This is taken from the Sunday Sermon given on February 4, 1996 at the Washington D.C. church.

Our era is a significant and precious time in the history of God's providence. God needs his people to respond to his call. How blessed and glorious are the people who will answer Him. Let's try our best to awaken our faith and live to make our suffering and grieving God happy. In order to be a central person of the new history, we have to try our best with a sincere mind. March forward toward the horizon's bright sunburst. Let's be freed from our mundane frustrations, worries and personal problems and, in their place, let us be filled with a great hope for the coming tomorrow.

When the masses are chattering, let us be mute. When they slander others, let us be deaf. When people commit mistakes and failures, let us be blind. Let's work joyfully for the coming new day. Discard the heavy baggage of unbridled ambitions. Let's travel light and bright with carry-on baggage. Don't sigh, instead be courageous. Let's bury the past of unfulfilled expectations, lost opportunities, lost investments and a neglected spiritual growth. Let's be done with the hatreds I have harbored, even the hatred I felt from the marrow of my bones. Let's be done with the tears of past sorrows, even the sorrow which is so deep within, it is known only to God and myself. Let us put away the lingering disappointment over the determinations I could not accomplish. Let's stop feeling that I lack something and need more. Please forget all these things of the past. Let's welcome a new day and new opportunity with a bright smile and overflowing heart. Let's oversee our life without complaint. Stop chattering, whining and displaying bad temper. Instead, our life should be governed by a child-like purity and bright hope. Don't show anger, envy and engage in unnecessary rivalry.. Lift up your vision to a higher level. Open wide your mind. Let's fill up the new day with variety and true value. As St. Paul tells us, "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise--making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to sin. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."

Faith is life. We are to have a true life of faith. In order to have a proper attitude of faith which God demands, let's examine our life of faith and start again. Without a new start in our life of faith and a determination to fight for goodness, we can't achieve a glorious eternal life. A truly foolish person is one who knows that he is wrong and yet he repeats his mistakes. Such a person cannot help but fail. We made many mistakes in 1995, so let's repent and not repeat them. In this way we can make a new start in 1996. Presently, we are in the middle of the seven year tribulation period. It is the most crucial time of the providence and you will behold many unexpected disturbing events . Therefore, understand your portion of responsibility and have the right understanding of your mission. Let us penetrate through the tribulation with a brave heart as we become victorious children of glory. Incredible heavenly blessings, like a hurricane, are coming this year. So let's participate in this heavenly grace and clean our dirty clothes. Let us wear, with pride, own newly cleaned clothes. Take on the beautiful humble mind which stirs the deep awakening of faith, extends our thinking to new frontiers and leads us to a life of virtue. We should not feel that it is shameful to admit my faults and failures and then make a new start. There is no honor in hiding behind a mask and pretending that I am righteous. A truly hopeful life is one that can be revived. It is the life of honest appraisal and mid-course corrections.

1996 will only come this one time and soon it will go the way of 1995. Everything passes away and someday so shall we. But before we go to the spirit world, we must leave behind something for which we can be remembered and be eternally honored by our descendants. This year is the perfect time to accomplish something like that in our life. Let us consider this more through the light of the scripture.

All things in creation respond to nature's time schedule. So if a person is not mindful of time, he will be subject to scorn and his life will be a failure. We have an inner potential to understand the meaning of the time. We need sensitivity to the timing of the season, the meaning of the year, the way of history and of the providence. In order to be successful in our life of faith, we must understand the time from a providential perspective. For example, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and Jesus all knew the providential meaning of their day. Because of that, they could live with God and follow His will through life and death. But John the Baptist and Judas disregarded the timetable and fell into faithlessness. As a result, the purpose of that providential age could not be fulfilled. John and Judas, forevermore, will be remembered in an unsympathetic manner. After the crucifixion of Jesus for the next 2000 years, the mission of Christianity was to prepare a "bride culture" for the Lord of Second Advent. "Bride culture" means the culture that will welcome the Messiah, the bridegroom, and be his foundation to build the Kingdom. Unfortunately, after World War 2, the bride culture couldn't welcome the Messiah, and, as a result, the providence was postponed. This was a great tragedy. In the seven years from 1945 to 1952, great things could have been accomplished had they only united with the Lord. Unfortunately it was postponed for 40 years. In 1992, True Parents established WFWP and, through the condition of women's unity with True Mother, all women could be united with True Father. On this foundation, True Parents could proclaim, in 1993, the beginning of the Completed Testament Age. From that time the 7 year tribulation period started. At the end of June , 1996, by the lunar calendar, the first three and a half years of the tribulation period will be over. From July first, the final three and a half years of the tribulation will begin. From this perspective, this is a very crucial time. Whether we believe it or not, this is an accurate view of the historical timetable. Washington D.C. is the Rome of the 20th century and a place of living history. It is a special place in the providence. That's why God has supported the Washington providence with tears, sweat and blood and with the investment of His suffering heart. Also he decided that, in 1997, the Third World Culture and Sports Festival and the 3.6 million International Blessing ceremony will take place here. This is the reason why Grandmother Hong sent Mrs. Kim to share with us many blessings and grace. It is also the reason we are, presently, making a spiritual foundation through our sincere prayer. This is not a normal plan, but rather, a phenomenon of God's intervention. Therefore, try to open your mind with a sincere heart. Join us in prayer and you will gain the opportunity to be close to God. Conversely, If you close your mind and lose this chance, you will become distant from God. That means you will lose the opportunity to resurrect and spiritually advance. Since True Parents opened the gates of hell, all of the spiritual world is now willing to work with us. That's why, if we work together with one heart and spirit, we will bring great result. This is the only chance that God has given us. In this moment of great fortune, we have to save time and use every minute wisely. By wisely investing our precious time, we can bear a good fruit, which is our portion of responsibility. Once again, let us be grateful with a warm heart to God, True Parents, Grandmother Hong and the spirit world.

Shall we give them a great round of applause?

When you pray deeply with a sincere heart you may gain a clear sense of the value of the time. The Bible says, "Be careful how you live. . make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." In this important moment in history we should change the pattern of our life. We have to manage our life very carefully and challenge ourselves to participate in actionizing and evangelizing. This is the way to accomplish our portion of responsibility. Don't waste time in the secular world over dishonorable things. Let's have a genuine awakening of our spirit. Even though we may have to sacrifice the things we love to do, try your best to accomplish God's will. Never give up even though you have to reduce your time for sleeping, eating, TV, loving, primping, chattering, joking, struggling, fighting, arguing , wondering and traveling. Even if you must reduce your individual hours, private hours, weekend hours and all hours, we have to cut down and make all our life a concentrated, compact sincere offering to God. Let us go marching forward to accomplish God's will. This may be the only chance we have to experience such a precious time. So understand the situation and try your best to become a historical person.

There is life and there are dreams. He who has no dreams, has no life. Dreams provide the energy of rebirth. Dreams give happy people the energy of rebirth, and to the sorrowful, the joys of tomorrow. Therefore if we have hope, we can live a second life. We cannot carry our dreams in a small container. The container of a dream has to be the container of a big spirit. Let's have a big mind which can carry and accept anything. Let us have a big and wide dream. In this way we can love and forgive our enemy. If I live honestly and sincerely today, dreaming the constructive and healthy dream of tomorrow, then that dream can come true. If someone has a huge dream for tomorrow but doesn't take responsibility today, he will be greatly disappointed. It is the dreaming of a ghost. The person who has a dream, has joy and vibrant actions. The person who lost faith in his dream may try to talk of hope, but his face is angry and uneasy. A true dream gives a person joy, inspiration and promotes positive action. Darkness cannot stop the advance of the morning sunburst. Likewise, nothing can stop the advance of the person who has a great dream. If you want to have a dream, have a great dream because a small dream cannot warm the blood. If you run a race, the goal has to be to run faster then what you have done before. The sum total of human knowledge can be contained in the two words: "dream" and "fulfillment". If we have both, then you have followed the path of true wisdom. If there is a big mind then there is a big hope. We can sense the coming spring, even in the depth of the cold and snow. The brightest and most inspiring person is he who believes that he can accomplish the impossible. The cause of worry is within me. Most of our pain and agony stems from the way we think and the choices we make, not from God. If we unite with God, we don't have to worry about anything. Struggle and agony come from doubt. We experience agony and pain because we cannot believe in God, in people or in myself. If you manage your life so that for each minute you worry, you give one hour to the grace of God, you will be greatly blessed.

If you have a new mind you will develop and advance. Because the morning is fresh, everyone likes the morning. Please be fresh and have deep yearnings. Always be excited and bright like the heart of a teenage girl.. As the scriptures tell us, "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything." We must always maintain a light, peaceful, joyful and honest mind. The most hopeful life is the life of offering thanks to God with deep prayers and heartfelt hymns. The person who doesn't know how to give thanks to God, is a person whose life of faith is dead like a rotted tree.. Let us have a great and wonderful adventure in accomplishing a beautiful dream. Let us all have a beautiful dream and let our dream grow. We have to give more sincere heart and devotion to cultivating and accomplishing our dream. Again, let us live an adventurous life of accomplishing our dream.

God has given us an overflowing, beautiful dream of dreams. He has challenged us to accomplish this great historical dream of the blessing of 3.6 million couples in 1997. This is not the impossible dream, this is an absolutely possible dream if we all unite with True Parents with one mind and body and move forward.. . .is that true or not?

Let us go forward with a strong heart and mind to accomplish the great, exciting and extraordinary historical task.

The pathway of faith passes through the valley of death. In the valley our faith must conquer death and lead us out into the realm of life. If you don't have a serious awareness of death, you cannot invoke the power of faith in your life. We have to charge bravely into the camp where death rules and confront death head-on with our faith. In the victory of faith, we will cast death out and, in its place, raise up the flag of new life.

Death is always near-by waiting for us. Have you ever felt, when you got into your bed at night, that it might be for the last time? That day is coming. Did you ever wake in the morning and imagine what it will be like to arrive in the spirit world and open your eyes for the first time? Among us gathered here, who will be the next one to die? If we avoid thinking about that coming moment, we cannot receive new inspiration and insight from God and heaven. Entering the spirit world is returning to my most original and essential hometown. When we return to our final hometown, we cannot go with empty hands. We must come with a gift. We must think seriously about the nature of gift we should bring to the original hometown. To be afraid of death is an indication that I still have many things to do on Earth. We should live our life with the feeling that the next moment could be my last. With that mind, we will live every moment with the fullest effort.

Even though I die, I should die with a positive faith. And if I must fail, I should fail with faith. Don't harbor any grudge at the moment of your death. We should die with a free and unfettered heart. All things of this world will pass away and turn to dust. Don't attach your heart to such secular things. Instead have the wisdom to rise up and conquer the satanic world. This is the short-cut to happiness. Break free from the chains of the satanic world and become happy. I have been thinking and praying about this a lot. I would like to share with you six points which can help us to rise up from the satanic world and gain dominion over our life.

1. Choose to ignore insults. This is not easy, it takes practice and training. We have to decide to never react to negative, hurtful words. When someone speaks to us in that way, our habit is to be hurt and react with negativity. We are almost a slave to this behavior. But we only lose energy. If we can learn to ignore the insults and painful behavior of others we will have a lot more energy that we can direct in a positive way. In that way we will become much more productive and, therefore, happy.

2. Break your routine once in awhile. Most people will travel the same route to work everyday or when they go out to eat, they will go to the same restaurant. They like to meet the same people and do the same things. But we should be something more than just a creature of habit. Sometimes try doing things in a different way. Take a different road to work, change your lunch hour routine and go to a different place. Doing this occasionally will help you to avoid inflexible thinking and allows your mind to be more creative. It gives life vitality and a new taste. This will also help you to avoid fatigue.

3. Stop judging others. Every person's face is different. Likewise, every person's character is different as well. Sometimes we quickly judge someone to be wrong when, actually they are just different from me. For example, I once thought our pastor had so many bad points, but now I've come to learn. . .he's just different then me. . .very different. So don't judge people with your own standards and views, instead receive whatever they have and be open to them. When you judge people, it makes them distant from you and it becomes more difficult to experience positive and joyful human relationships. Especially husbands and wives should remember this.

4. Get rid of your anger. Jog around your neighborhood. Learn to count to ten. Get involved in a sport or read a good book. Anger takes away your energy. Train yourself to deeply meditate when you feel your anger about to explode. I'm becoming an expert in meditation. . .how about you? The energy you save by not getting angry, can be invested in a productive manner. Also, try to understand the reasons you lose your temper and see if you can improve the next time. If you can't control your anger, you may destroy your personal relationships. If you keep anger bottled up in your heart, eventually it can even effect your health.

5. Learn to forgive. Many times our personal relations with other are affected by bad experiences in the past that have been unresolved. Don't look for the bad things in people. Instead try to forgive and forget the harm others may have done to you. If you go this way you will have more happy personal relationships and your life will be enriched.

6. Smile more. Yes, you heard me correctly_ smile more! Shall we practice right now? Turn to your neighbor and give your most beautiful, heartfelt smile. If you consider the five previous suggestions, you may smile more naturally. Even a simple smile can be enough to dramatically change your relationship with those around you. If your relationship with others improves, you will become more happy.

We are not meant to live in a fallen world. We are a people who are destined to live in the coming ideal world. Therefore don't compromise with the fallen world. Try, instead, to win over the satanic world. With a correct view, try to live a righteous life. We cannot manage our life in the same manner as those in the fallen world. We have to do everything on a higher level. We have to accomplish true love. We are meant to live a victorious life of faith not a satanic one. We have to manage our life in a victorious and successful way.

Each person has the responsibility to bear a true life fruit. We have to resurrect our life and receive true love elements. By grafting on to the True Olive Tree, we receive the honor of true love and true life and are born again. The value of a human is most deeply revealed in the Divine Principle. When we fulfill the purpose of creation and live our life for the sake of God's will, we gain eternal, unique and cosmic value. The Bible says that physical thinking is death and spiritual thinking is life and easy. Therefore, without God we cannot bear the precious great fruit of life. Let us try our best in our lifetime on the earth to have a heart of goodness, invest in righteousness and harvest good fruit. If you sowed the seed of

sincerity in your heart, you will bear good fruit. Don't change your mind after committing to the life of service to God. That is foolish. Even though you offered God countless sincere prayers, if you have been unable to bear the fruit of true love, it is meaningless. If you are only struggling and holding on by yourself, you cannot solve your fundamental problem. If you love your neighbor as yourself, sacrifice and serve more, then you will experience the value of the harvest. The purpose of our life is to serve others. Therefore, invest your heart for the service of others. Live for God's will and sacrifice your life. Endure all indemnity and digest all your problems. This is the way you will build a more solid foundation for your life. But if you only live for yourself, for individualism, selfish-ism and the secular society, you will be unable to solve even the smallest problem and happiness will escape you.

In this providential "Last Days" of history the judgment time is upon us. We should have clear knowledge in order to distinguish between good and evil, the grain and husk, the goats and the sheep, what is orthodox and what is heresy, the holy spirit and evil spirits, righteousness and unrighteousness. In this harvest time of providential history, which is also the time of tribulation, we must awaken our hearts and establish a genuine new revolution in our life of faith. The harvest is great but now the laborers are few, so we have to have a repentful heart and a humble, merciful and obedient mind. We have to have the same thankful feeling for being called by God as the angels felt when they announced the birth of Jesus, saying: "Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth, peace and good will toward men.". In this Completed Testament Age, and in the turning point of the age of Kingship, we have to join God and True Parents and bring all Cain Kings into unity with the Abel King of Kings. In this way we can remove the 6000 year old grudge of God.. So let us be proud of and love True Parents so that the whole world can attend him. Let us try our best to do this as we sacrifice our life. We have to feel deeply grateful that we could meet the True Parents, receive true life and enter their royal lineage in our lifetime. So we have to offer our loyalty and filial piety until the accomplishment of God's will. We cannot forget this year of 1996 is important and historical. So in order to bear a great fruit let's obey heaven's directions absolutely and take action.

If we beseech the humble God with tears and shedding blood, he will surely help us. Without the effort of shedding blood and tears, no farmer worth his weight could expect a plentiful harvest. The harvest period is limited to a certain time and duration. If you miss that chance you lose everything. We have a belief in God and True Parents. With that, we joined the church but that doesn't automatically mean we have a genuine life of faith. Sometimes our faith is only external, like the Pharisees, and we only wander through our church life. Some may feel that all the deep grace they felt when they joined the church has run out and they just remain like an empty can. If this is how we feel, we need to understand how we became that way. Once we can understand, then we have to repent, change and make a new start. From that foundation we have a chance to build a true love fruit and become a victor in the history of true love. Do you agree with that or not?

In order to have the hopeful, successful and righteous attitude of faith which God is demanding, we must, first, understand the important providential time and the proper action for that time. That is what God wants. Secondly, let us have a great dream and, in order to accomplish that dream, have a deep dedication of our heart and sincerity. Third, in order to be victorious, we have to rise up from the satanic world. Fourth, in order to bear a true love fruit we have to start again, understand the time of harvest and try our best to devote our life to the construction of the Kingdom of God on Earth and in Heaven.

The Bible verse says we should have the right understanding of God's will and with heavenly wisdom we should manage our life for the sake of God's will. Also don't waste time. Try to save time and invest it for the accomplishment of God's will. Please try your best.

Let us understand the importance of this year. In order to save the poor dying people, invest everything that we have. Rush forward to the place of disaster, where people are suffering and accomplish our mission of salvation. That is how we will be successful in our life of faith. In order to have a successful blessing event in 1997, all people must join together and take action in all possible ways. If we do that, we will get victory. We need to have the concept of ownership and a responsible heart. Without this it is impossible to do our mission . We should feel that God absolutely needs me and without me the job can't be done. So with wisdom, ability, experience and a willingness to confess, hold on to God and try your best. The way is open to us and nothing is impossible because God can help us if we follow these following four guidelines:

1. Pray from the bottom of our hearts. Offering sincere deep prayer is one of the ways we can establish the spiritual foundation through which God can help. That is why we are doing this prayer condition and everyone should join. How about that, is it good or not? We have to have a more faithful religious life. If your habit is to skip Sunday service, your faith will never grow. We must have the right concept. This church is my church not Rev. McCarthy's church. In the Last Days, the Bible says we must worship together.

2. We have to work together and offer 10% tithing of all things, not only money but my mind, body and time. In Twenty-four hours at least three hours should be tithed to God. That means twenty-one hours are mine, three hours are God's. You have to help the church everyday. That is the way your faith will grow. The church is the training center and gate for the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and Spirit. Unless we have success in our church life, we can't hope to have success in our family life. Church life helps us to perfect our personality. Attending service and worshipping together is the short cut to God and can help bring about a personal revolution. When we come to church, God can speak to us in a deep and powerful way. If we make the tradition to support the church without fail, God will greatly bless us. In the history of America, we are moved by the story of the Pilgrims who, before they built their own homes, built the house of worship. Let's attend our church with that same heart.

3. Let us invest in witnessing activity. Each person must find the quickest and easiest way, according to your situation, to accomplish tribal messiah activity. In this way we can join True Parent's tribe. 160 couples is our minimum goal. So first, we must think that each person should bring 12 couples. Each blessed couple should bring 24 couples. That is our minimum goal. Each community should find local churches and invest time to visit and make a relationship. Don't try to witness to them right away. We have to go the course of eight stages and go higher by the vertical process of service. Make pairs, don't go by yourself, and visit that church. Go the natural way. With sincerity and prayer, go to that church. Have revival meetings for that church to help them grow. Then you will be an important person to that church and they will listen to you later. We need that kind of long term plan. If you can bring all church people to the blessing you will have accomplished you mission quickly and easily. We made a new community system. So participate in community activity. Also Departments and committees are taking action through all kinds of witnessing.

4. Let's invest more in the life of service with a thankful mind. So each committee and community should make a plan for a service project. We should have a very serious responsible mind. We should feel that no one can save this world except us. We need a strong spirit of volunteerism. We should feel the mission of evangelism is my most important job and unless I do the job, it won't get done. Without this heart, God cannot help and no miracle can happen. Without a volunteer spirit this society would be full of darkness. We have spent a lot of time to solve our personal problems but now we have to spend time to solve society's problems and to build the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. Let's join together to build up the Washington Kingdom. For that purpose God has chosen us.

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