Lord! Hear Our Prayer! (The Week of June 26, 2023)

 My Life Is in Your Hands” by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir 

Prayer List

(June 28, 2023) 

 

For the World: Emmanuel! Weather condition in summer season; Wild fire in Canada; Conflict between Russia and Ukraine; People who are in war zone; Healthy boundaries with neighbors, especially, among people and among nations; People who are looking for a refuge to have God’s dream; People who are dealing with violence at home, at work, at school and everywhere; Salvation of the Native Americans; People in Myanmar; To see that our God is truly alive and living; Healing of our nation from all wickedness and isms and divisions; Healing of our leaders from all greed, selfishness, bitterness, hatred, mistrust, and even fear; spiritual awakening of our nation; All those who do not know Christ for their eternal salvation; Peace of the world, God’s peace; All medical staff who take burdens of caring sick people and the frontline workers; All those serving in public; Finding all treasures from heaven such a time as this; All those longing for the light in darkness in prisons of many different forms; All those who are making a big step to keep charity, unity and purity for their marriage relationship; all to find true identity that God has put in the life of each one of us from the beginning without distortion; Our prayers also include the divine wisdom for all those who are dealing with the issues of accepting or approving, right or wrong, left or right; Discerning hearts; Direction of our nation, especially for the law making challenges against biblical teaching; Pure Heart in the Leadership of the country; God’s favor for us, for our family, for our church, for our community, for our country as we follow the will of God; God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven. 

 

For the Church, Universal: The Unity of the Christian Churches in Christ Jesus; Seminaries and seminary professors; All Christian believers who are in Syria and Turkey to shine with the Good News of Jesus Christ as they go through this critical challenging time; Christians in Russia and Ukraine for the role of God’s eternal Kingdom; Missionaries in Haiti; Christians to hold God’s dream as a church together; Christians and missionaries in Afghanistan for God’s guidance and protection; Churches in Myanmar for God's guidance and strength to be the light in the time of darkness; Christians who are suffering because of their faith in Christ for their endurance, especially in the Middle East, Africa, Israel, China, Russia, South East Asia, and North Korea and also God’s will be done through them; Missionaries all around the world sent by God as well as all the pastors and lay leadership in the Christian churches around the world for discerning heart to see the will of God and for their strength to hold it when they see it clearly so that they can carry their call faithfully, truthfully and fruitfully; Jews for Christ Ministry in Jewish community; Serving heart to grow for all Christians in the world; All the Christian Churches around the world carrying the mission of God such a time as this; all churches opening the building for in-person worship each week for God’s wisdom and protection; Clear direction from God to guide the world in turmoil with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

 

For Our Church and the Ministry: All those pastors and congregation going through pastoral changes for their healthy transition; Those churches in the United Methodist Connection who are striving to find the will of God as they take next step after their disaffiliation process; Renewed vision for Markesan Church and each members; Ministry of the Voice of the Martyrs; All churches in the United Methodist Church for God’s guidance to discern well for the direction of the church to see the vision of God even in the challenging time; Ministry of the Habitat for Humanity in our area; The ministry of Northcott Neighborhood House; Mission in Action for orphanage project in Ghana; Pregnancy Resource Center in Beaver Dam; Conference leadership in this season; Hand Chime choir; Porchlight Ministry in Madison; Becoming a blessing place for the community; For God’s wisdom and heart for Healthy relationship building with our neighbors; All Churches in Markesan and Princeton and the pastors; All those who touch, step on or pass through our church’s land and in building to receive God’s blessings; Native American Ministry; Ethnic pastors in our conference to witness Christ in God’s will; Worshipping in Spirit and Truth; Card Ministry for the community; Good stewardship for the ministry of the church; UMW Circle; Lay Servant Group; All the worship preparers including musicians, liturgists and ushers; Our custodian, John; Connectional Ministry Coordinator, Izzy; Our churches’ Lay Leadership Development; God’s power and wisdom for our Caring Team and Prayer Circle; Hope School in Beit Jala, Israel; Mike and Sherri Morrissey, Thailand Missionary and Thailand Now: guidance of the Holy Spirit; Our District Superintendent Rev. Tsuker Yang; Ministry of Gideon International; Children & Youth Ministry in our church for God’s wisdom and guidance; Our unshakable focus on the mission of God whatever happens around us; Bishop Hee-Soo Jung in our conference and his spiritual leadership to follow the Holy Spirit in this challenging time so that he can see the Will of God clearly as well as the UMC’s direction in God’s will; the United Methodist Church’s Unity in Christ; Preparation of our Conference's Delegation to represent God’s will in the future as they become able to see what God's will is for the Christ’s Church such a time as this surrendering their own ways, their own theology, own ideology, their own preference; Our United Methodist Community of Faith - for God’s healing, healing for our wounded-ness and brokenness and sinfulness, and for God’s guiding light in our every steps to follow only the Holy Spirit so that we don’t miss this divine opportunity to be cleansed and renewed by the power of Jesus Christ to be One with God and each other for God’s eternal Kingdom without losing hearts so that we are able to see Christ’s love from each other’s lives. 

 

For the Friends and Families of Markesan and Princeton UMC: Russ H for God's presence; Joyce Show for healing; Family of Betty Kahl for God's comfort;  Chris Dufrene dealing with Colon Cancer; Deloris Linden for strength and recovery; Lori Schweder’s mom healing and recovery; May Lopez and her family transition to AZ; Eileen D recovery from the knee replacement surgery; Davis family for God's comfort; Molly Scharf for healing and strength; Verlys M. for Strength and healing from cancer; Bill Ostrum for God’s strength; Bob and Deloris Linden for God’s strength; Izzy E. for full healing and recovery; Jackie Olsen for God’s Strength; Scott Hautamaki for God’s comfort; Marty L and her family for God's strength and guidance; Prayers for an Amish family that lost their 2 year child in an accident; Prayers for Al Vinz (former member) and his wife Kathy who is also a cancer survivor; Annie Boelter is now on Hospice; Sharon Long who fell and broke and dislocated her ankle; Sue Wendt undergoing knee surgery; The Jr. Bender family in his recent passing; The Irene Brunn family in her recent passing; Randy Schulz as he is dealing with loss of feeling in his legs; Marlene Hautamaki for God’s presence; Lola Arndt suffered a serious stroke; Bill O. for Heart concerns; Prayers for Kayla for healing of her finger, infection; Jossie’s grandmother for her health and upcoming surgery; Sunjoo’s Father dealing with lung cancer; Miranda Cluppert for full recovery; Prayers for Scott Kok, Tanya Walker Kok’s husband dealing with cancer; Kyle Schweder Family, Robin Gelinskey’s daughter in law has breast cancer; Joe Greget, Nancy Cotterill’s son is having Heart Issues; Elliot Hess, Carol's daughter, Kelly for cancer treatment (Princeton); Betty S. for health issue; Allie S. for her Cancer Treatment; Carla’s brother in law David for recovery from surgery; Clark’s friend Janice in Pennsylvania dealing with pancreatitis; Prayers for Mae, Clark B. sister as she has exploratory surgery dealing with cancer; Amber Stellmacher underwent cancer surgery; Tracy Zemlo diagnosed with lung cancer and had surgery; Joyce Swandt for eye problems; Sandy Jahnke experiencing eyesight problems; Betty Sutton’s son Mike for his recovery from surgery and his wife Carrie; Nina Zick for healing; Jamie Haas for recovering from surgery; all who are in transition; Russ Zastrow as he deals with radiation; Dwight Grams as he deals with Leukemia; Linda Schmeckpeper on hospice; All those care givers at home; Brian K. for full healing, his family for God’s strength; Tami Horzewski for full healing and recovery from paralysis; Those who suffered a loss, are ill or homeless; Judy, Ken's mother for her health; Prayers for all who have not attended church;  Those who are considering going into ministry; Prayers for Ray D.  diagnosed with Cancer; Sue A. dealing with Cancer; James P for God’s guidance as he is preparing his new life in Christ in prison; Nancy E. for God's healing and strength; Francine and her family for God’s guidance; Members of our church who have been disconnected from our faith due to spiritual personal struggles; Thailand Missionary, Sherri and Mike Morrissey’s daughter Rachel in hospice care; Brenda G from the community, for God’s guidance and strength; Herb for his health; All those who are not able to worship in person due to their health condition; Ed Bartlett for health; All those who are now uncertain of their life in transition through Job changing; Austin in service; Casey’s faith journey with God; Amanda and her family for God’s strength and guidance; Natalie and her family for God’s guidance and strength; Joslyn’s family in Norway for their faith; Tyrone for divine guidance for the new step of his life; Delany for her condition; Kayla’s friend Dan dealing with kidney issue; Jeffrey W., Kevin D., and Amy D. for God’s healing; Cindy P. for her Health; All those who are dealing with scleroderma; All those who are dealing with addictions; Denise R. for God’s strengthening power and healing; Seth for his faith; Saul for his faith journey; Thelma for On-Going Medical Treatment; Nelson S. at Barret House; All residents at MRH; Jayme’s healing and recovery;  Scammers who tried to harm our faith community.

Welcome Summer! (Farewell Message)

“People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.” 

(Proverbs 16:2, NLT)

 

Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Are you now enjoying the season of all greens with those beautiful yellow flowers in your backyard? Quite amazing to watch all those changing pictures each season. It was like yesterday when the white snow covered the land and the green stuff came out of the hard soil and painted the earth over the white snow. Now that new green stuff on the ground has spread throughout all the trees up high and dance with the early summer winds! I was watching them through the small kitchen window in the morning when I was preparing my breakfast. What a beauty of God’s creation and the gift of this season! 

 

That small kitchen window is my favorite window in the entire house and I love sitting in front of it! But I just wonder what if there is no window? Maybe it's hard to see outside? No wonder why some smart guys created something to see the world outside through a little computer screen wherever they are and called it “Windows”. 

 

How about us, ourselves? Interestingly, someone also created a special window to see who we are in relationship with and named it “Johari Window”. Of course, they named it after one part of their names, Joseph and Harrington, like we named the United Methodist Church from the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

 

Anyway, according to Johari Window, it has four quadrants called, open, blind, hidden and unknown areas. Depending on the size of those areas in the window, our relationship changes! So there is a part about me that everybody knows including me, like “Pastor K is a preacher” for example - open area. However, there is a part about me that everybody knows about me except me unless they tell me, like “Pastor K is humble and meek” - blind area. I wish it was so true though. Then, there is a part about me that everybody doesn't know about except me, like “Pastor K was coming from heaven” - hidden area. Of course, there is a part of me that no one knows including me - unknown area which means the area of potentiality. So when the open area of that window becomes bigger, the other three areas become smaller. But our relationship becomes stronger & deeper. It makes sense, isn’t it? However, it does require lots of sharing in trust, doesn’t it? 

 

How about our relationship with God? As I read the Bible, I found that it is absolutely true. Very easy example is Peter who said, “Truly I love you, Jesus!” However, after he had denied three times when Jesus was crucified on the cross, he had realized that he did not. So his answer to the resurrected Jesus later on was “Lord, you know that.” Once Peter did not know that he did not love Jesus with a full heart, but now Peter knew what kind of love he had for Jesus! It is quite a self-realization! But what a transformation! Then God used him to transform the world for the last two thousand years in His will so far.

 

How about you all now? Do you know who you really are? Some of you might believe that you are a peacemaker, but might be not; some of you might believe that you know Christ well, but might not; some of you might believe that you are faithful enough, but might be not; some of you might believe that you are honest, but might be not; some of you might believe that you are humble, but might be not; some of you believe that you love your church, but might be not in God’s eyes; and some of you believe that you are not worthy but you are; and some of you believe that you are too weak to do anything for God, but you are.

 

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born 

I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5, NLT)

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you really know who you are? But where are your hidden areas, blind areas and unknown areas? Journey with Christ in his body - the Church - truly opens our eyes to see those unknown areas, hidden areas and blinded areas to make our relationship with God and each other much closer and stronger like Peter. And we know he was not the only one. Who knows if you find God’s call for you someday totally different from where you are now as you journey with Christ?

 

It has been a wonderful five years of Journey with you and Christ to see those hidden, blinded and unknown areas about me so that I can grow in the relationship with our living God each and every day and with you! Truly, I have been blessed by you all! 

 

Now, it is too sad to say that I am no longer your pastor after the first day of July which means I cannot come back and do any pastoral function in Markesan and Princeton Community like weddings and funerals; however, I am glad that you will have a new pastor who can continue to take this role for you from August. So let us continue to walk the walk as we love, forgive and serve together in the name of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ, with his heart wherever we are! We love you all!

 

May the Spirit of God continue to guide you all to grow into the Kingdom of God eternal on earth as in Heaven as we wait for that...

 

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Kyochul

Give Justice!

 

“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the right of 

the oppressed and the destitute” (Psalm 82:3, NLT).

 

Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

 

During this season of spring, the season of hope, I mean, the season of Christ’s Resurrection, I was so caught up with the word “justice” because everyone was talking about it. “Justice!” Isn’t that wonderful if the justice will truly prevail? However, the more we talk about it, the more the world looks like moving backward with cruel wars among nations and sharp divisions among people in the nation. We are wondering why?

 

Now, we know that we are not the only one wondering about it because, several thousand years ago, Asaph wrote a song about justice like this… 

 

“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the right of 

the oppressed and the destitute” (Psalm 82:3, NLT).

 

But, at the end of his song, he asked God to do something.

 

“Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you” 

(Psalm 82:8, NLT). 

 

In other words, he was looking for the day of judgement when he talked about justice which means the day of a very sharp division between the righteous and the wicked for reward and punishment. Sounds harsh though to certain degree… truly justice cannot happen without judgement. However, it is ironic. We tend to disdain judgement as we value justice. But, is that possible?

 

Anyway, a question comes: who is the judge? We know that, depending on whom the judge is, the world can find the true peace and joy or total chaos and destruction, I mean depending on what we are looking for: my will be done on earth or God’s will be done on earth. Is that true to you all?

 

About 600 years before Christ, Israel people were trying to bring “their will be done on earth” instead of “God’s will be done on earth.” They became stubborn refusing to listen to God but God continued to call them back sending prophets to save them. However, they did not listen. Then, Israel fell and people were deported to Babylon as captives. 

 

Prophet Ezekiel brought God’s message to them in Babylon. Ironically, people wanted justice for their nation, the message of hope and comfort; however, God’s message was about the judgement. People did not received it well at first but as they realized that “God is the true judge,” God’s message began to change from judgement to the message of comfort and hope, a message of spring, I mean people were able to see the message of hope in Babylon!

 

One day, Ezekiel was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with dry bones scattered everywhere across the ground. Then the spirit of the Lord asked him, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” What do you think? Could those dry bones become living people again? According to the book of Ezekiel, it did so.

 

“Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. 

The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons… 

Then skin formed to cover their bodies… and breath 

came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their 

feet-a great army!” (Ezekiel 37:7, 8 & 10, NLT).

 

It was like what happened on the day of Pentecost two thousand years ago in Jerusalem. And it was the beginning of God’s true justice prevailing starting from the church as the believers carried the word of God for eternal judgement and justice. 

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you feel like a dry bone in the valley? Then, would you be a part of this great army with the power of the Holy Spirit from this month so that God’s justice truly prevail among us beginning from me, from our family, from our church and from our community? 

 

So, in this month of May, a season of spring, I would like to invite you to join us for this very special journey of dry bones coming to alive for God’s justice. Join us! 

 

Grace and Peace,  

Pastor Kyochul

The Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings!

 

“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of righteousness will rise with healing 

in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture” 

(Malachi 4:2, NLT).

 

Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

 

Now, it is so obvious that the length of daylight is getting longer each day. Which means, spring is truly here! So, I feel much lighter, brighter, and cheerful. Over a month ago, we began our forty days of Lenten Journey, I mean our spiritual journey, with our neighboring Methodist churches gathering every Wednesday evening for worship and fellowship. It was a wonderful journey together; however, some of us had to drive around forty to fifty miles at night in darkness watching for deer on the country road. And sometimes, there was snow when we drove in darkness. We were very hesitant to go out at first. But now, it is much brighter and we feel much safer when we drive back home from worship in the evening. Wow! It is the power of daylight! Can you feel it?

 

“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, 

because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12b, NLT).

 

So through our Lenten journey last month in darkness, we truly experienced the power of light as we walked with Jesus because Jesus is the light of the world and we followed him as he led us! Is that true to you all? However, do you know that we are not the only one!

 

Many years ago, there was a young man named David. Later on, he became a king of Israel. However, before he became a king, there was a powerful king named Saul. But as David became more famous than the king Saul in the nation, he did not like it, I mean he hated David. So he tried to kill this young David with all his power.

 

Wow! For David, his life was like walking in darkness as he was chased by those powerful men in the nation. Every day was like standing in front “life or death.” However, one day, he was able to sing this song to the Lord when the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul.

 

“I love you, Lord; you are my strength… You light a lamp for me. 

The Lord my God lights up my darkness” (Psalm 18:1 & 28, NLT).

 

Which means, he was not discouraged in darkness because God was always there like a lamp that lights up his darkness, I mean, every moment of his life. No wonder why God made him the most powerful king of Israel! Why? Because he was always walking with the light, I mean led by the light even in darkness so that he felt safe and secure in confidence! No fear! That is the life in the light!

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, spring is here and the length of daylight is longer than darkness now. We feel much lighter, we feel much safer, and we feel much cheerful. However, in some part of our life, are we still experiencing some deep darkness in fear or some discouragements? 

 

In this season, God truly touches us with the Sun of righteousness and brings us the life of healing and encouragement through our risen Lord Jesus Christ. So now in this new month of April, we will confidently walk in the light and sing like a king David as we follow Jesus who overcame even the darkness of death for us as our light. I would like to invite you to join our new journey with this light. Join us! 

 

Grace and Peace,  

Pastor Kyochul

Purify me!

 

“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me,

and I will be whiter than snow”(Psalm 51:7, NLT)

Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

 

One day, very early in the morning, as I dreamed of preparing for the month of March, I heard the sound of spring, I mean the raindrops tapping on the window right above my head. So, what did I do? I woke up and took my car out of the garage. Do you know why? Because, in my dream, I heard the prayer of my dirty car covered with salty and muddy marks, “Wash me! Wash me! Wash me! I am too dirty!” And it worked! In a couple of hours, this thirteen year old car looked very clean like a brand new, believe it or not. However, did spring come? Oh no! Not yet! 

 

Anyway, it is very important to clean before we eat, before we go to bed, before we wear a new cloth. Why? Because it keeps us from all harmful bacteria and viruses, in other words, it is the most important way to keep our body healthy. Also it looks good when we are clean!

 

Some years ago, I happened to live around old mine towns. Can you guess what the most famous food around that town was? It was a pasty. It is made by placing an uncooked filling, typically meat and vegetables, onions and for some tradition, Rutabaga, on one half of a flat shortcrust pastry circle, folding the pastry in half to wrap the filling in a semicircle and crimping the curved edge to form a seal before baking, then, over an hour baking in the oven until the crust is golden brown. Sounds yummy!

 

It was a portable lunch for the miners some years ago. However, when the meal time came in the mine, deep under the ground, they were not able to clean their hands before eating. So, they hold the pasty and eat it… actually, they throw away the thick wide pastry edges after eating the rest of their meal… to avoid being poisoned by the mine dust from their fingers.

 

They were not able to clean their hands; however, they were able to eat clean food! What smart eating! How about our hearts? We are not able to clean our hearts by ourselves in our spiritual journey to the kingdom eternal, are we? So no wonder why the psalmist continually prayed like this because he was not able to do that by himself.

 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” 

(Psalm 51:10, NLT).

 

It was a prayer that David had after he realized how sinful and dirty he was in front of God. So what happened? God heard his prayer and forgave his sin and renewed his life so he is still considered as a great king in the history of Israel or in the Bible despite his sinfulness or dirtiness.

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have now entered into the season of Lent, forty days of preparation to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ two thousand years ago. During those days, we spend our time for praying, fasting, studying and almsgiving, letting God clean our heart and renew our spirit because it is the only God can do! No wonder why the end of the whole book of Psalm is filled with the word “Hallelujah” with thanksgiving!

 

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. 

Give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:4, NLT).

 

This is our vision of this season going through forty days of Lent as we let God clean our heart so that we can fully celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with that song of Hallelujahs! Join us!

 

Grace and Peace, 

Pastor Kyochul