St Timothy Presbyterian Church

Scripture Passage Luke 23:44-49 Worship Video Worship Audio *English sermon begins at 14:10 Sermon Script The Lives We Live Everyone wants to live a good life. We want our lives to be peaceful and enjoyable. But the lives we want to live, and the reality we face, are often very different. There is the life that we want to control and the forces of life that control us. The more we live, the more we see that the life that controls us is often more powerful than the life we control. If the life that controls us brings good things, then we're thankful and have no complaints. But when the life that controls us brings uncertainty, grief, and sorrow, it makes living very difficult. Faith begins when we recognize that our ability to control life is much smaller than life's ability to control us. Faith accepts our need for a power greater than ours. But what kind of faith are we seeking? Are we seeking a God who makes my life better for me when I need it? Or are we seeking to know this God who works in my life? Wha

Scripture Passage Psalm 31:9-16 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Inside Some of our college students are graduating from McMaster University. When they were in first year, we started a Bible study together. We booked a room in the main library and met there each week. When they were in second year, they moved into a house together, and I would go there weekly and have Bible study with them. Then the pandemic hit, and two whole school years went by. I visited them a week ago to reflect on their journey through their undergraduate years. It was so nice to be together with them again. During these past four years, they've been through many things. Relationships, conflicts, ups and downs with school, and a pandemic for half of their undergraduate life. Many things happened on the outside, but the real change and growth happened inside of them. In fact, during the pandemic, nothing much really happened on the outside, but inside of them, they went through so much change and growth. What happened on

Scripture Passage John 12:1-8 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Good Shepherd Knowing others and understanding them is very difficult. Many times, we live our lives, not knowing how others feel. We say things without thinking what they may feel. We do things without understanding how they may affect them. We are so indifferent that we don't care at all about others. When the world becomes like that, there will be many people who feel very lonely and isolated. We will live in a fragmented and disjointed society. Feeling understood is a very important part of a good life. Our God whom Jesus introduced to us is very intimate God who knows us and understands us. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. (John 10:14,15) God knows about us even in such a detail like how many hairs we have on our head. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. (Luke 12:7) Intimate God wasn't Jesus' unique idea. Prophets also knew very

Scripture Passage Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Imago Dei We are created in God's image. Imago Dei.  That is the image of God in Latin. God created us in the image of God. That's what we hear in the creation story. Then God said, Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.' (Genesis 1:26) So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them. (Genesis 1:27) God did not just create us in his image, He gave us the ability to be able to understand God through that image. We cannot see God physically with our human eyes but we can understand God through his image he created in us. But the problem is – that image is distorted because of our sins. Not only that image is distorted, we human beings now try to create God in our own image. When Jesus came to the world, he saw this distorted image controlling people and blinding them. They said they knew God but they were far from understanding God. They were blinded. They could neither see God no

Scripture Passage Isaiah 55:1-9   Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Beauty is Hidden The attitude we have about our life is very important. Depending on what attitude we have, our life will turn out very differently. St. Paul said, We walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) That was his attitude towards his life. Walk by faith, not by sight? What does this mean? He saw that life is more than what he could see. He discovered that truth about life. Do you live only by what you can see? Or do you recognize that there is something about life that you don't see? What excites me about life is not what I see but what I don't see. We do not necessarily see everything. There are many more things that are hidden in what we do not see. I experience daily that life is bigger than what I can see, touch, and feel. If what I see is everything, it is depressing. What we see is fight, struggles, war, sickness, and death. With God, I can pursue what is much bigger than what I see. My friends, I believe that

Scripture Passage Philippians 3:17-4:1 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Leadership We know that leadership affects other people. A bad leader can cause a lot of harm and suffering. A good leader, however, can inspire people and rally people in unity and purpose. Because of this, we consider leadership to be very important. St. Paul brought people together in the communities he founded. He founded the community at Philippi. The Philippians held a very special place in Paul's heart. Together, they experienced the powerful presence of God. They worked and toiled together to build the community. They were his most loyal community. In some other communities, people turned away from him and started following other leaders. But not the Philippians: they were his ride or die people. When he was in trouble, they were the only ones to raise funds and send money to him. There was a deep bond of love for one another. But once St. Paul left them, they started to have issues. People started looking after their

Scripture Passage Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Lent As of last Wednesday, Lent has begun. Lent is a period of 40 days before the Easter. Lent is a season of remembering Jesus' suffering and death and his love for us. It is time to prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is time to appreciate God's love for us. It is time to think about how to follow Jesus' footsteps. During Lent, let us think about the spiritual aspect of our lives. During Lent, people do many things that help them spiritually. Some people make new resolutions. Others set aside time for prayer. I think it is important to live our lives, feeling the season. Life has seasons. Season for working and season for resting. Season for celebrating and season for reflecting. Lent is a season for thinking about spiritual things. Today's passage is about giving, praying, and fasting. How appropriate! We can cultivate these three things during Lent. Three Spiritual Principles Giving, praying,

Scripture Passage 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Glory of God We all need the GLORY OF GOD. The question is: WHAT IS the glory of God? We hear it all the time. We use it quite often. And yet is it hard to put it into words, or define it. It is one of those words that we experience all the time and yet hard to say exactly what it is. It is like beauty , love , and so on. We know what it is and we use it all the time and yet, it is hard to say exactly what it is. Maybe it is a reality which is too big to describe in a few words. The Psalmist said, The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1) From the poetic imagination of the psalmist, I get a glimpse of what the glory of God is. Manifestation of God – THAT is the glory of God. When the invisible God manifests himself, we see the glory of God. Heavens are telling the glory of God. Heavens manifest the presence of God. Beautiful nature manifests the glory of God. In th

Jonah 4 Introduction If the story ended at chapter 2, then it would be a great story of calling and repentance. If the story ended at chapter 3, then it would be a great story of calling, repentance and a heroic response to one's calling. In fact, a chapter 3 ending would be more parallel to the modern mythical story of our modern society: how one feels a calling, shrinks in fear, but then overcomes that fear to live out a glorious calling. In terms of results, Jonah was the most successful prophet. But the story doesn't end there. We have chapter 4.   It's a very confusing chapter, it's mysterious and weird. But we have it.  Which means that it means something. And because it's the concluding chapter of our short book, it is a very important chapter. It's perhaps the most important one. It is the key to the meaning of the whole book.   So it's very important to reflect deeply on this last chapter.   Jonah's Anger The word angry comes up 5 times in English, 6 if you include the Hebrew root for displeased

Scripture Passage Luke 6:27-38 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Eye for an Eye The moral standard of the world is. Do to others what they do to you. It is easy to understand. It is rational. Fair. If they do evil to you, then you have a right to do evil to them. If they took $100 from you, then you have a right to take $100 from them. It makes sense. Logical That was what Moses said too. Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered. (Leviticus 24:19-20) We often misunderstand Eye for eye. We think that this means to revenge. Moses gave this rule not to revenge but to treat others fairly. Don't return with excessive retaliation. If they took your eye, don't take more than eye. But Jesus' teaching is different from the moral standard of the world. It wasn't Do to others what they do to you. It was this: Do to others as you would have them do to you. Treat others as how you want

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Jonah 3 Paul asked the question: what does this story point to? Very relevant question The text of Scripture always points to a deeper truth In Gospel of John, he calls the miracles of Jesus as signs In other words, the focus was not to on the miracles themselves, but what they point to Not the finger, but the finger that points to the moon Every story in the Bible points to something beyond itself   Our knowledge is like small islands in a vast ocean What we know is just a little part compared to the vastness of the ocean Stories in the Bible shed a glimpse into that broader ocean Little by little, our island grows But it will always be an island, never complete   What people do is get scared by the vastness of that ocean Take what little knowledge we have, build systems of knowledge and belief We feel safe in that Everything then gets filtered through that system of knowledge and belief It helps us make sense of the world   But stories of Bible reveal something different: Instead of fitting built up system

Scripture Passage Jeremiah 17:5-10 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Fraying the Bonds Friendship is more important than justice and the rule of law. That is what the Greek philosopher Aristotle said. When the bonds of friendship are strong, there is consent from the governed and trust in the rule of law. When these bonds of friendship break down, however, then there is mistrust in the system that governs them. We are living in a time where these bonds of friendship are breaking down. Instead of friendship, there is mistrust, suspicion and animosity. Instead of coming together with understanding and openness, people make enemies of those who are different. We see frustrations, anger, and tensions boiling over. We see this in the trucker convoys. We see it in the United States. We see it in places like Ukraine and Russia. We see it in leaders who gain power by targeting groups as scapegoats for their problems. We see it in news media that amplify divisions. We see it in social media that are echo cha

Exodus 1-2Rev. Simon Parkshare Social: jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('#facebook-player-share-37714').sharrre({ share: { facebook: true }, urlCurl: 'https://timothypc.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/rainmaker/library/external/genesis-simple-share/assets/js/sharrre/sharrre.php', enableHover: false, enableTracking: true, disableCount: true, buttons: { }, click: function(api, options){ api.simulateClick(); api.openPopup('facebook'); } }); $('#googleplus-player-share-37714').sharrre({ share: { googlePlus: true }, urlCurl: 'https://timothypc.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/rainmaker/library/external/genesis-simple-share/assets/js/sharrre/sharrre.php', enableHover: false, enableTracking: true, buttons: { },

Scripture Passage Luke 5:1-11 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Simon and Peter In today's Scripture passage, we heard about how Peter first met Jesus in a meaningful way. His life was changed totally by meeting Jesus. It is a wonderful story of conversion. He was a changed man. Jesus gave him a new name, Petros, Peter, the Rock. You know names are important. They tell us who we are. They give us our identity. But Simon was nothing like Peter. He was not rock. He was flimsy, emotional, impulsive and capricious. He was not at all like a solid rock. He didn't think about consequences before he spoke. A lot of times, he didn't know what he was talking about. He said he would never deny Jesus. He even compared himself with others. Even if everybody else deserts you, I will never do that. And he denied Jesus, not once, but three times. Knowing all that, Jesus still gave him the name, Peter, the Rock. That wasn't who Simon was but that was who Simon would be. Indeed, he became the rock. On him, church is

Jonah 1  Our Unique Existence V.1: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah   Jonah received a distinct word from God. The Bible doesn't say exactly how this word came to him. Just that it did. Do you hear any such word spoken to you?  How do we know when this happens? How can we hear it?  How does God speak to us?    Today's context is very difficult to hear God's word spoken to us. So many distractions. Don't even have blank moments where we just stare at the ceiling lost in our thoughts, because we're too busy staring at our screens. Just like the theme deep calls to deep – God speaks to us in the recesses of our hearts. But to hear God's voice, we need to listen to the inner voice in our hearts.   Jonah was called to go to Nineveh. This was a unique calling just for Jonah. God did not call a whole bunch of people. This was a special calling reserved for Jonah.   Each of us have a unique life to live. Just like the DNA of each individual is entirely unique, the pattern and shape of our lives are meant

Jonah 2 Background Info on Jonah Jonah = unique book Historical figure named Jonah son of Amittai in 1 Kings. But no historical reference to story. Most successful prophet, but most scholars have thought that Jonah is a metaphorical book.   Life in the Boat vs. Life in the Ocean Thoughts from TBS Members: Jinny: was confused at first – thought the prayer related to things that happened while in the fish, but after realized that maybe the prayer related with what he experienced in the ocean. Think this is correct. He’s recounting his experience in the ocean. Rockey: asked if he felt more safe on the boat than in the fish. Daniel: feel like Jonah was more awake now than last week.   Last week, Jonah was on the boat. This week, Jonah is recounting his time in the ocean.   Compare: Life in the Boat vs. Life in the Ocean. What is the difference? What was Jonah doing in each? What’s the difference in the two scenarios? What about your life: where are you?   Boat = running away, sleeping through life Ocean = fully e

Scripture Passage 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Division and Immaturity The Corinthian church was a metropolitan church which consisted of very capable people who had many excellent gifts. Not only were they smart but also they seemed to assume that they were very spiritual. They experienced the wonderful manifestations of the Spirit. But somehow the church had a lot of problems. There were all kinds of moral problems. There were quarrels and fights. The church was divided at least in 4 ways. In his letter to the Corinthians, right after the greeting, the first thing Paul addressed was the problem of division in the church. Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I me

Scripture Passage 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Principle of Life We just heard a beautiful principle of life. On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member (1 Corinthians 12:22-24) How nice it will be if our world is like this! There will be no discrimination because of who you are. Every person will be respected and appreciated. You don't need to be somebody special to be honoured. There will be caring, uplifting, forgiving, and understanding. In this principle, I see that all human beings are equally precious in God's eyes. I see that all human beings are respected and protected. That is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of UN. All hu