Irvine Baptist Church | Oneway Ministry

Some people invest their life on things that have  no value. It could be because of a lack of understanding, wrong decision making or just following the wrong crowd. Jesus clearly said that one must work for things that will last for eternity — “what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mark 8:36). So how can we invest our life on things that will last forever?  The answer is very simple. It is by following Jesus Christ.  Following Jesus Christ is a long lasting investment. Of course, it might not be the easiest thing in life because it requires sacrifice. Many people will turn away from Jesus in order to keep a relationship, hold on to a sin, or stay on a career path. Knowing all these, Jesus warned His followers that they must deny themselves and even their loved ones in order to follow Him. As I meditate on this passage I am throwing these questions to myself and to you… “Am I willing to follow Jesus Christ?” “Do I know the cost of following Jesus Christ?” “Am I willing to pay the price?” My answer to all these questions is “YES.” I am sure we all want to say “YES” to Jesus. Regardless of the cost that we might have to pay and hardship that we might have to face, I am sure that we all want to say “YES” to Jesus. However, there will be time of uncertainty and doubt, pain and suffering, confusion and misunderstanding when we follow Jesus. But we want to say “YES” to our Lord Jesus because we know that it is the long lasting investment. We want to say “YES” to following Jesus because we get to see fruits at the end of our journey. So I am learning to develop a new perspective of following Jesus Christ. Now there is a sense of excitement. Although we might go through hardship or self sacrifice following Jesus Christ, it is going to be an exciting adventure. It is an exciting adventure because we get to experience Jesus’ grace and mercy in our lives. It is an exciting adventure because we will witness  radical transformation in our life and in the lives of those people that we relate to. Jesus is inviting all of us in this exciting adventure, right now. Are you ready?

The “inner person” is more important than success, and character is more important than achievement. Whether we are passing through a successful time in our life or going through a time of hardship, God wants us to be humble before Him. Why does God wants us to be humble? God uses our life events to shape and mold our personality to be humble, because humbleness is  one of the greatest characteristics. And God uses people who are humble. We react to all life evetns. We react to both good and bad incidents that happen in our lives by the way we express our feelings, choose a certain lifestyle, etc. What happens when unpredictable incidents occur in our lives?

In Genesis 37, Joseph in the Bible was going through an unpredictable life event and through that, he learned to be humble. He wasn’t a humble person by nature. Joseph was a very self centered, self righteous, and self praising person when he was under his father’s house. But when Joseph experienced hard life events, he learned to be humble. To be more correct, God utilized his life events to make him more humble. When Joseph learned humbleness, God exalted him and Joseph remembered to give the credit to God.

Whether we are happy for all the many good things happening in our lives or are sad for numerous struggles, let’s make sure to learn to be humble because God wants us to be humble. We need to realize that God is shaping and molding our inner person through our life events. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, be humble and “humble yourself under the mighty hands of God and at the right time he will lift you up in honor” (1Peter 5:6).

Wishing everyone blessings from our Lord Jesus Christ.

First off, thanks for your prayers! The Mexico mission team (all ten of us: Andy Shin, Jo Rhyoo, Brian Hong, Eunice Lee, Chris Son, Michael Zhu, Judie Hong, Markus Bruks, David Kim and Israel Kim) went to Tecate, Mexico for three days (Dec 22^nd-24^th). We served three different churches doing children ministry, adult ministry and putting on a Winter Family Festival. The weather was extremely cold at night, as we have expected. When we were done with our last ministry Friday night, it was already past 11:00 pm. By the time we had our super late night taco finale dinner it was already past midnight. Although we missed the comfort of Irvine it was worth those three days of hard work.  We were able to share Jesus Christ, who is the reason for this Christmas celebration. It was a meaningful time for all of us. The Mission team thanks you for your prayer and support!

Secondly, I pray that He will bring you hope and peace. He will make your life beautiful and plentiful. God sent His Son to us to bring salvation. Jesus Christ came to this world to become a peace offering for us and today we are celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a very special Christmas for me and my family because I have seen how God has been blessing my immediate family as well as my spiritual family. It is my deepest desire to see your life being filled with God’s blessing and peace.

As the book of Luke describes, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14) Let’s wish a happy birthday to our Lord Jesus Christ and celebrate His birth with those people that we love, while remembering that true peace comes from our Lord.

Few weeks ago I read an interesting facebook comment. It was about the Christmas season and it said, “…. in our family we are not exchanging Christmas gifts …” This friend and his family had decided  not to exchange Christmas gifts because they wanted to focus more on Jesus Christ himself, the True Gift. It is true that with the busyness of Christmas routines,  Jesus Christ, who is the center of Christmas celebration, can be forgotten. Every action that we make and every gesture that we give impacts our lives and others. And it is my desire for all of us to make a lasting impact that will create a healthy and sound culture of celebration, even as we prepare for Christmas.

As Christians we need to be mindful of what kind of legacy we are leaving and how we are shaping and molding our surrounding with our life expression. When God spoke to Joshua to prepare his people to take the promise land, He also asked them to educate their children. Verse 6 said,  ”In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them . . . These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:6b, 7). God asked them to educate their children about God’s mighty power and faithfulness. God also asked them to educate their children about His mercy and provision.

As growing Christians, what do you want to share this Christmas? What kind of impact do you want to make as you go through this season? There is a song that goes, “I wanna be a history maker in this land….” Brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s continue to make a long lasting impact in our surrounding; this is one of the best seasons to do it. Let us have ownership and responsibility of our actions. In this Christmas season, let’s express Jesus Christ by being less selfish, taking initiative, speaking truth with kindness, & accepting people who are different and sharing Jesus Christ to those who have never heard of His name. Let’s create a refreshing Christmas culture in our community of faith.