Anna's Version

Deb took up the prophet Anna’s perspective in our final Advent sermon, an easily overlooked but fascinating character in Luke’s telling of the Christmas story. Here is one passage, in Anna’s voice:

But, as I told Simeon, we need more than encouragement. We need someone who can fix the situation. We need more than consolation, we need someone to bring redemption, a release from the situation in which we find ourselves. Yes, we need comfort and encouragement. But we also need for our situation to change, for Israel to be released from from the oppression we are experiencing.  

And God has promised to redeem Israel. If you read through the Prophets, it’s unmistakable.

Peace in the Midst of the Storm,

Steve preached on the Angel’s song of peace this past Sunday. To illustrate—literally—what Christians mean by peace, he shared this story and painting.

Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally, the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered…Last to be uncovered by Christian artist Jack Dawson and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?

 A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel it’s cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls.  How can this be a depiction of peace?  Look carefully…

One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power. A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.

“Peace in the Midst of the Storm,” Jack Dawson

Knowledge is Power

Advent is a time to remember Christ’s arrival that first Christmas, but also to deepen our faith in his promise to come again bearing salvation. In his sermon, David described the knowledge of this promise as a kind of power. To illustrate this, he used this illustration from the movie Force 10 from Navarone:

In this movie, a group of elite soldiers planned to destroy a gigantic dam in order to stop the advance of the German Army. The group had Miller who was an explosive specialist, and he prepared three bags of explosives for the plan. Then two other soldiers sneaked into the deep base of the dam, planted the explosives, and detonated them. They knew that if the dam was blasted they wouldn’t have enough time to escape, but they did it, giving up their lives. When the explosives exploded, however, the dam was not damaged at all. Another soldier, who was looking down the dam from the top of the mountain and waiting for its collapse, was greatly disappointed and complained to Miller. “It didn’t do a thing! Nothing!” But Miller was calm. Lighting a cigarette, he said with composure, “You can’t expect an enormous volcano with three tiny bags of explosives. You have to let nature take her course. Give it time. It’ll work.” Exactly as Miller said, after the lapse of a few minutes, the concrete walls of the dam began to crack and water gushed down through the cracks. And the water trapped in the dam pushed the dam down and collapsed it completely. Miller knew everything. He knew the exact amount of explosive required to destroy the huge dam while giving enough time for his fellow soldiers to escape after planting the explosives. What he used for destroying the dam was not “explosive.” He used his “knowledge.” He knew the “power of nature.” He relied on the power of water blocked by the dam. As he knew how powerful it is, he was calm and peaceful. And with a few tiny bags of explosives, he did a great job and saved many lives.

What a great example of waiting for what God has already done in Jesus Christ!

The Future in Past Tense

To kick off our Advent series, Erik preached on the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Mary’s song reminds us that God has made promises that He has not yet kept. When we have faith in these promises (in other words, hope), we can see them fulfilled in the present. To show how what we believe about the future changes how we live in the present, Erik offered this illustration:

You may have noticed the irony that enormous companies like General Motors sometimes have a lower value in the stock market than upstart companies like Tesla. Some of the most valuable companies aren’t even profitable. That’s because buying a stock is a way of betting on a company’s future: you buy stock in Tesla rather than GM because you think the future of cars is electric. What you believe about the future dictates how you behave in the present.

Returning to Advent: what do you think would happen to the stock market if we learned that Christ was returning in a couple years? The stock market would crash today. Not in couple of years, but right now. Why? Because stocks are bets on the future, and you don’t want to be caught with all your money tied up in investments if thy guy taking over preached “woe to the rich,” turned over the moneychangers’ tables, and warned against storing up wealth. A few might try to invest in bibles, but the wisest would start giving money away as fast as they could, because that’s how you “use unrighteous mammon to make friends” and “store up treasure in the kingdom of heaven.”

Quiet Blessings Upon the World

David concluded our series on James with a sermon on true wealth in a world that seems ruled by money. In one memorable moment, he said that the true power sustaining the world are not the plans of the wealthy, but the prayers of the faithful:

God’s blessing comes down so quietly and unknowingly. Numbers 11:9 says, “When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.” When the people were sleeping in peace, God sent the dew and the manna quietly without disturbing their sweet sleep. And this is how believers’ prayers and God’s blessings are for the world. Our prayers look like nothing. But our prayers carry God’s blessings down upon the world. People may think that the world is ruled by rich men….But it is not true. The world is sustained and blessed by God through the believers’ prayers behind the curtain.

Pray Selfish Prayers

Erik preached on James’ guidance regarding prayer from Chapter 4: “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” His sermon made the case that if we really have faith in God’s grace and power, we shouldn’t be afraid to pray selfish prayers. It took inspiration from his quote by Richard Foster’s book Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home:

“we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives-altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. But what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.”

Word of Peace

David preached on James’ admonition in Chapter 3 to “tame the tongue.” Our model is Jesus:

Jesus is “a silent lamb,” but at the same time, he is “the Eternal Word.” However, Jesus’ word is not for arguing or striving. Jesus is “the word of peace” sent by God to us (Acts 10:36). All the words and deeds of Jesus originated from “peace,” and they are for “peace.” Not even a word from Jesus’ mouth is tinted with hating, cursing, grumbling, flattering, slandering, or gossiping. All the words from his mouth are for peace.

Faith with Shoes On

Deb preached on one of James’ most famous statements: “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead,” (2:17). She calls this “faith with shoes on,” faith that’s ready to leave the house. Here is Deb’s conclusion:

Faith with shoes on is a living faith. It’s a faith that includes actions. It’s not a question of inner faith versus outer actions. The fact is, you need both. You can’t earn your way to heaven by chalking up a whole list of good works. But you also can’t agree with the idea of who Jesus is without letting that inner conviction work its way out through your hands and feet. Faith needs to have its shoes on if it’s going to go anywhere. 

As we wrap up our time of worship and put our metaphorical shoes on to go out into the rest of our lives, think about what situation you will face this week where God is asking you to live your faith outwardly. Is there a relationship that needs repair? A situation that needs God’s grace? A tough knot that needs God’s wisdom to unravel? May God lead each of us this week as we lace up our shoes of faith and follow him.

Amazing Grace in the Mirror

Erik preached on the short parable of the mirror in James (1:22-27). Here is part of his conclusion:

Doing, not just hearing, is the path to self-knowledge. But pay close attention, and you can learn even more about God. Can you see it, God’s grace? When you try and follow Jesus, you learn that you’re a sinner in need of God’s grace. Look a little more carefully, and you will see that you’re a sinner that is already receiving God’s grace. By God’s grace—forgiving us, helping us—sinners can see themselves following Jesus. Remember what we sang: T’was grace that taught my heart to fear; and grace my fears relieved. T’was grace that taught you that you were a sinner. T’was grace that taught you that you could be a saint.

Good Things Take Time

David shared this clever advertisement during his sermon on the opening verses of James. He added some encouraging commentary about perseverance and Christian integrity:

Cheesemakers should learn how to wait. It’s because cheesemaking takes time. Waiting and waiting, they should let time finish its work in order to get high-quality cheese. We must believe God who is working on us even when we are helpless and hopeless. In fact, that is exactly the time when we grow mature and perfect in God’s hand.

The Joyless Sin

Preaching on the 10th and final commandment ("don’t covet anything belonging to your neighbor”), Erik defined covetousness as the combination of envy and greed. He shared this memorable quote from Joseph Epstein: “Of all the deadly sins, only envy is no fun at all.” Acknowledging that envy feels terrible might be the first step to letting God save us from covetousness!

Believing the truth can be as hard as telling it

Our guest preacher Steve Nordbye, shared this timely warning in his sermon this week:

“We are most likely to think and believe the worst about those with whom we are in conflict or competition. It is therefore with those people that we are most at risk in bearing false witness or believing it from others.”

Is This the Price of My Integrity?

Here is a striking question that Deb posed in her sermon on the Eight Commandment against stealing:

I remember once, many years ago, I was grocery shopping, and the cashier gave me back too much change. It was something like $1.00. The first thought that crossed my mind was, Oh, hey, it’s my lucky day! But then another thought came to me. And it’s one of those thoughts that has stuck with me over the years. Is this the price of my integrity? $1.00? If I’m going to compromise my integrity, shouldn’t it be for more than that?

The Spirit of Hot Air Balloons

In his sermon on Sunday, David gave us a terrific illustration about God's spirit in each us. We wanted to share it: 

An air balloon is a giant air bag made of fabrics. When hot air is blown into the bag, the air fills its inside and inflates the balloon to the full. Then, the air balloon begins to float in the air. I think this air balloon is like the man created by God in the beginning. Genesis 2:7 says, “The Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” God first formed a man from the dust. But the man was not completed yet. Just his outer container was prepared. The man made of the dust was like the air bag made of fabrics. Only when God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, the man became a living soul. This is like the air balloon fully inflated with hot air inside. When air is blown into the bag, the bag gradually turns into its real form. When it is fully inflated, the bag takes exactly the shape that was in the maker’s mind. And in order to remain in the beautiful shape and even to fly in the sky, the air balloon should keep supplied with hot air. If the air inside the bag gets cold or it leaks out, the balloon will be disfigured and fall to the ground. This is also the case for man. God designed him to be “God’s image” (Genesis 1:26-27). And this image is revealed when the man is full of God’s spirit.

Matthew Hayes: A Man of Dignity and Grace

This short memoir recounts anecdotes from the life of Matthew Howard Henry Hayes, who went to be with the Lord on October 25, 2019. These stories were compiled by ICC’s founding pastor Rev. Lorraine Anderson (retired), who says, “Matt Hayes has always been about life, choosing life over death every minute of every day.”

Celebrating the Life of Monet Lim, 1990-2019

Monet Lim, daughter of Ellen and David Jun, went to be with the Lord on Friday, May 10, at the age of 28.

We hope you will join us at ICC for a service of remembrance to celebrate Monet’s life on Saturday, May 18, at 6:00 p.m., to be followed by a reception.

Please be in prayer for Monet’s family.

David's Ordination

Today, we celebrated the ordination of Rev. David Nakmoo Jun at ICC. A native of Chungnam Nonsan, Korea, David has been assisting with the ministry at ICC for many years, and also pastors a small Korean-language congregation, Allston Korean Church.

David’s candidacy was approved by a vote of the Samuel Stillman Association of the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts (TABCOM) in January. Today, TABCOM Executive Minister Mary Day Miller presented David with a certificate documenting his ordination by the denomination. Many Stillman Association clergy were present for today’s service, which included a sermon by Rev. Jon Hevelone of the First Baptist Church of Arlington.

David Nakmoo Jun received his ordination certificate from Mary Day Miller, executive minister of TABCOM.

Many clergy from the Samuel Stillman Association were among those in attendance at the ordination service.

The sermon was given by Rev. Jon Hevelone of First Baptist Church of Arlington

What would a Baptist gathering be without food? After the service, we enjoyed a variety of Korean dishes prepared by David’s wife Ellen Haekyung Jun.

Judy's Update from Goma

Judy Kee continues her travels in Congo and send the update below. We pray for her and look forward to her return this coming week.

We arrived here safely with no delays at the Beni airport and Dr. Jo met us at the Goma airport. What a busy city full of people, motorcycles, minibuses, and pedestrians: one million population and growing. The traffic was heavy at 5 p.m. through town getting to his home lakeside. I found that the grief over the loss of Lyn’s presence here overwhelmed me as we walked into their familiar yard and her rose garden. She is mentioned here often, and their shared vision for Heal Africa continues to be Jo’s inspiration. That eased my heart. Sleep was difficult for me as the pillow was unyielding and the dreams and thoughts were many.

Today we went to Heal Africa for morning Friday prayers in the Tabernacle (church) for an especially long worship service complete with a sermon: dual preaching in English and Swahili. We toured the hospital and saw the construction on going here. Two of our former students from the Baptist church came to see Nancy and me. “We are here because you are here, Madame."

Thursday, after we left the Beni airport, there was a conflict that occurred with our further details. The need to be courageous and persist in the work at CME Beni is a constant need with this continued civil unrest.

On Thursday morning, the young doctor who is medical director, Dr. Baraka, told us his dreams for leadership development that he is using currently. He is a very wise young man guided by God in so many ways.  I recorded a testimony from him in English for you all to hear.

The passages of Scripture we have been reading daily have greatly aided my prayers, like forgiveness, deliverance from evil, loving our neighbors, etc., all fall into the realm of prayer needs here. I realize that there are no safe places in the world. Safe meaning security that is sure. There is always conflict, stealing, murder, deception as part of the kingdom of the principalities and powers over which Jesus declared victory. Joshua 1:7-9 certainly applies in all those confrontations with the GIANTS  around us. Thanks for praying.

This is now rest time.  Perhaps there will be more folks coming here to see us. Three things will last forever - faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is LOVE.