URC Weekly 2/5/2012: The Samuel System Addendum



You know, I suck at basketball. No, I really am. In fact, I’m terrible at it.

Yesterday, I went out to a park in Duarte (about 10 minutes west of church) to play basketball with a few of our Korean Ministry pastors and deacons.

I remember when I moved to Fullerton from LA for high school, I had a chance to play a game with some of the guys who were the known gangsters (or wannabes). This wasn’t just a game for me. Four years of peace was at stake here. Making a good impression meant smooth-sailing with the in-crowd. Making a bad one? I really didn’t want to think about that.

In that game, I made three consecutive three-pointers. I was the hero of my team. But that was in 1998. Yesterday was 2012.

I made the grand total of one basket in four games that we played. One! I was so bad that whenever I had an open lane to shoot, people backed away from me. Usually you want to go up front of your opponent to block. But no, they all backed away.

Seriously. Just ask our own deacon Andrew. Even when we played four against three we lost. I contributed negatively to my team.

You know, church is a lot like playing team basketball. You have to work with people with different talents and experiences, whether you like it or not. You have to move together with the same agenda. You have to find ways to cooperate.

This past Sunday, we began a new sermon series on the prophet Samuel. I shared with you how we can grow spiritually using Kobe Bryant’s shoe commercial.

God’s choice, our sensitivity, our obedience, and our consistency. The Samuel System.

I’d like to add one thing to that list: team. We must be a team. We must accept one another. We must work with each other. We must love, even when we don’t want to love.

Michael Jordan once said, “There is no ‘I’ in team. But there is an ‘I’ in win.” Well, God says that this ‘I’ needs to die for the kingdom to flourish. I must die.

As a gathering of broken human beings, the Church will undoubtedly have problems. Our church is no exception. You will have someone that you don’t like. This is exactly when God speaks to you, “I must die, for all to live.”

God’s choice, our sensitivity, our obedience, and our consistency as a team. The Samuel System.

“I must die, for all to live.” God has spoken. God has made his choice. What comes after that again?

• Love the LORD Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.
• Prayer Meeting: 2/8 (Wed) @ 8pm in the Room
• Annual Valentine’s Day Feast: 2/11 (Sat) @ 4pm, please see emails or Facebook
• Worship Prayer This Sunday: Deacon James Kim