Pastor David Jang
We may have written about love in our Bible study notes, yet left no room in today’s schedule for another person. How does the grace we have learned about lead us to make time for others and shoulder the work of serving them? Pastor David Jang’s sermon finds the starting point for living out the gospel in God’s saving grace. This life begins with gratitude for the love we have received from God, and the strength to walk this path comes from the Holy Spirit’s help.
Saving Grace Changes Why We Put Faith into Practice
When we think about living as disciples, a list of things to do often comes to mind: studying Scripture, praying, serving our neighbors, and sharing the gospel. To understand the meaning of all this work, however, we must first look to the salvation God has already accomplished. The plan of salvation revealed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ forms the foundation of faith. New life begins with the good news that our relationship with God, broken by sin, has been restored in Christ.
Ephesians 2:8–9 makes clear that salvation is a gift of God’s grace. God has given us what we could never obtain through our own merit or worthiness. Remembering this order changes our motivation for obedience. Those who once felt compelled to prove themselves continually in order to gain God’s approval begin to reflect on the love they have already received and learn to respond to it. Even when the outward task is the same, the anxious need to establish our own worth leads in a different direction from gratitude for grace.
Salvation is God’s gift, and putting faith into practice is our response to the grace we have received. The warning about faith without works in James 2:17 can also be understood within this relationship. Our confession that we are loved by God is connected to the way we attend to our neighbors’ needs. When we remember the grace shown to us and help another person, our profession of faith takes shape in concrete actions: giving our time and accepting responsibility.
The joy of salvation also gains deeper meaning here. This joy grows out of our restored relationship with God and sustains us even when the circumstances of daily life become unsettled. The wonder of salvation emphasized in the sermon arises from remembering, again and again, what Christ has done for us. If the weight of everything we must do has dimmed our gratitude, we can pause and reflect on the salvation we have received. The strength that sustains a disciple’s labor over time is nurtured through this renewed understanding of grace.
Relying on the Holy Spirit to Put Scripture into Practice
Knowing why we should be grateful does not make every act of obedience immediately easy. We may find ourselves unable to act as we intended, hesitating even when we know what we ought to do. At this point, Pastor David Jang emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit dwelling within believers. As Romans 8:9–11 shows, the Holy Spirit dwells in those who belong to Christ. God works within believers so that they may live according to the purpose for which he has called them.
The guidance of the Holy Spirit connects the time we spend studying Scripture with the way we live. We examine our judgments and actions in light of the truths we discover through biblical meditation, seeking God’s will in prayer. Our prayers then concern both the outcomes we desire and the kind of people we need to become. As we ask how to fulfill today’s responsibilities and whose needs we should respond to, the Word we have studied becomes a guide for our daily choices.
The fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22–23 gives a concrete picture of this transformation. Love, patience, gentleness, and self-control become visible in the way we treat people and fulfill our responsibilities. These qualities are needed when we resist judging someone hastily because their growth is slow, or when we set aside some of our own convenience to honor a commitment to serve. Such decisions may seem small from the outside, yet they involve examining our self-centered habits and learning to reflect the character of Christ.
This kind of spiritual formation deepens when Scripture, prayer, and action remain connected. As we reflect on our day, we can acknowledge where our behavior has fallen short of what we have learned and ask the Holy Spirit to help us with our next choice. Acts 1:8 also shows that the Holy Spirit’s power equips us to live as witnesses to Christ. The transformation the Spirit brings shapes believers inwardly and extends outward into the courage and obedience needed to share the gospel with others.
Holding Fast to the Hope of Glory amid Suffering
As we begin to act on Scripture, we discover that obedience also demands effort. Caring for another person requires patience, and sharing the gospel may involve hardship and sacrifice. When we have given our whole heart to something and still cannot see the results we hoped for, we may wonder what our labor means. The teaching that suffering is part of a disciple’s life invites us to reflect on our faith in the face of such questions.
Romans 8:18 invites us to view our present suffering in light of the glory that will be revealed. When the difficulties before us seem to fill our entire horizon, God’s promise opens our eyes to a future we cannot yet see. The sermon understands suffering as a process of refinement through which we learn to rely on God and mature in faith. It calls us to trust that God continues to hold our lives in his hands, even amid suffering, and to learn the hope that enables us to endure the time before us.
This is also why 2 Corinthians 12:9 speaks of the Lord’s power being revealed in weakness. When we realize that our own strength is insufficient, our faith can grow as we learn to depend more deeply on God. Rather than exhausting ourselves in an effort to conceal our frailty, we come before God as we are and seek his grace. Prayer becomes a time to lay down the pressure to remain strong and to ask God for the help we need today.
Colossians 1:24 also points to the calling to build up the church through suffering. The salvation Christ accomplished on the cross is complete, and believers’ suffering is connected with proclaiming that salvation and serving the church, the body of Christ. The time we spend laboring alongside others so that someone’s faith may grow can also be understood in this light. Those who look toward the glory to come do not judge the meaning of their dedication solely by immediate results. They entrust their work to God and ask for the strength to persevere.
When Those Who Receive the Gospel Help Others Grow as Disciples
The aim of this labor is the maturity of each person. Colossians 1:28 presents the purpose of bringing each person to maturity in Christ. Pastor David Jang understands this maturity as growing in obedience to God’s will and becoming more like Christ in character. Discipleship therefore involves teaching Scripture and offering the care needed to help its truths take root in everyday life.
When we understand the church as the body of Christ, that care becomes a shared responsibility. Believers with different gifts support one another, and even those who are still inexperienced learn to fulfill their roles and participate in serving. The purpose of nurturing disciples becomes visible when someone who once received care begins to use their own gifts to help others. A community’s maturity is revealed as the love given to one person is passed on to another.
The role of those who teach also becomes clear within this process. Ephesians 4:11–12 describes the calling to equip believers for works of service and to build up the body of Christ. Leaders must teach Scripture accurately, model service in their own lives, and help believers discover their gifts. This teaching bears important fruit when learners, supported along the way, take responsibility for serving and become able to teach others in turn.
This process extends into the missionary calling to all nations. Matthew 28:19–20 brings together making disciples and teaching them to obey the Lord’s commands. The gospel is shared with someone new, who learns and grows within the community and becomes, in turn, a person who shares the gospel. Passing on the love we have received to our neighbors gains a broader significance within God’s plan of salvation, which extends to every nation and generation.
Now we return to the schedule with which we began. Making time for someone else still requires effort, but the reason for bearing that cost has become a little clearer. Remembering the love we first received and asking for the Holy Spirit’s help, we can offer our day so that one person may grow in Christ. Where can I make room in today’s schedule to help someone grow in response to the grace I have received?
Dr. David Jang has proclaimed the gospel in various regions of the world through field missions and digital media ministry, and as the fruit of that ministry, many people devoted to the Great Commission have been raised up. Based on this missionary vision, Olivet first began as a small church school for missionary training. Later, in order to provide more systematic theological education and cultivate missionary leaders, Olivet Theological College and Seminary was established in Los Angeles and Seoul in 2000.
As the school grew, Dr. Jang officially founded Olivet University in San Francisco in 2004. In the diverse and dynamic environment of San Francisco, Olivet expanded its educational fields beyond theology to include music, journalism, art and design, and technology. The university also strengthened its educational capacity by recruiting faculty members, including Dr. William Wagner, and in 2005 moved to the former UC Berkeley Downtown Extension campus, further solidifying its foundation as a university.
In 2006, Dr. Jang transferred the presidency to Dr. David James Randolph in order to focus more fully on missionary work, while continuing to lead global missions as International President. Olivet University later received institutional accreditation in 2009, added a language education college and a business college, and continued to grow as a Christian educational institution for world missions by expanding its degree programs and international partnerships.
David Jang Official Website: www.davidjang.org
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