11/30/2025 A Church After God’s Own Heart
/Sermon on Acts 67
Title: A Church After God’s Own Heart Scripture: Acts 13:17-22
[Acts 13:17-22 NIV] 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; 18 for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness; 19 and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
English Translation
Opening
This year, I truly feel that God continues to pour out His grace upon this church. One of the members who serves diligently behind the scenes said something to me.
They asked if I felt a sense of refreshing release, as if something clogged had been opened up. That is correct. I had that exact feeling.
After the Times Square street worship, another brother described it as a "huge success." Even looking at the number of guests who visited our CROSS event this year, considering the size of our church, many people came. As I recall, over 20 guests visited us.
However, more than the numbers, when I thought about who those visitors were, I could feel the hearts of the people who invited them. I could feel the hearts of those who had been praying for that one specific person.
When those guests opened the door and walked into the room, I saw big, beaming smiles that could not be hidden. I felt the excitement and love in the air. Because of that, throughout the event, I felt recharged and captivated by something special.
If there was one problem, it was the internet connection. There were moments when it cut out during important times, which made me sweat a little.
But thinking back later, I realized that those situations actually made people focus more. It made them listen even more carefully when I was sharing the message. Just like the scripture I shared that day, I experienced God making all things work together for good.
I cannot express how proud I am that we finished the event we prepared so hard for, and how proud I am of each and every one of you. God was truly with us, and He was very pleased.
But the most important thing is this: if even one person there opened their heart just a little bit to Jesus that day, aren't all our prayers and efforts already more than rewarded?
When I went home and read the prayer letters you left for me, my heart felt so warm and moved. The innocent prayer requests written by the children were so lovely.
As I offered those prayers up to the Lord, the Father’s heart of love for them filled me as well. I felt the love that God feels toward us when we pray.
How can we express such a precious person as just a number, saying "a few people came"? As I read those prayers with tears in my eyes, I realized that to someone, these people are like the universe—worth more than the whole world.
In the message at CROSS that day, I testified about how God worked in three of my beloved coworkers. But God worked not only in them but in everyone here; there is no one I haven't prayed for, and we have experienced various miracles together.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
In the Bible, Jesus speaks as if it is obvious. He says that if a man has a hundred sheep and loses one, he will leave the ninety-nine to go look for the one lost sheep in danger.
And when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and is so happy that he calls his neighbors together to have a feast. Then Jesus asks us, "Wouldn't you do the same?"
Do you do the same? How would you answer Jesus' question? You might think, 'Well... I don't know. Isn't it okay to lose just one?'
You might think, ' Shouldn't we take good care of the ninety-nine right now? We don't know where that lost sheep is or how dangerous the place might be.' That seems like a more common sense and natural reaction for us, doesn't it?
Theologians' commentaries or famous sermons often explain this text this way: They say that if someone had a hundred sheep, there were likely fellow shepherds, so he could leave the ninety-nine with them.
But did Jesus really mean it that way? What Jesus is saying here is that the ninety-nine are safe together! But that one sheep who is not part of the community—that poor thing is in trouble.
So, He leaves the ninety-nine behind. And eventually, if we go and suffer to find that one sheep, we would feel good carrying it on our shoulders because we found what was lost.
But is that something to call the whole neighborhood together for a feast? To have a party over saving just one animal? Does that make sense to you?
The Parable of the Lost Coin
To make His meaning clearer, Jesus immediately tells the story of the lost drachma.
[Luke 15:8-9 NIV] 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’
Those who have attended church for a long time have probably heard sermons on this. They say this coin was part of a ten-piece wedding necklace, so losing one is like losing a wedding ring.
Most interpretations add that this is why the woman searched so diligently. But just like the parable of the shepherd saving the sheep, the important part is that when she found the coin, she called her friends and neighbors for a feast.
It is no accident that Jesus clearly specified the unit of money as a 'drachma.' A drachma is a day's wage. It is not small, but it is not a huge treasure either.
It is something extremely ordinary. To people, it doesn't have huge value like a talent worth millions. It's just the amount where you might say, "Ah, I wasted a day's work."
One out of a hundred. This time, one out of ten. He turns the whole house upside down until He finds that one thing that doesn't seem very important. He leaves the ninety-nine to go find it. That is the point.
To people, it looks extremely ordinary and not very important. But to Jesus, that is never the case! That is who the Lord is.
Actually, this is very hard to understand. That is why theologians and preachers add interpretations. They say it wasn't just one out of ten, but part of a set, so without it, the set is incomplete.
They say that’s why she swept the house and threw a party that cost much more than the coin itself. They add these interpretations because only when the coin means more than just a coin does it resonate with us.
However, the Lord seeks and focuses on not only those who look like shiny, noble gold to everyone else. He seeks that one ordinary person like a drachma coin. He looks for that one sheep whose absence out of a hundred wouldn't even be noticed.
God’s Heart at the Event
I saw this at the CROSS event this time. After inviting one person, you must have prayed many times over the past few weeks and contacted them carefully.
And when the door opened and that person appeared, your eyes sparkled. I saw you hovering around them, wanting to take care of even one more thing for them.
In that moment, you became Jesus. You became His eyes, His hands, and His feet. Literally, everyone who came that day looked like a V.I.P.
The feeling that this one person looks so precious. A feast prepared for that one person. It was exactly that kind of day.
To the Lord's question, "Wouldn't you do the same?"—on that day, at least, our hearts responded, "Yes, Lord! That's right! We should definitely throw a big party just for this one person!" It was that kind of feast.
On the Saturday night prayer meeting before CROSS, and the leaders' prayer meeting suddenly held on Monday... As I prepared for the prayer meeting, I had certain thoughts naturally.
I thought, 'Our church invested a large amount of money to rent the biggest room, prepared lots of food, and worked hard on the program. Let's challenge everyone to invite people diligently until the end so we have no regrets!'
But when I actually started praying, God's heart overwhelmed me. I realized that the people gathered at the prayer meeting, Pastor Jung, my wife, and even myself... we were all once that "one soul."
Someone had prayed for us and shyly, carefully invited us long ago. The truth that we were once the lost VIPs suddenly overwhelmed me as a massive reality.
After realizing that, "one soul is more precious than the whole world" wasn't just words. If we can see the possibility that this one person can become a wonderful person of God... If we can see with that faith...
Then preparing all of this just to find one drachma, for just one of them, is not a waste at all. I was overwhelmed by that truth. While we prayed, I could feel Jesus' sincere heart completely.
And last Sunday at 12 o'clock, we witnessed together how wonderfully that prayer was answered.
The Parable of the Lost Son
If you look closely at the parable of the lost son, the younger son was a terrible child. He was the shame of the family. To anyone else, and even to himself, he was someone who did not deserve to be accepted back.
However, the older brother could not accept the father who threw a feast for him. He was so angry and fuming that he wouldn't even enter the house filled with the sounds of the party. To him, the father says something incomprehensible.
[Luke 15:32 NIV] But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
But actually, he hadn't really died and come back to life. In reality, he took his inheritance while his father was perfectly alive, left home on his own, squandered all the wealth, and disgraced the family.
He wasn't exactly "lost" either. Didn't he leave on his own? Doesn't the father's statement make no sense at all to the older son?
Hearing that reason, would the older son understand and say, "Ah, now that you mention it, you're right"? No, he would have wanted to argue back more angrily, "Father, what are you talking about!?"
But the point is, to the father, it looked exactly that way. He saw him only as something lost that must be found. He saw him only as a dead life that must be brought back to life.
It wasn't about what he did or how he disgraced the father. The father only saw him as a child who was lost but must be found, and who must be saved!
So, in these continuous parables in Luke, we see the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine, the woman who lost one drachma, and this father. They seem neither realistic nor rational.
Theologians have tried hard to understand why Jesus had a perspective so different from ours, and why He asked questions we can't nod along to as if they were obvious. But the essence of Jesus' parables lies right there.
"It doesn't make sense and it's strange, isn't it? But I want you to look at that soul the way I do."
A Challenge for the Coming Year
Last year, as we finished CROSS, I gave you a challenge. I said we would prepare the event well, so you should serve, be patient, and show love to the people you want to invite for the next year.
Inviting someone who feels no fragrance of Jesus Christ from me is bound to be an extremely painful and difficult task. I didn't ask you to fake perfection.
I asked you to boast about the undeniable life within you as you change into a person of love. It was a challenge to love your colleagues and neighbors more for a year so that the life of Jesus might appear gently in your life.
Those who practiced this know that this was not just a challenge for this event. In fact, isn't it Jesus' only command? "Love God and love your neighbor as yourself."
Ultimately, living as a child of God is the perfect way to open the path to the greatest blessings. There are surely people around you who can only see the church through you, and who can only experience Christ's fragrance and love through you.
If you live with the purpose of inviting them to CROSS next year, you will surely become a person who prays more. You will recognize the Lord more often in your daily life. The Lord's will be revealed more clearly and fully in your life.
If one soul gradually becomes the most important thing in the life the Lord has entrusted to you, then your life, which seeks God's Kingdom and His righteousness first, will lack nothing.
A Person After God's Heart
In today's text, God speaks about David like this: "I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do."
There are a few interesting expressions here. The expression that God "found" David, that he was "after God's heart," and that "he will do everything I want him to do." God gave David a huge compliment, calling him a man who has God's heart.
However, we know very well that David was by no means a perfect person. The phrase that puzzles us even more is "he will do everything I want him to do."
David was certainly one of the greatest kings in Israel's history. But he committed serious sins that were hard to erase.
He coveted his subordinate's wife, seized an opportunity to use his status as king to commit adultery. When the woman became pregnant, he sent that subordinate to the most dangerous battlefield. Effectively, he killed him without dirtying his own hands.
Then, he took the woman, now naturally a widow carrying his child, as his own wife. He was even praised as a generous king who took care of his subordinate's family.
It started with impulse and he dreamed of a cowardly perfect crime. Looking at the details, isn't it safe to say this was one of the worst sins a human could commit? Yet, God says He accomplished all His will with this David.
Did such a crime accomplish God's will? Absolutely not. We must conclude that the meaning of "accomplishing all of God's will" is different from our thinking.
It is clear that even a person like David, whom God said would accomplish all His will, was not a flawless human being. Paul defines his journey of faith in his final letter like this:
[2 Timothy 4:7 NIV] I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
"Fought the good fight." His journey of faith did not happen automatically; it was a fierce battle to overcome evil with good!
"Finished the race." Life had a clear destination and a path to get there, and he did not just walk but ran to reach the finish line.
And he says he "kept the faith." This means even the Apostle Paul had to actively fight against doubt, temptation, and persecution to keep his faith.
That David lived a life accomplishing God's will means that although he did not always win, he fought the good fight for holiness throughout his life.
Although there were days he strayed from the path, he eventually returned to the right way and reached the finish line. It means he kept the faith.
For both Paul and David, all of this appeared as love—loving God, forgiving people, treating them kindly, and leading them to the right path.
God Sees the Whole Picture
Now, let's think about God "finding" David. When was that? This question is natural for us who are bound by time and space.
But for a Being who transcends all that, "when" and "where" have a completely different meaning. God can see all of David's time at once.
He saw the boy David playing the harp in the fields praising God under the moonlight. He saw the moment he was chosen as king. He saw him facing the giant everyone feared with faith alone.
He saw him wandering the wilderness as a miserable fugitive. He saw him dancing with joy before the Ark of the Covenant. He also saw him when he was seized by desire and ruining everything.
He saw the time he cried out while paying an unforgettable price. And He saw his humble appearance standing before God in his final years. The Lord saw David's entire life and all his choices at once.
And at one point, He told us: "I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do." He said this while looking at all the choices and journeys of David's life.
He spoke while looking at his whole life—not flawless, but fighting the good fight, walking the path of holiness, and changing into a person of love.
Once we realize this, there is a surprising fact we discover. It is about how the Lord looks at our lives.
The decisions we make now and the actions we take in the future do not just change our future. They change everything. This means we all still have infinite possibilities to become a person after God's own heart.
Will you fight the good fight? Will you know your path and run towards it? Will you defeat pressure, temptation, and doubt to keep the faith? Those choices will completely change the meaning of our lives.
It is okay if there were huge failures in life or times of despair where everything seemed to collapse. David, Paul, and all the figures in the Bible were like that.
Nevertheless, I can run now to the One who can even change the meaning of all those misfortunes. This is the Gospel. Just as God's will was beautifully realized in Paul's life, it can be realized more and more fully in our lives.
We can change into people of love who value one ordinary person around us. We can become people who forgive humbly, people who are peaceful and generous.
That is the person who has the heart of the shepherd who went to find the lost sheep. That is the person who has the heart of the father waiting for the son who left him.
These are the people who have God's heart, and these are the lives where God's will is fully accomplished.
Closing
For us to dream what God dreams, to become the Lord's hands, feet, and body, and to accomplish God's dream in this generation... That is the reason this church exists.
And the Lord will say to such a church: "I have found MMC (your church name), a church after my own heart. It will do everything I want it to do!" Amen!
Becoming a church that the Lord speaks of in this way, becoming the most blessed church, depends on the choices we will make from now on after hearing this message.
Let us pray.
Communion
[1 Corinthians 10:16-17 NIV] 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
[1 Corinthians 11:23-25 NIV] 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
[1 Corinthians 11:26-29 NIV] 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
