바울의 마지막 문안 인사 (30) 바울 은 마지막 문안 인사에서 이렇게 말씀했습니다 : “아킵보에게 이르기를 주 안에서 받은 직분을 삼가 이루라고 하라” ( 골 4:17). 아킵보는 자신의 직분을 충분히 입증하라는 말씀 입니다 . 신약성경에 나타난 주요 직분으로는 목사 , 장로 , 집사 등이 있습니다 . 직분자들은 자신의 직분을 충분히 입증하기 위해선 (1) 그리스도 예수님께 감사해야 합니다 . 디모데전서 1 장 12 절입니다 : “나에게 힘을 주신 우리 주 그리스도 예수님께 내가 감사하는 것은 나를 충성스러운 사람으로 여겨 나에게 직분을 맡겨 주셨기 때문입니다 . ” 바울은 자신이 예수 그리스도를 믿지 않았을 때에 모르고 하나님을 모독하고 성도들을 핍박하던 난폭한 사람이었는데 하나님께서 자신을 불쌍히 여겨 주시사 회심케하셨을 뿐만 아니라 사명을 주시사 이방인의 사도로 세우셨기에 예수님께 감사했습니다 . (2) 은혜의식 속에서 더 많이 수고해야 합니다 . 고린도전서 15 장 8-10 절입니다 : “맨 나중에는 부족하기 짝이 없는 내게도 나타나셨습니다 . 나는 사도들 중에 가장 보잘것없는 사람이며 하나님의 교회를 박해했기 때문에 사도라고 불릴 자격마저 없습니다 . 그러나 오늘날 내가 이렇게 된 것은 하나님의 은혜로 된 것이며 내게 주신 그분의 은혜가 헛되지 않아 내가 다른 모든 사도들보다 더 많이 일했습니다 . 그렇지만 그것은 내가 한 것이 아니라 나와 함께 하신 하나님의 은혜였습니다 . ” 그래서 그는 은혜 의식 속에서 다른 모든 사도들보다 더 많이 일을 했습니다 . 우리도 그 리 해야 합니다 .
Introduction
What is a community? How should the body of the Lord be established as the Lord's community? How should the Lord's church and the Lord-centered community be?
I personally became interested in community by studying Paul theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. So, as I was studying theology, I was studying intermittently by buying books and reading books about church and community. I did so because I wanted to learn. I really wanted to know what the Bible says about the true church and community. The reason I wanted to know and learn about the church was because I was kept on hearing the negative news about the church. As I kept hearing the negative news about the church, I had been in a lot of trouble and asked myself these kinds of questions: ‘Certainly what the Bible says about the church or community is not like this, but why is it like this now?’, ‘Why there is quarrel, dispute and division within the church?’ So when I was about to finish my study at Fuller Theological Seminary, I wrote my graduation thesis on the Christ-centered community based on Philippians 2:1-4.
One of my goals that I have is to meditate and preach all the Paul's letter in the New Testament before I finish my ministry. As I was doing so, I finally finished meditating and preaching 1 Thessalonians last Sunday which I started about two years ago. Since I had been putting my 1 Thessalonians writings together as after I preached my sermons on 1 Thessalonians each week, it wasn’t hard for me to put all the writings together. After I did so, I changed the title of the book of 1 Thessalonians from “The community that was loved and chosen by God” to “The Community of Faith, Love, Hope That Was Built by God’s Grace”. The reason why I changed the title was because I realized that Apostle Paul mentioned “grace” not only at the beginning of the letter in 1:1 but also at the end of the letter in 5:28. I thought that the key theme that binds the whole book of 1 Thessalonians is “grace”. And when I thought about what kind of church the Thessalonian church was again,1 Thessalonians 1:3 came into my mind: “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” I thought that the phrases “your work produced by faith,” “your labor prompted by love” and “your endurance inspired by hope” that are mentioned in this verse are good descriptions of the Thessalonian church as a whole. So I thought that the Thessalonian church was the community of faith, love, hope that was build by God’s grace, I titled the book “The Community of Faith, Love, Hope That Was Built by God’s Grace”.
I am grateful and glad that I have finished this manuscript of 1 Thessalonians by God’s grace. I hope and pray that this book may be beneficial in learning about the biblical ecclesiology and biblical community. As we learn, let us pray that we may each seek to serve the Lord's church and pursue the community that the Lord teaches.
As I hold onto the the Lord’s promise "… I will build my church ... " (Mt.16:18),
Pastor James Kim
(February 2019, Thinking of the Victory Presbyterian Church)
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