The tragedy of the South Korean ferry disaster has gripped the hearts of many people ever since the news broke out.  This tragedy seems especially painful because more than two-thirds of the passengers were high school students on a field trip to the island of Jeju.   What was supposed to be an once-in-a-lifetime trip for the 300+ students turned out to be a nightmare.  The ferry became a mass grave as so many students were trapped inside.  At the time of this writing, the death toll has reached more than 150, and what was once a search and rescue operation has officially turned into a recovery mission.  My heart broke when I read one article about the divers finding many students with broken fingers because they were trying so desperately to escape. 
Though I did not faithfully follow the news, I’ve heard enough through many articles shared via various social-networking services. There is a lot of anger and frustration lashed out, and rightfully so, against the utterly irresponsible and incompetent captain and his crew who abandoned the ship, against the shipping company that neglected its crew’s training for emergency evacuation procedures, and against government authorities that do not take public safety seriously.  Everyone has an opinion as to who or what is to blame for this heart-wrenching disaster.   It is in our nature to want to punish the bad guys quickly and move on with our lives.    Yes, we must talk about what went wrong so this kind of tragedy will never reoccur, but I feel like that task should be left to the experts, and that takes time and patience. 
I couldn’t help but ask myself, “what if I were one of the parents whose child was trapped inside?” How would I have responded?  Fast and pray?  Declare in the name of Jesus that God will miraculously save my child?  Protest in anger what kind of a loving God would let such a wicked thing to happen to innocent children?”   Probably a combination of all of these...that’s why I was so moved and challenged when I read a prayer titled “But even if He does not,” by the father of one of the students, then still missing:
“I’d be thankful if my son, Jung Min, returns home just as Jonah repented inside the fish and came out. But even if not, I am grateful that my beloved son has salvation, that he is a child of God.  Through this incident, I pray that all God’s people confess that God is sovereign over the life and death, blessings and curses of all things. I pray that we realize we are not permanent residents, but travelers passing through this short life. While we still have breath, we should live as witnesses of Christ.  Thank you all for praying for us.”
His prayer reminded me of Daniel’s three friends in the Bible, who declared, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it… But even if He does not, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold. . .”  Now that’s genuine faith – an unshakeable confidence and assurance in God’s goodness, sovereignty, authority, and justice no matter what the outcome may be. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it’s impossible to please God.”  I believe the faith of Jung Min’s father is indeed pleasing to God.   We often proclaim “God is good all the time!  All the time God is good!”  But the real test of our faith - whether our faith is in God, the Giver, or in His gifts - comes through tragic times this.  When we face various kinds of trials that shake our faith to the core, I pray we remain anchored in the love of God the Father.  He did not lose His Son to a freak accident, but willed and carried out Jesus’ cruel execution for our salvation.  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39)

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
April 27, 2014

As of yesterday, we completed the season of lent which began on Ash Wednesday, 40 days ago.  Lent is a time to set aside for reflection on Jesus Christ – his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection.
A couple of days ago, on Good Friday, we gathered together in amazement that our Jesus would die on the cross for our sins and took the punishment in our place.  And we come today to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  Not merely that he died for our sins, but that he rose again from the dead for our eternal life!!
And the bible says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  So those who believe in the name of Jesus live because Jesus is alive!  And we rejoice together!  So Easter is the highest point, the climax of Jesus’ ministry.  And now we’ve reached the highest point, is this the end of the story of Easter?  Far from it!  The truth is that Easter is only the beginning of a real journey on earth for all believers.  The story of Easter continues on. 
Far too many of us have gotten to the cross and the resurrection, but far too few have moved beyond receiving resurrection to live eternally.  See, receiving forgiveness through the blood of Jesus and resurrection of Jesus, which is eternal life, is only half of the story of Easter.  Now Jesus wants us to experience His resurrected life on earth by living it until we go to heaven!
The Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.”  What he is really saying is, “since you’re been saved, now you must live your life accordingly, that is the resurrected life!”
The resurrection of Jesus brought about amazing transformation in his disciples.  They went from hiding to preaching boldly in public.  They were willing to go through hardships, persecution and even death.  What had happened to them?  They had seen Jesus resurrected.  The disciples and the followers of Jesus were so radically transformed that they affected their culture big time!  The reality of the resurrection of Jesus had a transforming power that changed people’s perspective and lifestyle.
And Jesus wants to continue the same ministry of transformation in this age, and he wants to work with us.  In Luke 15, Jesus was upset over the discussion the religious leaders were having about who matters to God and who doesn’t, and He revealed his heart for the lost through the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son.  The point he was making was that lost people really mattered to Him!  In the same way, lost people should be matter to us as well.
Yes, we ought to rejoice together for the resurrected life we’ve received through Jesus.  We live because Jesus is alive!   However, let us not forget that Jesus doesn’t want us to be content with just ourselves being saved, but he wants us to reach out to our families, friends, neighbors and others by living out our resurrected life!   It’s all because lost people really matter to God, and they too should be matter to us. 

Happy Easter!!

From Pastor Neil’s Heart 
April 20, 2014