Am I a goat or a sheep following Jesus?

Joyfully In Faith That Will Not Fail

Joyfully in faith that will not fail. How do we live in faith? How do we attain faith that we do not throw away but rather hold onto and live in joy? Do you think about how you must live in faith? What purpose is it to you to have faith? When you speak of faith, what does it give you? Does it give you hope? Are you desiring something from your faith? What is faith? Does going to church mean you have faith? We say we have faith in one another, like a parent to a child, or children to their parents. Is this the faith that brings you to church? What does it mean to believe God? Do you believe Him by the standards that you have come to know and understand? What brings you here to sing praises and worship God, to say that you believe in Him and desire to end up in heaven? We say that we believe and therefore will go to heaven, but what is faith? Is it faith that the world speaks of or is it faith that God desires? Where is your faith? What do you believe? When you tell a nonbeliever to believe in Jesus they reply that they believe in what they see. They are things that they desire most. If it is money then they believe in money. If it is their family then that is what they believe in. It may be their wisdom from their education they have attained. God does not desire this kind of faith. We think too highly of ourselves and the faith that we think we have. Why do you think highly of yourselves? What makes us think that we can boast to the Lord of ourselves? You may boast about yourselves to those in this world. In today’s time if you are not confident and do not boast about yourself you are looked on as a fool. God is different. We are all servants to God. Paul said in confidence to follow him. Even though he served God in obedience and sacrifice he still considered himself nothing more than a servant. He said he could not stand before God. We, who do not have the faith that Paul had, nor the obedience in service, but we stand proud before God. We think we are great. We tell God that we are good enough. We tell Him that we have done enough, forgiven enough, that we have apologized enough. We ask Him ,“How much more can we do than this?” We ask Him ,”What have we done that is so bad?” This is the condition of our hearts in our walk with God. Pride is the root of our problems, but we cover it up as we approach God. If someone hurts our feelings the slightest bit we hate them and this makes us murderers, but we do not think of ourselves this way. The Bible says that we have committed murder. Where is love? Where is faith? On the outside, we make ourselves presentable to others as a servant of God, a person of faith, as a follower of Christ. We fool people but God is not fooled. Jesus who is our groom is not fooled by us. You can fool your earthly spouse. We cannot fool Him. This is our problem. Because we fool our earthly spouse we think that God is also fooled by us. He is not. This is a problem. What must we do? I heard a testimony today and told God I do not have that much faith. I did not have the heart to come a speak today because how can I who does not have faith come and speak to you and teach you? It is my lack of faith that is keeping you from growing and changing. You are not to blame, I am at fault. I am speaking to myself today. We are too proud. He ninety year old preacher who was passionately preaching as his ministry was coming to an end. You too have seen many testimonies and sermons but what is it that you learn from them? You and I are too proud. We think with our little faith that we are great. We think because we know Jesus we are great. We think because we have been going to church since we were in our mother’s womb that our faith is great. We despise looking at the ones that hurt us. How can God be with us? Where is Jesus in all of this? You say that you believe that the Spirit is always with you and is this what your truly believe and yet live this way? If the Holy Spirit is with us then we cannot behave in this manner. We forget that He is there. We do not think about these things. What do you put your faith in? I have very little faith. I tell God that I do not have the faith that all those who go before me and testify to. There are many doing great things but I am unable to. Why are you so proud? God looks at our faith. Our Lord tells us that He will look at our faith. We refuse to look at this passage. We do not want to look at it. God desires to lead you, but we tell Him where we will go, when we will go and how we will do it. We tell Him to stand behind us. We tell Him to follow. When we have gone forward and we get in trouble then You can lead us out of it. Is this not how you are today? Is God leading the way and are you following Him in obedience? Or are you leading having Jesus follow you, pulling Him and dragging Him to achieve that which you desire? Where do you stand? What are you doing? What are you holding onto? But you say that you have faith? You say you have faith but what kind of faith? The faith to do whatever you want? To get what you want? I have experienced losing everything in one night. When God gently blew, all that I had attained was gone in one instant and all that I had owned had vanished. I was poor, broke and hungry, but because I held onto God, He has provided and brought me here to this day. But still I lack faith. Even when we are well we do not believe. When things go our way we become proud. We think that we are where we are because we are worthy. We think it is our ability that makes us money. We think it is our ability that gives us wisdom. It is not so. We must be satisfied in God alone. When we title the sermon “Being Satisfied in God Alone” nobody watches it. Why? Because you have to give up everything in order to do so. Few watch it. In order to be satisfied in God alone people know that that they must give up the things of this world and rather than watch the sermon and be convicted they see the title and do not watch it. The sermons that our pastor gives on how to live the life of one who is called by God is not watched by many as well. Nobody is listening to the message. Why? Because they do not want to be convicted. By not listening to it they think they can tell God that they never heard the message. Can this be? Really? God is speaking to me, to you and to everyone. There are certain messages that are important that we need to hear. If you are told to listen and you refuse the consequence will be yours. Do you really have faith? What kind of faith? In Psalms 23 we say that though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but do we really believe that God is with us in these times? It also states that He will use His rod and His staff to guide us. We think that there is no need for the rod and staff. We desire that God would follow us and be with us as we go where we want. When we go through difficult paths we desire that He makes them easy for us. When we fall into a hole we desire that He saves us. When we go down the wrong road we desire that He rights it for us. This is not faith. I am my own master, there is no God in this life. Where is Jesus in this life? Yet we say we believe. When we are happy we sing praises. We sing the lyrics that we like. When we dislike the hymn we do not sing it. When we are unhappy we do not sing the hymn. Who do you sing the praises to? You are singing it to yourself. Me. I sing because I feel good. I sing because today is a good day. Where is the praise and worship that is due to God? When we sing for worship, you sing loudly when you like the hymns. The hymns that you dislike you do not sing loudly. Where is God in that kind of worship? Who do you sing the praises for? For who? Do you worship for yourself? Do you worship to God? If it is a new hymn that you do not know then you it is only normal that you do not sing loud. I am not speaking of this. You sing according to your feelings. If you do not feel good today then you do not sing. Even hymns you enjoy, if you feel bad you do not sing. Yet we say that we worship God. We say we revere Him, we honor Him, and give Him glory. Is God fooled? This is faithless action. We take notice if someone sings the wrong note or makes a mistake in the lyrics. Then should one who is tone deaf never praise God? If God has given you a beautiful voice then sing beautifully. Do not judge others because their voices are not beautiful. Of course we are to sing the hymns properly. If we make mistakes because we are not focused on worship then that is wrong. Even the tone deaf God has created. God accepts the true heart of worship. Those who are gifted in music, sit and criticize others who are not. Worship is not a time to criticize. It is a time to give praise and worship as one heart to God. We are to be one together. Worship is not a place to criticize, judge and persecute others. The true life of faith is one. It is in union. It is to comfort one another. But we do not comfort one another. We do not try to unite as one. We do not desire to be together. How frustrated God must be? God desires that we go together with Him. But we tell Him to follow us. God asks us why we do not want to hold His hand and go with Him? Do you not have faith, then God desires that we ask Him for faith. He wants us to believe in Him and follow Him. God knows that we lack faith. But if you say that you believe in Him, that you put your trust in Him, and obey Him, hold onto Him and and go with Him. This is obedience, this is faith. How else can you show your faith? How can you know God perfectly? You cannot. It is simply reading the Word, meditating on it, and seeking Him and going in this pursuit. How much faith do you think that you will have? You repent, but how will you ever be perfect in repentance? Without the redeeming blood of Jesus, our repentance will have no use. It is the power of the blood. God sent His Son to die on the cross to save us but we think too lightly of this cross. We think of it as something as a matter of fact. We think that we are worthy of salvation, that we are worthy of Jesus’ sacrifice in death, worthy of forgiveness, and worthy of being taken to heaven. If this is how we think, then is there not something wrong with our faith? Jesus Christ was abandoned by God when He hung on the cross. When Jesus prayed God turned away from Him. God allowed Jesus to die. That was His will. We think we are so worthy because God killed His one and only Son for us. We are so pathetic and so lacking, but God loved us and nailed His only Son on the cross in order to save us. But we do not desire to follow in the path of salvation. The sacrifice of Jesus must be made my own. It is not to be my spouses or my children. It is to be my own. My sins cannot be forgiven by my spouse or my children. You can be good to each other but your sins cannot be forgiven by them. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse us of our sins. The power of the blood is important and without it we cannot get into heaven. Without it we cannot repent. Without the blood there is nowhere we can go. Are we really choosing to hold onto Jesus and serve Him completely in our hearts with true faith? Do we really acknowledge and understand the love of God which gave up His one and only Son to die on the cross for us that we might be forgiven? Do we really understand and are we really trying to follow Him? If we even understand His love the slightest we could not live like we do. I am frustrated with myself. Why cannot I love God with such fire. Why do I not live in obedience as those who give such powerful testimonies? Does Jesus really love me? I know that He does. If Jesus is not with me then I have no reason to live. I would have had no reason to live up to this point. I could not have lived this long with such pain. I wonder how deep they are in love with God. I wonder if in my last days I will be able to stand in my faith for God? Will I be held by God confessing that Jesus is the only way? I believe that this is my task. It is nice to eat well and have nice things and have a nice home, but if these things do not help you get into heaven then what use are they? God has given each of you a purpose. If your purpose becomes your reason or goal then it is idolatry. If God gives you a task then you must do it in God. But if that task becomes all consuming, then it becomes an idol, and you may end up forsaking God in the pursuit. You should seek to do your purpose while seeking God. Daily in asking God what it is that He desires that you do. But once we get a hold of a goal, we put aside Jesus and God and latch onto that purpose with our lives. This is forsaking Jesus. You may succeed in terms of this world, but you will have failed before God. You might say that it is God’s purpose for you so you did it with all your life to fulfill that purpose, but God did not tell you to sacrifice your life in fulfilling that purpose. God desires that we walk with Him together and in that walk to fulfill that purpose following Him. He does not tell you to go do what you want in trying to fulfill that purpose. If that is what you think, then abandon your purpose that God has for you. Rather go do whatever you want. A purpose that does not have God is useless. According to God’s will, to His Word, daily asking His guidance. “Is this what you want me to do Lord?” Then I will do it. “Is this as far as you want me to go today?” Then this is as far as I will go. Tomorrow’s work is for tomorrow. Is God not allowing you to proceed further today, then all you have to do is stop. Is the devil hindering you today, then cast Him out in the name of Jesus. If I pursue my purpose in disobedience then my purpose is useless. It is the same with work for the Lord. Many of God’s chosen have put their purpose before God in their ministries and are falling away and rotting. God is not there. They decide that they must build a large church, bring in large number of people, and be a famous pastor, and make a name for themselves. Where is God? When the members go to a large church they boast of their affiliation. That is idolatry. If you are going to boast then stop going to that church. There are those who are there because it is God’s purpose that they go to that church. God is sending many people to large churches so that they may pray. But if you are there to boast about your affiliation then you will not go to heaven. Neither will you go to heaven because you go to a small church. If a small church does not obey the will of God the consequence is the same. You must seek God, seek His will, the words that He is speaking to you, to be with Him, to put your faith in Him, but if anything else becomes your purpose then you are mistaken. You lack faith because something else is now your purpose. True faith is obedience to God’s will. There is nothing of my will. But we have too much of what we desire still in us. There is too much that we desire to do. God gives us purpose and goals. Even here there are many visions for our future. I only live in obedience until those visions come to be, those visions have no other significance to me. It does not belong to me. There are many chosen people here. Wake up. If your purpose becomes your idol then stop. Each of your place of work is your ministry. Pastors are not the only one who have ministries. We all have a purpose and a ministry. But if these things are for your self gain and elevation then abandon it. Do something else. Purpose without God and Jesus is fake. Many of God’s people did not all fall away from the beginning. They all started according to God’s will and His Word. But as things became difficult, tiring and trying and as the recognition for the work was little, they slowly started to change. It is like changing the time on a clock one second everyday. One day you will see the difference. Do not blame the leaders. You too have changed, do not blame the leaders. If the pastors have changed and you are right, then you must go and speak to the pastors and correct that which is wrong. Do not sit back thinking improper thoughts and judging the pastor. If you also have changed then how can you judge others? You fail to see the errors of your own ways but you judge the pastors and everyone else at church. That is because you are dissatisfied. You are unhappy. If God is not pleased with them then go confront them. I always remind you, if I have done something wrong to bring it up to me. If I am wrong I will change it. We must go together as one, helping each other, correcting what is wrong and encouraging each other in the things that are good. The devil takes pleasure when we fail to do this. We are food for the devil. We continue to do the things that please the devil. Who delights in people that sit in the back, speaking evil, spreading rumors and cursing others? The devil delights in these things. God does not take pleasure in these things. God does not desire that you complain and argue. The moment you gather together and speak evil and spread rumors of others you have become the devils feed. Where is faith in that action? But you say you have faith? You say you believe in God? What do you believe? Please wake up. Please live in true faith. There are many examples of the life of faith from the Bible and other people who are examples. We must learn from them and try to sincerely do our best to live like them and follow in their paths. But we hear with our ears, think that they have done a good job, and make connection to it in our own lives. That is not why God uses them to give their testimonies. It is for you to hear, and understand, then to change your life that you may go before God. There are countless believers who have converted from Islam. But we judge and persecute anyone who is Arab. God tells us to stop doing this. He tells us to pray for them. Those believers are risking their lives to believe in Jesus. If it is revealed that they believe in Jesus they are executed. Their faith is much greater than ours by ten thousand fold. In North Korea it is the same. We live in a place of comfort and think that we have great faith. It is not so. We must repent to God for our lack of faith. We must ask God to give us that kind of faith and repent. We must seek this kind of faith. We desire to be raptured but we don’t have true faith. Only those with true faith will be raptured. If you want to be raptured then be a true believer. If the rapture happened right now will more be taken from North korea or South Korea? They say that 20% of South Koreans are Christians and that there are no Christians in North Korea. There are true believers in North Korea. I believe that if the rapture happened right now, there would be more taken from North Korea. We mistakenly think that we are good believers especially those who are here in America. Do not be mediocre and complacent in your faith. May you truly be people who humble yourself before God, get on your knees, and seek His grace. Please do not let go of your faith. Sermon by Pastor Joy Lee translation by Miguel Park

Matthew 13:34-50

TL.9.16.2012 Sell all that is worthless in me and purchase the treasure of heaven Matthew 13:34-60 34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” 36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. 47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. We continue to study worship. The proper posture of worship. What is the basic foundation of worship? What is the foundation or attitude of our heart when we worship? Is it fear? Is it reverence? Is it awe? How do we approach God when we worship Him? Do we worship Him out of fear, awe, reverence and the power that He possesses? Why do we worship Him? If we say that we are truly worshipping Him, should love not be the basic foundation upon which we offer our worship to Him? You must love God from your heart to say that you are worshipping Him. The reason being, when we speak of worship outside of the church, and in a worldly sense, even nonbelievers have an attitude of reverence. When they see something in nature that is beautiful or a large boulder that has a strange shape, or if there is an extremely large tree, people are attracted to these objects and end up revering these things and at times praying and worshipping these objects in an act of reverence. Have we not all seen these things? Korean people are accustomed to doing this. In many places in Korea where there are large stones, or strange shapes, or with trees whenever there is something that is outside of the norm, they go and pray to them, offer sacrifices to them and pay homage to these objects. This is all an act of worship. Is this is the manner we worship God? As children of God, are we offering to Him, the proper worship? Is this the same manner in which we are worshipping God and giving Him our praise? Let us say that we are not worshipping Him in the same manner. There is a saying that says “The salt in the shaker must be put on the food to give it flavor.” I thought about it all week. I heard this when I was in Seoul. We all have heard this many times before, but what does this have to do with our Christian faith? How does this relate to our faith? Of course, the meaning is obvious, we know that you have to put the salt that is in the shaker onto the food to give it flavor but how does this relate to our Christian life? It not only relates but this defines our life. Why? We know all the Words that have been given to us. If we don’t put it into our lives will there be any flavor? As a Christian and as a child of God we are to have flavor in our lives. Jesus tells us to be the salt but if we do not have flavor in our lives then what use it? In Korea, there is no one who does not know about Jesus. We met people who were chosen and anointed, but they could not rid their lives of their selfishness. They were following God on their own terms. They did not change their lives and were all hindered in their walk with God. They did not know how to put the salt, the Word of God, into their lives, so they all encountered problems. Are you in the same situation? A journey begins with one step. Gather dust and you can make a mountain. Let us say that you want to go on a long journey and get to heaven, can you get there by sitting in your seat and thinking about it? Step by step, though tiring, with perseverance you must go so that you can get to heaven. If on the journey you give up, will you make it into heaven? No you cannot. Can you use the excuse “I did it yesterday.” I fasted up until yesterday, and prayed with the power of God and did many things, but today because I am tired, I must go out into the world and enjoy myself. If you think this and go out into the world, will you make it into heaven? You cannot? In the Old Testament God tells us that no matter how righteous one is, if that righteous person turns to wickedness, then God will get rid of that person. Simply put that person is going to hell. On the other hand, no matter how wicked one is, if that person turns from their wicked ways and turns their life around and follows the Word of God and obeys, then that person will be given life. If until yesterday I was a person who lived in sin, but today I come before Jesus surrendering and desiring to be washed in His blood and to live a new life, then I can be cleansed and go to heaven. But if until yesterday I have witnessed to countless of people the Gospel, and healed many sick and cast out many demons, if today I give up because I am tired, and today I turn away from Jesus and go into the world, then tonight when the Lord comes for me, we fail to realize that I will be considered a sinner who cannot hold the hand of Jesus and fail to enter into heaven. If you did good until yesterday, and today you know that you are not to do worse, then even if you were not able to do better than yesterday, then at least you must do at least as well as you did yesterday. You must continue in that good in your life. You are not to forget the grace and the love and to continue in this life. But to the one who does forget and lets go, the loss is theirs. Then is God to be feared, because we did good until yesterday, and He is not willing to excuse me for today? Let us examine our own lives and find the answer. Let us talk about two people who are in love. Let’s not use the married couple but those who are dating. If two people are dating and in love and having a good time, drinking and eating and enjoying each other and are completely satisfied with each other, but one of the two meets someone else and this new person makes them more comfortable and enjoys them more than the other. Then what happens. Then that person will leave their original partner and be with the new one. Then can we say that the person really loved the other? Until yesterday, as a child of God, I did everything in the name of Jesus Christ, but today if I meet something new in this world that makes me more comfortable and which I enjoy more, and I let go of the hand of Jesus, then am I really revering Him, am I really loving Him? There is no true reverence, no true love, it was just a fleeting moment of pleasure. Even married couples when we have arguments, if we were having these arguments with true love would our arguments be the same as they are today? I would say that it would be a 100 percent different. You argue for you satisfaction and your pride. The words you speak do incredible damage and put a distance between you two. But if you were to really argue for the sake of the other person, in humility and sacrifice, then no matter how deep the wounds they would heal quickly. If I worship God on the foundation of love, because of what Jesus has done for me, then even though I may have fear I am still able to come into His presence and return to Him. Without love, if I worship out of fear, out of respect and duty, then if the world makes us more comfortable, we will end up leaving to find comfort in the world. In today’s passages. Heaven is likened to seeds, to a hidden treasure, a fine pearl, and a fisherman’s net. They are similar but have their differences. When the Word of God is planted in your life, are you diligent in tending to the field and removing the weeds of the devil? Or if heaven is like a hidden treasure in the field, then even though to everyone else it looks like a normal field, are you willing to sell everything to have that which is hidden? Do you truly believe that heaven exists? Do you believe in all the promises given to you by God, that there is value in what He has spoken and have the willingness to sell all that you have to buy the field? Why would someone sell all they have to buy something of great value? A business person is different from a farmer. A business person buys and sells for one reason and that is to make a profit. If he calculates and decides that there is value in what he has found then he will sell what he has in order to purchase that item. If heaven is real, then am I willing to sell my pride, self esteem, wife, husband, children, all that I have, and sell it to attain heaven, for Jesus? To sell all that I have means that I am willing to humble myself and rid myself of everything and that I know the value of that precious treasure. If I do not know the value of the treasure then I am unable to sell what I own. If that which I desire is worth more than my pride, then I would be willing to humble myself to attain it. In business, if you know that by humbling yourself and asking for a favor and by getting your contract signed that will give you incredible profit, is there anything that you wouldn’t do to get that piece of paper signed? Isn’t that what lobbyists do? Likewise, in order to attain heaven, do I realize the value of heaven that I may sell all that I have to attain it? Have I realized its worth? Or like the fish that are caught in the net, if the fish that the fisherman dislikes is thrown away, what happens if I am an unwanted fish, and in the end when I sit before our Lord in judgement and He throws me away? If I realize that it would have been a useless life, then am I willing to live a life that will allow me to attain heaven? What is the life that is diligent in removing the weeds that are trying to destroy me? It is the life that is cautious in speech and action. If I am unable to decide to no longer live for the flesh then the weeds of this world will grow inside. In a field that is unattended, there are more weeds that grow than plants from which to eat. It is sad to say, but when there are few things to eat, in the end even those few things will be uprooted with the dirt and disregarded. We do not try to harvest the little that is left because the yield is not worth the labor, so everything will be disregarded as the field is prepared for the next season. Jesus will not choose you for the few things that you say you did for Him. If you do not yield a return that is profitable then just like a useless field you will be disregarded. What will happen to your life? You must look at your life daily and decide what you will do. How does tending to the seeds in your heart and selling all you own to purchase something of greater value relate to worship and glorifying God? What can we compare our worship to? We have come here as immigrants. Do any of you have any valuable family heirlooms that have been passed down through your family? Any heirlooms? Most of us who have immigrated do not own them. We are only first and second generations here and do not have much of these things. If you do not have an heirloom, have you worked hard and attained any precious treasure? Probably not. We have no heirlooms or treasures. But if we do not have any of these things we all have something that we wish to be proud of and show off to others. Or when we see those who have great wealth, if they have anything of great value and unique, they have these things hidden to keep them from being stolen. Is this not so? This is treasure. When you have something that is unique, you hide it, you keep it safe, and you enjoy it by yourself when no one else is around. You take pleasure in it by yourself. Or if you have a special guest you may bring it out and show it off to them. Is this not what we do with our treasure? In this manner we are worshipping these things within ourselves. Is it not so? It is idol worship. We do not want it to be stolen, we cherish it, and hold onto to it for our own self and satisfaction. Is there anyone who does not have this? You say you have no money, no merit, nor any of the things that other people have. But inside each of you there is anything you treasure more than your pride. Your pride and stubbornness. It is the one thing that you refuse to give up, to surrender to others, and it is your treasure. Do you have anything more valuable than this? Your pride is the one thing that you will take care of more than the spouse that you promised to love for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, no matter what life may bring. You cherish your pride more than your wife or husband. Have you come clean before your spouse? You have not. You hide your pride, and rather than show it to others, you expose all your dirty habits to the one you love. You make a mess with your pride and then put your pride back inside you. You bring it back out and make a mess of your family, and then put it back inside again. When you bring it out, it would be better that you throw it away, but rather you put it back inside of you. Why? Because you want to bring it out and take pleasure from it again. If this is how we are living, then we are worshipping ourselves. This is self love. If we do not rid ourselves of this, we will be unable to truly accept the love of Jesus in our hearts. We are unable to truly know the love of our spouses because in our hearts we are filled with ourselves. Is it easy to accept the love that someone gives you that has come from a different upbringing? There are misunderstandings and conflicts arise which must be resolved. But these things do not get resolved. You have no thought of even trying to resolve these things. It is because you are only focused on yourself. In this manner, as we are only focused on ourselves, when we come to God we only are concerned with ourselves and desire that He satisfy our needs. We ask Him to deal with someone on our behalf. When He tells us to humble ourselves we tell Him we cannot. Because we cannot get angry at God, we get angry at our spouse. If we are living in this manner, is this the right way to be living? In this manner a family cannot be well. If this is how we worship, is it proper? If that which is inside you is not of value, has no merit and only creates a mess every time you bring it out, and you take pleasure from it, and you find satisfaction from using it in anger, then this could not be living in the manner which is proper. If this is the manner in which we come to worship God, will He accept this worship? Rather than sell you pride and rid yourself of all the things that are dirty, and filling yourself with the love of your spouse and doing everything within you to attain the reward of heaven, you see no value in selling your pride and therefore are not willing to give it up. You must get rid of all the dirty and evil things of this world so that you can attain the treasure of heaven. You know that there is value in it but you have a difficult time calculating the cost. You cannot see that you do not understand. If you know that if you get rid of one and will get two in return, then you must have the ability to get rid of the one. Our problem is without getting rid of the one we hold onto it and then try to get the reward of two. It does not work that way. We must be determined to rid ourselves of all the dirty things inside of us so that we can truly start on the journey towards heaven. There are many sickness and diseases in the world today. We are of asian descent and having immigrated here much of our food has changed. There are many things that we can now eat that are pleasing to the mouth. There are many foods that are delicious and pleasurable. But the more that we eat for our pleasure the quicker our bodies become sick. Foods that are pale, that contain MSG, sugar, are all pleasurable. Many of the electronic equipments we use today give off radiation. There is much air pollution due to the transportation. With so many things to entertain us, we are sleeping less. We are having much more stress in our lives. The things that we absorb into our bodies. Through all these things and many others, our bodies ability to stay well diminishes and we begin to get sick. It all starts from seeking pleasure. To satisfy the appetite, the satisfy our eyes, whatever it is that we seek to satisfy the flesh a little too much. Rather than listen to our bodies when it is telling us that we need rest, because we find pleasure with what we see we end up watching TV for an extra hour, or in the enjoyment of activity we play too much, when our body tells us to not eat any more we take another bite to satisfy our urge. We blame stress and pick up habits like smoking and drinking. It is doing that little bit in excess that creates the sickness from within. You do not immediately get sick and bedridden today, but just like the journey starts with one step and mountain is created by the accumulation of dust, so do these things keep adding up and you start the process of getting sick. Our spiritual life is like this. If you decide today that you are not going to forgive and decide to do it tomorrow, and even though you did something wrong and do not go to make amends, and these things keep adding up and eventually end up as a disease like a stroke, then it will be too late. That which damages our walk in faith, starts from our childhood, all those things that we have seen and heard, that have hurt us and been rooted in us, that creates bad habits in us, end up leading us into the path of hell. We do not see that we are accumulating the things in our life that force us to choose to turn away from Jesus. Even though there are many advances in modern medicine, there are also many more diseases for which we do not know the cause. The father of medicine, Hippocrates says the disease that cannot be cured by food cannot be cured by medicine. What is food? For us it is the Word of God. To cure our lives with the Word means we must put it into action in our lives, so that the Word comes to life in power, as I surrender and the Word comes to life. I must eat of the Word just as I must put salt in my food to give it flavor. If I do not do this then I cannot be cured from my sickness. If I do not change my life then I cannot live as a Christian. But if I desire to live a life of obedience, I must rid myself of all that I treasure within me, the pride and arrogance, which I hold onto so dearly, and purchase the treasures of heaven. Where on earth can you give away garbage and gain treasure? You may be here with the others just as a fish that is caught in the net, but when the Jesus looks at you and you are unwanted what is going to happen to you? You will be thrown away. Should you not be a fish that is not tossed away? I must have this determination within me, so that I can truly worship God. It is this life that is the life of a true Christian. When you surrender all to Him, He will bless you abundantly that He will be glorified. God shakes us at times to give us more blessings, but these moments are through training and discipline. When you persevere well through these trials God will bless you abundantly. You must be determined to go through these trials in order to reap the reward. If you have eyes to see you must decide if heaven is worth attaining. Then if you decide it is worth selling everything for, then make the decision and do it. Have you not seen, have you not heard? The decision is now yours. May you decide to do that which will give glory to God and live the life of a true worshipper. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park Translated by Miguel Park

Prayer damns people

Paul Washer

Matthew 15:32-39

Offer the Lord worship that He can accept. Matthew 15:32-39 32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” 34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan. Today as we have done previously we continue to look at what it means to worship. During the ministry of Jesus, there were many great miracles, but I would like to talk to you about the feeding of the four thousand and how it relates to worship. In the text, are there any words that relate to worship? We tend to focus on the miracle itself when we read the passage, but I would like us to see if there something here that relates to worship. What word or verse do you think is about worship? Let us read here: ...they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way. Is this not the act of worship, to sit before Jesus listening to the Word of God, to the point to which they were hungry and did not have the strength to return home? What do we think of when we say worship? At some churches it may be about the beautiful choir performance, or the presentation by the pastor, or the sequence of events that happen for service. Everything that we decide whether it is singing, praying or anything else that we consider to be worship. Then we ask, who accepts this worship that we are offering? We all know that it is God who accepts. Then we ask the question, did God ever tell us that we are to worship in this manner? The four thousand who sat before Jesus for three days, hungry and weak, were they worshipping God in the manner in which we do so today? Did they have morning service, afternoon service and evening service? Do you think so? When we say morning service are we assuming that we go through the routine of prayer, singing and sermon and are all these things necessary? It is not. There is no such requirement. Worship is the listening of the Word and repenting, and then laying down my life before God in a decision to change my life and in the grace that I have been given by the Lord, who is now my Master and when He accepts my worship and in return He answers my prayers. This is worship. When Jesus was here, there were many who sought healing from Him and He did heal many, but before there was healing, they first listened to the message, and people repented of their sins. Did Jesus sit with them for three days to heal the people? He did not. He taught the people about the kingdom of God. Today when we speak of worship, we say that God is our Father, because we have been saved by the blood of Christ, and we believe that Jesus is the way the truth and the Life, and because we have been chosen by God we offer Him honor and praise. Jesus who died for our sins and was resurrected and ascended into heaven, we worship Him as we wait for His return. If this is what we believe, then is it proper to worship to do so the way we think, or is it proper to worship according to the Holy Spirit with praise, thanksgiving and honor? What does it mean to worship in the Spirit? Is it to worship following a certain schedule? In the Old Testament, there seems to be many differences in their worship and ours today. In Genesis, God created everything in six days and rested on the seventh day. So as He rested He also told us to rest in the commandments given to Moses in the Exodus. The seventh day is a day of rest. We have changed it to the first day offer our worship to God, but on the days they did not rest, did they gather as we do today to worship? Is this so? They did not. During the Old Testament time, God told them to come before Him and offer sacrifices during the six days, but on the Sabbath they were to only rest. On the day of rest, in remembrance of all that God has done for us, we are to lay down all the things in our lives and lift up our eyes to God and honor Him. We see that Israel was later led into captivity later because of their sin. In Genesis 12, we see that Abraham worshipped God and God came to meet Him. Abraham left his family and left for the promised land of Canaan and we see that God met Him on the way and Abraham built God an altar. In Genesis 13:8 we see that Abraham split with Lot and God came again to him and reassured Abraham of the promise. Again Abraham built an altar to God. In Genesis 22 we see Abraham offering up Isaac as a sacrifice. What I want you to understand is no about the special worship we offer once a week. The Israelites were in captivity because they did not live according to the commands given to them in their sin, we see in Nehemiah 9:1-6 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. 4 Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God. 5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. They read the commands of God and confessed their sins in the light of the Word. In the New Testament, after Jesus came, we can see that the teachers of the Law, made things even more difficult by adding to it things with which they themselves could not do, because they were trying to find a way to serve God better. This is why Jesus rebuked them because they were creating a system which they themselves could not do and Jesus told them that you are not saved by the Law. We wait for the return of the Messiah, and in reverence to God we rest of the given day. And on this day, as we study the Word, and offer up our worship, has it become just another form of a ritual as in the time of Christ? In the Old Testament God commanded the people to come during the week to offer up their sacrifices, and on the day of rest, each were to stay where they were and remember God. When Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary made the trip up to Jerusalem and it took them how many days? If today after you finish service you go home, then the moment you get home, you need to prepare and then leave once again to worship again. How can anyone live like this? It is impossible. We can see that those in the Bible only made the trip to worship during those special occasions when God had told them to do so. Today we come and worship saying that God is here and that is the foundation of our worship. If we worship saying that God is here, then I ask you, what is the condition of your heart? Is your heart prepared to meet God? What did you come here to offer to God as you come before Him today? You say you have come to worship, but are you here for something that your heart is seeking, or did you come to give thanks for all the blessings that God has given you? They are completely different reasons. In Isaiah 66:1-4 it is recorded, This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? 2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word. 3 But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a person, and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense is like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations; 4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring on them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.” They are killing bulls and worshipping God, but is their purpose to worship God in a manner that He will accept? God did want the offering of young lambs. But is it offered in the manner that God would accept? Today we worship, sing praises and pray, but did God accept these praises and prayer? If He did not, then just as it says in Isaiah, we are murdering animals. The killing of the bull is equaled to the killing of a person. Why? The bull that I am offering for my sins I am offering with the heart of a murderer and God will not accept this. It does not matter that I come before God ask for forgiveness, cry and pray out loud, for if in my heart if I have hate then I am a murderer. If I have a heart of a murderer and come before God and pray, will God accept this prayer? He will not. We think that there is nothing wrong with hate. We ask God to get rid of the one we hate so that we may have peace, how then can God gladly accept this worship? This cannot be. The offering of a lamb is equaled to breaking of a dog’s neck. The grain offering is compared to pig’s blood. It is all cursed. The sacrifices are compared to those things that God commands that we neither eat nor touch and our worship is being compared to idol worship, how then can God accept this worship? He will not. This is why it says that God will punish them. It is possible to offer worship that looks sincere. We should not fall into the trap of thinking that we are offering God sincere worship when we are not. SCRIPTURE PASSAGE..... The people tremble when they hear the scripture but there is no life of obedience. If we come before God and offer up a ritual without truly living the life that is required, then we are not worshipping God with a sincere heart. Isaiah 58:1-11 it is about true fasting. “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. We see that there is a fasting that God delights in and also a fasting in which God despises. What is the fast that the Lord delights in? And what is the one He despises? Fasting that is filled with strife, quarreling, and fists will not be heard because you raise your voice to God. But when we fast and pray, if we do so for something that we desire to attain, though God may answer it because you have prayed for it, it will not be a fast that God will accept gladly. Rather through that prayer you will receive a curse and end up with more spiritual problems that later. When we fast in a manner that God delights and accepts, we see what is recorded here for us. “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. When we fast in a manner that God delights in, this is what He will do for us. When we worship it is the same. It is not in the formality or the ritual we go through, but it is offering up worship that God delights in and when He accepts He will help us with our troubles. If we worship for the sake of raising our voices to God so that we may be heard, it is not a worship that He will gladly accept, and the result will be that which none of us will know. We raise our voices to God so that the plans that we have desired, or the things we must do we ask Him to help us with. Is this not why we lift our voices to Him? There are good reasons to fast but it should not be out of our selfish desires but in obedience to God. In Daniel 6:10 10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. This is also worship. Having a set time and place in your life to give your life to God. As we can see fasting that God delights in, and like Daniel praying to God during set times all are a part of worship. In what manner have you come before God to worship Him? I want to ask us, not only those here, but all who say they believe, if you did not come before God with a repentant heart to seek forgiveness for not being able to live the life that God desires, or if you did not come to give thanks for allowing you to live another day in His grace even though you are a sinner and you are grateful for this moment and you offer up your praise and thanks to Him, but you are here to tell God that you gave Him offerings and that you performed for Him, so now you are demanding that He give you blessings, fix your troubles and if this is the reason that you came then He will not accept your worship. If until this moment you have lived the life of a sinner worthy of death, but not being required to pay the penalty for your sins, and with patience as God calls you to repent and you have been given grace to stand before Him today in this place of worship, then out of the gratitude for this grace, you confess your sins to God, you offer gladly with joy the decision to turn your life around and to live to do God’s will, this is the worship that God will accept. Then God will train you so that He may use you to do His will, and this training must be complete so that as a servant of God, as a worker for Him, you can used. The reason that God’s will is not evident in our lives, is because we refuse to go through the training and immediately seek the blessings, so our desires and God’s will does not match up. If we offer God this type of worship, then our attitude of worship must be changed and made right. When we attend service for an hour, we think that a good service is when from beginning to end everything flows nicely and there is no interruption to the order of things. Is a flowing schedule and not having any interruptions define what proper worship is? If a pastor’s sermon goes a minute too long people complain that it was a long sermon. In today’s media age, we just cut out parts of the message to fit the time. We put all the other things into the video but remove parts of the message. If God gives us all His word then is it any different that we cut out the parts that we do not want to hear? If that is the attitude that we have when we come to worship, then how can God accept our worship when we accept what we want and remove what we do not want? We complain about a service that runs long and are concerned about what we have to do next. Would we not also complain to God if He decided to show up late for service? The only reason we do not do so is because we do not see Him, but If we could see Him, what would we say? We would question Him,“Why did you come late?” “I have been waiting here for you since 10 AM.” “There is only 10 minutes left for service and I have to go soon.” “Why did you come so late?” This is how we would complain to Him. In big churches they may have up to 7 or 8 services, does that mean that the Spirit of God must wait for us to finish all our worship according to our schedule? In today’s age, I may attend the 7 AM worship and then go spend the day playing golf, or go to work, or whatever it is I do because I have done my duty at church. Then I demand that God follow me and bless me in all that I do. Then If I tell the Spirit to follow me and help me with what I do, then whose Spirit should attend the second worship after I have left? Which God will sit there and accept the second worship, and which God should go and follow you and bless you as you go about your day? Why should God have to follow all those who have left and also be bound to the other services? Of course we believe that God is spirit and that He is great and able to do such and follow us and help us, but frankly speaking you came here to worship a mascot that you created that you brought and along that you serve. How can it be proper worship when this is your attitude you bring? Even the time of worship is what you decide, and also the manner in which to worship. You decide all that you will do. For example, there is open worship. How comfortable it is. The pastor wears jeans and t-shirt, comes out comfortably and gives the sermon. Personally that would be nice for me as well. Who would argue about the clothes you wear when the pastor comes out wearing sandals? It is open worship. Where in the Bible does it say open worship? Has worship ever been closed? Because I am comfortable I ask God to accept my worship, but we did not teach the truth about God who is the one who accepts our worship. It is possible that a new believer having an no idea of worship may come to worship God is their own way and the worship is open to explore, but that is why many of the good churches seeing the new churches grow as worship gets comfortable have themselves changed in their form of worship so that too may see growth. Even those who know God, come to worship Him comfortably in a relaxed posture in an air conditioned room listening to a ear pleasing message. Some churches are putting on great performances of singing and dancing and is now becoming an event which people experience. Who has made God out to be so unworthy of respect and honor? It is those who have led the way and say that they have believed God. They have made God unworthy. That is why the nonbelievers have even greater disrespect for God. Who fears a God that does not command respect? We have opened the doors for all the anti-Christs to come into the church. Let us look at those who worship and bow down to idols. Would you worship and bow down to God if that was the way we were to do so? We would not. We would complain that that is idol worship and judge them, but we would not give our hearts completely and bow down and worship God as they do their idols. Which god is receiving more respect and honor in their worship? If you were a god which worship would you accept? Would you accept the worship of the one who is relaxed, who gives some money and then says what they want and then leaves and then demands of you to give them what they want? Or like those who build great buildings to you, and whenever it is time, they stop whatever it is they are doing, and bow down and worship. Whose worship would you accept? We judge them, but do we really worship God with our lives? We do not. Our entire posture of worship is wrong. The people spent three days listening to Jesus. That was not the only time, and when Paul was preaching to the late hour and a child fell asleep and fell and died. They stay late listening to the Word, they spend three days attentive to the Word of God abandoning themselves and the things of this world, but this is not our attitude. We decide when we will come, stay as little as possible, and expect God to meet us when we do. And we get upset when God does not meet us and we leave angry. Will God accept such worship? We decide the duration of worship. The duration for singing, praying and the length of the service. If it does not follow our desire we complain that the worship is without blessing or grace. What happened to being led by the Spirit and seeing the power of God manifest? If this is the manner of worship at any other church at any other service, then will God accept it? There are many ads that speak of open worship and offering worship for the youth or a girls worship. Who is the worship for? They do not say that it is worship to God from the youth but rather they say it is a worship for the youth. Who is going to accept this worship? If you look at the meaning of what they are saying they are saying that the youth are going to be worshipping for themselves. Can you say that God accepted the worship, that there was much grace and the the spirit moved if the youth are only gathering to jump and sing and feel good for themselves? The meaning of a single word is important. Who is worshipping who when the title means the worship of the youth or any other group. Should there be a difference in worship when it is being offered to God? There can be differences, but the heart of worship whether young or old, boy or girl, should be bound to God and not to the satisfaction of oneself. How can God accept worship that is not to Him but for the self? Worship by the youth who do so to please God. Yes, there is such worship. But if it is worship for the pleasure of the one giving it, then God will not accept it. It is like sacrificing a bull but equaled to killing a person. If we come to worship in this manner will God accept our worship? If I decide the time, place and order of worship and expect God to come and meet me when I am present and I get upset when He is not present, will God accept this worship? If the first service goes a little longer and gets pushed into the second service hour, do not those who attend the second service complain about the problem that this now creates for all the other order of events that are now effected by it? If the prayer is long, if the sermon is long, then those who attend worship get upset. Who is the one who is to accept the worship but who gets mad and attends it? I am saying let us not come to worship God in this manner and come to seek Him with this attitude. If it takes all day, if it days all night, if it takes a few days if God is truly within me, then I must let go of everything in this world and come before God and humble myself and this is how we are to come and worship God. If we are always setting the time, place and manner and expecting God to accept our worship, then will He accept it? Times have changed. In the past you went to pay your respect to those who had passed away they made food and prepared all their gifts with sincerity. Today you can call in your order and have it all ready for you. They will even deliver it for you where ever you desire it to be sent. If circumstances arise and you cannot go to the funeral you consider that you have done so even though you did not. Is this not how we are with our worship? If our worship is changing as is the way we show respect to those who have died then none of it will matter. The true heart of on who worships must be like that of the five virgins who were wise and ready for their grooms. In Matthew 25 we see the parable of the ten virgins. Five who were wise and five who were foolish. The five wise virgins had the heart of true worship. We can say that they were waiting for the coming of Jesus but their attitude was of a true worshipper. Not only were their lamps full and burning but they also had prepared extra oil for they were prepared. Today when we come to worship at a designated time and place, but if the Spirit of the Lord delayed Himself, and He decided to come at 11 then we need to keep extra oil, and sing praises and wait with patience so that we can meet the Lord. It is when we meet the Lord that we can enter into the place where there will be celebrating. Without this attitude, but with complaining as to why He is not here now, then we are like fools who will never enter into the place of celebration, which means we are not worshipping the Lord properly. If you are here to meet the Lord, if you have let everything down to come before Him, then do not preset a time and expect Him to come. Worship is not about what you do in your own strength, in the offering, in the singing and the praying. Why do you go to meet someone of high position? It is to see their face. You pay good money to get an autograph, some pay tens of thousands of dollars to have a meal with them. But when you come before God, you come with your desires which you want to have met. That is the wrong attitude of worship. Even amongst people when you desire to ask a favor of a person in a high position you must first have a good relationship before you can ask the favor. Even then you may have to persuade then by giving them a large gift for the request to be made. God will come and meet us when we come before Him and offer our lives in gratitude for saving us from our sins and repenting and thanking Him for being patient with us even up until now and confessing all our sins before Him and asking forgiveness for not living the way that He ha desired. But now you confess that you will change your life and live for Him. Will He not meet us then? Will our relationship not be mended and when we fast, would we not receive all the blessings as promised in Isaiah. My relationship must be right with Him, and my attitude of worship must be right, then will my problems be solved. I will be able to go in the right direction in this life. You can live the live of victory that you desire. Do you desire to go? Then correct your attitude of worship. Live the life of one who worships God. When you stand right before God, then when you lift your eyes up to God, He will provide all that you need as He has promised. We have been called to be the salt and light of this world in the lives that we live. This is the life that will give glory to God for which we were given life. May we give glory to God by living with the right heart of worship. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park translation by Miguel Park

What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

God is asking, “What do you want Me to do for you?” What is it that each of you desire? Is it to truly be with the Lord, to be one with Him in His grace? Or do you, like those in this world, want to have material things? What is it you desire? What do each of you want? Those things that spring up from inside you at any moment are the things that you want. You repeat the things that you have been taught and answer, that you want God and that you want to attain heaven, but there are things deep inside you that fight for the place in you heart. Don’t try to hide it, what is it that you honestly desire to attain? We all have something that we want, but the moment we come to church or meet with others we try to hide these things because by doing so we will receive recognition from others, from the pastor, and other church members. But deep inside us, we each have these deep longings that we hope that God would grant us. This is the true desire of our hearts. But many refuse to speak freely about what it is. When you share your desire with the people of this world they encourage you and tell you to go for it and that you will find success. But inside the church, if you share you material desires with others you are seen as a fool. Each of us hides our true desires and speak and act holy. There are more lies in the church. Nobody is speaking the truth. We say that the Spirit of God is with us in the church, but how many Christians really believe that God is present here with us in the church? If you think about this then you could not lie while you are at church. I believe that there are more lies spoken inside the church. People are so good at hiding their true feelings. Let us say that you smoke and drink. Outside of church you freely tell others that you smoke and drink, but the moment you come to church you hide that truth and so you are lying. Some people do say that they smoke and drink but they do so in a boastful manner. Then is this not a life of deceit? There are so many things hidden within us that we do not know of nor do we do realize that we must repent of these things. We think God will overlook this offense, but to what degree do you think He will? At what point do you think that God has overlooked enough of your sins that you will stop doing so? God tells us that when the earth is full of sin that there will be no choice but to bring judgement to it. We complain that God is the judge. Why? It is because we do want want to obey His Word. We think it is too difficult to follow. Yes, you are right, if you try to follow the Word by using the methods of this world it is very difficult, but out Lord tells us that it is easy if we come to Him. I have not come to be with Christ and this is why it is difficult. The wisdom of the world is evil but it seems good. This is why it is difficult to accept the Gospel that God gives us. When God asks you to name the things that you desire, you have too much fear to speak the truth. Why? Because we have no confidence. We fear that if we ask for something that something terrible may happen, that there may be trouble. For those of you here, you feel that I may scold you. It is because you have failed to see the truth of the Gospel so you do not know what it is that you are to seek and the things that you are to attain so you are confused. So when you are asked you cannot answer. You think about giving up, but realize you shouldn’t. You desire to go on, but it is too difficult. You are confused as to which direction you are to be heading, so you come to church and worship, read some of the Bible, and pray a little thinking that you have done all that is required. You have no choice but to think this way because the Gospel people hear is being twisted and changed. Many of the youth today do not think that they have worshipped God unless they sing and dance. Without it there is no feeling of having done something. Truly before God we are to dance, sing and be joyful. But what you seek to do is for your pleasure. Our worship should be like that of King David who was so filled with the glory of God and being overjoyed did not realize that his clothes were coming off in worshipping God. Our worship should be like this but is it? When I see the youth worship, at times I get angry, at times I am disappointed. They say that they are worshipping God, but are they truly joyfully praising and honoring God? Truly this is how they should worship, but if we mistake jumping and dancing for our own pleasure as worship, will God accept it? If you sat in silence and in an sense of holiness does it make you holy? It is possible to sit quietly and meditate and feel His presence. But is God really there present with you? When you are in the presence of God, as described by the prophets in the Old Testament, you become still as though dead, and in this place you offer God your worship. But today even this form of worship, just like those of jumping and dancing, has become a formality. We act as though we are offering up holy worship, but in our minds we are thinking about everything else in this world. We think about all the worries of our lives and the things that we need. Where is God’s presence in this kind worship? When we are truly in the presence of God there is joy. In the stillness of His presence, there is so much joy. It is inexpressible. We are stilled by His presence. We must truly desire this. We are to offer this worship to God so that He can accept it and be glorified by it. When we are one with God through our worship, He will grant me the desires of my heart. Rather than go through proper worship, we skip to the end and ask God to give us what we want. We tell Him to give us what we want which is status, money, relationships. We look at Him as though He must give us everything we need. We want Him to be like a genie that grants us what we wish. Having not repented, without removing the sin in ours lives, without changing our lives and turning from sin, we still expect God to heal us, to forgive us, and think that He will prevent us from sinning again. It is not this way. We are not robots. God did not make you a robot. He has given you free will, so you must decide and then stop sinning. You must repent, turn away and then live the proper life. When we hear the message we agree with what is taught, but the moment we leave the doors we do what we want. The words of God, though the seeds are planted, do not take root because you do not tend to field of your heart. You do not work on removing the rocks or the weeds and having good clean soil so that the words can spring forth in your heart. The Words do not get planted, they are not rooted the seeds do not die to give birth in you. The seeds must die so that there can be new life, but we refuse to make new life. We listen to the Words and bury it. The seeds do not yield anything. What is the point of listening to hundreds of sermons? What use is it to carry the Bible around with you? It is no use unless you read the Bible. It is useless to read it and not understand it. It is useless to understand the Bible and not live it. We think that by carrying around a Bible that you become a believer. The youth are embarrassed to even carry the bible around. Because the Word of God is not active in our lives, we are unable to be one with God, and when God asks us the desires of our hearts we are unable to ask for the things we want. We are unable to attain anything, neither from the world nor from God, stuck in the middle and conflicted. When God asks us what it is that we desire, we should give Him an answer and say that we will use it for His glory, but we are unable to do so. We think that our lives will become to difficult. We think that we are going to live in much hardship. We think that He will make us do things that we have no desire doing. We tell God that He already knows what we want and ask Him to give us those things. And when God asks you what is the very things that you want we do not answer Him. It is because our conscience is pierced. God does not desire to give you anything bad, He desires to give you the best. In this way you can spend eternity with Him together. God loves us and desires to spend eternity with us. But we desire a temporary love. Even between couples who love each other there must be sacrifice. I saw a couple who were both 91 years old and they loved each other so much. The children grew up watching their parents love and serve each other, so when they were married they married spouses who treated them just as well as their parents treated each other. They live in the country and even to this day they hold hands when they walk and give each other kisses in public. It is a beautiful sight. Do you want to live like this with your spouse? I do not know if they are a believer, but for those who say we believe in Jesus, do we love, forgive, comfort and desire to go forth together with our spouses? Someone asked them how they were able to live the way they do? They replied that they knew that there was not much time left for them to live, and they knew that there was not much time left for them to be together, that one of them would die first, so they want to love each other even more, comfort each other even more, and hold each other dear in their hearts even more. I thought to myself that there are Korean people who are like this. They live in the country. They are not rich or people of status. You think that you must have something in order to love. You think that you need something to share in order to love. It is not so. The elderly couple show us human love, but God loves us even more than this. God is giving us the best love. We are unable to accept it. We all desire His love, but we are unable to accept. Between spouses, even if things are going well, the moment you hear something that bothers you, you immediately get angry. Our feelings get hurt. We think that God is this way to us. God is not like this. You are mistaken to think that God is like you. God is giving us so much of His love and asks us the things that we want, but the heart of the matter is are we willing to accept what He is giving us? When He asks us what we want, it does not matter that He gives us, because we do not accept it and do not realize that it has been given to us. He keeps asking us what is it that you would want so that you would be content in Him, so that you would obey His Word, His commands, and His will and follow Him and be with Him and spend all eternity with Him. He keeps asking you this question. But when our feelings are hurt even a bit, we think that we have the right to get angry at others. We think we have the right to give someone the silent treatment. We expect the other person to break the silence. We have all these selfish desires. We expect our parents to speak to us first. Parents expect the children to speak first. We expect others to seek forgiveness first. This is why we respond to God in the same manner. We tell God that He is selfish. We ask why is it that God wants to take all that we have? We tell Him that He does not love us but that He demands that we love others. Is this not how we think? How much more love do you want from God? He sent His one and only Son for us, what else do you require of God? What more do you want from Him? What have you offered up to God? You say that Jesus is the groom, then what have you given your groom? Even now our Lord is saying let us go together. He is telling us that He loves us. He has given everything to us. He is telling us that there is nothing that He has withheld from us. But we keep asking of Him so even now He asks us what is it that we still want? What more must you have that you will be sufficient? How many of you have ever told God that you have more than enough, that you are sufficient? We are always thinking that we lack and therefore are never satisfied. We are unable to say that “Your love is overwhelming and too great for us, we have more than enough, we lack nothing.” If you are truly a citizen of God’s kingdom, the bride of Christ, we must confess to God that we lack nothing. We must confess that we are content. We have more than enough and it is overflowing. We are truly grateful. Should these things not be the things that we confess. Think deeply of these things and according to God’s Word may you be used for His purpose. Sermon by Pastor Joy Lee Translation by Miguel Park

John 4:20-24

John 4:20-24 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” Daniel 3:30 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. We continue to study about worship. Why do we worship? Why do we come before God and offer sacrifices? Does God accept your worship or sacrifice that you offer just for the reason that you are doing so? Before you offer your sacrifice to God or your worship you must first cleanse yourself of the sin that is inside you. You must first make an atonement of your sins so that when you offer your worship with a clean heart God can then accept it. When we give gifts amongst ourselves, do you like to accept a gift from someone with whom you have tension? No matter how nice the gift is, if you dislike the person you do not want to accept the gift. Is this not true? God is the same. God desires and accepts the worship with whom their is nothing that gets in the way of His relationship with them. If God is pleased and enjoys accepting the worship of those who please Him, then between people and between husband and wives and those who are in a loving relationship does the size of the gift matter? On the way home from work, if you were to buy even a small piece of candy, the other person would joyfully receive the gift because of the person’s true love. But if your heart is twisted, if there is something that burdens your heart, you could bring home an expensive name brand handbag and the spouse would rather that you would make them feel better rather than receive the gift. Is this not true. The relationship is what is important. Making lots of money and bringing it home to the wife can be important, but what may be more valued is the ability to come home and bring joy to the heart of your spouse. We all know that you are out there working hard. When you come home from work, everyone knows that you worked hard, so a gift is not necessary and you can enter your home freely as you enter with love. But what if you came back home full of anger while holding a large gift and then you toss it at your spouse, would she accept the gift? Would you accept such a gift? There is no one who would want to receive such a gift. Worship is the same. You come before Him and bring a large gift, or offering. Other people bring in pennies but you bring a 100 dollars. Of what importance is that? This does not matter. It is your relationship that must be set right first before you offer worship. In order to have the right relationship with God, you must first come before Him and confess all your sins and repent according to the Word so that when you offer your worship God will accept it joyfully. If we say that we worship God in spirit and in truth, then how can God accept our worship when we ourselves know that our spirits are unclean? Last week I spoke about how useless it is to be an observer of worship, to be an outsider because you have no true relationship with God so your prayers will not be answered. I gave the example of paying good money to watch a game. We payed a lot of money and had a great time. If I come to church and give a lot to the offering and enjoy myself in the events of the day, then it is solely for my pleasure. I enjoyed watching the athletes perform just as I enjoy the events at church. I enjoy the singing and the fellowship so I give my offering. I am only an observer. What use is it to me? There is nothing between God and I. When I confess my sins and repent of my ways, when I change my life and live righteously, then God will do His will through me. This is the life in which God will accept as true worship. This is the life of worship that I pray that you will be able to offer to God. God has given each of us something so that we can do His will. To each of our families and each of us individually He gives us the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it may be material blessings that you enjoy, it may also be status. Some may rise up to high positions, others may be given much wealth, some may attain everything. Others may be homeless and poor or broke. Why? If it is God’s will that there be somebody in those humble places that are to be used by Him for His purpose then we must acknowledge that. We have our own thoughts so we think that because we have done as much for the Lord, so now in order to do His work we will for Him to give us health, wealth, power and status. I decide what my path must be. There are times when our desires and what God wills for us are not the same, and rather than obey Him, we argue and complain and rebel against Him. I will use myself as an example. I was told to be a pastor so at an old age I became one. This was during the time when my children were growing and needed to be fed well and I needed a lot of money to invest in them. When I calculated all the expenses that I would need for the family then I started to think about where the church needed to be, how big it must be and I calculated everything with my own mind. The size of the church, the location of it, it was all my own calculations. So is God’s will and my plan on the same path? How can it be the same? Some are chosen to be pastors. Some are chosen to be missionaries. Others to be where He decides. God decides to place people each according to His will, some pastors He will place in the city of Seoul. Others He will put far out in the country. Others He will put in the suburbs. Some will live in Seoul and some will live in other cities. Everyone will be put in different places so that in everyplace God can spread the message of the Gospel. But we, worried about how we are going to eat and live, calculate how we are going to create a great big ministry, and end up not going where we are sent to go. There is a difference in your will and God’s will. If this is the manner in which we say we are doing God’s will, then will God really be able to use me to do His work? If His hand is not upon you, then even though you walk the path as His servant, you may be doing so without having any real connection to Him. Pastors and missionaries when they are sent out from Korea all want to come to the America. They don’t have to learn english because they only work with natives from Korea. Whether it is Canada or here they want to go somewhere where one can live comfortably. Nobody desires to go where there are a few people or the conditions are tough. Who will go to those people that are in the middle of nowhere and share the Gospel with them. God is telling some to go. When they obey and make the sacrifice to go and take the family with them, then God will provide for all of them. But rather than do this, they take up the burden alone, and send the rest of the family off to live abroad and live the life by themselves. Where is God’s will in this? When God desires to do His will but we change His will and do what we want, then the work we do will not manifest God’s will and we will not be able to give God the glory He desires because we have interfered with His perfect purpose. Rather than see that we have mistaken God’s will, we are filled with the joy of doing our own work and not His. When God tells us to go out in the middle of nowhere in the most humble of places, then it is in that place, where God will show His power through me, I will be able to confess that I am one with the Lord and be an example to others. It is my selfishness that causes me to make up my own plans to go to nice places and work in high positions and so we pray that our needs desires would be met. To follow easily, I must accept that I have been called to do God’s will. I read this recently. What does a true leader think about? The one who leads the people thinks about the future. I thought how true. When we look at the church the pastor is the leader, in your own life you are your own leader, within the family the husband is the leader, whatever team you belong to, whatever position you have at work, no matter how small the group or humble the position you are a leader. You do not need to be in charge of a large group to be a leader. Wherever you are, no matter how small the number, there will always be a leader. Those of you who are the leaders in your household, what must you be thinking about as you lead your family as a Christian? Is it about making a lot of money and buying a big house and driving a nice car? Is that what you should be thinking about? It is not. A true Christian does not think about the things of this world but he thinks about the things of heaven. He sets his sight on attaining the things of heaven and making sure that he receives his reward and leads his family in this pursuit. Even in this world leaders have their own dreams. They set goals for how much money a company will make, the kind of products they will produce and where they will spend their earnings. The company uses the goals and goes forward to achieve it. In order to achieve the goals the leaders make decisions that will lead the company into that direction. You goal must be clear and decided. Those of you who lead your homes and say that you are Christians must be clearly committed and determined to stand before Jesus and lead your family to that path so that you can truly be a follower of Jesus. How will you ever be victorious in your life of faith if today you go this way, tomorrow you go that way and then when things get difficult you give up? This week in our daily quiet times the theme has come up many times. We put much value in being recognized by others. We think that recognition by others is what matter the most. But that is not what is important but what matters is our relationship with God. We see this in the Word. Why does God want us to worship in spirit and in truth? He tells us that it is not important that we worship on this mountain or that mountain or in Jerusalem, but what is important is that we worship in spirit and in truth and that time is now. If now represents the very moment we take a new breath, then how are we to live our lives? Worship is not over because the pastor has given the benediction. God is spirit and His believers must worship in spirit and in truth, that spirit and truth is about my relationship with the Father and being one with Him, in holiness. We are told to be holy because He is holy. To be holy we must cut off all sins repent and change our lives and live a life that is in union with God. This life is the life that is in spirit and in truth and this life is the life that gives true worship to God. We are to be living in this continuos moment. Even in this life there are guidelines that we must follow. When a student writes a report they must do so according to the guidelines to receive a good grade. They write the report and answer the questions of who, what, when, where, why and how. So we ask, who worships? I worship. When? Anytime. Where? Everywhere. With what? With and through my life. How? When we are faced with a decision the choice is the one that will please God and give Him the most glory through obedience in His Word. Why? Because we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and are now children of God. Should this not be the life of worship that we live? In Daniel 3:30 we read Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. We see Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the way they worship. The “who” is Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When? During the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. Where? In front of the gold image. What? In regards to bowing down and worshipping the golden image. If they did not bow down then they would be burned to death. How? By refusing to bow down to the image because the only one they will worship is God. They put their faith in God who they did not see, and offered their lives up in sacrifice as worship to Him. Were they saved? We say they were saved, but they were not. They were only rescued because they entered the fire. The people who were throwing them into the fire were burned to death. Daniel, in the time of King Darius, for the time of one month when they were to only pray to the king, Daniel could have closed his windows and prayed. If for one month Daniel closed his windows and prayed would his prayers have been any less? However, just as he did before, with the decision that it would not matter that he entered the lion’s den, he would cry out to God and worship as he always did. Why did he do this? It is because he knew that there is only one God to whom to pray to and worship. What happened? He was thrown in the lion’s den. In our own lives we pray that God does not let us enter into difficult situations and we ask Him to save us from them. But when we see how they prayed we see that we must enter the fiery furnace and we must enter the lion’s den for then we show that we have offered our lives up to God and this is when He will rescue us. This is worship in spirit and in truth. God accepts the life that is completely handed over to Him. He does not accept the life that pretends to give Him everything. He does not accept a life that pretends to be a believer. Did Paul say that everyday he pretended to die? He said that He dies everyday. It is through death that God saves and works. He died everyday so that though he was beaten, sent to prison, hungry, and through all the trials and difficulties, through the whipping of 39 lashes three times, and being stoned to near death, and though his life was like this, through this life God moved. When we are told to go in, do we go? We pray so that we do not have to go? We pray that we do not have to die but when we see the prayers and lives of the those who have gone before us do we not see a difference? What does it mean to worship God in spirit and in truth so that He accepts it? It is when He places you where He desires and you say “amen” and accept your place. This is true worship in spirit and in truth. When God accepts your worship, then it is He who gives life and also takes it away. If He rescues you then through it you shall give glory to God. If you die, then you are giving Him glory through obedience and we must have this kind of determination to live this life of worship. This is the worship that God accepts. Today according to the guidelines and principles : Who? Me. When? Today, now, in every moment. Where? Everywhere I go. Whether in the kitchen cooking, or sitting in the bathroom, when I am driving, when I meet people, whatever it is I do, in everyplace. What? Through all that I do, whether I am cooking, when I am speaking to others, when I am in the bathroom, through all that I do to give pleasure to God. How? By living joyfully in God and living the life that would allow God to use me. If today I a speaking to someone, it is not a time for me to express my emotions, it it an opportunity to share my Lord through the words I speak and being keen to Him. This is how we can be one who worships and gives God the glory. Why? Because I am a child of God who has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. I have no choice but to live this life. When my life reflects this daily in all I do, it is my life that God will accept. When God has accepted your life, why would not answer your prayers? In our difficulties, and in our minds that create trouble, look at the lives of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the life of Daniel. See the life that allowed them to be rescued after they were thrown into the furnace and the lion’s den. We too must decide to live as determined as this. We must look at our lives and compare them to the guidelines and principles and see the decision that we must make. When we ask the question “who?” and you answer the pastor, but the pastor is not present with you, it is possible that you may think that you can do what you want. This is not so. When we ask “who?” the answer is “me”. We are told that each of us is a holy priest. When the question is asked “when?” It is not Sunday when we come for service. It is daily, in every moment that we must decide and commit to. When we say “who?” and think there is no reason to worship because the pastor is unavailable, or when we say “when?” and you think we only worship on Sundays and today is a weekday, or that since worship is now over you make excuses to be of a different mind. Everything, all the time is to be worship. It is not time for you to express what you want but a time for the church through fellowship to worship God and offer our lives also as worship. This can only be done when you decide that you will live like so and do it. When we say “where?” we are not only saying at the church but it is wherever you go. When we say with “what?” It is not only about singing hymns and praying. It is through your speech, thoughts and action through which you glorify the Savior that you hold in your heart. It is a constant that you must be thinking. How? It is through living a life that does not follow the world but through the life that follows the Bible. This is the how that we must put into practice so that our lives can be one of worship. At one time we were a part of the world that thought that you can just come and easily be forgiven but if this the way you think can your life be of true worship? If you think that this is not, then the God you worship, who sees everything that you do, will He accept your worship when you do not stand with Him but rather you do what you want while blaming God. How must you live your life according to theses guidelines? You must live according to the guidelines and principles, in obedience, not forgetting to do all that is shown to us, so that not only will we be able to communicate and understand Him better, but He will also joyfully accept our worship. When we can offer up our lives of worship to Him so that He can gladly accept it, then would He not bless us graciously with the gifts of the spirit and all the other blessings with His anointing? Should your life not be the life that is one of a true worshipper? May you live this life and give God glory. May you be the salt and light in all areas of your life. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park Translation by Miguel Park