요즘 영어 설교 작성 연습중입니다. ㅎㅎ

틀린 곳이 많겠지만 그저 노력하는 자의 애교로...

 

제 이름으로 된 게시판이니까 이곳에 영어 설교를 가끔 올려도 되겠지요?

 

 

Let’s look at the book of Exodus 4 : 1

 

In this verse Moses said that the Israelites would not believe that God sent him. So God tried to convince him by performing miracles.

 

The first miracle is recorded in verse 2. And God said “what is that in your hand?”. Brothers and Sisters we know well what he had in his hand at that time. Don’t we?

 

Let’s see verse 3 and 4. There is a story of a miracle in which a staff became a snake. There was another miracle where he got leprosy on his hand but was cured in verse 6 and 7.

 

Then the stories goes on. Today, I want to look at verse 17 carefully. “ take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”

 

Please look at Exodus chapter 7: 20. 8:5, 16; 14:16 ; 17:5,6

 

Some people think that the staff was magical. but the staff was a instrument that God used to perform miracles through Moses. The staff was no different from those of the other shepherds. When God’s people hold it on the purpose of God it becomes a kind of tunnel for His power and it became a symbol of God’s existence and leadership in our lives.

 

God used something that was familiar to Moses and the Israelites. Jesus used many parables that the people knew very well at that time.

 

I preached this same sermon on December 2003 at the Cheonan Institute church.

 

Sunday, the day after I preached the sermon, I was on a bus which was going to Gwangju for a friend’s wedding. pastor Seo(he was a pastor for this church 8 years ago) who spent 2 years in China to study was standing beside me.

 

At that time I dreamed of being a missionary abroad. Please do not misunderstand that I’m not proud to work as a pastor in this institute. I am very proud. I’m sure that this institute is a front – line for God’s mission.

 

On the bus he spoke about his testimony which was three hours long. He also spoke about new mission fields and that stimulated me.

 

China! What a charming country for God’s mission. There are many people, who have the same asian culture. The speed of economic progress in China is changing. If I can speak Chinese I can eat with them, I can listen to them and I can share the gospel about everlasting life. It was enough to give me a new dream of being a missionary in China.

 

When I dreamt of becoming a missionary in China, I was on the bus.  My phone rang and it was pastor Kwon. (He was in charge of PMM-Pioneer Mission Movement in NSD)” It was a usual call for me because I knew him personally. So we exchanged greetings then he said “Are you interested in being missionary?”

 

I said “Of course, I am”

 

He said “What about Japan?”

 

“I lost myself in the moment. ”I was talking about being a missionary a lot with another pastor. Now I receive a call from the person who was in charge of PMM then he suggested that I should become a missionary. Do not go to China but go to Japan.

 

I didn’t know many things about Japan. I learned a little Japanese but I forgot everything even their alphabet Hirakana.

 

Frankly speaking I did not know anything about Japan except that they governed my country for many years under bad circumstances. When I watch the international games of Japan and Korea my nationalism made me crazy.

 

Going to China is OK. I thought that ‘Man should play at the big play ground’ but the pr. Kwon told me about a small ground-I did not know how big it was at that time. I wanted to go to the north but he said I am going to the south. Um~ Japan.

 

I decided to reject the offer. But rejection is not for pastors. Because when we, pastors, were students in college we always sang “Where ever you send me I’ll go” with tears in our eyes. Pastors can not reject anything about the mission.

 

Last Sabbath, I said “When God calls us let’s say yes to Him” just like the story in Exodus. I could not reject that time on the bus directly.

 

I needed time to reject. The time when I got a call from NSD it was december so I thought ‘going to Japan will happen after a year at least. The members who are going to Japan in march decided upon several months in advance. OK so I have enough time to think about it and learn Japanese language and cultures but if I can not master those things after a year I will reject.’

 

But pastor Kwon did not give me enough time to reject. “If you decide to go to Japan you have to go in march” one of five pastors could not go to Japan because of health problems. It was challenging for me. I wanted to take time to think about it but…

 

At that moment I realized that I had another way to reject the offer because of my family not. Pastors dare reject God’s calling but my family can. “My wife did not approve of my decision to go to Japan now sir.” Mother excuse was to say that “My son was too young to go to Japan and that I could go after a year.” With these reasons, I tried to reject God’s calling.

 

“Pastor. Kwon, My wife is not at home now. She comes back tomorrow so after I talk to her I will give you an answer” but he said he didn’t have time to wait for days so he suggested that I give him an answer the next morning. Honestly, I decided to refuse his call to go to Japan that time in my mind ‘when’ was not the problem to me that time so I said “Yes I will let you know by tomorrow morning. Then I hang up the phone.

 

After the wedding ceremony I came back to Cheon-an. But I did not call my wife. I knew that she would object and say that our child was too young, we had no experiences and that we didn’t know the language.

 

That night I came to a conclusion. I decided that I will tell the pastor that I could not talk to my wife over the phone about the subject and that, I didn’t think I could go.

 

On Monday morning I went to my office at 8. I started my work but my mind was thinking about the phone ringing. I was trying to come up with excuses on how to refuse his call but then, the phone rang.

 

“Pastor. Kown, as I told you my wife is in Seoul now so I could not talk to him” then at the momoent I opened my mouth to try to refuse respectfully Pator. Kwon said

 

“A~ I called your wife right before I made a phone call to you” – Pr. Kown was a coordinator in the philippines when my wife was a member of 1000MM in 1995-1996. Also he was a my senior pastor when I was a student pator in 1998. We had personal relationship with him.

 

“your wife said she will go”

 

“”What?”

 

But I could not hang up the phone “what?”. I could not ask to him “why is she going?” so I just said

 

“A~ Yes~ then I will go.

 

After my wife said yes to go with her husband, the pastor could not say no!

 

After I hung up the phone I called my wife. I said “Did you say yes to go? Why? Did you ever checked about the mission field in Japan?” I think It was a kind of way to blame her for the decision.

 

Her answer was too simple

 

“No~ I didn’t think anything about Japan but I thought you are a pastor. Why? Don’t you want to go?”

 

At that moment I became angry but I did not know why I was angry. “More talking just make me small. I had to hang up the phone and think about why I was angry”

 

I said to my wife “No! of course not! I was just worried about what I will do if you refuse God’s calling!!!” I was talking that which I was not thinking. I should hang up the phone quickly before I speak more.

 

“OK! Let’s talk later when you come back”

 

Hang up the phone then I started to think why I was angry.

 

I thought and thought and thought.

 

The answer was ‘humiliation”

 

The answer was “I was changed”

 

When I was a college student I prayed “here I am, send me Lord!” but now I’m trying to run away.

 

One of the elderly pastors said to me “Pastors wives are not a co-worker for the church works but a new person who came to the church today-who do not know anything about the church. It will make you feel free for your life”. I agreed 100% that time. But what my wife said “I thought you are a pastor so you will go” made me feel ashamed.

 

      Really it was. during 2 years I was a changed man. A Pure student was gone long time ago but a calculating  

      pastor was there.

 

“OK! Let’s go”

 

But I had other problems to solve.

 

Language, food and cultures are not the problems. God is the one who made the languages so language was not the problem for His mission work.

 

Parents in law who gave their loving daughter to a young pastor, They have faith in the Lord. Of caurse they will feel sad but it will not be the big problem for them.

 

The biggest problem was to persuade my parent who love me more than 3 other brothers and sisters and who love my son more than me.

 

It was just as I expected. “What did you say? Japan?” “Mission works do not succeed in Japan.” “You don’t speak Japanese. Do not go”

 

I do not know why I said like this with an angry voice “you made your son to become a pastor please let me do my job.”

 

After a silent moment in a few seconds my mother said “I can give you to God if He needs you as a martyr but my grandson he should not be yet.” With tears in her eyes.

 

I thought I am an adult. I finished university years ago, got married, have a kid, became a pastor so I thought that I can do what I decide to do.

 

When my mother said “I can give you to God if He needs you as a martyr but my grandson he should not be yet.” I got a shock and realized I am wrong.

 

Love is like a snowball which is going down from the up hill because it is becoming bigger. When I was in Japan almost every day I got a call from my parent in Korea.

 

I grow up in a special family. Everything was special and new for me. Food, Clothes…. When I was in the army my mother visited me 16 times during 26months. I know I am the oldest son among 4 children so I had to do everything first and new but it’s special anyway compared to with other families.

 

I know little about their sadness now when they heard about their loving son going to Japan for 6 years with their loving grandson.

 

Parents sometimes allow their children win arguments.

 

“ You promised to go you should go that’s the pastor.”

 

After I got the permission from my parents everything was good and I was ready to go to Japan.

 

I said good bye to many pastors and friends. The funny thing was that every conversation we had was about ended the same way.

 

“I’m going to Japan as a missionary”

 

“Can you speak Japanese?” “Do you know how hard Japan is to do missionary work?” “famous pastors failed in Japan” “why Japan? They asked many questions.

 

“But I’m sure that God called me. What about you? Has god called you.”

 

“Um~ Yes. You are right. Pastors should go anywhere God sends them. Take care and have a good experience.”

 

But a problem occurred after I met with other pastors. Almost everyone was asking me “Why I was going?” I started “why am I going?”

 

I’m sure that language schools are the front line for His mission. We are not going out to find people to bring them to the church but people will come by themselves. We can just pick them in this spiritual fishing pond.

 

What about Japan…

 

I was sure that God called me so he would take care of me and my family. But the wind from the outside was too strong to keep my confidence.

 

Without a deep root in my decision I went to the last pastor’s meeting at the end of December 2003. The speaker was a pastor who worked in Korean Union Conference.

 

I can not say everything he spoke at the meeting but the point is that he refused to listen to God when God told him to go another country as a missionary with his family.

 

My eyes were opened when the pastor spoke about his disobedience. “Wow! How can a wonderful pastor refuse God’s calling I thought. I found hope in his testimony.

 

His next sermon didn’t only give me hope but it also confirmed that I was called by God.

 

He said “After I rejected the calling which was calling from the union conference I could not preach. All pastors preach let’s share the gospel, let’s say yes to him when God calls us. Do not make any excuses like Moses but after I rejected His calling my sermons were not come out of my mouth.

 

I’m sure the speaker did not know me that time but his testimony was just for me.

 

I became a pastor to preach His gospel. I became a pastor to speak about the bible. But the speaker said I can not preach anymore if I refuse His calling. I can not teach the Bible. Then he said let’s just live what we preach.

 

I had strong confidence that time.

 

All rains and winds are gone. It’s time for flowering the gospel.

 

“I thought that’s OK! Let’s go and see how big parties God prepared for me. Let’s attend the parties with happiness then enjoy the parties.

 

OK! Let’s go to the parties.

 

I didn’t have a special staff. I had a worse staff than other people.

 

In the book of Exodus chapter 7 Moses holds the staff and fight with the Egyptian gods. 14:16 says He holds the staff and opened the red sea. 17: 5 says when he hit the rock with the staff there was water from the rock. 17:9 says he holds the staff and went to the battle to pray for the israelites.

 

When a usual staff was used for the God there were many miracles. Now I want to see 17:9. The ownership of the staff was transferred from Moses to God. The bible verse said “the staff of God”

 

Origianally Moses was the owner of the staff but at the chapter 17 the ownership was transferred. It means If we use the staff what God gave us to use for His Kingdom we are not the owener of the staff anymore but the Lord.

 

I can speak Japanese very well. I know a little about Japanese culture. I can understand Japan and I was a senior pastor of the Seoul Japanses Church for 2 years.

 

When I followed what God ordered me to do with the staff which was given to me by God He gave me many blessings. I got the language, chance to travel, and to experience a new culture.

 

What do you have in your hand now? What kinds of staffs do you have now? The staff that Moses had in the book of Exodus was not made of gold, not made of silver, but a ordinary staff it was. It was made of wood. He used it for his animals.

 

But when God holds it through his people miraculous things happened.

 

I’m sure that our talents are not 100% perfect. Can you play the piano? But there are so many people who can play the piano better than you. Singing? Guitar? There are countless people who are better than you.

 

Soccer? Are you smart? There are so many people who are better than you in the world.

 

God is asking to us whom has ordinary staffs now. “what is in your hand? You will perform many miracles through the staff.”

 

If you have some talents you have to use it for God’s works. If you have a musical talent, please use it for the Lord! If you have talents at the computer please use it, please give the Lord a chance that He can , perform a miracle.

 

No one knows when God calls us. Meeting the Lord in the desert like Moses, Meeting the Lord on the road of the Damascus like Paul, Meeting the Lord on the streets like many people in the bible we do not know when we can see Him.

 

But if we are familiar, with the staff God will use those things. Please be ready. Don’t you want to see many miracles that can happen with your staffs.

 

Today, God is asking each of us “What is that in your hand?”