Title: What Is Better? / Romans 3:1-2
Contents
What is better for us? Romans 3:1-2
What is better for the Jews?
Jews account for 26% of Nobel Prize winners despite being a minority of only 15 million of the world's 6 billion people. They dominate the world's politics, economy, culture and society. What is the secret to the people who have lost their country for more than 2,000 years and have been scattered all over the world so as not to lose their national identity? What on earth is the superiority of the Jews? Today's text says that the Jews were healed in many ways, but they were entrusted with the word of God. It means that God has entrusted them with the Word of God. Here, God's Word can be roughly divided into four categories.
① Ten Commandments: These are the ten commandments that Moses received directly from God on Mount Sinai. Commands 1-4 are commandments about God, and commandments 5-10 are commandments about people.
② Torah: The 5 books of the Bible written by Moses - referring to the Pentateuch, there are 248 commandments to ‘do’ and 365 commandments to ‘do not’, a total of 613 laws. In response to the lawyers' question, "Which commandment is the greatest?", Jesus summed it up by saying, "Love God and love your neighbor as yourself."
③ Law and Prophets: This is a common expression used by Jews to refer to the Old Testament. Therefore, it can be said that God gave the Old Testament to the Jews.
④ Shema: As the first word in Deuteronomy 6:4, it has the meaning of ‘listen’. Jewish parents read, teach, and memorize the Shema's words at home when their children were born, so that they did not lose their identity and faith as God's chosen people. It can be said that the Jewish education of children like this made the Israel of today.
What's better for Koreans?
Next, we will ask the question of what is better for us Koreans. In 2008, President Lee Myung-bak summarized the 60-year history of the founding of the country in three words: “success, development, and miracles”, saying that the history of the next 60 years will be a “history of glory.” In fact, Korea, a small country that ranks only 110 out of 230 countries in terms of land area, is taking the top spot in the world in semiconductors, IT fields, shipbuilding, automobiles, and even sports. In particular, in November of this year, as the chairman of the G20 meeting, where the leaders of 20 major countries gather, it has played a coordinating role on major global economic issues. Could the Republic of Korea, which had been devastated by the impossibility of recovery after the Korean War, achieve a miraculous task of revival and recovery in a short period of only 60 years? It cannot be said that this was by no means accidental.
The role of the Korean church cannot remain silent here. As far as Christianity is concerned, the country that is receiving the most attention and expectations around the world is Korea. Korean Christianity has undeniable advantages in the following three aspects.
① Bible Christianity: Before the missionaries arrived in Korea, the Bible translated into Korean was already distributed from China and Japan, and there were people who read the Bible and believed in Jesus and were baptized. In the early days of Christianity in Korea, people called Kwonseo (勸書) who taught the Bible were active while selling the Bible, and each church held a Revival Sagyeonghoe where they taught the Bible 1-2 times a year.
② Prayer Christianity: Korea is a country where the day begins at the sound of the dawn bell. During various prayer times such as mountain prayer, early morning prayer, chanting prayer, and close room prayer, the cry of earnest prayer resounded throughout the three thousand ri, and the Republic of Korea became a blessed country through those prayers.
Currently, there are about 7.5 million Korean citizens living abroad in 178 countries around the world. When all of them burn with the passion for missions, they will become a blessed nation that fulfills God's precious mission to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.
What is better for us (the church)?
Now it is finally time to ask the question what is better for our church and the saints. What kind of church do you want our New Hope Church to be recognized as? That is our task, our mission and our vision.
Our church's motto for this year is “a church that moves forward, a church that challenges.” With this slogan, we hope that a church that grows and revives will be built on the five pillars of festival worship, sharing and service, evangelism with love for souls, fellowship of love, and discipleship. Here are some expressions about our church that I have heard firsthand.
? A Church with Healing: A church that heals and restores wandering souls, broken hearts, and diseased bodies through the Word and prayer of God.
? Rising Church: It is not a church that receives temporary popularity or interest, it is a church that challenges the authority of darkness with the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the truth and light, like the brilliant morning sun that drives away darkness, and creates hopeful history every day.
We earnestly hope that all of our members can unite and build a beautiful church that God is most pleased with.