St Timothy Presbyterian Church

Scripture Passage John 20:19-29 Sermon Text Behind Closed Doors It’s been 5 weeks since we’ve been behind shut doors of our own places. 5 weeks of me being here in an empty sanctuary, and today, being all along and seeing you all on screen, it’s a very weird feeling. The sanctuary is empty, but I know you’re all there because I can see your faces. I know you’ve all been dealing with the situation in your own ways. For the young couples or single people, you’ve been enjoying time alone. I know it’s challenging at times. For the younger kids, I know it’s been a hard time trying to juggle your school work and what not. For our Hi-C and college students, I know there are times when you are bored, when your schedule’s been thrown off routine. Some of you guys have become nocturnal creatures; awake at night, asleep during the day. And some of us, with elderly parents, have been dealing with separation from loved ones and worries about them. All in all, as human beings, we’re resilient. We’ve accepted the situatio

  “It is well with my soul.” As the pandemic goes on, we can find our strength flagging and our faith waning. Times of difficulty have been times when faith is not only tested but formed. Faith is a gift from God that can sustain us and carry us through. This episode features a recording from a choir group that is physically distanced from one another. They recorded their voices on their cell phones and put them together to declare that “it is well with my soul.” Be inspired by these soaring voices! It also features Scripture readings and meditations on faith. May you blessed by the music, readings and meditations!   Lyrics: It Is Well With My Soul When peace like a river, attendeth my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know It is well, it is well, with my soul! It is well, (it is well), With my soul, (with my soul) It is well, it is well, with my soul! Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarde

Scripture Passage : John 20:11-18   Sermon Text Mary came to the tomb after Jesus died. Mary truly loved Jesus. You know, the deeper you love a person, the greater loss you feel. She was in deep sorrow. You know, in deep sorrow, you cannot see things around you. She saw the angels, but she did not really recognize them. She saw Jesus, but Jesus was only a stranger to her. We become blind when we are in deep sorrow. Our tears blind our eyes, and we cannot see anything. We see a lot of tears these days. Their loved ones are sick, and yet, they cannot even be with them. Some of them die alone without the presence of their family. There are a lot of tears in this world. People are dealing with their pain in their own ways. Some of them suffer quietly. There is so much pain in this world. Jesus Wiping Away Our Sadness God sees our tears, and he comes to us. And that's what Jesus did, Jesus saw Mary's tears, and he came to her. Jesus said to Mary, Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking? It wasn't a

Scripture Passage Matthew 27:27-31 Sermon Text Awareness of our aloneness Yesterday I left my house for the first time in a week and got a takeout coffee from the second cup to prepare for the sermon. There was one customer ahead of me. So I kept my distance. I ordered my coffee and as I was leaving, there was another customer way back at the entrance. keeping his distance. I don’t know. As I walked to the car, for some reason, I started tearing up. I didn’t know why, So I thought about it and I realized, on the one hand, I was touched that much of society is on board with physical distancing to save lives. We are all somehow in this together, but on the other hand, my heart was sad that we are forced to be so isolated from one another. Our whole way of life. Living in proximity with others has been turned upside down This past week, I took my two kids and drove to my parents’ house to pick up some food. They had made. They put the food into the trunk and were talking with us and the kids through the windows

  Welcome to our second episode of “Becoming Together”! We’ve changed the format of this second episode to be more of an uplifting spiritual experience to help you get through the day and week. During these unprecedented and anxious times, we need spiritual food to keep us going. We hope that this blend of songs, Scripture readings, music and meditations will be helpful to you. We are here to be with you and for you in life’s journey. Please enjoy and may God bless you!   The post Hope appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.

Scripture Passage John 3:1-17 Sermon Text God’s Ultimate Plan Indeed God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. What a beautiful message. What a good message God sent the son not to condemn the world, but to save the world. We should always keep these words in our minds. As Jonathan has shared, we have to continuously remind ourselves that God did not send the Son to condemn it, but to save it, These words, show why Jesus came to this world. These show gospel plan for the world God’s plan is not to condemn it, but god’s ultimate plan is how can I save this world? The famous passage that we all know, John 3:16 expresses very clearly for God. So loved the world that he gave his only son. So that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life. God does not want us to perish, but to have eternal life. Suffering from COVID-19 These days, the world, the whole world is trembling with fear because of coronavirus. Italy clo

Scripture Passage Matthew 4:1-11 Sermon Text That was a wonderful song. I learned that first, when I was in junior high and the choir, at an old, old church, and I said, we should do this as our communion song too. And I think that’s what they decided they’re going to do. So I think during communion time, the choir will start to sing. So, they’re not going to come up first. So on this side, you guys will start to come up. Sounds good? Thank you, Reverend Kim for, that note. I think he basically said the sermon, right. Don’t be anxious so I can go down, but I guess I’ll try to elaborate a little bit. So I have, I’ve been almost getting six, seven months into full time ministry now. And people ask me once in a while, how are you enjoying it? I’m very honest when I say that I love it. I’ve loved pretty much every moment of it. My job requires me to reflect a little more deeply on what’s going on with people and in this world. And it’s a joy, but it can also it can be a little bit of a burden in the sense that t

Scripture Passage Matthew 17:1-9 Sermon Text The passage that we read today is a beautiful passage that if you draw a picture, you’ll draw a very nice painting. But we have to understand the context a little bit. Six days ago, Peter was rebuked by Jesus. Actually, Jesus rebuked Peter with really harsh words. He even called Peter ‘Satan’. This is what is said, “But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. ” I don’t know how Peter survived after hearing this. His Lord or his friend told him, “You are Satan! Get behind me. You have your mind on the earthly things, not heavenly things.” Hearing all that, I don’t know how he survived. That was six days ago. And then six days later, Jesus took Peter to this mountain. This is what he said, “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.” Matthew started with six days. In other w

Scripture Passage Matthew 5:13-20 Sermon Text That last line, a new start with a life that belongs to you. That’s really the essence of our faith, right? And I want to talk today about true righteousness because that really relates to this new start that we begin with God. Today’s passage started with talk about salt and light, but I’m going to focus on the end of this passage first that talks about righteousness. And at the end, we relate that back to salt and light. So this passage is taken from the gospel of Matthew. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus began his public ministry. The first thing he said was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. The kingdom of heaven is a big theme of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. But he wasn’t talking about this afterlife in heaven. That’s not what he’s talking about. He was talking about a heavenly kingdom here on earth. Not a physical kingdom, right? Not a geographic physical kingdom, but a new way of life. A new kind of h

Scripture Passage Micah 6:1-8 Sermon Text During our call to worship today, we read, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” These were the words of King David, and this was his personal confession. And what David realized was that it didn’t matter who he was. If he was a King or had all the power in the world with many people admiring him. Because what he realized was that God saw through all those things and looked at his heart, the source of all his thoughts, actions, and words. So he had no place to hide, but to simply bring his heart before God. And that was all that God wanted. And these words that we read, they came from his heart. A broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. That is what God wants. Not our possessions or status, but our hearts just the way they are. That is the sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. Sacrifices Rather Than Heart Yet it is difficult to bring our hearts before God. It is hard. Maybe it’s because

Scripture Passage Isaiah 9:1-4     Sermon Text Last Monday, January 20th, was Blue Monday. They said it was the most depressing day of the year. At the staff meeting, Dave said, “Somehow, this year started with a lot of darkness.” And that is so true. This year, somehow from the beginning, a lot of tragic things happened. On January 8th, which was my birthday, a Ukraine airplane was shot down by an Iranian missile and all 176 people on board were killed. There were 63 Canadians, also. We felt shock, sadness, and even anger. Not only did many people die and lose their future completely in an instant, but the lives of their families were deeply affected permanently, for the rest of their lives. Their lives will not be the same anymore. And after that, because of the Corona virus, that started in Wuhan, a city in China, the whole world is concerned and scared. Experiencing Darkness Even in Canada, now we have one possible case. So from the beginning of the year, we have encountered a deep darkness. We started w

Scripture Passage 1 Corinthians 3:1-9     Sermon Text God has called all of us to bless one another. It is God’s gift, community is God’s gift, and in God’s blessing. We had a wonderful retreat. Thank you for all the participants, your insights, opinions, stories, and sharing meant a lot. That was what made this retreat very unique and special. It was you who gave the message and thank you all for working so hard to make this retreat very special. We cried together, we laughed together, and we shared our stories together. We tasted what the Psalmist confessed, how very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity. We have realized how powerful it is to have meaningful interaction with other human beings, meaningful interaction with others. Living Together in Unity Yes, we can survive alone. We have no problem surviving alone. For many people, this is how they choose to live. Because it is such a headache to be with others, I’d rather want to live alone. They had a study, and then they made a r

Scripture Passage Isaiah 42:1-9   Sermon Text Today, as Steve prayed, we mourn for those who died in the airplane crash over Iran. As we read more, we realized that many of them were our neighbors. They’re our friends, coworkers, in this multicultural city and country that we call home. They were people just like us with their own personalities, hopes, and dreams. I was reading through the stories of those who died and I couldn’t help but be very moved. There were babies, children, teens, newlyweds, adults, students, and the whole spectrum of life. One teen, who was in high school, she loved to make YouTube videos. Another child, three years old, was looking forward to dressing up in an avocado costume because she loved avocados. Many were studying for a new life and career here in Canada. Dreams, hopes, laughter, joys, and love all snuffed out from the face of the earth in an instant. It’s all very tragic and senseless. Why did this happen? The Iranian government admitted yesterday that their military mista

Scripture Passage Jeremiah 31:7-14 Sermon Text As Simon said, we have 52 weeks in this year. Let us make 52 great offerings. Our worship is our offering to God. So 52 offerings, whether we do choir music or special music, sermon, prayer, we really put our effort into it. And then every Sunday becomes a very special Sunday, and we create beautiful worship together. Mostly from our heart, not just a performance, but from our heart, we just gather our hearts together and present it to God 52 times this year. Long time ago, the priests, to find the perfect fragrance, they try all kinds of weeds, all kinds of grasses, and they burn it. And they say, “No, this is not really the sweet fragrance that I want to give to God.” So they try many things and then finally find that grass and offer it, the sweet fragrance to God. In the same way, hopefully we can create that kind of worship service every Sunday, and 52 times. And that this year may be filled with a worshipful kind of year. And, as Simon said, please come 10

Scripture Passage Matthew 2:13-23   Sermon Text I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas. I love Christmas. For many of us, Christmas is a time of great happiness and connection with family and those closest to us. I’m sure for many of you, it’s a very busy time, but it’s a very, happy busyness. The birth of Jesus was the birth of good news and the birth of good news began with great joy and excitement. That’s why we celebrate Christmas with such joy and excitement. Wise men from the East far away had come all the way to find and look for baby Jesus. They bowed down in homage and presented find gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And they were filled with joy. Last week, Reverend Kim reflected on how the mystery of this good news was unlocked by faith when Joseph had faith in God’s voice to wed the pregnant Mary. But now that good news almost right away faced the threat of being destroyed. Today’s passage is quite disturbing. There’s tremendous danger, violence and uncertainty. The birth of good news was a

Scripture Passage Matthew 1:18-25   Sermon Text Today is Christmas Sunday. May God’s joy and peace be with you and with your family. I believe that Christmas itself is a mystery. It was a scandal that God came to us in a human form, especially to Jewish people who believed in monotheism, that there is only one God. It was a huge unacceptable scandal. So it was a mystery. Christmas itself is a mystery, but this mystery came to Joseph personally. Joseph encountered the situation where his fiance was pregnant when they didn’t have the relationship yet. Go back to 2000 years ago, put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. Joseph must have been really shocked and confused. Why is this happening to me? From the story self itself I realized that good news does not come to us in a nice and comfortable and acceptable way. It is good news, but when it comes to us, it doesn’t come to us in an easy, pleasant, or comfortable way. To Joseph, that good news did not come as good news. Rather, he came as a scary, shocking news. It didn

Scripture Passage Matthew 11:2-11   Sermon Text Today’s the third, Sunday of advent. On the third Sunday of advent, the theme is joy. Where do we get joy? Where do we get joy of life? When do we get joyful? When I watch sports games, I can see pure joy from the teams. The winning team’s faces, there’s just pure joy. When the Blue Jays won, I saw it. I still remember 1993. You probably some of you weren’t born then, in 1993. In the ninth inning, we were losing six to five because we lost five points in one inning and we were at two ball, two strike. Joe Carter came out and then he hit a three run home run and then finally we won that game. I still remember Joe Carter, leaping for joy that he was coming home. I could see pure joy on their faces. Victory, that gives us joy. Victory. Expectations of the Messiah The Israelites were thinking about victory as they were waiting for the Messiah. What kind of victory? Victory over Roman soldiers. Victory over the Romans who had colonized them. Even though they didn’t

Scripture Passage Isaiah 11:1-10 Sermon Text Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell“. The Psalmist also said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction“. The prophet Isaiah into today’s passage also said that his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. This is kind of strange statement isn’t it. Fear and delight, they don’t go together. When you fear you don’t delight and you’re happy you don’t fear, but somehow Isaiah put those two words together, delight and fear. I’m sure there is a deeper meaning in this. Fearing God seems to be an important quality in Judeo-Christian tradition. The Bible emphasizes the importance of fear of God. Hebrew prophets, including Isaiah seem to strongly emphasize the importance of the fear of God. Fear Only God You have to know the context. When Isaiah wrote this piece, Judah was invaded by the superpowers and the superpowers came in a

Scripture Passage Matthew 24:36-44 Sermon Text Today is the first day of December, and I think it’s a good sign that winter is coming. It’s the last month of 2019, and towards the end of the year, often we like to start thinking back on things and what changes we would like to make in the new year. But if you think about it, it’s often difficult to identify what’s happened in your life and how you’ve changed or been shaped over the past year. I think that’s the way our modern life is. We’re very busy and preoccupied with daily concerns, making ends meet, enjoying the company of others, focusing on our relationships and tending to our families. So things tend to be a blur. It takes some time to just think back on all the things that actually have happened in our lives. Preoccupation with Daily Concerns Jesus says this in today’s passage, “But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broke