The Answer that Brings the Church and Field to Life Through Me (Rom. 12:3-8)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” This is the first Sunday worship we are giving in the year 2026 before God, and there is a phrase that, beginning is half the battle.
If you look at people who are successful, they begin 50% ahead of others, and that means that people who are successful know how they will live in the year 2026. This is also the way for our children of God to know the way of 2026 in advance. How can we know in advance? God Himself is the Word and He gives us His Word and fulfills it. Believers who have that faith will have victory no matter what, because everything is fulfilled according to God’s Word. Wherever the Word of God moves, the physical things follow, too. We see the evidence through many people in the Bible, David and Joseph, so what must we hold onto this new year? The Word that God is giving to me, the Word that God will fulfill through me. All I have to do is let go of my thoughts, then without a doubt, God will give me His Word, and I believe that is today, the first Sunday worship of the year.
John 1:1 says that God is the Word and the Word is fulfilled without a doubt. The words of people are not fulfilled, but the Word of God is fulfilled no matter what. We are walking the path we have never gone down before, and we are going, following God’s Word. The title of today’s message is, “The Answer that Brings the Church and Field to Life Through Me.”
We must receive the answer from God, and that answer is the answer to save me, the church, and the field. I bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus that you may have this answer throughout the week. From Romans 1 to 11, it’s talking about Jesus is the Christ, the only way for salvation. This means that human beings have a problem that cannot be solved unless they are with Christ. What exactly is that unsolvable problem? People talk about their own problems, but they don’t know what the real problem is, but they’re pointing out all of the fake problems. The problem God sees is that we don’t believe in God, and that is where Satan works in the background, but this is the invisible problem. This invisible problem buries into our thoughts and our hearts. And it completely controls and seizes our thoughts and heart. Then, our thoughts and our heart continue to go in the opposite direction of God. We live so diligently and work so hard but in the end, the result is the opposite direction of God’s desire.
That’s why we only receive salvation by believing that Jesus is the Christ. No matter who you are, if you don’t believe that Jesus is the Christ, we have no choice but to fall back into the fundamental problems. This is so incredibly important that Romans 1 to 11 is telling us this problem. There are some situations where people live their walk of faith for a long time, it doesn’t work out, and they collapse. It’s because their foundation in Christ was weak. The Word we must have is the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. If that becomes our firm foundation, our life is raised on top of that. But the reason why people go to church and still fail is because their rock of faith is not Jesus Christ, it’s their own ambition so they fall.
God is inside of us. If God is within us, then how can the children of God have their thoughts, their heart, their mind collapse? I bless you in the name of Jesus that you will receive the answer to that question today, and the solution.
1. Me – Thoughts (Rom. 12:3)
1) Through the grace given to me (Rom. 12:3)
(1) The start of life through Jesus Christ
In Romans 12:3, Paul says, “For by the grace given to me,” we can only believe by grace. We cannot see the invisible world, but if God gives us His grace, we believe it. We don’t see it, but we believe it as if we can. That is the spiritual world. For the physical world, the more you study, the more you can know, but the invisible world can only change due to belief by God’s grace. If I’m seeking God’s grace, it also includes the meaning that I cannot do it on my own. If you hit rock bottom in your life, then you seek God’s grace. But there’s a way for you to receive God’s grace in your everyday life. When I acknowledge that I cannot do it on my own, then God’s grace will be upon me. So, we must always be aware of the fact that we were dead in our sins and our transgressions, we need to always remember that. If we don’t remember that in our walk of faith, then we fall into this misconception that we’ve accomplished things because we’re okay as humans. If your spirit is dead, there’s nothing you can do in that state. We are totally and holistically corrupt, depraved. If we remember that every day, then we can start a new day at rock bottom. When I say “rock bottom,” I’m saying God’s grace will be upon you, but if you think you can accomplish something on your own, you cannot receive God’s grace. So, actually, when we physically fail that’s when we face rock bottom, and that’s when God’s grace comes upon us.
(2) Cross – Death with Christ
But there’s a way for you to receive God’s grace every day of your life without hitting rock bottom, and it’s important for you to continue or maintain that. By grace, we have believed that Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected. I died on the cross with Christ. Do you believe that? “I’m still alive though,” then who is that “me”? The “me” that was a slave to sin and Satan, that “me” has been crucified on the cross with Christ.
(3) Resurrection – Faith that lives by the Life
The One Who lives in me now lives by faith in Christ, we find that believable by grace. So, I’m no longer “me,” it’s now the life of Christ in me. For the one who has life, they will come to life no matter where you put them, because it’s not about “me,” it’s the life inside of me. That is the living worship. For people like this, the light continues to change their heart, and then Romans 12:3 talks about your thoughts.
2) Only the thoughts you should think
(1) Thoughts through Christ’s Word
Rom. 12:3 talks about your thinking, “Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought,” after you receive salvation, your thoughts are important. If your walk of faith is not working out, it doesn’t mean you haven’t received salvation; you may have received salvation but your thoughts are not aligned with God. We are still living with the thoughts that are still aligned with the thoughts of sin and Satan, and we need to correct those thoughts. How can we change our thoughts on our own? If we have these depressing thoughts, how could we change that? If someone received a scar or has anger issues, how can we change that? Those thoughts need to be changed into the words of Christ. In the Old Testament, there were the Israelites after they exodus’d from Egypt, they were able to exodus from Egypt because they applied the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ, and were saved, but why is it that these same Israelites were destroyed in the wilderness after 40 years? Because they still kept the same thoughts they had while they were still in Egypt, so they kept trying to go back to Egypt. If you’ve received salvation, then now your thoughts must be aligned with God.
How must we think? They need to walk, holding onto God’s Word, that “We must go to the land of Canaan,” but these people kept on waiting to go back to their past, which was death, so they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and then died. However, what were the thoughts of the people who did go into Canaan? They were thinking with the Word of God, “Now that we’ve been saved, we must go into the promised land,” and that’s why God’s Word to enter into the Canaan land was fulfilled.
(2) Devil – Attacks thoughts (Jn. 13:2)
Satan also puts thoughts in John 13:2, Satan prompted or gave Judas Iscariot the thought to betray Jesus. If I have received salvation, then by the spirit of Jesus Christ Who lives within me, I must think of His Word, but the devil is also giving me thoughts. When Satan puts a thought into my head, then I act on those thoughts.
(3) Thoughts start from a spiritual background
So, our thoughts are so important, our thoughts come from a spiritual background. The spirit of Christ lives within us, but my thoughts are elsewhere. Then, even after salvation, it doesn’t affect my thoughts. I’m not saying you haven’t received salvation; I’m saying you won’t be able to receive answers on earth.
3) Thoughts according to the measure of faith
(1) Thoughts based on the Word’s standard
So, it’s not about thinking well, it’s about thinking according to Christ’s Word. Then, what happens? Romans 8:6 says that the thoughts of the Spirit are peace and life. What exactly are the thoughts of the Spirit? The words of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ says, “My Words are the Words of spirit and truth and life.” There is one way for you to save yourself; even after receiving salivation, people fall down, but there is a way for you to not collapse. If your thoughts do not collapse, you will not collapse; even if everyone around you fails, if you say you did not fail, you will not. If you hold onto God’s Word, you will enter into the land of Canaan; it doesn’t matter how bleak the circumstances are, you will enter. That person will receive answers, so for you and me today, being immersed in and receiving the Word of God is the greatest blessing. Some people say, “I cannot do this,” and no matter what they do, they’re so negative. But there are some people who are positive no matter what, and if you compare the two, I think positive is relatively better, but if that’s not from God’s Word, either, then both of them are nothing. But, if the Word of God is established on our heart, then we receive answers and healing.
It says, “But rather, think of yourself with sorbet judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” “In accordance with your faith,” it doesn’t mean there are different amounts of faith, but it’s according to your faith in the Word of God. It’s not about how big or small your faith is; it’s about whether your faith is based on the Word of God or not; that’s how you should think. What does it mean for us to do holy meditation? It means you’re thinking of the Word of the Lord day and night, then what will happen to your thoughts? Your thoughts will begin to change, your thoughts will change to bear fruit. They change to save people. Even if your environment is full of failure, you will never fail because inside of your thoughts are God’s Word. That is why our thoughts, our mind, our emotions, must be healed by God’s Word.
(2) Satan – Following the greed of the flesh and mind (Eph. 2:3)
Satan works on our emotions, Satan seizes us with thoughts of sexual immorality or lust, Satan seizes us with the feelings we got when we had substances. Satan fills me with the feeling I had when I took substances. Same thing with alcohol. As soon as we feel discomfort or stress, our minds go back to how we felt when we were drunk. We need to rely on the Word of God but instead, we rely on these substances, which means our thoughts and our heart are irrelevant to God’s Word, that’s why we have no choice but to fall further and further into alcohol. I know because I drank alcohol. About six or seven months after my friend passed away, I drank excessively every day, and I saw that my father was also an alcoholic. I’ve never once thought of him as alcoholic, but ever since last year, I’ve been giving a message to the Alcoholics Anonymous group, and as I’m giving the message, I realized, my father was an alcoholic, and my older brother is also an alcoholic. If you go to Korea, they have to drink every day. I never once thought of that as alcoholism, I just thought they really liked drinking; I didn’t think they were addicted. Then, I only realized when his wife came and said, “Yes, he’s addicted to alcohol, he can’t live without alcohol.” I only imagined an addict was someone who was shaking and trembling because of their addiction, so I didn’t even think about this, but it turns out, it’s the stream of the family line.
How does it come in? These situations leave us no choice but to become alcoholic. I didn’t want to drink alcohol, but when my friend committed suicide, I had no choice but to keep drinking, not only that, but every day. So, whatever I hadn’t drunk in the past, I was really focusing on drinking. I know why people drink, let’s say someone has no hope or they’re stressed, then what is the fastest way? If you want to quickly get rid of your stress, get alcohol because if you drink alcohol, your inhibition and your rationality are numbed, and your emotions are heightened, so you don’t think about stressing out, but you’re overcome with emotions. So, when you’re drinking alcohol, you’re in your own little world. Then, when you wake up in the morning, you’re back in your normal state; everything you thought and said yesterday, it’s nothing. Come the next morning, I’m remembering my friend’s death again, so in order to get rid of that pain and suffering, I had to drink again. Day after day like that, six or seven months went by. Because I had no answer, alcohol was an answer for me and others. I’m not saying whether this was a good or bad thing; I’m telling you why there is no choice but for us to do that. If someone is mumbling when they’re drunk, in their mind, they are not drunk in their mind, but they inconvenience people around them, why is this? It’s because God is absent in their thoughts and heart. Even after receiving salvation, we should be able to overcome our workload and our life with the Life of God inside of us, but when we are overcome with life, we fall into alcoholism.
I’ve been meeting alcoholics lately, I meet with them every day. So I meet with this alcoholic every single day, but on Saturday or Sunday, they said, “Pastor, I know what you’re talking about now. When the Word of God comes into me, I’m able to realize why I have no choice but to be an alcoholic,” and they show little evidence of coming out of that state, little by little. Now, there’s hope. What did I do? Nothing, just gave the Word and said, “You are from a family fo Christian believers, 4 to 5 generations, then why did you have no choice but to become alcoholic? Simply put, you do not believe in God.” This person acknowledges they did receive salvation, but in their everyday circumstances, they don’t trust in God and they’re holding onto the spiritual problems and scars of their past. But when the Word of God goes in, our thoughts and hearts change, and now when I go visit, they look a little bit more normal. It’s not that they don’t drink, they do drink little by little, so I told them to continue because they can’t stop that all of a sudden, but later on, when your thoughts change, you will have no need. But if you tell them to stop cold turkey, some of them might suffer from withdrawal or go crazy. So I told this person, “You’ve been going to church but you still fell under a spiritual problem, so arise from that problem and save other people like yourself,” so now we can see their future.
When the gospel goes into you, you can understand the past and you can know the future. If you’ve received salvation, why did God allow you to experience your past? So now it can be a springboard for you to save others. So, the work of healing is to think according to the standard of God’s Word. That’s what it means to meditate: we think with the Word. What do we keep in our hearts? The Word. Then, our emotions will react to the Word. Then, no matter what, your health will be restored. This person I’m talking to has prosperity-based faith and unhealthy mysticism. Because they’ve gone to a church that was talking about things other than the gospel of Jesus Christ, they were living their walk of faith outside of Christ. In other words, all the blessings are inside of Christ, but they let go of that and are only focused on the physical blessings. All the mystical things are inside of Jesus Christ, but instead of pursuing Christ, they were only pursuing mystical works. Christ has fulfilled and accomplished the Word of God, so if we are within Christ, He will fulfill the law within us, and that means the Word of God will be fulfilled through our lives. But, if anyone says that, “Without Christ, I will keep the Law of God,” then their walk of faith will go outside the life of Christ.
(3) Wise thoughts – Praise -> heart -> discernment
If you want to think wisely, you cannot just do that. It must be the living worship where Christ is the Lord. If you believe in Christ as your Lord, then His life will control your thoughts and heart, then you will gain discernment. It’s important for you to know what is God’s will. Whether this or that, what is God’s will? People who have salvation live by God’s will. In order to live by God’s will, God’s Word must be upon our thoughts and our heart. In Matthew 5, Jesus told us to pray for God’s Kingdom to be established on earth as it is in heaven. What is God’s will? It is for the life of Christ to save, and saving others with life, that is God’s will. The reason God the Father sent God the Son to earth is to give us life. He didn’t send us here so we would get better grades; the Lord did not die on the cross so we would have a more successful business. It is to save our lives. We must come to life in order for our family, job, our studies, anything to have meaning.
2. Church – One body (Rom. 12:4)
1) Many members (Rom. 12:4)
In today’s scripture, we are talking about the gifts. If it is true that your life is raised on the foundation of the gospel and you are able to discern the will of God, then your life will go in the direction of saving the church. So, in Romans 12:4, Paul says, “We are all members of one body,” the body has many members or parts.
(1) Not the same function (Rom. 12:4)
(2) Becoming members one of another (Rom. 12:5)
(3) Each has a different function
But all of these parts have different functions. There are these functions of the arm, the leg, and the mouth, but we call that “one body.” The head is where all the commands are given and moves the whole body. It’s not about what is more or less important; even if we lack one finger, our life is hard. Even if we can eat all the nutritious foods and nurture our bodies, if one toe is in pain, we cannot walk. Even if there is something slightly wrong with our eyes, we cannot see, so every part of the body is important. Even if there’s pain in our pinky toe, we cannot move. Even if physically speaking we look at someone and they don’t look that great, if the life of Christ is inside of them, then they have a gift through which God can work. We must use that person’s gift in order to benefit those around us. If you don’t utilize one of your fingers, then you won’t be able to grab things, but there’s nothing that great about one finger, but what happens if you lose function in that one finger? You can’t grab certain things. So it doesn’t seem like a lot, but if this one thing is missing, it’s not good. If someone truly believes in Christ, and they are a child of God, then without a doubt, they have a gift that is given by God by which they can contribute to the organism.
2) According to the faith given to us (Rom. 12:6)
(1) Different unique spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6)
(2) Prophecy – Word ministry – based on proportion of faith (Rom. 12:6)
(3) Serving, teaching
(4) Comforting, saving
(5) Ruling over
(6) Showing mercy
Romans 12:6, we have different gifts, they are different, so we have to acknowledge our differences. “That person teaches the Word so well. That person is so good at serving.” You shouldn’t criticize that person for being a good speaker, then. Let’s say for example God gave the gift of teaching the Word, then God gave the real answer of “serving.” “Serving” and kitchen work doesn’t seem like much, right? But if we weren’t serving that, we wouldn’t eat, so they’re doing all of this service in the background, with no glory.
Let’s say there are special forces like the Green Berets. Earlier, there was someone kidnapped from Venezuela, and the special forces did that. This is a special group that exists specifically for special missions. Do you think they don’t eat? Inside of that special unit, there are chefs also, then, do you think the chef isn’t working in the special forces? The chef working in the special forces says, “I’m in the special forces,” the chef cannot shoot guns or weapons, but the chef makes food for the special forces. There are also people who are more administrative, people who do the paperwork so the entire organization can function. Just because they’re not on the field doesn’t mean they’re not part of the special forces. There are other people who are not able to shoot guns, but they are also part of the special forces. There are people who help communications so that headquarters is able to see everything going on in the special mission. There are also people who work in telecommunication, do you think such people are not part of the special forces? It’s not only just the Green Berets or the people who are going out and shooting guns who are included; everyone who is supporting the group is included.
In the White House, there are people whose names we do not even know, but they support the president and are part of the White House staff. The janitor is also part of the White House staff because not everyone can enter into the White House, so being a janitor might not seem so great to people, but in order to run the White House, you still need the janitors, and what would happen if the White House didn’t have any janitors? So, Janitors say they are part of the White House staff. Why am I speaking at such length? I’m saying, no matter how small your work is, God gave you the gift so save yourself and save the field. You may think the pastor is able to speak greatly, but even that is given by God, or you have people who have a great sense of leadership; they do that because God has given that to them. All of this is given through Christ. After first service, someone asked me a question, “If we just have to do everything we’re told, then what’s the point of gifts? You said I should serve the church according to my gifts, but if I just have to say yes according to whatever is given to me, I just have to say yes, but it doesn’t align.” I told them, “If there’s something that needs to be done and nobody else can do it, and you are tasked with it, then God will empower you to do it. The church is not any organization; in the organization of the world, if somebody is less effective or productive, you fire them; but the church is a living organism. You learn biology, right? There are all of these cells that are moving together. Because this is an organism of life, controlled by the head, that is, Christ, it is different from the organizations in the world. This “unity of life” coming to life is part of the church.
3. The work of the church (mission)
1) Communication through the Word and prayer (Acts 2:42)
(1) Make the Word flow through all believers (disciple)
(2) Salvation – Confirm the cross (Acts 2:42)
(3) Pray for each other (Acts 2:42)
Then what is the work or mission of the church? It is so that you allow everyone who comes to church to connect with God’s Word, because Christ is the head, so now, we must allow every member of the body to communicate through the Word of God and prayer. We need to allow the blood to go all throughout the body. If there is a blockage, then it will rot. It’s the same thing with the members of the church; the Word of God must flow into them, but their spirit is going to die, so after this service, while you’re eating lunch, share the grace you’ve received from God’s Word today. Let’s say the person you’re talking to was unable to receive grace, then maybe that person couldn’t receive any grace from the pastor’s sermon, but by sharing the grace you have received, they may experience grace, and that’s how you save their life. You exchange prayer topics and share with each other. The church is not a place where you talk about politics; the church is not a place where you gather for hobbies and clubs. The church is the place where we receive the answer and the Word about Christ Who is our head, and we flow that to the rest of our body. Same thing with the choir; when you gather together, you must be able to connect through God’s Word, then when your spirit comes to life, then you will sing praises with a different spiritual strength. That is the case wherever you are. That’s why, if you go to church, you’ll have life.
What is the standard of victory of worship today? It is when God’s Word comes into my heart. If I don’t receive God’s Word as an answer, then I have to keep listening until I do receive the answer. If the Word hasn’t been rooted in my heart, then I live the rest of my week based on the standard of that Word. Last week’s pulpit message was, living a life that discerns God’s will, and there is somebody who comes to our church every once in a while. There is someone there, even if they rarely come to church, they will volunteer extra time to send their kids to tutoring. But then, there was somebody who received the Word of living the life that discerns God’s will, and sent that message to that person. That person came to that church after sending the kids to tutoring, and there was a Word they received and there’s a reason why. God changed that person’s heart completely. Then, they actually joined for concentration training too, because they wanted to hear God’s Word. When I move according to God’s Word, God will prepare somebody who moves according to that Word. So that person came, listened to the Word for an hour, and then left. They said, “I would like to receive the Word that I can then relay to someone else.” But on the other hand, if we see somebody who doesn’t come to church and is only focused on sending their kids to tutoring and we don’t send them the message then they just stay like that because we’re stuck in our thoughts. If God has given you the Word on Sunday, you must think about the Word, and that person will receive that Word and go. That’s what’s important. We make these connections inside of the church and out in the field.
2) Word
(1) Salt and light (Mt. 5:13-16)
(2) Living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1)
(3) Proclaim to your connections (Mt. 5:15-16)
That’s why we are called the salt and the light of the world. The salt must melt in order to give a salty taste. My thoughts must go away and I must think of the Word of Christ until it has the salty taste. If the salt loses its saltiness, it will be thrown out and trampled upon. Why are children of God enslaved and captured by others? It’s because the children of God think they are the salt, but they don’t think they’re the salt, so now they’re being trampled and thrown out. In order for Christ inside of me to be my light, I must get rid of my thoughts; that is how the light of Christ is relayed into the darkness of the world. The light is inside of me, but I’m holding onto my own thoughts, so the light is not being relayed to others.
3) First (Work of God’s Kingdom)
(1) Morning – Spiritual strength, fundamental strength, healing (Acts 1:8)
(2) Day – Find those to receive the Word
(3) Evening – Word – Imprint
There is something you must do first. In the morning, you must plan the Word of God into your heart, it is the time to concentrate on the Word. I do this every day. I hold onto the Word that Christ has finished everything on the cross and is with me. What happens if I don’t do that? Because the Word of God is not inside of me, evil spirits begin to work; we must hold onto the Word of God in our hearts because if the Word of God is not inside of us, we are an empty house, and evil spirits work upon empty homes. In the morning, as soon as you wake up, the devil attacks because the devil wants to prevent you from receiving God’s guidance all throughout the rest of the day. So, in the morning, concentrate on God’s Word. What if you concentrate on your worries? It will melt your physical health away. Even the color your face will change; you have this darkened shadow in your face. That’s what happens if you focus on your worries. However, what happens if you wake up in the morning, read God’s Word and concentrate on that? Then your thoughts and your heart will come to life, and then you live the rest of your day with those thoughts of life. Then, you’re going to run into circumstances and problems and various things, but your thoughts will not collapse because you’re holding onto the Word. Then, when you meet people, you can relay the Word, too. You can’t relay all of it. However, there is a person God has prepared for today, how do you know that? You can just talk to them about it.
God knows my level and will make people speak to the point where I can recognize, even if I’m not able to relay the Word of God that day, just the fact that I’m praying about that means I’m connected with God. We are not going into our workplace to work; we’re only pretending to do so, so we’re looking for the ones whom God has prepared. The reason you’re falling over and being attacked by Satan at your job is because you are unable to do what you need to do. Without the Word of God, you are only working hard on your own, you’re only trying your very best on your own, then the devil is waiting for you and will attack, and when he attacks your thoughts and your heart, it’s so difficult, so you get all these crazy thoughts and you’re completely beaten up and you go home, and you don’t want do anything when you go home, so then you just become angry, and you say, “Do you have any idea how hard the world is?” Then you just spew this anger on your kids, “Do you have any idea how hard I work for you?” If this repeats, day after day, it becomes your life, then that’s a failed life. Day after day should be a masterpiece from the morning. All of that when you come back, your day should be an art piece, and if that piles up day by day, that’s success.
Conclusion
1. Me – The one who lives by the Life
2. Church – The one who saves
3. Word – The one who saves
In conclusion, the one who saves myself through life, that’s how my thoughts and heart are strengthened. Then you will save the church with life and you will save the world. I bless you in the name of Christ Jesus that you may have this blessed week. Just remember the one phrase or word God is giving to you and remember it surely. If you did not receive the Word of God today, then during lunchtime, try sharing with someone who did receive the Word, and when you go home, listen again, and I’m going to carry this work every day this week, that’s prayer.
Message Prayer
Let us pray together right now.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We have returned your materials as offering. Everywhere it is used, we pray life will be upon those who have fallen, we believe You will work with the answers of the economy of light that is needed for evangelism and missions. We pray all of this in the name of our living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
Announcements
1. Remnant Bible 30-Verse Memorization Contest – During Winter Break, Prizes Awarded – Adults can also participate
2. Venmo account address for church offering: @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 future generation remnants who desire to save themselves, the church, and the field through only the word of Christ, be with them now until forevermore and always, amen.