Romans 12: 1-2  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

Happy New Year!  I hope it is a happy new year for my brothers and sisters at Dongshin English Service.  But if you’re like most people on this earth, I’m sure many other words could be used to describe this year.   Challenging and busy. Trying in someways.  Delightful in others.  Followers of Jesus, however, are not to interpret life’s ups and downs as the world interprets them.  We are not to respond to life the way the world responds.  Instead, our knowledge of the Creator, our sinful state and the Holy One who saved us changes us from average people to the transformed people.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I don’t feel all that different from my unbelieving friends or coworkers.  They’re living and breathing creatures as am I.  They like to eat.  I like to eat.  They like to read good books and watch good movies.  So do I.  They complain about stuff at work.  So do I.  Or maybe I’m the chief complainer…as far as I can tell among the English complaints.  (I’m the only foreigner at my workplace.)  They sin.  I sin.  We both sin.

In Romans 12:1, Paul, the prototype of a changed life, urges us to live sacrificially and dramatically different lifestyles from the world.  Saul, who was born from the tribe of Benjamin, viewed as an important intellectual, and a persecutor of followers of The Way, became a new man with a new name when he was knocked off his ass by Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.  Saul was set against Christ, not because of some huge conscious decision that Jesus was evil, but because of simple common reasons like upbringing, training in Jewish law, and culture socialization.  Brother Ken told us Sunday that even well-intentioned training can fix us in opposition to the ways of Jesus.

At Dongshin English Service, we’re all tuned in to the distinct differences in culture–be them Eastern, Western or somewhere in between.  The good news is in Christ, no matter how different our cultures, we are one in Him.  Jesus is supracultural.  Therefore, it’s our duty as Christians to examine our culture and take note of the ways that the ways of our countrymen led us astray.

As an American, one of the most interesting phrases I learned in Korea was “Sugaseyo”–a farewell meaning “Work hard!”  It was particularly ironic when juxtaposed with the American farewell “Take it easy!” meaning “Don’t work too hard.  Relax. Have a good time!”  Yes, Americans like to take it easy.  Koreans like to work hard.  Where is Jesus on this continuum?  Well, he stayed up all late ministering to people and then rose early the next morning for prayer.  (Mark 1: 32-35) He certainly had a good time, too, but for my personal application purposes, I’m gonna say Jesus was a hard worker.  For a few weeks, I work industriously to plan my lessons and require excellence from my students…but as an American, it’s so easy to let laziness seep in.

Americans complain a lot, too.  Complaining is just a regular conversation piece when you’re a young adult in the states.  But as a foreigner, I quickly saw the negative effects of my needless negativity on those who were desperately trying to give me a good time in their country.  Philippians 2:14 says “Do everything without complaining or arguing” so that we can become blameless and pure before God.  These are just a couple of ways that American culture fails to embody Christ’s character.

So we’re on a mission to change our minds to that which is on God’s mind.  How do we do that?  No clever blog post could have changed Saul’s mind that day on the road to Damascus.  No spiritual exercise could have made him realize that maybe killing Jesus’ followers was not a good idea.  No encounter with a super nice Christian would have helped.  It was Jesus who knocked him off his ass that day.  And it’s Jesus alone who can help us live free from the confines of our culture.  Beseech the throne and ask for help to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Ask to see the world through his eyes.

Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

J.R. Tolkein said the incarnation is “too lofty of a truth” for him to intend to work it into his book, “The Lord of the Rings.”

A look at the history and mystery of the incarnation of Christ:

History: The Incarnation as a story

Micah 5:2 says that Christ’s origin dates back to antiquity and eternity.

Setting: Place

Bethlehem Ephratha

• Jacob’s wife died giving birth in Bethlehem to Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand.”
• A royal city: Kings were chosen here
• Bethlehem has a dual meaning: “House of bread” and “House of war.”  This is significant because Jesus brought life, but caused enmity between family members.

Setting: Time

• Galatians 4:4 says God sent his son “when the time had fully come.”
• Israelites waited for about 400 years between the last prophesy and the birth of Christ.  The incarnation of Christ teaches us to wait on the Lord in times of drought.

Characters/People

• Micah 5:2 says “out of you” will come the Messiah.  God brought the Savior from flawed people who he loves.
• For example, God used Mary to bear Jesus.  Mary cherished him from the time of his birth to the time of his death.

Mystery: The incarnation as a wonder

Jesus came to die.  He didn’t come for the manger.  It’s a wonder that he is both fully human and fully God.

Jesus’ Humanity

• Some people emphasize the divine because Jesus was sinless.  They consider sin a necessary characteristic of humanity.  However, God didn’t create man to sin, but to be in his image.  So it’s wrong to say that sin is human.
• Jesus had emotion, affection, intellect and choice–all human characteristics.
• Emotion: In John 11:35, Jesus “wept.”  Jesus also became furious at the money changers in the temple and demonstrated his anger by turning over tables!
• Intellect: In Luke 2:52, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature.  What patience Jesus had to learn even as a fully divine creature!
• Choices: Jesus chose to die.  Note: Jesus didn’t cease to exist in heaven when he became a man.  In Colossians 1:17, we learn that in Christ, we move and live and have our being.  Christ had to coexist in both heaven and earth in order for humans to continue to live during His time as a human.

Jonathan Edwards called the incarnation “the infinite condescension.”  We must understand his greatness in order to understand what he gave up to become like us.

• From 381-451 A.D., the church debated the degree to which Jesus was both God and man.  They had many theories.  Some thought he was sometimes God and other times man.  Some thought his God-side was stronger than his man-side, gradually ruling him to perfection.  One by one, they ruled out these options and agreed that Jesus was both 100% God and 100% man.

In Ezekial 36:26, we learn that Christ can remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh.  Praise him who is able to do such wondrous things throughout history and forever!  Have a merry Christmas!

Have a holly jolly holiday with your Dongshin friends!  Come join us this Sunday at 5 p.m. in the English Service main room for a Christmas party.  Please bring a small gift (worth $5 or less) if you wish to participate in the white elephant gift exchange.  Hope to see you there!

Colossians 2: 6-7 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Rooted

Application

• Rooted in the Word
• Growth always comes from past truths

Action

• Rooted in prayer
• As we pray, we come to know God personally

Attendance

• Rooted in fellowship
• Growth in relationships comes from spending time together
• Example: Karl gave the example of his relationship with his wife.  As with one’s spouse, we begin relationships with an attitude of giving.  So why should we depart from that attitude?

The word “rooted” conjures pictures of plants and trees in our minds.  In the Bible, the tree of life is one example of a fruit-bearing tree.

Tree of Life

• Genesis 2:9–The tree of life was in the garden of Eden in the beginning.
• Revelation 22:2–The tree of life is with God in paradise, yielding fruit every month.
• Revelation 22:13–Jesus blesses those who have access to the tree of life

Just as trees are rooted in the ground and bear fruit, we are to be rooted in God and bearing spiritual fruit.

• Psalm 1:1-3 The man who delights in the law of the Lord is “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”
• Romans 8: 38-39 Nothing can separate us from God’s love through Christ.  In other words, nothing can uproot us when we’re in Christ!

Earthly Tree Examples

Yucca trees

• Yucca trees are impossible to kill, but they only grow to the capacity of their pot.
• Sometimes God could do more with us if we were in a larger pot!

Bamboo trees

• Once bamboo trees are establishes, they don’t stop growing.  Bamboo trees can grow up to 90 feet in one year, but it takes about five years to see any sort of visible growth.
• Sometimes it appears as if nothing is happening in our lives, as if there is no growth, but later we will see the growth God has been doing in our lives.

The Story of the Three Trees

• Moral: God sees the big picture.  He knows how to glorify himself and use our lives better than we do.  http://www.word4life.com/threetrees.html

Isn’t it great to know we have a God who loves us too much to let us fall?  Or to let us live a fruitless life?

DETAILS BELOW:

INSTRUCTOR:

Daniel, Kim is in charge of Kids English Ministry

TARGET:
Survival Korean Class is for all foreigners from all over the world

TEXTBOOK:

– Beginner’s Korean 1 (Language Plus) for Beginners
– Beginner’s Korean 2 (Language Plus) for Intermediate Students

FOCUS:

1) Mastering basic vowels and consonants
2) Reading and practicing Korean words
3) Learning survival expressions

WHERE?:

New Comer’s Education. Room

(on the first floor of Dong-Shin Church Main Sanctuary)

TIME?:

Saturday at 11:30-13:00

PERIOD?:

The second term of S. K. C. is

from October 17th, to December 12th, 2009

REGISTRATION FEE:

20,000 won

(It’s for snacks and drinks)

TEXTBOOK:

A textbook with tape is 15,000 won.

Please contact Daniel below if interested and tell your friends

DANIEL KIM 010-5467-1198 (sinyounghan@hotmail.com)