URC Weekly 4/4/10: Invictus (Undefeated)
Hi Family,
What if we lived like we could conquer anything? What would life be like without worries or fears, with the quiet confidence that everything really “will be OK”? What if death, the worst thing that could happen to us, was the beginning of the greatest life we would ever know? That’s the spirit of “Invictus” (=undefeated, unconquerable), and I’ll adjust that poem to say, “God is the master of my fate, God is the captain of my soul.”
Jesus resurrected!!!!!!! He took the sins of the sickos, incarcerated, hedonistic, hypocritical, self-absorbed, violent, addicted, and you and me. Then He died the horrific death of someone with all of that corruption in His soul. If any other person died with that sin, they would be in hell, but Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven! That means He has ultimate power, even over hell, and He can offer that power to us.
My prayer is that you live with confidence that you’ll win in the end. If every day is a step closer to heaven, that should change the way we live. Let’s live with “Invictus” as our mantra. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31!!!)
1) URC PRAYER MEETING: THIS THURSDAY @ 8 PM @ ENGLISH CHAPEL. I still vividly remember how each of you experienced the power of God during your prayer times at MORe Retreat 2009, yet so few of us gather to pray these days. Let’s pray once again and call on the Almighty to do only what He can do in our lives.
2) URC WORSHIP: THIS SUNDAY @ 9:30 AM @ ENGLISH CHAPEL. Praise God for our joint Easter worship, where each ministry helped to lead, everything was translated, and we collectively celebrated the resurrection of our Lord. This week, we’re back to our own URC service, so sleep earlier…
3) NEXT GENERATION LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (NGLC): NEXT MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY FROM 7 AM – 10 PM @ HOLY GATE CHURCH. Our denomination, the Korean Evangelical Church of America, is having their national annual meeting, and it will be combined with the NGLC, a conference for our denomination’s EM pastors. Please pray for a spirit of humility, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and the wisdom of God throughout the combined event. Also, I’ll be preaching on Tuesday morning (on humility) to the EM pastors and all the senior pastors of the KECA, so please pray that God be glorified through the message.
4) AGAPE HOME MISSION: TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY (4/20) @ 7 PM. Our first visit to Agape was a blessing in many ways. In a home for the homeless and people recovering from addiction, we shared a feast with some of the most real, serving, and open people I’ve ever met. We also joined in a service, and through them, we learned what the heart of worship looks like. Please save the date, and do your best to make it to our quarterly time with our new family @ Agape.
5) DISCIPLESHIP: After spending discipleship during Lent in groups according to life situation, we’re back to splitting by men and women. A huge thanks to Sarah, Hyonroh, Charlene, Sam, Grace, and Tae for leading us for the past several weeks.
6) SCRIPTURE READING/OFFERING: Andy Yi
7) DEVOTIONS: Ecclesiastes 12-Song of Songs 5. Song of Songs is steamy(!), and that throws a lot of people off. It’s a book on how love in marriage should be, the way God intended it, from a female voice: “My lover is mine and I am his” (2:16).
Live in triumph, Jesus is alive!
