St Timothy Presbyterian Church

Scripture Passage Mark 6:14-29 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script What is a good life? What is the kind of life that's worth living? I think that a good life is to do what is right in every situation. To be driven by an inner sense of truth and what is good. Rather than by what is advantageous or beneficial for me. I think a good life is to seek the good of others in every situation. Not just my own benefit and advantage. These things are all part of being a disciple of Jesus. In that sense, being a disciple of Jesus is the most beautiful life. It is a life that bears fruit. It makes a difference in the lives of others. It seeks to do what's right and just. Discipleship is about making room for God and others. This is what Jesus said about discipleship: If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34) Denying yourself is to remove yourself from the centre. Following Jesus is to live like he did. Serving others. Putting the needs of others above

Scripture Passage 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script I thank God for everything that I have. All I have comes from God. Good health, good food, good family, good church, and good life – they all come from God. In that sense, I will say life is a gift. I see life as a gift. Jesus gave us a very interesting story. Through this story, he makes a very important point. There was an owner of a vineyard. Early in the morning he went out and saw people not working. He told them to come to his vineyard and work. And at noon, he went out again and found some people again. He told them to come and work. Even one hour before, he went out and there were still people who didn't have work. So he called them to come to his vineyard and work. At the end of the day, he paid them, starting from people who came one hour before. Surprisingly, he gave them one denarion, which was one day's full wage. They worked only one hour. Later, he paid the people who came early in the morning and paid the same o

Scripture Passage Mark 4:35-41 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Life is not in your control. That is the basic truth in life. Jesus led the disciples into the boat to cross over to the other side. But a great storm came upon them. Our life is like that. We need to get into the boat to get to the other side. But storms can come at any moment. You cannot control when they come, or whether they come. Storms are powerful forces. They can be overwhelming. You are so small compared to the big storm. You are helpless in it. You can only try to withstand it and come out of it alive. Storms create havoc and difficulty. But most of the time, they come and go. If you can withstand that storm, it will pass and calm will come. Storms are powerful, but most of the time, they're temporary. Storms may come and go, but their effects can remain. The real power of the storm is the fear it leaves in your heart. That's the issue Jesus focuses on when he asks this question: Why are you afraid? (Mark 4:40) At the retreat

Scripture Passage Romans 8:12-17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Living an Empowered Life Our time here on earth is short. With the time we have, I believe it's important to live an empowered life. I believe that is God's desire for us. These were Jesus' last words to his disciples: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. (Acts 1:8) It was a promise of empowerment. After St. Paul met Christ, his life changed. He lived an empowered life. For him too, the source of this power was clear: the Spirit of God. There was a clear contrast between an empowered life and a disempowered life. This is how he describes it: For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6) To set your mind on the things of the flesh is a disempowered life. To set it on the Spirit

Scripture Passage John 15:9-17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Last Commandment Love one another. This is the last commandment Jesus taught us. It is the last commandment, the greatest commandment, and the most important commandment. When you put together everything Jesus did, said, and taught, the ultimate conclusion is this: LOVE. So Jesus said this conclusively. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12) What is the meaning of the word, commandment? It doesn't mean having obligation to do what you don't want to do. It means what is the most important in your life. What makes your life life. The reason for you to live. The reason for you to live is to love. The ultimate purpose of life is to love. Love is the most important thing in life. That's why St. Paul said at the end of his famous chapter on love. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13) That was his conclusion too. Do you believ

Scripture Passage Acts 8:26-40 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Way of the Spirit Jesus described the Spirit in this way. We are familiar with this verse. The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. (John 3:8) The Spirit is like the wind. We can hear the sound of it. We can even feel it. But we can't control or predict its movement. It blows where it chooses. We may not like hearing this. We like to be in control. We like what is logical and predictable. We like to live our lives on our own terms. What Jesus says about the Spirit seems to tell us otherwise. The Spirit does not move the way we want. That doesn't mean it moves arbitrarily either. Notice how Jesus said, it blows where it chooses . It moves with its own purpose and intent. He even said to Peter after the resurrection Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you w

Scripture Passage Acts 4:5-12 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Work of the Spirit What happened to the Christians after their leader, Jesus, died? Usually when a leader dies, the movement loses its power and slowly dies away. That's why they killed Jesus. They wanted to kill the movement by killing its leader. But it wasn't so with the Christian movement. After Jesus died, the movement got stronger and bigger. It spread much more powerfully. Jesus basically stayed in Palestine during his lifetime. He moved up and down from Galilee to Jerusalem. But after Jesus died, the movement spread to all over from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And it changed the Roman Empire. It spread to the whole world. What was the reason? What was the driving force? It was the Holy Spirit. We cannot explain this phenomena without including the work of the Spirit in its formula. They received the Holy Spirit. And with the power of the Holy Spirit, they were able to do more powerful works than

Scripture Passage John 14:1-7, Matthew 7:14-21 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script We thank our guest speaker, Rev. Dr. Ernest van Eck, for sharing the Word with us this past Sunday. The sermon script is unavailable for this week. Sorry for the inconvenience! The post He Is the Way to a True Life appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.

Scripture Passage Isaiah 50:4-9 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Doing Good for Others Isaiah was a prophet in Babylon. He was part of the exiles who were deported from Jerusalem. He ministered to the exiles. He ministered to people who were weary. God gave Isaiah a gift. The Lord God has given me a trained tongue, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. (Isaiah 50:4) Isaiah's gift was to give strength to the weary exiles with a word. A word to sustain them. To keep them going. I believe that we are all created to do good. We are all given something to help others. I believe that our ultimate purpose on this earth is to do good for others. The spiritual journey connects you with the good that God has given you to help others. We hope that others will receive what we have to give. We hope they will be thankful and appreciative. Seeing people appreciate our goodness is like fuel that keeps us going. We want affirmation for the good we do. But somehow, that's not always the case. Doubt O

Scripture Passage John 12:20-33 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script A Time for Everything Jesus' life was very different from our life. We do not really know what time it is. Jesus knew exactly what time it was. Ecclesiastes teaches us this wisdom. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;a time to break down, and a time to build up;a time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance;a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones togethera time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5) We do not know what time it is. And we don't care actually what time it is. We do not know whether it is the time to tear or the time to sew, the time to keep silence or the time to speak. Up to this point, Jesus kept saying to people: My hour has not yet come. But in the passage we read today, finally, Jesus said: The hour has come f

Scripture Passage Isaiah 40:21-31 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Living With Power Last week, we talked about the authority of life. The authority of life is the empowerment of life. This week, I am going to talk about a similar theme. I think the Spirit is guiding us into that theme. This year's theme is Be A Witness. To make us a witness, God gives us the message about the power and the authority. To be a witness, you will have to have power. Only with power, you can be a bold witness. That's why Luke said in his book, Acts. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) Before he told them to be a witness, Jesus told them to receive power first. Living as a witness is living with power. That was how the early Christians lived. They were bold. They lived with power and authority. That power and authority did not come from them. They didn't have anything. No positio

Scripture Passage Mark 1:21-28 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Restorative Authority Mark wanted to show right from the beginning that Jesus had the authority. That was important to Mark. He wanted to get across this message. This Jesus of Nazareth was not merely a village preacher. He was the man with the authority. After baptism, temptation, and calling of disciples, the first thing Mark recorded was what we read today. Mark wanted to show that Jesus had the power over darkness. He had power over the evil spirit. That was Mark's witness. He saw that kind of power in Jesus. That is who Jesus is. Jesus has the power to defeat the evil of this world. This poor man was tortured by the evil spirit. He could not be what he was supposed to be. He could not live his full potential. Something more powerful than him controlled him. That was not what he wanted but the evil spirit controlled him. We are not exactly like him. We won't necessarily identify with this man. But, in fact, we are very much like hi

Scripture Passage Mark 1:14-20 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script What He Sees When Jesus met his first disciples, it was an ordinary day. This is how Mark describes it: As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea – for they were fishermen As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. (Mark 1:16, 19) It was an ordinary day for Simon, Andrew, James and John. They were just doing what folks had done for generations. Their parents had fished. Their parents had fished. They were fishing. They were simply doing their jobs and feeding their families. They probably did not see much beyond what they were doing now. But Jesus saw something very different. He did not see just fishermen. He saw who they would become. What Jesus saw in them, they would never have imagined for themselves. Jesus sees you. But he doesn't only see who you are today. He sees who you can become. He se

Scripture Passage 1 Samuel 3:1-20 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Our Voices of Logic Today's story is about what happens when God speaks. These are the first words God said to Samuel: See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. (1 Samuel 3:11) When God speaks, God is about to do something. When God speaks, everything is about to change. Hearing God speak is something that sounds very foreign to modern ears. We don't know what that is, or what it looks like. The voices we do hear are the voices of logic and reason. With logic, we have learned how to survive in this world. Logic helps us understand the world, analyze it and adapt to it. The other day, I was speaking to someone who works at the head office of McDonald's. To us, they're simply selling Big Macs. But behind the scenes, the best and brightest minds use all of their logic to analyze mountains of data, see patterns, and come up with ways to sell even more Big Macs. They know us bett

Scripture Passage Acts 1:8 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Sharing Our Experiences Early Christians had wonderful experiences. They never had this kind of experience before in their lives. Jesus had a profound impact on them. First time, they felt they were so full of life. They realized how beautiful life was. They felt so positive about their lives. God became so real to them. The important thing is – They didn't keep their experiences to themselves. They shared. They shared their experiences with others. That is what BEING A WITNESS is all about. Sharing what you experienced with others. When good things happen, you want to share with others, don't you? They were all witnesses to good things that happened to them. They saw clearly what God was doing in their lives and for the world. They saw that the new world had come and they proclaimed boldly the arrival of this new world. You have to understand how difficult it was for Christianity to survive. Christianity was not a big religion. A very sma

Scripture Passage 2 Corinthians 5:17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script With a Faith-Driven Attitude Today is the last day of 2023. In a few hours, we will welcome 2024. How meaningful it is to come on the last day and worship together, thanking God for everything he did for us this year. This year was special. Christmas Eve was on Sunday. And the last day of this year is on Sunday. So it was very meaningful. On this last day, let us think about change. It is quite appropriate to think about change before we take the new year. People make new resolutions for the new year. That is a commitment to change. I talked about change last week already by reflecting on Mary. Jesus brought a new era, a new beginning. And Mary was impregnated with the new beginning in her body. That wasn't easy for Mary. It was a scary experience. But Mary listened. She didn't close her ears. She listened to her heart because God speaks to our heart. In her listening, she heard very clearly and loudly that nothing was impossible

Scripture Passage Mark 13:14-27 Worship Video Due to technical difficulties, the Worship Video is unavailable for this week. Sorry for the inconvenience! Worship Audio Sermon Script Good Things to Come Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means coming or arrival . It is also the first Sunday of the church calendar year. So we begin the new year by waiting for the coming of Christ. But it is not just ordinary waiting. It is waiting with great expectation. Jesus uses this example in today's passage: It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. (Mark 13:34) He then goes on to say: Therefore, keep awake – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. (Mark 13:35) Be alert. Be awake with expectation. Today, I want to meditate on expectation. Expectation is the feeling

Scripture Passages Isaiah 11:6-9, Ephesians 2:14-20, John 17:22-23 Worship Video Sermon Video Sermon Audio Sermon Script It is wonderful to gather together like this. This gathering itself is inspiring. It would be nice to have worship service like this every Sunday. One of the planning team members asked, can we do that every Sunday? How nice! God wants us to gather together and worship God in one spirit regardless of who you are. People from East and West and North and South come and worship God. Having this ONE SPIRIT is important to have a meaningful worship. So Jesus said, first be reconciled to your sister or brother and then come and offer your gifts. So we have gathered together this afternoon with A REPENTANT HEART to confess our sins that hurt our sisters and brothers PERSONALLY or/and SYSTEMATICALLY. We recognize that we have treated our sisters and brothers with less than FULL RESPECT. We recognize that we have been blinded by our own ENSLAVEMENT of PRIVILEGE AND POWER. We recognize that our

Scripture Passage Matthew 25:31-46 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Invited to His Kingdom Today is Christ the King Sunday. It is the last Sunday of the church calendar. Next week is the start of Advent, which begins the new church calendar year. Advent means waiting. So the year starts with waiting. The year ends with Christ reigning as the king. What we waited for has come. Today's passage talks about what it will be like when Christ reigns as the king. It's a story about this kingdom and who gets invited: Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34) Those invited into this kingdom are those who have lived with compassion. Those who fed the hungry; clothed the naked; welcomed the stranger; took care of the sick. What's interesting is, these people didn’t even realize they lived compassionate lives. They all asked: when was it? Being compassionate was just who they were. The kingdom that we rejoice in is a compassi

Listen to the recording here! The post Christ Through the Eyes of Paul – Session 8 appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.