I am the way, the truth, and the life

John 14:6

The Truth

Jesus is utterly other-centered and loving. Before He was to be betrayed and die a humiliating & painful death, He told his disciples not to be troubled. He is the truth about God. He is God in flesh. Perfectly loving. During troubled times, we usually search for reasons. God comes to us in humble love.

The Way

Jesus is the way for the wayward. We can barely keep New Years resolutions till March. But our faith is not dependent upon us. We have sinful hearts. We cannot live the life required by God. So Jesus lived this perfect life for us... And then died for us. He didn't show a way. He became the path to the Father.

Life

Jesus speaks of making place for His disciples. He will take the disciples into a house with many rooms. A place where we would be with Jesus and the Father. Eternal life without God would be meaningless. Security, joy, love, fulfillment, meaning, and hope is ours forever... In Him.

I am the Light of the World

John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Rev. David Skinner

We use time. We don't like to take the time to read things that aren't immediately clear. Like poetry, which takes several readings to understand before the light comes on and we understand it. 

A brass bowl by Wendell Berry

It talks of the life of Saul/Paul of Tarsus.

Philippians 3:4-8 speaks of personal glory. The point is not our own credentials, but being empty so God's glory can fill us. That is glorious.

Answering God by Eugene Peterson

Following Jesus is not about another item to put onto our agenda. Discard the agenda, be filled with the Spirit, and simply walk.
Resting in the Lord is simply laying down in the Father's arms. Surrender to God and wait for Jesus to meet you there.

The application is not now to go out and evangelize to the world. I don't want you to even try. I know that sounds stark but there is a reason for that. Jesus, the light, has come into the world.  He had lived the life righteously that we could not live. Then He gave it to us. The Israelites saw the face of Moses through a veil. We don't have to contend with a veil. We see Christ directly. 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 says so. He will make our faces shine.

I am the Bread of Life

John 6:25-35

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, iyou are seeking me, not because you saw jsigns, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing pthe works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, qthat you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Pastor Won Ho Kim

Jesus as giver
This view sees Jesus as the one who provides what we want. He is an means to an end. We ask for things from God just so we can get what we want. We follow Jesus to get what we want... But here's the catch. We are not submitted. Our own desires are top priority. Follow Jesus this way and we won't last, we will end up deserting Jesus. God is not king, our desires are.

Jesus as miracle worker

Miracles are a sign. They are not simply what we need. They are supposed to point to something. We aren't supposed to desire the sign, we are supposed to desire the reality that these miracles point to.

Is our faith based on signs? Are we going to be shaken when a miracle does not happen? Will we doubt God's presence when the miracles stop?

Jesus as bread

To both these, Jesus offers himself. He offers Himself, God incarnate. A frail human yet god. He is a person with whom we can relate. Jesus does not offer a business relationship or contract. It is not that we pray and study the bible and obey Jesus, so that He will give success, friends, career does, power, and riches. It is not tit for tat.

Eternal life is more than just for heaven...it is also for the here and now. Knowing Jesus is life. Believing in Jesus is the work of God.

Bread is used in the following way. It is broken, chewed, and digested. That is Christ. He became our bread. He was broken for us. When we find the hunger for things overwhelming us, we need to come to Christ. We need him continually.

I am the Good Shepherd

John 10:1-18

Rev. Dan Whang

Jesus is making incredible claims.

He came during a time where Israel was lost. They were under Roman rule. They were being judged for not following God. There were people who were supposed to shepherd the people. But they cared only themselves. Ezekiel 34:11-12;15-16 speaks of the shepherd of God. The true shepherd.

What is Jesus saying?

This is the most personal statement. He is claiming that He is a personal God. He is also claiming us as his sheep. Shepherds are not ranchers or pet owners. Sheep are their life and dictate their lifestyle. Jesus was telling the people that he is knowable and loving.

Why is the claim meaningful?

He knows us perfectly, we cannot hide anything from him. The shepherd knows everything about his shepherd.

Sheep are not the brightest animals. It is a bit of an insult. They cannot defend themselves. They follow other sheep, but they don't know how to get home. This is how Christ sees us. Isiah 53:6 tells us how we are. At the best of times, we see how stupid we've been...but only on hindsight. God sees us in the present as sheep.

He is telling us that he will lay down his life for us. He is not seeing sheep as wealth. He is not a hired hand. He loves and cares for his sheep more than his own life.

Shepherds never leave or abandon their sheep. Jesus will seek us out even when we stray. He will find the lost sheep and bring us back.

How should we respond?

Lay your idols aside and follow your Shepherd in everything.  We all have our idols. None of us are innocent of this.

Follow the shepherd through good times and bad. God leads us through good times and bad. We may find ourselves in the valley of death, but God is still with us. Psalm 23 talks of this.

Lets point people outside of our flock to the Good shepherd. Jesus is seeking the lost sheep. We should follow Jesus in this as well.

We should worship and adore him.

Mercy and Justice: The call to serve our city

Luke 10:25-37 - The parable of the good Samaritan

Rev. Dwight Yoo

The immense need in the city could fill an entire sermon. Alot of my thoughts and views are from a book... In alot of my sermon, you will find echos of this book.

Ministries of mercy - Tim Keller

The necessity of mercy

The law of God can be summed in two things: loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. There are two kinds of responses. One is okay,i follow the law... I don't murder, steal, etc. The other is...utterly hopeless. We fail to fully love God as we ought. We fail to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are left humbled. The teacher of the law tries to justify himself... He asks Jesus to clarify the law, to try to whittle down the law of God to something manageable and doable. But this is not what Jesus does. Instead he tells a parable. The story of one who risks his life, provides for his needs, and gives sacrificially.

What is the point of this?
It is the way to salvation. To provide for tangible needs, that is how we know that we are saved. It does not save us, but it shows that we are saved...it is the fruit of the Spirit. This is a mark of genuine faith. It is not optional. It is not solely for those with a gift of mercy. It is for all christians.

The nature of mercy

We usually try to limit the scope of mercy. There are three ways we try to do this.

Who: we try to avoid people who are different. Class, race, social, economic, etc. We are called to love even those we hate.

When: we feel like we should not give mercy to those who don't deserve it. Those who made poor choices... This is not dismissing wisdom, but we should remember that we are undeserving of God's mercy.

How much: The Samaritan shows us how much. He risks his life. He gets dirty, tired, and poorer to love his neighbor. He takes on the sorrow of his neighbor. It takes sacrifice.

Motivation of mercy

How are we supposed to do this?
Guilt is not enough. How about obligation? That is ultimately not enough. The law cannot provide us the motivation. It only tells us that we should. We don't have the power to do it. We are not generous enough to show mercy like that. We can only be this radically merciful when we see that we were the one who was bloodied, beaten, and dying hopeless...lying on that road. And Jesus came and saved us in all those ways.

Method of mercy

Practical thoughts

First we need to see. We cannot just walk by it. We have to see it and engage. We cannot just see it and walk by like the priest and the Levite.

We are not called to help everything and everyone. We need to be wise about it. We need to do it in community. Evangelism should be done in community; same for mercy. We should provide mercy in a targeted, deliberate, and organized way.

We should work with churches. It would be arrogant to think we can serve the city as individual churches. We should make strategic partnerships with other churches who are already providing mercy. Our name does not need to be on it. We are doing this for the kingdom, not so that our church would be known.

Serve in mercy not because of guilt or obligation, but because of God's mercy.

Seeking the Heavenly City to come

(Hebrew 11:13-16; 13:12-16)

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed hto be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

{Dwight Yoo}

To be a Christian is to be a resident alien.

Abraham left his homeland for Canaan. But the canaanites still lived there. So Abraham lived as an alien in this place. But even so, it was more than just a nationalistic sense. They are not of this place, but rather a heavenly place. We are to live as one seeking to go home.

Those who live for the heavenly city, do the most for their current city.

If we forget our alien status, we start to live like residents. We take on the values and desires of the place we live in. We look the same and act the same. We have no power in Christ. If we forget our resident status, we act like we are passing through. Christ sent us into the world. (Jeremiah 29:4-7) We are called to love and minister to those around us.

Our greatest motivation to live like this is Christ

Jesus came to us from the heavenly city. He came for us. He was taken out of the city for us. So that we would be welcome in the heavenly city.

The alternate city: a counter-cultural community

1 and 2 Corinthians

Rev. Dwight Yoo

How we are different

Attitude toward Community - 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

The world  has two  extreme ways of dealing with community. One is radical individualism. My way is the right way. No responsibility towards others. There is also the worship of community. People seek out a tribe, a place to belong. Like high school: jocks, nerds, rockers, etc. This  continues into older years: hipsters,   classy, emo, etc. This develops into pride and segregation between socio-economic divisions. We end up only hanging with people who are like us. We will do anything to  stay acceptable in our group. The fear of rejection drives us in these communities.

God is a triune god. There is community in our God. We are not meant to live self-absorbed and self-centered lives. We are meant to step into the community of God. But we are also not meant to worship the group, posse, or tribe. We are all sinners under God. Regardless of race,  social, economic  differences we are one family in Christ.

For christians, we start knowing of our sins. We are acceptable  because of Christ. It is not performance based. We practice radical love, radical acceptance. This  is the type of community we are called  into.

Attitudes toward sex -

Corinth was a place that worshiped sex. It was a place filled with temple prostitutes. It dehumanizes  our interactions with the opposite sex. We treat people as just a place for pleasure instead of loving them. On the other hand, we can't be prudes. Sex is a beautiful gift of God. It is bot a dirty thing. It a wonderful thing to only be  shared in marriage.

Attitudes toward money - 2 Corinthians 8:1-4

Money is not our security. The church in poverty gives more. This is very counter cultural. When hard times come, we tend to hang onto money. Or money gives us a sense of worth. We want to drive bmw's, live the good life, so people will know that we are somebodies. Christ  came and gave so that we might be rich.  We can be radically generous.

Christians are supposed to be like a model home. In front of developments, we have these houses that show what it would be like to move into that development.  When people come into the community of Christ, they should have a foretaste of the city of God. Our communities should give visitors a sense of longing...to go  to the city of God with us.

How to proceed

To pray for growth into Christ-likeness
To pray for and commit ourselves to community

Total church -