5ive2wo

Ok guys,

It's currently 2:10 am (June 12th, 09), and I am in my room thinking about the upcoming 2009 Summer Bible Conference. This year I am blessed with the opportunity to deliever the 2nd morning devotional message on "Jesus is the Christ!". God is quite comical, and he knows me so well that he teases me with this morning devotion message. He knows I have the worst trouble getting up in the morning, and so he challenges me with a MORNING message before breakfast!!! :O

I am almost done my 2nd draft of the message, Thank God!

On the side note, I was thinking about the planning and organization aspect of the Conference. Alot of prayers and preparations are going on right now, because we want this conference to be a life changing experience for people.

As you already know 5ive2wo will be responsible for the Praise Night on Friday night, and I am having trouble choosing the appropriate songs and how to transistion each song so that we wont have those "awkward pauses" in the middle of a spiritual JAM!!

So if you guys have any suggestions for songs please leave a comment!!

Thats all that mattered to me today,

Paul

HE HAS RISEN

Mark 16:1-20

Key verse: 16:6 “‘Don't be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.’”

Happy Easter! We celebrate and rejoice because Jesus rose again from the dead. As we know well, the climax of the gospel is the Resurrection of Jesus. Without it the suffering and death of Jesus are nothing but unfortunate tragic events. With it Jesus is declared to be the Son of God. With it the disciples were transformed from lazy and defeated followers into the flaming and passionate witnesses of the Risen Jesus. Jesus defeated sin, death, by his resurrection. May we accept the Risen Christ into our hearts and become his witnesses.

I. He has Risen (1-6)

Look at verse 1. ”When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.” The author Mark begins the story of Jesus’ resurrection by introducing three women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Who were these women? They loved Jesus dearly, followed him and cared for him. They loved Jesus and served his disciples with delicious food and prayers. They were like many of our women missionaries who follow Jesus faithfully and serve his work sacrificially. They witnessed everything that happened to him as they watched Jesus’ unbearable sufferings and cruel death beneath the cross. They must have been traumatized and filled with grief. They followed Joseph of Arimathea who carried Jesus’ body and laid it in a tomb cut out of rock. They saw where Jesus was laid.

Jesus died for our sins on the cross on Friday. So we call it Good Friday. This day was the darkest day for these women. They remembered all the beautiful memories of Jesus. Jesus was their source of joy, light, hope, meaning and happiness. But now he was gone forever. They saw his death and his burial with their own eyes. When Jesus died, their hope in Jesus died together with him. Right after the Sabbath was over, that Saturday evening, they bought spices to anoint Jesus’ body. They waited for Sunday morning to visit the tomb. These women’s love for Jesus was truly beautiful. Although all the disciples ran away and hid themselves somewhere very secretly, these women loved Jesus openly and faithfully. Now they wanted to anoint Jesus’ body as their last tribute and love to Jesus. Their faithfulness and genuine love for Jesus enabled them to know the resurrection of Jesus first hand. I pray that God may raise many women with genuine love for Jesus among Canadian girls. I know that women are truly beautiful and pure when they love Jesus faithfully, no matter what.

Verse 2-3 states, “Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"” The stone that was covering the entrance was large and heavy to prevent thieves from breaking in. These women knew they would have trouble moving the heavy stone, but they went anyways. When they arrived there, the stone was already rolled back and the tomb was open. There were also no guards keeping watch over the tomb. What happened? Look at verses 4 to 6, “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, 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.”. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.” These women were looking for Jesus of the past and wanted to anoint his body and say, “good-bye” forever. The messenger knew why they had come. They had come looking for Jesus. Then the messenger gave them the three greatest words spoken in history, “He has risen!” It meant, “Jesus Christ is no longer dead. He rose from the grave! Crushing the power of death once and for all, Christ lives!” Jesus Christ wins! This is greater than any sports victory. It is greater than the FIFA world cup or the Stanley cup. This is greater than any battle victory. This is the greatest news the world has ever heard because Jesus Christ our Lord triumphed over the grave. By rising from the dead, Jesus opened the door of eternal life and demonstrated God’s victory and completed God’s world salvation work.

What does this mean to us? First, it means we have indeed been forgiven of our sins. Jesus gave his life to save sinners, but if he remained a dead corpse man’s sin problem remained unsolved, because the wages of sin is death (Ro 6:23) So St. Paul says in1 Corinthians 15:17, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” But Jesus rose again from the dead and man’s sin problem was solved completely. In history, Jesus is the only one to rise from the dead. All other religious figures such as buddah, Mohamed and Confucius are still in their grave, but only Jesus our Lord and King has conquered the grave and rose again! This is why we can be sure that our sins are truly forgiven. This is why we know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the only who can solve our fundamental sin problem. We thank Jesus who broke the shackles of sin and death.

Second, Jesus’ resurrection gives us a living hope in the Kingdom of God. The resurrection of Jesus is amazing news, because the risen Jesus conquered the power of death. As we know well, death had wielded its power over all people in history. No one could defeat death. Everyone knelt down before death helplessly. Modern science is trying hard to prolong life and advert death but still, death is standing at the end of the road. Every single person dies, whether he is handsome or not handsome, rich or poor, brilliant or less brilliant. Death has power to make a person very fearful, sorrowful, hopeless and meaningless. Death snatches away our beloved ones one by one and finally our own life. So the Bible says that the last enemy of man is death (1 Cor 15:26). I am relatively young and in good health. I’m still in my 3rd year of University. Therefore the thought of death never occurred to me. I said to myself, “Meh, I’ll worry about death when I’m like my father’s age. I’m still too young.” We prepare for many things in life. For me I prepare for my exams and papers in order to pass the course and graduate with a degree. I prepare for my dream car and my home and my future career and wedding. However I rarely prepare for my death. In other words, I rarely prepare for my eternal life in the kingdom of God. But we must remember that we never know when it will be our turn to be lowered 6 feet under.

If you were told that you had exactly 1 week to live, what would you do? Most people would probably scramble to make a checklist of all the things they want to do or experience before they die, like Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in the movie, “The Bucket List.” It is because they have no hope left and they want to accomplish everything in the given time that they have. They have no hope after death.

But Jesus rose again from the dead, conquering the power of death. Jesus’ resurrection reveals the far more amazing truth for all of us. The Bible proclaims that the risen Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:23). He became the guarantee of the resurrection of all of God’s redeemed people. God’s people will be clothed with the imperishable and glorious body. Through Jesus' resurrection, we now have a living hope of our own resurrection (1Pe 1:3-4). Simply put, death can no longer wield its power over us. Of course, we will die one day. But our life will not end in the tomb. After death, there is glorious resurrection. Therefore, Christians can overcome difficulties and hardships joyfully. We can serve God joyfully today and participate in resurrection glory tomorrow. We can suffer for Christ today; we will receive resurrection tomorrow. This is resurrection faith. Resurrection faith is not theory. With resurrection faith we can challenge difficult things and conquer it. That is why St. Paul says, “I die everyday.” (1 Cor 15:31) He meant that he served God up to the point of death, because he knew that if he died while serving god’s work, there will be glorious resurrection. With this resurrection faith, M. David Kim of Toronto UBF challenged his school study in Western attending every Sunday worship service in Toronto for the last 3 and half years. At times, he felt that he was dying, but his resurrection faith compelled him to go forward and he passed his theses recently. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, human life is truly meaningful and hopeful. In short, the resurrection gives complete and eternal victory to us. We praise Jesus who rose again from the dead. May we accept the risen Jesus into our hearts so that all the elements of death such as fatalism, despair, sorrow and meaninglessness may be driven out of our hearts today and the light of resurrection may shine in us. May we challenge life’s problems with resurrection faith and experience many victories.

II. The witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection (7-14)

What happened with the disciples? We know that all of Jesus’ disciples fled when Jesus needed them the most. After then, they fell into utter despair and guilt and could not recover from their failure. Jesus understood them well and sent his personal message to Peter. It gave Peter and the disciples the assurance that Jesus still loved them. Jesus restored their failure. Jesus understands each of us very well. His love for each of us is unchanging.

Later, The Risen Christ visited his disciples and rebuked them for their lack of faith. Actually, Jesus sent witnesses of his resurrection twice before showing himself to his disciples so that they could have resurrection faith. But they all doubted it. One of the doubtful was Thomas. Jesus showed himself to Thomas and told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus sent his resurrection witnesses to his disciples beforehand so that they might believe his resurrection by faith. Jesus wants our faith to be based on the Word of God, not on physical evidence. Let us accept the risen Jesus right now and overcome all things with resurrection faith.

When we put our hope in the Risen Jesus, our lives are fundamentally changed. The women who came to anoint Jesus’ body were filled with grief, agony and pain but when the risen Jesus met them, they were changed! They witnessed Jesus’ glorious resurrection with their own eyes and their hearts were filled with eternal hope and heavenly peace and joy. The disciples were cowering in fear and hid secretly but when the risen Jesus met them, they were changed from fearful, unreliable and weak men into courageous and passionate witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.

In the past, just like the disciples I was very doubtful and could not truly accept the resurrection of Jesus. I heard and learned of Jesus’ death and resurrection countless times. Every Easter, I’ve heard this story of Jesus who was crucified, buried and raised from the dead. So what’s the big deal? Jesus’ resurrection is very different from the concept of resurrection we have these days which is tainted by movies such as “dawn of the dead” and “resident evil.” Jesus was not a zombie; he rose from the dead in glory and splendour. I was very sceptical and afraid of committing my life fully to Jesus because I did not have this reassurance of the resurrection in my heart. However Jesus visited me very personally one day exactly 6 years ago, at the 2003 Easter Bible Conference. The risen Jesus changed my life around fundamentally from a deviant trouble maker and a gangster wannabe into a bible teacher and a messenger of God’s words! Only the risen Jesus has the power to change lives! Praise Jesus who was raised on the third day!

Today we heard the angel’s Easter message: “He has risen!” May we accept the risen Jesus into our heart and live a life with a living hope in the kingdom of God. I sincerely pray that we may grow as living witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection for many people who are wandering aimlessly and passing their life without hope. We praise Jesus who shattered the power of death and gives us the living hope in the kingdom of God. Let us accept the risen Jesus into our hearts right now and live with resurrection faith!

Spiritual Role Models in Christ Jesus

1 Corinthians 4:14-17

Key Verse: 4:15

?Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.?

Before we start the message, how many fathers do we have in this room? So you can relate to this passage very well. This message was particularly difficult to write for me because I am not a father yet and I do not completely understand a father?s heart and love for his children. However through this message we will learn why we should be spiritual fathers and mothers for this generation and practically how to become one. Let?s read 15, ?Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.? Let?s stop and think, ?What is overwhelming quality of a parent? It is their love for their children. Apostle Paul had a father?s heart for the Corinthians and loved them as his dear children. The Corinthians Christians were low class people and they were corrupt, arrogant and immature. Regardless, Paul cared for these people with compassion and love just as Jesus loved him. The beautiful depiction of God?s Father?s heart and love was shown in the parable of the prodigal son. Our Father God loves and cares for us so much that he stands patiently waiting every single day with a broken heart waiting for us his prodigal sons and daughters to return to him. In the past I was a super prodigal son. I was so rebellious and I couldn?t stand my parents? devotion to God. I felt that my parents were overly insensitive, inflexible and too strict. I felt that they could never understand my situation. However their constant prayers, counselling and more importantly their patience enabled me to understand the father?s and mother?s heart. There is a clear distinction between real fathers or mothers and guardians. Their motives are different. A real father and mother care for their children out of love, but guardians cares for children for some other reasons. We must view our bible students as our own children and we must care for them like a father or mother out of love. Many of us act just like legal guardians even towards our own bible students. I must admit that in the past I was guilty of this. By title I was considered a shepherd and I started 1:1 bible studies with Ricardo. Although I did care about his spiritual well being and made sure he knew who Jesus was, I didn?t have a strong sense of responsibility for him. I did not have a genuine shepherd heart. However I am eternally grateful for God who revealed my sins at the YDC conference and opened my spiritual eyes to know that I am a sinner who needs Jesus the good shepherd. After repenting of my lack of shepherd heart and love, now I try to serve Ricardo like a spiritual father and friend. This means going beyond just bible studies, it means I must make some effort to be a part of his life and encourage and endure hardships together in Christ Jesus. We must always keep in mind, ?What is my motive in serving God?s sheep? Is it to gain wealth or honour for ourselves? Is it to look good in the church? Or maybe is it to please your parents, or bible teacher? We must love God?s children with pure hearts as a spiritual father and mother, and give glory to God.

This generation, this world, need more spiritual fathers and mothers. Why? This world is so full of darkness and sin that especially the youth of this generation do not have any spiritual role model to follow. They are lost without direction and hope that is why they are wandering in their sins trying to fill this void in their hearts. Many young people look up to celebrities, singers or athletes as their role models. They wish to be famous and become filthy rich just like them. ?But are these the ideal role models, whom people should look up to?? No. Look at their scandalous lives, they are not truly happy and moreover they are also lost without clear purpose or direction just like everyone else. It?s like a blind person leading another blind person. What we need is spiritual guidance, and a spiritual role model we can look up to. Let?s read verse 16, ?Therefore I urge you to imitate me.? Who in this room can confidently say, ?Imitate me!? Did Paul say this out his self-righteousness or pride? No he stated in 1 Corinthians 11:1, ?Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.? Apostle Paul knew that the Corinthians didn?t have a spiritual role model. Their role models were Greek Philosophers and people of wisdom. Paul wanted them to learn of Jesus by imitating him. The Corinthians did not physically see Jesus with their own eyes therefore they needed a visual role model. Our ultimate goal is to be like Jesus, but many times we do not know how. Although we read the bible and pray daily sometimes we need a visual guide. In order to become a spiritual role model for others we must also have a role model. So let?s think about, ?Who is our visual role model?? My role model is M. Isaac Kim who was shepherd and bible teacher for many years. He shepherded me like a father with compassion and love although I was a difficult sheep. Please seriously think about that one person, it could be your parent, your bible teacher, your friend, your spouse or even your children and be grateful for that person, because through his or her genuine life of faith and fatherly/motherly love for you, you are here right now. Through imitating our visual role models we can imitate Jesus Christ and live a life of serving others sacrificially with compassion and love. This is why we must lead by example and become role models for our family members, our friends and our co-workers so that they can see Jesus through our lives of faith.

Let?s read verse 17, ?For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.? Apostle Paul sent Timothy to the Corinthians because Timothy had learned Christ?s humility and faithfulness from Paul. He loved God?s children purely. Timothy?s real and living example would help them to understand the universal love of Christ. This shows the importance of leading by example. We must practice what we preach, we must love the word and live the word, and we must walk the talk. This means that we as spiritual Fathers and mothers need to be spiritual role models for bible students so that they can practically see how to live a spiritual life themselves. If anyone of us couldn?t find the time to repent for their guardian attitude please do so now and let us pray for each other to be spiritual role models for our bible students and care for them genuinely out of love. Let us first imitate Jesus Christ and serve and care for our sheep with fatherly and motherly love.

                             Spirit?s power                                    

                                                                                                      Lydia Shin

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Key Verse: 4 ?My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit?s power.?

All of us here from missionaries and shepherds to our growing students want to grow as powerful bible teachers and fruitful gospel workers. We share this common mission to bring wondering campus students back to Jesus. Recently, as we started the year 2009, we discussed a lot about how to serve this gospel ministry more effectively, suggesting student friendly ideas and methods such as Friday praise night, workshops and so on. Through today?s passage, we can learn how to be really powerful to serve God?s work. Actually, serving God is rather simple. It doesn?t demand us to have what is impressive. Let?s look at what it is through St. Paul?s letter to the Corinthians.

Look at verse 1. ?When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.? As we know, Paul was already well equipped with eloquent speech and superior wisdom which would make him impressive. His speech could be interesting enough to draw people?s attention. Nonetheless, he clearly says he proclaimed the testimony about God, but deliberately declining his human strength and ability. What, then, did he depend on? What was his strategy to help Corinthians? Verse 2 gives us a clue. ?For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.? He only depended on the gospel of Jesus, the message of salvation. He simply preached Jesus and his crucifixion to save sinners from sin and death. There were no glossy words added or extravagantly fascinating ideas and speech skill like philosophers at that time. But, St. Paul was determined to preach only the simple message of the cross while he was in Corinth. It was because he believed in the power of God in the gospel. In Romans 1:16, Paul says, ?I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.? Compared to contemporary theories and ideas, such as evolution, wellbeing strategies and so on, this simple gospel story looks rather shabby and raw. We feel like we should come up with some other interesting activities rather than just preaching this unpopular story to catch people?s attention. But, we have to never forget that there is the power of God in the gospel. Gospel is the story of Jesus Christ; his suffering, death and resurrection. It is the unbelievably amazing story of the son of God who came to save worthless undeserving sinners who even rejected him. Gospel is the way of salvation for everyone who believes. So, no matter how hard we try to invent methods to attract people, no matter how good speakers we are as bible teachers and messengers, there is no power when there is absence of Jesus and him crucified. Let?s not be ashamed of the gospel because the gospel works! Let?s actively bring this simple message of salvation to campus, believing in the power of God.

Experiencing failures from his prior visit to Athens, Paul became weak, fearful and trembling (3). However, this inspired him even more to depend on the power of the Spirit, rather than his own strength. Let?s read verse 4 together. ?My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit?s power,? He completely emptied himself. There was no more his own work and his power, but the work of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit in his preaching. He did not try to elaborate his message with wise and persuasive words, but absolutely depended on the Holy Spirit and demonstrated its power as he delivered the simple message of Jesus and him crucified. What is the Spirit?s power? It means God was with him and worked through his message and preaching of the gospel. When there was the work of the Spirit, there was amazing work of salvation. The gospel pierced the hearts of those who listened. When St. Paul humbly depended on the power of the Holy Spirit, he could experience the mighty work of God in the hearts of many Corinthians. They could have faith that rested on God?s power (5).

This tells us one clear point about how to be powerful in our gospel ministry. It is not when we ourselves are powerful and well-equipped. It is not when we are wise and persuasive. It is not when we have many programs, impressive and attractive enough for young people?s taste. No, it is when the Holy Spirit works through us. When we simply preach the gospel with humble and trembling hearts, the Spirit comes on us and works powerfully. We will see the great work of salvation among young people on campus.

Being in the transition period from a bystander to a real bible teacher, I these days thought a lot about how to serve Canadian students. The more I thought, the more I felt I was lacking in every aspect; language barrier, lack of bible knowledge (which is pretty shameful because I have been studying the bible all my life), lack of wisdom, etc. What if they ask me some random questions that I would not be able to answer wisely and smoothly? What if they do not understand my English? What if they do not like my bible study and reject to make any further appointment for the next bible study? I had this so many ?what if? questions because I thought it was me who would teach them the bible and I wasn?t ready at all. So, when a couple of students answered positive to my bible study invitation last week, I was actually scared, wishing they might not respond to my future e-mail. However, at the very right timing, God gave me this training to meditate on this passage day and night so that I may have faith to enter upon a new life as a real bible teacher. I learned that there is no need of power of men in gospel work because we are just God?s instrument but it is the Holy Spirit who works through us. The wisdom and power of God is not on speech and knowledge, but on the cross of Jesus Christ. I deeply realized that I should simply and humbly preach this gospel, and then the Spirit works through me powerfully. So, I decided to trust in the Spirit?s power despite my weaknesses. I decided to be a bible teacher who experiences this very truth of the work of the Spirit. Please pray for me to be St. Paul like gospel worker who is full of the Spirit and its power.

We Christians are the people of great privilege. Why? It is because we are entrusted with this precious gospel which is very powerful and heart piercing. Do we want to be powerful bible teachers? Then, let?s lay down all our human struggles and humbly depend on the work of the Holy Spirit as we simply preach the amazing gospel story to campus students with prayerful heart. I pray that we may demonstrate the power of the Spirit through our gospel preaching work in 2009.

Hey guys its john...first time writing a blog here.

       Um...i just wanted to say sort of like my short life story.

As you know i...i went back to high school and i felt really terrible about it

                I felt so ashamed and meangingless...i also started doubted God's existance...

Why would God let this happen to me...

          So when i went back to high school to study chemistry again...i didnt really feel like studying.

                                 So i didnt put my effort to study...

By the time i got my final mark again...i was shocked that i did not even improve my mark...

                         I had failed twice for the same thing...

You guys do not know how worthless and meanginless i felt at this point...

     I mean failing once is already bad enough but twice...

                                          But then i thought about it...would failing twice really just be a coincidence or is there something more...??

        I wondered about this and came to realize that God gave me these failures to train me in many ways.

                         When i realized this, i was able to see the 3rd person point of view (bird's eye view)

       Psalms 73:26 says:

 26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
       but God is the strength of my heart
       and my portion forever.

I thank God now that he has given me these failures to train me.

So what im trying to say is...if you fail, don't loose hope. Pray to God and you will see the bigger picture.

God bless,

Johnny

The Message of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Key Verse: 18

            ?For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.?

            The main focus of today?s passage is the message of the cross, which contains the power of God. The message of the cross is the foundation of Christianity. It is what we believe in and what we receive salvation from. However, there are two views on the message of the cross in this world. Look at verse 18, ?for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.? From this verse we can see that some people view the message of the cross as foolishness, and that others see it as the power of God. Many people these days, are rejecting the message of the cross because they can?t accept it. They can?t fathom that a man named Jesus, who is the Son of God, came down to this world to die on the cross for our sins. They can?t believe that Jesus was the Son of God, or if there really is a God, or if Jesus really existed, or if he did exist how he could die and rise again. All of these things go against our common sense and logic, and therefore make us susceptible to doubt and unbelief. This is why unbelievers can?t understand us, and therefore view us as foolish. They can?t comprehend how someone could follow and give their life to an invisible being. It goes against all logic and common sense, and therefore when they see us actively living for God, giving our time to serve his work, giving up our money to support his work, and giving up our lives to follow him, they just see us as foolish and blind followers. I have to admit that at times I had these very same questions and doubts about my faith. I didn?t know if what I was following was 100% true, and if it wasn?t, then I was wasting my time and life following and living according to its teachings.  However, when I remember the first time I accepted the message of the cross, and the continual changing power it has over my life, I cannot but believe and accept it. Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and gave me new hope and life in his eternal living water. By the grace and power of God, I was changed from a rebellious troublemaker into a servant and disciple of Christ. In my past life, I could never picture myself living a sincere and active Christian life. I actually wanted to leave the church or at most live as a nominal Sunday Christian. However, God changed this terrible sinner into a child and servant of God, who now gives his time and heart to God. I praise God for the message of the cross, which is the power of God. So, in order to experience the power of God, we need to first accept and have faith in the message of the cross. The message of the cross is the main point of the bible, it?s the reason why we are saved, and have hope. God sent his one and only son Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. Through his death and resurrection, we have new life and hope in the kingdom of God. Although we are undeserving of such love and grace, God in his unconditional love never abandoned us. By simply believing and accepting this message of the cross, we are able to experience the power of God and be born again. We become changed from our old, useless and sinful self into a new, useful and purified child of God. Our whole value system, thinking, and way of life is changed and we become sanctified and separated from the rest of the world. So now when we live for God and do his work, we receive power, joy and purpose in our life. While the rest of the world is busy enjoying and living for themselves, we are busy enjoying and living for Christ our Saviour. In order to continue our life of faith, we need to constantly focus on the message of the cross. So while the rest of the world may persecute us, mock us, or despise us because of our faith, we must simply remain faithful and depend on the power of God through the message of the cross.

            So is this the end of our life of faith? We simply accept Jesus and try to live holy and upright the rest of our life? No, we must now go out and preach the gospel, which is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must share this gospel truth to those still in darkness and help spread the light of Jesus. The message of the cross is the most important thing we must first accept, and then pass on to others. Paul realized this, and therefore says in 1 Corinthians 2:2 ?For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.? The message of the cross must be our main focus in whatever we do, and we must strive to show and share this message with others. So although we may feel that the message of the cross is too simple, or not relevant to our time, it still must be preached because it contains the power of God. Only the power of God can ultimately save and change us. Although we try many new things to try and bring people to God, such as church conferences, praise band, club events and sports fellowship, if they do no contain or lead to the message of the cross, then they have no power and therefore useless. We must always be conscious of this, and ask ourselves if what we are doing is leading people to the message of the cross? So I want all of us to seriously consider this, and to ask ourselves this question whenever we are serving God. If the answer is no, then I want us to re-evaluate what we are doing and see how we can incorporate the message of the cross, because ultimately it is the only thing that can save and change people through the power of God. I pray that all of us here may experience the power of God by accepting the message of the cross and to share this message with those around us.

I realized that sometimes we try so hard to change ourselves. I personally tried hard to live a "better" life in God. I thought by serving him and doing all these things for him I was doing God a big favor... The reality is, this was a self-righteous act. God doesn't owe me anything, instead I owe God a huge debt... because I've sinned and walked in darkness... But God is so good. He sent his son regardless to die on a cross to pardon me. Sometimes when I think about his forgiving and unconditional love, I cannot understand why I would be worth dying for? I learned that even if I was the only person in the world that sinned and strayed away from God, he would still send his son Jesus to die for me. This is how much God loves us, and this is how much God wants us to be with us. I pray that I may always remember the love of God and what Jesus did on that cross...

Let us be conscious of God always... and live "REAL" for him. Amen

Paul

Hello Fellow Believers,

Here is the testimonial message that was delivered by S. Paul during the friday student meeting on Jan 23rd regarding Fellowship with God the Father, His Son Jesus and with others.

CHRISTIAN KOINONIA

1John 1:3

            “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Apostle John urges us to have fellowship with God and with other believers. Let us learn how to have this fellowship. There are so many clubs, groups and fellowships in this world. Some Fellowships are huge and widespread, like facebook or for Koreans cyworld, there are millions of people in those communities. We seek out these fellowships, these groups in order to be part of something in order to give us some sort of joy or connection. However these fellowships do not last because it is bound together solely on common interests. Once that interest is lost, the fellowship is also lost. This is the kind of fellowship that most people practice today. However Apostle John in this passage is talking about a different kind of fellowship. He is talking about spiritual fellowship with God and with others. Let’s stop to think for a second. Take a step back and review the basics. What is fellowship and why do we need it? Fellowship is defined as a community sharing same interests, goals, and purpose. But why do we need it? We need fellowship with God because God made us in his image so that we can have a personal relationship with him. Also we need fellowship with other believers because it is essential for our spiritual growth. We need spiritual unity and encouragement together with other believers. The Author John explains in verse 3, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” M. Paul explained in his message that Christian Fellowship is different because it is 2 dimensional. A good way to understand this concept is to think about the cross. The cross has 2 bars, 1 is vertical and the other horizontal. Interestingly we always have to remember that the vertical bar is longer it is more important than the horizontal one. We need to have a vertical relationship between us and our Father God and with his son Jesus and we need a horizontal relationship between us and other believers. If this vertical support this relationship between us and the Father God and his Son Jesus is not there, the horizontal relationship between us and others fall because it cannot support itself. The Bible reminds us again and again that God is a personal God, not some faraway, distant Idealistic figure, but a God who really enjoys the company and fellowship of his people. Unlike some of the cold, unapproachable gods of some religions, our God is very approachable. He wants to be near us, and he wants our devotion and love. God sent his only son Jesus to die on the cross for undeserving sinners like us. This is how much God wants to be with us and love us. If you ever doubt God’s love I urge you to just look upon that cross and tell me this is not love. Whenever I look upon the cross of Jesus I cannot understand why he would love a sinner like me that I would be worth dying for on a cross. This is how much God wants to be with us and have a relationship with us. See the great thing is we don't have to wait for death to enjoy fellowship with God. Fellowship with God begins right now when we realize that we are sinners and we accept Jesus into our lives, and it continues on forever without end. I have delighted in the fellowship with God only very recently after the YDC conference. In the past I never had fellowship with God. Sure I was present at church gatherings but my heart was distant. I enjoyed eating and soccer fellowship with other 2nd gens, with all the shepherds and students. Although it was a “Christian” fellowship, we did not have this vertical relationship with God. Therefore there was no spiritual growth within in the fellowship and my relationship with God was fake. I learned that human fellowship without God even with other Christians, is no different from worldly fellowship. There is no change or spiritual growth. So, let us have real fellowship with our Father God and with his Son Jesus Christ so that we may also have real fellowship with other believers.

How can we test ourselves whether we are having true fellowship with God and others or not?

Let’s read verse 6 together, “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” The author John describes, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all”. So, if God is light and we walk in darkness we are walking without God which means we have no fellowship with God. That is a very serious issue. My concern is that many “Christians” are walking without God, some permanently, others temporarily. I must admit I too was guilty of this in past. There are 2 paths we can take, we can either be a darkness walker or a light walker.

I would like to start this blog off by thanking God.

He so graciously sent his one and only son Jesus to die on the cross for undeserving sinners like us...

I also thank God for allowing our shepherds, student leaders and bible students to have a renewed desire to serve and love God. I am thankful for especially Lydia and Andrew who are taking initiative by living examplary lives of faith.

I am also grateful for Pastor Paul and other missionaries open mind and understanding for the youth of this generation. We had a long discussion and collaborative prayer tonight regarding our student meeting on fridays and also for the future of this ministry.

We will change the format of our meeting to better suit university students and allow for church unity and deep relationship with each other. We pray that this new direction will bring all of us closer to God and experience his love and grace in a very personal level. Amen.

5ive2wo Praise Team