We are going to resume our Saturday Bible Study (SBS) at 10 am on February 1, 2020.
SBS is a small group of people who attend Daejeon Onnuri Church and meet on Saturdays from 10 am to 12 pm to learn more about the bible in English. These days, we are studying 1 Samuel and will start chapter 8 this weekend. Visitors and new new members are welcomed to join us. It is no problem to join us any Saturday.
There is also a new Graduate English Bible Study that starts at 2.00 pm on Saturdays. It's first meeting will be on February 1.
SBS meets at the Onnuri Building in Dunsan on the fourth floor in the Dream Hall room from 10 am to 12 pm on Saturdays, and the Graduate English Bible Study meets at 2 pm on Saturdays. Just bring your bibles and something to write with. Please go to the directions tab on how to get to our building.
This is the final Sunday of January 2020 and the last sermon for the 2020 foundational message which is.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
As a church we need to embrace these words and hold onto it to experience God.
It is the intention of God to give us His joy and we need to repent of anything that is preventing us from experiencing God's joy. We need to love God. We have all had success and failures and we are reminded of these failures. Moses has the same words for us which is to love God with all our hearts. The way to do this is to put the words on our hearts.
When our emotions fail us, we need to get our intellect to push us on to loving God. And when our intellect fails us, we need to have our will push us to love God.
We also need to commit the words of God to our family and teach them to our children. God's words needs to become the impetus of everything we do. We need to strive to know him in everything we do.
Not only will the words of God will govern our household but will also allow others see that I am Christian. My lifestyle will demonstrate how Christ is working in me, and this witnessing will be organic and genuine so that people will truly see God’s work. The intention of God is to bless His people who honour Him.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"
John 7:38 ESV
, and
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9 ESV
God counts on us to channel His blessings. We must take action and put into practice God’s words.
In Deuteronomy 6:10-15, we read that we need to be careful not to forget all that He has done. God wants to bless us, but let us be vigilant that we are obedient to God. For some of us it is easy to overcome adversity, but it is easy to forget when things become comfortable. God intends to bless us but we need to be committed in good times and bad times.
For 2020, let us make every effort to worship and praise God for all that He has done for us. Also, let us make every effort to be obedient to His word and seek His guidance as we walk in His blessing and protection.
Continuing with last week's topic of walking in God's
blessings, we look at God's words to the Israelites before they entered the Promised
Land. The Red Sea had been crossed, but not the Jordan River. Moreover, except
for three people, everyone else from the previous generation had died before
crossing the Jordan. It was the new generation that would enter the Promised
Land, and they had concerns.
The next generation knew how the previous generation had
failed, so they asked Moses how they could act so they would not fail. Moses
told the Israelites that God had said,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might."
Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV
By your heart, we understand that this means our whole
being. Even when our emotions tell us differently, we need to have our will
push us on. Even when our circumstances show us differently, we still press on
with our commitment to God daily.
Our entailment for the love of God involves putting His
words on our heart. This means patterning our lives according to the word of
God.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your
heart.
Deuteronomy 6:6 ESV
Most Christians do not really know God, and until we know
God, we cannot love God. Reading the word of God allows us to know God. By
praying to God, we show that we want to know God more. We need to make
sacrifices to read and learn about God.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my
Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
John 14:6-7 ESV
We need to teach God's laws to our children.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall
talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when
you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV
God wants us to love him so that things will be well with
us. God wants us to be successful, to be blessed and to be protected for us and
the generations to follow. God wants us to pass on His words to your children
and everyone on your household.
that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and
your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I
command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear
therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and
that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord , the God of your fathers, has
promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 6:2-3 ESV
Your lifestyle should be transformed. What you say needs to
be demonstrated through your actions. This is truly God working in your life to
be seen by others.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deuteronomy 6:8 ESV
We cannot teach God until we know God. We need to study God
and His word. Then we can teach our children about God. The best heritage that
we can pass on to our children is not material wealth but the love of God.
We also need to act in a way that people outside our homes
would see that we are unique because we are God's people. We need to act in a
way that others would be drawn to God's way and love.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on
your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:9 ESV
It is only when we truly and completely follow God that we and
future generations will be blessed, and those outside of the church will see
God’s goodness and glory.
In the New Year, we need to be alert to what God wants us to hear. God has plans and instructions for us, so we need to heed this for blessings and survival.
This year the Onnuri message is "Love the Lord Your God with All your Heart."
In the Exodus journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the Israelites had seen the power of God and experienced many miracles. They put their confidence in God after God had destroyed Pharaoh’s pursuing army. They gave glory to God. Later in Exodus 17, the Israelites complained because there was nothing to drink and they believed they would die. They quickly forgot about what God had done. Many died and there were many demonstrations of love, contempt, mistrust, faithfulness, and death over 40 years.
In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land, but they have wandered for 40 years because of mistakes they had made. Moses gives them these words to encourage and direct them.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
In 2020, just like the Israelites who were about to enter, we need to hear these commands. The command is clear that we need to focus on God with all that we have. God is our master, and we are His servants.
But not only are we to serve God with all that we are, but also we are to love God. God wants us to give our lives to God. It means that God will control our lives. In everything we choose to do, it needs to be distinct to God.
The Israelites were very aware of the history they had and how they failed and were punished. They also remember all the times they praised God when things went well and then they moved away from God. To experience the goodness of God Moses gave these instruction to move towards God and stay with God.
Do everything possible to make those words (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) a part of you.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:6 ESV
We need to give back our love back to God by governing ourselves to His word. We have to keep them all the time, every day and especially when we find ourselves have fallen. His mercies are new every morning.
The best way to wakeup is to wakeup singing. God wants us to live a life of victory. We often fail in our sins and feel bad, but then when we succeed, we feel happy. The truth is that we need to love God with all our hearts even when things are bad. This is evident in the start of Psalm 9. The psalm has directions for the choir master to sing Muthlabben. It is odd to find joy in this considering Muthlabben means the death of one’s son.
In 2 Samuel we read how David committed the sin of coveting, adultery, lying and even murder. He kept these things a secret until Nathan the prophet confronted David about his sins (2 Samuel 12). David confessed his sins, but his son still died. And yet, David had an understanding of how just and merciful God was.
God wants us to be vigorous and victorious. We will encounter illness and loss, and God is with us still. God wants us to have the victory He has always intended for us. There are so many times disasters could have been worse. There are so many things we have to learn the hard way. There are so many secrets and hurts we need to bring into the light. God is there for us in all of these circumstances slowly leading us to victory. God wants us to grow in humility, and God knows how to mend a broken heart.
When we are in sin, we fail. Sin will control our lives. When we play with sin, we don't allow God to protect us. By falling into sin, we do not allow God to control our lives. Sin controls our lives and leads to destruction. God controls our lives when we let Him and this leads us to life. The Lord is a light to our lives and guides us past destruction. (Psalm 119:105)
Our hearts must be centered on God completely to be victorious. If we are filling our minds and hearts with carnal ideas and temptations against the Lord, we will not be able to follow God completely. As James 1:8 tells us we will become double minded and unstable.
David chose to rejoice because God is merciful. Yes, David sinned and he suffered as well as others because he did not walk completely with God. Moreover David understood he had sinned and found joy because of God's unfailing mercy. We too can rejoice that no matter how much we have failed or will fail God wants us to be triumphant and His merciful care is there for us.