The Words of Hyung Jin Moon From 2010
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The Words of Hyung Jin Moon From 2010 |
Good afternoon brothers and sisters! (Good afternoon!) Welcome to the headquarters of the Unification Church! A couple days ago we went to the growth stage Cheon Bok Gung, and we really saw the hope for the future Unification Church. Today, we sincerely hope and pray that you and your family have heavenly fortune from Heavenly Father and True Parents. Aju.
Good afternoon brothers and sisters! Let's begin by manifesting the Principle: give and receive action, four position foundation, may I inherit the true love of God. Aju!
Before we start with the Cheon Seong Gyeong, you know the characters for Aju, in Chinese characters the word "Aju" can mean many things. In Chinese, when you write the characters ah-ju, the ah is the character for 'myself' -- or 'me,' 'I' -- and ju, there are many different translations for it. We usually think of it as 'owner.' But ju can also mean 'Lord.' Like, "Jesus is the Lord." When we say that in Korean, we would say Ju-nim.
So, when we look at 'Aju,' we can see that from one perspective it means 'I am becoming an owner,' as Father explains. Of course, as the last Adam, as the perfected Adam, Father can say that. In terms of our own devotional life, when we say 'Aju,' it has of course that meaning as well, but at the same time it has a powerful meaning, which is 'my Lord,' 'my God' -- we are praising God every time we say 'Aju'! See what I mean? It has that kind of an amazing thing inside. In Chinese it can actually mean that.
So we want to remember that when we say 'Aju,' we're not just saying 'truth' -- like 'Amen' just means 'truth' or 'I agree with that.' It means 'my God,' 'my Lord' -- we are praising God every time we say it!
Today Cheon Seong Gyeong is from 578. Father is talking about the spirit world here. "Death and the Spirit World" is the title, chapter two. Father says,
"The earth also breathes and moves. Your cells breathe as well. Do you want to live eternally on earth, or do you want to live eternally in a place where you become an invisible entity of love? God is the center of the invisible spirit. Therefore He wants to give human beings who are His counterparts everything from the eternal realm of the ideal that He created."
Brothers and sisters, we just received some news, actually, from Haiti. As you know, there was a huge earthquake there, a huge disaster in Haiti. You've seen the news: up to 50,000 casualties and fatalities. But amongst all that incredible natural disaster and just unbelievable trauma, we have there a center, the Haiti Unification Church center. And it was greatly affected by the earthquake: it actually collapsed. The second and third floor collapsed, people were inside the building -- extremely dangerous. Two of our Japanese missionaries were there. One is the wife of the national leader there in Haiti. Her name is Fujiko Hirano-san. And the other sister is Yukiko Shibata-san who is blessed to a Haitian brother. They have one new-born baby. Mrs. Hirano has three children.
They were in this incredible disaster, this earthquake, where so many people have lost their lives. The Haiti church center the building collapsed on top of them, it literally collapsed on top of them, they were under the rubble for about an hour. After the rubble was cleared, everybody believed that there would be sad news. But -- miraculously -- from the ashes of that rubble all the brothers and sisters -- and the little babies! -- came out completely healthy! Let's give it up one more time, let's give it up one time for God, protecting them and blessing them. (Applause) We are so grateful for the Haiti brothers and sisters. We want to pray for them, particularly today.
Brothers and sisters, we are living in a miraculous age. So, this is our part: In this service we want to talk about ministry today, before we go to the Cheon Bok Gung. We want to share with you a lot of great things about ministry. But today we also want to be able to give, through that, glory back to God. So, it may be a little different type of inspiration today. Okay? It may be a different type of feeling. But before we go to the temple, which is only three weeks away from now, we want to be able to be fully informed and educated about what kind of things will actually be going on in the temple. So that way we're all on the same page. Brothers and sisters, we pray that today, through service once again, we can return victory and also greater heart and love to God and True Parents.
Brothers and Sisters, today we have a very special guest. He is the head of our ministry team at the Cheon Bok Gung. We'll be moving to the temple, as you all know, in a couple of weeks. But before that, I just want to talk, just a little briefly, about the nature of our tradition in our religion. You see, when we look at the Unification Church and at Unificationism as a religious tradition, we can see that it has a very different nature than other established religions. Other established religions like Catholicism or Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, etc. -- that are referred to as the "universal" religions -- they have the mission, as religious traditions, to testify about -- for example in Christianity -- Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, about his death and resurrection, and about the Son of God, etc.
As a Buddhist, one would have the mission, being in the Buddhist tradition, to follow the teachings, what is known as the "Buddha-dharma" of the Buddha, to follow the path of self practice and enlightenment, and also to go beyond that, to actually save and liberate other beings, which means also to witness. In the Islamic tradition we have the mission of Islam, which is to testify that there is only one God, and that Muhammad is His prophet. That is the first pillar of Islam -- very important for that tradition. So, all the religious traditions, whether they are ancient religions or new religions, have as their mission to testify about their faith.
As the Unificationist tradition, of course we have as one of our central missions to testify about True Parents as the Second Coming of Christ, as we see it through the Divine Principle. But one aspect in which we differ greatly from other religions is the fact that we actually are a religion attending a living messiah, the living messiah. And that's very different. Because we not only are theologically in a relationship with the Lord, as Christians are in a relationship with Christ, or as Buddhists are in a relationship with the Buddha. Not only is it a cognitive, or mental relationship, or a heartistic relationship; it's actually a real relationship in the sense that they are present on this earth!
And so another mission of our Unification movement is not only to testify about True Parents, it's also to fulfill the will of the living Messiah, the living returning Christ. And this is the one factor that is very different in our ministry as the Unification Church, compared with other religious traditions. This is one of the greatest driving forces of the Unification movement, because we have what is known as 'immediacy.'
We have the presence of the Messiah, in our midst, whose will we are working to fulfill. And so there are also difficulties in this kind of mission; it's not always easy, as you can recognize with the apostles that followed Christ, Jesus' twelve apostles: even the twelve apostles had a difficult time following Christ. We have Peter who denied Christ three times. We have Judas who betrayed him, sold him for a couple of shekels of money. So we have the reality that serving the living Messiah is extremely difficult. It is a huge challenge. It's not an easy thing! It comes with so many different trials and tribulations that one has to endure and overcome on a personal level. And so this is one of the really key characteristics of us as a religious tradition: we have the presence of the Messiah, the Buddha, the Matrea Buddha, the Mahdi, etc.
In 2009 we had an incredible year, a year of incredible victory actually -- but much pain was involved in those victories! You know, we made history in the Korean church; the Korean church members made history in 2009. We did things that nobody believed we could do in the Korean church. Members never believed we could do it, but we did it as the Korean church. We did it, we made history! (We'll talk about it a little later).
But you know, as the Korean church we had to undergo a lot of difficult tasks. We hadn't grown in thirty years. We had negative growth in the last 30 years! So we had many things that we had to address. We had to think about the nature of that problem. And now, try to fix it! You see how difficult that is, to see the nation, and then actually create a plan to fix that problem. I couldn't do it by myself, absolutely not.
We had Kook Jin hyung's expert analysis; we had whole groups of teams that came in; first generation was involved, professionals that were second generation were involved. Even consultants from outside groups were also involved. We had to go through phases of restructuring in the Korean church. We had to actually make very difficult and tough decisions -- very tough! I mean I don't think I ever cried that much in a year! So tough!
I mean, some of the times were the most grueling experiences I had to go through personally; just so painful. You know we had to let go of over a hundred ministers. We had over four hundred and fifty ministers; we had over four hundred and fifty churches! Many of the churches were totally dilapidated, and their congregations -- the average size of these small churches was ten members. So there was no way that they were self-sufficient.
So we had to make very difficult changes. A lot of the ministers were also advanced in age, over sixty-five, over the normal age of retirement. So we had to actually retire ministers! I had to let go of pastors! That was probably the most painful thing I've ever done in my life! Because these people had families, they had children. It was so painful.
We had to cry with them, we had to explain to them honestly the situation. We had to tell them that the Korean church was subsidized every year, at least $10 million per year! We had to explain how the Japanese members have to suffer so greatly so that they can actually pay for all the churches around the world, that only the Japanese church is actually paying for all the other churches around the world!
And these bitter realities that we had to confront and face as a movement -- no more could we hide behind the idea that these things didn't exist -- we actually had to confront them! We had to bring them to the open. We had to say, "Now look at these problems! Look at these huge, chronic illnesses! We've got to make a change! Otherwise we're never going to be able to succeed." So I tell you, brothers and sisters, 2009 was so tough. Boy, I was just a scholar! I was a scholar and a student and a practitioner, and now I have to be in a position where we have to actually create a church that can stand on its own two feet, that doesn't rely on the Japanese brothers and sisters -- many of whom are actually here today -- to run its operation.
So we had to let go of ministers; we had to merge over two hundred churches. So the nature of the Unification Church ministry has completely transformed in Korea. It was usually a ministry where one minister would have almost complete control over that church. But now, through many different systems, we can check on how the minister is actually managing their members in the church. We also have feedback loops that we've created so that the members can voice their opinions on their ministers; if they're not happy with the ministers, they can create their comments.
We also had to merge churches, which changes the nature of our ministry from a ministry that is centered around a charismatic leader to now a team ministry, where we have to work together in ministry, where now the ministers have to work together with other ministers to create greater victory for the church, and for True Parents.
And personally, even in my own life -- now I've been doing ministry for about two years now, two years plus -- I see even the nature of my own ministry changing. At first, when I first started ministry, I didn't have the kind of feeling of mission; I didn't really have an understanding of the Unification Church mission. And so, even in my own ministry, I see a transformation, because as Father asked me to take more responsibility, then I had to actually confront this issue, and I had to actually address this issue -- this kind of fundamental purpose that we have as a Unification Church: to testify and fulfill the will of the returning Christ. And this also was extremely tough. This was very tough for me.
I went from a position of just encouraging people, to now being in the position where I had to tell them the bitter reality. I had to tell them things they didn't want to hear. I had to tell them things like, "Hey, guys! We cannot continue to burden the Japanese church like this! It's not responsible; it's not ethical." I had to challenge the Korean congregations! I had to tell them, "We're not going to do this any more. We're going to become self-sufficient. We're going to step out on our own two feet. We're going to stop the dependency mentality. We're going to stop relying on Japanese brothers and sisters to suffer for us. We're going to liberate them."
So we embarked on that kind of journey. It was tough! Boy, it was very tough at first. At first we were challenging members to take more ownership for the church. You know, we have to participate in creating self-sufficiency for the church, we have to practice in what normal people do, in Christianity and Buddhism and Islam, normal things. We have to be at least at their level! We have to be at least contributing, tithing to the community so that we can support the church. We have to be at least participating in the world providence, at least once in our life. We have to also be able to testify about True Parents -- these were new things! Things people hadn't done in thirty years!
So these were new challenges, and many members were upset: "Why are you making us do these things? Why are you making us? We were comfortable!" Even though our church was going down, we were comfortable being subsidized. We were comfortable taking $10 million at least every year from the Japanese church. "Why shouldn't they suffer for us?!" They were furious! And we had to deal with these very difficult issues. I actually never shared this with you guys for the year-and-a-half that we actually had to work through this.
And so it was very tough; 2009 was extremely tough. It was so tough at times, that we just wanted to quit! We just wanted to throw our hands in the air: "Well, that's over! Forget it! Why do we have to endure this? We just want to quit." But you know what? We pushed through, together with the Korean brothers and sisters. The brothers and sisters in Korea stepped up. Not all of them at first. Many were furious at first; they left; stormed out, said, "We don't want anything to do with the Unification Church anymore!" But there were brothers and sisters who said, "You know what, we know that we have to do that. We know we have to do that for our own pride as a Korean church. We know we have to stop the dependency, the subsidization that's coming from Japan; we've got to stop that! We've been talking about helping the Japanese brothers and sisters; we've got to do it now!"
And, about 1500 brothers and sisters stepped up. And we fought. We went a tough path; we went through a tough battle. We went together, and we suffered through tough, tough things together. Boy, we went through things that we couldn't even imagine, that we wouldn't wish upon anybody else. But we went through the different stages of growth. We learned how to contribute to the community again. We learned how to contribute to the world providence. We learned how to testify about our faith, and to be proud of our religion. These things were not present in the Korean church even one year ago.
One year there was absolutely no hope. We had a dilapidated church. Where now, church membership has grown 30% - 40% for the first time in thirty years! Members now, across the nation, have participated in being responsible for their own churches, tithing to the community. In the Korean church alone -- we'll be moving to the temple very soon, but we have to be clear, let's be honest -- the Korean church raised over $25 million for that Temple! That's nowhere near Japan, which raised $75 million for that temple.
So actually, the Korean church did something that was unheard of. It did those kind of incredible things. And, at the same time, we now in the Korean church have an atmosphere where people are on the streets witnessing again. People are declaring their faith! They're saying, "I'm not going to be a closet Unificationist anymore." We've done the impossible in the Korean church! Let's give it up for our brothers and sisters in the Korean church! They've really stepped up this time!
And this has everything to do with ministry, because the Korean members stepped up and participated in ministry. They stepped up and made a historical result that no other nation in the world has done yet in the Unification Church. Not yet. Not even one nation has made this kind of result, in the world. All the Unification Churches except now Korea are receiving subsidies from Japan -- still. But the Korean church has broken free from that! And we are now standing on our two feet. For the first time, we received zero from the Japanese church.
I am so proud of the Korean members! Boy, we walked an incredible year! We never thought we could get through it, but we ended up coming out victorious. And we ended up proving to ourselves that we could do something that nobody thought we could do. For that, I am so grateful for the Korean members, because they really stepped out of the box, to step up in faith, and I am so proud of them!
You know, in that realm, there is a lot of hope. I'm really grateful also to our ministry teams. All around the country, our ministers stepped up a whole new notch. Our ministers participated at a whole other level than what they were doing in the past. Our ministers around the country really stepped up to declare their faith and to be proud as leaders in their faith, to take responsibility as leaders! And because of that, we have grown as the Korean church. I am so proud. So when we move into the temple, I know we are moving in with that kind of victory.
We are not at a situation where we can actually support other nations now. We're not. We're at a situation where we barely can survive. But that is greater than in the past, than any year in the past! And it is a greater result than any nation right now, currently in the Unification Church, other than Japan. So we're so proud of our brothers and sisters and the Korean church.
We also have to remember -- Kook Jin hyung reminded us last time -- that the temple that we're going to is because of the dedication of the world membership. He reminded us last week in a video. He said, "Guys, remember: this is not YOUR church. This is not the Headquarters Church for YOU, so you guys can just enjoy a beautiful temple and have a great facility. That is not the purpose of this temple. That is not why members across the world donated their blood, sweat and tears to build this temple.
This temple represents the hope that the Unification Church will not die, and that our belief and our faith and our conviction will continue throughout the ages, and that we will continue to witness and testify on behalf of True Parents." And so he reminded us -- and he's very much into the numbers -- so he reminded us, "Remember, you guys only raised ten percent of the temple!" He said, "So imagine, you go out with your friends to dinner and you have to pay for your friends every time you go out, every time YOU have to pay for them, every time! They pay once out of ten, so every time you go out, for a hundred times, they pay ten times, you pay ninety times!" He said, "That's unfair. You're going to get upset at some point. You're going to say, 'Hey! Wait a minute! You guys are my friends! We should be helping pay for this together!'"
Kook Jin hyung reminded us that we've got to go into the temple remembering we have a mission. We're not going in there just so we can enjoy ourselves. We're going in there with a purpose. So that purpose is the very purpose why we joined the movement, and the very purpose why many of us have moved to and live in Korea: to truly create the Cheon Il Guk nation, to begin the starting point of the nation, centered on faith, centered on the love that is testifying on behalf of the True Parents and their True Love. And so he reminded us that we, as the Korean church, have this kind of awesome responsibility as well.
So, brothers and sisters, today we want to invite up our head pastor. I'm so proud of our ministers, because they are going above and beyond what they ever have done in ministry in their lives! We have many different things that are going on, and we also have to fulfill the responsibilities that True Parents give to us, such as the February 17th Blessing that is coming up: 14,300 new members we have the responsibility of creating! So that's not an easy responsibility. Can you feel the weight of that burden? So our ministry team has really stepped up. I'm very proud of them. We have some young ministers, we have some more elderly ministers, but all of them at the headquarters temple, without exception, have stepped up in every aspect.
The man you will be hearing from today participated -- together with all the ministers here at Headquarters Church -- in the 21,000 bows offering of devotion and effort. Pastor Brazil also participated in that: 21,000 bows, they did together! Our vice pastor here also, at the age of 62, participated in that, had to even go to the hospital because of the pain, but still participated in that kind of preparation in their heart to now truly step up and stand up for the Unification Church as we enter the temple.
Brothers and sisters, as Rev. Dong Han Lee comes up, I really want you to offer him a great applause, because he represents now the ministers in the Unification Church that are really coming up to the next level, that are coming up and really fulfilling the purpose and mission for which the Unification movement exists. So, brothers and sisters, when Rev. Dong Han Lee comes up, let's all give him a warm round of applause. Let's now invite Rev. Dong Han Lee up to share with us the goals and the different ministries at the temple that we'll be having in 2010. Let's give it up one time for Rev. Dong Han Lee.
Throughout the year 2009, International President Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. Yeon Ah Lee were up every morning at 2:00 am, and offered the utmost Jeong Seong, for 365 days. When True Parents called them, they attended True Parents at the Cheon Jeong Gung Palace Hoon Dok Hae.
Throughout the year, they officiated at six church services every week, delivering sermons 198 times. They also officiated at the 5:00 am Cheon Bok Ceremony service for the Seven Deaths and Resurrections, a total of 95 times.
They went on 21 home visits of members' families, and invited 38 families for consultation at the Church.
They visited dignitaries 20 times for talks, officiated at 160 diverse meetings and spoke 84 times at various events. Despite their constantly busy schedule, they received 17 media interviews and appeared 24 times in the papers. Following True Parent's directions, they visited and spoke in five American cities, and made 10 trips overseas including Japan and Taiwan.
Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. Yeon Ah Lee offered intense Jeong Seong for the past one year, walking a tearful path of restoration through indemnity. They came to a higher spiritual enlightenment of True Parents' Seven Deaths and Resurrections and Completion of Eight Stages, and their victory of 21,000 bows to witness to 21,000 and for the entry into the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung will be recorded eternally in the history of restoration.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Rev. Hyung Jin Moon has established the Seven Deaths and Resurrections Cheon Bok Ceremony service of the true love of True Parents, the Second Coming of Christ, which he has experienced and inherited. This is not one event of the past, but the service continues at present and will in the future, as an act of faith.
Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. Yeon Ah Lee are the full-time senior pastors of the International Headquarters Church. They have single-mindedly devoted themselves to build a model International Headquarters Church, by reviving the current Headquarters Church. The other pastors have divided the various roles within the Church as assistant pastors.
Seven pastors are in charge of nationwide regions, and of them, two are Hoonsa-nims. There is one pastor for youth and college students, one pastor for junior and senior high school students, one pastor for the English-speaking congregation, one lay minister for the Japanese congregation, one pastor in charge of the Christian service. There is one pastor in charge of special witnessing and general ministry for members, or a total of 13 pastors.
Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. Yeon Ah Lee always stand at the forefront, offering Jeong Seong and a ministry of love. The assistant pastors are also offering Jeong Seong, but as there are many shortcomings, sometimes we are scolded, and have to set conditions of re-indemnification.
The assistant pastors are uniting to assist the early morning Cheon Bok Ceremony and the six weekend services.
In the past year, the 13 pastors made 1,134 home visits. They counseled 3,831 members. They gave 865 lectures, and held 256 Home Group meetings. They have witnessed to and brought a total of 94 new members.
The pastors have distributed a total of 2,609 autobiographies, brought 135 couples to be blessed. The contribution made by them and their congregation to the Cheon Bok Gung amounts to 274 million won.
The pastors have been working hard with one mind to build the Church, denying themselves, serving Cain, making the Tongil Mark, in order to inherit the true love of God and True Parent, always and anywhere.
Brothers and sisters, you are the central figures of the growth and revival of the Church!
During the past year, you offered Jeong Seong every day, attended service every week, took part in the home visits and witnessing -- brothers and sisters, you are the owners of our church.
Attending Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. Yeon Ah Lee, together with the pastors and the women leaders -- although lacking -- who are dedicated to their work, the 2009 Jeong Seong and activities of numerous members is a record for the International Headquarters Church that could not be found in the past.
As of December 2008, there were 6,531 members registered at Headquarters Church, with 1,554 attending service. Donations amounted to 131 million won, tithing came to 99.2 million won. Now, as of December 2009, there are 9,272 registered members, with 2,243 attending service regularly. Donations came to 240 million won, and tithing amounted to 156 million won. What this means, is that membership registration rose by 142%, service participation by 144%, donations grew 156%, and tithing rose by 157%. During one year, the contributions for the Cheon Bok Gung came to 756 million won, growing by 230% compared to last year!
This has never happened in the history of the Unification Church! It is an amazing miracle. The authority of God and True Parents is alive, and it is evidence that the spirit world is completely resurrected and working! It is the victory of God, True Parents, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. Yeon Ah Lee. Mansei! It is the victory of our brothers and sisters. Mansei!
Rev. Hyung Jin Moon declared last week at the service, that this coming February 7 we will offer the final service at this Headquarters Church here. Following the service, all members will leave the Cheongpa-dong Headquarters Church on foot, just as the Israelites entered Canaan going through the wilderness. We will march toward the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung, International Headquarters Church sanctuary.
He said that the new Cheon Bok Gung sanctuary is a place to enter, humbling ourselves, discarding arrogance, carrying with us a sense of mission to fulfill the Cheon Bok Gung providence. In order to strengthen our sense of mission, of all those entering the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung, we must make the goal of the Headquarters Church very clear.
The goal given by True Parents to the International Headquarters Church, is to build a church of 210,000. However, the main chapel in the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung that we will enter can hold 2,000 members, so if we hold 10 services, we will have nearly 21,000. Therefore, our first-term growth goal is 21,000 members.
At this starting point the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung situation is that we have 2,500 members and staff, a monthly donation of 200 million won, and 125 small groups. For three years our first-term and second-term goals are to double membership every year. Then, in the third year, if we expand 2.1 times, we will realize a membership of 21,000, donations of 1.6 billion won, and 1,050 small groups. This is a goal that can be achieved, if each member brings just one member a year.
The witnessing goal for 2010 is to bring 5,000 members. During one year the goal for our 2,500 members to witness to one member each. We will then have 250 small groups with donations of 400 million.
If we are to say, this Cheongpa-dong Headquarters Church was a church of indemnity and offering centered on the foundation of faith, we can say that the Hangang-ro Cheon Bok Gung International Headquarters Church will be a church of restoration and grace, centered on the foundation of substance. Rev. Hyung Jin Moon has been making all of the preparations in order to revive the 21,000 growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung, International Headquarters Church.
As it says in Matthew 16 to build a church on the rock of Peter, who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the International Headquarters Church, centered on the International President, will inherit the true love of the Seven Deaths and Resurrections, and Completion of Eight Stages. The cornerstone of the World Temple that testifies to True Parents as the Second Coming of Christ has been prepared.
This fact is important. In 2010 the church ministry activities of the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung, International Headquarters Church, can be divided into the five areas of:
Jeong
Seong,
Service,
Witnessing,
Education, and
Member Care.
Rev. Hyung Jin Moon has already set the standard for Jeong Seong, and leads the way. He is offering Jeong Seong starting at 2:00 am, but the members can come to the 5:00 am Cheon Bok Ceremony service and pray for God, True Parents, the Church and your own wishes. We must build the passion for early-morning prayer. The church revival begins with the early-morning prayer.
Services will be held in English on Saturday, 8:00 and 10:00 am on Sundays and 4:00 pm for the Japanese service. The pastors and women leaders will do their very best to prepare inspiring services.
Witnessing must become the torchlight and the motto of the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung. Rev. Hyung Jin Moon said that faith is witnessing. In the Way of God's Will, too, it says that witnessing will save us. Saint Paul said that if we don't convey the good news, we will be punished by heaven. The church administration office will prepare all possible methods and strategies for witnessing. Street witnessing, witnessing by writing and literature, via the internet, with witnessing teams -- we will be mobilizing all possible means of activities.
Witnessing is the best action for putting true love into practice. Yet, all of the religions of the world witness for their own interests, so the true reason for witnessing can be misunderstood. Thus, while we witness, we have to share true love with our neighbors through service activities. Through sharing and serving, we can make people open their hearts, which have been closed until now. The 125 small groups are groups for witnessing and at the same time, groups of service. Let's create meetings for service, for witnessing. Let's raise the banner of service, and go out into the world!
Members grow and the church develops through education. In cooperation with the women leaders and administrative support office, the pastors are preparing various programs to raise up new members who are guided to the church. Education for new members, for blessing candidates, the Mothers' Classes, Fathers' Classes, Couples' Classes are being prepared. At the Cheon Bok Video Centers various educational programs by video are ready, and lecturers are standing by.
Care for the members is to make sure that members can maintain a life of faith. We hear that we can bring members, but they don't stay. At the Cheon Bok Gung Headquarters Church, we will change this. If we bring new members, they will bring more new members! We have to help faith to grow. If we don't grow in faith, we will not multiply, even if we are alive. All members should belong to a group with life power, give and receive true love in their daily lives, and develop.
On February 17 True Parents' Cosmic Blessing Ceremony will be held at the KINTEX Convention Center in Ilsan. The Cosmic Blessing Ceremony is a blessing of amazing grace, in which the sins of humankind are cleared. Through the blessing we can be reborn with new life, with the grace of the Messiah who has come after 6,000 years.
Brothers and sisters, we at the Headquarters Church, put up a banner saying, 'Each member bring one member to enter the Cheon Bok Gung!' and have been offering Jeong Seong and working towards it. The growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung is a Temple of World Peace, made possible by the holy offering of members from 195 countries around the world.
For the 2.17 Blessing let each family guide one family to the Blessing, and let's enter into the precious Cheon Bok Gung together! The goal for the 2.17 Blessing is 14,300 couples. The responsibility of Headquarters Church is to bring 1,220 couples among them. This is our portion of responsibility, that each and every member of Headquarters Church guide at least one couple to the Blessing. Each region and church have set their own goals and are now in the middle of a special witnessing period.
Thus, currently the leaders of the movement and the church have a goal to bring three couples, while general members are asked to bring one couple. We cannot enter into this historic Cheon Bok Gung, empty-handed. Let's take responsibility to guide one couple, and enter the Cheon Bok Gung together with the blessed members!
If we fulfill this blessing goal, our Church will have fulfilled 70% of our 2010 goal already.
Here is a 5-step activity plan to fulfill our blessing goal:
Step 1: Hold a meeting to make a determination of faith for our blessing responsibility.
Step 2: Identify the blessing candidates.
Step 3: Visit the candidate and make a decision.
Step 4: Bring the candidate to KINTEX.
Step 5: Enter the Cheon Bok Gung together with your blessed couple.
Be forgiven of all sins, be reborn as true families, fulfill the 2.17 blessing responsibility and let's enter into the Cheon Bok Gung of glory together!
Brothers and sisters,
The key to fulfilling all of the goals of church ministry I've mentioned lies with you. Our success depends on how you can be inspired and light the torch of witnessing with faith, witnessing with life, and witnessing with love!
Brothers and sisters,
First, let's have Pride in our Church. The Tongil-Kyo, International Headquarters Church, Cheon Bok Gung church, is the only one in our providential history to
1) Testify to the Messiah.
2) Be the Church that will establish the World Temple.
3) Be the Church that will build Cheon Il Guk!
Brothers and sisters,
Faith means to keep God's promise without change, and to receive blessing. First of all, let's offer Jeong Seong. Let's offer praise at the early-morning prayer Cheon Bok Ceremony. Second, let's attend service. Let's offer tithing at the Saturday or Sunday service. Third, let's take part in faith-group activities. After service, let's always get together for witnessing or service activities and study or hobby activities.
Next, I'd like to show you a very short video of our pastors working at the International Headquarters Church, and close with greetings.
Brothers and sisters,
Let each family bring one family and enter into the Cheon Bok Gung!
Good afternoon, brothers and sisters.
Cheon Il Guk year 10 has now dawned, a year which will bring many great blessings to all of us. I am sure that this year you will inherit the true love of God, as well as inheriting True Parents' heart, and will and hope.
In this coming year, if all of us embrace the faith and philosophy of our senior pastor, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, we can live a life of victory, a life of illumination, a life of peace, and we will all be showered with God's unending blessings and grace; and we will be able to accomplish the victory of the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung. I wish all of you a victorious year!
We have entered a new year, 2010. This New Year marks an important moment in the history of God's providence.
I hope that through our life of Jeong Seong, love, harmony and unity we can bring victory in witnessing and in donations. I will determine to bring victory following Senior Pastor Hyung Jin Moon's strategy to witness to entire groups and organizations during this year.
Brothers and sisters let us all march forward to bring victory for the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung.
The most fervent dream of all Unificationists is the establishment of Cheon Il Guk. In 2010, we will witness a cornerstone of the substantial Cheon Il Guk when we move into the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must all become one, working in harmony and unity in order that each one of us can make that vision our own, and that we can become proud and worthy members of headquarters church. Fighting!
Year 10 of Cheon Il Guk has dawned.
As I worked with the members last year it was a very happy and fruitful year, full of God's True Love.
I will work hard as the minister for our brothers and sisters in the college and young adult congregation, as well as the preschool and elementary school young members so that this year, too, will be a year of blessing, a year of True Love, a year of sharing.
I always feel a great heart of gratitude when I meet our members, and I hope that this year we can all become one centered on True Love.
Cheon Il Guk year 10 is a very special year, so I will work even harder this year to live a life centered on love.
I will share that love with all of our brothers and sisters. I love you!! Thank you!
We have pledged to manifest Cheon Il Guk here in Korea, the New Jerusalem and the fatherland of our faith, by January 13, 2013. Together with the Ambassadors for Peace we undertake the great mission and mandate to bring all the people of the world to Cheon Il Guk.
Year 10 of Cheon Il Guk has finally arrived.
In commemoration of the growth-stage Cheon Bok Gung, True Parents have called us the 'heaven's heart' or 'Jeong Shim' Unification Church in this year's motto.
This is the time we need to work with renewed determination, in order to complete Cheon Il Guk by 2013.
Through the victory of the February 17 Cosmic Blessing, we will take a big leap forward toward the 210,000 member Cheon Bok Gung, the new Jerusalem.
By practicing absolute faith and devotion toward True Parents we will accomplish the completion of the 210,000 member Cheon Bok Gung.
Let's each bring one new family with us and enter the heaven's heart Headquarters church all together.
"Mansei for oneness with True Parents' pure heart and with all their victories in the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath centered on true love". Brothers and sisters, we love you!
You know, it's quite incredible. We had an incredible journey with the Korean Church the last year. In so many aspects, we surprised ourselves and we were able to really do great things last year. I'm so proud of all the brothers and sisters in the Korean church stepping up and helping our Japanese members also in Japan. We are so proud of the Korean church!
Brothers and sisters, as you saw, our ministers were gearing up for ministry at the temple. There's going to be many, many activities that we're going to be participating in there. Really being able to fulfill not only the life of faith that you can practice in any other religion just going to church and being inspired, but really participating in the unfolding of the divine providence: that's the difference between the Unification Church and the other religious traditions. We don't just come to service to be inspired. We come to participate in an unfolding divine will. And that is really what is characteristic about our faith. That is why I'm so excited and so grateful that the Korean church has stepped up and is now finally participating in that kind of work. We also want to encourage all the nations around the world to start stepping up, and participating in that kind of providence, taking responsibility, helping the Japanese church so the Japanese church can be relieved of the burden that they have held for all of us for thirty plus years. Brothers and sisters, let us join our hearts and end in our final prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you so much, today, for allowing us to rethink what ministry is all about in the Unification Church. Father, we want to be able to live up to that standard as ministers who actually are working, and who are supposed to be leaders that protect the value of True Parents, and that testify and fulfill the will of Your divine providence. Father, we know that we as ministers we are not perfect, and we know that we are not the greatest leaders at times, but, Father, we pray that you may raise us and give us more wisdom, and give us more compassion. And, Father, give us more strength to be honest with ourselves and honest with others.
Father, we are so grateful that this last year we were able to see the Korean church really step up on the international platform and stage and be able to do what no other church has done. Finally the Japanese church can look at us with hope and see that we are not a dependent church that they have to continue to feed and subsidize, but now we are adults, and we are stepping up on the world stage to support the providence! Father, we know that 2009 was amazing, and we had to do so many things that required incredible faith and effort, and challenging ourselves and going through unbelief! But, Father, we did it! We did it to the degree that we couldn't imagine. And so for that, we are so grateful.
We pray that You may bless 2010 in a powerful way, You may bless the world temple and the mission that we have there, to show the Unification Church worldwide that we can do this, we can make a difference, and we can be relevant in a real society in the modern age, that it is not a fruitless dream! Father, we want to be able to make that victory real at the growth-stage temple.
Father, we pray that You may also inspire all our brothers and sisters that participate with us in the international services, that they also may come to that heart, and we also may rise up in every step, every facet, so that we can go in with the same heart, the same mission, the same desire to truly liberate Your heart and liberate the heart of True Parents.
Father, we thank you so much for giving us more specific reports about what we actually have done, and what we want to accomplish. We pray that those desires may come to fruition. We're going to keep praying, and we're going to keep giving, offering devotion, and we're going to keep witnessing in your name, so we pray that You may bless 2010. We pray that You may move the spirit world, and all the saints in the spirit world may be moved, so that in 2010, we can truly be victorious for You.
We thank You so much, and we want to pray that once again, in the Fatherland of Korea, we can do the impossible in 2010, we can step up and do what nobody believes we can do. Let us have the faith. Father, we pray that You may imbue us with the spiritual wisdom and the spiritual ability to do such things.
We thank You so much. We thank You for now preparing our ministry to the new level. We know that we are, in many aspects, not at the top, not at the very essence of our ability, but we are moving towards that, and we will try our best every day to get better in our ministry. We thank You so much and we pray that You may bless the ministry.
Next week, Father, we pray that we may listen to the women leaders who have been rising in the church for the first time in history, that we may be inspired by them, and help the women leaders also, to be successful in all that they do. We are one team, we have one purpose, and are moving with one heart and one mind. We thank You so much. We pray these things in a united heart that wants to inspire the world; in our own names, we pray as blessed central families and in the name of True Parents of heaven and earth, Aju.