The Supremacy of the Gospel demands Risk takers for the gospel (Matthew 14:22-31)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon, March 21, 2009

I have spent last two weeks laying out for you what I believe is God’s vision for our church, Cornerstone Mission Church. Because God has his vision for our church, our aim is not about ceasing to be a church. Rather, our aim is to make some radical changes in order to faithfully live out God’s vision for our church.

Let me take little bit of time and revisit the vision for CMC that I laid out for you last two weeks. From the message about the supremacy of the gospel over cultures, I see us shaping CMC where we can “become all things to all men” so that “by all possible means… save some” “for the sake of the gospel” according to 1 Corinthians 9:19-27. From this, I can see us .

· Within the next year, we envision each of CMC members making meaningful friendship with at least one non-Christian, sharing the gospel to this person, and inviting the non-Christian friend to our church.

· Within the next year, We envision CMC equipping members to share the gospel through evangelism training.

· We envision CMC not as an ethnic church, but as a church that engages broader network of friends, co-workers, colleagues, neighbors around us.

· We envision CMC to be a church where we can proudly invite anyone to witness the power and the reality of the gospel.

From the message about the supremacy of the gospel that redefines family, I see our church being shaped and strengthened by the spiritual family bond rather than the biological bonds. (Mark 3:31-35)

· We envision CMC to be a church where people of different ethnicity or race, singles or nuclear families can belong together in a spiritual family.

· We envision CMC to realize the spiritual family bond by doing God’s will together.

The supremacy of the gospel envisions risk takers for the gospel

And, today, I am going to cast another vision for CMC. The supremacy of the gospel means evangelism beyond ethnic, racial, class boundaries and creating spiritual family. The supremacy of the gospel also means that CMC becomes church of risk takers. Imagine you and I belonging to church culture where taking risks for the sake of the gospel is not only acceptable but encouraged and expected. Imagine risk takers thinking outside of box, outside of what’s seems possible, in order to live out their faith courageously and adventurously and fearlessly.

Fear factors

Before we see how the supremacy of the gospel calls for risk takers for the gospel, I want us to consider the fear factor.

Taking risk requires overcoming fear, doesn’t it?

In today’s passage, Matthew 14:22-33, Peter had to deal with fear before he could take the risk of walking on the water towards Jesus. As a fisher man, Peter knew better than anyone what could happen out in the open water during powerful storms.

Right before this passage, Jesus cared and fed miraculously well over ten thousand hungry men, women and children out of five loaves of bread and two fish. What do you think the disciples thought of Jesus at this point having witnessed and tasted this utter impossible being carried out by Jesus? I bet they were bewildered, awestruck, surprised; perhaps, they felt healthy dose of respect and reverence toward Jesus. They experienced the supremacy of the gospel. Peter was touched by the supremacy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Without any break from the story of Jesus’ miracle of feeding, we see him in Matthew 14:22 instructing the disciples to immediately… get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side” probably to find a shelter to spend the night in Galilee. Jesus stayed behind to disperse the crowd to make their ways to each of their homes.

In verse 23, we see Jesus going up on a mountainside to pray and by evening time, he was alone. While Jesus was alone praying, we see the disciples struggling to cross the Sea of Galilee in their boat. They were stuck in the middle (Mark 6:19) unable to make any more progress.

Jesus walked miles on the water to where the disciples were in their boat during the fourth watch of the night. That’s between 3 – 6 am.

It says in verse 26, the disciples were terrified seeing Jesus walking on the lake. In fear, they mistakenly believed that this unbelievable sight of man walking on the water was a sight of a ghost. I am sure we would have done the same if we saw someone walking on the water. Nevertheless, it is not pretty trying to image twelve grown men crying out in fear. Not a manly sight at all, right?

I want to pause here and think about fear factor in life. Until Jesus told them who he was and encouraged them, the disciples were gripped with fear. They feared that their boat crumble by the pounding waves. They feared they were going to drown to death. And, they feared the ghostly figure walking on the water.

What fears are you dealing with as I encourage you to embrace God’s vision for CMC which calls us to the path of radical changes?

· Do you fear of making wrong mistake, choosing the wrong path for our church?

· Do you fear of what KCUMC congregation might think of us, perhaps many of your parents? Do you fear for the relationship breakups and hurts?

· Do you fear of unknown as to where we will gather to worship or how we are going to afford financially?

· Do you fear leaving the boat that you’ve been dependant on for long time?

I am sure you can add your own fear to these fears. Without clear direction, clear vision from God, we had been paralyzed to make any meaningful decision. I too was paralyzed for many months without clear vision for our church. Without the vision for CMC, I seriously thought that merging with KCUMC and become a part of Korean church was the right solution.

But, I think differently now. I see it differently because I’ve been able to dream again for the future of CMC. In addition to envision the church that pushes for the supremacy of the gospel to go beyond the ethnic, racial, class boundaries and for the supremacy of the gospel that creates the new spiritual family, now I envision our church of risk takers overcoming fears…

Risk takers overcome fears…

Consider that it was not Peter who first envisioned Jesus walking on the water. He and the rest of the disciples were not able to see clearly Jesus because of their fears and misconception. Although they witnessed Jesus performing amazing miracle of feeding over ten thousand people, they didn’t think it was possible for Jesus to walk on the water.

It was not Peter or any other disciples, but Jesus himself who revealed himself to them. “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (verse 27). This was the defining moment for the disciples, especially for Peter. Until this moment, they didn’t have the vision of Jesus. All they had was fear of drowning and perishing helplessly; their fear of death was heightened by what they thought as a ghost. But, it all changed when Jesus revealed himself to them.

As soon as Jesus said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” Peter responded in verse 29, “Lord, if it’s you… tell me to come to you on the water.” And, Jesus replied, “Come.” And, we see Peter getting down out of the boat and started walking on the water and coming toward Jesus.

Do you see what’s happening here? Peter went from being paralyzed by fears to boldly talking the biggest risk thus far in his life. Peter changed because he heard Jesus speaking to him, he saw Jesus standing on the water, and he heard Jesus calling him to take the risk. His voice, his vision, his calling is how Peter overcame the fears. That’s how he took his first steps.

I believe that is what’s happening to us as church. You and I were stuck in the crazy storm; we were confused and weren’t able to see clearly where we need to go. But, I believe now that he has been speaking his words of affirmation to us. “Take courage, CMC! Don’t be afraid.” In a way I did the same thing that Peter did. I asked Jesus to show me and show us the vision for our church. I asked Jesus to call us out with his vision to himself. That is how Jesus has shaped the vision I see for CMC; his vision to build church where the supremacy of the gospel reaches out beyond the boundaries of ethnicity, race and class, the supremacy of the gospel that transcends biological family bond to create far stronger and eternal spiritual family bond forged by his blood. That’s what I see.

As the Lord casts his vision for CMC, I believe it is now for us to become the risk takers for the supremacy of the gospel; it is time to get down out of the boat and take our first steps on the water. It is time to walk on the water.

The risk takers are covered by the grace of Jesus

As with anything taking risk assumes even failures as Peter did. Peter took those steps out on the water fixing his sight firmly on Jesus who stood on the water. But, he started sinking as soon as he saw wind and was afraid. The fear of death came back when he took his eyes of Jesus. He began to fail when he took his eyes of the vision.

But, this failure was only momentary lapse. Because Peter took the risk and walked out of the boat on to the water, what we see is Jesus covering Peter with his grace. Peter didn’t sink into death as he feared because Jesus was right there to catch him. Verse 32 says that the wind didn’t die down until Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat. This means Peter after being pulled out of water began to walk again along side of Jesus.

Taking risks has its cost. There is the cost of having to face fear when we lose our focus on the supremacy of the gospel. When as church we take the risk for the supremacy of the gospel, God’s vision for our church, things will not get easier. Remaining in the boat is infinitely easier than to walk on the water. But, the cost of taking risk will be rewarded because Jesus takes care of those who take risk for his gospel. He will be right there for us along the way even when we get distracted from his vision and start to sink. Jesus will be right there to pick us up and we will walk on the water with him again.

The risk takers worship

Look at verse 33. It says those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Because Peter took the risk, he walked on the water with Jesus; this took them to the new level of worship and adoration of Jesus.

I believe that when we take risk for the supremacy of the gospel, we are going to experience whole new level of worship. To worship in Greek means literally to prostrate oneself before God. This new level of worship, deeper allegiance to Christ will be the reward when we take risk for the supremacy of the gospel.

The Supremacy of the Gospel: “Yes” to Jesus for changes (2 Corinthians 1:15-22)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

Explore the flickering nature of human faithfulness… I know that some of you love playing golf. Depends on the outcome of the first Annual CMC golf outing in April, perhaps, I will become one too. Who knows? Well, you don’t have to be a golf fan to know something about the disgraced superstar, Tiger Woods. Known for his clean image and integrity, he has made tons of money through endorsements and advertisements. One company called Accenture had built its company image through the image of Tiger Woods, nice guy with integrity and excellence in performance. Their ads assume this about the company, “We know what it takes to be a Tiger. Talk to us to see how we can help.” It fits well with the company’s mantra, “High performance. Delivered.”  

As you can imagine, the company soon found out that they really didn’t know what it takes to be a Tiger. Beneath the high performance delivered in golf fields, beneath the squeaky clean image of integrity, was the ugly truth of unfaithful husband at home. Accenture was the one of the earliest companies to drop Tiger Woods from their ads.

Tiger Woods, the iconic sports super star’s rise and fall isn’t the unique story. I am afraid that he not only represents the world of golf, but also the world of unfaithfulness, the world that has gone out of control behind the façade of excellence, high performance and control. What’s important in the world is not to produce a perfect product, a perfect life, because that would be too costly and consuming with no means for profitability… The world values the mere appearance of excellence that’s going to guarantee the bottom line profit. The world doesn’t want perfection.

As Christians, if we take our cues from the world on how to live our lives well, we will undoubtedly go after the appearance of high performance and excellence. But, the supremacy of the gospel doesn’t envision mere appearance of excellence. The gospel envisions the perfect and spotless mirror that reflects the full glory of God. The gospel is not after raising compromised people; the supremacy of the gospel envisions uncompromised people who don’t settle for the appearance of excellence, but the perfection of Jesus Christ.

When the vision is the formation of the perfect image of Christ, the only way to realize it is through saying “yes” to Jesus. Instead of asking, “Am I living excellently?” we need to ask, “Do I say “yes” to Jesus?” Only when you say “yes” to Jesus, you are going to see changes. And, those changes are what’s going to make your life count for eternity.

• The illustration of “Yes to Jesus” in Paul’s life

Paul’s life illustrates this “Yes to Jesus.” Do changes equal to inconsistency?

Let me give you the context to better understand what Paul is talking about in this text. Paul was being accused of being fickle, changing plans at whims. Therefore, some accused him unfit to lead with authority.

The plan A laid out in 1 Corinthians 16:2-8 was the itinerary plan was Ephesus-Macedonia-Corinth-Jerusalem. But, here in 2 Corinthians 1, Paul adopted to the plan B, Ephesus-Corinth-Macedonia-Corinth-Judea. But, then the actual itinerary was not the plan A, nor plan B, but Ephesus-Corinth (=the painful visit”) –Ephesus-Troas-Macedonia.

· Plan A: Ephesus-Macedonia-Corinth-Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:2-8)

· Plan B: Ephesus-Corinth-Macedonia-Corinth-Judea (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

· Actual: Ephesus-Corinth (=the painful visit”) –Ephesus-Troas-Macedonia (2 Corinthians 2:1, 2:12-13)

So, he was accused of talking things lightly (2 Corin 1:17), changing his plan arbitrarily and selfishly without regard to his promises or concern for the Corinthians. He was accuse of flip-flopping, saying “Yes” to one thing, but then later saying “no” to it.

Was Paul indeed unfit to lead because he disregarded his own plans, because he took things lightly? Was Paul unfit to lead because of his presumed low performance due to changing his mind? Surely excellence and inconsistence don’t go together!

“Yes” to Jesus = Changes in Paul’s life

To this Paul argues that the fact that he changed his mind about his plans, not once, but twice isn’t because he is flawed in his character, but rather it shows his commitment to Christ; it shows Paul knew how to say, “Yes” to Jesus.

In his plan A, his desire was not just to “make only a passing visit,” but to spend the winter with them, to spend more time with them (1 Corinthians 16:7).

But, he decided not only to visit once, but to visit them twice in order to benefit the Corinthians twice. Paul said “yes” to Jesus for living to benefit the Corinthians. So, there was his plan B.

But, when he went to his initial visit to Corinth, it became an incredibly difficult visit for him. Paul calls the visit “painful visit” in 2 Corinthians 2:1. It was a painful visit because he faced the rebellion against his apostolic authority. And, to revisit them as he planned in plan B, would have meant that he would have to exercise his apostolic authority to rebuke the rebellions and to exercise the church discipline to expel those who rebelled. So, instead of risking another “painful visit” (2:1), Paul decided to return to Ephesus. There in Ephesus, he wrote them a letter; Paul said he wrote it “out of distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve [the Corinthians] but to let [them] know the depth of [his] love for [them].” (2:4).

But, some considered Paul as a coward who couldn’t face up his accusers. But, the truth is Paul made the change of plan not because he was afraid of people, but because he was driven by the mercy of Christ. In 1:23 he called on God to be his witness that indeed it was to spare them from God’s judgment that he didn’t return to Corinth. Instead of defending his reputation against those in rebellion by exercising his apostolic authority, Paul sought to win those in rebellion over through his letter rather than through his visit. Paul said “yes” to Jesus and showed the mercy of Christ.

Paul went from plan A to plan B but ended up doing plan C. Paul argues that such changes reflect not a deficiency in his leadership, but his commitment to Christ. Paul was compelled by the gospel of Jesus Christ and instead of selfishly being motivated to promote himself, he was motivated to benefit those he loved.

“Yes” to Jesus… my changes…

Perhaps, some may argue that I am being inconsistent in my leadership as a pastor. Many of you know that I until December and the first week of January I encouraged us to consider the possibility of joining KCUMC. But, then shortly I came out strongly against merging with KCUMC and started advocating for continuing the life of CMC; not only that I’ve also been advocating for replanting our church outside of our current location, to become truly an independent church.

Perhaps, some might wonder if I am I taking things lightly, if I am being inconsistent in my leadership, if I care for myself. I tell you that left to my own natural self I will not be choosing the path to lead us out to become fully independent church. I don’t like taking risk. I don’t like when people don’t like me. I don’t like taking responsibility for which I can be blamed later if things don’t quite work out. Left to my natural tendency, I will avoid risking, concede and appease people so they like me, and I will shrug my shoulders and passed my responsibility to others to make the call.

But, I tell you that God is doing something very unnatural inside of me. He has ignited the fire, the deep passion for the explosive power of the gospel. He has awakened me to the vision of the supremacy of the gospel over cultures and over biological ties. He has awakened me to the vision of equipping you to be accomplish God’s mission; God’s mission to call the lost so they can be found, to give life to death, to give hope to those who have given up, to free up those who are captured, to call those who are lonely to belong.

As Paul says in our text, I want to see our church being built up so that there is not “yes” or “no” but only “yes” to the promises of God, to that which God wants to accomplish through us. Verse 20, Paul says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” It means that God is going to fulfill his promises through the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ.

I want to see our church full of people who are tired of saying “no” to Christ out of fear, out of lazy comfort, out of lack of vision and challenge. I want you to be tired of saying to “no” to the great things God wants to accomplish.

I want to see our church full of people who say “yes” to Christ, who will dare to risk, who will dream big, who will sweat and work to make God’s vision happen.

As I reflect on what God has entrusted me, to take care of you, his sheep, his lambs, I am compelled to lead you to the path, to the direction, that you will not venture out on your own. So, have I changed? You bet I’ve changed. But, I am not satisfied. I want more changes.

So, what’s going on here? And, you are seeing changes taking place as I learn to say “yes” to Christ. And, I believe that when you say “yes” to Christ, you cannot help but want to change and experience change.

Reasons to say “yes” to Jesus

Paul gives three reasons why we need to cultivate lifestyle of saying “yes” to Jesus.

· You stand in Christ. God ordains to stand firm in Christ.

· You are set apart. God anointed you.

· You belong to God. God owns you.

· You have God’s vision for your life. (God put his spirit in your hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come)

Are you in the habit of saying “yes” to Jesus?

Difference between excellence and obedience

· To aim for obedience is to aim for perfection, not for “excellence”…

· Mere excellence allows room for a mixture… not a fixed standard… a mixed standard.

American businesses are in search of excellence, not perfection. Perfect products, perfect service is too costly because it eats into profits. Rather than be perfect, businesses know it’s enough to seem perfect to their customers. By stopping short of perfection, they find a profitable balance between quality and costs.

So, the businesses ask, “How far can we go and still seem perfect? By how far can we stop short?” To find that profitable point of stopping short at the middle ground of excellence.

While in business it’s profitable to seem perfect, in the spiritual realm it’s merely comfortable to seem perfect. It is never profitable.[1]

With excellence we try to cover our disobedient tracks.[2] Satisfied with mere excellence, we stop short of God’s standards. We move nearer our peers only to find distance from God.

Excellence is the result of living out obediently… the goal is to obey, not to perform excellently.

It’s time to step up.

· If it’s important, then you will make it happen no matter what. If it is not happening, it is because it doesn’t matter. Time to repent!

· In order to move forward, you need to own this church as yours. This is such a crucial time, the major crossroad that you need to step up to the challenge.  Is this your church? Does it matter what happens to it?

Let’s not ask How far we can go and still be called a Christian? Instead, let’s ask how holy I can be?

---

[1] Areterburn & Stoeker, Every man’s battle, Colorado Springs, Colorado: WaterBrook Press, 2000, p. 50.

[2] Arterburn & Stoeker, p. 51.

^[3] O'Brien, P. T. (2002). Vol. 44: Word Biblical Commentary : Colossians-Philemon. Word Biblical Commentary (228). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

When things turn bad to worse… (Genesis 37-50)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

Last Saturday morning, I received a call from a man. He needed to talk to someone from church about his life. He said he was waiting for Loan modification for his home. As the economy has tanked last couples years, he too was hit hard financially and needed a favorable and affordable loan term to pay back his mortgage. Things were looking bad, but he got a call from the loan office that he was going to get the loan modification he applied. He was ecstatic that it came through knowing that many were praying for him in regard to this.

But, then just few days ago, he received the devastating news that turned things bad to absolute worse. He was told that the loan modification fell through; not only that, he was told that he had a month to clear out and vacate his home. All that happiness evaporated, gone! He asked me, “Why is God doing this to me?” “I was so happy to hear that the loan modification was going to be approved, but not only did it fall through, now I am going to lose my home. Why is God allowing this? This is death to me.”

We’ve all been there when things go bad to worse. Perhaps, you are there now and you are asking the big “Why” questions. You are trying to make sense of your life but you can’t. You try to get traction in your life, but you are slipping further into deeper hole. And, you can’t make sense of what God is doing now in your life. You feel either God is against you, or he has abandoned you. God seems distant, indifferent, and capricious to you seemingly inflicting pain in you for no purpose. And, you don’t what to think and what to feel about God.

Or perhaps, you know friends or families who are bitter in life because things are going bad to worse and they are not able to make sense of life. They are angry, perplex, and confused. And, they are looking to you for advice and direction. But, all you can say is, “Gee, I don’t know what to tell you.”

I want you know to know that the Bible is not silent about this concern. God has laid out in his word the way to make sense when things go bad to worse. Consider with me the life of Joseph.

• Joseph’s rise preceded by 12-13 years of sustained fall.

If you know the Bible even little bit, you’ve heard about the story of Joseph. A musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is based on the story of Joseph from Genesis. An animation, Joseph- King of Dreams is based on the story as well. The story of Joseph is a powerful story that can help us make sense when things go bad to worse.

The story goes something like this. Joseph grew up in a completely dysfunctional blended family; he was among twelve brothers and one sister. When you read the account from Genesis 29 and 30, it sounds absolutely ridiculous. It is worse than even the worst of soap operas. Two sisters, Leah and Rachel both married to Jacob, were at each other; Jacob favored and loved Rachel more than Leah. In those days, women who were able to have lot of children were highly esteemed. It happened that un-favored and unloved Leah was the first one to give birth to the four sons. Highly jealous, Rachel who couldn’t have any children took matters into her own hands; she enlisted her maidservant Bilhah and produced two children. Leah who couldn’t have children after her first four sons counteracted Rachel by enlisting her very own maidservant Zilpah and producing two more sons. Then, the race resumed when Leah started having more children of her own adding three more. The race ended with Rachael having Joseph and later dying after giving birth to the youngest son Benjamin.

Seriously dysfunctional, won’t you say? The children grew up in a toxic environment poisoned with jealousy and hatred. No wonder the half brothers turned against Joseph.

Jacob favoring Rachel over Leah, he also heavily favored Rachel’s children, Joseph and Benjamin. And, of all, Joseph was Jacob’s favorite. And, talking about poor parenting, he made sure everyone knew about who was his favorite. It says in Genesis 37:3, “Now Israel [that is Jacob] loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age, and he made a richly ornamented robe for him.”

What’s was the result? It says, in Genesis 37:4, “When his brother saw their father loved him [Joseph] more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.”

To make things worse, Joseph was a dreamer; literally a dreamer who told the dreams that horrified and enraged his brothers. The theme of his vivid dreams was basically that all his brothers and even his father and mother would bow and submit to Joseph. It says in Genesis 37:11, Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and that in verse 18 they were plotting to kill him.

Well, all wasn’t lost since Reuben came to his sense how ridiculous was the plan to get rid of their own half brother. In spite of his effort to free Joseph, the rest prevailed in getting rid of Joseph. They sold Joseph to the Midianite merchants (Genesis 37:28) and later Joseph was sold in Egypt to Potiphar (37:36).

The story is picked up in chapter 39 with the new scene now in Egypt. Joseph found himself as a slave under the Egyptian master, Potiphar, the officer and captain of the guard. Joseph made the best of the bad circumstance by being responsible, reliable, trustworthy and a hardworking servant; he rose up the rank and earned his master’s complete trust. Yet, when things were looking better, things turned for the worse. Joseph was entrapped and falsely accused by Potiphar’s wayward wife; Joseph lost the hard earned trust of his master Potiphar and ended up in the jail.

And, now in chapter 40, the story is picked up in the jail scene. Just like Joseph earned the favor of Potiphar, here Joseph earned favor and trust from the warden. To Joseph were assigned two new prisoners, high officials of Pharaoh the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt. Both of these two men had dreams that terrified them. Joseph the dreamer interpreted the dreams and it came to pass; Pharaoh restored the cupbearer back to his former position while condemning the baker to death.

And, in chapter 41, the plot moves from the jail scene to the court of Pharaoh. Here too, Pharaoh had two troubling dreams. It is this time when the cupbearer who completely forgot about Joseph remembered him and introduced Joseph to Pharaoh. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream with God’s help; finally Joseph climbs out of the worse and rises to the rank of second-in-command in Egypt.

Now, those of you who are familiar with the story of Joseph, do you know how much time had passed for Joseph from being betrayed by his brother, ended up in Egypt as a slave, then later ended up in a jail? Do you know how long it passed from the time the cupbearer was restored back to Pharaoh and to the time when he actually remembered Joseph?

Genesis 37:2 says that Joseph was “a young man of seventeen.” That’s when he was betrayed and sold away by his brother. And, Genesis 41:46 says, “Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” So, that’s about 13 years or so from the time being sold as a slave to assuming the second-in-command position. And, Genesis 41 tells us that two full years had passed since the cupbearer forgot about Joseph to the time he remembered Joseph before Pharaoh.

That’s thirteen years as a slave and a prisoner. That’s a long time for things to go bad to worse, won’t you say?

• Gain perspective when things go bad to worse

What does the story of Joseph tell us about when things go bad to worse?

1. Discern the origin of hardships.

• God made the world with the built it system where making rebellious, sinful, unwise choices will make things bad to worse in our lives. Obviously, this wasn’t the case for Joseph since he was the victim of being wronged.
• In the case of things going bad to worse because of our rebellious sins, the solution is to repent and turn to God.
• God designed the world in such way he allows things to go bad to worse in order to wake us up from persisting in rebellion.
• In the case of suffering consequences of sins and rebellion is to ask God to restore us to the right living, healthy living, righteous living.
• But, then, as was the case for Joseph, there are time injustice are done to us, and there are times we simply cannot explain why things go bad to worse. Joseph didn’t do anything bad, but things got worse for him for long thirteen years before things got better.
• This means we don’t falsely believe that just being Christians would guarantee happiness and trouble free life.
• The most important questions are not, “Why is this happening?” rather ask, “What is God trying to accomplish in me through the hardships that I am facing?” “And, in response to what God is doing and trying to accomplish in the midst of hardships, how should I live?”

2. What is God trying to accomplish in you through the hardships you experience?

• God wants you to believe that he is purposeful and good, not capricious or malicious. He is not allowing hardships in your life just because he wants to mess with you. No, he wants to accomplish greater goal through your life.
• God’s purpose for Joseph… Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the savings of many lives.”
• Remember God is God who sent his Son to subject himself to suffering, persecution and death in order to save you and me from evil and death.
• He wants you to believe he cares for you not indifferent or aloof.
• He wants you to believe that God is able to help you because he is in control and he is sovereign.
• He wants you to believe that he knows better than you do. Don’t waste your energy trying to outsmart God. In his timing he will help you make sense of the hardships you face. Don’t waste all your energy to asking “Why” questions.
• Job told God in Job 42:3, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”
• He wants you to experience his power to restore you, heal you, to make you stronger in him, to purify you through the hot furnace of life’s troubles. So, that at the end you emerge as a man and woman fit for the life in the kingdom of God.

3. How should you live your life in the midst of hardships?

• Knowing God has greater purpose for you, knowing God cares for you, knowing God is in control, knowing God knows what he is doing, knowing God wants you to experience his power, what you need to do is
• Live faithfully trusting in God.
• Live patiently waiting on God.
• Live hopefully for God’s right timing.
• Live victoriously for God’s redemption.

The Supremacy of the Gospel – redefining family (Mark 3:31-35)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

The story of Joyce’s dad… adoption into a new family… illustrates the supremacy of the gospel that redefines family as more than based on blood relationship.

As I have mentioned to you last week, I am devoting the month of March to explore God’s vision for our church, Cornerstone Mission Church. In order to understand what God envision for CMC, we must understand the exclusive demand of the gospel to share Jesus’ commitment to God and radically inclusive nature of the gospel

When family is understood as connection built on blood relationship, you will find these definitions for family.

A group of individual living under one roof and usually under one head

A group of persons of common ancestry (clan)… < a people or group of people regarded as deriving from a common stock (race)

The basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children… a single-parent family[1]

But, the supremacy of the gospel taught and lived out by our Lord Jesus envisions family quite differently. There is another dictionary definition of family that is not defined by blood relationship.

A group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation (fellowship)[2]

The gospel envisions family not just as relationship defined by blood relationships. The gospel envisions God’s family beyond the boundaries of the nuclear family ties, extended family ties, beyond clan, tribal, ethnic or racial ties. The gospel envisions radically inclusive family, God’s family based on the exclusive demand to share Jesus’ commitment to God’s will.

The supremacy of the gospel demands exclusively sharing Jesus’ commitment to God

Let’s consider how the supremacy of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ redefines family.

Do you know what family values are? Family values are so highly regarded by churches that most of the Christians believe that it is essential and foundational for churches. Wikipedia defines family values as “political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society.”[3] When we as Christians focus so much on the values of building nuclear families, we become desensitized the biblical vision for God’s family, spiritual family.

Paul uses the language of “God’s household” to describe the biblical vision of God’s family.

“God’s household” in Ephesians 2:19, Galatians 6:10, “those who belong to the family of believers,” 1 Timothy 3:15, “God’s household”, 1 Peter 4:17, “the family of God.” Oikos of God.

So, how is the biblical vision of God’s family different from family values?

We can see the clear difference when we consider how Jesus explained about why he came to live with us.

Matthew 10:35f-36, “For I have come to turn “’a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law- a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”

Luke 12:53 reads, “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Jesus is not saying that family isn’t important. Family defined by blood relationship was God’s idea and it is quite important. But, what Jesus is saying is allegiance to family, blood relationships, is only important if it honors Jesus’ commitment to God. The gospel carries the vision of division and strife over family relationship because the gospel demands complete allegiance to Jesus’ commitment to God. Let me illustrates this from the Wall Street Journal article from March 6.

The article is about an interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef who is the son of Hamas founder and leader, Sheikh Hassan Yousef. Mosab said, “I absolutely know that in anybody’s eyes I was a traitor… To my family, to my nation, to my God. I crossed all the red lines in my society. I didn’t leave on that I didn’t cross.” He explains his encounter with the British cabbie who gave him an English-Arabic copy of the New Testament. Reading through it, he said, “I found that I was really drawn to the grace, love and humility that Jesus talked about… I converted to Christianity because I was convinced by Jesus Christ as a character, as a personality. I loved him, his wisdom, his love, his unconditional love.”

And, he had some very harsh words to say about Muslim; there will be people who will try to kill him for what he said about Muslim. “At the end of the day a traditional Muslim is doing the will of a fanatic, fundamentalist, terrorist God… The problem is not in Muslims… The problem is with their God. They need to be liberated from their God. He is their biggest enemy. It has been 1,400 years they have been lied to.” About these dangerous words that he spoke against the religion of his family, Mosab said, “Palestinians have reason to kill me. Some Israelis may want to kill me. MY goal is not to defeat my enemy. It is to win over my enemy.”

His father Sheikh Yousef issued a statement that he and his family “have completely disowned the man who was our oldest son and who is called Mosab.”

Family values are only good if they serve the greater purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ to advance God’s will. But, if family values demand allegiance to families over Jesus’ commitment to God, he will not compromise, but will bring division and strife.

The supremacy of the gospel envisions inclusive family of God

Let’s consider now the story about Jesus and his family from Mark 3:31-35. What we see leading up to our text is Jesus actively engaging the world beyond the boundaries of social norms. While religious Jews were afraid and refused to associate with anyone beyond their ethnic and religious boundaries, Jesus touched and healed the leper, liberated demon possessed men, healed the sick, dined with social outcasts, and sinners. Jesus was even accused of casting out the demons because he himself was possessed by the prince of demons, named Beelzebul. To which Jesus dismissed their accusation as silly nonsense and sternly warned them of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.

And it says in Mark 3:21, “When he his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”” They thought Jesus was going mad. The family believed that Jesus had to be stopped.

To “take charge” is to force. They showed up in order to force Jesus to abandon his madness. When they arrived, they stood outside and send someone in to call him. They were outside looking for Jesus in order to take charge of him, to force him to leave what they considered as craziness.

To this Jesus replied, “Who are my mother and my brother? …Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Do you get the picture? Jesus’ biological mother Mary and his half brothers were standing outside; they were outsiders because they opposed Jesus and his mission. Those who were inside of Jesus’ family circle were those who did God’s will.

This would have been utter shock to the first century mindset. The family defined by blood was the foundation of society and economy; unlike us, they couldn’t envision their own identities apart from identity that of belonging to a group, their family.[4]

Jesus rejected the priority of biological family relationships; he rejected putting family values first, family values to preserve their family lines, family wealth, family honor…[5]

Jesus rejected the belief in exclusively defined family; instead, he completely redefined family inclusively to include anyone who shares Jesus’ commitment to God. Family defined by Jesus cuts right through the boundaries of class, race, or ethnicity as long as there is the obedience to God’s will.

Only one qualification matters to belong to God’s family… “Do you share Jesus’ commitment to God?” Do you see how Jesus redefined inclusively?

• The vision for CMC

Envision family inclusively- We must work towards the vision of inclusivity to expand God’s family beyond the boundaries of ethnicity, race, or social class. This means, we must consider the future of CMC beyond the immediate family relationships many of you have with KCUMC. Will we be able to fulfill effectively the inclusive vision of God’s family as CMC or as a part of Korean church? I believe that we can be much more effective in realizing God’s vision of inclusive family by not defining our church as an ethnic church.

Envision family exclusively -We must focus on sharing Jesus’ commitment to God for this is how the biblical family bond can grow. The biblical family grows through the inclusive vision with the exclusively sharing Jesus’ commitment to God.

“Our shared commitments to God tie us more closely together than biological kinship.”[6]

Envision family beyond nuclear families- We must envision the purpose of nuclear families as the means to realize the biblical vision of spiritual God’s family.

“The French novelist André Gide, in Les nouvelles nourritures, bitterly expressed against the selfishly ingrown nuclear families: “Families! I hate you! Shut-in homes, closed doors, jealous possessors of happiness.”[7]

Envision family to grow - We must work towards growing the family by diligent and creative evangelism. We have experienced a lot of natural births in our church. Imagine what would be like to share the joy of spiritual new birth and grow church that way! We must become church where people can experience adoption into God’s family.

Envision family to belong - We must become a church where lonely and people of differences can find meaningful family relationship in Christ through doing God’s will together. We must adopt each other as family.

Envision family to restore -We must become a church where healing and restoration is possible for people who have been wounded in their broken and dysfunctional families.

Envision family to love - We must envision the family of God that extends grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and hospitality to each other and also loves enough to confront sins in each other.

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[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/family

[2] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/family

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_values

[4] NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Mark. By Garland, 131. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.

[5] NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Mark. By Garland, 131. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.

[6] NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Mark. By Garland, 145. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.

The vision of the supremacy of the gospel over cultures (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

You probably have not memorized what Proverbs 29:18 says. But, you’ve heard it enough that you know it by heart. KJV says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Often people think of vision in this verse as coming up with your freshly minted, never thought of, original kind of stuff that grabs you. But, here the vision is of the prophetic nature, meaning it is what God had communicated to the people through the prophets. And, the prophetic ministry was called into place in order to call people back to God. So, without God grabbing the attentions of the people through the prophetic vision, without the word from God through the prophets, there would be quick descend to anarchy and destruction.

Let me illustrate it this way… I am a stickler when it comes to wearing seatbelts. My girls will tell you that I get very intense when it comes to wearing seatbelts correctly. When I first learned how to put seatbelts on my little girls, I took my time, I watched video on how to put it on correctly, and I read a manual about it. The prophetic word from God is like parents putting on seatbelts on their children correctly so that if they ever get into accident, their children will not fly off the windshield, but be kept safely.

Now, imagine parents no longer putting seatbelts on their children correctly… you are going to find little children squirm their way out of their seatbelts. You will see the little children “cast off restraint” sort to speak and put themselves in danger.

Last year I felt like a child without wearing my seat belt, vulnerable and fearful. I felt this way about us as a church. It felt like we as church were heading towards a crash without our seatbelts on. Without God’s vision, we perish!

But, what difference it makes when God speaks through his word. In this month of March, I am going to share with you confidence I have because God has placed me back in my seat, and put the seatbelt to secure me. He is been speaking to me through his word. I believe that you and I as church will experience confidence because God is securing us for the ride ahead of us through his vision, through his Word. God’s vision, his word absolutely demands changes. You cannot embrace his vision and do things as usual. We have to change. No status quo in the kingdom ride.

I believe that God wants to secure you in his vision not to have you ride on the all too familiar smooth, comfortable, lazy scenic route we’ve been on too long. It’s been a journey with no edge. God knows that the boredom without adventure is going to kill you because you are a creature shaped for the kingdom adventure. I like my Toyota Siena… but really I think it is time for my family to trade it with Land Rover with eight seats because we are about to go off the trail for the kingdom adventure. And, I want you to come with me. Buckle your seatbelts and fire off your Land Rover. Are you up for the adventure?

The word of God that has been speaking to me is 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. What you are going to see in this passage is the vision of the supremacy of the gospel over cultures.

• The supremacy of the gospel over cultures

You know great deal about Paul, how he lived, what he lived for through my preaching from Acts and 2 Timothy. 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 is another passage that speaks so clearly how Paul was a man who was fully committed to the supremacy of the gospel over cultures.

If you know Paul, you know Paul was once the proud Jew, so proud of his culture, traditions, and beliefs that he didn’t think twice about cracking down any threat against his Jewish culture; he would never have befriended the Gentiles. It wouldn’t be wrong for me to describe him as once an ethnocentric jerk.

But, in our text, we see him speaking with words like, “I make myself a slave to everyone,” “To the Jews I became like a Jew,” “To those under the law I became like one under the law,” “To those not having the law I became like one not having the law,” “To the weak I became weak,” “I have become all things to all men.” Paul wasn’t talking about being a man with no sense of identity and character, full of compromises and no purpose in mind; merely a chameleon shifting his colors depends who he was talking to with no moral convictions. No, that’s the farthest thing from what Paul was saying here.

To “become all things to all men” had very specific purpose… “to win Jews,” “to win those under the law” that is God-fearing Gentiles and among those who converted to Judaism, “to win those not having the law” that is the Gentiles, “to win the weak” that is the social misfits of his time, “to win as many as possible,” “by all possible means… save some,” “for the sake of the gospel.” Paul stood for the supremacy of the gospel.

Paul went from being an ethnocentric jerk with massive dose of superiority complex to being a sincere and humble, winsome, down to earth kind of guy; he was able to befriend, to come along side of non-believing people of different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs; he didn’t befriend them just because they were potential converts to Christ and only to abandon friendship if they rejected the gospel. He really cared for them and loved them.

Just like Jesus who befriended people labeled as sinners and misfits of the society, Paul did the same thing. All for the purpose that some of his non-Christian friends from different culture, backgrounds might come to embrace the gospel and be saved.

Paul was gripped by the telos, the vision, the end goal of the gospel that can never be contained, restricted into the domain of one subculture. To restrict the gospel into one dimensional subculture is like putting a wild mountain lion into a 6 by 6 foot cage. No, they need tens of hundreds of square miles to roam and thrive. Paul understood this about the gospel. Do you?

I believe that each of you is uniquely gifted to live out the vision and the power of the gospel. Generally speaking, the first generation immigrants cannot engage the greater territory effectively; they cannot broaden the network of friendship beyond those who speak the same language.

But, you are uniquely positioned with God given capacity to form friendship with anyone you choose to and you can invite them to Jesus. Imagine with me. Imagine what it would be like us as church being driven by the supremacy of the gospel over cultures. What would it be like to be released from the restriction of a subculture into the wild? Once you’ve seen the wild, I don’t think you would want to go back.

Some of you heard from me last time to consider the path to join KCUMC and become their English Ministry instead of continue CMC. And, hearing from me today, you might be thinking that I did a 180 flip on you. You may say I had a vision to join KCUMC and now to I have a different vision. As I told one of you, I would say that through the month of December last year, I lost the vision for CMC. I had no resolve to see what could be. And, it is not an understatement that I felt like I was slowly dying inside.

But, as I renewed my relationship with him, as I recommit my love to Jesus and freshly hear his call to me to feed you, his sheep, and to lead you, God is making things very clearly to me.

The decision that was before us, either to cease to exist as Cornerstone Mission Church and join KCUMC or to continue to exist as Cornerstone Mission Church, is not a moral decision. Whether there is one church or two separate churches, there is only one true Universal Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

However, it becomes a moral decision of right or wrong when it involves what God wants to see with CMC, with us. If God has his vision set on for Cornerstone Mission Church to be a church that honors the supremacy of the gospel, to be released into the wild beyond the little plot of our subculture, then surely it become the moral decision. We either obey God’s vision for the supremacy of the gospel and go for the kingdom adventure that requires bold faith or withdraw from his vision and remain in our comfortable, non-threatening, non-committal lot only to die in boredom and frustration.

What do you think?