St Timothy Presbyterian Church

Scripture Passage Romans 8:14-17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script A Strong Anchor It is important to have an anchor in life. What is the anchor? The anchor is what holds us together no matter how strong the wind may be. A boat with a strong anchor will not be drifted away even though there is a strong wind. In the same way, when we have a strong anchor in life, we will not be drifted away when life's storms hit us. Last week, I received very difficult phone calls from all kinds of people. A person who just discovered she had cancer. A person whose marriage almost ended. A person who has a serious issue with her child. It all happened in one week. Life is not easy. Our circumstances are not always good and stable. I prayed for them. Do you know what I prayed for? Of course, I prayed for their problems to be resolved. But I also I prayed that they may have a strong anchor. I don't know how they are gonna handle all these problems they are facing right now. I felt for them. They need an anchor. What i

Scripture Passage Acts 16:16-34 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Culture in Christianity When you go to Europe, you will see so many beautiful churches and cathedrals. Their culture has been totally rooted and entrenched in Christianity. So many famous artists produced their master pieces with Christian ideas. So many genius musicians composed beautiful music with Christian themes. So many brilliant writers wrote wonderful books about spiritual ideas Jesus taught. Christianity has influenced the whole Europe. Politics, culture, art, architecture, and lifestyle. Do you know where it all started? It was at Philippi. It all began from Philippi. We read the story today. This story was the beginning of European mission. Philippi was the first city in Europe to receive Jesus' teaching through Paul. The entrance gate for the Europe mission. It was Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy who started the mission to Europe. The very first European Christian was a woman and her name was Lydia. She was a business woman

Scripture Passage John 5:1-9 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Beth-zatha Beth-zatha! Its meaning is house of mercy. But it wasn't really a merciful place. The pool had the reputation of healing people. That's why there were a lot of sick people. In these lay many invalids blind, lame, and paralysed. (John 5:3) Once in a while, an angel would come to the pool and stir up the water and if you went into the pool when the water was stirred up, you would be healed. But there was a condition. Only the first person who entered into the pool when the water was stirred up, would be healed. Imagine what would happen when the water was stirred up. Imagine how they lived their lives there. How they had treated each other every day. They could not be friends. They were competitors. It was not a merciful place. Only the best of the best could benefit the healing. Only one person who was the fastest could get the reward of healing. Is that mercy? Mercy – It is hard to understand the concept because we don't see

Scripture Passage Acts 11:1-18 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script What Peter Saw It is a very interesting story and a weird story. Many of you may not even understand what the issue is here. What's with these animals and eating them? Why was Peter so reluctant to eat them? There are a lot of questions to be answered. It is hard to make sense of this story unless you understand the culture of that time, 2000 years ago. But I won't go there. Peter was praying and he had this weird experience. I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. (Acts 11:5-6) I don't know exactly how Peter saw this. Was it a dream? Did he fall asleep while praying? Or did he have some kind of supernatural vision? We don't know. But that was what he saw. Not only he saw this wonderful

Scripture Passage Revelation 7:9-17 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script John’s Vision The passage we read is a beautiful vision of the future. Multitudes from all the nations worshiping God together. No more hunger or thirst. Every tear wiped away. What a vision! But this vision was far from the reality of the community that this letter was addressed to. John, the writer of Revelation, was writing to people going through great difficulties. They were under great pressure. They faced persecution because of their faith. They were weak and powerless politically, socially and economically. The world they lived in, the world as it was, was not a world that was favourable for them. In these undesirable circumstances, John had this vision of a very different future. It was so different from their present reality. It was a vision of faith. This is where I realized: faith is a vision for a different future. Faith is having a vision and belief that this future can come into being. The Hebrews writer said this:

Scripture Passage John 21:1-19 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Peter’s Pain Jesus asked Peter, Do you love me? Why did he ask this question? He could have said many other things but he asked only this one question three times. We automatically assume that he asked this question because Peter denied Jesus. Definitely, this must have been in Peter's mind. He connected Jesus' question with his denial. So when Jesus asked him the same question three times, Peter was hurt. He said to him the third time, Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, Do you love me?' (John 21:17) This question was a very difficult question to answer for Peter. A very uncomfortable question. He must have asked himself this question numerous times. Do I really love Jesus? If I do, how could I deny him, not just once but three times? What a coward that I am! Peter was going through a painful time. Deep sorrow and deep regret! When Jesus said, everyone will become a deserter,

Scripture Passage John 20:19-31 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script Honesty Thomas said, Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe. (John 20:25) He was very specific. He knew exactly the condition for his belief. He demanded this condition to be met before he said he would believe. Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was resurrected. Unfortunately, Thomas wasn't there. The other disciples told him that they saw the Lord. But that wasn't enough for Thomas. He needed to see Jesus with his own eyes. He needed to feel him with his own hands. I can understand how he felt. He could not pretend that he believed when he did not have this conviction. He was honest. I think there is a lesson for us to learn. Honesty is the first step of faith. Honesty is where our spiritual journey begins. Fake Faith Faith is not something you can fake. Faith is not something you can pretend to have. What is the use of it even if

Scripture Passage Isaiah 65:17-25 Worship Video Worship Audio Sermon Script The Importance of Easter HAPPY EASTER! May God fill you with hope on this Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is the most important day of the year for many Christians. It may not be the most fun day. It is not like Christmas. During Christmas, we see bright lights, sing carols, and exchange gifts. Easter is not like that but it is the most meaningful and important day. Easter is the season of welcoming new life. Long winter is now almost over and spring is on the way. Flowers are budding. New life is beginning. We are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not only the resurrection of Jesus Christ we celebrate, we also celebrate the resurrection of ourselves. This is what St. Paul said. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:11) There is the Spirit within us. That is the same Spir

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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