Walking with dad in the neighborhood

This is my fourth week of training as a segajok (new member) at Saemoonan Church. One of the members who welcomes segajoks invited me to a coffee gathering at 1 p.m., so I missed the main service where Pastor Lee Sang-hak preaches. For this week’s sermon notes, I’ve written the one I heard during the youth service led by Pastor Shin Min-je.

Ephesians 4:1-6

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

We have all received God’s calling. This calling is a call within His grace, bringing us into the place of salvation. Thus, we received the call of salvation. Now as people who have received God’s calling, how should we live?

We are called to live in a manner worthy of our calling. The word worthy carries the sense of having equal weight; it means living a life that matches the weight of God’s grace. It is not about just being active in church; it is about aligning our daily actions, thoughts, and the overall direction of our life with that calling. The greater our awareness of God—His greatness beyond our sin and weakness, His love—the more our life should correspond proportionally to that reality. We are called to live each day with that weight in mind.

Living worthily of the calling is not simply studying the Bible on your own. The Bible is relational and communal. Therefore, in our marriage, family, and community life, we are called to act in ways that reflect God’s grace and calling. A life that reflects the weight of God’s calling is described in the passage:

  1. Humility – Esteeming others as valuable.
  2. Gentleness – Responding kindly and well. It is not about being weak, but about exercising restraint even when you have the power to act otherwise. You may know the truth or hold strength that could wound, yet you choose to act with care. Gentleness building relationships with such restraint and love, not merely asserting what is logically right.
  3. Patience – Taking sufficient time to wait, to allow God to work and transform.
  4. Forbearance – Receiving and accepting differences in others. To recognize them as valuable, not as someone to “fix,” but to embrace in love.

And add to these the unity of the Spirit. We are already one in the calling. Our task is not to create unity, but to preserve the unity we have been invited into. We are called into one body. Humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance are not what make us one—they are the posture by which we live out and maintain the unity we already have. Ultimately, the purpose of community is not just to enjoy fellowship and feel “this is good here,” but to form a community that invites others. The direction of community is mission. May God use us to bring a soul, one He has called, to salvation.

This sermon healed a part of my childhood. As a child, whenever I went to church, I would envy the other kids who came with their parents. I was always alone, sitting next to different people each week, feeling so small as I watched families together—father, mother, and children. Each new year, we would go up to the altar as a family, and the pastor would place his hand on the father and pray for that family. I would always go up by myself and the pastor would lay his hand on my head. I felt small and alone, and I will be a little sad that day.

I always wished my dad would come to church, but he didn’t. When I was a child and he was in his 40s, he promised me he would come once he turned 50. But he never did—not in his 50s, nor in his 60s. Last month, however, he left the country I grew up in to come to Korea, and when I asked him to come to church with me, he gladly agreed. Now, on our third Sunday together, I still cannot believe that my dad is sitting next to me during the service. He finally kept his promise—17 years after he first made it.

As a child, I thought my life would be easier if my dad were a Christian. Not that I longed for a religious family, but at least I wouldn’t have felt so different or isolated every Sunday. Why did all the other children not have to worry about their parents while I did? I wasn’t angry, but I often felt unfortunate and envious whenever I saw other kids with their families at church.

Today’s sermon healed the child in me. I realized that it is not a misfortune that my dad hasn’t met God yet—it is a true blessing. God is using me to guide him toward His calling of salvation. He has already blessed our family and chosen me to walk in His path with humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance—to live a life worthy of my calling. Perhaps my calling is to be the instrument through which my dad comes to God. As a child, I would never have believed it if someone had told me that one day my dad would go to church with me, sing hymns, listen to the sermon, and talk about it with me, appreciating it together. That is my reality today. I’m now in my third week attending Saemoonan Church with him. What a blessing I am living in!

We often ask for good things: faithful partners, communities of strong faith, and good people to be around us. These prayers are good, but today I learned that even before asking for all these things, I can first be grateful for God’s love—even amid difficult circumstances. Whatever my situation, I have been called by His grace, and the people around me have been called too. With humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance, I can trust God to work through me and the lives He has placed around me.