God who Works All Things for Good (Rom. 8:26-30)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” The title of today’s worship is, “God who Works All Things for Good.” Last week, when we read through Romans, it said that all creation is yearning, that they are being conquered and they are suffering, and that even those who have received the Holy Spirit are groaning. Even though we want to live according to God’s will, there is something else living inside of us, preventing that; therefore, we suffer. Even though Apostle Paul was an apostle who proclaimed the gospel, he himself confessed that there are two laws inside of him—one where he wants to follow the will of God, but there is a law of sin and death that drags him otherwise.
1. Holy Spirit
1) Our weakness (Rom. 8:26)
In today’s scripture, it says that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us through wordless groans. So, wherever we look, we see groaning, this groaning means that there is something we want to do, but it’s not taking place. We want to live our lives according to God’s will, but there is something inside of us that drags us in a direction that we don’t want to go. Then, what is our weakness? You have to understand the weakness of mankind to understand yourself and others. Can a person just be strong? No, the Bible says we are weak. What exactly is that weakness? And on the other hand, what is strength, then? God is strong, and we can only be strong when we are attached to God. So, what does it mean that humans are weak? It means we are not attached to God. We need to live with the strength of living with our Lord, but we have been separated.
(1) Fleshly desires (Rom. 8:5, Eph. 2:3, Gal. 5:16)
When we are separated from God, we want to live for our own physical desires. That is the weakness and the problem of all humans. The problems we have in our lives are not anything else; the true problem is, there is something inside of us that wants to separate from God. For some people, it takes them one day to realize this, for others, it might take their whole life. When God created mankind, why did He make us into such tremendous beings? God made us in His image to be with God spiritually. If you don’t understand this, there is no other method that will work for you because when God created mankind, He created them spiritually to be with Him. And when that God is with us, then He will be revealed through us. That is the strength we are talking about.
Then, God blessed us, and this word, “blessing,” also means, “to worship and praise and kneel.” The blessings people think about are always physical and that’s how we try to interpret the Bible. The Bible says, yes, those are blessings, but there are blessings that come before. God gives us the spiritual blessing when we are within His Word and prayer, and the result of that life is to be fruitful, abundant, to rule over and subdue creation. “Being fruitful” means you will give birth to people who have the life of God. “Abundant” means that the numbers will grow. “Fill the earth” means that there will be people of God all over the earth, and when Jesus Christ resurrected, He told His disciples to go to the ends of the earth, to go to all nations and to fill them with the abundance of the gospel. Then, we receive His power and authority to rule over and subdue. If you’re separated from God, you will be conquered by money, people, and circumstances; that is the weakness of people. On the other hand, if God is with us and we are filled with spiritual blessings, then we are bound to rule over and subdue creation. In other words, instead of chasing after all those things, they follow after us. This is the principle with which God works through humans, but the world tells you that you are God and that you should live following your desires and greed.
(2) Thoughts, heart, emotions, body – Disobedient to God
So, even though the Holy Spirit of God lives within us, our thoughts, our heart, our emotions are trying to go away from God. So all of our thoughts are not aligned with God, our thoughts are not aligned with God’s Word. The thoughts of the Holy Spirit are life and peace, but we keep having physical thoughts which take us to death. So, even our heart is not aligned with the heart of God, and even our emotions, the things that make us smile, are wrong; even our sadness is incorrect. Jesus hurts and cries for the people in the field who are dying without the gospel, but we only get sad for ourselves. In other words, the Holy Spirit of God lives inside of us, but our thoughts, our heart, and our emotions are not aligned with God, and that is why our physical bodies are running the errands of disobedience that are not aligned with God.
(3) Slave of Satan
Ultimately, Satan makes us deceived through those things.
2) Holy Spirit helps (Rom. 8:26)
(1) Don’t know what we ought to pray for (Rom. 8:26)
Then, the Lord knows our weaknesses, so, the Lord helps us, and sometimes we don’t know what we ought to pray for. This doesn’t mean that we are not able to pray; it means we don’t pray according to God’s will.
(2) Spirit’s wordless groans (Rom. 8:26)
So even our prayers are only for our physical desires, we don’t pray the prayer God wants, and that is why the Holy Spirit inside of us helps our prayers. Even when we pray, we only pray to get what we want, “Oh, help me buy a house, please take care of my kids, make me healthy,” not even 1% of that is aligned with God, so the Holy Spirit knows this and helps our weakness.
(3) Spirit intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26)
The Holy Spirit intercedes for us through wordless groans.
3) One who searches our hearts – God
(1) Knows the mind of the Spirit (Rom. 8:27)
Rom. 8:27 says He searches our hearts, that’s God. God knows the center core of our heart. Heb. 4:12 says that the Word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of our heart. People cannot know the heart of other people, but God does know our heart, and God is the one who searches our hearts. So, no matter what you look like externally, if your inner state is not aligned with God, then you are not aligned with God. Even though you’re here in worship, your spirit must be aligned with God, and what does that mean? It means you must be aligned with His Word, because the Word is God and the Word has the power of creation, the Word has the power to heal our spirit, mind, and body, and the Word came as flesh, and that is Jesus Christ.
(2) Holy Spirit – Accordance with the will of God (Rom. 8:27)
We were originally not aligned with God, and that is why He Who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit. The Spirit, the Holy Spirit, knows God’s will. If we want to know God’s will, then we must be aligned with God’s Spirit; that is why the Holy Spirit intercedes for God’s people.
(3) Intercedes for God’s people (Rom. 8:27)
Even though we pray for the incorrect things, the Holy Spirit inside of us intercedes for us, so eventually our prayers change. What is God’s will, then? It is to believe in Jesus Christ to gain eternal life, to be filled with life, and to relay life. Jesus Christ, Who is the life. So believing in faith is God’s will, and for this will of God, the Holy Spirit intercedes for our prayers.
2. Those who love God
1) Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5)
(1) God’s love (Rom. 5:5)
“For the good of those who love God.” Before we loved God, God loved us first.
(2) Poured out into our hearts (Rom. 5:5)
Rom. 5:5 says that God’s love has been poured out into our hearts, so God pours His love into our hearts with His Holy Spirit first. So we receive God’s love, that is how we’re able to love God. Love flows from top down, and the one who has love can flow that love to those who do not, and God’s love is God Himself for God is love; God Himself is life.
(3) We love God (Rom. 8:28)
That love is continuously poured into our hearts, that’s how we change. Naturally, we do not love God, but we slowly change to love God. By loving God, our lives slowly change in the direction of loving other people. “Oh, I used to hate this person, but after time passed, it changed.” The Bible tells us to love our enemies but that’s not possible. I was enemies with God, but the love of God has broken that and restored the relationship, so now I can love other people.
2) God’s will (Rom. 8:28)
(1) Those who have been called (Rom. 8:28)
In today’s scripture, it says, “For those who have been called according to His will,” the members of the church who have been called according to His will, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
(2) All things (Rom. 8:28)
So, “In all things,” meaning, things that make you happy or sad, your mental problems, depression, traumas and shocks, all things, God works for the good of those who love Him. That is the way God leads us from within. When we lead our own lives, we have no choice but to be a slave to Satan.
(3) Works for the good (Rom. 8:28)
However, God is guiding us towards good. Then, what exactly is good?
3) For those God foreknew (Rom. 8:29)
(1) Predestined – Chosen before creation (Rom. 8:29, Eph. 1:4)
Eph. 2:10 says that, for we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good work, which God has prepared for us in advance to do. Only God is good, only the gospel is good; the Triune God is good. When human beings decide what is good or evil, we are centered on ourselves, “That person is my enemy because they gave me a scar, or, that person is so good because they helped me,” but God is different, God Himself is good. After human beings ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they acted as if they were God, deciding what is good and bad. We are not able to discern what is good or bad. That is the authority that only God can have.
Phil. 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.” Through salvation, He has started a good work in us, and He will complete that work of salvation. Acts 10:7-9 says that God has begun a good work and has healed people, meaning they received the gospel, so we must stake our entire lives on this gospel and become people of the gospel. Our minds, our emotions, and our will are not aligned with God, but God changes those. Ultimately, He reveals His goodness to save all peoples through us.
Why did I have to experience the things of my past, and why am I here today? God works in all things for His good purpose of revealing His gospel to the world. The good work is not from a human perspective; it is what God deems good. There is nothing that is good other than the gospel. In other words, there is nothing good other than God, and that is the kind of people we change into. Then, through us, God’s goodness is revealed to the world. This is how you must organize your life’s past, present, and future through God’s Word. If you don’t align your life to what God deems good, your scars will stay scars. “Why did I get so scarred? Why did you make me go through this in my past? Where was God when this happened? Is God so weak that He made this person die of a disease?” But you’re saying things that don’t make sense, the goodness that you want is only something that helps you. Everyone is bound to die once, but you’re here, arguing with God, “Why did you make this person die of a disease now? If I were God, I would not have done this.” That’s evil, humans can never be good, isn’t that right? You have to acknowledge that in order to receive the goodness of God. When your faith is young, you don’t know, but the more you live your walk of faith, the more you realize, there’s not even 1% of me that is good. The apostle Paul testifies of the gospel, “I am a sinner of all sinners, I was a sinner even in my mother’s womb, I’m fundamentally a sinner.” But I think there is something good in me? That’s a misconception, and because of my misconception, my human relationships break. People fight because they think, “I’m good and that person is wrong,” and people get afflicted because they think, “I’m doing something good, why are you doing something bad?” So all of that comes from our misjudgment. We ourselves cannot be good people. The Holy spirit must guide us and work upon us to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
If you do not acknowledge God’s absolute sovereignty, you cannot heal your scars, and if your scars are not healed, then your mental problems are not healed. The problems you’re suffering with, addictions or depression, cannot be healed because every single problem comes from a state of being separated from God. My Spirit must become united with the Spirit of God, but we have become separated. Because we are divided from God, we are obsessed about something else. We become obsessed with money or our fears and worries, we are obsessed with success. There is a difference between being obsessed with success and being successful. Satan is so subtle and wily, he says, “Of course you do need to succeed,” and he makes you obsessed. “Yes, you do have to make money,” and Satan makes you obsessed, but you can’t discern because it seems very similar.
“Pastor Park, of course you have to live diligently, how is that a sin?” but if your spirit is concentrating on the Spirit of God, then God will do the work and you do not have to worry about your future; you don’t have to be so obsessed about the scars of your past. You don’t have to be so obsessed about the tremendous things that happened in your past. Even going beyond obsession, we enter into addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, gaming. This is the problem of America today. No matter how advanced our society becomes morally, ethically, scientifically, or academically, we cannot solve our problem when we’re divided from God. Whatever problem you’re talking about is not the real problem. You’re looking at the problem incorrectly so you’re being seized by Satan. What does God say is a problem? That we are separated from God’s Spirit. We must be united with God’s Spirit to receive His guidance, but you keep living for your own greed and desires, then your state of division will lead into obsession and addiction.
And you must worship in spirit and in truth. Sitting here physically is not really worship; you must worship with the Spirit of God. Our spirit concentrates on the Spirit of God. Failing in worship means you are concentrating on something else. You’re sitting here in worship, asking God to fix your problem, that kind of state is not victory in worship. We need to concentrate on God, but instead, we’re obsessed about fixing our problem, so there’s so much anger inside of us. You have to watch your facial expression, but it’s in your heart, still. Then, people try to cover it up with makeup, but there’s so much anger inside of us that it comes out through our skin. Nowadays, even though people get up to 60 or 70 years old, their skin looks like they’re in their 20s. I think they put something into their skin, because when you age, you’re supposed to get wrinkly, but it’s all still so plump, and it’s the men, too.
There was a Korean festival last night and I ran into somebody I used to play sports with. He doesn’t go to church but I noticed his skin looks so firm, and it’s strange because he’s so old. Then there was someone else who’s almost 70 years old, but their skin is still so firm, and I’m wondering, “What are they eating?” Yes, it’s possible they have a really good diet and maybe their heart has peace, but I think it’s because they’re putting something into their skin. However, the state of their heart, people can hear it with their ears and see it with their eyes. If your heart is filled with life, then that life will flow out through your veins, so all the things that people see and hear and feel from us, that’s our evangelism. All you’re doing is talking but life comes out of you. Your decisions and actions reveal the life of God. But you take away the life of God and you’re trying to do something by yourself? Then, it will not work.
In all things, God fulfills His good work, so look forward to that. The God Who lives inside of us never gives up on us. People may give up on people, but God never gives up on us. God holds onto us and guides us to heaven until the very end. Whatever you’re afflicted by, it’s because you’re obsessed with it. “Oh, that person, what they said and did to me,” you’re obsessed with that. “What did you say to me? How could you do that to me?” Instead of concentrating on God, you keep on focusing on that. But if a person is strong, they just pass by those things, but if you are weak, then you will be caught in something you just heard passing by. If you’re so physically weak and your muscles are lacking, even if someone bumps into you, you fall, and then you’re saying, “I fell because someone bumped into me,” and yes, that might be true, but it was because you’re lacking strength. If you’re strong, even if someone bumps into you, it doesn’t affect you, you can keep walking. If we are spiritually strong, then even if some incident happens, we think, “I wonder what God’s plan is.”
However, if you’re spiritually weak, you’re more focused on the physical things, so when you face a problem, you think, “Oh, this is a problem.” Then all of your senses are used to solve this problem. You use humanism, you try to use your cunning brain, and then when you get stressed, you revert to your old ways, “Oh, today was such a stressful day, let me go drink some alcohol,” but is that going to solve anything? Fundamentally, spiritually, you must be strong. If you are spiritually strong, then you will think the thoughts of the Spirit, and the thoughts of the Spirit are life and peace. Of course you should think the thoughts of life and peace, then those are the thoughts of God, then we must think of God in this problem and circumstance. What is God’s plan? But instead of thinking about God, we think of the physical things, “I need to solve this quickly, this is going to destroy my life,” that is death; we must think of the thoughts of the Spirit, it is life and peace, and what are the thoughts of the Spirit? The thoughts of God. So we must align with God. Why am I sitting here today? Because we must align with God. What are God’s thoughts, what is God’s plan? When we are aligned with that, then we receive answers. Then, we are overflowing with life and peace. Nothing else will work, you must align your life with God. Whatever happened in your past, align it with God’s will, why did He allow that? It doesn’t matter how much you worry about the future, you cannot change it. However, if you are aligned with the fact that God is guiding your future, then your thoughts will be filled with life and peace.
(2) Conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29)
Rom. 8:29, it says, “Those who God foreknew.” What does it mean, “God foreknew?” Eph. 1:4 says that He has chosen us from long ages past. Before we were even created, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit decided to save us already. He also predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. So we who have received salvation were already chosen and called by God in advance. “Well, if God has already chosen and decided everything, then I guess we can just sit still and let God do everything, right?” But we don’t know who God has chosen in advance, and because we don’t know, we proclaim the gospel to all. From our perspective, it might seem like we made the decision to believe in God, but we’re only able to do that because God chose us for salvation, so from God’s perspective, it is already decided. Then we are looking from our perspective. We don’t know who has already been chosen, they receive grace from God, and because we don’t know who has been chosen by God, we proclaim the gospel to everyone, why? To be conformed to the image of His Son, the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
(3) Transformed into his image which comes from the Lord’s Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18)
Jesus Christ is the image of God, then what is the image of God? He looks like a human, Jesus Christ came as a human; however, He is completely God. We are not God, we are humans, however, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. That is how we’ve been called as the image of God. We are not God; we are the image of God. According to God’s will, God’s will is revealed and fulfilled through us. So, even though the image of God is supposed to be revealed through us, our thoughts, emotions, and heart are so corrupted by Satan. Even though God’s image should be revealed through our spirit, thoughts, and mind, we are stuck here. That is why the Holy Spirit must control our thoughts, our emotions, and our will, so that we can change into the image of God.
3. Spiritual growth – Image of Christ
1) Suffering
(1) Family
In order to be changed into the image of God, we go through suffering on this earth. Why do people suffer? Why do things not go according to our plans? God allows that to happen. If God is real, then why am I suffering? Why is my family suffering? There’s a reason for it. God is giving us this suffering so that it may be a footstool for our spiritual maturity. Let’s say two people get married but they don’t get along. Of course, they wouldn’t get along, but if you think that they do get along, that’s abnormal. Nonbelievers think that marriage is paradise, but after about three months, it changes into hell. What is this person’s definition of paradise or hell? It’s all centered on themselves, and they dream based on their physical desires, based on their plans, “if I get married, I’ll be happy.” However, when you actually get married and live together, there are so many things that are not aligned. “This is not the marriage I dreamt of.” Then what is marriage? It is whatever I decided, but why does God make a family? Of course we don’t get along. If you think they do get along, then that’s abnormal. There is nobody who gets along perfectly, I don’t even get along with myself, I don’t even know why I think what I think. But you think you can get along with your spouse? That’s a lie, it’s so hard, it’s very difficult.
(2) World
Why did God allow this? Does He lack strength? No, through this, look to God so that you can change into a person of God. Otherwise, we would never look to God; if you and your spouse get along perfectly, you would never look to God, because that means, we have to compromise 50-50, so the couple is that, half of me joins with half of the other and we become one. However, if you have to empty 50% of yourself to contain 50% of the other person, it’s so hard. Especially the demon of America has made us have the nature of individualism, so that making a family is so difficult. What is individualism? I don’t want to live a free life, doing whatever I want. So, you love your life wanting to do whatever you want and then you get married and you can no longer do that? That’s why it’s hard. Then you say, “Oh, I don’t get along with that person,” but there’s not a single person you can get along with because we don’t even get along with God. We don’t even get along with our parents. If they are good to me, then I’ll pretend we get along, but if they mistreat me, I’ll separate. Then, we have no choice but to suffer, and that is why we must look to God.
(3) Mental, physical – Suffering
Through this suffering, we are spiritually maturing. Some people think, “Why do my spouse and I do not get along even though I believe in Jesus?” That’s normal, if you get along with your spouse, that’s crazy. You shouldn’t. You don’t get along, but instead, you align with each other on the standard of God. All of our thoughts, emotions, and our will, they don’t get along with each other. One person laughs at something and the other doesn’t and they think, “Why aren’t you laughing?”
However, when we look to God, then our spiritual state begins to change. Then, we begin to change into the image of God. Through your suffering, your spiritual state becomes healthy. So, suffering is actually a stepping stone to spiritually mature. This entire world suffering, all of these people who don’t get along have to work together, people don’t even get along inside of the church, and we should not; we should be aligned with God’s Word. So people don’t understand families, there’s not a single person who gets along with you at work. There’s no one who aligns with you at church. All you have to do is realize there is no one who aligns with you. Through this, you align yourself to God, then when you’re aligned with God, even if other people aren’t aligned with you, it doesn’t matter. In the past, when people didn’t align with you, you wanted to force them to align with you, there’s no one who would do that. Even animals will not align with you, they only pretend when you’re feeding them. If you stop feeding them, they will no longer listen to you, that’s the entire creation, so you need to quickly come to your senses, but you have such a naive heart that you keep on getting fooled by Satan. Our spiritual state must be reigned over by Christ. I died on the cross with Christ, and now, the life of Christ lives within me, that spiritual state. In order to establish that Spiritual state, God is allowing us to suffer, so that the life of Christ will control me. In the past, I wanted that person to control and help me, but now, I only rely on Christ. In the past, I wanted to use that person’s strength to help me, but God says no, I must only live with the strength of Christ. Then, you will be okay no matter what problem you face, if you have a mental problem, disease, or poverty, because it’s not a problem. “This is a problem; how could you say it’s not?” That’s something that can be solved when one thing is solved.
2) Spiritual state
If our spiritual state changes, then those things will no longer be a problem for us. The moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit of knowledge of good and evil and were separated from God was the beginning of all problems, from that point on, the eyes they saw this changed, instead of seeing through the eyes of God, they looked through the eyes of their physical desires, and they wanted to eat the fruit but God’s eyes says, “You must not eat it,” and when Satan deceived them, they thought they could eat it. From that point on, the eyes they saw with changed, and they saw it was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. They changed into a state where their eyes have no choice but to reach for the alcohol. It was a state of spiritual separation from God. Then, they were filled with fear.
Before that point, they were never afraid, Adam said, “I was naked, I was afraid, so I hid.” Then, is it true that they were afraid because they were naked? No, they were afraid because they were separated from God. Because their spirit left God’s Spirit, they didn’t look through the spiritual eyes, but through the physical eyes. That’s why we have mental problems, that’s why we get obsessed and are addicted. But if you change in the direction to concentrate on God, then it’s no longer a problem. When you come to church, you must properly understand and enjoy this gospel. Religion is asking God to solve this problem. Adam and Eve were in a spiritual state that is separated from God and they were praying for God to solve their fears—that’s a religion. Then, Adam and Eve started hating each other and blaming each other, and they’re praying for God to solve their marital problems. Even if God solves that problem, there are other problems.
Then what must we do? We must return to God, then the eyes with which you see will no longer see problems, and you’ll no longer be ashamed or embarrassed. From that point on, there’s no need for you to fight with or blame your spouse. All you have to do is follow God’s Word. So this entire world is filled with lies. Instead of trying to solve the fundamental problems of all problems, they try to solve other problems, but that makes more problems. Le’ts say you try to solve your alcoholism with your own strength, and you can stop your drug addiction, too, but the devil does not flee. If your spiritual state is not restored to being with God, then even if the demon of addiction flees, another evil spirit comes. You’ll change from being addicted to alcohol to being addicted to shopping or addicted to spending money. It’s because, fundamentally, your spiritual state has not changed. I’m not saying the programs of the world do not have meaning; I’m saying they do not have the fundamental solution.
(1) Christ is the master (Gal. 2:20)
(2) Kingdom of Christ – Rule over life (Mt. 6:33)
If you’re a Christian in the church, it means your spiritual state must change, that’s why Christ finished everything on the cross and lives within us as the Holy Spirit of Life. Therefore, first pray for the Kingdom of Christ to be established in me first, that’s why He said, “First seek God’s Kingdom,” just as your spirit gets along well, may you be healthy and all things may go well. If you don’t pray for your spiritual state to be restored, but you keep asking God to solve all these problems, that’s a religion. You must escape from religion because you may as well be a Buddhist, you’re just using the name of Jesus. “If God is alive, how could He give us this problem?” God is giving you that problem because He is alive and so that you can look to God, so that you can change your spiritual state. God wants our spiritual state to change first, then everything else we do will be within God’s work and guidance.
(3) Provide life – Mission
Matthew 6:33 says that when you seek God’s Kingdom and righteousness first, then everything else will follow. There’s no need to chase after your money or your problems, God will guide it forward, that is how you can share and reveal this life to others. When you wake up in the morning, you must conquer the morning. There was a CEO and President of Hyundai, and he said, “I conquer the morning. When I wake up in the morning, I strengthen my body and my mind,” he says, “I wake up earlier than everybody else, and if my work starts at 7am, I prepare two hours in advance.” Even if one day, there’s no difference, in ten years, he’ll be ten years ahead of everyone else. That’s the knowledge and logic of a nonbeliever. Jesus Christ also conquered the morning, He prayed at the break of dawn. We need to have this morning time where we ask God to conquer us so that we will no longer live according to our will but live according to the will of God. As we do this, one, two, three days, in a year, you’ll be ahead of everybody else. This is true for those who are physically successful but also those who have spiritual success.
3) Those he predestined (Rom. 8:30)
(1) Called
(2) Justified
(3) Glorified
Finally, those who He predestined He also called, and those He called He justified, and those He justified, he also glorified. That, through His resurrection, He has already solved the problems of our past. If He has started salvation in us, then He has already finished everything. For us, that’s the future, but for God, He used the past tense, that means God will carry it out. Christ will always be with us and will guide us with the Holy Spirit’s work and guidance to save others and reveal His glory. You shouldn’t have expectations of yourself; you’ll only be disappointed. If you have expectations of people, you’ll be disappointed. Only rely on Christ Who is inside of you, He is God and He is all powerful and He has endless love, He never betrays, and He fulfills exactly according to His will. May we put our hope only in Christ and by being with Him, we reveal the goodness of God.
Conclusion
1. Lord’s Holy Spirit
2. According to God’s will, to those He called
3. Works for the good (Image of Christ)
Message Prayer
God has given us the Word now that we must carry out the rest of the week, and when we pray, let us pray out loud so we can hear again with our ears. Let us pray.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. Though we were dead in our sins and transgressions, dragged around by Satan to live for our physical greed and desires, we thank and praise You for the grace of giving us salvation through Jesus Christ and guiding us and interceding by the Holy Spirit. We give praise to the God Who has begun and will fulfill all good work through us. We believe You will raise us up as the witnesses who bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit and testify of this life to many people on earth.
We have returned Your material blessings as offering. Everywhere it is used, we pray that the will of God may be fulfilled and the Kingdom of God be established. We pray that You will work with the answer of the economy of light to do world evangelization upon the hands that have given the offering. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. We pray You will raise her up as a person of the gospel through whom You will fulfill all good things in accordance with Your Word. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. 10/26(Sun.) – Church Organizational Restructuring (Church Officer’s Room) – Members, Church officers, President/VP of each missions group and department.
2. 10/31(Fri.) Holy Wind day, 6-8PM.
3. RU lecture – Gospel Communication; 10/13-11/13, Every Mon.,Th. – 20 Lectures
4. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants and future generations who desire to fulfill the good of God by being with, led by, and the works of the Holy Spirit, be with them now until forever always, amen.