The Holy Spirit at Pentecost

Acts 2: 1-8

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a loud sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the spirit enabled them….Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?…”

Two things from this passage and the sermon on Sunday strike me as both amazing and perplexing:

One of them is that God is able to cross language barriers that His name may be known throughout all nations.  On the day of Pentecost,  the first church we read about in chapter one gets together in Jerusalem to commemorate the God’s gift of the ten commandments when all of the sudden a giant and powerful gust of wind sweeps into the house.  Maybe they thought they were having a tornado or something.  Then fire-shaped tongues emerge and rest on each member, filling them with the supernatural power to speak different languages.  Jews from every nation under heaven were able to hear about the wonders of God spoken in their own language.  Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Pontus, Asians, Phrygians, Pamphylians, Egyptions, Libyans, Romans, Cretans and Arabs….both Jews by blood and those who’d converted…all of these people were able to hear about their Creator.  And this was made possible because our great God, who speaks all languages, decided to dwell in his people.

How great is our God that he makes his glory known across culture and language!  That’s certainly a reason to worship him!

The second thing that really struck me was Andy’s observation and emphasis that “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.”  Jesus promised to send his Spirit, and Peter promises in verse 38 that those who are baptized for the forgiveness of sins will receive the spirit.   Now, I trusted Jesus some time ago, but I have to admit that a small wave of fear flashed over me on Sunday afternoon.  Because I’ve never seen anything like what the disciples experience on the day of Pentecost.  While I’ve attributed some of my life experiences to the spirit, it’s been a little while since I’d really felt the spirit.

I’ve never seen the spirit in the form of fire, wind or a dove.  So do I even have the spirit? I wondered.  Last night, I prayed that God would bring clarity to my confusion about this.   At some point this morning, I mysteriously felt a heart of gratefulness wash over me.  I began to think about all of the people who’ve taken care of me in Korea in various ways, and I wondered how I might express my thanks to them.  Ultimately, I felt thankful to God for being my caretaker.  I realized that this heart was the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in me.

The Holy Spirit, which took the forms of wind and fire on the day of Pentecost, can take on the form of many things in our lives.  The Holy Spirit promotes a heart of thanksgiving.  It can take the form of a righteous anger, a patient trust in God, and a passion to share with others.  Though I worried He was absent from my heart, I realized that He is everywhere in my life.  He tells me when to wait and trust when my instinct is to seize control.  He gives me insight into the perspectives of others.  The Holy Spirit fosters self-examination, which leads to repentance and prudence.  He puts God’s words on my tongue when I least expect it, gives me strength when I feel powerless, and grace when I’m downcast.  He gives individuals gifts that they may proclaim the name of Jesus.

One cannot follow Jesus without the Spirit, and everyone with the Spirit follows Christ.

Survival Korean Classes

Do you know anyone struggling with Hanguel and needs a helping hand. Send them along to:

Survival Korean Class

INSTRUCTOR: Daniel, Kim who is also in charge of Kids English Ministry

TARGET: Survival Korean Class is for all foreigners from all over the world

TEXTBOOK:

- Beginner’s Korean 1 (Language Plus) for Beginners – Beginner’s Korean 2 (Language Plus) for Intermediate Students

FOCUS:

1) Mastering basic vowels and consonants

2) Reading and practicing Korean words

3) Learning survival expressions

WHERE?: New Comer’s Edu. Room (on the first floor of Dong-Shin Church Main Sanctuary)

TIME?: 11:30-12:30 for Beginners, 12:30-1:30 for Intermediate Students

PERIOD?: S. K. C. of the third term is from January 23rd, to March 27th, 2010

REGISTRATION FEE: 20,000 won

TEXTBOOK: A textbook with tape is 15,000 won.

Contact No: DANIEL KIM 010-5467-1198 (sinyounghan@hotmail.com)

Anyone is welcome

Sunday 17th Singing Room after the service

It’s that time again to kick off 2010 in song! Come to the singing room and enjoy some melodious tunes, good times and good people. Cost will be dependent on the number of people but shouldn’t be too much. Last time, we had 10 people go to a No-rae bang just near church and everyone got into the swing of things! Hope you can join us this weekend.

Every month we have an activity to have fun, fellowship, frivolity and form firm friendships for the time that we are together in Korea. If you have any great ideas about what we could do, let us know at church or by email.

God bless you all!

Jesus: provider of everything we need, keeper of everything we don’t

“…After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.  He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God.  On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about’….’It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.’”  Acts: 1: 3-7

I admitted to myself a few weeks ago that the main reason I made the hour trek out to Dongshin English Service on Sunday had much less to do with worshipping God and much more to do with seeing people.  Though a true believer in Christ, as a churchgoer, I regret to admit I fall into the category of people who attend to find a “social network  of people with similar opinions about the world.”  Church attendance exists for reasons such as family routine, appeasing a “good Christian” complex, a genuine desire to worship the Father in community or any combination of these factors.

The clarity brought by Acts 1: 1-8 more than blows that category out of the water.  Though Christ’s work on the cross is fully finished, as living members of his body, the Church, Jesus invites us to join in the continuing work of building His Kingdom.  In Acts 1:1-8, we realize that God has provided everything we need to do his work, but He has wisely kept everything we do not need.

What an awesome promise to trust in!  God has provided all that you and I need to do the works that he’s prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10).  Our Lord Jesus knew and still knows all that we need.

He knew the disciples then and the disciples of today would need to be fully convinced that their Savior was no martyr but was and is alive.  If our Savior is dead, then we’re still dead in our transgressions.  He’s alive, and we need to believe it in order to work unto the glory of His Kingdom.

Our Lord Jesus knew we would need instruction through the Holy Spirit and about the Kingdom of God.  Many followers today do not “study to show thyself approved” like Paul commanded Timothy, but the church needs such instruction through the Spirit and the word to keep from going astray.  Jesus knew we would need to be certain of God’s Kingship in our lives, so He spent his last days teaching about the Kingdom of God and reminding the disciples about the promised gift.  Jesus’ instruction about the Kingdom, the Holy Spirit and our assurance of salvation are all we need to live as slaves to the King, and thus, members of the church.

Then, the same God who provides for all we need also conceals all that we don’t need to know.  We don’t need to know the day or time of His return.  Jesus, Lord and Savior, assured us that we didn’t need to know.  Dates and times belong to the Father.  We don’t need to know when God will provide a new job direction, a beautiful spouse or when that lost family member will finally cross the line of faith.  The knowledge of these things would only make us arrogant, distract us, and detract from the King’s glory in His Kingdom.

I’m amazed to discover God’s wisdom is providing for our needs and in concealing our wants.  How great is our God in providing and concealing!

Jesus’ instruction about the Kingdom should put a flame to the fire of Dongshin English service.  I’m a fan of social networking, but Jesus brought us together for a greater purpose:  the ongoing work of his Kingdom.

January 3rd Sermon: Changing Your Mind

Romans 12: 1-2  ”Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

Happy New Year!  I hope it is a happy new year for my brothers and sisters at Dongshin English Service.  But if you’re like most people on this earth, I’m sure many other words could be used to describe this year.   Challenging and busy. Trying in someways.  Delightful in others.  Followers of Jesus, however, are not to interpret life’s ups and downs as the world interprets them.  We are not to respond to life the way the world responds.  Instead, our knowledge of the Creator, our sinful state and the Holy One who saved us changes us from average people to the transformed people.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I don’t feel all that different from my unbelieving friends or coworkers.  They’re living and breathing creatures as am I.  They like to eat.  I like to eat.  They like to read good books and watch good movies.  So do I.  They complain about stuff at work.  So do I.  Or maybe I’m the chief complainer…as far as I can tell among the English complaints.  (I’m the only foreigner at my workplace.)  They sin.  I sin.  We both sin.

In Romans 12:1, Paul, the prototype of a changed life, urges us to live sacrificially and dramatically different lifestyles from the world.  Saul, who was born from the tribe of Benjamin, viewed as an important intellectual, and a persecutor of followers of The Way, became a new man with a new name when he was knocked off his ass by Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.  Saul was set against Christ, not because of some huge conscious decision that Jesus was evil, but because of simple common reasons like upbringing, training in Jewish law, and culture socialization.  Brother Ken told us Sunday that even well-intentioned training can fix us in opposition to the ways of Jesus.

At Dongshin English Service, we’re all tuned in to the distinct differences in culture–be them Eastern, Western or somewhere in between.  The good news is in Christ, no matter how different our cultures, we are one in Him.  Jesus is supracultural.  Therefore, it’s our duty as Christians to examine our culture and take note of the ways that the ways of our countrymen led us astray.

As an American, one of the most interesting phrases I learned in Korea was “Sugaseyo”–a farewell meaning “Work hard!”  It was particularly ironic when juxtaposed with the American farewell “Take it easy!” meaning “Don’t work too hard.  Relax. Have a good time!”  Yes, Americans like to take it easy.  Koreans like to work hard.  Where is Jesus on this continuum?  Well, he stayed up all late ministering to people and then rose early the next morning for prayer.  (Mark 1: 32-35) He certainly had a good time, too, but for my personal application purposes, I’m gonna say Jesus was a hard worker.  For a few weeks, I work industriously to plan my lessons and require excellence from my students…but as an American, it’s so easy to let laziness seep in.

Americans complain a lot, too.  Complaining is just a regular conversation piece when you’re a young adult in the states.  But as a foreigner, I quickly saw the negative effects of my needless negativity on those who were desperately trying to give me a good time in their country.  Philippians 2:14 says “Do everything without complaining or arguing” so that we can become blameless and pure before God.  These are just a couple of ways that American culture fails to embody Christ’s character.

So we’re on a mission to change our minds to that which is on God’s mind.  How do we do that?  No clever blog post could have changed Saul’s mind that day on the road to Damascus.  No spiritual exercise could have made him realize that maybe killing Jesus’ followers was not a good idea.  No encounter with a super nice Christian would have helped.  It was Jesus who knocked him off his ass that day.  And it’s Jesus alone who can help us live free from the confines of our culture.  Beseech the throne and ask for help to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Ask to see the world through his eyes.

December 20th Sermon: The Incarnation of Christ

Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

J.R. Tolkein said the incarnation is “too lofty of a truth” for him to intend to work it into his book, “The Lord of the Rings.”

A look at the history and mystery of the incarnation of Christ:

History: The Incarnation as a story

Micah 5:2 says that Christ’s origin dates back to antiquity and eternity.

Setting: Place

Bethlehem Ephratha

• Jacob’s wife died giving birth in Bethlehem to Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand.”
• A royal city: Kings were chosen here
• Bethlehem has a dual meaning: “House of bread” and “House of war.”  This is significant because Jesus brought life, but caused enmity between family members.

Setting: Time

• Galatians 4:4 says God sent his son “when the time had fully come.”
• Israelites waited for about 400 years between the last prophesy and the birth of Christ.  The incarnation of Christ teaches us to wait on the Lord in times of drought.

Characters/People

• Micah 5:2 says “out of you” will come the Messiah.  God brought the Savior from flawed people who he loves.
• For example, God used Mary to bear Jesus.  Mary cherished him from the time of his birth to the time of his death.

Mystery: The incarnation as a wonder

Jesus came to die.  He didn’t come for the manger.  It’s a wonder that he is both fully human and fully God.

Jesus’ Humanity

• Some people emphasize the divine because Jesus was sinless.  They consider sin a necessary characteristic of humanity.  However, God didn’t create man to sin, but to be in his image.  So it’s wrong to say that sin is human.
• Jesus had emotion, affection, intellect and choice–all human characteristics.
• Emotion: In John 11:35, Jesus “wept.”  Jesus also became furious at the money changers in the temple and demonstrated his anger by turning over tables!
• Intellect: In Luke 2:52, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature.  What patience Jesus had to learn even as a fully divine creature!
• Choices: Jesus chose to die.  Note: Jesus didn’t cease to exist in heaven when he became a man.  In Colossians 1:17, we learn that in Christ, we move and live and have our being.  Christ had to coexist in both heaven and earth in order for humans to continue to live during His time as a human.

Jonathan Edwards called the incarnation “the infinite condescension.”  We must understand his greatness in order to understand what he gave up to become like us.

• From 381-451 A.D., the church debated the degree to which Jesus was both God and man.  They had many theories.  Some thought he was sometimes God and other times man.  Some thought his God-side was stronger than his man-side, gradually ruling him to perfection.  One by one, they ruled out these options and agreed that Jesus was both 100% God and 100% man.

In Ezekial 36:26, we learn that Christ can remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh.  Praise him who is able to do such wondrous things throughout history and forever!  Have a merry Christmas!

Christmas Party

Have a holly jolly holiday with your Dongshin friends!  Come join us this Sunday at 5 p.m. in the English Service main room for a Christmas party.  Please bring a small gift (worth $5 or less) if you wish to participate in the white elephant gift exchange.  Hope to see you there!

December 13 Sermon: God is Love

Colossians 2: 6-7 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Rooted

Application

• Rooted in the Word
• Growth always comes from past truths

Action

• Rooted in prayer
• As we pray, we come to know God personally

Attendance

• Rooted in fellowship
• Growth in relationships comes from spending time together
• Example: Karl gave the example of his relationship with his wife.  As with one’s spouse, we begin relationships with an attitude of giving.  So why should we depart from that attitude?

The word “rooted” conjures pictures of plants and trees in our minds.  In the Bible, the tree of life is one example of a fruit-bearing tree.

Tree of Life

• Genesis 2:9–The tree of life was in the garden of Eden in the beginning.
• Revelation 22:2–The tree of life is with God in paradise, yielding fruit every month.
• Revelation 22:13–Jesus blesses those who have access to the tree of life

Just as trees are rooted in the ground and bear fruit, we are to be rooted in God and bearing spiritual fruit.

• Psalm 1:1-3 The man who delights in the law of the Lord is “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”
• Romans 8: 38-39 Nothing can separate us from God’s love through Christ.  In other words, nothing can uproot us when we’re in Christ!

Earthly Tree Examples

Yucca trees

• Yucca trees are impossible to kill, but they only grow to the capacity of their pot.
• Sometimes God could do more with us if we were in a larger pot!

Bamboo trees

• Once bamboo trees are establishes, they don’t stop growing.  Bamboo trees can grow up to 90 feet in one year, but it takes about five years to see any sort of visible growth.
• Sometimes it appears as if nothing is happening in our lives, as if there is no growth, but later we will see the growth God has been doing in our lives.

The Story of the Three Trees

• Moral: God sees the big picture.  He knows how to glorify himself and use our lives better than we do.  http://www.word4life.com/threetrees.html

Isn’t it great to know we have a God who loves us too much to let us fall?  Or to let us live a fruitless life?

Orphanage visit

We will be going to Shin Saeng won Orphanage this Saturday 5th Dec and are meeting at 1:45 at Ansim Subway.  The place is about 5-10 minutes walk.  If you have any questions or would like to play/interact with the kids for a couple of hours, please contact Brandon on 010-2231-1785.  Also we will be having a special offering for the orphanage kids over the next 2 weeks and there will be a box at the rear of church for donations to provide for them at Christmas time.

Advent

This week we started looking at Advent and this will lead up to Christmas so here are some details below:

What is advent?

• It is the four-week period leading up to Christmas
• It is a time of preparation for the coming of the Christ Child
• The season is also a preparation for the Second Coming of Christ

What is the focus of advent week?

• Celebrate the first Advent of Christ’s birth.
• Anticipate the Second Advent of Christ the King’s return.

What is the meaning of advent wreath?

• Circle shape of the wreath – God has no beginning or end.
• Color green of the wreath – We have hope in eternal life.
• Blue candles-Royalty of King Jesus, repent and turn from the darkness of sin.
• Pink candle – Awake out of darkness into the celebration of life through Jesus.
• White candle or Christ candle – Jesus is true God and true man and this is the heart of the season.

How will we celebrate advent at Dongshin

• Each Sunday for the next 4 weeks we will:
• Read the Scriptures for the Christmas story.
• Light the candles.
• Read a prayer together.

Luke 2: 1-6 Life Application Study Bible
1. At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire
2. (This was the first census taken when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.
4. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He travleed there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.
5. He took with him Mary, who was now obviously pregnant.
6. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.

Advent Prayer
Emmanuel, Jesus Christ,
desire of every nation,
Savior of all people,
come and dwell among us

God bless everyone