Unification Sermons and Talks

by Reverend Won Pil Kim

Home Church Leader's Meeting 1/28/80

Rev. Won Pil Kim

This evening we would like to hear from a number of dept.'s following the same pattern as last week. Explain the real situation that you are confronting. The problems and victories of your members. Then anyone is free to ask questions.

Mr. Hiraide:

We have 8 members, and our home church is an area around our center in Queens. We are starting a Home Church office with a storefront. We want to begin Bible study, cooking school and karate classes. We have started a cleaning operation in our area to do one month consignments for 1 dollar each. We will visit the house 10 times a month in this consignment. This is so that the people will feel more comfortable to allow our members to do service projects for them. We also made a 40 day letter condition, the letter is contents from the 6 hour lecture. In one hour we can deliver this message to 200 houses. We feel that in 40 days something will result from this. We also are bringing a slide show door to door. It explains different parts of the Bible from a principled understanding. People are interested enough to want to show the slide show to their own church. The purpose of the letter and the slide show is that we can become famous in our area.

Dr. Bergman:

Like many of you Mr. Hiraide's members cannot do Home Church during the day because they are running several businesses. He has been trying to keep an atmosphere of Home Church in his center, however. Because of this, they can invite people to the center, Japanese tourists or restaurant customers, and they really feel an atmosphere of Home Church. Then they are invited to stay and hear Divine Principle, and live there in the center with our members. It has been a successful way to gain membership.

Richard Wojcek:

In our dept there are 4 sisters, all who have substantial physical problems limiting their ability to do Home Church. They have jobs to support their special dietary needs. I have been living in my area for 2 years, and am super of the building. Actually our schedule is so tight now that there is so little time to do anything else, even to accomplish our own mission seems impossible. I am personally committed to Home Church, but I feel that as a movement we have to define our priorities and be free to challenge our limitations. When we did do home church we became very behind in our work.

Dr. Bergman:

This situation is probably not unique and many of you may be feeling the same as him. If you are in this situation then you should get advice from your Abel. All of you are also welcome to discuss your situation with Rev. Kim. The point is to inspire your members to connect with their areas while they are working. The attitude that your members are carrying toward Home Church will make a difference in your own mission.

Rev. Kim:

You can compare your situation with him and reflect. To fulfill your mission given by Father you must concentrate. You also must remember your Abel, and those who are beside you and below you. We are all Cain and Abel. It is unprincipled to stand as Cain forever. You must also assume the position as Abel. All existence must carry these two positions. By finding another Cain, you will be in the Abel position. It is like breathing -- you must inhale and exhale. If you only inhale (receiving) then you will die. If you only exhale (giving) then you will die. You must keep in mind the two positions of giving and receiving, they are both necessary. Father is Abel to all of mankind, but he is Cain to God. You have to know clearly who is your Abel and who is your Cain. If you have no give and take action with your Abel you will be suffering, and if you have no give and take with your Cain -- then you will not feel their suffering or be able to help them ... You must be able to give hope and power to your Cain. If you are not able to help your members then it is because you must have give and take with your own Abel. If he cannot help you, then he must talk with his Abel. Abel must bring Cain to God and True Parents. You have to guide Cain to God's heart. Without doing this, you cannot stand as Abel.

Whatever you are doing, Father wants us to remember Home Church. We have to fulfill both missions that are given to us by Father, using the members that he has given us. You must report everything from the mission to your Abel and stay in contact with Rev. Kim concerning Home Church. Your mission is important and home church is important but there is something that is essential more important in a situation like ICF. This is the care and support of the members. Even though your members are sick, Richard, they are still trying to do their mission. You should give them words of support and gratitude for their hard work.

Sometimes you should gather your members and share good news with them. You should report Father's words to them, and his reaction to their work. You should also report all that you do to your central figure. Tell him that the reason for your success is because of the support of your members. Ask your Abel to give some kind of gift to your members because of their hard work. This kind of care for your members is very important.

By serving and having give and take with your members, you will come to understand what their difficulties are. By taking care of them you will get success in your mission. If you are caring for them this much and still they have difficulties that you can not help them with, then you should consult your Abel figure. If you do not report your difficulties to your Abel, then you will suffer. If you cannot speak to your Abel, or if he cannot help you, then please tell Rev. Kim. Rev. Kim can speak to your Abel, or to Father if necessary. If you cannot get success in your mission, then it is Rev. Kim's responsibility He wants to report good things to Father, not just your difficulties. In order to represent Father, then he has to take this kind of attitude of responsibility, because if you do not do well -- it is the same as Rev. Kim's failure. A representative of Father must be united with Father completely. If you represent your Abel, then you must be one with your Abel. If you do not report all to your Abel, then you are actually leaving your proper position.

Was Jesus crucified because of his own failure? No, it was the failure of the Israelites. But Jesus himself took responsibility for their failure. Then the Cain was saved by the sacrifice of Abel (Jesus) Jesus was resurrected by God, so in the same was Cain can be resurrected by uniting with the resurrected Jesus, the disciples themselves as well as all mankind could be reborn. If your members cannot do well, no matter how much you yourself are working hard, success can only come when Cain and Abel are united. If Cain cannot do well, then Abel is not doing well. How do you help Cain to do well? Abel must really serve Cain. By serving Cain as Abel, the Cain will listen to you. If you are doing everything yourself, then you do not have to shed tears and sweat or worry about the situation of others. But is this the way?

Think about a general whose soldiers died in the war. The general must pay indemnity for the soldiers who lost their lives. They can accuse him in spirit world. This is a fearful situation.

Whether we are listening to him, or not paying attention to him when he speaks to us -- Father still totally invests himself. He knows how fearful the leader's position is. As a leader you must really take care of your members.

Rev. Kim can speak with your members and ask them testimony. He will ask them if they are happy. Then Rev. Kim will discuss this with your Abel. If they give you a report that they went out and did Home Church, are they really telling you everything? Maybe they are not telling you that they struggled a lot unless you ask them. Make sure that you really understand the difficulties that they are trying to overcome. Even if you are not exactly doing Home Church, if you are doing prayer conditions for Home Church at least, then the providence will not leave your mind. This is very important. Father did a 6 month prayer condition for his members when he could not see them. The place where he prayed for them is now a Holy Ground. Our spirit must be "Can do" and we must keep that attitude within ourselves.

Think of the Israelites who were living in America. When their country was at war they went back to their country and fought. Those who had jobs would fight in the evening -- constantly facing death. The next day they would return to the job, but the desperate situation never left them, and they would go to war again at night.

Our situation is very similar, even though we are very busy we still should have a desperate attitude about Home Church. The difference is that we are not facing death -- none of us has lost our life in the battle of Home Church. We are building the Kingdom of Heaven. Even the women of that country were risking their lives for only their country. Our determination should not be dimmed by how busy we are.

In order to succeed in Washington Monument, Father had to completely concentrate on his goal, whatever else he was doing externally. By knowing Father's situation, we can understand God's heart in the same situation. Without knowing God's heart, you will never have the successful attitude. By challenging our limitations, God's heart will be planted in us. If you come to the point of extreme, and you still want to keep going, God cannot let you die. He has to help you.

You are standing then in the closet position to have God's heart planted in you when you have come to the point of almost despair. If you have never felt this way, alone and desperate -- then you have never come to the place where God can plant his heart. No matter how hard you work God will show you through your faith and desperation a way that is open. But you must determine that you can do it. If you are trying to escape from a fire, even if you have to chop your way out you will do it if you have the determination. Rev. Kim wants to do it together with you.

To Mr. Hiraide's testimony, because you explain that you are Unification Church they will let you in to clean, but if you do not explain this, they will feel it is strange that you want to do free service this way. If you are receiving money for your service, their heart is not deeply moved. Also with your letter, you should really check the response of the people. If you can connect the letter with a service project, then you can check their reaction.

Mr. Salonen:

I can understand the situation that Richard, and others of us may be feeling. Many times I didn't report my difficulties to Father because I felt that I would be giving up if I did. I never reported my frustrations to him. I guess it is ourselves who decide to put a limit on our communication. We are like adolescents who must go through many difficulties in order to be adults. We can not return to our childhood immaturity. Father could perceive my thoughts, and sometimes would be able to just pick them out of my head. It was these thoughts that he could perceive, at the time when I had decided not to communicate them.

I am glad that Richard had the courage to speak out, instead of allowing his frustration to force him to leave. We have donated our life to God. If we decide that we want a portion of it back, then there is a problem to our commitment. There is something in all of us that has to be improved. We have to just persevere until hope appears.

What I have found is that sometimes we regress in our mature attitude because we are not responsible for our lives in the same way that we were before. In this respect we must raise our level of maturity. If we don't, we can never be responsible for the lives of others. We should be self-motivated and sufficient, learn a parental heart, and take responsibility for the lives of others. You cannot be a parent if you have insecurity within you.

There will be two new categories on the Roster:

1) The total number of new names that were added on to the rosters of your members the past week

2) Total number of roster names that were served last week.

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