This time, pastor Cho was doing expository preaching on Psalm 27. With some thoughts and study on my phone, I was trying to keep up, I barely finish studying the Psalm when the sermon ended, but loved it!<\/p>\n
Ernest Becker (Pulitzer Prize winner of 1974 for his The Denial of Death<\/em> which I have just added to my reading wishlist on Amazon) was quoted in the Reflection:<\/p>\n I think taking life seriously means that whatever you do must be done in the lived truth of the evil and terror of life, of the rumble of panic underneath everything - otherwise it is phony.<\/em> - Ernest Becker, Escape from Evil<\/em>, (1975)<\/p>\n Basically, suffering is necessary.<\/p>\n And the other quote was from Jonathan Edwards in A Divine and Supernatural Light<\/em> (1734):<\/p>\n There is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet and having a sense of its sweetness. A man may have the former that knows not how honey tastes; but a man cannot have the latter unless he has an idea of the taste of honey in his mind.<\/em><\/p>\n The Prelude music: Intrada<\/em> from Suite for Brass Quintet<\/em> by Henry Purcell surprised me with a familiar theme from Benjamin Britten's A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra<\/em>. I did not know this 20th century composer [Britten] took the ending from a 17th century piece [Purcell] for his introductory theme.<\/p>\n Praise Hymn: Come, Thou Almighty King by Anon, c. 1757, music by Felice de Giardini, 1769.<\/p>\n Confessional Response song: One Thing I Ask from Psalm 27:4,7-9, by Andy Park. Very Asian theme. I'll maintain my reservation. Once you go Puritan, it's very hard to sample any other cultural taste anymore.<\/p>\n Commitment Hymn: The Church's One Foundation by Samuel J. Stone, 1866, music by Samuel S. Wesley, 1864. This song apparently is Redeemer's favorite, at least at W83.<\/p>\n Scripture Reading: Psalm 27:1-14, read by some new young guy (to me). His reading was definitely impressive, comparable to Max McLean in his own right.<\/p>\n Sermon was perhaps the last of the series on The Prayer of Prayers: Exploring Jesus' Model, the Lord's Prayer. It is titled: Repose: The Power and Glory. The last line: For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever, is not in Luke 11, and supposedly only appeared in the later manuscript of Matthew 6.<\/p>\n Psalm 27 begins with two different kinds of fear (v. 1 vs. v.2). One is fear (yirah=fearful awe), the second one is dread\/afraid.<\/p>\n This is about a Christian's life struggling between a self-kingdom and the kingdom of God. My paraphrase from Rev. Ab. Cho.<\/p>\n The after Hymn: Be Thou My Vision, of Irish tradition, was definitely sung countless times. But I still love this hymn. Somehow, I just love Irish traditional music. Peculiarly, Irish tradition has certain commonality with some aspects of Chinese culture, or maybe it is just me.<\/p>\n Offertory and Postlude were all Henry Purcell's Suite for Brass Quintet<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This time, pastor Cho was doing expository preaching on Psalm 27. With some thoughts and study on my phone, I was trying to keep up, I barely finish studying the Psalm when the sermon ended, but loved it! Ernest Becker … Continue reading