Sermon given by Rev. Song Yong-cheon, FFWPU International President Cheonwon Great Church Sunday Service on Jan 28, 2024
Greetings, respected public officials and beloved members of Cheonwon Great Church. I am Song Yong-cheon, International President of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Today, on this meaningful holy day, I am truly happy to be able to deliver the message in the presence of respected public officials of Cheonwon Great Church, beloved blessed family members, and elders. I offer my gratitude to Heavenly Parent and the True Parents of Heaven, Earth, and Humankind for granting me this precious opportunity.
In 2024, we enter the auspicious year of the Blue Dragon. In her New Year’s message, Mother mentioned that “The 12th year of Cheon Il Guk is the year of the Blue Dragon, which blows away all bitter energies, so let’s triumphantly fulfill the Entrance Ceremony to Cheon Won Gung and the Cheon Il Sanctum in the following 13th year, the number of perfection.”
And Mother emphasized, “This year is very important. The priority of the providence should be unity. Let’s advance into a hopeful year with everything perfectly organized and orderly.”
As members of Cheonwon Great Church, we will wholeheartedly center on Mother’s words issued for this New Year 2024 as the standard for our activities, receive the energy of the ‘Blue Dragon’ from the position of being completely one with Mother, and challenge ourselves toward new dreams and goals to achieve everything we set out to do. Accordingly, I sincerely wish you a happy year this 2024!
In particular, today is the 22nd day of the 40-day special devotion commemorating the victory of the Cheonwon Palace Cheon Il Sanctum and the birth of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind and for the following points: 1) For the safety of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind and the True Family, 2) For the victorious entry into the Cheon Il Sanctum at Cheonwon Palace, 3) For substantial church growth through new members and youth evangelism, 4) For the unification of North and South Korea and the Heavenly Unified Korea, 5) To overcome the crises taking place around the world.
To realize a new unified world, members worldwide are praying and putting forth their utmost efforts day by day. If you pray earnestly, your petition will surely be granted. I hope you have a great day all together summoning your utmost sincerity and devotion.
True Mother solemnized the “HJ Ilhwa Tower Dedication Ceremony” last week. Ilhwa Co., Ltd. was founded in December 1971, and this year marks its 53rd anniversary. Also she dedicated Ilhwa’s new headquarters in Godeok Biz Valley, Seoul.
Mother blessed Ilhwa, which started out for the health of humanity around the world, which is newly establishing itself in Godeok Biz Valley, and she blessed Ilhwa that it will continue to develop victoriously by perfecting the essence of practicing patriotism as a lover of Aecheon so that it can fulfill its central role in this era of completion of the providence.
True Mother said, “I really like the name ‘Ilhwa,’” and added, “At the center where men and women of all ages can become one is True Parent, Heavenly Parent, so a company with the name ‘Ilhwa’ has no choice but to develop.” With such words Mother pronounced her blessing.
Ilhwa expressed its ambition to use the dedication of its new headquarters as a stepping stone to develop into a global general food company with sales of KRW 1 trillion by 2030. Please congratulate and applaud Ilhwa on its path to boundless development in time to come!
Today’s service at Cheonwon Great Church is the third time for me to deliver Sunday sermon since I was assigned as international president. In particular, today, we will focus on the significance of True Mother’s visit to Heavenly USA and Sun Moon UPA graduates’ reports on their activities in Heavenly Japan, and learn what kind of future talent True Mother looks forward to.
First, let us read Matthew 5:13~16:
“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, how can it be made salty again? Such things are of no use and can only be thrown out and trampled upon by people. You are the light of the world. A village on top of a mountain is easily visible. No one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl. Would you not rather place it on a lampstand so that it may give light to all who are in the house? Likewise, let your light shine before men. So that people may see your good deeds and praise your Father who is in heaven.”
Next, I will read True Mother’s words, taken from Mother’s prayer at Death Valley, one of the 55 Holy Grounds of Heavenly America, on December 3rd by the heavenly calendar and January 13th by the solar calendar. Please read along with me:
Heavenly Parent! Here at Death Valley today, we hope that many righteous people who are like salt and who revere Heaven will arise on this continent, in this nation, and throughout the world, so that your children here can expand the environmental realm of Heavenly Parent through this salt. Earnestly pledging together to invest such effort, I pronounce these words of blessing. Aju! (2024.1.13 Death Valley Benediction)
Respected officials of Cheonwon Great Church, beloved brothers and sisters, focusing on the words of Jesus and True Mother in the Bible we just read, the title of the message we will reflect on together today is ‘Let us be the light and salt of the world.’
Dear family members, True Parents held a blessing ceremony for 124 families on July 24, 1963. The 124 families are comprised of 120 families representing the world and 4 families symbolizing East, West, South, and North. True Parents are advancing the providence on a global level by creating the same foundation as the 120 families representing the world’s nations. So, starting from December 31, 1964 and January 1, 1965, soil and stones were taken from seven Holy Grounds in the Seoul area, including the four major Holy Grounds in the east, west, south, and north, the central sacred site, and the headquarters, and were prepared to be taken abroad. While touring 40 nations around the world, Father selected 120 Holy Grounds, buried the soil and stones he brought from Korea, and brought stones and soil from those places back to Korea.
Among the 55 Holy Grounds established in the U.S. at that time, Death Valley was the one True Mother chose for this event. Mother’s words we read today are from her prayer on Jan. 13th. Mother did many providentially important things during her visit to the U.S., and offered the fruits of all her labor to Heavenly Parent. These include the things we’ve been praying for.
Mother earnestly prayed 2024, the Year of the Blue Dragon, would be the year when many righteous people rise to take responsibility like salt in all corners of the world and lead their nations to attend Heavenly Parent. We ask you all to give a big round of applause in gratitude to True Mother, the Only Begotten Daughter and Substantial Holy Spirit, who returned to Korea after consecrating a great victory in the elder son nation, the U.S.A. Thank you.
Dear Cheonwon Great Church family, True Mother embarked on a tour of the United States on Jan. 7th, the 7th day after welcoming the New Year of 2024. She returned home 12 days later on the 19th. We outline four main purposes for Mother’s visit to America.
The first was to inform America, the nation of the firstborn, of this providential time. This year, 2024, the global landscape, including Asia, will be significantly altered. Heavenly Japan has suffered great human and material damage due to earthquakes and airplane accidents from the very first day of the new year. In Taiwan’s presidential election on January 13, the pro-US and Democratic Progressive Party was elected, causing tension in relations with China. Moreover, Korea will hold a general election in April, and major political changes are predicted in Japan this year. Finally, the USA will hold its presidential election in November.
We see no end in sight in the two-year-old Ukraine-Russia war, and passing its 100th day, the Israel-Palestine conflict appears to be expanding to the entire Middle East. True Mother, foreseeing such a period of global upheaval, headed to the United States from the very outset in the dire necessity that America, the first-born nation, must move forward in the correct providential direction. Mother said to American leaders, “An invisible battle is underway,” and imploring them, “We must create a world of peace without war.”
The second purpose of Mother’s visit to the U.S. was to find and establish the righteous people prepared by heaven. This time, True Mother met a businessman who greatly respects her. As soon as Mother saw him, at once she said, “Sit next to me,” and then, “You are my son.” She said they are in a parent-child relationship, and then, just like a mother teaching her son, proceeded to explain one after another the heavenly tasks that he needs to carry out.
Yet, although this businessman was an atheist, as Mother went on speaking one by one in a caring and loving manner as if she were treating her son, he couldn’t move but looked up at Mother with awed respect. I watched in amazement as True Mother based the condition on this one point, ‘Respecting my parents,’ and went on to connect him to True Parents’ Blessing.
As I watched Mother this time, I more deeply than ever realized the crucial heartistic aspect of True Mother’s approach to heaven’s providence. Mother saw each leader she met as a righteous person prepared and sent by Heaven, and earnestly delivered serious words with warm love to raise them as her sons. When I saw Mother like that, I felt once more, “Ah! This is why True Mother is the mother of the universe and cosmos,” and my heart naturally became solemn and reverent.
Though Mother has produced so many blessed families, she said, “Considering the 8 billion people living on earth, I feel we blessed a small number and I struggle to sleep at night.” She earnestly hopes righteous sons and daughters who fulfill their responsibility like salt, who further expand heaven’s providence, appear in the over 200 nations of the world. Mother earnestly prayed that, based on this victory of connecting the righteous people she personally met with the Blessing, she would connect them to nations, continents, and the entire world, so we can meet blessed families around the world, righteous people who are like salt and revere heaven.
Please give a big round of applause in gratitude to True Mother, who connects her victories to us at no cost. (Applause!) Thank you.
Dear family members, the third purpose of Mother’s visit to the United States was to host the drone soccer tournament hosted by Segye Ilbo. Every January, the ‘Consumer Electronics Show’ (CES) is held in Las Vegas. This year’s CES2024 was held under the theme of “All together All on (activating all technologies for everyone)” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Consumer Electronics Association (CTA).
More than 4,000 companies from over 150 countries participated, and over 140,000 people attended. IT companies from around the world, including Samsung, Apple, and LG, opened booths with exhibits. 772 companies from Korea participated, ranking third after the U.S. and China. And many Korean spectators visited! Notably, this event showcased cutting-edge AI technology, and our Segye Ilbo hosted the ‘CES2024 Segye Ilbo Drone Soccer Competition’ to promote drone soccer, first developed in Korea, to the world stage.
Drone soccer meets may be unfamiliar to you, but drone soccer is a new concept of IT sporting in which the winner is decided by manipulating a soccer ball-shaped drone and navigating it through a circular goal mounted 3m high. It is a K-sport that was first developed in Korea and is spreading around the world. The new International Drone Football Federation (FIDA), which already has 13 countries around the world, including the United States and Japan, is based in Korea and will host the world’s first Drone Football World Cup in Jeonju in 2025.
In 2003, True Parents initiated the Peace Cup as a peace project through sports, and I think Mother has opened the door to a new concept of the Peace Cup suited to the IT era by hosting the drone soccer competition. Through Segye Ilbo at CES2024, Mother intends to impact significantly the lives of humanity in the future and confirm the direction in which scientific civilization will move to realize the ideal of ‘one human family under our Heavenly Parent.’
True Mother stopped by various exhibits at the CES convention center, prayed and offered devotion. Seeing her like that, I felt once again that she is truly our mother who cares about the future of the world and all mankind. I’d appreciate it if you would offer a round of applause in gratitude to True Parents for hosting this precious competition and opening the door to the IT era for harmony and peace. (Applause) Thank you.
The fourth purpose of Mother’s visit to America was for the future generations of her eldest son country, the United States. True Mother told Jeong Jin-hwa, director of the Heavenly USA Cheon Shim Won branch, “In Korea, many second-generation people are being revived through Cheon Shim Won,” and with the stern words, “Let the dormant youth of the 2nd generation wake up in the wake of the 2nd-generation 36 Couples.” She emphasized the education of future generations in Heavenly America and gave guidelines: “Educate the 2nd and 3rd generations to restore the world by becoming one with Damian Dunkley.”
She was also very pleased to hear the testimony of a new cadet who is active in Heavenly Japan even though he resides in the U.S. She said, “The UPA cadets are revitalizing the Japanese family and young people,” and added with great emphasis, “Second-generation education is essential for the completion of the providence.”
Mother has laid down the future of the Family Federation and is nurturing future talents, focusing on the 2nd and 3rd generation, with deep prayer, sincerity, and detailed strategy. In this respect, True Mother’s visit to the United States this time was to further refine the environment of America, which will become the center of activity for UPA cadets in the future.
Respected and beloved blessed family members of Cheonwon Great Church! Like this, no matter where Mother travels, her heart toward second-generation youth around the world remains the same. So today, I would like to share an activity report on the visit to Heavenly Japan by the first class of UPA graduates, which is of True Mother’s ardent interest.
Last year, True Mother poured deep sincerity and love into the second generation. In particular, True Mother expressed her deep interest in young missionaries, emphasizing, “The 2nd generation must take the lead in restoring the nation and the world.” In this context, in Feb. 2024, about 60 cadets of the first class of Sunmoon UPA, including Moon Shin-chul and Moon Shin-heung, graduated from university and embarked on overseas missionary activities. In particular, True Mother dubbed them with the title ‘Heavenly Top Gun’ and instructed them to pursue ‘the model course for the second generation’, and through this, presented the providential direction for nurturing the future generation centered on young missionaries.
Mother directed the first wave of UPA cadets to work in Heavenly Japan first. As you all know, 2023 was a very difficult year for Heavenly Japan Family Federation. After the Abe assassination in July 2022, the suffering of Heavenly Japan Family Federation members was beyond imagination. True Mother was saddened by the situation in Japan, so to create an environment where young people could revive with fresh vigor and determination, she sent the 1st wave of Sunmoon UPA cadets to Japan to share a time of revival with Japanese youth.
After greeting True Mother for Christmas last year, the first class of UPA cadets arrived in Japan on Dec. 26 and worked hard to revive Heavenly Japan’s second-generation youth. Yesterday, Jan. 27, they finished all their activities in Heavenly Japan and returned to Korea. Even during her visit to the United States, True Mother heard reports about the Heavenly Top Gun UPA cadets, sometimes shedding tears, and sometimes smiling with joy.
Today, I wanted to let you know what special talents True Mother hopes to see in future generations, based on her Heavenly Japan activities and the testimonies of the graduates of the first class of Heavenly Top Gun UPA, focusing on the second generation.
Dear respected members of Cheonwon Great Church! The first type of talent that True Mother desires for the future generation is the ‘empathetic leader.’
Cadet Moon Shin-heung, along with UPA cadets and Heavenly Japan 2nd Generation students, visited the area affected by the Great Tohoku Earthquake in Japan in March 2011 and had opportunity to hold in-depth conversations with the victims’ families. While listening to the pain of the great earthquake, cadet Shin-heung seemed to recall again the sense of loss caused by his father Hyojin Moon’s Ascension. At the same time, Shin-heung Cadet confessed, “Losing my father at the young age of 7 was like losing the central pillar of a house, and it felt like the world was falling apart.” Meanwhile, Cadet Shin-heung expressed the following words of sympathy and consolation to the families who lost their loved ones in the earthquake:
“The reason I was able to stand up again, even though I lost my mainstay, was because of the people around me, my family, who filled that role. I don’t know all of them, but thanks to the love they gave me, warm greetings at church, and the words ‘I love you,’ I could find new purpose in life. Thanks to that, I was able to get back on my feet.” (Jan. 14, 2014, Sendai Church)
As Japanese family members listened to his testimony, they first expressed surprise that the grandson of True Family spoke fluent Japanese, and were deeply impressed by his empathy for the pain of others as well as by his own heart-rending story. They were also impressed by the emerging cadet’s warm-hearted nature. Our church members who attended shared their thoughts, for example, “I felt True Mother’s love from the sight of him overflowing with true love, and at that moment I couldn’t stop crying,” and “This is the first time I’ve shed tears like this.” One second-generation member said, “I can finally feel True Mother’s love. I finally deeply realized it,” she said. In this way, True Mother hopes that UPA cadets will grow into future talents, stressing, “Let us become truly empathetic leaders.”
Respected beloved members of Cheonwon Great Church! The second type of talent True Mother desires for the future generation is ‘a leader who communicates humbly and honestly.’
When cadet Moon Shin-chul visited the Kyushu region and held a rally for the second-generation community, he gave his testimony referring to a Japanese cartoon story called ‘Slam Dunk’. This changed the tense atmosphere into friendly laughter and made the second-generation students open their hearts and attend together. We can see that first-generation family members also feel great emotion and hope.
There was also a time when the Heavenly Cadets visited the Osaka area and honestly confessed their shortcomings. One said, “I was deeply moved by the testimony of the Japanese missionaries,” and bowed deeply to our family (Church) members, wanting to bare his true heart in front of them. Let’s take a quick look at the video from that time. [watch video]
“I really am an inadequate person. Even if you ask my fellow students at UPA, they’ll say I’m a selfish, short-tempered guy who only does what he wants and is a lousy leader. This cannot be denied. I’m truly sorry,” the new cadet said, recalling a moment when he was a high school student and wanted to run away from the heavy sense of responsibility, and he said that the story of Moses he read at that time moved his heart deeply.
In the Bible, Moses appears to be a great leader, but if we look deeper, we see that he was also selfish, timid, and impatient. Nevertheless, the reason he remains an important figure in history is because he is a person who, despite his shortcomings and failures he suffered, he walked this path to the end. Many of our members shed tears after hearing this testimony from a new cadet. His ‘humble and honest testimony’ touched the hearts of the family members, and this attitude is exactly what True Mother hopes for in the future, where he grows into a ‘leader who communicates humbly and honestly.’
Dear respected members of Cheonwon Great Church! The aspect type of talent that True Mother desires for the future generation is ‘leaders who show hope.’
At a rally held at a Sendai church on January 14, Shin-heung cadet expressed concern about Heavenly Japan’s difficulties and told the Japanese family, “Although I cannot experience the pain myself, I will endure the pain with you and hope that Japan will rise again and become a happy family. I want to see us achieve true unity,” he also mentioned, trying to deeply understand the trials and ordeals of the Heavenly Japan family and convey hope.
The passage from True Mother’s autobiography, “Whenever we were in crisis, Heavenly Parent guided us with a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud,” means that just as Heavenly Parent guided True Parents, we too can use a pillar of fire and cloud in our trials. It implies that you will be guided by a pillar of cloud. Through the firs class of UPA cadets, True Mother learned that the future talent she desires is a ‘leader who shows hope.’
Honored and beloved members of Cheonwon Great Church! Fourth and last, the ideal that True Mother desires for the future generation is ‘leaders with sincerity.’ The visit to New Japan by UPA’s first class of graduates, including new cadets from the Heavenly school, is, as Mother said, a time of great revival. This revival is providing an unforgettable impression not only to our members in Japan but also to the UPA cadets sent there. The way they comfort and encourage each other through tears is like seeing for themselves and feeling to the bone marrow that we are ‘one family under our Heavenly Parent.’
On January 14th, cadet Moon Shin-chul announced his big resolution in Japanese before the Fukuoka church family. I would like to convey the full text of what he shared with the members of Cheonwon Great Church who are here today:
“I am a flawed son, but if my parents want me to, I will follow this path. Sometimes there will be moments when you really want to give up, or there may be moments when you see no hope and wonder if this is the right path. However, at such moments, I will think of True Parents and seniors who have walked this path and resolve to move forward without giving up.
Just like the blood, sweat, and tears that True Parents shed for this world, and the path they walked until the moment of their death despite being betrayed countless times, I also firmly resolve to become hope for True Parents and my elders.
Although I am a self-willed, timid, and weak person, just as True Parents lead us like the sun of the world, I too, if not the sun, want to walk this path by becoming a star that brightens the dark night when True Parents will not be there. I hope that the courage and hope to overcome this difficult time will be passed on through our UPA cadets and through me to you my family in Japan and to everyone around the world. It is not enough, but I offer my resolution before Heaven in the name of Shin Mun-chul and Moon Ji-woo.” (2024.1.14, Fukuoka Church)
Dear family members, won’t you please support the determination of cadet Moon Shin-chul who graduated from UPA Academy with a big round of applause? Thank you.
Beloved and respected members of Cheonwon Great Church! Heavenly Japan is being reborn through True Mother’s love. On January 21st, a praise service was held at Heavenly Japan Hyosung Church centered on the praise team ‘Cheonmyeong’ (Heavenly Mandate), which was named by Mother, and it became a moving, unforgettable revival gathering. True Mother also watched this service on video and was very happy.
In this way, Heavenly Japan is regaining new life through UPA’s first class of graduates, including cadets Shin Mun-chul and Shin Mun-heung, whom True Mother trained directly for four years. A first generation student who heard the determination of a new cadet said this. ‘I feel that all first-generation Japanese people are comforted and their resentment is melting away through the grandchild of the third-generation true family.’ And upon hearing this expression of determination, a second-generation living out in regular society honestly confessed, ‘I will pray every day for him and all the True Family.’ That’s what he said. In this way, all family members, across generations, deeply felt True Mother’s love and experienced a deeply moving time of revival. The future talent that True Mother truly desires must be a ‘leader with sincerity’ who can inspire Heavenly Parent and our family members.
Dear family! Today as well, please give a big round of encouragement and applause to the first class of UPA cadets who are looking forward and running forward to grow into the future talents that True Mother would like to see. (Applause) Thank you.
Respected and beloved blessed family members of Cheonwon Great Church! The content of Matthew 5:13-16, read at the beginning of the sermon, is a sermon that Jesus gave to a crowd gathered on a mountain around the Sea of Galilee in the early days of his public ministry, and is called the ‘Sermon on the Mount.’
Jesus’ first public speech was on the eight blessings, the Beatitudes, that the faithful who are the people of God’s kingdom receive, and then taught through the parable of ‘salt and light’ the responsibilities and missions that believers who have received these blessings must have.
Jesus told us, “You are the salt and light of the earth.” Therefore, his divine guidance is for us to play a role in preventing the spread of sin in the world that causes the entire society to rot, just as salt plays a role in preventing food from spoiling, and to play a role in driving out the darkness and sin by shining the light of the gospel in the world.
The words of True Mother that we read together also make us think about what our mission is as we have received the Blessing from Heavenly Parent and True Parents. It is to fulfill the role of light and salt. We must first become a Blessed family completely aligned with True Mother, the only begotten daughter. This is like salt that retains its salty savor. And now, we must become even more shining beings, bearing witness to the appearance of True Mother, the Only Begotten Daughter, and spreading the truth to the world.
Dear blessed family members of Cheonwon Great Church! At this time today, if there has been any evil energy that has been weighing down our steps, please shake it off completely. Then if you do so!! In the 13th year of Cheon Il Guk, on your way to the victorious entry into the Cheonil Sanctum of Cheonwon Palace, you will definitely meet the righteous people like salt prepared by Heavenly Parent.
Now, the UPA cadets who were directly raised by True Mother, the Only Begotten Daughter, have become bright lights illuminating the darkness like the cadets who were born as lanterns, spreading True Mother’s love, and this light is bringing about the miraculous work of resurrection. We must also become sons and daughters who spread the light of True Mother’s true love. Therefore, we must achieve explosive growth through witnessing in 2024.
Especially this year, as True Mother said in her New Year’s message, we must give providential priority to unity. All victories of Cheon Il Guk start from becoming completely one in heart and circumstances with True Mother, who is the central axis of the completion of the providence. By becoming one with Mother, we can truly become light and salt in the world, and meet righteous people who are like light and salt. Do I hear aju? Everyone? (Aju!)
If you determine to become completely one with True Mother, the Only Begotten Daughter and Substantial Holy Spirit, please shout “Aju!” and applaud to seal your resolve before True Mother at Cheon Jeong Goong. (Thunderous applause!) Thank you.
When we become completely one with True Mother throughout this year 2024, the spirit world commanded by True Father will be with you and will surely work victoriously. I believe that the True Father in heaven will sweep the spirit world, causing a huge explosion of the Holy Spirit, the absolute good spirits of Christianity will work on believers, and the absolute good spirits of each religious denomination will visit believers and work! Aju!
I believe that victory will be with Cheonwon Great Church in 2024! Aju!
The International Headquarters will always be by your side, and 2024 is the year of witnessing! And education! And sincerity! Centering on these three words, we promise you that we will become a world headquarters with achievements that we can show and boast about, and we will become a world headquarters that is trusted and loved by you. Thank you!
Let us all gather our hearts together and pray.