Kansas City Korean Baptist Church

For the International Church Assignment, I was invited to visit Kansas City Korean Baptist Church by my good friend, Samad, who is ethnically half Korean and half Pakistani. While it was preferable to attend a church that worships in English, I did not want to pass upon the opportunity of hearing the saints worship in a language that I did not speak. Therefore, Samad offered to translate the service for me in order that I may understand, learn, and be edified by the church that was not a part of my own culture, yet living in the midst of it.

When I arrived, I met the pastor of the congregation whose name is John. I must admit that he seemed a little shocked when I walked through the door, and, furthermore, he laughed when he realized I did not speak Korean. I told him that Samad had invited me and that he offered to translate the service. From that point on, I could not have felt more welcomed in the church. From the start, the atmosphere of the church and all of its Korean members radiated the love of God. It was recognizable to me because I had witnessed it so many times before in my church back home in Amarillo, Texas, and at Northside Fellowship where I am currently pursuing membership. The room and the people’s atmosphere that would last throughout the entire service led me to realize something quite profound. I realized that even though we speak different languages, are from different countries, and are participants in different cultures, we serve and worship the same Lord, the same Spirit lives in us, and we have been purchased with the same blood: the blood of our Savior, God, and King, Jesus Christ. This means that we worship in similar ways, for God has made it clear in the Scriptures how He wishes to be worshiped. Both the members of the congregation and myself hold the Word of God in high regard. Therefore, I believe we worship as we ought to worship, yet not to the extent that we will worship together in heaven as we still struggle with sin in our flesh. We sang hymns, both familiar and new, which was comforting to me as I knew some of the words and have kept them deep within my heart. One of the hymns, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” begins with this stanza:

Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of God’s unchanging love!¹

This verse or stanza could not have been any more true when we sang it. We, both Koreans and myself (a hodgepodge of ethnicities), pleaded with the Lord to bless us and teach us a song to sing unto Him. Moreover, we pleaded that we would sing of His grace and mercy which extends to all nations and never runs dry. His love was our focus, and for a moment, I had a glimpse of heaven: the saints of all tribes and tongues worshiping before the Lord. To put it plainly, despite the language barrier, I was edified by the church’s worship and reading of the Word.

Ephesians 4:29-32

The main text of the sermon was Ephesians 4:29-32 and Pastor John asked the question, “what does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit?” He mentioned that the Greek word λυπέω (lupeō) means “to distress, to grieve, or to cause pain or grief.” Therefore, when we sin, grieving the Spirit means that we deeply sadden the Spirit. Our sin causes the Spirit anguish, for the Spirit does not want to see us rebel against God and desires to build up holiness in us, hence the name “Holy Spirit.” Pastor John then reminded us of the role the Spirit plays in the Christian life. He turned to John 14:26 that states, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”² The Holy Spirit teaches the Christian how to live a holy life that is dependent upon Him. Moreover, the Spirit causes regeneration in individuals by teaching and “bringing to remembrance all that [Jesus] said to [the disciples]” and to us today through His Scripture. The Spirit also promotes unity in Christians according to Romans 15:30: “I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” Paul declares that the love of the Spirit that proceeds from the Son enables us to strive together and even to unite in prayers. That is what I saw at the church. All believers, regardless of the language spoken, were enveloped in the love of the Spirit in our prayers. Our prayers were indeed one. This unity is so evident that Paul calls believers “sons [and daughters] of God” (Rom. 8:14), and that we “have received a spirit of adoption as sons [and daughters]” (Rom. 8:15). The Spirit joins us to Christ, the Son of God, and to each other so we collectively become the children of God. Pastor John concluded by urging us to “walk by the Spirit, [so that we] will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). A practical way of doing this by being “kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). While these characteristics and actions are the fruit of a Spirit led life, they are also a practice of being led by the Spirit.

In conclusion, Kansas City Korean Baptist Church is not too different from my own church. They love and worship the Lord, they preach and heed the Word, and they fellowship together through the power and love of the Holy Spirit. It is such a wonderful thing to have unity with those of another culture because of our great God and I witnessed just that during my visit.

Bibliography

Robinson, Robert. “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Written 1758. https://hymnary.org/text/come_thou_fount_of_every_blessing

Footnotes

1. Robert Robinson, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” 1758. ↩

2. Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the New American Standard Bible (NASB) (La Habra: Foundation Publication, 1995). ↩