St Timothy Presbyterian Church

Vibrant church in Etobicoke, Toronto with roots in the Korean immigrant community.

  • Home
  • Worship Updates
  • About
    • People
    • Member
  • Message
    • Sermons
    • Bible Studies
    • Retreat Lectures
    • E-book Library
    • Kids Church Curriculum
  • Community
    • Worship
    • Ministries
    • News and Announcements
    • Social Media
    • Kids Church
    • Hi-C
  • Mission
    • Local Missions
    • Missions Abroad
    • Fundraisers
  • Spirituality
    • Becoming Together as a Beloved Community
    • The Inner Voice
    • Pastor’s Corner
    • Psalms of Devotion
    • Reflections
    • Stories of Faith
    • Expecting Parents
    • Black Lives Matter
  • Contact

May 22 2018

You Are Not Alone

This message was preached on Sunday, May 20, 2018.

Scripture Passage

Romans 8:26-28

Message Audio

https://timothypc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/You-Are-Not-Alone.mp3

 

Message Text

Do you have everything figured out in life?

Do you know what you want out of life?

 

At your age, you haven’t had enough time to do either of those

You can’t possibly have figured everything out

Even most grown-ups don’t have things figured out

Yet, there is enormous pressure to have everything figured out, isn’t there?

What you’re going to study

What job or career you’re going to have

And if you haven’t figured these things out, there’s something wrong with you

 

The other thing is, it feels like you have to figure these things out all by yourself, doesn’t it?

Sure, you have people around you giving their opinions

But ultimately, it’s your life, and at the end of it you’re still on your own

 

What can we learn from today’s passage?

 

Today is Pentecost. It was the day that God gave the gift of the Spirit to the first followers of Jesus

It meant that the followers of Jesus would not be alone, but that they would have the gift of the Spirit

That is what I want us to reflect on

What does it really mean to have the Spirit in our lives?  

 

I realized something from today’s passage: “for we do not know how to pray as we ought”

Real prayer is expressing what’s deepest in our hearts to God

It’s not about what I’m consciously thinking, but rather being connected and in touch with things that are deepest in our hearts

So it doesn’t even have to be words, but just a sense of what’s going on inside of me

Often, we don’t even know what’s deepest in our hearts

We’re often too distracted to know what’s there

Or we’re too scared to know or think about it

Whatever the case, because we’re not in touch with what’s deepest in our hearts, we don’t know how to pray as we ought

This is why with the Hi-C and the executives, I always ask people to reflect on what it is they’re going through, because being in touch with what’s deep in your heart is so important in life

 

Those who live being out of touch with what’s deep in their heart is not living an authentic life

They’re frontin’

You know what that is? Putting on a front that’s not really reflective of who they truly are

People who front are either hiding what’s underneath, or running away from it

Because who you truly are is what’s deep in your heart, not necessarily the front you present to the world

 

But can we really figure all of this out on our own?

That’s a lot of pressure, to figure out who I really am deep in my heart

 

Here’s the amazing news that comes to us today: you are not alone

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness” (slide) – where we are out of touch with what’s deep in our hearts

(Slide) We don’t know how to pray as we ought, “but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words”

In other words, the Spirit reveals to us what is deep in our hearts

With sighs too deep for words

See, most of the time we can’t even articulate or express what it is that’s in our hearts, and that’s okay, we don’t even need words

God knows what’s in our hearts, and God searches our hearts

God’s Spirit then comes in and expresses that for us, reveals to us what’s in our hearts

 

All we need to do is let God in and search our heart

 

You don’t need to have everything all figured out

The very first step in the spiritual journey is admitting that you don’t have everything figured out

When we can be honest about that, we can stop frontin’

We can then ask the Spirit to come in and search our hearts and reveal to us what’s in our hearts

 

When we are connected with the Spirit, the Spirit will start to change how we think

The Spirit will give us courage to stop frontin’ and be more in tune with our real selves

The Spirit will open our eyes to see things differently and in a new light

The Spirit brings about an alternative reality – it helps us see the world in ways we never did before

And when you see things differently, new paths and possibilities open up

 

This world in many ways is all about frontin’

It’s so hard to be in touch with your real, deepest self

We care so much about how we look to others, or how others will think about us

 

In the past, I was so concerned with how people saw me

I wanted to be respected and admired

If I kept thinking that way, I never would have imagined myself being a youth pastor

But because the Spirit slowly changed how I thought and saw things, this path opened up for me to be your pastor

And now I’m so blessed because of it

I feel like the luckiest person in the world to be your pastor and develop this deep relationship with all of you

 

When you can admit that you don’t have things figured out, and invite God to come in and lead you, slowly but surely, you will start to see things differently

And by seeing things differently, new paths and possibilities will open up for you

 

This is the great mystery of the faith journey, and the most exciting part

 

This is the great news: that you don’t have to figure things out all by yourself, because you are not alone

 

God will lead you, God will guide you

God will reveal what is truly in your heart and what it is that you really want out of life

 

And without realizing it, God will lead your life for good, according to God’s will

God will slowly lead you according to God’s will

You don’t need to have things figured out for yourself!

God will unfold God’s will in your life

 

1 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

 

Let us ask God to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit, because this is how you will live the life you were meant to live, in deep connection with the One who created you

 

Let us open our lives to be led by this amazing God, and let’s live exciting lives guided by God’s Spirit

You are not alone. The Spirit of God has been given to us! Who can stand against us!

Written by Rev. Simon Park · Categorized: Hi-C

Recent Posts

  • Sunday Announcements – June 12, 2022 June 14, 2022
  • Sunday Announcements – June 5, 2022 June 5, 2022
  • May 2022 – Inner Voice May 31, 2022
  • Sunday Announcements – May 29, 2022 May 29, 2022
  • Sunday Announcements – May 16, 2022 May 16, 2022

About Rev. Simon Park

Simon is an associate minister at St. Timothy Presbyterian Church.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

St. Timothy Presbyterian Church, 106 Ravenscrest Dr., Etobicoke, ON M9B 5N3

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
한국어

© 2022 St Timothy Presbyterian Church · Rainmaker Platform