WEBVTT 00:00:00.430 --> 00:00:03.350 We have a wonderful opportunity here from Reverend 00:00:03.350 --> 00:00:05.730 Chris Yang who will be sharing with us a bit 00:00:05.730 --> 00:00:08.150 about his ministry and to share the Word of God 00:00:08.150 --> 00:00:17.489 with us this morning In the name of Jesus For 00:00:17.489 --> 00:00:23.769 people who know something about communism the 00:00:23.769 --> 00:00:27.269 picture painted here in today's first reading 00:00:27.789 --> 00:00:33.210 Acts chapter 2 verse 42 through 47 Reminds them 00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:38.490 of people's commune life on their mall or to 00:00:38.490 --> 00:00:44.409 some people of European descent the utopian communities 00:00:44.409 --> 00:00:49.469 in the 19th century in Europe and in the United 00:00:49.469 --> 00:00:56.409 States The Bible certainly does not promote communism 00:00:56.409 --> 00:01:00.479 here But why does God not only allow this to 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:05.560 happen in this time of history, but write it 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:09.000 in the Bible and put it in such a positive way? 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.700 To answer this question, we have to think in 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:18.599 light of what had just happened and connect to 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:23.540 the overall picture of the mission of God to 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:29.269 save sinners. Remember. We are still in the Easter 00:01:29.269 --> 00:01:33.769 season. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. 00:01:34.069 --> 00:01:40.390 Hallelujah Right after Peter preached that this 00:01:40.390 --> 00:01:44.730 Jesus whom you crucified God has made him both 00:01:44.730 --> 00:01:48.109 Lord and Christ by raising him up and therefore 00:01:48.109 --> 00:01:53.730 losing pounds of death on the first Pentecost 00:01:54.060 --> 00:01:58.640 People were baptized and 3 ,000 souls were added 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:03.640 to the church. The Holy Spirit descending from 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:09.520 heaven on the disciples enabled them to do many 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:15.039 wonders and signs. Though this was a one -of 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:18.860 -a -kind event and part of God's mission in his 00:02:18.860 --> 00:02:22.860 salvation history, the principles that God is 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:28.770 telling us here can apply to anytime, in any 00:02:28.770 --> 00:02:34.490 place. Therefore, instead of mimicking the form 00:02:34.490 --> 00:02:38.409 of communal life as communists did and failed, 00:02:39.050 --> 00:02:42.949 we need to ask the right questions, such as, 00:02:43.310 --> 00:02:47.250 for what purpose did God make it happen and write 00:02:47.250 --> 00:02:52.330 about it? And what can we learn from all these? 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:58.370 It is true that one of the main impressions that 00:02:58.370 --> 00:03:03.430 you will have when you read this reading is a 00:03:03.430 --> 00:03:07.449 shared everyday life of a community described 00:03:07.449 --> 00:03:12.289 in words like fellowship, together, in common, 00:03:13.150 --> 00:03:19.830 all, and day by day. However, besides possessions 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:25.080 and belongings that they shared, First and foremost 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:29.199 is that they devoted themselves to the Apostles 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:33.539 teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:40.860 bread and the prayers What is this? This is a 00:03:40.860 --> 00:03:47.000 life of a church By this time Jesus had resurrected 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.860 from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:54.419 and by the same spirit Jesus has just established 00:03:54.419 --> 00:03:59.539 the Church with more powers and wonders. Now, 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:04.360 the Bible is to show us what the main elements 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:08.680 of a Christian Church are through the life of 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:13.180 early Church Christians. The Apostles' teaching 00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:17.660 is basically the Word of God by the testimony 00:04:17.660 --> 00:04:21.839 of the Apostles with interpretation of the Old 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:26.709 Testament in light of Jesus Christ and his cross 00:04:26.709 --> 00:04:32.250 to tell us God's salvation plan that was ordained 00:04:32.250 --> 00:04:37.410 before the foundation of the world. Last Sunday 00:04:37.410 --> 00:04:41.610 we learned that Jesus taught the disciples how 00:04:41.610 --> 00:04:45.189 to read the Old Testament beginning with Moses 00:04:45.189 --> 00:04:48.189 and all the prophets Jesus interpreted to them 00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:53.269 in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 00:04:53.930 --> 00:04:58.370 Now from Peter's sermon we see that Jesus' death 00:04:58.370 --> 00:05:01.490 and resurrection to conquer sin and death has 00:05:01.490 --> 00:05:07.970 become the core message of the church. Breaking 00:05:07.970 --> 00:05:11.949 of the bread is the holy communion of Christ's 00:05:11.949 --> 00:05:16.370 body and blood for the forgiveness of sins that 00:05:16.370 --> 00:05:20.449 is shared by all members of a Christian community. 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:26.480 The fellowship is the communion of sins confessed 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:31.319 in the Apostles' Creed. The prayers are the prayers 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:33.879 of the Church to God the Father through Jesus 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:39.180 Christ. These are the fundamental elements of 00:05:39.180 --> 00:05:43.079 a Christian Church that stand on Christ Jesus 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:47.540 and his justification of sinners so that people 00:05:47.540 --> 00:05:52.579 in him can have a life they shall never die. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:58.660 Secondly, they did have all things in common 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:01.519 by setting their possessions and belongings and 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:06.660 distributing the process to all as any had need. 00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:11.860 This reflected the selfless love that the church 00:06:11.860 --> 00:06:15.040 members had toward one another and their care 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:19.220 for the needy. The sacrificial love of God that 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:23.379 they just experienced from the cross Christ compelled 00:06:23.379 --> 00:06:27.279 them and They remembered what Jesus had told 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:32.959 them before going to the cross Love one another 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:39.279 as I have loved you The following verses explain 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:44.079 exactly that the reason that they loved one another 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.379 was that they were fed with Jesus word and his 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:52.120 body and blood. Having received abundantly from 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:56.360 Christ, they thankfully, willingly, and joyfully 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:59.899 share with one another the love of God and the 00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:03.259 abundant life that they have in Christ Jesus. 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:08.980 Verse 46 and 47 read, day by day, attending the 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:12.620 temple together and breaking bread in their homes, 00:07:12.899 --> 00:07:16.389 they receive their food with glad and generous 00:07:16.389 --> 00:07:19.730 hearts, praising God and having favor with all 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:24.850 the people. The purpose of the commune life of 00:07:24.850 --> 00:07:28.689 early church Christians is to show that their 00:07:28.689 --> 00:07:33.790 generosity comes from contentment and thankfulness 00:07:33.790 --> 00:07:38.050 of receiving the new life that God has given 00:07:38.050 --> 00:07:45.079 them in Christ Jesus our Lord. abundant life 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:49.360 increases even more when the Lord added to their 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:53.980 number day by day those who are being saved because 00:07:53.980 --> 00:07:58.339 of their favor with God and all the people. As 00:07:58.339 --> 00:08:02.920 Jesus continued his mission to save sinners through 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:07.459 the church by being with them, feeding and leading 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:16.149 them. The abundant life in Christ Jesus is exactly 00:08:16.149 --> 00:08:21.170 what the Good Shepherd has promised us. Today 00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:25.310 as we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday we give 00:08:25.310 --> 00:08:28.670 thanks to God in Christ Jesus who feeds us and 00:08:28.670 --> 00:08:33.549 leads us to the abundant life in himself. He's 00:08:33.549 --> 00:08:37.129 not only the Good Shepherd but also the door 00:08:37.129 --> 00:08:41.379 of sheep. His mission is not only to forgive 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:44.899 us our sins but also to open the door of heaven 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:50.740 to all who believe to give dying humanity a life 00:08:50.740 --> 00:08:57.179 on dying and To lead us the way worship to the 00:08:57.179 --> 00:09:01.919 green pasture of eternal life As he says in today's 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:05.919 gospel reading I am the door if anyone enters 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:09.529 by me he will be saved and will go in and out 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:13.990 and find pasture. I came that they may have life 00:09:13.990 --> 00:09:21.830 and have it abundantly. In the stewardship of 00:09:21.830 --> 00:09:27.190 a Christian living, people instead of abundant 00:09:27.190 --> 00:09:31.950 thinking, people tend to have a deficit thinking, 00:09:32.389 --> 00:09:36.049 meaning to think of managing what God has given 00:09:36.049 --> 00:09:41.149 us especially money as a zero -sum game. Namely, 00:09:41.470 --> 00:09:46.710 when giving, for one to be blessed, someone else 00:09:46.710 --> 00:09:53.409 has to suffer. This is a sin in Christian stewardship. 00:09:54.289 --> 00:09:57.370 It is a sin because not only do they distrust 00:09:57.370 --> 00:10:01.230 the Good Shepherd Jesus' ability to feed us, 00:10:01.409 --> 00:10:04.720 but more importantly, they place their hope in 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:09.779 God's creation rather than God as creator. They 00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:12.559 desire material things to sacrifice their souls 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:17.740 instead of the water and the bread of life from 00:10:17.740 --> 00:10:24.580 heaven. Somewhere in our hearts, we have false 00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:28.860 gods of power, status, security, or influence. 00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:33.360 That's why in times of trials and tribulations, 00:10:33.629 --> 00:10:37.370 They would rather complain or even grumble against 00:10:37.370 --> 00:10:41.029 God than trust in him still for his goodness 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:45.169 to feed us and for his wonderful plan to lead 00:10:45.169 --> 00:10:51.929 us all the way to eternal life. So what do we 00:10:51.929 --> 00:10:55.649 learn today? We learn that the life together 00:10:55.649 --> 00:10:59.909 as Christians is not about what kind of political 00:10:59.909 --> 00:11:03.750 system or ideology you have. It's about Christians 00:11:03.750 --> 00:11:07.549 gathering around the world and sacraments to 00:11:07.549 --> 00:11:11.450 be fed and led by Jesus. It's not about sharing 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:14.669 one's possessions, but sharing the love and the 00:11:14.669 --> 00:11:19.649 generosity of God in our good shepherd. It's 00:11:19.649 --> 00:11:22.830 about trusting in His grace and mercy that at 00:11:22.830 --> 00:11:26.230 every time, in every place, Jesus will feed us 00:11:26.230 --> 00:11:30.990 and lead us in any circumstance. He will also 00:11:30.990 --> 00:11:34.620 protect us. from the devil and the sinful world 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:38.220 of evil men who try to destroy us, snatch us 00:11:38.220 --> 00:11:42.440 from Jesus and scatter his sheep. Because Jesus 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:47.019 is not only God, but also the good shepherd who 00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:51.860 lays down his life for the sheep. By laying down 00:11:51.860 --> 00:11:56.120 his life on the cross, Jesus has already defeated 00:11:56.120 --> 00:12:00.480 the devil and death by rising up again to give 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:06.419 us abundant life that shall never die. I pray 00:12:06.419 --> 00:12:09.539 that the Good Shepherd Jesus will feed you and 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:13.679 lead you all the way to life everlasting. Amen. 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:19.080 May the peace of God that surpasses all on standing 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:22.320 guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.