The Words of the Cotter Family

Lovin' Life Sermon Notes – April 8, 2012

Joshua Cotter

1. …

2. Let's give the band a big hand.

3. All across America, brothers and sisters, we want to thank you for investing your heart and soul into the Lovin' Life Ministry (Lovin' Life Ministries) over the past three years.

4. And we want to welcome our True Parents back to America. Let's give a big shout out to Las Vegas right now! In Las Vegas there watching today's service at the Rave Theater in the middle of Las Vegas. They are raving out there. Let's give a shout out all across the nation – to over 100 locations large and small that have contributed to making this great Ministry, and we're just getting started. From Miami Florida to Kodiak Alaska and from Portland Maine to San Diego California and way down to Hawaii – welcome to Lovin' Life Ministries.

5. We want to thank our senior pastor Rev. In Jin Moon for doing such a tremendous job!


Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han March 24, 2012

6. Brothers and sisters there's almost too many things to celebrate today. Today we celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus as the Messiah, we celebrate this day, 77 years ago today, our True Father received his calling from Jesus Christ, 77 years ago today. Amen!

7. We were with True Parents in Korea, a couple weeks ago, for True Parents Day. One thing our Father spoke that morning was very very beautiful and touching. He said, "In my life I was never able to see anyone's footsteps before me. I was never able to see footsteps before me. So what could I do? I wanted to follow someone's footsteps, but there was no one. This was my life. Nowhere to lay my head, nowhere to rest." I was so profoundly moved by that.

8. It was a beautiful time with True Parents on True Parents Day. And the Blessing, we want to congratulate all the newly blessed couples here in America and around the world! If you were blessed this last time, all the Blessed Couples please stand up. (Great applause). Especially all the members of the clergy who joined with us across this nation and received the Blessing. God bless you, it's so wonderful to be blessed this time, to become a part of True Parents' family.

9. We also want to congratulate our True Mother who completed a successful five city tour in Japan. She blessed all of the brothers and sisters there in such a wonderful way. Thank you to our True Mother! Give her a hand! While she was speaking across Japan our True Father was watching and listening via videophone, not just by radio phone. It's a new age. He was watching and communicating with her by videophone.

10. And True Parents were so grateful to Japan, they invited 70 of our Japanese church leaders to come to Las Vegas. They are there right now, I think they're listening to the sermon in Las Vegas, and they're celebrating True Parents 52nd wedding anniversary. Let's welcome all our Japanese leaders!

11. Also, we had the Wangu World Peace Cup. About 70 athletes from this nation, young people representing all of you, and there were 600 athletes from around the world. I was there, I was there in the freezing rain while they were playing soccer, I was there when we played basketball against a professional team from Europe. Our team was courageous. They were courageous, in fact they won many awards – Gold, Silver, and bronze.

12. I have a trophy here to show you. This is the Champion award that our team won for the Harmony and Unity Game. (he began singing "we are the champions, we are the champions…). They are champions! Thank you to all our team members, thank you to Naokimi and Yoda and for everyone's prayers. They represented you well!

13. And of course Lovin' Life Ministries is three years old today. Do you believe that brothers and sisters? Three years ago today our senior pastor Rev. In Jin Moon, began this amazing ministry. It's been quite a journey. Amen? And ever since she began this ministry, her vision has never wavered, just like her dad. She always talks about Father Moon who never wavered from the time he received his mission. She never strayed from her vision, no matter what, and we are going to talk about that today.

14. We wouldn't be here if it were not for God and for Jesus who he sent as the Messiah. Amen? Jesus' heart and spirit is with all of us today. And we thank him. Father Moon revealed to us many years ago what a lonely life that Jesus had. In fact if you look at Luke 9:58 you get a sense of some of the loneliness of Jesus life. There was a man at that time who wanted to follow him. He said, "Lord let me follow you." And Jesus said, Foxes have holes, birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." This is the reality of Jesus' short life on this earth, 33 years.

15. We say happy Easter. But I always felt, how can we say happy Easter? How can we say that knowing that God is suffering and what Jesus went through? I asked myself, how does the son of God, the Messiah, the King of Kings, the Everlasting Father, who came on this earth 2000 years ago – instead of being received by those who are prepared to receive him, he was rejected, he was betrayed, he was alone. He was scorned and covered with scars at the end of his life, crucified for mankind. I said, "No God, this must be a bad dream a terrible dream a nightmare, that the Messiah could endure this kind of suffering and then end his life before his mission was completed. But it was not a dream it is reality.

16. Father Moon revealed to the world the true nature of the mission of the Messiah. Jesus had to come to know God, he had to understand God's heart at the creation, he had to understand what took place at the fall – why mankind is separated from God by the original sin. And he had to become that true Olive tree and graft all mankind into him, to God's lineage.

17. But as David (David Hunter in the opening statement) said, more than just him, Jesus was to restore, as a perfect Adam – to restore Eve, to restore his bride. As the True Parents, Jesus' mission would have been to give the Blessing on earth 2000 years ago. But no one understood him, really, until Father Moon. No one understood him.

18. Jesus, alone, betrayed in his life, he had to go the way of the cross. God had to sacrifice his only begotten son for mankind. He had no foundation to stand on as the Messiah. Even at the end of his life he prayed in Gethsemane until tears, sweat, and blood came from him, he prayed so desperately to God, "Give me just a little more time. If I go, what hope do you have? If I leave this earth what hope does humanity have?" He prayed desperately, but his disciples slept. There was no way for him to continue.

19. And so he went to the cross. And on the cross, Jesus forgave those who tortured him, those who pierced him, those who betrayed him, all of us – he gave his life for mankind. With his last ounce of courage, with his last drop of blood, he gave his life for us.

20. But the victory is the resurrection, amen? Resurrection means to rise again, the promise that Jesus would come again, the Messiah would come again.

21. I want to read with you about the good Shepherd in the 10th Chapter of John. It gives you an insight into the heart of Jesus and what he came to do.

"I am the good shepherd I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep who are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also, they too will listen to my voice. And there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down, I have the authority to take it up again. This command I received from my father."

22. Jesus is the good shepherd for mankind. At a certain point it became the will of God that he go to the cross. To sacrifice his life. And he said, "I willingly lay it down, offer my life." But by the power of God he did take it up again. Amen? That's the glory of Jesus' resurrection. That's the hope of humanity and the hope of God.

23. So, even though Jesus' heart must have been breaking, breaking because God's heart was breaking, as he saw this dream of God, this impossible dream of True Parents and humanity being connected to God, slipping away from him. As his blood drained from him, he could offer his life with the hope of resurrection and the hope of his return.

24. There is a gospel song (you know I love gospel songs). You might've heard it, it's called "Rise Again." Amen? It goes like this. Jesus is speaking, he says, "go ahead, drive the nails in my hands, laugh at me where you stand, go ahead, say it isn't me, the day will come when you will see, cause I'll rise again, ain't no power on earth can keep me down. Amen? Yes I' again, death can't keep me in the ground. … and it goes on … (Rev Cotter sings) Go ahead, mock my name, but my love for you is still the same. Go ahead, and bury me, but very soon you'll be free, 'cause I'll rise, I'll rise again, ate no power on earth can keep me down. Yes I'll rise, rise again, death can't keep me in the ground." And then he says, "And I'll come, I'll come again, ain't no power on earth can keep me back. Yes I'll come, I'll come again, I come to take my people back."

25. He promised he would come again. Brothers and sisters, the breaking news is that Jesus appeared to a young boy and anointed him to complete the mission of the Messiah. In 1935, 77 years ago today, nearly 2000 years after his resurrection. After Jesus anointed his disciples with the Holy Spirit, at a time of Pentecost, so that they would have the power and spirit. In a sense they needed a double portion of Jesus' Spirit. Elisha asked Elijah, "Give me a double portion of your spirit." And so Jesus gave the comforter, the motherly heart of God, the Holy Spirit to those disciples, so that they could endure and they could be his witnesses, he said in the book of acts. And they could prepare the world for this time, 2000 years later.

26. Jesus appeared to a young boy on a cold Korean mountainside, who had been praying all night long, the night before Easter Sunday 77 years ago, praying with tears, desperately to God. And God answered his prayer by sending Jesus, in spirit, to him. And Jesus appeared to this young boy and called him for his life's mission.

27. I want to read to you from Father Moon's autobiography. His own words about that morning 77 years ago. Early Easter morning after I spent the entire night in prayer Jesus appeared before me. He appeared in an instant like a gust of wind. And he said to me, "God is in great sorrow because of the pain of humankind. You must take on a special mission on earth having to do with heaven's work." That morning I saw clearly the sorrowful face of Jesus. I heard his voice clearly. The experience of witnessing the manifestation of Jesus caused my body to shake violently, like a quaking aspen's leaves trembling in a strong breeze. I was simultaneously overcome with fear so great I felt I might die and gratitude so profound I felt I might explode. Jesus spoke clearly about the work I would have to do. His words were extraordinary, having to do with saving humanity from its suffering and bringing joy to God. My initial response was, "I can't do this. How can I do this? Why would you even give me a mission of such paramount importance?" I wanted somehow to avoid this mission, and I clung to the hem of his clothing and wept inconsolably. … What was clear is that I had received a special mission from heaven. It was such a huge and tremendous responsibility. No matter how much I tried I could not free myself for even a moment from the memory of having met Jesus. My encounter with Jesus changed my life completely. His sorrowful expression was etched into my heart as if it had been branded there, and I could not think of anything else. From that day on, I immersed myself completely in the word of God. … Any time I began to waver I steadied myself by remembering, I received God's word directly. … It was not easy to choose this course, because it would require me to sacrifice the rest of my youth, but I gladly offered up my life in order to pursue the way that God desired. I could not have run away if I tried; this was the only way I could have chosen. What did God see in me? …It must have been a sincere heart that sought him with tears of love…. God was searching for a person who would live with a heart of love and who, when faced with suffering, could cut off its effects with love…. Even now, I insist uncompromisingly on sacrificing my life to live for God's love and nothing else."

28. Our father at the age of 16 was anointed by God. Whether he could fulfill it or not, he didn't know. But it was a quest, it was a mission God had given to him. And he knew that he would give it his best until his last drop of blood, his last ounce of courage. He promised God that he would not fail. But for God and Jesus it must have been an impossible dream that this boy, from an obscure place in Korea that no one even knew about, could take this mission as the Messiah, complete that mission with the help of God and Jesus and establish True Parents on this earth and break the curse of the Fall and connect mankind back to God's heart through the Blessing into God's lineage. But that's what he did. That's what our Father has done.

29. When he gave his sermon he said, I have no place to rest my head, I have no footsteps to follow in. Even God's footstep even Jesus, footsteps ended at some point. You know that famous poem, "Footprints in the Sand," "I wondered where you were God all the times I was struggling – those are the times I was carrying you." But Rev. Moon didn't have that luxury, in fact he had to carry God on his back, he had to carry Jesus on his back, he had to bear the weight of this world on his shoulders in his course.

30. And if you know about his life you know that it was a lonely life and a suffering life – where he found himself in prison so many times for the will of God, going through crucifixion after crucifixion, where the drops of blood drained out of his body and the life drained out of his body. But, in those desperate moments he never asked God to think about him. He said, "God, use my blood to save this world. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay. I will not die by something as trivial as being tortured."

31. And then he felt compassion for those stomping on his chest until his bowels burst, for those who tortured him in unimaginable ways, day after day, week after week. He forgave those people and loved them. He endured.

32. Brothers and sisters there is a song that means a lot to me. It's called The Impossible Dream, have you ever heard of? Actually it's called the Quest. It comes from a very very special story about a man named Don Quixote de la Mancha. It was written back in the 1600 by a great author. In fact it's one of the great masterpieces of literature. It's called, Don Quixote de la Mancha. Miguel de Cervantes wrote this book. A play was made based on the book, it's called the Man of La Mancha, did you ever see it? The signature song, The Quest, The Impossible Dream – for me has such significance. It lays out the course that God has walked, but of course that Jesus has walked, but of course that our Father has walked, our True Parents have walked, in order to accomplish God's ideal. We used to sing this in our workshops when we were talking about God, we'd sing this song before we talked about the suffering life of Jesus, we would sing this song before we talked about the Fall of Man, or before we talked about Father's life – and I can never forget it.

33. I had a chance to sing this song for our True Parents in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. That was very special. Because for me it's about him and his life, and it's about Jesus, and it's about God. It's an amazing story. It's a story of redemption of Don Quixote and the love of his life who he named Dulcinea, which means, my sweet little one. She was a prostitute, a sinful woman, and she had such a difficult life. She worked during the day and men used her at night. For her, life as she put it, was a dung heap and we were just maggots crawling on that heap of dung. But when Don Quixote saw her he saw a beautiful child of God, the beautiful daughter and he dubbed her Dulcinea, my sweet little one.

34. You know it's really about Jesus, about redemption. Jesus came, as he said, for his entire flock, all of mankind, especially those who are filled with sin. In the book of Luke the seventh chapter, it's an amazing chapter where Jesus confronts a Roman Centurion. Jesus marvels because this Centurion had more faith than all the Israelite leaders. And then he talks about John the Baptist in the next part of this chapter, how even the least in heaven are greater than John because of John's faithlessness. And then there is an interesting part of this chapter when Jesus goes to the house of one of the Pharisees, one of those who was prepared to receive them, but received him not. He goes to the house of Simon the Pharisee and has dinner, breaks bread together with him. And when he is there a sinful woman, a prostitute, has heard about her Lord and she comes to the house and breaks in, and what did she do, she bursts into tears. Because, she knows who he is, she knows his love. He's sitting there with these leaders, but she spends time with her tears, dropping her tears on his feet and wiping his feet with her hair and her tears. And she has an alabaster jar of perfume, and she anoints the head of the Messiah, with oil. And you can imagine what the Pharisees, the leaders around the table, are thinking. In fact they voice their opinion. How can this man be a prophet and not know that this woman is a prostitute, is a sinful person. In other words, he should have nothing to do with her. But Jesus and God thought the opposite.

35. So Jesus knew what he was thinking, and so he gave them a little parable. He said, "Simon let me speak with you. And he said, "yes teacher." And he said, "Simon suppose there was a man and there were two debtors – one owed this man 500 silver pieces and the other one owed him 50 silver pieces. And the man out of the kindness of his heart forgave them of their debt. And he said to Simon, which one of those debtors would be more grateful?" And Simon said, "well, I suppose the one who was forgiven more." And Jesus said, "Simon, this woman has not stopped shedding tears and washing my feet with her hair, anointing me with oil. Since I came here you have done none of these things. It is because of her great love her great sins have been forgiven". And so Jesus was that kind of savior. He came to forgive humanity.

36. Don Quixote, like so much of our great literature, is after the model of the life of Jesus. Sometime I'll talk about Les Miserables, an incredible story. This story is so beautiful, because it's about a man who redeemed this prostitute. Cervantes wrote this in his book, he said, "one man scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage, to reach the unreachable star, and the world will be better for this." That's the story of Don Quixote. At the end of his life, he was a little bit senile, he was a little bit off, he had been reading too many books and it said that his brain dried up from too much reading. So be careful all you bookworms, his brain dried up. And then he thought, I need to go out like the knight errant, wandering knight and I need to conquer evil and I need to rescue the damsel's in distress.

37. And so he took his trusted sidekick, Sancho, and together they went out, you know the story, in fact he was a little bit nearsighted. He saw these windmills and thought that they were giants. And he began to joust with the windmills. That's where we get the expression, tilting at windmills. Someone like Andrew Love who thinks he can end evil – ah, he's just tilting at windmills. We have another word called, quixotic, it means – striving after visionary ideals, but it's kind of a skeptical term – ah, he's just quixotic, like Don Quixote.

38. But he probably was the only sane one in a world gone mad. And so, at the end of his life, his family had brought him back home. They always thought he was crazy. At the end of his life, on his deathbed. The light had gone out of his eyes brothers and sisters. The spark had gone out of his eyes. And the priest is there, calmly writing down his last testament waiting for him to expire. But then, at the end of his life, Sancho, his trusted sidekick with his little dapple mule, comes dappling in, "Your grace!" But then Dulcinea comes, but they won't let her in because she's a slut. But he saved her, he's already saved her life. She forces her way in and she reminds him of his quest. Let's watch.

39. (the film clip is shown from the movie – when Dulcinea comes to his bedside and brings him back to how she knew him as Don Quixote. They sing The Impossible Dream and he jumps out of bed ready to go out again on his quest.)

40. Did you see the spark comeback to his eyes? It's so beautiful. It reminds me of our Father's life, I hope you had a chance to study it. To dream the impossible dream, what is more impossible than how to return this fallen world back to the kingdom of God? To fight the unbeatable foe. Who would have thought that someone could win over Satan as he did? Amen! To bear the unbearable sorrow – as we heard the sorrow of God, the sorrow of Jesus – Father shed rivers of tears. Even today when he speaks about Jesus he cannot stop crying. To run where the brave dare not go – to run into the depths of God's heart in the spiritual world and to discover the truth, walking into prison where he knows his life will surely be lost –for mankind. To right the un-rightable wrong – who could understand what the Fall actually entailed? That it was a sin of love, to understand that and reveal it to the world. To make everything right again. To love pure and chaste from afar, throughout his entire life. Try when your arms are too weary – he said, imagine what it's like to have all your internal organs broken, when they were breaking table legs over you – and then to have to get up. He said it was impossible. And finally to reach the unreachable star, to establish True Parents, True Family, to open the Blessing of marriage for the first time to all of humanity – is what he did.

41. Brothers and sisters, this is what Lovin' Life Ministries is all about, in case you wondered. Our senior pastor from Easter Sunday 2009 has shared this heartbreaking and yet victoriously beautiful story, a true story, with the world, with America – a story of one man and one woman who have changed the world through their life and through their love.

42. The meaning of Lovin' Life Ministries, in our senior pastor's own words – she actually took it from her father, who said, "The highest aspiration of anyone of us is to be born in love, to be raised in love, to live by love, and to leave a legacy of love behind." Amen?

43. She got this message from her parents. They told her, "Please, just take care of America's children the way you took care of and raised your own beautiful children." And that's exactly what she's done. I'm a witness. I feel like a child with her. I see how she invests in people and loves people like her parents did. She's not waiting for her parents to tell her what to do. She knows what to do. She knows how much love we all need. I've seen – when a person has a birthday, she will have 60 or 70 people in the room, go around, and take time for each person to tell that person how special they are, to them and to God. It can take three hours. I've seen it. That's really amazing.

44. When I first married my wife, we were blessed by True Parents. I was pretty much of a schlemiel. One time I forgot her birthday. And she cried so much. I asked what's the matter? She said, "When I was a little girl I had nobody, when my birthday came around there was no one to tell me that I mattered, that I meant something, except for God. So many times I felt, why should I live? Why was I born? It doesn't matter if I live or die." There are many people in that situation, don't you think? We have to let each other know how important we are, especially on my birthday. So I never forgot that. It only takes one stupid time for me. I will always, always let her know on her birthday, and my children, and everybody else here at Lovin' Life Ministries – usually Aunt Heather and I pray over the person on their birthday – "thank God that you were born, thank God for creating this precious son or daughter. Please bless them today and throughout their life." That's the heart of our Senior Pastor, for each person.

45. She said that, "loving comes before life, doesn't it?" It's because my life is not about me it's about love. It's more of what I can do, how can I become a catalyst for other people to want to be better, to do better, to try harder? How can I help my brothers and sisters to appreciate what they may have taken for granted, to see how precious our lives are in the time that we are living? That's her heart behind this ministry. She told me – Amend.

46. She said, "really, where it all came from is," because when she came to America decades ago as a little child, she said, "I came to America with my parents and my parents were greeted by this entourage of people, who look like you Rev. Cotter. They were kind of strange, a little weird, but they had the spark in their eyes. Every one of them – like they were going to change the world. And they had love in their hearts. I never forgot it, I never forgot the spark in their eyes." But she said, "The spark went out," like good old Don Quixote. The spark was gone. Then she said, "I want to build a ministry so that the spark comes back to the brothers and sisters eyes." And the spark is their brothers and sisters.

47. In the Revolutionary war someone said don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes. In Jin Nim said, don't stop until you see the spark back in their lives. That spark, when you think about it, is that divine spark in each one of us.


Jed Clampett in the Beverly Hillbillies

48. Our senior pastor, she really has been the engine driving Lovin' Life Ministries. Amen? But it's hard to try to take a huge nation like this and drive it, it's kind of like Jed Clampett who took all their belongings in an old truck, to drive it out to Beverly Hills. It's very hard. But engines don't go anywhere without what? A spark plug. That little spark plug is screwed in there. It's amazing, it generates an electric spark that somehow ignites the gases inside (I'm not sure how it goes). It ignites these gases so that the engine can have life. With no spark, there's no life, there is no car, you can't go anywhere. So, her spark has been driving this ministry these last three years. Of course with all of our help.

49. I've been to the place where a lot of people get it, get her heart, get her vision, and the spark is back – first generation and second generation. So before I forget, thank you! Give yourselves a big hand! Thank you for building this ministry!

50. When she started out preaching in 2009, everybody started complaining, "hey, we need to see other preachers out there." But now, she's letting these other preachers stand up here, District Pastors, and everybody's saying, "where's In Jin Nim?" She's smart.

51. She had to build the unity, the ministry, for over two years, but now she is spreading responsibility. She took a lot of hits in the beginning. A lot of people didn't get it, but now people get it. Do you get Lovin' Life Ministries? Are you Lovin' Life? Today we start our spring quarter, the theme is, "I am lovin' life" yes, I am loving life, I am the Ministry, I'm Lovin' Life Ministries.

52. Now we have a great ministry across the nation, a national live broadcast, we've broadcast for two years. Brothers and sisters were just getting started. The spark is back. Young people are back in church. Amen? And they've got the spark. Let me tell you, when we were in Korea with True Parents, you saw the pictures of the beautiful GPA choir, while I was their brothers and sisters. Not only was the spark in their eyes, but what's great is their sparks sparked other people. Sparks are meant to catch fire. I saw sparks in their eyes light up our True Parents. And to see sparks in True Parents eyes – that's truly, truly fantastic.

53. Last week we had a beautiful, beautiful event. At the very end, I think with our Seniors Pastor's influence, Hyung Jin Nim's and Kook Jin Nim's influence – there was beautiful dancing on the stage. I was way out in the crowd, but I could see the light and the sparks in True Parents eyes as they watched those couples dancing. It was magnificent. That was worth everything.

54. So, I think our senior pastor is a genius, how about you? Edison would say genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. That's what Thomas Edison said. Actually it's hard work doing something like this and we need to work together.

55. Another person, Thomas Carlyle, a Victorian art critic, he said, "Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains." Interesting, right? What he means – have you ever heard the word painstaking? It's like the Prof. in Harry Potter (he imitates the Prof.) painstaking – means incredibly meticulous attention to detail, hard work, taking great pains. It can also mean taking a lot of pains. So our Senior Pastor has been "pains -- takingly" if you will, coaching this ministry, in a way that promotes internal and external excellence. At the same time she's taking a lot of pains about this.


Steve Jobs with an iPhone

56. But her graciousness, her love, like her parents, is to take and absorb everything and to keep going. To change the world you need to have some genius. One person can change the world. I give an example. How many have iPhone's? Hold it up. Tons of people have iPhones, right? Actually, it's okay to text in church as long as they are church related texts. For example, you could say, "Hey God, it's really awesome to be here today! What's up with you?" And God will say, "Son, everything is up with me." So, it's okay to text as long as its God related. How many people have iPods, iPad's, i-don't-knows? This comes from a guy named Steve Jobs. One man can change the world. You could say, "Steve, jobs well done." Now he is with God. It's an incredible story, how he's changed our lives for the better – seven different industries.

57. That kind of genius is driving this ministry. In Jin Nim would say, "Why would God choose a motley crew like us, like you Rev Cotter?" Somehow God could see our hearts. In Jin Nim, our Senior Pastor, knows the value of True Parents. That's why she always speaks the truth about the breaking news. She had to stand strong like Don Quixote, fighting those who would try to destroy what she was trying to do. She had to stand strong to preserve great assets like this, the Manhattan Center, the New Yorker Hotel, 43rd St.. She saved HSA, are church, she really did.

58. But she wants us to become those engines. She wants us to get the spark back. Plug in your engines and start your engines brothers and sisters! And go fast and furious across this nation. This is boost Sunday, we've invited our brothers and sisters here, our guests, our friends and family – for no other reason than it's the right thing to do, just because. Amen?

59. Don't be an observer but be an active participant. Be a catalyst, be that live yeast. Have you ever made bread before? Did you know that yeast is a living organism. It's actually a fungus. When you put that bread in your mouth next time, you're eating fungus. But if that yeast is dead, there ain't no bread. So don't be dead yeast, be live yeast. Be the catalyst.

60. In fact it's time for us to grow up at Lovin' Life Ministries. Amen? It's time for us to become the miracle, for us to become true parents. The motto that our True Parents give each year is significant. This year's motto has to do with liberating True Parents. How do we do that? By becoming true parents ourselves. By growing up. By attending to the things that matter to God and matter to them.

61. So brothers and sisters, let's stop waiting for God, let's stop waiting for Jesus, for True Parents, for anyone else to do it but ourselves. When Jesus and God called Father Moon he took it upon himself and he accomplished it. In Acts 1:11 the Angels said to Jesus' disciples after his resurrection, "Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This Jesus who is been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way that you've seen him go into heaven." Many of us are looking for Jesus to come on the clouds in some miraculous way. I understand that. But brothers and sisters, that miracle has already happened, 77 years ago. God and Jesus called Father Moon to take on the mission of the Messiah. And he has fulfilled the mission of True Parents. That's the breaking news.


Jim Carey and Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty

62. So, instead of looking up we need to look to ourselves. You know there's a great movie. Do you like Jim Carrey? I love Jim Carrey, but I'm not going a try to imitate him. But there's a great movie called "Bruce Almighty." You know Morgan Freeman plays God. He's a much better God than George Burns. Bruce, takes on the job to be God, and he messes it all up. He's looking for miracles to change his life, and finally at the end he learns a lot, and he changes a lot. And God comes to him at the end, and they are mopping the floors together, and God says, "you have a divine spark. You have the gift to bring joy and laughter to the world. I know, I created you." Finally, when he is about to take his leave, God says to Bruce, "parting the sea is not a miracle, it's a magic trick. A single mom working two jobs, who still finds time to take her kids to soccer practice – that's a miracle. A teenager who says no to drugs and yes to education, that's a miracle! People want me to do everything for them, but what they don't realize is they have the power." Can you say that? I have the power! "If you want to see a miracle son, be the miracle!" And then God starts climbing up into the attic, he's about to leave, and Bruce panics, "wait, are you leaving?" God says, "yeah, I figure you can handle things now." Bruce says, "but what if I need you, what if I have questions?" He said, "That's your problem and Bruce, that's everybody's problem. You keep looking up." Then the attic closes and the light goes out.

63. But it's profound. It's not that we don't need God, and we don't need Jesus and True Parents. But, have faith in ourselves, what God created in us. That's the point of Lovin' Life Ministries. Can you be the miracle, brothers and sisters?

64. We need True Parents. Some people are still saying, no, we don't need True Parents, all we need is God. But brothers and sisters, we need True Parents. I'm not saying we should not become true parents, but because of their foundation and their love we have the Blessing of Marriage. Only they have been anointed by God, by Jesus Christ for this purpose. The work of father Moon for these last 77 years has been for this moment, so that you could find True Parents, the true value of your own life. That's why we welcome you to Lovin' Life Ministries. That's why we celebrate together.

65. Do we need true parents? Some people say no. But what about asking God? Shall we text God? "God, do you need True Parents?" What do you think He will say? He will say, "Is the Pope Catholic?" He would say, "Yes I need True Parents. Without them I could not reach my children and bless them in marriage and welcome them back home, which has been my impossible dream. They liberated my heart and that of my son Jesus and they accomplished my dream. Yes I need them!" So brothers and sisters – amen!

66. Let's grow together as we enter into this fourth-year together. Let's congratulate God, let's comfort the heart of Jesus, because without him we could not be here. Let's thank our True Parents on their anniversary. And let's live lives, let's live legendary lives.

67. Our senior pastor says our lives are like a beautiful song and our responsibility in life is to make our song memorable, so it can be played over and over again and it can be told over and over again. And that future generations will sing about and remember each one of us. Each of us is a legend in the making.

68. So I'd like you to stand with me. We're going to sing The Impossible Dream together, for God, for Jesus, for our True Parents.

69. To dream the impossible dream. To fight the unbeatable foe. To bear with unbearable sorrow. To run where the brave dare not go. To write, the un-rightable wrong. To love, pure and chaste from afar. To try when your arms are too weary. To reach, the unreachable star. This is my quest. To follow that star. No matter how hopeless. No matter how far, to fight for the right, without question or pause, to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause. And I know, if I'll only be true to this glorious quest that my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest. And the world will be better for this, that one man scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage, to reach the unreachable star.

70. Thank you brothers and sisters. God bless you!


Notes:

John, chapter 10

1: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber;

2: but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3: To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4: When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

5: A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

6: This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7: So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8: All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them.

9: I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12: He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

13: He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep.

14: I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,

15: as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16: And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

17: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.

18: No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father."

19: There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

20: Many of them said, "He has a demon, and he is mad; why listen to him?"

21: Others said, "These are not the sayings of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

22: It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem;

23: it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.

24: So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

25: Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness to me;

26: but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.

27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me;

28: and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.

29: My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

30: I and the Father are one."

31: The Jews took up stones again to stone him.

32: Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?"

33: The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."

34: Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are gods'?

35: If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken),

36: do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are blaspheming,' because I said, `I am the Son of God'?

37: If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;

38: but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

39: Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

40: He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained.

41: And many came to him; and they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true."

42: And many believed in him there.

Footprints by Mary Stevenson

One night I had a dream--
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most,
you should leave me."

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
"When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

The Impossible Dream by Joe Darion

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
To right ... the unrightable wrong ...
To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...
To try ... when your arms are too weary ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

This is my quest, to follow that star ...
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...

And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm,
when I'm laid to my rest ...
And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach ... the unreachable star …

Luke, chapter 7

1: After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Caper'na-um.

2: Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death.

3: When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave.

4: And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him,

5: for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue."

6: And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof;

7: therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed.

8: For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes; and to another, `Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it."

9: When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."

10: And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.

11: Soon afterward he went to a city called Na'in, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.

12: As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her.

13: And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."

14: And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."

15: And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.

16: Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!"

17: And this report concerning him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

18: The disciples of John told him of all these things.

19: And John, calling to him two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?"

20: And when the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, `Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?'"

21: In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many that were blind he bestowed sight.

22: And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.

23: And blessed is he who takes no offense at me."

24: When the messengers of John had gone, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind?

25: What then did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.

26: What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

27: This is he of whom it is written, `Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.'

28: I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

29: (When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John;

30: but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

31: "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like?

32: They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, `We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.'

33: For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, `He has a demon.'

34: The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

35: Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."

36: One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house, and took his place at table.

37: And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment,

38: and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

39: Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner."

40: And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "What is it, Teacher?"

41: "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

42: When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?"

43: Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly."

44: Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

45: You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.

46: You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

47: Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."

48: And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

49: Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?"

50: And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Schlemiel

schle·miel also shle·miel (shl-ml)

n. Slang

A habitual bungler; a dolt.

"Don't Fire Till You See the Whites of Their Eyes"

The 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill yielded one of those quotations that every American is supposed to know: “Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes!” Meaning, “Don’t use any of your gunpowder until they’re really, really close, so you won’t miss.” But it’s still debatable which American officer said this, if anyone. Some sources credit Gen. Israel Putnam of Connecticut, some Col. William Prescott of Massachusetts.

Acts, chapter 1

1: In the first book, O The-oph'ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,

2: until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

3: To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God.

4: And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me,

5: for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

6: So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

7: He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.

8: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama'ria and to the end of the earth."

9: And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

10: And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,

11: and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

12: Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away;

13: and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.

14: All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

15: In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty), and said,

16: "Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus.

17: For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry.

18: (Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.

19: And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Akel'dama, that is, Field of Blood.)

20: For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate,
and let there be no one to live in it';
and `His office let another take.'

21: So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

22: beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us -- one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection."

23: And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsab'bas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthi'as.

24: And they prayed and said, "Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou hast chosen

25: to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place."

26: And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthi'as; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.  

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