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00:00 of uh members in a community and you've read the passage many times before so you you kind of get the gist of it but
00:07 I'm going to be a bit more technical today and technical in a sense of music as well as an analogy okay so for those
00:14 who are musicians and appreciate music possibly you're going to get something more today and those who are not you can
00:20 work harder be a musician we need musicians here and um but anyway the
00:27 point is uh do you know that the trinity is is a community. Have you ever realized that that the
00:35 trinity is a community? And I think one of the best picture and analogy of a the trinity, it can can
00:42 only be shown through music. Okay. If how many of you like jazz here?
00:49 Oh, but a lot of you come for the the the the jazz thing, right? The Tokyo jazz thing. Don't like it, but just
00:55 come. Well, I'm a a fan of jazz. I I my my master's degree is in jazz performance
01:01 and uh I really love jazz. So in jazz um if you actually understand jazz really
01:08 well uh there's this part uh where they start improvising, right? And uh in in a in a a basic trio,
01:18 all right, a trio that's made out of a uh a lead instrument, a bass, and a drums. in a basic trio like that um uh
01:26 each instrument begins to take turns to uh improvise
01:31 and during the process of it when you're playing with great musicians it is really fun because uh when I was uh
01:39 doing my masters and I graduate I I had to uh do my final recital and it was so fun playing with the musicians that are
01:46 professionals and we come we rehearse half an hour and that's it I can go and for my graduation recital right but here
01:52 we practiced Last Thursday, we practice until 11:00. Like going to die like that. But anyway, the the process is that they
01:59 go into this part where they improvise. And I want you to watch this band uh the the George Duke trio. And I want you to
02:07 watch that as they improvise. It it it's like the relationship of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Right? One
02:15 will take we will start in the middle of the the the the George Duke the
02:20 keyboardist his solo. We'll start because it's too long. I got two videos for you to see today. It will take the
02:26 whole sermon. Uh if we see everything, but uh it'll start in in the part where he in the middle of his solo and I want
02:33 you to watch the relationship between them and how they play. Okay? And then we'll try to get what it is. So dim the
02:39 lights.
02:45 Are you ready? Let's go.
03:01 [Music]
03:38 Hey, hey, hey. [Music]
03:54 Heat. Heat. [Music]
04:27 Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music]
05:22 Heat. [Music]
05:35 Heat.
05:44 [Music]
06:00 Heat. Heat. [Music]
06:10 [Music]
06:42 [Music]
06:49 So, we're back to the melody where the song. This is the actual song.
06:60 Heat. Heat.
07:07 [Music]
07:33 All right. So, any of you understand what's going on?
07:39 Okay. Let me try to explain to you. So, anyway, each turn each each person takes time to improvise. Actually, it is not
07:46 just out of the blue. There's a certain form, right? And there's a certain rhythm. You notice that they're playing
07:51 in time all the time and they can follow each other's time exactly. So it begins
07:57 with George Duke doing his solo and there's a form that is going through maybe you can't see the form but actually the form is is structured. It
08:04 works. It's always like that. And anyway, after he does that, you notice the bases start doing his solo, right?
08:11 And when he was doing his solo, you realize that the rest of the instruments went backwards, right? And they were
08:18 playing very very simple. And we have this term that when we play, it's called comping. Have you heard of that term
08:24 before? Yeah. So when I went went to uh music college and then the the lecturer said, "Hey, do uh do you ever know what
08:31 is the meaning of comping?" And I was like, "No, I just know comping is playing chords." comp the CS out. And
08:37 guess what? Anyone know what's the root word for comping? Any musicians?
08:43 No. Okay, we need more musicians. Uh, recruitment next week. No. Uh, it is
08:49 actually the word complimenting, but they don't want to say complimenting too long. Musicians are lazy. So, they say
08:56 just comping. Complimenting. You notice they compleiment each other so well. They compliment each other so well that
09:03 that that you know when one takes the lead one the other compliments by playing what is
09:11 complimentary to the next person and it's like that the trinity is is is is a a this term of
09:20 this trinity dancing in unison is called paricoresis this dance of love between the three
09:26 person uh just like uh Dr. Peter was talking about dance remember he used that that that the example of the dancer
09:31 with the the for the America's Got Talent I think right and how they dance as one uh the the amazing part is that
09:38 until today we have don't have a dance that really can depict this as beautiful as it should be but it's like three of
09:45 them as one and I think that dance goes on in a band they're talking to each other you notice that they are playing things and then when when something is
09:52 interesting the next person kind of rides on that and they seem to be conversing without you knowing what's
09:58 happening and so much so that is the dance of the trinity the different roles
10:03 one is supposed to play the bass one is supposed to play the drums one play supposed to the keyboard they understand
10:08 those roles and it's given George Duke gets uh a drummer because he wants a
10:13 drummer a trio won't be a trio if we try to put um maybe a guitarist for a
10:21 drummer you won't get the same effect everybody knows their role and each role is seen as a gift to each Yeah. You
10:28 notice they don't like why you playing like that? Why are you doing that? They really enjoy each other's playing, isn't
10:34 it? As they're playing and they see each other and when the person plays something nice, they go like whoa.
10:39 Right? I don't know whether you notice that. I don't know what you're noticing then. But anyway, that's what I think
10:45 the trinity is like. When Jesus died on the cross, it was not like a solo show. God was
10:53 there. The Holy Spirit was there. Okay, these roles were given per you know uh
10:59 uh uh freely to this uh and God said this is your role. Jesus say uh Jesus
11:04 know your role. Okay, let's say maybe God is the key body is George Duke. Uh Jesus is the basis and the drummer is
11:11 the Holy Spirit. But most people want the drummer to be uh Jesus Christ because that's the kind of like
11:17 highlight now, right? But I think Jesus is more like the basis and the the Holy Spirit is more like the drummer. Uh
11:23 anyway um but anyway George Duke says this is your role and you play within your role. The basis doesn't try to be a
11:30 keyboardist. The drummer doesn't try to be a basis. These roles we know what
11:35 we're playing and and who plays the melody the keyboard
11:41 right and so in the same way that's the role that God sovereignly decide you know and each person was so happy to
11:47 play it. I don't think that's like, oh, I wish I was George Duke. I wish I was
11:52 the, you know, and then George Duke was like, I wish I was the drummer. No, they just enjoy their roles because together
11:60 they make music. All right. Okay. So, they dance so beautifully together. They
12:05 inexplicably one. I I think the why the music sounds nice is because they are
12:10 one. So, now you when our band play, maybe you don't like so much because we're not quite one yet. We're getting there. We're getting there. We're
12:16 getting there. that we're working hard on it, but we want to dance so beautifully that you don't remember the band that you remember Jesus Christ. But
12:24 anyway, it was this image of community that we were made because when God saw
12:31 man and he said it's not good to be alone, it's because man was not community alone.
12:38 It was impossible to to be community alone. And God said look the dance that we have
12:46 we want to see uh our creation also have
12:51 right and so this is what we're supposed to look like members of the community
12:57 supposed to reflect this triunity that's happening we have to reflect this
13:03 dance of love through community. So what you need to know is that
13:09 community is a non-negotiable thing in Christian is in in our Christian belief.
13:17 If we say we don't believe in community means we actually don't believe in
13:23 Christ God actually because God is community. The gifts that we are given
13:28 are made for community not for individual exploit exploitation. All right. And God sovereignly gives
13:35 this gift to the community differences and made us diverse. So that's what we learn, right? The spiritual gifts, everybody is given different gifts. And
13:43 that's beautiful because if everybody was as good-looking as me, then it's not
13:51 good already. Then I'm not good-looking anymore, right? Okay. Okay. I'm not that
13:57 good-looking, I know, but it's okay. All right. Now let me give you an overview of how how how Paul sees this. He begins
14:05 with talking about one body, many parts and that's basically diversity. Then he talks about many parts but one
14:12 body that it's basically unity. Then he talks about how Christian community
14:18 honors the weak. And that is actually what I'm going to hop on a lot today. Um
14:24 because I think you not you know that we are supposed to be diverse. You know we're supposed to be united. Uh and then
14:30 I'll talk also about unity in diversity. All right. All right. Are you ready?
14:35 Let's begin. Let's pray. Father, we just pray Lord that you illuminate your word to us and you help us understand what
14:41 you're trying to say. Even as Paul wrote this thousands of years ago, Lord, uh make it alive to us today. Even as your
14:49 community, even as your body, make us the one body of Christ, even as we listen to you. In Jesus name we pray.
14:55 Amen. All right. So it starts off with saying just as a body has many parts but all
15:06 its many parts form one body so it is with Christ.
15:12 Okay, we are one body. There is no other body. There's one body and it and I
15:20 think this is also often misinterpreted in just the context of the church. But
15:26 there's only, you know, when we say the creeds, there's one holy Catholic church. That does not mean there's only
15:32 one Catholic church. It means we are all part of one holy Catholic church. Okay?
15:40 Catholic doesn't mean Catholic. Catholic it means united one. All right. And so
15:46 we are all one body in Christ. Everybody can understand that. I don't need to
15:51 elaborate more. Second, it says for we are all baptized by one spirit. So the
15:56 as to form one body whether Jews, Gentiles, slave or free, and we are all
16:01 given the same one spirit to drink. So what does that mean? It means our
16:08 shared salvation through the spirit makes us one. We are saved by the same
16:13 spirit. The Catholics are saved by the same spirit. Uh whether you believe it or not. You know, I don't know how many
16:19 times I I think I've said shared this uh illustration before, but I I I as a pastor, I don't know how many times
16:26 parents have come to me, oh no, my son, oh no, my daughter is dating a Catholic. How are
16:32 they dating a Christian? What's the problem? We we are baptized by the same spirit.
16:39 We're baptized into the body by the same spirit. Believe it or not, we are all Orthodox
16:47 Christians. Uh the difference is maybe if they are Mormons or something or
16:52 they're Muslims or Buddhists, perhaps that is more concern for us because they're not part of the same body.
16:59 But why have we divided ourselves by denominations? Not only denominations,
17:06 Paul was talking here that people were go dividing by what? Race.
17:12 By what else? Social economic status. I was in America and I was studying and I
17:17 was asking um why are the churches predominantly white, predominantly black. We see some mixtures of them in
17:25 very urban centers like Washington DC or maybe New York, but the rest of the country is predominantly. And then you
17:32 notice that there are rich white churches and then there are middle-class white churches and then there are poor
17:40 churches which usually are black. And then I asked why is it that after
17:46 all these years as Christians we cannot and the worst part of it the the churches are just literally a stone
17:53 throw away. Literally on the same street you would have three
17:60 different churches and usually the poorer ones are the charismatic and the Pentecostals.
18:06 Why? And then there's age too. Why have we divided our worship in terms of the
18:13 children worship there, the youth worship there, the adult worship here? Have you ever asked the question why don't we worship together?
18:21 If we are one and we are one in the body, why doesn't the one body worship
18:26 together? We are all one because of the same work of God. But let's continue on and I'll talk about that a bit more
18:32 later. It then says even so the body is not made out of one part but many.
18:40 Now the foot should say because I'm not a Now if the foot should
18:45 say because I'm not a hand I do not belong to the body. It would not be for that reason. It
18:52 Okay, let's try that again. It would not for that reason stop being the body, part of the body. And if the ear should
18:58 say because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
19:06 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body was an ear, where would the
19:12 sense of smell be? The community has to be made out of
19:18 different individuals who has been given different gifts by God.
19:24 Um, can you imagine if this church can only
19:29 smell? All of us are blind.
19:36 Nobody is going to lead us into this hall. How many of you think that would be a
19:42 disaster? Yes, it will be a disaster. What if all of us cannot hear
19:49 at the same time? It doesn't work. And I just can't imagine it. And I'm I'm color
19:55 blind if you know it or not. Uh I'm color blind. And I didn't know that I
20:01 was missing certain colors in my life. Uh until I was uh I think I was tested
20:06 when I was 12 years old before I took my BCG, right? And then they put this color chart, right? And I'm supposed to see
20:12 the numbers, right? I'm like, what numbers? How many of you are color blind here?
20:20 Ah, you don't understand it. It's a painful thing, okay, to realize that all this time I didn't I wasn't
20:29 able to tell the different colors. Not all colors, but some colors. So, one day I came out of my house wearing a pink
20:36 shirt, a green pants, and brown shoes. because they all look brown to me. And I
20:44 came out and my mom looked at me and was like, "No way." And I thank God. My mom
20:51 is a Finnish artist. She does beautiful artworks. And uh and and I I I ask her,
20:58 "What's wrong?" "Oh, brown." Then she say, "What brown? That's pink, green,
21:04 and brown." I'm like, "No." Now imagine if I went on Sunday to
21:10 preach like that. How many of you will pay attention to the sermon?
21:16 But I really thank God that God gives different gifts. I'm the ears in the home, the music guy. My mom's the eyes
21:22 in the home that sees the colors. My brother's the mouth in the home that talks a lot.
21:27 We all are different. And it makes my family special because we have and we
21:34 compliment each other really well. And so the day when we started ministry, all of us ended up in full-time ministry and
21:40 we served together in the same church. Uh it was a beautiful thing and I really enjoyed those days servings together
21:46 before we went I went to Singapore and God called me. That's why I was like, "Huh, God, I'm I'm in this situation and
21:52 it's so nice to work with this body." Uh but God said, "No, no, no. It's time to go." And anyway, I left obediently and I
21:59 that's why I'm here today. Uh all of us serve in different churches today. But what I'm just trying to say in the end
22:05 is we are so diverse. We are made different. I really don't want you to
22:11 look like me. And I I if I have an identical twin, I mean there are identical twins in this congregation.
22:18 It's you notice they're not really identical also. There's something different about each one. Um and the po
22:27 problem was in the Corinth church this diversity was gone upon.
22:35 It was gone upon. Uh you can see that very clearly when they were partaking communion, right? There were people that
22:42 were poorer. There were people that were richer. And what happened to the people that are poorer?
22:47 They sat outside. Not only they sat outside, they eat the scraps.
22:53 And this is an bad thing because what happened is that individualism becomes
22:59 the main thing and I think this is one of the problems with our our society today. Individualism is the big deal. I
23:08 think like he said just now individuality is se celebrated. Being an
23:13 individual is good but individualism saying that I don't need others is not
23:18 good. Now let's bring it practically into our context. How does that happen? As a pastor, I don't know how many times
23:26 I have been I can feel it like in the eyes and the way people comment and all those kind of
23:32 things. You think you can do a better job than me. A lot of people think that. I don't know
23:38 how many times it's happened before. Everywhere I go, somebody got something
23:43 to say about our leaders. I mean even in our
23:49 government some of us are commence so well until we think we can do a better job. I think that is a mark of
23:54 individualism. Individualism thinks that you don't need that person to do the job. You can do
23:60 better. How many of you do that? Oh, nobody's going to confess now.
24:06 Well, I do that. I remember growing up I would sometimes think I could do a better job than my father. How many of
24:13 you think so? Yes. Right. Especially uh when you when they do when they uh when
24:19 my dad is with his computer, right? Yo, you know, and and and that's the thing.
24:26 But you know uh one of the I was about to go back to Singapore to serve again uh
24:33 before I I uh this FBC uh thing happened and then I was talking to my mom and
24:40 then my mom uh said yeah I think it's God's will that you stay because now you're my IT support I got no IT
24:46 support. Yeah but she appreciates it. But the day I said to my mom, look, go
24:54 and get your own ideas of uh I really don't want to bother with this is the day individualism starts.
25:02 And the worst part of it, if you read later, they were saying not just that I
25:08 don't need you. They literally say you are dispensable.
25:16 I know that you have believed this phrase for a long time. Nobody is indispensable. The Bible did say something, you know, there are people
25:21 that are indispensable in our church and we'll talk about that really soon. But
25:26 individuality is a good thing. And it doesn't matter whether you say, "Oh yeah, I'm not good enough. I I'm not
25:33 like pastor Leo. I'm so handsome." It doesn't matter where I say that. You are still part of this body.
25:40 You don't preach as good as me or maybe you preach better than me. You are still part of this body.
25:47 It doesn't matter whether you can play any instrument, you are still part of this body.
25:52 Everyone is part of this body and no one can say any of you are not. No one
25:60 because he say it is not for any reason that you are not part of the body unless you choose to be and to clothe yourself
26:09 with individualism. You get that? Next. Just as the body, though one has many
26:15 parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we are
26:20 all baptized by one body. Hey, no, we read this already. Sorry, it didn't appear the last verse we're reading. But
26:26 in fact, God has placed the parts in a body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one
26:33 part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one
26:39 body. You know uh you go to different churches
26:44 they will give like catchphrases anecdotes about who they are. They say we are a what? Family church. You heard
26:50 that before? Or they say we are a disciplehip church. We are a mentoring church. We are a a biblical centered
26:58 church, a gospel centered church, whatever it is. We give all kinds of things. But do you notice that we need
27:06 all these things to become church? You can't just be biblically centered. You have to be mission centered. You
27:12 have to be gospel centered. You have to be apostolic. You have to be prophetic. You have to be spirit. You have to have
27:18 all the things to be church. And God places the church where he wants
27:25 it to be. He gives the church exactly what it needs to be. And I don't and
27:30 that's the problem today. I I go to a lot of churches and they say, "Oh, we like musicians. We like this. We like
27:38 this." I do not believe that the church of God is ever in lack.
27:45 I believe that he gives what he and God it says here God place all the parts of
27:51 the body. Every one of them just as he wanted to them to be. Every church,
27:56 every person you are here because what God placed you here. And so those that
28:03 we welcome you here today, we hope you stay because this is the body we want you to feel part of. We want you to feel
28:11 welcome to. And guess what? If there were all one part, where would the body
28:16 be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. One body, many parts.
28:22 God arranges the members of the body. Um, this is the one of the toughest thing for me to swallow growing up.
28:30 Um I don't know for about you but it's it is for me because sometimes I feel I
28:36 can do better than certain leaders. Uh God gifted I'm going to say it uh not
28:43 as a a pride thing. Please don't misunderstand me. God really I know since I was young God really gifted me
28:50 with a lot a lot of talent. uh he gave me so much and and because of that um
28:58 when I was growing up I was like why did God put this person as my superior when
29:03 he doesn't even know as much as I do and it was frustrating because I would be
29:09 disciplined I would be scolded and I'll be told that
29:15 what I do is wrong and I know it's absolutely right and it was really tough growing up that
29:22 Okay. And I said, "God, how can you choose this person to your leader? He doesn't even have talent."
29:27 And that happens a lot actually. You know, God places people. And I
29:35 and I was just thinking all those times when I had to learn to submit,
29:42 I learned a lot. And in fact, he doesn't even make me submit to just nice uh good
29:47 people or at least people with good hearts and all those kind of things. Some people are really nasty. When I was
29:53 growing up, there was this Oh, I better not say it. He's still in Sububanga. Okay.
30:00 But anyway, he literally because I was playing better than him,
30:06 he literally told me not to play and get off the stage.
30:11 It was so disheartening and I was like, his attitude is wrong. But then I went to my
30:17 worship coordinator and I said look this cannot be the right attitude this one you he should not be playing and guess
30:24 what the worship coordinator say you don't play
30:30 why God place leaders like that why can't they place people like me no
30:36 but that's what we all want to think but God says he places leaders where they
30:41 need to be talents where they need to be gifts where they need to to be and you
30:47 are indispensable. It is he says I mean in Acts 10 verse
30:54 what 34 it says God is respector of no man. It doesn't mean that God does not respect you. God it it's just the way
31:01 they use the language. It really means that God does not say wow because you're so handsome I give you more gifts. Oh
31:06 today uh you're very nice to me I give you more gifts. God is not like that.
31:12 God knows what the body needs to become
31:18 complimentary to become exactly it is he knows oh to
31:23 be a a a a band we need the drums we need the bass he doesn't make everybody
31:29 keyodies if not actually is no use to him do you know that it's of no use to
31:36 him if we are all just just one uniformity ity is useless to God.
31:44 Diversity is what he needs. All right? Can you understand that he creates
31:51 diversity? It's all his arrangement. Next, let's go. But if all were one
31:56 part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The
32:01 eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you. And the head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you. On the contrary,
32:06 those parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable.
32:13 There are people that are indispensable. And guess what? It's not me. It's not you. It is the ones that are weak.
32:22 I we are not meant to be the same. We are created to be diverse. A body must be
32:28 made of many parts. We are meant to be united and there is only one body. But
32:33 the most important part we cannot despise any person in co Christian
32:38 community I didn't realize as I was growing up I
32:44 said I don't need you the attitude that I I said I don't need you started to
32:49 spur in me an attitude that say that I really don't need anyone in my life I
32:55 just need me and that is a attitude that does not h
33:01 reflect the trinity at all the trinity will never say I do don't need Jesus Christ. God will never say that. The
33:07 father will never say look Jesus take the back seat. I don't need you.
33:13 But what happened in the church today is we do live as if we don't need certain
33:18 people especially those that are weaker. The less honorable are weak are but the
33:25 Bible says they are indispensable. And one of the things that I realized I'll give you this illustration and it's
33:31 another musical. I I go around churches and I volunteer to set up their sound systems for free, okay? Because usually
33:38 people don't know what they're doing and they mess up everything and they charge them exorbitantly. So I go and do it for
33:44 free. And I remember going to this church and I took down their old sound system, put up the new sound system.
33:50 Then I said, "What are you going to do with your old sound system?" They say, "Oh, give it to the youth
33:58 next." Then there are some of it as Paul, you know. Oh, then give Sunday school.
34:06 You laugh. It's real.
34:12 Why are the children more dispensable than the adults in terms of budget?
34:17 Why are they given less or the youth? I know in FBC that doesn't happen now. We
34:22 are wonderful church, isn't it? But I think it does happen.
34:29 Can I just say honestly when I came to FBC I came from a different church and
34:35 what I did as the senior pastor then was that I believe that every part of the body should be honored. So we worship
34:41 together. So the youth are there. The the children are there. And guess what? They're a bit noisy during our services.
34:47 And guess what? We got used to it and and the children are always there. And I
34:52 really enjoyed worshiping with my son. And when I came to FBC, it is difficult to worship with my son. Um uh because
35:00 when I so so we made it a point, you know, because we believe in worshiping together. We he'll come together with my
35:07 wife on the first service, we'll worship together. the second service he go to Sunday school so that I got some time to
35:14 sing to God with him and and and I remember when I quietly came in the
35:21 beginning when you all did not know me and with my son sitting down there making noise I would get a little bit of
35:28 the stairs because he's noisy
35:34 when was it a problem and and this is happens a lot in churches so much so they create this place called the cry
35:40 room. Do do you know that? And all the churches that I've gone
35:45 through that has cry rooms for 20 30 years um I went are starting to tear
35:50 down their cry rooms because they realize they make the children dispensable by putting them behind
35:57 there. My son listens to my worship. I remember uh even my preaching when sometimes I'm here. I remember when I
36:04 was preaching he was maybe six months back. He was only 2 years old and I I was I think I think I did share this
36:09 illustration. I can't remember why where all the illustrations are but I remember he was sitting down there in not this
36:14 congregation in another congregation and I was the guest speaker there and I was preaching and he was playing his toys then I said I was giving illustration
36:21 that we are God's favorite and I said I always say this to my son who is papa's favorite boy and then he
36:28 screamed at the corner there Levi he's listening and he's listening to
36:35 every word that is spoken from our mouths from God's mouth And I never
36:40 believe that they're dispensable. And I I've been to worse churches than this where literally you make a little noise
36:49 for your children, you are ushered out.
36:54 Why is it that they cannot make noise? Which biblical passage say so?
37:04 Are they not given the same privilege to hear the word as we do?
37:11 Why? Oh, they won't understand. Who says so?
37:16 And so we segregate. We segregate the youth. We segregate the adults. And I I think that was the worst decision. We
37:22 should disciple different because of our cognitive learning abilities, but we should worship together.
37:29 And we treat them as less honorable. We treat them as weak. And that's what was
37:34 happening in the communion of the the the community of the Corinthians. They were segregating because you are poor,
37:40 you eat outside. We are doing the same thing by saying children don't need to worship with us.
37:47 Or you're too annoyed to deal with the noise or the problem. At parents, it's distracting. I know how difficult it is.
37:54 But guess what? We can make it easier and more welcoming by saying you are
37:59 welcome to bring your kids here. Do we say that? How about other things?
38:06 How many churches do you know today actually have places for the disabled,
38:13 the deaf, the blind? Are we ready to cater our
38:18 worship to them? No, we're not. In fact, we think never mind. You go find another way to worship
38:24 yourself. They're dispensable. Wait till you have a own child and you have your own own
38:31 family and you want to worship together but you're told that they can't worship with you just because
38:39 in so the that's that's just ridiculous to me
38:45 and this is the problem. We can never claim to be united if we do not value each other the way God values us.
38:55 Let's just skip this for today. And the parts we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor. And the parts
39:02 that are unpresentable, we what? We treat with special modesty. While our
39:09 present parts need no special treatment, our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body
39:15 together. He, it is God, not us, that gives greater honor to the parts that
39:22 lack it. So that there would be no division in body, but that its parts should have equal concern. So look at
39:29 this. If you want to say you have equal concern from for for everyone, people
39:36 that lack honor, people that are weaker deserves more honor, more attention, and
39:41 more of your money. I don't know. I remember when we were doing a budget for our building in
39:47 Singapore and then we had to do make it handicap friendly.
39:52 Wow. The cost the cost is exorbitant
39:58 right and and the worst part of it is that um it was mandatory because by law
40:05 then only my church was willing to do it. If it's not mandatory by law we will try
40:11 to save the money. Why not so important? They'll find a way to get here. Really
40:17 try being a handicap person and the place is not catered for you.
40:25 I remember when I was in Disneyland and I I I hurt my back. I sprained my back.
40:30 I remembered that I rented a wheelchair there and I was treated like a king.
40:37 I don't need a lineup. And the way they treat me, right? Everywhere was so accessible by wheelchair, right? That I
40:44 did not feel disconnected. But I can tell you how many disabled
40:49 friends that I have that come to church that feel so disconnected because they just can't access,
40:56 can't have access. And that should never be the case. We should never segregate
41:03 ourselves. In fact, it says it is what you if you don't put more attention
41:09 means you're not equally concerned. Do you understand what that says? Actually, you know, it's not that oh, if I'm I I
41:16 say I'm concerned about you, I really feel something about you, that's enough. No, you don't put special concern for
41:23 people who are weak and less honorable means you're not equally concerned for
41:29 each other. Now, that's something that struck me very hard. I've never saw that
41:34 until now. That means if I don't give special honor to these people, actually I'm not
41:40 concerned about them at all. Not the way God needs it to be, not the
41:46 way God wants it to be. And anyway, I put this story because
41:52 I remember we were talking about the issue of homosexuality in one and there
41:58 was this researcher that was going on and talk at TEDx and he was saying the
42:03 opposite of addiction is not being sober. It is human connection.
42:12 We need to give special honor to addicts and people who are struggling not by
42:17 giving them money alone but we need to give them human connection. The issue with today's church is that we
42:25 are so comfortable to say I help you I give you money but don't take my time don't take my energy please understand
42:34 I've got so much more to bother about than you.
42:39 I remember in Disneyland the whole bus there's long lines of people trying to go onto the bus, right? But because I'm
42:46 the only handicap co quote unquote, I wasn't even handicapped then.
42:52 Everybody waited on me outside. The driver lowered the bus, came in
42:58 person, strapped me up onto the bus, and then only everybody
43:05 went up. Wow. In Malaysia,
43:11 you want take bus outside. And this practice is not just in
43:16 Disneyland. They practice it everywhere. They actually honor these people. So
43:25 what happens in Christian community? If we honor and respect those who are weak and without honor,
43:34 then we can say we are equally concerned. And guess what God says? God is the one
43:41 that says, "I will give greater honor
43:46 to such people." All right, let's go next. If one part suffers,
43:53 every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ and each
43:59 one of you is part of it. And God has placed in church first of all apostles, pro second prophets, teachers, then
44:05 miracles, then gifts of healing, then helping, guidance and different kind of tongues. All are all apostles, are all
44:11 prophets, are all teachers, do all work miracles, do all have gifts of healing, do all speak in tongues, do all interpret eagerly desire, the greater
44:19 gifts, unity, and diversity. We are united in everything in pain, honor,
44:26 joy, everything. We've been learning about empathy. We've learning about that kind of things. When
44:32 someone sympathy especially the word sympathy is not just like I pity you.
44:39 What does sympathy mean? Sympathy means what you feel is what I
44:45 feel. You know we are created to be beings like that. Notice how our entire body is created. When you see a movie
44:52 when the actor cry you also feel the same tightness in your throat, shortness of breath.
44:60 We are made and designed by God to be able to feel exactly what the other
45:06 person feels. Do you know that? And yet we are so disconnected. Some
45:12 people cry like that. Very funny. Really? Some people see movie like that. I have some friends that are so annoying
45:18 cuz I always cry. And then they were like, "Why am I
45:24 crying?" Then look at me. So funny you cry. Yo.
45:34 And I used to say I don't need them. Well, now think about it. That's the wrong thing to say.
45:39 But but we lack this kind of sympathy as the church. When we look at the problems
45:44 when we read the newspaper, does it? You know why I don't like read newspaper? It makes my stomach very crazy. know I'm so
45:52 disgusted by some things right that I literally want to vomit on you or I feel some some of the pain out there.
45:59 I I mean it's horrible. It's horrible what is happening. But we
46:06 suppose as a church to be able to share each another thing that happens when we
46:11 share each other's joy and pain is you realize this the burden becomes we less.
46:17 If your husband actually cries with you, you feel better. Do you notice that?
46:24 But how many husbands cry with their wives?
46:32 Why the the laugh and then so quiet?
46:38 We need to cry with each other. We need to bear each other's pain. I have we have enough passages that talk about
46:44 that and I'm not going directly to that. But the problem is not just the pain but the joys too. Our joys we like to share
46:51 with each other, right? And that's the problem. the the
46:57 Corinthian church like to enjoy the food together, share that. But among the rich people,
47:04 those that were indispensable and the ones that were in pain, those were the people that were widows.
47:10 You don't know what how many of you are widows here? You don't know what widows go through?
47:20 single parents, handicaps, homosexuals.
47:27 Do we know what they go through each time they come? And then we say, "Ah,
47:33 let's celebrate." You know, that's why I don't like just singing happy songs during our worship. I I I I I I love
47:40 this book. It's called The Costly Loss of Lament. We don't spend time
47:49 having place for people who have problems to cry out to God any way they need, any
47:57 way they want. Hey, this is supposed to be the place that they can do it safely. But when you know what, everything must
48:02 be oh joy, joy, happy, happy. Let's go. I cannot. Uh there's some days I cannot.
48:08 And today was one of the days that I felt like I almost cannot. I woke up. I slept only at 5:00 a.m. My son was like
48:15 creating a storm. Um, and uh, I felt so tired and I still
48:22 have to come here and say, "Oh, I feel good. Wow, it's wonderful. I still have
48:27 to preach as if everything is right and fine." Have you ever let a pastor come here and
48:33 cry their heart out and say, "I'm not doing well.
48:40 Pray for me. I'm talking about these kind of things. We don't share. We only want to see the
48:46 good side of the pastor. Really, not just the pastor. If it
48:52 happens to the pastor, it's happening to every one of you. And I think this has to change.
48:58 We don't just celebrate what's good. We need to celebrate. And hopefully in services to come, we can incorporate
49:05 laments time where people come and feel no shame. I I remember I did the alt call. Why are people so scared to come
49:11 forward? Because you know what? It is not honorable here
49:17 when in God's sight it is indispensable.
49:22 He wants to give you honor. So people who have felt left out in this congregations, we want to honor you. We
49:29 want to give you honor. We we are here every week to pray for you not because
49:34 we want to say and embarrass you. We want to give you the honor God wants to give you. Come, come forward. Every week
49:42 we will be here to pray with you every day. Give me a call if you need and I'll
49:48 pray for you. God, I I know if Jesus was here, he
49:53 would give time to people such as this. Isn't it? That's what he did. And it was the disciples that say, "Oh, don't let
49:59 the little children come. Don't bother him. He doesn't have the time." And Jesus said, "What? No. These people
50:08 deserve the kingdom. And I want you to look at this last
50:13 video clip in ending. It's going to be about eight minutes. And uh it's a it's
50:19 a video clip of orchestra. How many of you like orchestral music? Are you jazz now? So little now orchestral music so
50:26 much. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. But
50:31 anyway, this is from Beethoven's ninth symphony and he was writing it when he was almost deaf. Um um I think and and
50:39 remarkably it is known as one of the best classical compos compositions ever and uh
50:48 I want you to look especially with what I call harmony
50:55 and the term harmony. When there's harmony to Christ, it becomes the masterpiece for God. Harmony is produced when there's unity in diversity through
51:01 love. And I want you to look at this picture and look at how they harmonize. I'm going to give a little commentary as we
51:07 go along so that it doesn't get you don't get lost. Um, but at the end of
51:13 it, I want you to understand what harmony is all about. Can we can we take a look at it? Let's dim the lights again
51:19 and let's go.
51:29 You know this tune? Yeah, most of you should know this tune. Anyway, these are the double bases, the
51:36 lowest sounds in the entire orchestra. I always want to play one, but I'm not tall enough.
51:45 [Music]
51:51 [Music]
52:01 Now the cellos are coming in.
52:07 [Music] Now the vias and the bassoon.
52:13 [Music]
52:40 That's the violas. [Music]
52:56 Malaysian's favorite instrument, the violin. [Music]
53:42 Now the brass section comes in and the percussions. friends.
54:13 Hey
54:34 My favorite instrument, the French horn.
54:56 These are the wind instruments. [Music]
55:19 Oh, [Music] [Applause]
55:26 the least dearert. [Music]
55:41 So last song
55:47 [Music] River [Applause]
55:54 [Music] [Applause]
56:02 [Music]
56:10 and father. [Music]
56:17 Flyer.
56:25 [Music] and
56:31 [Music]
56:39 more strength [Applause] [Music]
56:48 fighting.
56:59 We lights up [Music]
57:14 as I
57:21 sh [Music] [Applause]
57:28 [Music] [Applause] [Music]
57:35 I can Jesus [Music]
57:40 Christ [Applause] [Music]
58:05 And we're not
58:11 [Music]
58:23 [Applause] [Music] singing about
58:34 I sing [Music]
58:43 God
58:48 the Christ. [Applause] [Music]
59:14 Right. We are all part of what I call the gospel orchestra.
59:21 The father is the producer. The one that bestows the gifts. He plays all and chooses and he calls and he gives
59:26 invites all these instruments, all these people in the choir. Everybody personally, son as the conductor. So you
59:32 see that stern man there. It's kind of like Jesus Christ, okay? Giving all the cues. Everybody's following his
59:38 direction. And the spirit is kind of like the arranger and the director, the one that goes behind the scene to write all the scores, the daughters, all these
59:45 things. And we are the musicians that tell his story. Some are soloist, some
59:50 may be like the singer. Uh, some might be like the instrumentalist,
59:57 some may be the principal musicians. Among the violist, there's a principal musician which is the lead musicians
60:03 quote unquote. And then some maybe are technicians doing the sound, the video, all those kind of things to tell this story and you see it. But all are
60:10 involved in one or orchestra. And I I have experiences with orchestra, not so
60:15 much uh playing in one because I don't play any orchestral instruments sly, but
60:20 uh my friend works in the MO and um and he's basically the person that um fixes
60:25 all the the the instruments for the whole whole whole orchestra. And anyway,
60:31 um you know, how many of you have been to the MU and love it? Okay, some of you
60:37 hey, you all like orchestra music, but you don't want to see MU. You see it's different you know life is it's so much
60:44 more different. Anyway I was there uh many times and anyway he plays with the MP MP yo which is the youth orchestra
60:50 but anyway he was saying um this orchestra in Malaysia you know why we we
60:56 nearly went bankrupt. Uh partially to do with bad management but partially to do
61:01 with the musicians hated each other. They would say things like they would say things in the bathroom with my
61:08 friend present and say things like you know why they pay us so much money here it's because we have to play with this
61:13 kind of tooth kind of conductor and look how racist they are the principal you know it must be or why did
61:20 they let this musician in because he's so lousy you know they would do that they would bicker
61:26 they would gossip and they would say things that are just really really
61:32 unkind and I think that that's what's happening in churches today and people
61:38 are leaving churches because ah you know and all those kind of things but they don't understand that even one single
61:45 instrument even like you see the muire is massive people right you can't hear the difference right but I can tell you
61:50 one person lack if you lack just one person it will change the entire dynamics of what you see and what I'm
61:58 trying to say is this are we one orchestra
62:03 is the gospel. The gospel is the harmony through love that we supposed to demonstrate. And if
62:10 we are not united, you can talk about being gospel- centered. It is useless if we don't harmonize each other. If we
62:17 don't say to each other, I need you. And what I'm trying to say as a pastor
62:22 here is many of you are thinking, ah, you're not needed here. Ah, I am not
62:28 important. I can choose. Guess what? All of you are needed in this place, in this
62:36 church, in this story that God has crafted because he saved each and every one of you. And guess what? You may not
62:43 be the soloist. You may not be at the what? And the Bible says that not all are called to be
62:49 apostles. Not all are called to be teachers. But guess what? We are all in this orchestra together. Guess what? Can
62:56 we make life a bit more fun in an orchestra? Because when we play a song for God, it's going to be beautiful. So,
63:03 we're going to try something in closing. I'm going to try to harmonize you today.
63:10 Why are you laughing? We can do it. So, the song that we sang,
63:16 the holy, holy, holy, in the beginning, it was beautifully written by a friend. Um,
63:22 they had a congregation that sang three languages and holy, holy, holy, because it's a hymn has been translated to it. They their congregations worships
63:28 together in Spanish, English and uh uh Korean and they were like we got to be able to
63:35 sing together not just in separate languages but be and so they wrote the chorus. Can we show the chorus of the song? It says and and and they wrote the
63:44 chorus and it is three parts. So uh here we translated it into English,
63:51 Mandrin and BM. All right. Um and they sang three separate parts. So one sings
63:57 we worship, the next one sings nish. Uh then the next one says papa. Hey please
64:03 please musicians can I can set up. Okay. Um uh and then the next next
64:10 okay then na I better not say the bry anymore. Yes. Okay. And it was three
64:17 parts. But the beautiful part of this and he composed it so simply is at the end of it when we say three in one. We
64:25 actually sing three different melodies but we harmonize. Oh. So it was such a beautiful picture
64:32 of the trinity where they sing different parts and when they come together they become one voice.
64:37 That's what we're going to do today. This is a symbolic thing and symbolic response that we want to be a church
64:44 that is living in harmony that respects and shows equal concern for the weak and
64:49 we we we embrace our diversity. Can right? We're going to sing. Right. So I'm going to divide the church into
64:55 three parts. Okay. So we have two there, two in the center here and two there. Right. Is that three parts? Three parts.
65:03 Huh? So who wants to follow me?
65:08 The melody. Okay. The center become the melody. How about that? Okay. The center you sing the melody. And how many here
65:15 can speak Mandrin? How many there can speak Mandarin? Okay.
65:22 That one can speak mand more. Okay. You're going to sing Mandrin. Okay. And then here you can sing Malayu.
65:30 No problem. Three words.
65:36 No problem. Okay. So, I'm going to teach you the melody first, then she will teach you the Chinese there, and then
65:44 both of them are going to teach you the Malay. Okay. Uh, I need my guitar to do this or not.
65:51 Oh, no. I can have you melody. Give me the melody.
65:56 Okay. This the key. See? So, so we go. We worship.
66:06 We bow down. It's so soft. Come on. We worship
66:15 [Music] three in one.
66:22 Okay. So easy, right? Sing louder. Come on. Ready? Go. We worship.
66:32 We bow down.
66:38 We worship [Music]
66:45 one. Now let's try the Chinese. Yours for ready.
66:54 [Music]
67:01 Come on.
67:06 Oh, nice.
67:12 Easy, right? Let's try. Oh, no. Let's try again. Go.
67:19 [Music]
67:37 One more time. Okay, let's try again. One more time.
67:44 [Music]
67:60 Are you ready? So it goes with washing
68:09 papa.
68:15 Yes.
68:20 Bro.
68:27 All right, let's try that again. 2 3 and 1 2 3 4a
68:36 and 1 2 3 4
68:43 1 2 3 4
68:50 You want to try it together now? Okay, let's go.
68:56 We [Music]
69:06 we were
69:16 one one two. Let's try again a few more. We won. [Music]
69:25 be [Music]
69:31 we were
69:39 three in one. Let's stand together. Okay. Now, we're going to try. You're going to harmonize with our help first.
69:46 And I want to hear you sing as one voice. I know you can do this because
69:51 not only I'm a good teacher, but the Holy Spirit is here and he's going to help us to be one voice that glorifies
69:59 his name. Are you ready?
70:05 One, two, go.
70:27 Yeah, you're so nice. Come on, sing it louder now.
70:43 We worship you.
70:49 Let's sing it together. Let's make one orchestra to God as we bless. We worship
70:54 you. We worship. [Music]
71:01 We [Music]
71:08 were [Music]
71:16 We worship you. We
71:21 sh
71:30 we were sing.
71:37 Let's go to the fourth verse. Holy, holy, holy,
71:42 holy, holy, holy
71:48 Lord God Almighty.
71:54 All thy world shall praise thy name in
71:60 earth as sky. Holy, holy,
72:06 holy, holy, holy,
72:11 merciful and mighty. You are God. God
72:18 in Jesus. Bless you Jesus.
72:26 We worship you. We worship [Music]
72:33 we [Music]
72:48 worship you. We worship [Music]
72:56 We bes. [Music]
73:10 Let's worship him. Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy
73:20 Lord God Almighty.
73:26 All thy worlds shall praise thy name in
73:32 the sky and see.
73:38 Holy, holy, holy,
73:44 mercyful and mighty
73:49 God in treeless.
73:56 Let's harmonize worship him. We worship him. We worship.
74:04 [Music] We bow down.
74:13 We want to do
74:19 [Music] with all your voices sing. We want
74:28 [Music] We [Music]
74:37 we were sh [Music]
74:52 father we thank you for making us one body. Father, we thank you Lord for giving us
74:57 different gifts, different languages. Lord, for many times we think we can't worship together, but this is one song
75:03 that shows that we can be one voice that glorifies your name. Lord, let us not be divided by race, by social economic
75:10 status, by by how we look, how we smell, but let us be united in love, in joy, in
75:17 pain, in everything. Lord, even as we are your people, let us not become like the Corinthian church. As we become more
75:24 self-sufficient, we think we can be we can say we don't need someone else. But
75:29 teach us, Lord, that we need each other to sound as one voice that glorifies
75:35 your name. That as we do this, may your gospel Lord be preached to the world. As
75:41 they see our unity, Lord, they will they will see your love. Even as we come to
75:47 you today, we pray Lord that there will no be no more shame, no more fear for those who lack honor or who feel weak.
75:55 That they will come before you feeling Lord that they empowered in this body to
76:00 be given special honor and special
76:06 treatment Lord. And Lord, I just come to you and just pray for those who are suffering and and for for for who who needs you.
76:15 Lord, we pray that you will minister to them today, even at the end of the service, Lord, because there's nothing
76:22 more important to you than when your children come to you. We thank you,
76:28 Lord, for this song. We thank you, Lord, for this body. We thank you for this church you've called us to make us one.
76:37 as you are one in Jesus name I pray.
