How the Gospel Makes Us One

The scripture reading comes from Philemon. Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother.

To Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, and Aphia, our sister, and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and the church in your house.

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints.

And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet, for love's sake, I prefer to appeal to you.

I, Paul, an old man, and now a prisoner, also for Christ Jesus, I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.

Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.

I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.

I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel.

But I prefer to do nothing without your consent, in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion, but of your own accord.

For this, perhaps, is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother, especially to me.

But how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.

If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

I, Paul, write this with my own hand.

I will repay it, to say nothing of your only me, even your own self.

Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you and the Lord.

Refresh my heart in Christ.

Confident of your obedience, I write to you,

knowing that you will do even more than I say.

At the same time, prepare a guest room for me,

for I am hoping that, through your prayers, I will be graciously given to you.

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you.

And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

This is the word of God.

Great, thanks, Joanne and Annabelle, reading the entire book of the Bible in one sitting.

There we go.

Paul, do you want to come on up and let me introduce Paul to us.

Paul is going to be bringing God's word to us this morning, preaching.

And Chris actually is the one that introduced us to Paul.

And Chris has preached.

So Paul is a pastor at Holy Light Church in Yuen Long.

Is that right?

Yes.

And I don't actually know how you guys met about a year ago or so.

Two years.

Two years ago?

Okay.

Yeah.

And I know Chris has come and preached at your church once or twice.

And the first time he came back, he said, you've got to meet this guy, Paul.

He's an amazing gospel man.

So humble and yet really sure of God's love and the gospel.

And Chris just spoke so highly of you.

And Paul came to our staff meeting probably a year ago, a little bit less, and spoke to our staff.

Yes.

And back then, we decided on this date, almost nine months ago, we decided, okay, February 2020, come and bring God's word.

And then we've actually seen each other twice this week, on Tuesday night and on Thursday afternoon.

Yes.

And Paul, it's really great to have you.

We're so grateful for you coming down this morning and being with us.

So thank you for bringing God's word.

Thank you for your all.

And we're so thrilled that you're with us.

Thank you.

Can I pray for you and just for us this morning?

Yes.

Great.

Let's pray briefly.

Lord Jesus, thank you so much for Paul, for his life and his ministry.

Thank you for his devotion to you, God, how you saved him as a young man, God.

And you've called him to help others discover the hope of Jesus in the gospel.

Lord, I pray that as he brings your word to us this morning, that you will anoint him and empower him.

I pray, God, that it won't just be his words, but it'll be you speaking through him.

We want to hear from you this morning.

We want to encounter you in your word.

And so we pray for him.

We pray for his church, for Holy Life Church, God.

Fill us and fill him and fill them with your spirit, we pray.

We pray these things in your wonderful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Paul, over to you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for Kelvin's.

Actually, I'm humble because I know I'm not good.

I have nothing to be proud of, so I have to be humble because I'm not very strong or anything.

Let me introduce myself.

I come from a local family and local church.

And my father is just a construction site worker, painter.

And my mother worked in a factory as a plastic toy worker.

So I'm born in a very poor house.

I'm born in a broken house.

My grandfather was a drug addict.

And also my uncle was a drug addict.

And the gospel comes through my grandmother.

My father, she led my uncle to believe in Jesus and quit drug taking.

And after a while, my cousin was also become a drug addict.

And God saved me and I bring the gospel to my brother and he quit taking drugs.

So I come from a very broken family.

I have nothing to be proud of.

But it is all the grace of God who saved our family.

And I'm not very academic people.

So I'm not very good at theology or any exegesis, something like that.

I used to minister serving in prison.

I've been serving in the prison for 11 years.

And I still keep going to the prison.

So I used to talk to people face by face individually.

So actually, that's why I ask all of you to pray for me.

Because I'm not used to preach to a bunch of people.

It would make me nervous.

And especially, I'm a local Hong Konger.

So my mother tongue was Cantonese.

It is the third time I preach in English.

So I'm so nervous.

So please pray for me.

And thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

I'll send you one.

Make yourself at home.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

Sorry about that.

Hello.

Hello.

It's okay.

So that's why I used the scripture today.

I will try to use some life story I met in the prison, as well as some story in our family.

Try to demonstrate how the gospel changed people.

And not just individually, but in a community.

So did you ever ask a question like, why you are brought to this world?

What is the meaning of life?

Especially when you are suffering, being despised, neglected, or left alone?

Actually, I tell you, I asked this question when I was three years old.

I told you, my father is a painter.

My mother is a factory worker.

So in my memory, I was brought up by my grandmother.

My parents didn't work a whole day.

And after they come back home, they eat their dinner, and then they will sleep.

And very early in the morning, they will go out to work again.

So I have very little time to meet with my parents.

And, you know, when you're kissed, you would like your parents to hug you, to be with you.

I may try to ask them, come, play with me.

Come, spend some time with me.

But they would say, I'm so tired.

Go away, go away.

Find your grandmom.

And if I, you know, I'm naughty, they may even beat me.

So that's why I will, in the year of three, I ask myself, if you don't love me, why did you bring me to this world?

Today, we also talk about a slave.

I think this slave, he may probably ask this question a thousand times in his life.

Why am I a slave?

What is the meaning of my life?

Was it a mistake I came to this world?

Actually, I heard this question a lot in prison, especially some prisoners who come from Africa.

They were cheated to bring some drug to Hong Kong.

And the people who cheated him said, oh, it's very, it's no big deal to bring drugs to Hong Kong.

The penalty is very small.

You just need to stay a few months in Hong Kong and then you come back.

But after they were arrested in Hong Kong, they find the penalties several decades, two decades or several years in Hong Kong.

They were collapsed.

They just wanted to earn a few money for their family.

So they worry about their family and they ask about what is the meaning of life?

Why this happened to me?

And we don't know the reason, but this slave, Omnissimus, left his master, probably stolen some money when he left.

And eventually, he went to Rome, arrived Rome.

In there, he met Paul.

And in there, he heard the gospel.

And in there, the gospel transformed his whole life.

I met some people from overseas, from Africa, from South America, from Vietnam, from Southeast Asia or India, Southern Asia.

They said they have heard about Jesus, but they don't think Jesus did matter to him until he was in prison.

And when he asked the meaning of life, and when they heard about the gospel, their life was transformed.

And some even said their sentence was very short, just a few months.

And some said, oh, this few months sentence for me is not a curse, a blessing.

Because, not because of this, my life will never change.

I will still living in a lie, living under illusion.

I'm chasing something that is not worthy.

But because of Christ, my life was changed.

And also, Omnissimus, when he arrived in Rome, he met Paul.

He heard the gospel, and the gospel transformed his life.

Omnissimus, his name means profitable or good to you.

But to him, he may not think so.

Maybe he was someone's assets, which means profitable to his master, because at least he worth some money.

But to himself, he might think his life was worthless, meaningless, or even a burden.

What was the point doing all the housework, but you never know when will you have your own family or your own house?

I think the youngster in Hong Kong may probably understand this feeling.

Why should I study so hard?

Why should I get into the university?

How many years I need to work and didn't spend a penny in order to save enough money to get an apartment?

What's the point to working so hard?

What is the meaning of life?

And I think Omnissimus might be thinking about why I have this fate.

So he ran away from his master.

Maybe his living from his master was to find freedom or to start a new life.

But what future could happen to a fugitive?

I did meet some prisoner who has been a fugitive running away to mainland China.

He stayed several years in mainland China until all his money was spent.

And after that, he turned himself in back to Hong Kong.

And I met him in Lai Chi Kho.

And he said to me, even though I have money, even though I feel secure in mainland China, but I have no peace.

Every night I was afraid someone would break in and take me to the police.

Or even someone I get against, probably some gangster from the opposite side, may come to take me and beat me.

So even though he has a lot of money, he was worried about many, many things.

Until he came to Hong Kong and turned himself in and he took up his responsibility to confess his sin or his guilty, he finally relieved.

He said he finally can shake off the guilt and the worry he used to have in mainland China.

So we don't know whether Onesimus knew Paul was in Rome, but eventually he met Paul there.

From Paul, Onesimus heard that the problem of his life as well as this world were the consequences of our sin.

Actually, it is sin who divides us or separates us from God.

And the consequences, we're not only separated from God, we're also, we're called alienated or separated from ourselves.

We don't know who we are.

We don't know our true identity.

We rely on many, many other things to define am I a worthy people.

For example, I listen to a lot of gangsters in youth institutions.

He was very young, just 16 years old.

But he just have a grade 9 education.

And he said to me, if I have money, if I can earn enough money to have a company or have a shop, I will be somebody.

So he tried to do some drug trafficking.

And you know, drug trafficking is really, really very profitable in Hong Kong.

He said to me, one month he can earn 200,000 by drug trafficking.

So he just want to do one year and earn several million dollars and then he can set up a company.

And then he can no longer deal with drugs and he will be somebody.

So that's the problem.

We all define our value, our identity with something outside ourselves, something outside God.

So that's the problem.

We create a lot of problem.

We just care about ourselves and didn't care about other people's well-being.

So, and also the sin also bring other consequences.

We don't know how to treat the nature properly.

We don't know how to enjoy but not exploit the nature, the natural resources.

So we see a lot of pollution, a lot of environmental problem.

It's all the consequences of sin.

After that, after Omnissimus knows that the problem is our sin.

And not only that, he heard from Paul that the creator of this world has become flesh and died for our sin, who is Jesus.

He died instead of us.

He substituted us to bear the price of sin on the cross.

By receiving Jesus, Omnissimus received a new identity.

He became God's favorite son.

He was no longer belong to this world, even though he's still living in this world.

But he knew he belonged to a heavenly family, a kingdom of eternity.

So even though our life on this earth is very short, but our life story didn't end after we died.

We belong to an eternity kingdom.

So now Omnissimus knew the meaning of his life, why he was a slave.

He become an ambassador of God using his role as a slave.

He's not just a slave, but also an ambassador of God.

Now, before he's doing all the housework, he don't know what's the meaning.

But at that time, Paul was in prison in Rome.

He couldn't leave the house freely.

He needed to stay in the house until his case was trialed.

So he needs someone to take care of his daily life.

And he opened his house.

People can visit him and listen to the gospel.

At that moment, Omnissimus finds his purpose.

He can serve Paul.

He can participate in the mission of preaching the gospel.

His life is not useless.

His life is meaningful and useful.

I met a man.

I called him Mr. Chow several years ago.

At that time, he was 60 years old.

And he told me he was discharged from prison when he was 58 years old.

58.

He has been in prison for 17 times in all his life.

17 times in prison.

The first time he was in prison was 17 years old.

He was very young.

And because he took drugs, he was a drug addict.

So he went in and went out to prison many, many times.

17 times.

All his life is to cheat money for drugs.

And because he used needles to inject the drug, his left leg, the blood vessel of his last leg was blocked.

And so his left leg was swollen and difficult to walk.

He was so afraid his left leg would be needed to cut off.

And in his last imprisonment, he met a friend who used to take drugs with him.

But this time, his friend looked healthier and fatter than before.

So he was so curious as, what happened to you?

So his friend told him, well, I quit taking drugs by the gospel.

But this time, I was in prison because I was fighting with others.

So it doesn't matter with the drug.

So Mr. Chow was very curious.

Oh, I used to look down on this guy.

Even though we are all drug addicts, but I looked down on him because I think he's not worthy or not better than me.

But how come he can become so healthier and look better than me?

I must quit the drug also.

So after he was discharged, he immediately joined St. Stephen's Society to treat the drug.

So two years later, he kept living in St. Stephen's Society.

He quit taking drugs.

And not only he quit drugs, but also he became a volunteer.

He went to Guangzhou station.

You know, there's a back street of Guangzhou railway station.

Many drug addicts used to inject drugs in there.

He joined other volunteers to go to Guangzhou and spread the leaflet and told them about the gospel,

how you can quit taking drugs by the gospel.

He became useful.

He said he didn't think he can be useful even when he was 60 years old.

He think his life was over.

He was rubbish.

He couldn't bring any good to this world.

But by God's grace, he can bring some good to this world.

After knowing Omnissimus was escaped from his master Philemon,

Paul wrote this letter to ask Philemon to forgive and receive Omnissimus again.

Paul knew Philemon because it is Paul who brings the gospel to Philemon,

and Paul has been visiting the church in Philemon's house.

Paul and Philemon has a very close relationship.

So, Paul praised Philemon for his love and his faith towards Jesus and all the saints.

And Philemon did live out the gospel transformed life because his good doing,

his good deed was not just because the law requests me to do or because other people expect me to do so,

so I do the good thing.

No, he do all the good thing because it is all out of the love and faith of him towards Jesus.

Paul also quoted other saints' testimony.

Paul said,

Philemon, many people report to me, you had refreshed their heart.

So, Paul appealed to Philemon.

Paul warned Philemon to keep showing his kindness, especially to an old man and a prisoner for Christ, which is Paul.

Paul appealed to Philemon for his child Omnissimus.

He warned Philemon could forgive and receive Omnissimus.

True forgiveness and acceptance cannot be requested by compulsion or by force.

Because this must come from a willing heart.

And it also means willing to give up the right to revenge.

I think it's very hard for us to ask for forgiveness.

And I also think it's very hard to forgive someone truly hurt you.

Without the grace of God, I don't think it would be possible.

Mr. Chow, the 60-year-old brother I mentioned, he told me one day he prayed to God.

He said,

God, I have brought a lot of hurt to my family.

My father, my sister, moved to other places.

They changed their telephone number because they want to avoid me.

I cheat them a lot and I let them disappoint a lot.

And my wife and daughter, she has a wife when he was very young.

And his wife gave birth a daughter for him.

But also, his wife, his daughter forsake him.

And he said,

And I couldn't contact them.

I don't have their telephone number.

And I am also too ashamed to try to search them by myself.

Please help me.

So after this prayer, a few days,

he joined a volunteer activity of his church.

He helped to clean an elder person's home in Chinhwan.

He arrived early in Chinhwan MTR station.

So arriving in the MTR station,

he checked his mobile to see where other church members were.

And when he was checking his mobile,

a woman come to him and asked him,

Are you Sam Go?

Are you the third brother?

Are you Sam Go?

I am Sam Go?

I am the third brother's wife.

How are you?

You look better.

You look healthier.

What happened to you?

And Mr. Chow told her sister-in-law about he was receiving gospel drug rehabilitation service.

He was living with other brother in the rehab center.

He was going to the church,

and now he was going to do some cleansing work for an elder person.

And one week later,

one week later,

his two elder sister,

his younger brother and his sister-in-law,

come out to have lunch with him.

And one month later,

another younger brother,

fly to Hong Kong from Europe to have dinner with him.

And a few weeks later,

her sister-in-law find her daughter.

Her daughter forgave him and accept him as father again.

So,

Mr. Chow said,

drug has taken everything from me.

I have never dreamed of having my family accept me again.

People used to look me as a worm,

as a rubbish,

or invisible.

People will not respect me.

But now,

God gave me a new identity.

God gave me dignity.

And God break back my family.

Not just a heavenly family,

but also my blood family.

So,

having my family forgive and accept me again

is the grace of God.

So,

it is not by the grace of God,

I don't think Mr. Chow can

reconsolate with his family.

Forgive is very difficult,

especially if someone hurts you

deep and very long time.

And ask to forgive is also very difficult,

because

we are afraid,

we don't like the feeling of shame.

We don't like the feeling

to plead guilty before man.

But,

Paul warned,

or Paul appealed to Philemon,

remember the grace of God.

Remember the love of Jesus Christ.

And,

let the love of Jesus Christ

be your energy,

be your strength and power

to forgive.

So,

Paul reminds Philemon that

he might not just

have received,

he might have not just received

Omnissimus

as a born servant,

but more

than a born servant.

Although,

Omnissimus

was still

a slave.

But,

slave is not his primary

identity anymore.

He was a son of God.

Slave

or master,

these identities

couldn't divide

the relationship

we have in Christ

because of Christ.

We can put down

the hatred

because of Christ.

We can put down

all the debt before.

We can reconcilate

with each other.

In

Shakpik prison,

every Wednesday,

I will have,

we will have

religious class

in Shakpik prison.

People from

South America,

people from

Africa,

people from

Asia

will come

to our

religious class.

We all

worship together

using different

languages.

religious,

we try to learn

the Bible.

Sometimes I will

speak in Cantonese,

someone will

translate it into

English,

and someone will

translate it from

English to Spanish

because I'm from

South America.

So, you know,

Cantonese,

Mandarin,

English,

Spanish,

we all speak

in the same

religious class.

Language didn't

become a bearer.

Our nationality,

our color,

it doesn't

matter because

we know

we are all

sinners.

We all need

the grace and

salvation from

Christ.

Some of them,

they are well

educated.

Some of them

are accountants.

Some of them

are lawyers.

Some of them

are teachers.

And some of

them are not

very well

educated.

They may have

a grade

six or

grade seven

education.

they were

a gangster.

Some from

America,

they didn't,

Africa,

they didn't

receive any

much well

education.

But,

they knew

education,

our intelligence,

couldn't help

us overcome

the dark side

of our humanity.

Even though

you are a

lawyer,

even though

you are

a professional

just like a

teacher,

when the

temptation

comes,

you will

still fail.

They commit

crime because

of money,

because of

sex,

some maybe

because they

couldn't control

their anger.

So,

they hurt

people and

they were

in prison.

So,

they understand

all,

we all

need the

salvation,

the grace

of God.

God.

So,

in this

little room,

we truly

share what

is grace,

no matter

what social

status,

or how

many money

you have,

or where

you come

from.

We are

all in

a family,

a heavenly

family.

We are all

brothers and

sisters of

a family.

I don't

know how

you feel

about this

teaching.

teaching.

Maybe you

understand this

teaching very

much in your

head a long

time ago.

But I

should remind

you,

it is very

hard to

put what

we learn

in our

head to

our heart

to live

it out.

Because

the world

is,

we are

living in a

world used

to judge

or compare

people by

many things

outside of

ourselves.

We use

education

to compare

people.

We use

where do

they live

to compare

people.

And because

I live in

Taiwan,

I live in

a public

estate,

and I

was very

poor.

So every

time I

went to

Central,

I was so

afraid,

anxious,

because I

felt I'm

not worthy

walking in

Central.

I'm lower

than the

people living

in Central.

They are

well-educated,

more educated

than me.

They have

more money

than me.

I dare

not to

speak to

them.

That's what

when I was

young, I

was like

that.

The world

teach me

like that.

We judge

people by

many our

things rather

than in

God.

people.

But in

this

religious

class in

Sepik

prison,

we truly

experience,

not in

our head,

but in

our heart,

because many

people,

Christian

volunteer,

they are

professors,

they are

musicians,

they are,

many come

from different

social classes,

come to the

prison and

worship together

with them,

and love

them,

show their

care to

them,

but not

as a role

of I'm a

rescuer,

I try to

rescue you.

No,

they really

come to,

I want to

make friends

with you,

I want to

be your

brother,

I want to

be your

sister,

I want to

walk with

you through

a journey,

especially

in a low

time of

your life.

So they

truly experience

the grace

of God in

their heart.

So I

think

maybe

it is a

very blessed

place,

somehow

maybe more

blessed than

in this

place,

because we

are all

sitting here

with a

proper

dressing,

we have

air

condition,

and we

all look

like very

civilized,

you know,

so people

will respect

you,

people will

love you,

probably because

of your

dressing,

because you

are speaking

very nice

to me,

but in

the prison,

they're

dressing

prisoner's

clothes,

they got

their

uniform,

and they

strip off

all their

social

titles,

even though

they're

a lawyer,

they're

accountant,

no,

they become

a number,

three,

five,

six,

so one,

come,

someone

visit you.

So when

he experiences

this and

someone didn't

care about

how he

dressed,

what people

call him,

they experience

someone truly

accept them,

love them,

and share

God's love

to them,

they experience

the power

of the

gospel,

it breaks

all the

dividing

wall,

we become

a body,

we become

a family,

no matter

what language

you're speaking,

no matter

what color

you are,

and I

saw that

is the

power of

the gospel,

so I

think I

can only

share my

experience,

I want you

to understand

and try to

learn in

this place,

we shouldn't

and we need

not to learn

it in the

prison,

I don't want

you all to

go to

prison to

experience this

experience,

but I

truly want

you to

experience

the power

of the

gospel in

here,

we can

love each

other no

matter what

social status

you are,

what language

you are speaking,

what color

you are,

where you

live,

in Christ

we are all

one family,

so Paul knew

that Omnismos

takes some

value thing

from Philemon,

maybe money,

maybe anything,

but Paul knew

it might bring

some hurt

to Philemon,

Paul was

willing to

take the

debt

of Omnismos

or Philemon

into his

account,

he was

imitating

Jesus Christ,

Jesus Christ

bear our

sin and

pay the

debt of

our sin

on the

cross,

Paul was

willing to

take the

debt of

Omnismos

as his

own,

is there

anyone hurt

you,

that you

find it

very difficult

to forgive,

what do

you think

if Jesus

Christ

was not

only

die for

you,

but also

the one

who hurt

you?

My sister

was adopted

to my

family

when I

was born,

at that

time she

was just

two years

old,

her birth

father

abandoned

her

when she

was two,

and she

knew this

truth when

she was

five.

Her

birth

father

will

occasionally

visit her

a few

times a

year,

but every

time her

birth father

visits her,

he will

ask my

sister,

take her

homework,

take her

test paper

to let

him have

a look,

and her

birth father

will ask

her,

kneel down,

ask about

how come

you got

so low

score in

the school,

and her

birth father

will beat

her.

So she

suffered a

lot in

her childhood,

and she

wasn't getting

very well

with my

family,

especially to

my parents

also,

so she

left our

family,

live by

herself when

she was

16 years

old,

and she

just got

grade 9

education.

So for

her,

it's very

difficult to

make a

living with

a grade 9

education,

16 years

old girl,

she need

to take

care all

by herself.

but eventually,

she settled

down with

a stable

income,

and he

met a

boyfriend,

living with

her boyfriend.

But happy

days were

very short.

At her

early 30,

I couldn't

remember,

it's 31

years old,

or 32

years old,

my sister

was diagnosed

with phase

4 cancer,

and at

the same

time,

she found

her boyfriend

was in

love with

another

woman.

So she

was so

shocked and

so heart

broken.

Her

boyfriend

don't want

to be with

her anymore,

so my

sister come

back to my

family,

live with

us.

Suffer and

heart

broken and

exhausted,

exhausted,

she started

to go to

church with

us.

And in

the church,

he heard

the gospel,

he heard

Jesus.

She told

me, she

think about

all his

life, he

suffered a

lot, and

she also

did many

mistakes.

She was

so

self-centered,

sometimes

she was so

pried,

so

he asked

Jesus to

forgive her

sin, and

also he

asked Jesus

to heal

the hurt

in her

heart.

She said

she wanted

to find

love from

her father,

but her

father didn't

love her.

She wanted

to find love

from her

boyfriend,

but the

love from

her boyfriend

was very

short,

very temporal,

but finally

he found

the love

in Jesus,

and this

love never

failed her,

so she

received Jesus

and baptized,

and thanks

God, by the

grace of

God, her

cancer was

under control,

and her

health

eventually

restored.

In the

meantime,

her boyfriend

come back,

want to make

up with her

and live

with her

again,

so they

tried to

work it

out again,

but they

enjoyed a

few years

of happiness,

but ten

years later,

in my

sister,

42 years

old,

the cancer

came back,

and this

time,

he died

at 43

years old.

The day

she died,

every family

member came

to farewell

her,

and when

she breathed

out her

last breath,

it is

her birth

father

and her

husband,

the two

who hurt

her deepest

in her

life,

accompanied

her,

and when

my sister,

before she

died,

she said

to her

birth

father,

I

forgive

you.

She

knew

that

Jesus

Christ

not just

died for

her sin,

but also

those who

hurt her.

Jesus

has already

paid the

price.

She no

longer

hates

them.

She

needs no

revenge,

and she

left the

world without

hatred,

without

regret.

I saw

a beautiful

picture.

Two men

hurt my

sister

most

in her

life,

but it

is

day,

it is

them

accompanying

her to

walk to

the end,

to live

this world.

And what a

wonderful picture

is,

when my

sister

died,

he

reconsolates

with her

father,

and also

he

affirmed

her love

and her

husband's

love.

It's by the

power of the

gospel.

It is

Jesus

healed

the

wound,

the

hurt in

my

sister's

heart,

that she

can have

the love

to forgive

and to

put down

all the

debt.

He didn't

ask anyone

to pay

back the

debt they

own her.

I

witnessed,

I experienced

how Jesus

became our

peace.

I'm not

an academic

people.

I don't

know how

to explain

the scripture

very

reachfully

to you.

I can

only use

this life

story example

to tell

them what

I witnessed,

what I

experienced

in my

life,

how Jesus

has broken

down the

dividing wall

of hostility,

how he

created in

himself one

new man in

a place of

the two.

Did you

also experience

this?

I want

you to

think about

I want

to share

my experience

not to

earn your

like or

earn your

clap hand.

I just

want to

share with

you is

God is

true.

The power

of the

gospel is

very true.

It changed

my whole

life.

It changed

my family's

life.

It changed

the history

of my

whole family.

So I

want you

also to

experience it.

not just

stay in

our head.

Do you

think you

are most

related to

Omnisimus or

to Philemon?

Did you

hurt someone

that you

dare not

to ask

forgiveness

from him

or from

her?

Or does

anyone hurt

you before

that you

find it

very difficult

to forgive

him or

forgive her?

Or do

you find

the social

status,

slave or

master,

educated or

uneducated?

It becomes

a barrier

for you

to connect

to people,

to love

the people,

or be

united

together in

Christ?

We all

need to

face the

dark side

of our

humanity.

We are

very fragile.

We are

just broken

human.

But there's

hope.

We should

just look

in ourselves

and don't

look to

God.

We should

look to

ourselves,

but also

we should

look to

Jesus Christ,

what he

did for

us.

It is

Jesus who

helped us

or saved

us.

It is

Jesus who

delivered us

from the

guilty,

from shame.

It is also

Jesus who

gave us

power,

strength to

forgive or

to ask for

forgiveness.

Don't let

yourself trapped

in hatred

or trapped

in guilt

or shame.

It is

Jesus who

promised us

to have a

joyful life

through a

freedom.

I can freely

love people.

I am not a

slave of

sin.

I am not a

slave of

my shame.

I am not a

slave of

my pride.

I can freely

love people

just as

Jesus loved

me.

So I just

want you to

enjoy the

love of

Jesus.

And let

the love

of Jesus

help you

to ask

for forgiveness

or to

forgive or

to love

someone very

different from

you.

And let

the grace

and the

love of

God flow

through you

to the

people around

you.

And if

every one

of us can

truly experience

this,

we may

truly transform

this community,

this city.

people will

no longer

pointing their

finger to

other people,

blaming other

people's

responsibility,

or just

care about

themselves,

don't love

each other,

don't want to

connect with

each other.

It is God's

grace who

divides this

wall of

hostility.

It is God's

grace, it is

Jesus' love

bringing us

together.

We can

humbly

confess to

each other,

ask forgiveness

from each

other.

We can

love and

walk with

each other

by the

grace of

God.

I truly,

truly want

to share

my experience

so that you

may also

experience this.

If it is

your situation

today, no

matter you

are ashamed

to ask

forgiveness,

or you

are hard to

forgive some

people, or

you are hard

to love

someone very

different from

you, I

ask God

here, his

Holy Spirit,

pour the

love of

God, the

love of

Jesus into

our heart,

that we may

have the

strength, have

the love

from God

truly to

forgive, to

ask for

forgiveness, to

truly love,

not by our

judgment or

by our

standard.

I truly

hope God

may do

that.

Let us

pray.

Let us

pray.

Amen.

Lord Jesus,

we are all

broken people.

We cannot

boast anything

in front of

you.

We are so

fragile.

We have our

limit, and

also we

have our

dark side.

We cannot

save by

ourselves,

and also

we hurt

each other.

We hurt

people, people

hurt us, and

this hurt

divided us.

But Jesus,

thank you.

You died

for our

sin.

You've

already paid

the debt.

You've

already

canceled our

punishment on

the cross.

because we

receive in

you our

sin transferred

to you, and

your righteousness

transferred to

us.

We become

children of

God.

We join

your family.

We need

not any

other

outside thing

to judge

who we

are.

In

Jesus Christ,

in you, we

are all

beloved.

We are all

your children,

and we can

love each

other sincerely,

not by our

standard to

judge who

is deserved,

who is not

deserved.

Everyone in

Christ is our

family member,

is our body.

So we thank

you for your

love.

If today we

still angry

with some

people, we

find it very

difficult to

forgive,

please help

us.

Heal our

wound in

our heart,

heal our

sorrow or

hurt, and

fill our

heart with

your love.

That we

forgive not

because you

requested me,

or someone

requested me,

that we

forgive because

we truly

experience your

love, and

we're truly

willing to

forgive.

Lord, help

us.

Help us to

let your

gospel not

just stay in

our head,

but go to

our heart,

melt our

heart,

transform our

heart,

take away all

the bitterness,

take away all

the pride

or shame

out of our

heart.

Let us

freely,

joyfully,

enjoy your

love, enjoy

your grace,

and we

can share

willingly,

share your

love, your

grace willingly

to the people

around us.

Change our

family,

change our

city,

and may

your glory

shine to

the city

through us,

and may

your love

show to

the people

in this city

through us.

Hear our

prayer in

Jesus' name.

Amen.