Hearing the Voice of God

For this past week, my family and I have been doing intercession prayer that I’ve learned from Youth With A Mission.

Usually intercession prayer is about praying for others but the one we are doing is to build relationship with God by asking and waiting on God to hear what we need to pray for/about then we pray together with things we shared with each other. It’s about hearing from God first then we pray on what God has inspired, spoken, and shown us to pray.

I wanted to do this because it’s very good spiritual practice to be comfortable and getting used to ask God and wait to hear His voice. We often want/need to hear God’s voice at last minute but if we don’t recognize the voice, how do we know and trust the voice?

I also thought this could benefit us as we wait on Pentecost in 50 days and of course, times like this gives us perfect opportunity to spend time with God. So here’s how we do it.

Praise God - Sing a song or praise God for who He is

Repentance - Psalms 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Rely on the Holy Spirit - Romans 8: 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Deal with the enemy - James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Trust and rely on God to speak to you - If possible, have your Bible with you, should God want to give you direction or confirmation from it. Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

Share with others - When God ceases to bring things to your mind for which to pray, finished by praising and thanking him for what he has done, reminding yourself of Romans 11:36 “For from him and through him and for him are all things to him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Finish with prayers

- Pastor Rein

Easter - Resilience

Probably the hardest thing to face in life is that whatever you believed, worked and followed has been completely destroyed, and failed. Feeling hopeless.

That’s where Christians were the day before the Easter. and I believe many of us are going through that right now… feeling hopeless…

But Christians are not defined by the death of Jesus on a cross but what happened after provides the complete picture of who we are.

The Resurrection.

Now that! changed everything about who Jesus was, is and will be and who we are as Christians as well.

So did persecution stopped after the Resurrection? No, it got worse.

Did believers benefitted after the Resurrection? No, most of them got persecuted and got killed.

Then how is it possible for them (us) to be where we are now and keep believing and having hope?

Because we knew this life isn’t end of all and trust in Jesus kept us moving. We can call it the resiliency of Christians. I think that’s what we need at times like this. Being resilient of our life and our faith

It’s easy to give up when things are difficult but for those who continued on will come out stronger, wiser and better equip to overcome other challenges and let the Easter reminds us to continue the walk in Jesus by having a hope in life to come.

“Success is measured by how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” - General George Patton

- Pastor Rein

As we prepare Easter Sunday

The number of infected people are growing each day, unemployment numbers are record high, pretty much all businesses are closed, people are ordered to stay home, it doesn’t look like it’s getting better anytime soon and there are so much uncertainty ahead of us.

In times like this, full of difficulties and uncertainties, we must remember God’s righteous and love for His people.

In Old Testament, people built altars or monuments to remember God’s presence among them and it helped them during the time of crisis in their nation. And right now our nation, our world is in crisis due the virus.

And what better ways to remember God’s righteous and love than Easter!

Easter actually follows Leviticus 23 and it was called ‘Feast of First Fruit’ in Old Testament. Which begins by ‘Passover’ then follows by ‘Feast of Unleavened Bread’ and then ‘Feast of First Fruit’ (Easter) happens in-between those two festivals. It’s three festivals together in 8 days and this year, Passover is on April 8 and lasts till sundown on April 16.

As we celebrate Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and Feast of First Fruit; Easter all together, let’s be Thankful for the life we have in Jesus because of His death and resurrection, Pray for those that are going through difficult times and remind them we are in this together and Share hope in Jesus Christ for this is not the end for us for He is with us!

- Pastor Rein

How to Discern God's Will - Pastor YoungGi Chai

Each month, I would like to share Pastor Chai’s column. He’s the one who started House Church ministry movement and influenced many churches and pastors around the world. I’m sure you will enjoy his letters to us.

Recently, a church member who was facing an important decision asked me how to discern God’s will. I’d like to share the email I sent to him. It may be helpful for people who have similar questions.

The best guide to finding God’s will is the Bible. If you are given the opportunity to buy a bustling bar at an attractive low price, you don’t even have to think about it, no matter how tempting the deal may be. Selling hard liquor and running a bar is obviously against God’s will as revealed in Scripture.

But many situations aren’t this clear cut. Often, people have to choose between two options, neither of which are clearly sin. For example, people might have to choose between two job offers. Or they might have to decide whether or not to marry the person they’ve been dating. They want to discern God’s will for their decision, but it’s difficult when no option is clearly sinful.

When you’re given choices like these, choose what’s enjoyable and makes you happy. Our purpose in life is to serve others. If we want to serve others well, we should enjoy what we’re doing and live happy lives for ourselves. So when choosing a job, ask yourself: will I enjoy doing this for the next 10 or 20 years? When thinking about a potential spouse, ask: will I be happy living with this person in 10 or 20 years after romantic feelings have faded?

When you have no clear preference, choose on the basis of ministry. There are three areas of ministry in your life – family, work, and church. Make the choice that aligns with your ministry goals. For example, if your family’s finances are tight, it’s reasonable to choose the job that pays you best. If your family needs more of your time, choose the job that gives you the most time to spend with them. If you’re involved with important church ministries, choose the job that gives you the most flexibility to serve in them.

Once you make a decision, it’s best not to look back. God values your motivations in decision making more than the decisions themselves. If you try to honor God in your decisions, God will honor them even if they’re not the best. He may redirect your way so that you eventually return to the right decision or help your poor decision produce good fruit. Take the time to discern God’s will, but once you’ve made a decision, go with it boldly and don’t look back, expecting that God will honor it.

Pastor Rein

Crisis and Opportunity

We’re in very challenging times and it looks like it’s not getting better time soon. The number of people that are infected by the virus in U.S is getting larger each day and more states have ordered curfew and lockdown in their states.

Even if we were to contain the virus within few month, it will take some time to restore things in order and I believe there will be a lot of people who needs support both financially and emotionally.

The Federal government is working on relief packages to help people due to the current situation but people need more than financial support.

We need emotional support due to high anxiety, lost job, lost love ones, feeling depressed, and etc. Let’s make sure that our family members and friends are doing well and not feeling hopeless in times like this.

Also times like this brings us opportunities to spend more time with family, to learn new skills, catch up with readings, and reevaluate our priorities.

Whenever there’s a crisis, there’s an opportunity.

And I believe it’s our God, the creator and sustainer of all, who brings that perspective to us.

So out of all the things that you planned to do, plan out to have prayer time, meditation, reading the Bible and use this opportunity to spend time with God and continue to build relationship. This is a great opportunity to build relationship and trust our God each day.

Remember, whenever there’s a crisis, there’s an opportunity. And we Christians always looks for an opportunity in God.

Pastor Rein

Sunday Worship

What a turn of events. Less than a week, our nation has turned away from ‘Let’s wait and see’ approach to ‘Full lockdown’ mode.

Now all sports games has been canceled and pretty much all big events has been postponed. In GA, our Gwinnett county schools are close for a week (might extend to 2 weeks or more), and asking people to stay home and not to go out unless it’s necessary.

These cautionary measures have affected churches as well and many Sunday worship service has been switch to online/house worship. Even though our church is small, we’ve also decided to do house worship for next few weeks until things have settled down (SFUMC will be closed for next 3 weeks).

I would like to reminded everyone on what I’ve shared on last letter and since we’re doing house worship for next few weeks, here’s what we’re going to do for Sunday worship.

- Sunday House Worship Order.

• Starts 1pm.
• Have 2-3 praise songs to play and sing along.

• Prayer

  • Sunday worship
  • Healing
  • Your own prayer request

• Read Sunday Passage (read 2-3 times)
• Write down any questions you have on the passage (You can ask me any questions you have)
• Write down a verse or two that impresses on you
• Finish with a commitment prayer based on the verse

I pray that these unique times we are in, God will help us to grow in faith and to rely on Him each day for strength we need.

Pastor Rein Auh

불확신한 이때…

코로나 바이러스가 여태까지 저희가 경험하지 못해본 상황으로 번지고 있어, 어제 토요일 까지 세계 70여개국, 그리고 미국에서는 20개 주에서 환자들이 나타나고 있습니다.

사람들이 많이 모일수 있는 여러 컨퍼런스나 모임들이 계속 취소가 되고 있고, 심지어 관중이 없이 운동경기를 진행한는것을 검토한다는 이야기도 있습니다.

이런 불확신할 때에는 혹이라도 사람들을 위험에 처하게 하기보다 안전과 매사에 조심하는것이 최선인것 같습니다.

바이러스에 대한 안전 방법들 많이 들으셨을 텐데요, 손 자주 씻기, 얼굴 만지지 않기, 악수 하지 않기, 마스크 쓰기 (구하실수 있으면…), 등등, 이미 아시리라 생각됩니다.

하지만 너무나도 많은 검증된, 또는 검증되지 않은 정보들이 난무하는 때에 우리 몸에 건강뿐 아니라 마음과 생각도 보호해야 합니다.

성도님들이 현재 일어나는 상황을 알고 있어야 하지만 이러한 때에 저희가 할수 있는 일과, 할수 없는 일들을 구분할수 있는 집중과 침착함이 있어야 하겠습니다.

불확신한 이때 몇가지 저희가 할수 있는 일들을 나누겠습니다.

기도 - 진부적인 답을 드리는 것이 아닌, 이런 불확신할때에 저희가 받은 부르심입니다. 공의 하시고 사랑의 하나님을 믿는 저희가 이 일에 관련된 사람들과 어려움을 당한 사람들, 바이러스의 해결책을 빠른 시일 찾을수 있길 기도 하며 뉴스나 다른 소식에 많은 시간들을 빼앗기지 말아야 하겠습니다.

듣기; 하지만 나누지 않기 - 여러 뉴스 미디어나 사람들이 검증되지 않은 정보들을 나누는 일들이 많을 것입니다. 하지만 검증이 되지 않은 불확실한 정보들을 듣는다면 다른 사람들에게 전달 하지 말아야 합니다. 이러한 루머들은 두려움과 불안함을 가중할뿐 답이 되지 않기에 저희는 말에 대해 책임감을 가져야 합니다.

조심과 준비 - 미국이 이제 바이러스에 대해 경각심을 가지는것 같은데 이제 시작 단계일 뿐입니다. 밖에 외출하실때 조심하시고 집안에서 일을 하거나 앞으로 오랜 시간을 보낼수 있는 여러 준비들을 하시기 바랍니다.

저희 모두 경각심을 가지고 모든일을 합하여 선을 이루실 하나님을 기대 합니다.

오상연 목사

봄 사역

봄이 왔습니다. 아직 날씨는 쌀쌀하지만… 가까워 지고 있는것 같습니다. ^^;

이제 새 계절을 들어가며, 앞으로 몇개월 동안 교회도 두개의 새로운 사역들이 시작이 됩니다.

첫번째 꿈이 있는 사역은, VIP 전도 - 아이들 테니스 강습 입니다. 이번주 부터 등록을 받고 시작 날짜는 3/22 (주일)로 우선 정해놨습니다.

이 사역을 통해 2가지를 이루고자 합니다. 첫 번째는 지역에 필요를 채우는 섬김입니다. 몇달전에 저희 아이들이 밖에서 운동을 했으면 해서 테니스 강습을 알아 보았는데 생각보다 비용이 만만치 않았습니다. 저는 아이들이 프로 테니스 선수가 되는것이 아닌, 단지 밖에서 운동을 하길 원했던 것이라 부담이 되었습니다.

그래서 결정한것이 제가 직접 아이들을 가르쳐 주고, 저희와 비슷한 상황에 있는 사람들이 있으리라 생각이 되어 다른 가정들에게도 오픈을 하기로 했습니다.

두번째 목표는 VIP 전도 입니다. 교회가 어떠한 사역을 시작하던 믿지 않는 사람들을 염두해 두고 사역을 결정해야 합니다. 이 사역도 마찬가지로 지역을 섬기는것 뿐만 아닌 믿지않는 사람들과 관계를 쌓아 나가는 것으로, 저희가 그들을 섬기고 하나님의 사랑과 임재를 저희 사역을 통해 알아 갔으면 합니다.

두번째 꿈이 있는 사역은, 5월에 있을 아이티 선교 입니다. 이 사역에 대해서는 지난 편지를 통해 자세히 말씀을 드렸습니다.

꿈이 있는 성도 여러분, 앞으로 시작될 이 두 사역들이 하나님의 마음으로 준비하며 씨를 심고 물을 주어, 하나님께서 열매를 맺으시도록 기도해 주시기 바랍니다.

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