Pastoral ministry is the duty of nurturing the souls of Christians who have been purchased by the holy blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the church, teaches by the Holy Spirit, makes the church serve by the Holy Spirit, gives faith and hope, and makes them persevere and endure by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, He said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and at last you will be My disciples.”

From the first moment that I, Semuon, was called by the Holy Spirit and was guided by Him, I did the work of preaching the gospel, and finally, by following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I established Sungrak Church in this place. At that time, I prayed that Sungrak Church would grow only by the Holy Spirit and preached sermons only by the Holy Spirit. If the working of the Holy Spirit was not with me, I cannot do any work. Therefore, I prayed by the Holy Spirit, always seeking for the fullness of His inspiration, and with the inspiration I received, I carried out the pastoral ministry.

Pastoral ministry requires the fullness of prayer, power and inspiration. Until now, in the face of great and important matters, I always prayed first and then received great answers of inspiration, and pursued the growth of our church through God’s inspiration. Rather than seeking the opinion of man, I prayed to the Lord Jesus and always asked for inspiration, being full of the faith that I need to receive wisdom from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I preached sermons that were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and even for all the works of constructing church buildings, I only prayed and with the inspiration I received, carried them through regardless of the circumstances.

During the past 50 years, I pastured by eagerly trusting only in the Holy Spirit, but today we are experiencing a great trial. They are accusing the pastor of arbitrarily assuming dictatorial authority. However, it is not dictatorship, but I prayed enormously, and with the answers of inspiration I received each time, I worked without fear and overcome the world. Even for constructing church buildings, I prayed, and according to the inspiration I received, I made the sketches and gave them over to the architect. And by praying in all matters, I worked by turning the inspiration I received into great power, regarding it as great wisdom.

The pastor has the duty of praying, receiving inspiration through prayer, and doing his ministry. Pastoral ministry is not about consulting with people and gathering the opinions of man. Jesus Christ also prayed and then taught His disciples. Pastoral ministry is not done by the wisdom of man. It is not done by the will of man either. Pastoral ministry is about doing only the work that the Holy Spirit instructs. Therefore, I am praying much more, more than all others, and fulfilling each work one by one.

However, people’s opinions which area big threat to the ministry are violating the pastor’s inspiration. The apostles devoted themselves to the work of prayer and the preaching of the word, and delegated the work of service to the deacons. Those who were full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit were ordained as deacons. Good seed were scattered on the soil, but it has been revealed that the enemy has sown weeds over night. It has become the great task given to us to overcome the conflict between inspiration and the thought of man.