We can pull back a little if you want. Okay. Happy New Year, Pastor Peter. Well, we are... >> Good morning church family and happy Lord's Day and a happy New Year to each and every one of you. Our God is good. He sustains us and that's the reason we are here.

We have been through this past year. It is by his power and grace that sustains us. Let us begin this morning's service with worship. Let us sing and declare to our God that he is our strength, our shield, he alone is our heart's desire and we long to worship him.

Let's sing together. As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after thee. You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship thee. You're my friend and you are my brother even though you are a king. I love you more than any other so much more than anything.

You alone are my strength, my shield. To you alone may my spirit yield. To you alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship thee. I want you. I want you more than gold or silver only you can satisfy. You alone are the real joy giver and the apple of my eye.

You alone are my strength, my shield. To you alone may my spirit yield. To you alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship thee. And I long to worship thee. Good morning. Can I ask somebody on the side to close that side door? All right, thank you.

All right, happy new year. It's 2023 already. As you guys know, today we have our Korean term for it is "tteokguk" or rice soup is the literal translation. And I want to explain why we're doing that and I know it's a very specific Korean dish. OK, and it's not we're not trying to be Korean.

In fact, Koreans are minority in this church now. Right. And we're becoming smaller and smaller, smaller group every year. But I wanted to explain the reason why we chose it. This soup requires a lot of work. And but traditionally in the Korean culture, and I know that this is not just Koreans, but even in the other Asian cultures, they do this.

They welcome the new year with eating a special dish and family getting together. And so in particular in the Korean community, they eat this dish to welcome the new year that another year is turning. But it is also very specifically for the family to come together and to share that meal together.

So it's kind of like the family coming together to welcome the new year. And so that's the tradition behind it. After they eat it, they will honor the elders in the home by bowing and then they get money and then they play games. And so basically the new year is welcomed to kind of emphasize the community and emphasize the family.

And so we're doing this today. And again, I know that again, that it's not specifically Korean, but in order to emphasize that we are the body of Christ, this is a family. We come from all different backgrounds, all different cultures. And whether you're Chinese American, whether you're, you know, European American, wherever, what our background is, the beauty of the church is that God brings us together with different cultures, different interests, even different tastes and different things.

And he blends us into one. And now we're the family of God, not because we were born into a certain culture or because of our of any specific background, but because we're united in Christ. And so by sharing this meal together, we wanted to kind of be reminded that we are really together as one.

This is our extended family. This is not just a place where we come in. These are the people that we happen to go to the same church, but we suffer together. We rejoice together. Right. We welcome the new year together. And so that's part of the reasoning behind it.

And even before we eat, I want to thank some of the people who helped out with that. And I know that there's a lot of different, you know, people who cooked and put it together. But especially I want to give thanks to Rachel Kang, our sister who oversaw all of this.

And she was literally. Yeah. So if you see them working, thank them. But specifically, Rachel Kang. I mean, she was literally here all week by herself, you know, getting this ready. And this dish requires a lot of work. And so I don't know what the outcome is going to be.

Right. I don't know because I haven't tasted it. So whether it's good or not, there's a lot of love and care and sacrifice that went into the dish. So hopefully you will evaluate it based on that. OK. And I, you know, I really believe that, you know, it's a reflection of what makes the church beautiful is not because of the end product.

Right. You can put all the labor and effort in and then the end product may not turn out exactly the way you desired. Right. Whatever that may be. But God is honored in our effort. God is honored in our love and our care. In fact, the Bible has a very specific word for worshipping through service.

Sabomai, you know, Sabomai basically is like in some of your Bibles, it's translated service. Some of your Bibles is actually translated worship. And so a part of the meaning behind that worship is we have worship where we give adoration and honor to God. We have worship where we feel an affection for God.

But there's a specific word for worship that means physically to serve. And so even in small things, whether we eat or drink, we do it for the glory of God. Right. And so the beauty of the church is we have people who are in different backgrounds, different giftedness. And we worship God.

Right. We worship God through serving. There are people in our church who are here early in the morning cooking and cleaning. We have the whole cafe that's being run. It's all run by volunteers. Our worship team shows up here early in the morning. They're the first ones that come.

And so there's a lot of worship that takes place. Right. That happens before we actually start worship at nine o'clock and eleven o'clock. And whatever the result may be, that process is honoring to God when we do it in an act of worship. Right. So I don't know what the food is going to taste like.

Right. This is all, again, new to us. And there's a lot of work that had to go into prep for this. But I already know that it's going to be delicious spiritually. Because a lot of care and worship went into serving the church today. So please remember to thank the people who serve them.

Don't evaluate the food by the taste. Right. Evaluate the food by the effort and the love that went into it. Right. And I'm pretty sure that it's going to be good, too. Right. So I just wanted to explain what was happening today. So just so that we could really enjoy the time together after service.

A couple of announcements. First of all, the family ministry community groups are starting. I'll give you more announcement about that in the coming weeks. Members meeting happening on January 15th. And then new members class also starting on January 15th. And then women's ministry reminder, the tea time happening January 28th.

And then they're starting a new round of intentional sisters fellowship. They're going to be reading Don't Waste Your Life from John Piper. So if you want to sign up for that, we'll give you new announcements for that. OK. We'll give you more details as time goes. I'm going to pray for our offering.

And then after that, our brother, Joseph Lee, is going to come up. And he's going to give his testimony and be baptized. So let me pray for us. I'll give you a minute to give your offering electronically. Those of you who have physical offerings, again, we have an offering box in the back that you can drop it off later.

OK. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your grace and love and just protecting us and guiding us, persevering with us in 2022. As we face a new year, help us, Lord God, to be mindful of who you are, that we may live lives intentionally pursuing you with all our might.

I pray, Father God, that even in this giving, help us, Lord God, to give with an act of worship, may it be multiplied for your use in your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church family, please stand with us as we continue our worship. How's it going? My name is Joseph Lee, and this is my testimony.

I grew up in the church and had an intellectual understanding of the gospel at a young age. However, I don't believe I truly pursued Christ, nor counted the cost of following him. It was a shallow mixture of the acknowledgment of the works of Christ, being immersed in the Christian ghetto, and just overall being a good boy.

Freshman year of high school, my parents split. Without warning, overnight, my world has flipped on its head. I was unable to make sense of it all. And although I sought help from family, friends, and church, I never really processed it. I never got out the funk. I became bitter, prideful, arrogant.

And my heart began to harden, becoming extremely calloused. I become jaded. I was drawn towards a very hedonistic lifestyle. I spiraled into heavy drinking, surrounded myself with things of the world to cope with the burdens of my heart. Helped as a short-term bandage, but did not address the core of my issues, my sin, and the effects of the sins of others.

2018 to 2021, I lived in Hemet, as I took on a job at a skilled nursing facility. I lived out of a Motel 6, and that was kind of wild. I don't know why, but something told me that I had to do it. It was dangerous. Lived in constant fear-- drug deals, meth, domestic violence, gang violence, racist and good shots, getting mugged, all that stuff.

Yet I was still prideful and refused to obey God. I hit rock bottom when I was admitted to the RL at work. I never returned to work, and a month later, returned back to Dhanbar, the greatest city in the world. But God wasn't finished, as even at home, there I was threatened with a knife and found out my father was going through some stuff.

That was pretty rough. But I had to have been taught and learned the hard way. As Pastor Peter said in a sermon, be humble or be humbled. And I was being humbled. I was getting rocked. After visiting Breen for a few weeks, I felt a conviction about life as a whole.

After a Sunday service on July 17th this past year, I went home, prayed, and said, I surrender. I surrender and want to repent, thinking I could do this thing called life on my own, and that Christ's death and resurrection is sufficient for me and my sins. I surrender my prideful, callous, unrepentant, sinful heart.

Even the good deeds and works of my hands still fall short, and that I trust in the bloodshed work of Jesus. I surrender making excuses for my actions, the life I live, I surrender all. And in this surrender, I place my complete trust in the fact that God loves me dearly and that he forgives freely.

Kind of mind blowing that as once a sinner who is so set apart from a completely good, holy, and just God, I'm made right and worthy through Christ, even to be considered a child of God and that he knows me by name. With these things said, I would like to take this opportunity to ask for forgiveness of those I've wronged.

I could blame situations or circumstances, but it's all on me. And also, I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I forgive those who have wronged me. I forgive you as God has forgiven me of my sins. And my hope is that you find the freedom I now have in Christ as for yourself.

Just a few acknowledgments and thank you. I'd like to thank my mom, who loves me unconditionally. Thanks, Mom. My brother, Daniel, and his wife, Ashley. Without going into too much detail, to whom I owe my life to. So thank you. And to my boys who made it here. Men, I really appreciate you guys coming out.

I love you guys. Thanks for helping me push through it all. Yeah, I'd like to end with some Bible. 1 Corinthians 15, 54 through 57. "But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I'm finally free. Thank you. you you you all right thank you Joseph for that very encouraging testimony those you guys don't know his older brother Daniel and Ashley were members at our church many years ago and then they moved out to the valley so they're attending a very like-minded church over there in the valley but I remember years ago praying with them and their top priority at least you know what I remember was praying for Joseph you know and I had no idea he was living in motel 6 or anything like that I just knew that they were very concerned for him and praying for him and to see him committing his life to Christ you know as it is encouraging for them but it's also very encouraging to see that after all these years that God answered prayer so congratulations to him and to the family if you can turn your Bibles to Colossians chapter 4 verses 2 through 4 Colossians chapter 4 verses 2 to 4 devote yourselves to prayer keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving praying at the same time for us as well that God will open up to us a door for the word so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak let's pray Heavenly Father we pray for your grace and your blessing Lord God upon this time we pray Lord God that it would be your word and your word alone that is taught understood that you protect this pulpit Lord God from anything that strays and may your truth and your truth alone be taught in Jesus name we pray amen if you can play that video real quick you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you