A message from Pastor Oon Don (August 17, 2025 sermon)

My beloved friends and family,

God’s Grace and Love be with each of you.

Passover is the most important holiday for Jewish people as it commemorates the Israelites exodus from Egypt; and it is a story with many valuable lessons for us. A story that is a standard for how we approach and live for the Lord. It is about worshiping God in the way that he has established, and offering to him what is most important to him.

“Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me” said the Lord in Exodus 13:1. The first born male, as I shared last week, is more than the first son who is born in a family. The first born is a symbol of God’s blessings and protection for all of the family. The first born is a symbol of our best.

God commanded that the first born, that is our best, our very best, be given to God.

For the people of God in the past and in the present, the only center for life is the word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Ordinary people seek the easiest way, the fastest way, the safest way. But for those people following the Spirit, this path is a path of blessing. A path of spiritual armor and the path of overcoming the world.

As we present ourselves before the Lord, the Holy Spirit is with us. Jesus Christ is with us. Son of God, Jesus Christ, is our relationship to God.

When you met someone you love, how did your heart and mind feel? It was probably incredibly exciting and fun, and you wanted to do anything for her or him. Through this love your life changed. You changed.

When you love and truly believe in Jesus Christ, your life is changed. You are changed. Others will see the changes in your life and know that you belong to God and you are one of his people. If we offer the Lord the first, the best, he will also establish us as first. The first priority of the day, the first hour of the day, the first priority of the week, the first priority of material things, the first priority of the body and the first priority of our lives offered to the Lord through dedicated service and in gratitude.

My English pronunciation is not good enough and I don’t know your life well. How can I serve you? But the Holy Spirit led me, made me feel something and guided me; and I have came here to you, before you. I think this is the Lord’s grace and love and the work of the Holy Spirit.

I came to the United States in 1990 and now I have lived here longer than I had lived in Korea. Without the Holy Spirit guidance I would be nothing.

We don’t know what will happen in our future lives, but one thing is certain. The Lord and the Holy Spirit will guide us. Guide us even when we don’t know it. Therefore, as long as God is with us, we need not fear any problems or dangers. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will live a life filled with joy and gratitude anticipating the Holy Spirit’s guidance in your future.

God is great. His greatness surpasses our understanding and dimension. God is all knowing. He knows every thought and circumstance of our lives. God is almighty but his power is not like a corrosive power of this world. His power is revealed through the love of the cross and the life of the resurrection and the church.

Our faith cannot remain as a theory nor as a mere agreement with doctrine. Our faith must be a living trust in the living God.

So I ask — What do we believe?

Do we truly believe that our God is great, all knowing and all mighty? If we do, let us not hesitate, but with all our hearts let us confess together, yes, we believe in the great, all knowing, almighty God.

This God will bless your life.

Your Pastor,

Oon Don