Vision 4: The Church That Works Together

(I Corinthians 12:1-11; Galatians 5:22-23)

We have looked at for the past month what we believe and where we should be heading as the church. The True Light Community Church needs to be a church that stands firmly on the Word of God, that serves with thanksgiving because we have been saved by grace, and that is dedicated to build up the church through all generations working together.

It is important to know these things together. If all members understand and knows the vision and is united with same mindset, then the church will definitely grow. I read a book called Simple Church a while back. The emphasis of this book is that simpler the church the better. Rather than doing various ministries and such, the church is more likely to grow if it focuses on few essential ministries. After studying thousands of congregations across the United States, it found that the simple church is more likely to grow.

But it is not enough to just have few simple ministries. The vision of the church must also be simple. Why? Because when the vision is simple, the members of the church are more likely to remember and live by it. All ministries must fit into this simple vision. So, when the church chooses and focuses on few ministries that fit the simple vision, it will grow.

Our church has a simple vision: a community of faith dedicated to building the body of Christ. When we live up to this vision, I believe we can pass on our faith to the next generation and also unite all the diverse peoples as one. That is why we spent the past month looking at this vision together.

Dear family of True Light Community Church, I pray that we will really be a community of faith that builds up the body of Christ together.

As we have shared before, in order to live out this vision, we will study and do ministry together, no matter who you are. We will be taking a mission vision trip in October. But all future mission trips will be inter-generational. When I was in Austin, I led a group of youth students on a mission trip. One family joined us for that trip. The family was made up of father, mother, a middle school student, an elementary student, and a 3-year-old girl. Many people were worried that the 3-year-old will be a distraction. But she ended up being a huge inspiration to the rest of the group. As we were doing a community park clean up, she picked up branches and other trash and participated. I believe God was very pleased by her.

It is not just mission trips. This coming weekend, we will be going to a retreat together. We will do activities together. This is our church’s vision and we will continue to work to live it out.

Maybe some of you might be wandering, why then are we splitting the worship service between an English language one and a Korean language one, starting second week of September. We actually talked to lots of people about this, and the session spent time discussing this. Please know that this is not a decision to just make things easy, but how to best worship God. It will actually demand more from those in leadership. Those in leadership, especially the session members, are encouraged to attend both worship services.

Another thing to note is that we do not need to be together all the time. Rather we can work together too. We are hoping that the Korean language group will be providing various support while English language group is worshipping, and vice-versa. Please also note that the English translation of the sermon will continue to be provided during Korean language service.

One thing we ask of all of us is to help out in various ways. This may mean that if I am Korean speaking, I still show up at 9:30 to help and support, even though Korean worship is at 11. If you are English speaking, then please stay after to provide support for Korean worship.

When God told us to keep the Sabbath, he told us to keep the Sabbath Day, not Sabbath hour. I hope all of us can dedicate ourselves to work together, and dedicate the whole Sabbath to the Lord.

Furthermore, in order to continue to emphasize that all of us are a church, we will be worshipping together, bilingual, at least once every other month.

As we head into this direction, I pray that all of us will be able to participate with same, one mindset.

There is a reason why we must participate and serve together. It is because we are a church. The church is important. Unfortunately, churches have many problems. Issues of money, sex, and power are present in churches today. So some people say that they like Jesus, but hate the church. Some believe that the only thing that matters is their personal relationship with God, and the church attendance is not needed. But nothing can be further from the truth.

The church is an institution set by Jesus Christ himself. The church is the bride of the Christ. The Bible does not say that individuals are the brides, but the church is. And despite all the shortcomings of the church, God still works through it.

We, as Protestants, believe that God has given us largely two means of grace. One is the preached Word of God, and the other is the visible Word, which is the Lord’s Supper. These can only be administered through the church. It is impossible to have a spiritual life apart from the church. So much that, in the early church days, they believed that alienation from the church meant alienation from Jesus himself.

God works through the church. God, most of all, loves the church. There are parachurch organizations that may do important and help works, but it is imperative that one faithfully serves the church and grow steadily in the church.

God has called all of us to this church. And God has given each and every one of us different talents and gifts. Our first Corinthians text says that God has given each different kinds of gifts and service. Vv. 8-11 “To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”

If we go further down in chapter 12, it talks about how God has given different gifts in order to fulfill their roles as different parts of Christ’s body. And the reason for these gifts is mentioned in verse 7. They are for “the common good.” It is important that we use our gifts and talents for the good of the church.

Even if I practice a gift, if that gift does not benefit, but rather harm or hurt others, then it is a useless gift. On the contrary, if I have a gift and I do not use it, then I am no better than a servant with one talent, who went and hid that talent in the ground.

God gave us gifts, so that we can use those gifts for the good of the church. Also, it is important to note that there is no hierarchy in gifts. They are all important. In many of the Korean churches, the offices of the church are put in hierarchy. But they should not be thought of that way. With the gifts you have been given, serve in the office that fits your gifts and talents. Know that the elders are not higher than deacons. Deacons are to serve, Kwon-Sa’s are to encourage, elders are to rule and lead, and pastors are to teach. One may be a great elder, but not-so great deacon. Someone may be excellent as a deacon, but should not become an elder. There are distinctions in the offices, and we need to faithfully serve in the position God has called us and given us gifts in.

So every single person is important in the church. From the youngest to the oldest, when everyone serves faithfully with talents and gifts given them, we will be able to live out our vision and grow.

There are many gifts. But all these gifts are not my gifts and talents, but one given by One Spirit. Let us never forget this.

Finally, those with gifts must use gifts for the common good. Specifically, that means bearing a fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is listed in our Galatian text. How many fruits are there?

The fruit of the Spirit isn’t nine of them, but one. The gifts of the Spirit are in plural. But the fruit of the Spirit is singular. There is only one fruit, but with nine facets – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfully, gentleness, and self-control. These nine aspects of one fruit cannot be separated. For example, if one has love, will he not have joy? Because of love, one can be patient and kind. They are all related.

Another important thing to note is that they are not my fruit, but the Spirit’s fruit. We must display it in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. All nine aspects are already given us. Of course, there are some aspects that we may be lacking. We need to let those aspects grow in the grace of God.

Conclusion is this. For some reason, God has called each of us to True Light Community Church today. Some of us have been attending this church all our lives. There are some who only recently started coming here. As for me, my fellow alum grew up at this church, as well as several friends and colleagues, like elder Lee’s daughters, Pastor Samuel Park, Peter Ahn JDSN. And now I am here.

I believe all this is the providence of God. And that faithful God has given us the Vision 2020 and gave us different talents and gifts to live out that vision. We need to use these gifts to bear the fruit of the Spirit. When all of us participate together, we will grow as the church.

Do you have the gift of prayer? Then pray. If your gift is serving, then serve. If you bring joy to others, then continue to bring joy. If you are good with hands, serve with hands. Gifts of praise, then praise. Savvy with money, serve in finance department. Adjust well to the foreign cultures and food, serve in missions. Like working with children, then serve in Children’s church.

If we can all serve out of our love for the Lord, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit, and God will be glorified through us. The church is the body of Christ, and the bride of Christ. The church is important. Let us serve the church well, so that we will be active participants of God’s work that glorifies himself and redeems this world.