What I learned in the last 8 years (10/14/18 Standalone message)

ATTN: Happy Birthday As One! We have turned 8 last Wednesday. We started 10/10/10 at Jason Lee Middle School near downtown Tacoma. We started with about 10 families, 3 of which are still with us today, and we have added many more since, praise God.

Today, I will share a rare topical message and then I will give you time to reminisce and say a few words to As One as if she is a person congratulating her on her birthday. What she means to you and what you hope for her to become.

So, let me go first. These have been most adventuresome 8 years of my life. It felt like riding a rollercoaster at times. There are times when I’m at the top of the rail looking down at where I’m going and I can’t wait. But other times, I’m going through a dark tunnel, and I’m afraid I’m going to hit my head against the wall. And then another times, I’m holding on for dear life so that I won’t fall out!

But all in all, I must say that God is faithful. He has been there the whole time whether I was aware of it or not at the time. He is not through with us yet and I’m sure there are many more lessons to come, but these are the things God has taught me in the last 8 years. These are things I either did not know or did not know clearly 8 years ago…

1. God is faithful.

Of course, I knew this from the Bible in my head, but I had to experience it to really know it. It is true there is no teacher like experience. God teaches us with His word, but His word becomes our food and nourishes us only as we act upon it, as imperfectly as we may.

In 8 years, God has not given us so abundantly that we would never have to rely on him again. Like the Israelites in the desert, who found manna only enough for one day every morning, we had to rely on God weekly for Him to provide. And here are some ways in which He provided.  

1. God is faithful in providing people: One of things that I asked God when we first started is to surround me with people better than myself because I am so inadequate. And God listened to that prayer and has provided people who made up the body. Now, for various reasons, many people have moved on from our church, but God has not abandoned us and filled in those spots with others with similar gifts. For example, Pastor Mike, our youth pastor. Well, his position was not needed when we first started because we had no youth. But last Friday, we had 29 people in the meeting. And Pastor Lundy came on board two years ago to groom these young people.   
2. God is faithful in providing places for us to meet: We moved from Jason Lee, to Lakeview Elementary, now to Trinity Baptist. There was not a single week where we didn’t have a place to meet although some weeks the custodian forgot to show up on time to open the door for us!
3. God is faithful in providing money: Again, being such a small church but supporting 4 pastors is remarkable. Of course, all of us are bi-vocational as not to burden the church. As a quick testimony – 5 years ago, I was tutoring high school kids 4 hours a week to help make ends meet. And just as I was looking into going into teaching, Brad McCain calls me and offers me a job at his school. He didn’t know I was looking into teaching, but God did! So, every time I step into the school, I thank God because He has provided for me to keep giving toward our church.
4. We are called to obedience rather than to success.

This is one of the greatest lessons I learned in the last 8 years. Unless we discover God’s definition of success, we will simply adapt the world’s definition of success, which is bigger and more. But God doesn’t always call us to bigger and more. He simply calls us to be obedient to whatever He calls us to. God called a reluctant prophet in Jonah to cause a revival – a success in the world’s eyes. God called a willing and eager prophet in Isaiah to cause a decline – a failure in world’s eyes. But in God’s eyes, it was Isaiah who experienced a decline but was obedient that was a success.

There have been many of you who have been obedient to God’s call in serving His body. You have given your time, talent, and treasure in being obedient. The Taylors who spend their own money feeding the church week-in and week-out. The praise team that gives their time and talent every Saturday and Sunday – Chan, John, Mr. Lenard, Benson, Rachel, Marko, Jane,  David, Hyesong, Emma, Sennah. And the Sunday school teachers who never get acknowledged – The smiths, Brianne, Vickie. And our smiley greeters – Billy, Anitra, TJ. The twins. Kelly who faithfully translates every Sunday. Mr. Park who fixes and beautifies the church building. Mr. Fejarang who distributes the translation equipment, and all of you who are involved in setting up and breaking down the fellowship hall… And then our prayer warriors every Saturday morning – the mins, the elder hongs, the elder Rhees, mrs taylor, mrs. lenard, etc. So many more that I can’t name you all. Please don’t get offended if I didn’t name you…

Thank you for being obedient to god’s call. You are a success in God’s eyes.

3. We are to be a church for the “outsiders.”

Here’s how I would characterize our church. This dawned on me pretty recently. We are a church for the outsiders. Misfits, if you will. Many of you, myself included, don’t belong anywhere else. I never felt comfortable at a Korean church although that’s all I’ve known! And the most uncomfortable group of people to me were people just like me – 2nd generation Korean-American adults. Well, God had been grooming me for a church like ours where a bunch of outsiders or misfits gather. I hope you are not offended. The disciples of Jesus were like us – they were a ragtag group of people who did not wield a lot of respect from their society, who were together only because of Jesus. So too is our church. We are here because Jesus is the only common thread that binds us together. And God willing, we will continue to be so. So, look around you – where you work, play, or workout. If you know someone who looks like an outsider, help him/her belong.

 

4. Not striving for diversity may be out of step with the truth of the gospel.

Before we started our church, I thought being diverse was desirable, but it was optional. Not every church has to be diverse. But in the last 8 years, I have become more and more convinced that unless it’s a geographic impossibility, every church should be diverse. Two passages convince me of this: 1) In Galatians 2, Paul rebukes Peter for separating the Jews from the Gentiles – along the racial line – and calls it “not in step with the truth of the gospel.” He didn’t say, “not in step with the church growth strategy,” or the social mood of the day. But dividing along the racial line goes against the very essence of the gospel. 2) In 1 Corinthians 12, we observe that the Corinthian church was not only racially diverse but also socio-economically diverse. When the church was having problems, it would’ve been very easy to separate the church along the cultural or racial line. But that is not anywhere mentioned. I know this is argument from silence, but along with the Galatians 2 and several passages in the book of Acts, it is a valid argument.

One of our missions is to be a model to the churches around us that they can be diverse and still be one. One thing I started doing is challenging 2nd generation Korean pastors to consider whether it’s biblcal to insist on being Korean-American churches when the language barrier is no longer an issue. Without knowing, they might be out of step with the truth of the gospel.

 

5. Our church is better when everyone uses their time, talent, and treasure for the good of the body.

There is a verse in Phil 4:16: Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. Paul says that when we give our time, talent, or treasure to God, it is to our credit. I’ve always pictured it as whatever we have done for Christ that we didn’t get credit for here on earth, we are storing up our reward in heaven. I want you to have lots of reward stored up in heaven.

So, when I ask you to serve and give your time, talent, and treasure, I can unashamedly say as Paul did, it is to your credit you are doing this. “Only one life, t’will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

6. Ultimate happiness comes from God and not from my circumstances.

What God has allowed me see in the last 8 years is that God is enough. Along with that, what I realized is how much I drew my happiness from circumstances and not from God. There were times when I felt like a teenage girl when my emotions would run high and low several times a day depending on how I felt our church was doing. I would like to think that that’s all because of my concern for the kingdom of God, but I wasn’t that concerned about other churches around me; just my church. And like you, I would imagine that the grass is greener on the other side and start dreaming what it would be like to have a regular job. But all it takes is a phone call from one of you asking me for prayers and I realize that the grass is definitely not greener on the other side and God placed us exactly where we should be for our maximum joy. The great lesson that few of us learn is to learn to be content. Learn to accept the circumstances God has brought upon us as something for our good. Romans 8:28, “God works all things for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

CONC: These are some of the things that God taught me in the last 8 years. I would not exchange these 8 years for anything in the world. My faith is deepened. My joy more solid. And God ever so greater in my mind.