friends,

Pastor Thang is on a mission trip. It will take him for more than two weeks. This weblog will be updated again when he arrived. But, please, keep visiting as devotional helps are still in auto-operation mode. Meantime, Pastor Thang needs your prayer-help. Thanks. God bless!!

Getting Ready for Weekend Worship

This is a preview of SEM weekend worship service program (April 6, 2008):

• Meditation (ODB): Jinhyung
• Invocation: Ps. Jonathan Kim
• Praise & Worship: Berakah Team
• Message: Ps. Thang
  Touch of Grace: John 8:1-11
• Announcement: Administrator
• Offering & Prayer: Presider
• Hymn/Special Song: (any)
• Benediction: Preacher

Bible Study and Reading Pracitice will be taken from Ephesians 1:19-23.

Further, please, take time to read the whole chapter of John 8 also.

Mission Trip

Pastor Thang has an upcoming mission trip next month. He is going to visit one of his previous churches in his homecountry. The church is located in a far province. There's going to be a Conference, and Pastor Thang will serve the conference as main speaker. Your prayer support is the most he needs. God bless!

Hour of Prayer: A Prayer for the Nations

Please, pray for Myanmar as we listen a recent news originally released by Christian World News, Christian Broadcasting Networks (a US base), and also qouted by Christian Television Service, a Korea base, on March 31, 2008. Please, see a clip below.

For more information, please, also refer to CBN Website.

Message (03/30/08)

Driven By God’s Grace

Galatians 2:19-21

(To listen, please, click below)

Introduction: Is your life, a trolley or trawler? Trolley is originally a British word, meaning a handy carrier, shopping cart, that we can see in public places such as supermarket, airport, and some big stations [but, today it may mean more than that]. Trawler is a cruise or boat powered by engine. The difference is that you use your arm-strength to move trolley; but, in case of trawler, you just take a ride on it for it has engine-power. So, how is our life, lived and moved on our own strength alone or empowered with God’s grace and power (spiritual engine!)? To be empowered by God’s grace means that the Holy Spirit becomes the source of power and strength in us as He is here with us and also in us, ready to energize our lives to be full of strength and power. So, let us be driven by God’s grace, His power and strength.

A Life Owing Directly to God (v. 19): Paul, formerly called as Saul, was used to be a man driven by his own conviction in Jewish Law before. He was a well-learnt man, a pious Pharisee, and a man trusted by Jerusalem council of the time. However, final conclusion of this conviction led him to hand many honest Christians to execution, imprisonment, and torture. Therefore, knowing this tragic final result of his conviction, Paul declared that he now wanted to live a different life—from owing to Jewish Law to owing directly to God personally. Therefore, he decided to follow a death-road—a road to the cross by parting with Jesus Christ in life—in order to end his former life-style at the foot of the cross. The purpose is “so that I might live for [to] God.”

Put an End to Start a New (v. 20): To the Apostle Paul, the death of Jesus Christ (JC) on the cross is more than a historical fact. It means to him putting an end of his former lifestyle at the foot of the cross so that he would gain the real godly life that is a better one—even a new life. Therefore, he decided to put his former life, the first self-driven Saul, to an end at the cross, so that he would be free to live a new life with a new conviction, conviction in the great love of JC. With this new conviction [that is no more in strict Jewish tradition but in the saving love of JC], he felt dramatic changes in his life, thought, worldview, etc. For, there’s true life (liveliness) in this path, a path of ‘grace and love’ instead of strict rule and regulation, a path of ‘bless and forgive’ in stead of judge and condemn. Further, he felt that the resurrected Lord is living in his life by taking this path, and so the resurrection became so true and real—a very actual experience—in his life then.

Knowledge of God’s Grace in Jesus Christ (v. 21): In fact, to live this new life, a personal knowledge of God’s gracious salvation by the sacrificial death of JC is the basis. To change his lifestyle and religious value-system may be a kind of nullifying God’s special grace believed exclusively granted only to the Jews. However, in light of Christ’s great love to all, this is rather a confirmation of God’s unparallel grace and love extended even to the gentiles. This new and strong conviction has now driven Paul to value things differently from his Jewish heritage, to see broadly beyond his homeland, and to live a life that owes directly to God’s saving grace and love that is above of everything and anything else.

Sunday Worship Service Guide

Date/Time: March 30, 2008 (2:30 - 3:30 pm)
Praise/Worship: Berakah Team
Presider: Pastor Jonathan Kim

• Meditation (ODB): Sis. Sujan
• Invocation: Ps. Jonathan Kim
• Praise & Worship: Berakah Team
• Special Prayer: Deacon Lee ST
• Message: Ps. Thang
  "Driven By Grace" Galatians 2:19-21
• Announcement: Administrator
• Offering & Prayer: Presider
• Hymn/Special Song: (any)
• Benediction: Preacher

Bible Study & Reading Practice in English (Ephesians 1:17-19 "Prayer of Paul")

Message (03/23/08)

Life out of Grave!
Matthew 28:1-10
(cf., Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12, 50; John 20:1-10; 21:1, 18, 22)

(To listen, please, CLICK)

Introduction: We’ve four different gospels, having described the life-story of Jesus from their personal point of view. Therefore, sometime people find difficulty with some minor differences among them. However, this is not actually a problem. It’s just a need of re-arrangement of each story in their own rightful angles so that we’ll get a complete set of a single whole story. Accordingly, in spite of those minor different dramatized emphases of each, there’re more prevalent facts that they have together in common. Among many, let us focus the three similar motifs behind of making this resurrection story. First, they are in common in presenting the disciples’ struggle of faith; and, secondly, they are equally confident in claiming the actual event of the death/resurrection of Jesus Christ; then, thirdly, they seemed so inspired the same in calling their readers to come one step forward in faith.

Struggle with the Extent of Faith: The struggle of these disciples here is not about unbelief or rejection. They did believe in God, Jesus Christ, and even future resurrection; but, the problem is that they couldn’t put that faith in fitting with their present burning situation. Being the fact, they couldn’t expect to see this bodily resurrection beyond/after this tragic death—with this hopeless grave and folded garment. So were so much trembled and also surprised to see the empty tomb on the resurrection morning (cf., Mk. 16:8, 13; Jn. 20:5-9). Friends, let us not be surprised to see this empty tomb today! Let us say, “God can do it.”

None Other than Living Evidences: In spite of their incapability to recognize, the writers of the gospels were so sure in the actual event of the resurrection. They had strong evidences beyond their belief/unbelief. First, they themselves are the eye-witnesses as they had seen the risen Christ with their own eyes (cf. Acts 4:20). The second evidence is the empty tomb itself. The tomb was locked, sealed and guarded, but was opened by angels in the presence of the guards; so, no one could lock it up again (vv. 2-4). Thirdly, the words of angles are clear explanation of this resurrection to the writers of the gospels (vv. 5-8; Lk. 24:4-7).

A Call of One Step Forward: In spite of their differences in naming certain locality, all gospels mention together a sense of movement—going forward to somewhere else (e.g., from Jerusalem to Galilee in Matthew, Mark, John; from Jerusalem to Bethany in Luke; to follow after Christ in John). What did the gospel-writers mean is not about the physical location itself, that’s something beyond it. The most important motif of all the gospel-writers at this point is to give a concept of “movement” —going further one step forward in belief/faith in the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ.

Personal Reflection:

• What had made Jesus Christ to die on the cross? And what meaning deos his resurrection give me? There must be something to repent for and also something to praise God for.
• If the ressurection of Jesus Christ guarantees future resurrection of even my lowly life, how can I express this hope in my present life?
• Since it is a "life out of grave", what grave-like-situation am I encountering in my life, family, bussiness, educational career? How should I reflect that burning situation in light of Christ's victorious resurrection?