I have reduced church activities in September and October. We will also take a break from the monthly prayer meeting as well. In the Fall, there won’t be any new Living Life study meetings except the ones that are in progress. Please take a break from church wide activities and take this time as an opportunity to build intimacy with Mokjang members or anyone in a church that you wanted to get acquainted with. I strongly feel that what we need to actively purpose in our church now is unity and fellowship in the congregation. We need to level up the bonding in our relationship with each other in the congregation. We need to have more person to person socialization outside of the church’s official meetings. We need to talk, understand, share our hearts and build memories of laughter and fun. And I feel that this is what our church needs now. Satan will always try to break our unity; God always instructs us to hold on to and protect this one-ness. We need to spend time and effort on building up a common ground where we can understand each other more, communicate with each other more, and bring out good memories. I believe that this new effort, along with the “100 day thanksgiving” exercise going on now in the church, will bond our church together as one.
I have started a new church ministry: “the culture group”. In the culture group, we have the following teams, “Let’s play team”, “Let’s eat team”, and “Let’s take a picture team”. I made up these names hoping that the names themselves would make at least one person laugh.
They may sound frivolous, but I endowed them with great value. They are not silly but valuable teams. One way to make children feel loved is by playing with them. For example, you often see pictures of deprived children playing with dolls in the desolate places of war. This goes not just to kids. Joy, pleasures and jollity are all precious gifts from God. If we can benefit from them in God, and if they lead to the unity of the church, then such enjoyment becomes a very spiritual thing. That is why I deeply value those who make us laugh in the church. Also, it is God who showed us that sharing food is a spiritual thing. After all, breaking bread is a part of the worship service. As long as we are not pigging out, and binging on food and drinks without consideration of God, enjoying food and drinks with spiritually alertness is what God wants. Love is the most holy. If the goal of enjoying and eating is to love, then it is holy as well.
Of course, we have to find the right balance and good timing. I plan to use this Fall to shift the weight of the ministry to eating and having fun, and to finding a good balance. Look outside the window! It is the perfect time to enjoy the beautiful Autumn sky and breeze. Sometimes I wish that we could offer service outside the church building. I pray that this Fall, our church’s unity will be tighter and that love overflows in our church.
Following the Shepherd
Pastor Jiwon Choi