“Let everything that breathes sing praise to the
Lord!”
(Psalm 150:6, NLT)
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Now, we have only two months left for this year 2022, November and
December. However, in the Christian Calendar, we are running toward the end of
the year in this month of November. How come? It’s because the Christian new
year begins with the preparation of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem through the
Advent season right after Thanksgiving and it ends at Christ's return. It
means, for us, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Christ the King Sunday, is the
last week before the new beginning.
Are we ready for that, the new beginning? However, before we ask
that question, I want to ask this question first. “Are we ready to finish this
year’s race well?”
Some years ago, when I had Army training in my early twenties, we
had to march for about 20 hours without sleeping with the full combat gear.
There were lots of ups and downs during those hours, I mean uphills and
downhills; however, the most hardest moment was the time when I saw the
entrance of the basecamp from afar ahead of me. I remember that suddenly my two
legs turned to be like a jellyfish as soon as I knew that I was almost there. I
actually don’t remember how I finished that, especially for the last five
minutes. I think I dragged my feet. And I finished it. Hallelujah!
Anyway, for the Christian soldiers who fought the good fight to
bless the world, it is truly a waiting game because it was Jesus’ promise to
come back and reign over us with his love and compassion, justice and peace. It
has been over two thousand years so far after we heard from him like this.
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to
repay
all people according to their deeds” (Revelation 22:12,
NLT).
We endured the hot summer sun of hardships, we overcame the fear
of darkness and uncertainty, and we broke through the mountains of challenges,
fixing our eyes on this promise holding the power through him in faith.
As I finish the last month of this year’s Christian race, the
Apostle Paul who stood boldly in front of the Roman Emperor two thousand years
ago came to my mind. He truly wanted to bless those with the blessings that he
received from Jesus. Even in his last moment in the prison before being
persecuted, he wrote about how he ran the race.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith”
(2 Timothy 4:7, NRSV).
First of all, he fought the GOOD fight, then he FINISHED it! And
last of all, he KEPT his faith! But how can we fight the good fight like Paul?;
How can we finish this year’s race like Paul?; And how can we keep the faith
like Paul?
“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in
all circumstances, for this is
God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1
Thessalonians 5:16-18, NLT).
That was how he ran the race because he belonged to Jesus!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we belong to Jesus and we will
finish our race this year through giving thanks to God with grateful hearts
like Paul so that God can make our faith alive in our new beginning!
So now, I’d like to invite you to come and join us in this month
of November to finish the race well, in the season of thanksgiving. We will
fight the good fight, finish the race and keep our faith for our new beginning!
So now, Join us!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Kyochul
