As we lead into Easter, we are going to have some corporate prayer time starting with a worship service on

Saturday 16th 7:00-9:00 Rom 503 (5th Floor)

Sunday Regular service 2pm Rm302

Mon-Fri (every night) 7:30-9:00 Prayer and Worship Service with guest speakers Rm302

Also, we will be joining the main Korean Service on Friday night so meet in Rm302 at 7:30 (the main service starts at 8pm)

Easter Sunday 24th

Please join us as we dedicate this week to our Lord and Saviour

Summary from Pastor Andy
Here embedded in these short nine verses before us is a most profound exchange, in fact I dare to say it is the most imperative questions any human being could ask.
The question we have our minds set on this afternoon is found in verse 30 of today’s text. It is set at the most crucial juncture of the text Luke is writing. It’s almost as if everything that has happened since Paul’s dream in vs. 8 has led to this point. At the very least everything in this scene at the jail comes to a climax when the jailer throws himself to the floor and asks Paul and Silas, What must I do to be saved? There is in this question, humility. In this question there is fear, there is a kind of end of my ripeness.
The jailer is the one who asks this question. He is a responsible man. He is in charge of this entire prison. He is charged the evening before with guarding these two prisoners, (Paul and Silas) in particular. He is a family man. He doesn’t seem to have much problem discharging his duties even though what has been done to Paul and Silas is illegal. He is a confident man. He is asleep. I don’t take this to be dereliction of duty, but rather he is sure that he has done his job and the jail is secure. He pays no attention to Paul and Silas’ singing and praying. The prisoners themselves are listening very curiously though.
Suddenly a great earthquake shakes the prison. The earthquake wakes the jailer from his sleep. He assumes the prisoners have all escaped. He begins to panic. The magistrates would surely put him to death for letting so many prisoners to go free, not one, or two of them, but all of them. To be sure the jailer was so certain of the escape of the prisoners that he was about to take his own life. Why was it so quiet in the jail? Why didn’t the prisoners escape? This was their best chance. Not one of them decided to leave. Perhaps they were so intrigued by Paul and Silas they wanted to stay and hear more? Maybe they were scared and in shock from the quake itself. But I believe this is as much a part of the miracle as the earthquake localized on the prison, and the chains falling off, or every single door in the prison being flung open.
There is so much purpose in God’s dealings with us, is there not? So I attribute the silence and the darkness and the mistake of the jailer to misread the escape of the prisoners to be precisely what God wanted in this situation. In fact you may say it is exactly where he wanted the heart of the Jailer to be.
The jailer is frightened. He grabs his sword, or some other means of harming himself and is about to end his own life. He is in despair. He has no way out. Isn’t it interesting that Paul and Silas were literally in the stocks, but it is the Jailer who has no way out. But no way out was just what God had in mind, for he also provided Paul to shout out, DON”T DO IT, WE’RE ALL HERE!
Paul either had a leading of God’s Spirit to know what was on the man’s mind, or he was observing and loved people enough to observe closely, I don’t know, but by God’s grace Paul called out and the jailer heard him.
The jailer falls down at Paul’s feet. He is trembling. He’s frightened. This fear is different though. He knew that Paul and Silas had been in town for the past few weeks preaching. So here the jailer is trembling before his prisoners. And he asks what must I do to be saved? The answer is Jesus, believe in Him and he’ll be your peace in all kinds of troubles. He’ll be your light in all kinds of dungeons. He’ll be sufficient for you and your family. He’ll give you hope when there is no hope. He is the Lord.
And then Luke tells us that Paul continued to speak to the jailer about these things. It’s very curious to me. The jailer asks the question of all questions, what must I do to be saved and Luke leaves us in the dark as to what Paul tells him. He says believe in Jesus, and then more but what? We’re left to figure out this very mysterious phrase. Believe in Jesus? How do I believe in Jesus? Surely it’s got to be more than intellectual assent. There is no substitute in evangelism or any other kind of instruction for simply telling people about the man himself and what he did in his life. Go straight to the scriptures and ultimately the road to faith is the Spirit of God, awakening a dead heart to life, when the word of God is preached and connects with the gift of faith that God has planted in any given individual.
See Colossians 1
He would have told the Jailer that to believe Jesus you must turn from any other created thing and pledge to follow Jesus who is God. To know the Savior is to Know God.
This requires as Jesus said in Mark 1 repenting. It means you open up your heart, but the Bible said out of the heart the mouth speaks, so you must open your mouth as well and say to God, I have sinned against you. I have lived my whole life until now in service to created things rather than thanking you. I have lived for my own glory, rather than for yours. I have enjoyed all your gifts, without thanking you for them.
Jesus said if anyone would follow me they must lay down their own life and take up the cross. Believing in Jesus changes what you believe about life.
God is good. He opens hearts. He opens prison doors. He opens the gates of heaven wide for all who would come in.
The good news is if he has you asking questions like What must I do to be saved? You can be sure that he is in pursuit of you. Believe in Jesus Christ.
If you become a believer you’ll soon find yourself celebrating and remembering the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus around a table. It is a communion, or remembrance table. Paul is teaching the jailer how to remember Jesus sacrifice. And the Jailer will no doubt be among those who serve the communion feast at the church that would spring up in Philippi.
I want to say that as we grow as a church, are we about reminding one another and taking one another back to the word and inviting one another to take another look at Jesus. Are we caring for one another, feeding one another, dressing one another’s wounds? These are the ways that we become the church to one another. These are the ways you go about believing in Jesus. You repent of following any other thing in life and you devote yourselves to life in Jesus’ World according to Jesus’ view of people and work and hardship and anything else.
IF you haven’t been baptized and would like to be, We will be holding a three week baptism class in May and would love for you to join that class, and then we’d like to help you get baptized right here with us.

From Pastor Ken
Preparing for a Meal
In order to promote understanding about our scripture text, I want to share a personal story. It not exactly a parallel, but I think it will help us. Today I am reminded a little, about while growing up; how we enjoyed our time of play and how we looked forward to a meal with great anticipation. My mother would call us and we would run to the table like we didn’t have good manners or training. Maybe I would reach out my hand to maybe stick a finger into an apple pie to have a quick taste; my mother with a stern face and motioning of her hand, and would say “don’t you dare!” This act was a pretty serious violation at our table, and her disposition expressed the seriousness in mind. My mother was actually the calm one between the two of my parents. My father was feared because he was normally not so calm, but at the table he only needed to look at us a certain way; then we would examine ourselves, just assuming we did something wrong. Yet at the table, my parents tried to uphold two key principles among several others. One was to give thanks to God for all meals we consume, while asking his blessing; the other was proper hygiene or sanitary practices. We have come to accept and understand these principles, but as adults we understand more about the importance of sanitary practices before coming to the table. We have learned and seen that by a lack of proper hygiene and unsanitary conditions, many people around the world fall sick, are subject to disease and even sometimes death. I think you may know where I am going with this illustration.
Title: Preparation for the Lord’s Supper
Through our scripture text the Apostle Paul communicates to believers in Corinth, about some very serious matters surrounding the observance of the Lord’s Supper. For perceiving the relevance today, it is more important to understand that the letter was directed to a body of believers; and that such conditions can occur among believers. The city was well noted as one that was degenerate, dissipated, and debauched, but the apostle’s target was the church. It is likely that this epistle was written near the period A.D. 55.
It is said that the communion table is like a great bridge spanning from the time of the Passover observance (Deu. 16:3) with its shadows; to the actualization of Jesus fulfilling the role of the Passover lamb or the lamb (I Cor. 5:7) of God.
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies; we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life (Rom. 5:6-10).
I don’t believe we are in the same state of the church epitomized in the letter (I Cor. 11:27-30), but by reflecting, taking heed, and examining ourselves we can avert the conditions and similar consequences. It is said that a Christian would never come to the Lord’s Supper table with un- repented sin; considering all that it represents. Yet who is worthy? He that is made worthy; by the justification of the Lord Jesus Christ; know that God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness.
Beyond this point if we remember Jesus, and what He has done for us on the cross; it will remind us of our past justification, prove to be a source of our present sustenance, and catalyst of hope; as we see the pledge it brings of our future glory and blessedness.
It is a table of table of remembrance (v. 24). It is a table of obedience: “take, eat …” (v. 24). It is a table of self-examination (v. 28). It is table of communion that of fellowship, sharing, and participation (I Cor. 10:16). It is a table of thanksgiving (v. 24). It is a table of confession; It is a table of expectation: “Till he come” (v. 26).
Preparing for the Lord’s Supper, let us go to God in prayer.
Father we thank you for the great sacrifice made on the cross to atone for the sins of men. We thank you for your Son, and the justification that he makes for us. We know you to be faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness, therefore please forgive us of all sin. Forgive of those sin know, and unknown; those of omission and those of commission. We may not feel, but we trust you and your word. Touch our hearts and minds, touch and bless our observance; in Jesus’ name we pray (Amen).

Each month, Dongshin church has communion on the first Sunday and we look forward to breaking bread with you. Apologies for the lateness and we will have the April Communion message available soon.
Sermon by Ken Maxwell who also runs Kyungpook University Church
Prayer:
Gracious heavenly Father, we humbly bow before thee. Humanity communicating with divinity; yet we come in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son. In His name you have given us access to a holy place, the throne of grace; where we can obtain mercy and find grace (Heb. 4:16) in a time of need. Father open our minds, eyes, ears, and hearts; that we may know, see, hear, and retain what the spirits desires us to know this day in Jesus’ name we pray (Amen).
Through our scripture text the Apostle Matthew (once Levi, the tax collector) writes of the teachings of Jesus as inspired by God. It is simple for the believer and immensely profound for the theologian and expositor. Many have heard, but the important question is: are we doing or are we following the example? It is likely that this book was written earlier than A.D. 70. It is clear that the epistle is written to the church (Jewish converts) and objective church (converts). Our text today is a message of seeing, using and relying on that which is better than bread; an important principle.

Vs. 4: As we see in our earlier illustration that man may not be satisfied with the bread he receives, or even throughout scripture it its lack or abundance man was not made to live by bread alone. The word bread in our scripture text today, in the Greek language is (Ar’-tos/ a[rtoß]); mean that which is made of flour and normally mixed with water and baked. This bread was even consecrated to God and eaten during the feast, such as the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exo. 12:15-18). This meaning in biblical usage has also been extended to mean anything eaten. Before the sin in the garden, all that man needed to live was given; that is first his relationship to God, then the garden. Yet after the sin, came spiritual death and an ensuing or eventual physical death. From this time is was said that “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (Gen. 3:19). We saw after the great exodus miracle of God; that the people began to complain about a lack of bread, and after that it was something else. We see in the story of the in Kings (I Kin. 17:9-24), there was little to make in the house of the woman at Zarepheth, but she followed the instructions of the Prophet Elijah, and made him a cake first of that little first, and then made for her and son. The little was so little that she planned to use to sticks with that meal and cruse of oil then lay and die (the woman and her son). Yet she had faith to listen to the prophet and she not only ate for many days, but her son’s life was restored. In the bible the word bread was often used as a parallel to the Word, because of its parallel use; that is to live. In the Isaiah (Isa. 55:10-11, KJV) For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and make it bring forth bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that that goeth forth from my mouth, it shall not return unto me void; it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Let us read Isaiah 55:1-3, together. We also find that King David described the word as to having taste in Psalm 119:1103 (KJV): “How sweet are thy words to my taste! Yea sweeter than honey to my mouth!” We realize that bread is important, it is at the lowest level or basic level of man’s need according to Maslow (Hierarchy of Needs). In I Pet. 2:2, we are encouraged to desire the sincere milk of the word as babes. Yet let us not allow bread to be our ambition or even our weakness; leading to the undoing of our lives. If we would read in our bibles, the story in I Kin.13:1-32, we would see a story about a man of God, whose stomach and disobedience cost him very life. In our text (Mat.4:4) we see not only the example of Jesus, the Son of God, being subject to temptation, but also using that which is better than bread to win and be victorious. In the verse below, Satan misuses a scripture (Psa. 91:11-12), again trying to temp Jesus. Yet Jesus again, uses that which is better than bread, but liken unto the life give power of bread, to subdue the tricks of the enemy. Bread is important, but man can’t live by it alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. So as we trust and work for bread, let us retain that which is better; that is the Word of God.

Apologies for the lateness of this update, we were unable to video the sermon but have provided a longer summary.

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

What about our church? We read the scriptures, we meet together, we take communion, we baptize, and we pray together; we preach the same gospel about the same Lord,

This is Jesus, whom we worship. It is Jesus who rose from the dead, something we should spend time considering and contemplating as our celebration of Easter approaches. And when Jesus appeared before the 11 remaining apostles in Matthew 28 He gave orders to them on a mountain in Galilee regarding the spiritual conquest of the whole earth, the first thing that He did was to declare the foundation for this mission. The imperatives of the Great Commission are based on the fact that Jesus Christ has received all authority. Christ’s reception of “all authority” is emphasized “Given to Me was all authority.”

In Acts 16, the authority of Jesus Christ is in effect being displayed by the obedience of the Apostle Paul, to actively preach the gospel here in Philippi.

We must persist in the activity of praying and proclaiming the gospel. Vs. 17

We must persist in our obedience to preach because in doing so we persist in displaying the authority of Jesus Christ. The devil is persistently working to undermine and distract from the glory of God. Vs. 18 the slave woman was caught in the middle of the battle and she ‘kept this up for many days’ to disrupt the preaching of the gospel.

The written word doesn’t express the tone of the woman but it affected Paul.

Paul would have taught that Jesus is the way to be saved. This spirit was calling into question the authority of God in a number of ways,

The spirit was mocking Paul and calling into question the truth of Paul’s testimony, and primarily as to whether or not Paul had the authority to speak for God at all.

The spirit was challenging the gospel itself and the viability of Jesus Christ as the one name under heaven by which all men must be saved. Acts 4:12 and John 14:6

This is still the case today. We are constantly bombarded with relativistic jargon about how this spiritual path or that spiritual path will both lead to the same place. It is not true. Jesus Christ is the only one with the authority to save.

The spirit was finally challenging the authority of Jesus by its very presence in the girl. How could Jesus be authoritative to save if he couldn’t even handle this putrid wimpy spirit of the evil one? How could Jesus stand by and let this woman mock the truth of the gospel. It’s the same question the thief on the cross asked him IF YOU”RE REALLY GOD, THEN SAVE YOURSELF

And it is a question many many people struggle within our own day. We want to know why something terrible could happen or tragedy could befall our loved ones or our own lives, if God is in control. This shakes those outside the church with regularity, but it is particularly frightening how often this troubles the souls of the faithful. We must be convinced of the goodness of God, as we see in the very next sentence. Rather than calling down the power of heaven to free himself Jesus turns his attention to the pleas of the second thief.

The thief on the other side of Jesus confessed remember me when you come into you’re true Kingdom (LUKE:23:39-40)

It is the argument over the reality and authority of Jesus Christ to rule his creation and the bottom line when you look at the people around you every day is, PEOPLE NEED THE LORD and they are clueless as to his authority and movements toward them at every turn and tick of the clock in their daily lives.

THE AUTHORITY

Why is authority such a big deal? Many of us have had it with authority have we not? In our own day and age it is customary to assume that authority and power corrupts. We associate authority with discipline, with despotism, and oppression. To be sure that is what this woman had experienced of authority by her slave master. It describes this man in the text as obsessed with money.

How rare it is that we see authority in the light of freedom. How often do you consider Christ’s authority and his love in the same breath, because it is by that very same authority that he has the power to forgive sins according to Mark chapter 2. It is by this authority that Jesus faced down death and the curse and rose again to claim the seat next to God the Father. He claims the throne and occupies the throne to exercise his authority over his people, and to judge the wicked. II Timothy 4:1-8  God is using this picture of his authority to save more people in Philippi and to build his church.

Now comes the showdown. Paul is about to display this very authority in the middle of everyone watching. It has been days. Everyone hears the preaching of Paul. They hear the mockery of the woman. Some may have seen it a disturbance, others may have thought her rude, but a great deal of them were perhaps thinking in the back of their mind, what if she’s right? Who are these guys, to come into my town, claim to be from God, preach to me a single way of salvation, and expect me to swallow that tripe? Paul will now do what must be done, He calls out the spirit in the Name of Jesus, he displays the absolute authority that Jesus “the word of God” has over all creation. Do you remember at creation, when God spoke, things immediately came into being and here Paul declares the authority of Jesus the living Word of God and no less stunning result occurs, but the immediate silence and expulsion of this spirit of mockery and deceit.  Jesus has the authority to command your life and to rule the things that are ruling you as despots. He can free you from anything, and he must free you from anything, otherwise you will remain lost and ignorant in service to created things rather than the creator.  Authority speaks to the core of our being as humans. We were created to have authority, but we don’t know what authority is without turning to the LORD GOD CREATOR OF HEAVEN and EARTH. John 19:11 “you would have no power over me unless it were granted by heaven.” Our authority is granted.

When we think of authority it must be in faith. Do you believe in the authority of Jesus Christ?

A believer in Jesus Christ is one who lives by the authority of Jesus Christ as set forth in his Word. A believer is directed in this obedience to the Authority of God, by the Spirit of God and by the Church. When I say the Church I do not mean simply the power structure of the visible church but rather the same Spirit of God residing in the members of the body who are faithfully discharging their duties as the priesthood of all believers. Praise God for his authority over all things even our lives. This is truly good news. Praise God that he has authority over death and sits at the right hand of the Father ready to right all wrongs and reverse the ill effects of the curse.

You could be here today without knowing the truth of the one who created you and has true authority to forgive sins and give meaning to your life. Would you turn from serving created things, things that do not fulfill or keep their word. Would you turn to Jesus who commands even those things that have holds on us too great for us to break. Nothing in heaven or earth can keep you apart from him. If he is calling you and you feel it then pray, call out, let him know your desire to know him and be known by him. There is nothing that would keep him from you. He would come to you and make you his own and show you what truly good authority is like.

Praise be to God the Father, and to Jesus Christ His Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Summary

I remember a couple of brothers that misbehaved in church. They were well known for their bad behavior and attitudes. About half way through their senior year of high school, they began to get more involved in youth events. They actually brought their bibles to church and paid attention during the sermons. Later, they asked to meet with the pastor, to ask him for a letter of recommendation to attend Bible College. The pastor, asked them a series of questions about their faith. One of which was as follows. “What changed in the last year?” To which the older brother replied, “Your sermons suddenly got a lot more interesting about 6 months ago, prior to that, I don’t know what you were doing wrong.”

Many of us find ourselves paying attention to any number of things in our lives. We are bombarded with work, money, and family issues. Luke wants to teach us something about waking up and paying attention in life. And he wants to accomplish this by recounting to us Paul’s trip to Philippi and his encounter with a woman named Lydia.

Lydia is an immigrant to Philippi. She is originally from Thyratira. She moved from Thyratira where she grew up, in order to sell the clothing. Her life is not unlike many of us. We have come to a foreign country to work as English teachers. She herself was a Greek woman. However, she is what the Jews called a “worshiper of God” vs. 14. This simply means that she had an interest in the God of Israel. She was a seeker. She found a local group of woman who gathered to pray.  Paul, realizing there is no synagogue, finds the group of women and offers to talk to them. We’re told that Lydia, had her heart opened by God to pay attention to what Paul said.

God blessed Lydia and opened her heart and she heard Paul in a way that caused her to PAY very Close attention to what he said.  What you have here in this passage is Paul, a man with a heart opened by God to pay attention to the Gospel realities of Jesus Christ is preaching to a group of woman. Of those women, the message reaches the heart of one of them, who also has her heart opened by God himself to pay attention to it.  What does it mean to “pay attention”. We recognize that to pay attention has more to do with the heart of the hearer than the ears of the hearer.

Luke recounts for us a meeting between one who pays attention and a group of woman who were not paying attention. It’s not unlike our current meeting here. Some in this room are well aware of the goodness, grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ today. Some of you when you encounter difficulties in your life you immediately think of prayer as the way to deal with it. Some of you when you see a financial trouble in your life, walk in faith relying on God to provide that next bit of money. Some of you when you wake up in the morning your mind turns to God and scripture. Some of you do not sleep until you’ve had time to pray and tell God about your day. In each of these cases the life, the full life, is expressed in a heart that pays attention to the WORK of GOD in all things. On the contrary, there are hearts that cannot, do not, and refuse to pay attention or give due credit for all that God is and has done in their lives. There are hearts that forget the work of God in the morning. They do not pray when they are in need. They do not see the intent of God in moving their lives. They come to Church as a social group or a religious educational opportunity. There is a kind of sight going on here, a sense that you get what is going on, but ultimately, deep down, the heart is closed to the truth about Jesus Christ and all he is and must be in your life.

How do we know Lydia was paying attention? How do we know she really believed? She was baptized.  This means she confessed and repented of her sins. Secondly, she began to take care of the people around her. She preached the gospel to her family and they were baptized. She assumes the burden of housing Paul and his companions. She supports the spread of the gospel. Later she would no doubt become part of the Church established at this very site’ the Church of Philippi. She was awake and paying attention for the first time in her life.

Amen

Sermon summary 9th January

Isaiah 43:18-19 Do not remember (dwell on) the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

These powerful verses remind us in the new year that we need to perceive our circumstances through God’s eyes rather than idolize what we want and what we don’t have.  We should avoid lingering on the thoughts that lead us away from God. The first 2 commandments  deal with idolatry so if it is that important to God, then it is important to us. Therefore, don’t let your circumstances dictate your faith in 2011.

This year, which is our 10th Anniversary of the Dongshin English Service holds lots of promise with the fulltime appointment of Andy Gilman as Pastor who has been consistently serving the church for many years in a leadership capacity.  He will be available at the main church building on the 4th floor (Tuesday – Saturday from 9-5pm) as well as his usual duties on Sunday. We pray that God will increase Andy’s wisdom and vision for our English Service as well as the wider Daegu community.

As part of the vision, we will be having sign-ups next week for small groups that will be held after the Sunday service and this is an essential part for developing relationships and deepening your knowledge of the bible. We have some quality leaders to guide and encourage you in the small groups and be prepared to make a 6 month commitment to the group.

Also, we will be running a Foundations class which is a 6 week course for any church member to investigate what Dongshin Church stands for in terms of biblical and spiritual direction. The course is an excellent opportunity to examine God’s word in more detail to have a clear understanding of what it means to be a christian. It has a maximum enrollment of 20 people so we will have sign-ups next week for that as well.

Finally, the end of 2010 was enjoyed with a unique sofa sermon and the Annual Christmas party that involved games and a gift exchange.The sofa sermon was an interview with 4 people and they discussed how they celebrated Christmas and the way that Jesus was incorporated into that day.  Also, the question was posed about spiritual gifts and all were encouraged to seek the Lord about it by using the bible (Matthew 6:33), what people said about what we are good at, what we felt compelled to do and what we liked to do.

After that, we played Bible ‘catchphrase’ by one person asking their team members to guess a common phrase from the bible without saying any of the words in the phrase.  It was well fought and even at the end of the regular session. We had to go onto the advanced version having phrases like ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself’ and ‘They shall mount up with wings like eagles’.  Afterwards, we had a fun time exchanging gifts and it could be changed 3 times before it was safe in 1 person’s arms. Poor SJ and Gloria had their gifts taken at least 6 times!

God bless everyone in 2011