Title: What Pleases God / Deuteronomy 16:10-11
What makes you happy
Deuteronomy 16:10-11, Acts 2:1-4
Today is Thanksgiving Day and the 27th anniversary of our church. Originally, the Thanksgiving Day was derived from the harvesting of grain from the first crops after the Exodus from Egypt and settling in the land of Canaan and offering thanksgiving to God. At that time, the wheat harvest was harvested and thanksgiving was made, so it was Thanksgiving Day, but it is not the wheat that is important, but the meaning of giving the firstfruits.
In that sense, to give the first fruits to God means to give the first priority in life to God. When I was a child, my mother was always the first to open my grandfather's camp. Because Grandpa was the first in all the rankings in our family. I hope that you will become the saints who give priority to God first. I believe that God is pleased with that kind of faith and that He blesses us abundantly.
The faith to pay tithes not only on the Feast of Harvest but also on a regular basis is the faith to give the firstfruits. Giving the firstfruits while confessing that you have earned income from giving health, wisdom, work, and guidance in the midst of difficulties is tithing.
Among young people, there have been many cases where when they get a job and receive their first salary, they give it to God as the first fruits without spending a single penny. Many young people in our church did the same. Recently, a young man came to me with his first salary. His confession was that he wanted to continue the good traditions of his seniors. I am always moved when I receive the donations of such young people, and when I pray, I am always thirsty. It is because their sincerity and faith are truly precious.
The faith that serves you first, that is a precious faith. Belief that puts God first in my life is what pleases God. That is the meaning of the first fruits.
Thanksgiving Day has come to add more significance to the New Testament. That's because the church started on this Thanksgiving Day. The Thanksgiving Day is also called the Day of Seven Weeks. This is because it is a feast that is observed seven weeks after the Passover. Seven weeks have 49 days, and the week following the seventh week is called Pentecost. It means the fiftieth day. But what kind of feast is Pentecost in the New Testament? It is Pentecost. So, to put it all together, Thanksgiving is the same feast as Pentecost in the New Testament. Today, Pentecost usually falls in the month of June because Easter is set around the lunar calendar. In that sense, the meaning of Thanksgiving Day is not just the feast of giving the first fruits, but it can be said that it is the beginning of the church when God poured out the Holy Spirit and started the church. In that sense, we, who celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the church together with the Thanksgiving Day, are bound to be more meaningful festivals.
What did Jesus think of the temple? Jesus also valued the temple. When he went up to the temple on the Passover, he called the temple 'Father's house' (Luke 2:49), and there is a record that he was delighted to stay in the 'Father's house', the temple.
Not only that, but Jesus showed his greatest anger until he beat the money changers and the dove sellers with a whip for the injustice and congestion of the money changers and dove sellers in the temple. This means that the Lord honored the temple as a holy place, a place of God's presence. Later, Jesus even wept as he watched the temple to be demolished.
I now rejoice in the afflictions I suffer for you,
I fill the rest of the sufferings of Christ in my body for the sake of his body, the church. Colossians 1:24
Dear brothers and sisters, I hope you love the Church, the body of the Lord. The Lord also loved the temple. The church is not God. But to draw near to the church is to draw near to God. To love the church is to love God. Being close to the church and loving the church is what pleases God.
Our church is a small church with 300 members. In fact, a church of 300 people is a thirsty church. A church that gathers about 60-80 people is just a small church, and you can go to it with satisfaction. But the 300-member church wants to do everything that every other church does. There is so much to do. However, it lacks human and financial resources. That's why I'm always thirsty. When the church is 600-700 or higher, human resources will be abundant enough to work and financially sufficient. Therefore, brothers and sisters, please pray for us to grow like that. I believe it will be.
Have you ever visited the website of our church? I wrote this while introducing our church on that website. That is the vision of our church.
* We want to be such Christians.
1. A Christian with a clear faith - assurance of salvation
2. Christians living with changed values - a life centered on the Word
3. A Christian in practice - a life of service
4. A Christian living with a fervent mission - Passion for soul salvation
* We want to be such a church.
1. A church where worship is gracious
2. A church that learns and practices
3. A church that is zealous for missions
4. The Church of Unity and Obedience
* We are going to try our best to do this.
1. Evangelizing the area where we are - evangelism
2. Working hard to help neighbors in need - Samaria Touch
3. Mission to the ends of the earth - Overseas missions
4. Raising young people - raising leaders
The basics of life of faith are to be close to the church, to the saints, and to the Word. If we move away from these three things, we are moving away from God, closer to the world, far from faith, closer to sin, far from the kingdom of God, and closer to hell.
secret of my life
The temple was a special meeting place for the Lord and me, and a counseling room.
I go to the temple in sorrow,
I go to the temple even when I have good things.
There, whispering a whisper with the Lord, and being embraced by the Lord
For all sorrow is gone, and joy is renewed.
Even if we cry like the Lord,
Even if you laugh like the Lord,
Even if I sing a song like the Lord
Oh, this was the secret place of my life.
It was the solution of all my problems, the valley of judgment.
I have no time at any time.
There is no fixed time for entering and leaving the temple.
The time I missed the Lord was the time I went to the temple.
Oh, the temple is my lover,
A meeting room to meet the Lord quietly!
There I put my whole body in the arms of my bridegroom Jesus.
Today, on Thanksgiving Day, the priorities of life are clear, so I hope that you will have good faith to give that first to God. Also, on the 27th anniversary of our founding today, as we look forward to the 30th anniversary, I hope that you will become believers who embrace the future of the church as a vision. And for the future, I hope that you will be the saints who pray together for what I can do. I pray that God's blessings overflow on the Feast of Harvest, and I pray that our Lord be abundantly filled on the founding day.