1 Kings 8:56-61

Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. 

May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers.

May He not leave us nor forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers. 

And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 

Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.

One body

“For as the body is one and has many members of that one bod, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” 1 Corinthians 12:12, 18

On Sunday evening, Hyemi was making some food and as she opened a can of beans she cut her left thumb. At first she said it was fine. But when I saw it I told her, “We are going to the hospital now.” Sure enough, it was a big cut and Hyemi got 6 stitches on her thumb.

There are a few things we learned from this. First, I learned how great a mother is. Literally I had to do everything for her. Cooking, washing, laundry, cleaning, you name it. I usually do help her with house chores, but not at the full scale of work like what I have been doing this week. And there is Sebin. I had to change every single diaper, bathe her, clothe her, feed her, cleanup after the mess, it was chaos. Mothers are awesome! Thank you for what you do!

But there is one more thing we learned. Because Hyemi couldn’t use her left thumb, there was not much she could do. A thumb is just a small part of her body, and yet it is so important. It’s just amazing to learn how God has designed our human body. Every single part of the body is important, whether it’s your heart, brain, eyes, nose, skin, nails, fingers, feet, you name it. There is not a body part that is not important.

Likewise, Paul reminds us that we as church members are one body. Whether you are a pastor, an elder, a deacon/deaconess, youth leader, Sabbath School teacher, young or old, you make up the whole body and you are important. It is God who has set us. Thank you for being a part of that, and thank you for what you do. And let us thank God!

Evangelism

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” Matthew 28:19,20

I would like to share some texts that our conference president, Elder Michael Edge, had shared to us earlier this week:

“When Jesus ascended to heaven, He committed His work on earth to those who had received the light of the gospel. They were to carry the work forward to completion. He has provided no other agency for the promulgation of His truth. ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ This solemn commission reaches us in this age. God leaves His church the responsibility of receiving or rejecting it.” Historical Sketches, 228.

“The Savior’s commission to the disciples included all believers in Christ to the end of time. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of saving souls depends alone on the ordained minister. All to whom the heavenly inspiration has come are put in trust with the gospel. All who received the life of Christ are ordained to work for the salvation of their fellow men. For this work the church was established, and all who take upon themselves its sacred vows are thereby pledged to be co-workers with Christ.” Desire of Ages, 822.

The next two years have been designated as years of evangelism. 2015 will be the year of evangelism for the Wisconsin Conference and 2016 will the year of evangelism for the Lake Union Conference. I pray that our church would be a part of the evangelism as well. That’s what Jesus has called us to do as a church, to evangelize. There will be great joy in heaven as we reap souls for the kingdom of God! Let us pray and let us prepare for evangelism!

Praying Hyde

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18

John Hyde was a missionary to India in the 19^th century. They called him “Praying Hyde” for John Hyde was known to pray to God for hours and hours. He was also known as “the man who never sleeps,” because he would forget to eat or sleep because he was always praying.

Francis McGaw, who wrote the book “Praying Hyde,” writes in his book:

At times I thought Hyde would break down completely. But after nights of prayer and praise he would appear fresh and smiling in the morning.” The Lord would always sustain His servant, and when asked, he said that he had “scarcely ever felt tired, though he has had at times little sleep for weeks. No man need ever break down through overstrain in this ministry of intercession. (McGaw 1970:38)

He would spend all his time in praying for souls to be saved and one of his famous prayer was, “Oh God, give me souls or I die!” He was indeed a man of prayer. As a result thousands of people in India were touched and transformed.

Let’s ask ourselves, ‘How much do we pray?’ Yes, we pray at meal times, or before going to bed. But we can pray more than that. E.G. White tells us: In order to have spiritual life and energy, we must have actual intercourse with our heavenly Father. Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Through sincere prayer we are brought into connection with the mind of the Infinite. (Steps to Christ)

One time, when I had issues I spoke to my dad about it over Skype. As I was expecting an answer from dad who is an experienced pastor, mom suddenly appeared into the monitor and spoke up, “It’s because you didn’t pray enough!”

We need to pray. It’s never enough. Every moment and opportunity we have, we need to pray. Let’s talk to God.