Power to Change

St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Scripture Passage

2 Corinthians 5:17

Worship Video

Worship Audio

Sermon Script

The essence of the gospel is about change.

Once I am in Christ, I am a new creation. The old has passed, the new has come.

The person I am today is not the person I will be tomorrow.

That is good news. In Christ, there is always the possibility of a new beginning.

But many times, that change is not easy.

We just came back from Sioux Valley yesterday. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Sioux Valley is located in the southwest area of Manitoba.

This year, seven members from London Korean Christian Church joined our team of twenty-seven, to make a total of thirty-four people.

It was the second trip there for our church members.

Joon Song and Sarah Park from the KSM went for many years, from 2002 to 2015 with their old church.

Last year, we went for the first time.

We had a great experience last year. We formed great bonds.

But a whole year had passed. We weren't sure what it was going to be like this year. Would they remember us?

This year, no one knew we were coming. So as soon as we arrived on Monday, we unpacked, had dinner, and immediately went out to knock door to door.

When people opened the door, we introduced ourselves as the Koreans from Toronto, and that we were back.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that many people remembered us! Their faces relaxed and they became friendly.

Tuesday was our first day of programming. Over 100 people showed up – from kids all the way to adults.

The seeds of love we planted last year bore some fruits of change. We recognized many of the kids – they had grown up so much!

Things were off to a great start.

But then we received some bad news: the main hall that we were using had to be vacated for a funeral on Thursday.

So that meant we had to leave the hall by 3pm the following day, Wednesday.

They asked us where we would stay.

We were shocked! We said we don't have any other place to stay.

They felt really bad and offered us a smaller space at their community center.

But we had to move everything over to the community centre and the church, because the community center wasn't large enough by itself.

Our kitchen team had to pack all the kitchen stuff and food. Our drivers and team members had to transport everything to the community center and the church.

The kids and youth had their program in the hot non-air conditioned church on Wednesday. On Thursday they had to go outside to the park all afternoon where it was so hot.

Meanwhile, everyone else had to re-pack everything to go back to the hall.

It was very tiring. Some of our young people became sick.

It seemed like a message from God saying that change doesn't come easily.

The path to real change is never easy or smooth.

Our challenges were so small compared to the challenges that people in Sioux Valley face. Everyday seems to bring new challenges for them.

The very first day we were there, one of our close friends from Sioux Valley shared how her nephew just died last week from a car accident.

He was a respected teacher at the Sioux Valley school. He knew the history and traditions of his people.

And now they lost a respected role model for the youth.

Our worship service that day became a space of mourning for her and she broke down during our prayer time.

One of the boys who came was found to have lice in his hair. For the sake of the other children and our mission team members, I had to send him home.

I felt so bad, because he had been having such a good time. He was playing and smiling.

When I broke the news to him, I was expecting disappointment. But instead, all he said was ok with no reaction.

That surprised me. He was around the same age as Joonie.

If I had to send Joonie home when he was having the time of his life, he would have protested and been very upset. But this boy expressed no such thing.

It made me wonder what he had gone through to have no expectation. It's almost like he expected nothing of life.

At such a young age, he had faced one disappointment after another, to the point where he no longer expected anything of life.

Another young man I met last year had a powerful spiritual experience last year. The message and prayers really hit him.

I was very happy to see him again, and he joined our worship service. During that service, I got to speak with him at length.

He too is going through so many struggles and challenges. He's trying to keep things together in his family.

He's been one of the few to be on the straight and narrow path.

He said that all of his peers his age succumbed to drug addictions or suicides, that not many were left.

These are only a few stories.

In our surroundings, these stories would be wild exceptions.

But I'm not exaggerating in saying that these stories are everyone's stories in the community.

It's not a large community – there are around 1400 people living on the reserve, and another 1400 who live outside of the reserve.

And for those who live on or off the reserve, these stories run through every individual and family.

Underneath these endless stories of despair, addictions, abandonment and death is the sense that their lives don't matter. That no one cares for them.

Their hearts are broken and shattered.

Even when they try to mend their hearts, more things are thrown at them that keeps their hearts broken.

Do you know what the most significant result of a broken heart is? It's conflict and division in the community ( ).

When your heart has been shattered by violence, you don't know how to love others.

There is a lot of conflict and division in the community. For KSM: conflict and division in our community.

This is the result of centuries of colonial policies that broke down the most important part of one's life – the family.

Families were shattered and broken by residential schools and forced adoption of indigenous children into other families.

They taught them that who they are is bad and that they don't matter.

With the people of our KSM: what would have happened if Japan had stayed in power?

One reason so many kids and youth came to us is because there are no other programs or camps for them in the community.

When community leaders do try and organize something, it doesn't work out because no one attends. If one group comes, then those who don't like them won't come.

Leaders are divided and in factions ( ). Families don't like other families. Even the Christians there are divided and don't get along with each other.

Change can only come if the community comes together.

If the community works together to figure out what to do about drugs and addictions. About the despair young people feel.

That change can come only when people's hearts are healed.

The change they need is healing that will bring their community together.

My heart was heavy the whole time I was there. I wondered how change could come when there is such weight on everyone's hearts.

Even going to school from junior high on up is such an ordeal. Kids have to wake up at 6am to get the bus to go into Brandon (half an hour away). Then they get bused back to school.

It's hard enough for parents in our church to wake our kids up. At least we have parents to wake you up.

But if your family doesn't care what you do, what motivation do they have?

Only the power of God can heal hearts and bring change. That's the only conclusion I have.

I don't know how, but only God can bring change through the power of love.

One of our prayers for this trip was that we begin to make relationships with leaders in the community who are trying to help.

Last year, we only built relationships with the children and families who came to us.

There are leaders who care very deeply. Elders who worry about the youth. We wanted to connect with them.

God opened up doors to new relationships.

A few of us met the drug addiction workers in the community. I met the executive assistant of the Sioux Valley school in Brandon. One lady works for the family services department.

She was so impressed by what we're doing. What we're doing is exactly what she was hoping to see in the community.

So she first gave us hundreds of water bottles and juice boxes. She then said next year that her organization will give us $5000 for us to run and expand what we do there.

These are the small ways that God is planting seeds for change.

One burden on my heart from this trip is for the youth of Sioux Valley. That's the group that all the leaders and elders of the community feel the heaviest weight for.

Right from the first evening there, our friend Dallas beckoned me over.

She was with Rev. Dave and another two elders in the community. She said we need you to send Pastor Dave to be our full-time youth pastor in Sioux Valley .

My prayer request is for a pastor, a shepherd, who can be there week in, week out with the youth of Sioux Valley.

There were a group of guys who came in and out throughout the week. They look kind of intimidating.

But on the last night, when everyone formed a circle to sing our last song, I made everyone, including them, join the circle.

I prayed for them and hugged them. I told them that I want them to take good care of themselves over the next year, and that I want to see them again next year.

I began to imagine the impact that a full-time youth ministry can have there.

I've seen the impact our youth ministry has had on our members. And my prayer is that God may send someone to be with the youth.

Change is so difficult. It doesn't come without a cost.

The cost that God paid for change was the death of his son Jesus Christ.

Because of Christ, we can be healed and changed

I don't know what it will take for change to come to Sioux Valley. But I pray that God may bring change.

Let us keep the people of Sioux Valley in our prayers.

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