Being Confident in being

God's Child
December 6th, 2008, HQ Church,
Chungpadong, Seoul Korea

And we have to know that we are the most successful

religion while the founder is alive; and that we will
continue to grow and to flourish throughout the
generations. You know, there is no other time in UC
history where things are this much in our favor. Here in
Korea we have been able to turn the media from against
us, from negative, to now positive.

Welcome Remarks:
Yeon Ah Nim:
Good afternoon brothers and sisters,Outside it is really
cold, and we are really welcoming you with a warm,
open heart in this sanctuary. We are always honored to
have you here in this sanctuary, and for those who are
joining us through the Internet, we also welcome you as
well. Welcome brothers, and welcome sisters.

Hyung Jin Nim:

Welcome brothers and sisters, today I would like to
share with you from Cheon Song Gyeong 1298. Here
Father asks, "Where is the center of the Universe?" and
he answers that question. He says, "It is in the family",
and then he says that the family "must expand the
realm of love beyond the family. They must follow the
path of patriotism, in loving the nation, and extend it to
loving the world, beyond race, and the nation."

When we hear Father's words, we can remember that

Father's view of our family is of course connected to our
smaller unit family, as that is the building block, but it
stretches beyond that to include nations, the Unification
family all over the world, and really, every time we
participate in service, as Pastor Kyle has told us, every
time we have service here, over 10,000 brothers and
sisters are joining us from all the different parts of the
world.
And the reason why Kyle knows that is because he and
his team manages the Internet website, which has every
week over 10,000 hits. Let's give it up for that Internet
team (clapping and cheers). Over 7,000 downloads ever
week. We are so grateful to Kyle. He spearheaded that.
He, of course, is a professional in that field.

He managed that in the armed forces, and he brought

that talent and shared it with brothers and sisters in
California, who also have that talent.
And they created that web site on their own talents and
time, and because of that it is allowing all of the
participants around the world to actually participate with
us in service. And we are so grateful that Kyle was able
to spearhead that and to continue to serve so many
thousands of brothers and sisters around the world.
Brothers and sisters, whenever we start service it is
always so important to remember who and whose we
are. It is important to see that if we look at ourselves with
our own plain eyes, we may see somebody that is
lacking and not perfect,

and that is on a process of improvement, but when we

look at ourselves with God's eyes, then we can see as
God sees us in our ultimate form, where we are truly
bringing amazing joy to Him, when we have actualized
all those amazing potentials that He has planted within
our hearts, in our minds, in our talents, our abilities.
And so, it's so important to remember that, when we look
at ourselves in the mirror, not to say, "Hey, I think I
gained 10 pounds this week, oh, I'm falling into
depression" No, no, brothers and sisters, we've got to
say, "Wait a minute, God's done me good this week, and
I'm gonna step up to the next level."
He's asking you to do something greater.

Always let's try to look at ourselves with those eyes.

Always, let's try to remember that when God sees us, He
sees someone that is totally unique. He's created
thousands of universes, millions of atmospheres, but
you, we, each and everyone of us, is completely unique.
He has planted within us eternal and divine value, as we
are created in His image. And when we are able to
actualize those things, bring Him fulfillment and joy, then
we fulfill our true divine purpose.
Brothers and sisters, welcome again to service. Let's be
participants. We're gonna invite you to sing with Two
Rivers. They practice 4 days a week, 5 hours at a time.
Let's give it up for Two Rivers Choir, brothers and
sisters.

Oh, my goodness. Not only that, they also do service

activities. They are always donating their talents to the
younger brothers and sisters here; teaching them music
downstairs, and guitar classes and piano; teaching them
downstairs how to make the youth choir; donating their
talents and their abilities; really participating in service to
the community. And so, when we come together in
celebration to remember who we are, and when we
come together as a community, then it is so important for
us to participate, and sing along with them. You know, it
is very hard. I'm always giving speeches in Korean, and
it's extremely difficult. They are not only singing songs in
Korean, but they have got to do the prayers and the
comments in between in English. And that's a very tough
job, it's a tough job for them. But we're also very proud
of them.

Brothers and sisters, once again, let's participate. Pray

with us, sing with us; you know, smile with us. I hope
maybe not too much crying, but I hope there is a lot of
smiling today, and let's really participate in service today.
Thanks so much for coming. Once again, welcome.

Yeon Ah Nim's Message:

A blessed couple that was a Korean husband and a
Japanese wife couple, were watching a baseball game
between Korea and Japan.

Actually, it was apparently a very close game, and as the

game went on, they really got into it; and they ended up
arguing (over) which team should win. And the husband
said, "You know what, Korea is the Father nation; Korea
should win." And the Japanese wife said, "You know
what? True Parents love all the nations, and you know,
Korea being the Father nation, has no relevance with
this baseball game."
And when their children watched them arguing, one of
them said, "Appa, you are Korean, and Omma, you are
Japanese, and I love both nations, and whichever team
wins, I win. Either way, I win." He smiled, and
everybody smiled.

Brothers and sisters, let us always remember the value

of our blessed family, and the value of our True Parents.
They have actualized something that nobody could
imagine. Blessed families, let's always go forward with
pride, as Unificationists. Aju.
Meditation:

Brothers and sisters, let us begin with

unity of mind, body and breath.
Let's start with our body. Let's place our hands toward
the earth, breathing in the Universal Prime Energy,
channeling that earth energy up towards our heart;
breathing in.

As we pass our beating heart, let's breathe out towards

the sky, towards the Heavens; and let's receive what
God wants to give to us today, His wisdom, His grace,
His new understanding. Breathing in, as we pass our
living hearts, let's breathe out, towards the Universe.
One more time, breathe in that powerful earth energy
towards our heart, breathing in, as we pass our hearts,
breathing out, towards the Heavens now.
And let's let God now give us His wisdom, His strength,
His confidence, His love today. Breathing in, Heavenly
power and energy, as we pass our hearts, breathing out.
Let's be gently seated today, and I'd like to invite you to
sit up at the front of our chair, so that you can keep your
back straight, and we can enter into our first visualization
and meditation practice.

Let us gently close our eyes and visualize ourselves, not

in this sanctuary, but let us visualize ourselves walking
on a beautiful beach, a very warm, sunny day.We can
see the sun is out, it's evening time. The sun is setting.
We can feel the warm, warm rays of the sun basking
over our bodies. And as we walk gently, we can feel the
warm earth underneath, the warm sand. We can almost
feel each grain of sand, as we walk gently. Each grain is
lifting us up; it's supporting us. Thousands, tens of
thousands of grains of sand are holding us up. As we
walk gently, let us be mindful of each step; noticing the
heel, being surrounded by the warm sand, noticing the
ball of your foot, each toe even, supporting your body,
keeping you straight.

Let us hear the beautiful ebb and flow of the ocean

water; the warm sun rays above, and let us now face the
sun, and feel the sun's rays come over our entire body,
from our foreheads all the way down to our feet. We can
feel that warm, life energy coming in, warming each one
of our cells, radiating our light, illuminating our heart. In
that image, let us close our eyes gently, feeling that
warm sun, listening to the beautiful ocean waves, the
calm and peaceful waves that sooth our hearts.And as
we stand in that most glorious place, let us breathe in
deeply, (and) in our hearts let us say, "I am alive." And
as we breathe out deeply and slowly, let us say, "Thank
You." Second breath, as we breathe in new life in our
lives, "I am alive." As we breathe out deeply, in our
hearts, "Thank You."

One more time, as new life soothes our hearts,

breathing in, "I am alive." And as we gently breathe out,
"Thank You."
Let us know that God and True Parents, throughout
every course of our lives, are guiding us, just like the sun
that provides illumination and direction in our lives. Let
us know that they are with us; that they believe in us;
that they love us; and that they truly wish for us to
become a great blessing to this world.

Prayer by Hyung Jin Nim:

Heavenly Father, thank You for this day that You have
blessed upon us. Father, You bring together so many
hearts and so many families here in this sanctuary and
abroad. From all over the world brothers and sisters are
joining us from Albania, from Germany, from America,
from Brazil and Asia, from the Philippines, from Russia,
and so many other different nations, Father.
Father, today we are here truly as Your global
community. And Father, we pray that we may understand
and expand our horizon, expand our awareness, to
understand that we are part of something immense and
great, and that, Father, You are proud to see us as Your
children. Father, You take great delight in seeing us be
the best that we can be; actualizing our potentials, and
bringing joy to You.

Father, we thank You so much for this day that You have
blessed upon us. We pray that You may be here with us
from beginning to end; and, Father, that we may, from
this day take a new heart and determination.
And as we leave this holy sanctuary, we pray that those
blessings may continue to spread throughout the week;
not only to the people around us, but to the people that
we pray for in different countries.Father, we pray that
You will use that miraculous power, Your supernatural
grace, to be able to truly revive and allow Your promises
and dreams to come true in the lives of those blessed
families that are precious to You. Heavenly Father, we
truly are grateful for this day that You have blessed upon
us.

Once again we pray that we may offer this service up to

You; that we may truly bring You joy today, and that we
may give You strength today through our songs, through
our praises, through our prayers, and through our
actions. Thank You so much Father, and we once again,
dedicate this to You, in all of our names, as central
blessed families, Aju. Aju. Aju.

Interesting Story:
You know, before we begin, we always like to start with
something just a little interesting. I heard a story about a
Grandfather that during Christmas time received a
present. And that present was an MP3. Now Grand
daddy was about 80 years old, so he was having
difficulty trying to get the thing done, and so he sent for
his little grandchild, and he said "Hey, Johnny, can you
help me out a little bit?" Johnny helped him; he got on
the computer and went to that download page, and said
"Grandpa, this is how you do it. This is how you do it.
You download here, you click here, and this and that,
and this and that."And Grandpa went through the
process a couple of times and said, "Johnny, I can't
understand. Show me again." And Johnny did it again,
and again.

And Grandpa said, "Johnny, I can't understand. You've

got to do it again." He did it again and again. Johnny
ended up doing it 12 times that night. And at the end
Johnny was so frustrated and flustered. He's only in
elementary school, but he was so frustrated. And he
said, "Grandpa, did God make you?" And Grandpa said,
"Yes, He did." And he said, "Well, did God make me?"
And Grandpa said, "Yes, He did." And then little Johnny
said, "Well, I guess He's doing better work now then."

Today I'd like to talk to you about being confident in

being God's child. You know, in order to live the blessed
life, we have to be confident in who and in whose we
are. We are here not only to fulfill our individual
purposes. We can never, absolutely never, be truly, truly
happy in life just pursuing our own purposes. We must
understand that in the end we are created to fulfill the
plans that bring joy to God. We are created to be that
giving and receiving object that God can dwell in and
share in.

When we are confident in being children of God and True

Parents, and we share that with pride, God is also
proud.
Let's take a look at some of these World Scriptures
today. We're going to look at some of the Psalms today.
Let's read them together: "It is He that made us, and we
are His. We are His people. Give thanks to Him. Bless
His name, for the Lord is good, and His steadfast love
endures forever."
Let us see the Islamic tradition, the Koran. Let's read
that together: "God has promised to believers beautiful
mansions and gardens of ever lasting bliss; but the
greatest bliss is the good pleasure of God. That is the
supreme felicity (joy)."

Let's take a look at the Confucian tradition. Confucius,

our saint, let's look at him today: "To see gladness
through righteous persistence is the way to accord with
Heaven and to respond to men."
Let's look at Father, True Father's and True Mother's
words. Let's read that together."There is no limit to joy.
Happiness has no end when you are standing in the love
of God. Every cell in your body jumps for joy. You
breathe in and out with the entire universe. This is how
God means for us to live; intoxicated in love and joy; and
through our joy, God receives His joy."
You see, we must be very clear with what our mission is
as Unification Movement. We are not simply an
educational organization, or a charitable foundation, or a
federation of families that simply want world peace. We
are a faith tradition. We have a core teaching.

We have True Parents. And as a faith our mission is to

spread that word and the good news of True Parents.
You see, when we joyfully and confidently spread the
news of True Parents, effectively, and when we bring
children to God and to True Parents, God feels great joy
and pride. It's like a father who sees his son or daughter
spreading the word of his father's works, his talents and
efforts. There's a great sense of pride, joy, and also
gratitude. That's how the father feels.
It's the same with God. When He sees us talking about
True Parents with others in joy and in confidence, He's
not only proud, He's not only joyful, He's not only happy,
He's also grateful. Yes, the entire Almighty God of the
entire Universe, who created millions of universes, can
be grateful to us when we do such work.

You know, here in Korea there is a tea shop in Insadong, that I usually buy tea at. The owner is wonderful.
She is a very exuberant lady, she's very enthusiastic.
She's always bright, she's smiling; she's just an amazing
lady. But as the world economy is slowing down, one
day she showed her desperation. When I was in there
one day, she said to me, "I don't know what I am going
to do, it's so hard to sell now-a-days. I don't know how I
am going to survive through this."

And I could perfectly, rationally, understand that

business was slow for her. And I could completely
empathizes rationally; but suddenly, for some strange
reason, I emotionally, I think, sub-consciously, felt a
distance, and I felt a strange feeling, as if she wanted
me to throw money at her, because I am Father's son.
And strangely I felt, "You know, I don't want to buy tea
from this place anymore. I'm feeling like she is begging
for me to bail her out."
And a few weeks later I stopped by, and in a
conversation I asked her and said, "Business is hard
now these days, it's really tough." On that day she
smiled at me with her usual bright, illuminated smile, and
she said, "Everyday, happy day." She said that to me.
When she said that to me, then my feeling completely
turned around.

And inside I said, "You know what, I'm going to continue

to buy tea here; I am totally inspired by her."
What happened here? All of a sudden I changed my
mind. One second I don't want to buy tea here anymore,
the next second she says "Happy day, everyday," and
now I want to buy tea all of a sudden. What happened
here? How come I changed my decision? Why didn't she
lose my business? And the answer is very simple. Her
optimistic confidence in her life, in her shop, in herself
was inspiring. If I am going to buy tea anyway, I want to
buy tea from a lady that inspires me. And even though
business is tough, she threw off her grave clothes, and
she put on her praise clothes, and instead of moping
around, complaining and begging for others to pay her
with a defeated mentality, she bounced back.

Her usual bright attitude, smiley, nobody can get me

down attitude, and that was inspiring.
You see, in the end, I realized that I don't just go to buy
tea from her, just because of her selection of teas, I go,
subconsciously, to be inspired by her. Yes, the tea lady
inspires me. She has such an optimistic, positive
thinking, such a "I can't get down attitude", and that is
inspiring.
It is the same with our UC. If we are moping around
uninspired, defeated and with no enthusiasm for our
lives as blessed families then no matter how much we
witness, no matter how much we talk to people, they're
not going to be inspired. They are going to
subconsciously say, "You know, you can't even get
yourself inspired, honey, how are you going to get ME
inspired?"

It is so important that we are able to see and to have

that confidence in who we are, that we have something
so unique to offer, that it has changed history; that it will
continue to change religious history. So we have to know
that God has waited 6,000 plus years for us; and that
True Parents are here, and that we are blessed families
are here.
And we have to know that we are the most successful
religion while the founder is alive; and that we will
continue to grow and to flourish throughout the
generations. You know, there is no other time in UC
history where things are this much in our favor. Here in
Korea we have been able to turn the media from against
us, from negative, to now positive.

When Kook Jin Nim, myself and Sun Jin Nim, when we
meet dignitaries and reporters, CEO's of major
organizations, political leaders, they are interested in
UC, and they want to know, "What's Father Moon up to,
what's he doing nowadays?"

Kook Jin Hyung has a practice of inviting these VVIP's,

not to an event or a hotel conference, but to church!!
Whenever he meets the KBS president, the SBS
president, he goes, "Oh, you should stop by church one
day; it's really fun, it's really exciting, you should come
by!" And they'll say, "Oh yeah, I would love to come over,
send me some sermons."

He was talking to the chairman of the Green Cross the

other day. The Green Cross is one of the largest
pharmaceutical companies in Korea. You have probably
seen the ambulances, the EMS with the Green Cross on
it, and Kook Jin Hyung just offered, "We have a
wonderful ministry that is happening, and you know
what? We'd love to invite you over." The chairman said,
"Oh, I'd love to come over. Send me some sermons, and
set me up so that I can come in."
See, it is truly a different age, brothers and sisters, there
is no reason why we cannot succeed in witnessing, in
sharing our faith. In Japan our persecutors try to link us
with a terrorist organization. Our brothers and sisters in
Japan are being persecuted by people that try to link us
with a terrorist group.

But in spite of that incredible persecution - they are

being persecuted just by being UC - in spite of that
persecution, every year the Japanese church is able to
witness to 5,000 new members every year on average.
Even in that incredible, negative persecution. And this
is not because those people who are being witnessed
to are not capable intellectually, or because Japan has
unique circumstances that allow incredible witnessing
growth, while they are being tremendously persecuted,
but is due in Japan to the members' confidence. They
are confident in who they are. They are confident in
True Parents' absolute value, they are confident in the
DP to move and change lives, and they are confident in
themselves as blessed families.

Whenever we go to Japan and have an opportunity to

meet the top witnessers, we see that they are amazing
people. They come across with confidence. They are so
elegant; they have certainty in who they are; they're
joyful, they're bright, they're enthusiastic in their faith. In
short, they are incredibly inspiring people.
You see, I've seen women shop at Dongdaemun, you've
all been there at Dongdaemun, and I've seen ladies buy
handbags there, a new handbag, a brand new handbag
for $5 or $10. I am sure many of you have done that,
too. For 5 or 10 bucks, a new handbag. But I've also
seen other ladies go shopping at Prada or Gucci or Lewi
Vitant, they may pay $2,000, (or) $5,000 for a new
handbag. I know many of you have done that, too, right?
(laughter)

But when a lady buys a Dongdaemun bag for 10 bucks,

see, chances are she's not going to take care of it so
well. She's not going to look after it, she'll probably buy a
new one in a few weeks, a few months, and for some
ladies, a few days. But when she buys that quality bag,
that world class quality bag, she's going to take care of
it, that $2,000 bag. She's gonna polish it; she's gonna
make a shelf for it; she's gonna clean it, she's gonna
value it, she's gonna honor it.
But rationally speaking, this is crazy; rationally this is
insanity. The Dongdaemun bag and the Prada bag are
made in the same manner. They are made the same,
the metal and the zippers, they are the same, the
materials are the same. So why would she pay
thousands of times more for a Prada bag?

Why would she do such an irrational activity? It's

because she appreciates that Prada, the designer who
made it, the value it holds as a brand that has become
world famous. When she wears that bag, she feels
beautiful. When she wears that bag, she feels classy.
When she wears that bag, she feels glamorous. When
she wears that bag she is confident; she is proud of who
she is. You know, that's why she will spend, that's why
she will pay that much more.

And I've seen so many people lose confidence in what

we have to offer as a tradition. You know, many people
will say, "We give DP lectures for free and people are not
receptive. How can we win this? We give it away for
free!" Because we give it away for free people are not
receptive, brothers and sisters. If someone gives
something away for free, people think it has no value.
If I bought 100 $4,000 Prada bags at the local shopping
mall, and I ran down to the local McDonald's and I
started distributing those hundreds of $4,000 bags to
people and say, "This is a real Prada bag, you can have
it for free!" they would not believe me. They would say,
"Okay, I'll take it, but I don't believe it's real."

They would not believe that it's real. They would not
believe it has value. They would probably think that it
came from Dongdaemun or something like that.
It's the same thing with our teachings. We have been
treating DP like a Dongdaemun bag while we have
something a million times more precious than a Prada
bag or a Gucci bag. We have a DP bag! Give it up, give
it up for DP. (clapping)
You see, you've got to think about it like this. Think about
the members that joined when Father started his
ministry. Look at the people who joined! In Korea, the
people were coming out of Ehwa University, Seoul
National University, and in Japan from Waseda
University, in America from Harvard, Princeton, Yale,
Georgetown University.

And many people are saying, "(It happened) due to

historical circumstances, because of the war, that's why
people were joining at that time. They were desperate."
Well, even though that is the case, even in the present
day the economy is so slow, it is now creating a crisis for
many people to actually be receptive towards religion,
receptive to the good works that are helping the world.
We were able to reach top students, top families across
the nation. We were confident; we were proud of who we
are. We were proud of getting to know, to feel, the joy of
getting to know True Parents.
But as time passed our kids grew up, and they weren't
perfect, and our lives had troubles, etc. And slowly we
started losing that confidence. But as one of my elder,
bigger sisters said, "Honey, that is life. It's normal to
have ups and downs.

Don't worry about it so much. Stop pulling out your hair;

that's why you're bald." That's when I was bald.
So what if everything didn't go our way? We cannot let it
defeat us. What if the kids are not perfect, or they don't
float around with halos? That shouldn't defeat us. So
what if our lives have ups and downs? Everybody has
ups and downs in their lives. That should not defeat us.
We are stronger than all those problems combined. We
have to know that God never gives us more tribulations
and difficulties than we are not able to overcome.
You know, I was having lunch with a professor of Asian
art, she is a professor at University, and she is a devote
Buddhist practitioner, and she has become a part of our
UC family in recent times. She told me how one of the
Korean dynasties, the dynasty that Chumong founded,
began in 37 B.C.

And she told me how Chumong proclaimed at that

time, "I'm going to create a dynasty that will last 1,000
years." Interestingly enough, that dynasty came to a
close in 926. This dynasty ended literally just about
after 1,000 years.

Then she told me of the founder of the

Chungsong dynasty. He moved the capital of Seoul, and
he proclaimed that he would create a capital that would las
500 years; and check out the dates on this. 1392 to 1897,
literally, 505 years. As they proclaimed, so it came to pass
As they proclaimed the 1,000, the dynasty ended in about
1,000 years, and when they proclaimed 500, the dynasty
lasted for just about 500 years.