Title: Excitement
Contents
Text: Isaiah 60:1-3
Seeing the green buds sprouting from the trees around the church, I feel spring is here again. If there is life like this, it moves, grows, and changes anew. Just as the theme of 365-day prayer is “a church that lives and breathes through prayer,” we must get up with our hearts stretched out and crumpled.
Today’s text is “Arise, let the light shine”. In Matthew 26:45, while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus spoke to the sleeping disciples.
“Get up, let’s go together”.
“Getting up” is the Chinese word for “heunggi” (興 ). We Christians can shine in this world with the light and salt of the world.
“To emit light” is the Chinese character for luminescence (發光). In this world, light and darkness coexist, but on the first day of creation, God made light exist. Genesis 1:3 says, “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light, and God saw that the light was good.” Light is an attribute of God. Darkness is an attribute of the devil. Therefore, Jesus Christ, who came to this earth to destroy the devil, came as a light into this world. In 1 John 1:9, “there was a true light, a light to give to every man who came into the world.” In 1 John 1:5, it says, “There was no darkness in him (Jesus) at all”. Hallelujah!
Matthew 25:1-13 tells the story of 10 virgins participating in the wedding feast. The wedding had begun, but waiting for the five foolish virgins who arrived late with oil was a closed door. We must rise and shine a light in this dark world. You need light to live. It is difficult for plants to live inside the cave. The same is true of spiritual life. The light is God, the Word of God, and Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh.
It's not easy to shine.
It literally means ‘go crazy’. If you have a heart to achieve something, you must have a passion to love it, to devote yourself to it with interest and attachment, and to invest and strive for it. Likewise, love for the country, evangelism, and church service are only possible if we are crazy about it.
This year's Gyeonggi Banquet was a banquet where I received a citation and God entrusted me with many things. As the banquet secretary, I was able to participate and coordinate all the activities of the banquet. In addition, I assumed the position of chairman of the banquet course examination committee. I think it was thanks to God's grace that I became the youngest chairperson in my early 50's in a key position at a banquet that carries a heavy duty, and secondly, because the members followed me and prayed hard for me. Please pray more so that I can handle it well.
We must work hard for good works, good works. In particular, we must be faithful to death in matters related to the church and Jesus. Then God does not forsake it, but uses it. Let's shine like the title today. Let's work hard for the Lord, and be insanely loyal for the Lord.
Who was the first to witness the resurrection of Jesus? This is Mary Magdalene. A woman who had been possessed by seven demons and was healed by the power of Jesus went to Jesus' tomb with the perfume she had prepared on Sunday morning. This is abnormal behavior. However, the Lord meets this kind of Mary first.
Dear Shepherd Church members, let's stand up for me.
Let us shine for you.
God will hear you out loud.
I pray that you will become the living and breathing warriors of the Shepherd Church through the 365 days of intercession and the special early morning prayer for Lent.
Hallelujah!!!!