Be A Rock For Jesus! (Matthew 26:69-75)

Sermon: November 29, 2021

On the license plate frame of my car I have the saying "Smile, Jesus Loves You." Now, most of the time I'm a patient driver and I follow the traffic laws. However, I do occasionally get really annoyed and upset if I am driving behind a really slow driver as I'm trying to get to work on time. Then when I arrive at work 15 minutes early, I think to myself, "Why did I get upset?"

Not only am I setting a bad example as a Christian with that frame on my car, I'm also showing the Lord that I can't handle small inconveniences in life, which is bad if I'm supposed to become a missionary in the future!

Well today, I'm going to tell you how every Christian can become a ROCK for Jesus by avoiding THREE pitfalls.

In your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 26:69-75. Once again, Matthew 26:69-75.

This is a very well-known story of how Peter denied Jesus after Jesus had predicted it beforehand. This was the same night as the Last Supper and Jesus was arrested just before Peter denied him.

What's the first pitfall we do as Christians that caused Peter to deny Jesus?

1. We act impulsively and don't think before we act. Peter is well known for acting before thinking and also not praying before making wise decisions. Just prior to this, a high priest by the name of Malchus came to arrest Jesus. Jesus even refers to the man as "friend", so Jesus was calm despite the circumstances. What did Peter do? He took out his sword and cut the man's ear off. Jesus heals the ear of the high priest and tells Peter in the book of John, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" Jesus was following the will of the Father, but Peter didn't realize it because he acted impulsively and didn't understand the bigger plan. He also thought impulsively when he denied Jesus. He didn't think or pray about what he should do.

- In my past relationships, I rarely prayed about how to handle conflicts with girlfriends and if we argued, I would just give up. I'm still a person that hates confrontations and arguing especially if it's over petty things. I'm thankful to the Lord that He matured me, or I would be an easy candidate for divorce especially with divorce so rampant in my family.

- When I lived in South Korea, I lived in a smaller town in my first year and I was so desperate to get out of that smaller town to move to the capital of Korea (Seoul). What did I do? I took the first job opportunity that came my way and it was one of the worst jobs I had ever had. I worked at two different schools, had 6 classes a day with no breaks, the books were bad, and the school was disorganized. I was miserable. But why did I go through all of that? I didn't pray before taking the job and made a quick decision with my own effort.

When was the last time you were in a desperate situation but acted impulsively without taking it to God first?

What's the second pitfall we do that caused Peter to deny Jesus?

2. We underestimate our weaknesses. Earlier that night, Jesus asked his disciples to pray for him in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew the hour was coming for Him to die on the cross and while Jesus was praying to the Father, He expected his disciples to pray for Him. Going back to verse 40 it says, "Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. 'Couldn't you men keep watch with me for one hour?" Who was he talking to? PETER. He continues. "Watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Peter underestimated his weakness and we all do that sometimes.

- Maybe you think you're a forgiving person, but maybe there's that one coworker or family member that you just can't forgive because you don't think they're worthy of it.

- It could be anger. Just as I have occasional road rage, how easily do you get upset over trivial things or how often do you get upset with your spouses when you're annoyed over something small?

We all have a weakness that we underestimate. What do you think is yours?

What's the third pitfall that caused Peter to deny Jesus?

3. We give into our fears. Not only did Peter deny Jesus three times, but each denial got stronger and stronger. Why? He knew Jesus was in trouble and he had a fear of getting arrested and being put into prison for knowing who Jesus was.

How do we give into our fears?

- We might have fear of failure. This is true for me. I want to do well in my Hebrew and Greek classes in seminary. I have fear that I won't be able to get past them!

- We might have a fear of the future. After attending the missionary conference, I immediately started wondering if I could handle being a missionary in the future!

What is one thing you're worried about in your own life because you're trying to manage it on your own strength and not giving it to the Lord?

But let me give you some hope. In Matthew 26, we see Peter denying Jesus, but what did Jesus say to Peter in 10 chapters before this in Matthew 16? He said, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this ROCK, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." At this point, Jesus knew Peter would deny Him three times, yet he makes this bold statement knowing that Peter would be the pillar for the church. Why? Because He knew Peter had a repentant heart and would come back to Him.

So for us to be a ROCK for Jesus, let's #1- Pray before we make an important decision. #2- Humble ourselves and not overestimate our weaknesses. and #3- Not give into our fears.

I know many of us are going through some difficult circumstances in our lives. My challenge for you today is to think of something that is really worrying you and put it into the hands of the Lord. He understands what you're going through, He loves you, and He wants you to surrender that fear and worry to Him.

Eunhee and I are moving to Ontario, California (not Canada) in a couple of weeks. We're excited, but concerned because it's another transition moment in our lives. Just as I challenge you to surrender your fears and worries to Him, we must also do the same. We're all in the same boat together!

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

My Wife Is Still Getting Acquainted With Food in America

Not my wife by the way!

Something cute and funny happened today. Eunhee and I went out to breakfast my with my dad. She felt like getting soup and salad instead of her usual oatmeal (believe it or not she LOVES oatmeal!). The soup of the day was salmon bisque. Later, the server brings out the soup with garlic bread. After that, I didn't realize what Eunhee was doing until it was too late. To my astonishment, she was spreading jelly on her garlic bread. I told Eunhee that there was garlic on the bread, so it wasn't going to taste good. She tried it and she said that it didn't taste that bad. The kicker is when my dad asked her to try the garlic bread that didn't have jelly on it. After trying it, my dad asked her, "Does it taste better?" She responded, "I'm not sure!" Haha!

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

My Wife Gets Her Green Card!

 

Image: Artem Varnitsin/Adobe Stock

After a good deal of money spent on an immigration lawyer, a few meetings with our lawyer, my wife gathering important documents from our marriage (photos, phone bills, pink slips of cars, insurance documents in South Korea, rental contract in South Korea, travel documents together, and so on), and a challenging interview in Chatsworth where the interviewer drilled us with questions about our documents, the Lord got us through it all and my wife is now a PERMANENT RESIDENT of the United States for 10 years. The best part of that is that she can apply for U.S. citizenship in three years. By then, she will need to study some U.S. history! Now we are awaiting her social security number, which is weird because you would think she would have gotten that first or at the same time! Oh well, God has a plan and he will fulfill that in due time. We are just very thankful that my wife has her GREEN CARD!

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

Life as a Caregiver

Picture courtesy of Ford County Health Department

Life as a caregiver is challenging but rewarding! It's challenging because the pay is very low. If you're a new caregiver, expect to get paid minimum wage. You also don't get paid to drive from one home to the next, but that is California law. Secondly, being a caregiver means you are vulnerable to the problems of your patient and your patient's spouse. The more difficult the patient is having, the more challenges you will have as a caregiver from an emotional standpoint. Not only will the patient be struggling, but you will hear the stresses relayed to you from the patien'ts spouse as well. It's also very unpredictable. Some patients and their spouses have other worries besides the patient's health that you are exposed to because you are at their home on a consistent basis. But that's what also makes the job interesting. If it was the same every day, you would get bored.

As a caregiver, your job is to listen and give your patient comfort as well as their spouse, and that's why I find it rewarding. When you're dependable, friendly, and helpful, you are greatly appreciated. Just make sure you set your boundaries. Don't run a ton of errands unless you get gas money or just say "no" if it's too much for you. You need to remember that you are a professional and you cannot be their friend. There's a fine line, but make sure you keep it professional and DO NOT give out your phone number. Your company will make sure that you don't do that. If you DO give out your phone number, you're going to open yourself up to more drama. 

I recommend this job for people just out of college or people that are retired and want to do something rewarding because they don't want to stay home all of the time. It's a great job as a part time position, but might be extremely overwhelming if you were to do it full time.

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

6 Things I Miss About Living in South Korea

 

As promised, I said I would write a post about 6 things that I miss about South Korea. I mentioned in my previous blog post about 6 things I don't miss about South Korea compared to living in the United States. Therefore, I need to be fair and talk about the things that I wish I could bring back from the Republic of Korea to America.

1. Excellent public transportation. Don't get me wrong. I love driving in Southern California, but there are a few things about driving in SoCal that can be annoying. First, traffic can be bad and the freeway near where I live has a lot of road work happening in order to widen freeways because the traffic is so bad. Secondly, gas prices are crazy. Thankfully, my wife has a hybrid and she doesn't drive very far to work, so she gasses up once every two weeks. I still need to use my car on weekends, since we commute 2 hours a week to go to church, use it to drive to my part-time job, and to school full time. I gas up about once a week. That comes to about $200 per month. Finally, car maintenance doesn't happen often, but you have to get oil changes every 5,000-6,000 miles, which is about $70-$75.

2. Reasonably priced and delicious Korean food. My wife and I have found excellent Korean restaurants although not exactly close to the area where we live now. But we found an excellent restaurant in Irvine and a few good ones in Koreatown. However, for two people, you're going to easily spend $50-$60 and for 4 people, you can end up spending close to $150 if you're not carefully looking at the prices. I miss going to a Korean restaurant in Seoul, where the food is delicious, the prices are reasonable, and you don't have to tip.

3. Safety. My wife and I moved to Ontario, California in student housing near my seminary. Thankfully, there are 4 people that patrol our apartment complex at night and there are two gates that keep unwanted guests out. But outside our neighborhood at night, you see homeless people and on occasion, you see people that could possibly be on drugs. You can also thank the governor of California for not dealing with homelessness properly When we lived with my dad, Santa Paula was much safer, but I still miss the safety of Seoul. You never had to worry about walking home alone at night since the city never slept.

4. Health insurance. It's ridiculous how much of a pain it is to get health insurance in the United States. We got Medi-Cal, which is a very low cost health insurance, but I made one doctor's visit because I had an ingrown toenail and the amount of time I had to wait to see a doctor was ridiculous. The medicine was cheap (thankfully), but if you have a low income, you're going to get poor healthcare. My wife will get a full time job in an international trading company, so she will get excellent health insurance after 90 days, but it won't include me. I will still need to rely on Medi-Cal.

5. Teaching ESL. To get a proper ESL teaching job in California, you need a Master's degree. Well, I'm already working on a Master's degree to become a missionary, so that option went out the window. In South Korea, I made a decent amount of money ($3,200/month) teaching in small group class settings, while my wife and I paid $500/month in rent. The job wasn't too hard and it was rewarding. As much as I didn't want to teach the rest of my life, I still enjoyed meeting friendly Korean students and doing my best to be a great teacher. I had some good memories teaching in South Korea.

6. Traveling around South Korea. South Korea is a beautiful country. I miss Haeundae Beach in Busan, traveling to Gangwon province and visiting cities such as Gapyeong, Sokcho, and Gangneung, and miss just taking day trips outside of Seoul to Chuncheon, Incheon, or Paju. I love visiting various gardens, palaces, temples, and seeing the historical aspect of Koren culture. 

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

6 Things I Don't Miss About South Korea after Moving Back to the U.S.

 

Since moving back to the United States, I have to say that there are certain things that I don't miss about my life back in South Korea. I do miss some aspects of South Korea and I will mention them in my next blog. Today, I will list things that I enjoy more in the United States compared to South Korea:

1. I love being able to drive anywhere I need to go. I could not go to Costco in Seoul unless I had a car. But because of the traffic, lack of parking available, good public transportation, and crazy drivers, I never bought a car in Seoul. Not having a car also prevented me from seeing more of South Korea.

2. I love the multicultural aspect of Southern California. You have Caucasians, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians, and people who interact well with each other here. The media may make America out to be a racist country (yes, there are times where racism is a problem here), but in Southern California, no one sticks out because everyone is different.

3. The convenience stores have much better stuff than in Korea. You can get 100% juice, salty snacks, a huge selection of chocolate bars, and a huge assortment of gum. 

4. The laidback life has been missed. It's not a rat race here except during rush hour on the freeways. You don't feel guilty for not being busy. Sometimes that can tend to make you a bit lazy here, but it's nice not to feel like your competing as you're walking fast in a subway station on your way to work.

5. The food is outstanding! You can get great Italian food, Mexican food, Middle Eastern food, and great hamburgers. My wife would totally disagree about the food though. She thinks the food isn't spicy enough here, except a burrito containing especially hot sauce.

6. People are friendlier. You never feel shy to speak to strangers at a store, people say "excuse me" and "thank you", and you will probably get a "hi" as you pass a stranger on the street.

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

January 2021: Got a job and then.....QUIT.

In the second week of the new year, I applied for a behavior technician position on Indeed. The company was called Behavior Frontiers. Since I had experience working with autistic kids, I thought I would try and see what this company had to offer.

The recruiter from the company responded back and we had a short conversation on the phone. Things went pretty smoothly. Then he said he would like to go to the next step and have someone conduct a remote interview with me. I was excited and a week later, the guy contacted me via Google Meet. The app wasn't working very well on my computer, so he called me via video chat on his phone. 

The interview wasn't that difficult and the guy was really energetic and positive. I got hired! It was my first job in America since 2003! I had a good impression of the company and went through the typical pre-hiring process of filling out and signing documents. 

However, the next step was a bit rough. The new hires (including myself) had to watch 5-6 hours of training videos per day in one week. On top of that, the four of us had to meet with our trainer via video call. It seemed fairly useful, but it definitely wasn't as effective as having the training done in person. Nevertheless, the training was helpful and I was ready to get started with field training.

My first day of field training was planned by my scheduling coordinator. I was to go to a home in Simi Valley (24 miles and about 40 minutes from Santa Paula) and a trainer would conduct the first lesson. While she was doing the lesson, I would watch the trainer and take notes. I would also check off to see what was being done and ask questions if I had any. I was supposed to be at the home by 9:00am to begin my field training.

I overestimated the time a bit because I left at 7:30am and arrived at a shopping center near the home at 8:15am. I prayed, tried to get myself to relax, and played a game on my phone. Then when it was about 8:45am, I drove to the home. Then it got a bit confusing. The home was an apartment, but it looked like only tenants could park in the parking lot of the apartment complex. I couldn't find where guests could park, so I parked across the street from the apartment complex. When it was all said and done, it was 8:55am when I was on my way to the front door of the home.

After I rang the doorbell, a woman peeked out and looked very surprised. A Vietnamese woman opened the door and she told me that she had canceled the lesson because her daughter went to the doctor's office. At that point, I didn't know what to do because it was my first day and it was totally unexpected. I told the mother that I would figure it out and that she didn't need to worry. I called my training coordinator while outside the mother's front door, but she didn't answer the phone. I called the main office, and the man from the main office said that I was indeed scheduled to be there by 9:00am. He said he would call me back in a few minutes. A few minutes passed while I was outside the home, and he finally called me back. He said that the mother DID call and cancel the session and he apologized. I realized that I had driven all the way to Simi Valley for nothing.

The shocking thing for me was that the scheduling coordinator didn't call me back even after I arrived back home at 12:00pm. I got the hint that this company wasn't the best fit for me. In fact, it was probably more suitable for younger people that are looking for experience and will do anything to get a paycheck. Think about it: You get paid $20/hour (not horrible) but have to drive to 1-2 homes to teach an autistic child for 2-3 hours. Not only do you have to teach that child, but you have to correct their behaviors, take data (behavior and learning data), and you have to do it with the parent watching you or at least in the home with you. I came to the conclusion that I needed to quit and sent in my resignation letter. And of course, the scheduling coordinator immediately responded back. It was ironic, to say the least.

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

December 2020- Moving back to the United States

 

The last day (December 17) in Korea was tough. We had to get rid of our mattress, clean up our tiny apartment, go to the phone company to disconnect our lines, and then wait for my friend Erik to pick us up to go to the airport. Eunhee's sister, mother, and brother-in-law came and they said they would follow Erik to the airport to say goodbye. Unfortunately, Erik was stuck in traffic and he was about an hour late. Thankfully, we left early enough to still make it on time. We said goodbye to Erik and he drove away. Eunhee's sister, mother, brother-in-law, and our nephew came into the airport and waited for us to check-in. Then we said goodbye to them and it felt a bit strange because we knew we wouldn't see them for a very long time since Eunhee would be in the green card process. Then we got in line to get though security before arriving at the immigration desk. For the first time in 17 years, I gave up my alien registration card for good. Bye bye, South Korea....

Since Incheon Airport was fairly quiet, we didn't have any major problems getting to our gate. The weird thing was seeing most of the restaurants closed, and less than 20 people on our way to our gate when we got through immigration. Observing an airport that empty was a little surreal and a bit sad. Once we got on the plane, the plane was HALF full. California was in its peak period for the pandemic, so this worked out really well for us. Eunhee was able to lay down and sleep from Incheon to LAX. I was too energetic, so I watched a few movies. Sadly I can't remember what I watched at the moment. 

When we arrived at LAX, it was a ghost town, but not quite as bad as Incheon Airport. That also worked to our advantage since Eunhee and I were able to stand in the same line in the immigration line (Normally they separate US citizens from non-US citizens as most countries do). Eunhee went ahead of me and talked to the immigration officer. He asked her who I was with and she said "my husband" and he asked where I was and she pointed to me. He then asked me to come over and he asked where we were staying and I told him we were staying with my dad. Apparently, he asked Eunhee the same question and when I confirmed it, we both passed through immigration without any issues. The Lord was right there with us guiding us back to the U.S.! 

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy