International President’s Sermon given on December 31, 2023, at CheonWon Grand Church, South Korea
White snow has covered the whole world in white…. It is the last holy day of 2023. Thank you for your hard work throughout the year. You must have been going through a lot of personal and family difficulties. I believe that this year was a year in which we all grew a little thanks to the invisible hand of our Heavenly Parent and True Parents
I sincerely hope that today’s service will be one where we seal any heartbreaking, regrettable, but also happy moments of this year together amid the white snow, and welcome the coming new year with gratitude and hope.
The year 2024 will be the year of the Blue Dragon. In particular, in the East, since ancient times, the blue dragon is known as a spiritual being with the ability to ward off evil spirits and protect, meaning it wards off strange ghosts and evil. As a guardian deity that protects the East, it pursues new experiences. It is an imaginary animal that challenges to achieve dreams and goals, and is a sacred being that is greatly loved because it is said to bring good fortune.
I sincerely hope that all members of Cheonwon Grand Church here will finish the remaining year of 2023 well, receive the energy of the ‘Blue Dragon’ in the new year, challenge themselves toward new dreams and goals, and achieve everything they set out to achieve in 2024.
Dear members of Cheonwon Grand Church!
Today, before speaking, I will first read the Bible verses Acts 3: 6-10. This is when Peter performed a miracle in the name of Jesus Christ:
Acts 3:
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.’
True Parents’ words, given at the 7th anniversary ceremony of the entrance to Cheon Jeong Gung (2013):
“Your lives at this very moment are poised to become the life nutrients and the treasure of the spirit world. In particular, it is a position where the qualifications and special authority as a person who has lived with True Parents can be established. You are in a position where each one of you can become beautiful gems.”
Today’s sermon is centered on this content and is titled ‘Heaven’s Beautiful Treasures’. We will look back on the year 2023 and discusses what attitude we, the children of Heavenly Parent and True Parents, should have in the new year. We would like to take time to think about our direction together.
Dear and respected members of Cheonwon Grand Church!
In the era of Heavenly Unification of Korea, True Mother spoke of “the reunification of Heavenly Korea through witnessing,” and reignited the witnessing DNA of the Heavenly Korea blessed families and members. Accordingly, True Mother ordered a 6-month mobilization mission in Heavenly Korea, and last November, True Mother personally visited Namyangju Church and presided over the True Love Festival worship service. The following Sunday, she traveled to Changwon and hosted an open worship service. Changwon Church has 600 members, and by holding an open worship service at the Changwon Convention Center with 6,000 people, 10 times more than the number of members, we gave True Mother a 10-fold victory. Through True Mother’s ceaseless progress, on December 17th, Cheonwon Grand Church held a worship service praying for the unification of North and South Korea, with more than 1,000 people attending and praying for the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula centered on Heavenly Parent.
Dear and respected members of Cheonwon Grand Church!
Immediately after I was appointed as the International president, True Mother gave me an order to tour the world, and I immediately began my world tour. In order to carry out the ‘continuous communication and sharing’ promised to the field immediately after the tour, we are holding regular meetings for each continent on a monthly basis. In addition, in order to communicate and share more closely, we have recently been holding one-on-one online meetings for about 40 minutes with each of the 146 countries where the Family Federation is based and where there is a national president, and their words had a great influence on me and gave me grace. The greatest achievement was that, along with sharing the feelings and circumstances of the site, we discovered beautiful treasures of heaven that we had not realized before.
So today I would like to tell you about four beautiful treasures of heaven. The first beautiful Heavenly treasure that I discovered and learned anew about is True Mother’s words.
Mother asked us to promote education about True Parents. Accordingly, the IHQ has sought out the theological faculty of SunMoon University and Sunhak UP Graduate School, and with them launched the ‘Research Committee on the Theology of True Parents’ and the committee has been focusing on research and writing of the theology pertaining to this era.
The professors, who understood Mother’s deep heart and sence of urgency, devoted themselves to research, spending all available time, even sometimes staying up all night. As a result, on October 9, I presented the first research report to Mother. How happy Mother was upon receiving the report! Mother then said, “Please swiftly prepare a textbook and teach this.”
So, the professors gave the first round of presentations to the Heavenly Korea leaders in November, and in December, 900 leaders of Heavenly Japan were called to Cheongpyeong to receive the second round.[1] All leaders of Heavenly Korea and Japan who attended gained a new angle on the providence including on the nature of Heavenly Parent and True Parents, and also the value and identity of blessed families.
True Mother gave the theme of this research as ‘The Value of True Parents from the Viewpoint of Heaven’s Providence’, stimulating further research.
Dear members of Cheonwon Grand Church!
The second beautiful treasure of heaven is the young generation.
On May 19, 2019, True Mother addressed a group of second-generation youth:
“The most expensive jewel is a sparkling diamond, and from the perspective of Heavenly Parent and True Parents, you are diamonds. I hope that you grow up well and become people that True Mother, the only begotten daughter, wants to always carry around with her and keep by her side.”
And recently, True Mother expressed her deep interest in youth missionaries, saying, “The second generation must take the lead in restoring the nation and the world.” In line with this, in February 2024, some 60 Sunmoon UPA cadets, including cadet Moon Shin-chul, Moon Shin -heung, will graduate from the school and go on overseas missions. True Mother bestowed the title “Heavenly Top Gun” on their missionary dispatches, asked them to create a model course for the young generation in the future, and outlined the providential direction for nurturing future generations centered on youth missionaries.
These are True Mother’s words recently given at Namyangju Grand Church on November 19:
”In the future, we plan to send our graduates out to witness around the world. We also wish to train the blessed second-generation members and send them to the worldwide witnessing mission. This is because we need to inform not only blessed families but also the 8 billion people of the world about Heavenly Parent, right? So, I am very interested in the second generation because from now on when they graduate from college—this begins next year—they will do one or two years of public service and then they can continue with their university or do what they want the following year. The second generation is the center of the future of the blessed families; and they are flowers whom I hope will fully blossom!”
Following Mother’s words, IHQ is preparing for UPA cadets, as well as second-generation youth from the regions of the world, including Korea, Japan, and the United States, to on missions together. Therefore, by combining youth education programs and missionary training programs from around the world, such as the Cheon Il Guk Youth Missionary Program in Heavenly Korea and Heavenly Japan, the GPA program in Heavenly America, and the Hyojeong-rang Program in Heavenly Africa and Heavenly South America, we have created the official Heavenly Top Gun second generation course according to the wishes of True Mother.
In addition, True Mother is very sad over the current situation in Japan, and in order to create an environment for youth revival, she sent the first class of graduating Sunmoon UPA cadets,[2] including cadets Moon Shin-chul and Moon Shin -heung, to Japan before they go out on missionary work next year. They spoke of having a time of revival with the Japanese youth. It means that the first class of UPA cadets gave up all their year-end vacations, greeted their mothers at Christmas, then arrived in Japan the next day. They are now working hard in witnessing. May I ask for a round of applause and encouragement for them to have a great leap forward.
Dear members of Cheonwon Grand Church!
Heaven’s third beautiful treasure is the blessed families. I will give you a glimpse into the dazzling world of heart of the Blessed Family and its members by summarizing a few of the beautiful treasures I have come to know and discover while holding 40-minute one-on-one online meetings with the national presidents every day over many hours.
First, I would like to introduce the treasures discovered in Africa. In Mozambique, where the ‘Hyojeong Peace Center’ was dedicated in January of this year, a very special witnessing method is being used. That is, calling family, relatives, and acquaintances to educate them about the Principle, and evangelize over the phone. In Mozambique, where there is a culture of large families, 81 people were connected through this method over a period of 3 months, and after receiving 7-day training and 21-day training at the Hyojeong Peace Center, they accepted True Parents and became new family members.
One young couple in particular surprised us by reporting that they had led 31 children to join in just 3 months through this method. This young couple joined our church in February last year and received the blessing at the blessing ceremony held at the Cheonwon Palace dedication ceremony in May this year. It is said that family members and relatives saw them being exemplary and happy in everything, wished to join the church and said they would witness to their own children in the same way and bless their children as well.
In this way, in Africa, we were able to see how blessed marriages spread a positive influence on those around them and had a great impact on Witnessing. True Parents once said that the Blessing is worth seven diamonds the size of the Earth. Blessings are heaven’s treasures, and blessed families are also heaven’s precious and precious treasures.
Next, I would like to introduce the treasures discovered in Ukraine. As you all know, the Ukrainian-Russian war that began in 2022 has brought devastation and suffering to both countries. In Ukraine the seven existing Witnessing centers were no longer usable, and some members lost their homes and were scattered as refugees.
Fortunately, a witnessing center located in the western end of Ukraine could be reused after repairs, so with Mother’s grace and the help of Heavenly Europe Continental Headquarters and Heavenly Japan, repairs were carried out, and six families, including the national president and her husband, managed to return. IDespite sirens ringing every day and the uncertain and harsh war situation, our members continued to witness, caring for those they met and bringing three new members to join last year. They took True Parents’ words, “Witnessing activities in the church must not stop,” seriously, and cherished witnessing more than their lives. The Ukrainian young members who came to Poland as refugees even opened a witnessing center and began to work, and some of the second-generation Polish members came to work with them.
Lastly, I would like to share the testimony of a young man who co in Turkey, a country in the Middle East where there is religious conflict due to the recent Israel-Hamas war.
This young man happened to see a short video of True Parents on YouTube, and was moved by it. He had searched for churches on his own, came to the church, and decided to join. He had wandered around, unable to find true happiness, and although he was unable to find the answers to his questions in other faiths, he was moved by the life of True Parents, decided to join the church and was completely reborn. In particular, this young man read True Parents’ autobiographies and gained much inspiration.
The fourth and final beautiful treasure of heaven is ‘CheonBo Couples’. [Content summarized]
After announcing the historic establishment of Cheon Il Guk in 2020, True Mother declared the Heavenly Parent Crusade and held the Cheonbo Grand Festival on October 10th, resulting in the birth of 3,192 CheonBo Couples. In 2021, despite the coronavirus pandemic, 4,982 CheonBo Couples were registered in front of Heaven.
This year, the third new Cheonbo registration review was conducted and 1,188 CheonBo Couples were registered, with a total of 9,362 couples registered as CheonBo Couples so far.
CheonBo Couple activities are actively underway around the world, and I would like to mention one or two of them.
In Heavenly Africa one couple pioneered a church in their Tribal Messiah mission, and are conducting active witnessing by visiting each household, teaching sewing skills to young people to help them become financially independent, and teaching the illiterate. They are expanding their activities.
Another couple in Heavenly Europe regularly hosts a Family Federation blessing festival, and continues to contact couples who have received the Blessing and provide special education.
In Heavenly South America one couple is testifying about True Parents to their family and relatives, and went to local squares and public places to set up tables, actively engaging in witnessing activities. In addition, through blessing campaigns and peace ambassador activities, they are answering people’s fundamental questions about life and giving testimony.
In this way, on all continents, we were actively expanding our qualifications as Heavenly Parent’s family. The CheonBo Couple, which showed deep respect and love for heaven, is literally a treasure of heaven.
In 2020 True Mother blessed the CheonBo Couples: “The families inducted as Cheonbo today are the authentic citizens of Cheon Il Guk, registered as the original clear and pure Cheonbo (heavenly treasures) that Heavenly Parent has dreamed of seeing.”
In Conclusion
Dear members of Cheonwon Grand Church!
Chapter 3 of the Acts of the Apostles, which I read at the beginning of the sermon, depicts a disciple performing miracles in the name of Jesus.
What message does this verse give us in this era?
I believe that if Peter, who received the grace of the Holy Spirit during the early Christian era, worked miracles in the name of Jesus, the Only Begotten Son, then I believe there is no reason why we, the blessed families of the Cheon Il Guk era, cannot also work miracles in the name of True Mother, the Holy Spirit in substance and Only Begotten Daughter.
Dear Cheonwon Grand Church family! These are the words mother gave me.
If we work with the Only Begotten Daughter at the forefront, religious unification is possible. The Only Begotten Daughter is very important in restoring the Christian world.
Mother’s words on December 25, 2023:
“The time for the completion of the providence has come, and the True Parents whom people have yearned to see for so long, have finally appeared on earth. However, for those who do not know this and who simply let it pass by, we can only imagine how much they will lament when they reach the spirit world. This is why we must educate and inspire people. Do you understand?
We need to correct what has been wrong with the Christian foundation. We need to make it clear that its true essence is in creating an environment in which the True Parents can be attended. Christianity, however, has been opposing us and must repent. We must emphasize that the Christian realm, the religious realm, and the world itself must align with the Only Begotten Daughter, the Mother of Peace and True Parent, and show that only by moving forward in this way can there be hope for the future of humanity and the future of the Earth. You will do that, right?”
We are currently living in the same era as True Mother, and we are members of the church located geographically closest to True Mother. I believe that if we move forward in complete unity with True Mother’s words, heart, and circumstances, we will create a miracle greater than the miracle that Peter did.
Dear members of Cheonwon Grand Church!
Now is the era of the Holy Spirit in substance. If we, who have received blessings from True Parents and are Heavenly treasures, enter the era of the firm settlement of Cheon Il Guk, and, centered on Cheon Shim Won, listen to True Father’s voice, and move forward in complete unity with True Mother, the substantial Holy Spirit, we can create miracles.
The barriers between us and the Christian churches, North and South Korea will be unified, and a Heavenly Unified Korea and a Heavenly Unified world will appear before our eyes.
Please do not lose courage and let us move forward strong and boldly!
With earnest hearts, let us move forward as one with True Father in Cheon Shim Won!
Let us march forward with the belief that if we become one with Mother, we will definitely be triumphant!!
If we become one with True Mother, the only begotten daughter, the Holy Spirit of substance, miracles will occur and we will certainly bring victory. Aju!
The International Headquarters shares your feelings and circumstances, and will always pray with sincerity and sincerity. Thank you.
[1] On January 18, the presentations were given to national and regional leaders worldwide.
[2] The UPA cadet program was originally for graduate students but in recent years True Mother started an undergraduate UPA program. The class graduating in February 2014 is the first class of the undergraduate UPA students.