A CHOSEN PEOPLE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION
(What is UBF? - Membership class: 7)
Ephesians 1:1-2:22
Key Verse: 1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praise of him who called you
out of darkness.”
“What is UBF?” It is about her identityin its core as a root of tree and its magnificent spread, as its ministry. I came to Chicago as a missionary in 1977, the same year Late Dr. Samuel Lee and Mother Barry arrived as missionaries. With them, my next 10 years was virtually on fire, with identity of UBF as sacred, greatest and perfect. Though that view wentthrough many ups and downs, it is what definedmy last 40 years’ missionary life. As we go through vicious spiritual battles, some got wounded in their faith and in their view on UBF; some even leave ministry with negative view on UBF. What then is UBF, the identity, deep in our soul, that motivates and defines us, held by each member commonly and uniquely, and the work of God in and through them, thus makes what UBF is?

UBF N. A. L. C. GuidelineMission Statement declares, “UBF is an international evangelical church… and network of house churches…We especially pray for college students…to go and make disciples of all nations.”1 It defines UBF in two ways. First UBF is a Church, and second UBF has world campus mission.Therefore, UBF is a church with world campus mission. So we can trace her identity by learning what UBF is in three ways, asto what UBF is as a church: ______

1 UBF North America Local Chapter Guide Line (Mission Statement)
University Bible Fellowship (UBF) is an international evangelical church (non-denominational) and network of house churches dedicated to Christ and his kingdom. Our main focus is to study the Bible, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and live according to his teachings. We especially pray to reach college students and help them grow as his lifelong disciples. Our goal is to obey our Lord’s commands to love one another and to go and make disciples of all nations (Jn 13:34; Mt 28:18-20). We pray that God may continue to call and raise lay missionaries through us and send them to the ends of the earth (Ac 1:8).
1st, according to the Scripture; 2nd, according to her history; and 3rd, according to her trait. May God reveal and renew that treasured identity that bore the fruit of UBF as now and onward, as Apostle Peter called it, “UBF is a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, with world campus mission in her heart.
I. UBF as a church, according to the Scripture.
1) Church is God’s redemption history.
The beginning of church is generally known with the coming of the Holy Spirit to disciples, on Pentecost after Jesus’ ascension. But the Scripture leads us far back to the very beginning as its origin, when Adam sinned, with the first gospel message of God, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15). When Adam, Abel, Seth accepted it by faith, the church was born (cf. Heb. 11:4; Heb. 12:1a; Wayne Grudem; systematic theology. P. 854)1. Then she continued down for over thousand years till Noah (cf. Gen 5; Heb. 11:5-7). Then passing through the Flood Judgment, it continued couple of thousands years till Abraham (cf. Gen. 10-11), whom God called to build a nation Israel as a church, and to send the Savior of the world through her.
Finally, Jesus Christ came, suffered, died and rose again to fulfill the gospel. Then he entrusted it to his disciples; “All authority in heaven and the earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18). Thus, her origin, history, and Jesus’ command teach that the redemption history is the focal point of God’s work in the world and history; and in it building the church is the heart of his redemption work. God said the preciousness of the church, “then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession” (Ex. 19:5b). He said again, “Blessed is the nation…the people he chose for his inheritance” (Ps. 33:12). Therefore, the church including UBF is the focus of God’s redemption history, His treasured possession, the eternal inheritance of God.
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1 Therefore the author of Hebrews understands the present-day Christians who constitute the church on earth to be surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1) that reaches back into the earliest eras of the Old Testament and includes Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets (Heb. 11:4-32).

2) Church is the body of believers – God’s household, family of God.
Why then the church is so precious to God? It is because, according to Apostle Paul, the church is a body of believers, the family of God; “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but the members of God’s household” (Eph. 2:19). Here the members of God’s household are the believers who are members the church, family of God, thus children of God. The church is a house of the children of God. Bible reveal their blessedness in various metaphors and imageries: family (1 Tim. 5:1-2), vine and branch (Jn. 15), bride and groom (Eph. 5:32), a building (1 Cor. 3:9), living stones (1 Pet. 2:4-8), pillar and bulwark of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15), and on and on. All these are due to the unsearchable blessedness of each believer as children of God.
What are the blessedness of each believers? “Praise be to God…who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (3). Here Apostle Paul says each believers are with every spiritual blessing in Christ in heavenly realms: “For he chose us… before the creation of the world…he predestined us to be adopted as his sons…we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins…he lavished us with all wisdom and understanding…and sealed with the Holy Spirit, as a deposit to guarantee their inheritance” (4-14, p.). What an amazing blessing to be chosen, adopted as sons, redeemed, being lavished with wisdom and understanding, and being sealed with Holy Spirit! This is a blessedness of each believers and the church, including UBF as a church.

3) Church is the body of Christ.
Apostle Paul further reveal an amazing identity of the church that she is the body of Christ: “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Eph. 1:22-23). What does it mean that believers are the body of Christ? It means, among others, mostly, salvation history will be fulfilled in and through the church. It will be done throughthe growth of the church to the fullness of Christ. It is God’s will for us and the church to grow to the fullness of Christ. We live for this as our vision to grow personally to the fullness of Christ, while burning with mission to reach out to the lost world for church to grow to the fullness of Christ.

“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God live by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22). As the church grows, we hear even more amazing reality. It rises to become a holy temple where Almighty Sovereign God dwells in the church.Summing up,Church, including UBF is God’s redemption history, His treasured possession and eternal inheritance, the family of God with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus, and the body of Christ in which God dwells! This blessing came into our lives when Jesus came into our lives with his salvation, the blessing which became our identity for us to live for the praise and glory of God giving our lives with the hope of eternal blessing in our heart.

II. UBF as a church – according to her history.
1) Founding UBF and pioneering Korean Campuses.
God carries out his work through his servant whom he chooses, prepares and calls. For UBF world campus mission, God called Late Dr. Samuel Lee and Mother Barryas her founders. Dr. Lee, losing his mother when in eight month, grew up sorrowfully under his harsh step mother. But God called him with his word, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). His bitterness turned to joy, realizing painful upbringing was a preparation for this great work. Mother Barry, a daughter of rich plantation owner in Mississippi, after meeting Jesus personally in her college years, gave her life as a missionary to Korea, even offering her marriage to God. In God they joined for UBF pioneering in 1961.
“From the beginning Dr. Samuel Lee and Mother Barry prayed that God would raise one faithful student who would be God’s man on his campus. This is because God’s history begins when there is one ancestor of faith” (The history of UBF, P. 45, Dr. Moses Chung). God sent Dr. John Jun, a medical student with a noble dream. Meeting Jesus, he accepted God’s vision in UBF as his own. Many came for bible study, and the work of God spread like a wild fire. Dr. Lee and Mother Barry wisely guided these work to help them to grow as disciples and into powerful servants of God. In 1966, Dr. Lee and Mother Barry moved to Seoul to pioneer SNU. Mighty work of God was going on there too, while many other Universities in Seoul and other cities were simultaneously being pioneered.

2) World mission and spread to many nations.
While serving campus mission in Korea, they also have been praying for world mission. However, it looked unlikely back then for those poor students go to other country as missionary. But In 1966, Germany began accepting Korean nurses to work there. Dr. Lee saw it as an open door for world mission, and some UBF nurses went there as missionaries – an epochal step in UBF world mission history. Soon, many nurses and doctors in UBF came to America as missionaries, when she accepted them to work. In 1977, Dr. Lee and Mother Barry themselves came to America as missionaries to oversee growing world mission fields.With their guidance, together with the passion of young missionaries in many counties, the work of God was growing in various parts of the world.
As Dr. Lee was serving world mission beginning with America and many other countries, he also helped Korean brethren with world mission vision by holding World Mission Report every year. He visited Korea with many American representative students, later with those from other countries, calling them to world mission, and many Korean students caught the world mission vision. Many began to go out to many parts of the world through various ways such as: students, employees of international companies, diplomat, and through marriages with missionaries. In this way, UBF missionaries began to reach CIS, South America, Africa, Australia, China, Southeast Asia, and Middle East with a slogan: Anytime, Anywhere and Anyway.

3) UBF now and onward.
It is now about 55 years since its beginning. There is no way for anyone able to describe the heroic drama of UBF world campus mission fully. We only can see the glimpse of it through what we see. Now about 1800 UBF missionaries - in over 95 counties, with about 420 local chapters all over the world (APX. 100 in Korea; 120 in America; 200 in rest of the world) - are giving their lives, as living sacrifices. UBF now joins forces with other world mission organizations: Mission Nexus, ECFA, and NAE.1 For further depth of spiritual growth, many UBF leaders and
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1 Mission Nexus: Collaboration of ministries in North America for great commission.
ECFA: Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
NAE: National Associations of Evangelicals.

staffs studied in various accredited seminaries.2 UBF is also registered with U.S. government as a church, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. Financially, she runs in $2 million annual operating budgets, with about $13 million assets.3
When we look over last 55 years’ UBF history, it is indeed a miraculous work of
God. And as do so, it will be meaningful to look over God’s blessing on Chicago
ministry which has been the integral part of them all. After Dr. Lee went to be
with the Lord, Pastor Ron Ward leads the ministry as a Pastor serving about 12 different campuses with their coordinators. God also blessed us with over 10 missionaries. Now about 300-400 members, the treasures of God, are carrying on the legacy of Chicago ministry for world mission. Last June, Word Mission Report-2016 4 was held in Seoul Korea with over 80 national representatives and about 5000 brothers and sisters in Korea to celebrate and renew our commitment. Today, let us join their celebration remembering God’s blessing on our ministry
III. UBF as a church – According to her trait.
1) The ministry through giving heart to God.
How then God has been with UBF and blessed her so amazingly? What is the secret – or her trait – for such mighty work of God? The true trait of UBF in fact lies far beneath what we are doing. It is in our heart, and it is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (cf. Dt. 6:5). It is to confess Jesus is the Christ (cf. Mk. 8:29), and it is to deny oneself taking up our cross and follow him (cf. Mk. 8:34b). It is a life of gaining life through dying (cf. Mk. 8:35). Therefore the trait of UBF begins with whole hearted love for God andfollowing Jesus in full devotion. It is to grow as disciples and apostles. It is a trait in UBF began from Dr. Samuel Lee, Mother Barry and many leaders after them as well as countless members of UBF.
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2 Trinity Evangelical Bible School (Deerfield, IL); Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL); Gordon-Conwell (Boston, MA); Fuller (Pasadena, CA); Capital Bible Seminary (Greenbelt, MA); Midwest University (St. Louise, MO).
3
4 World Mission Report:

UBF originally started as a campus ministry and we did not call ourselves as church for long time. UBF also has a structure different from regular church;

calling Pastor as shepherds, while having no elders or deacons, instead having fellowship leaders, Chapter directors (Coordinators) and so on. But as the
members of UBF grew, we began to have full functions as a church. It is because many members accepted UBF ministries as their life long calling and served it even after graduation. In this sense, we differ from other student ministries such as Crew, IVF, or any others, whose member leaves after college graduation. This
made UBF so deep and firm in her foundation and it is the outcome of the ministry giving our heart to God and serving him in life-giving spirit.

2) The ministry through the ministry of the word.
With our heart, in UBF, we give our devotion first and foremost to sincere bible study. It is because the Messianic work is the ministry of the Word as Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed to preach” (Lk. 4:18). We study the bible in full devotion as Apostle Paul sought to know Christ, “I consider them rubbish, because of the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:7). We believe the absolute authority of Old and New Testament that Scripture is, God-breathed, Error-free, and sufficient. We study the bible inductively with all our wisdom and knowledge, while ultimately depending on the revelation of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn. 16:13). As we study the bible in this way, God has been blessing UBF with the Light of Life that transforms all who accept him.
How then do we carry out the ministry of Word of Life? In UBF, we have various bible studies: One to one bible study, Group bible study, Sunday Worship, Conference, Testimony writing, Daily Bread, and etc. Among them one to one bible study has been the most essential through which they are introduced to all other bible studies. Another essential mean is a testimony writing we encourage in all bible studies, to help each one grow in personal relationship with God. In UBF, all these bible studies are going on year round, by all members at home, campus, church, and virtually anywhere. But not everyone take all these bible studies, all at once. But as anyone begins with whatever bible study available, God will overtime lead us to the full scope of these bible studies.
3) The ministry through Discipleship and Apostleship.
In his ministry, Jesus called twelve disciples and appointed them apostles. It shows that he want us to be saved, then grow as disciples and then into apostles. Therefore after anyone is saved, the church has to help them to grow as disciples and apostles. In UBF this discipleship and apostleship ministry is going on mightily through these various bible studies. When anyone grows as disciple through sincere bible studies, they also desire to help others -the beginning of apostleship. As they try to help others, they realize they need more bible studies. Thus, discipleship goes hand in hand with apostleship motivating for further growth in God, which in turn motivates greater devotion in serving God – the cycle which helped UBF members grow as mature disciples and apostles.
This cycle, however, has been one of the hardest. The first difficulty begins with finding sheep. Then it continues in keeping up bible studies till they accept Jesus and begin follow Jesus. Then there begin another struggle to help them to grow as disciples then into apostles. These are the hardest, in fact the impossible task. Furthermore, the shepherds themselves are either students, or with jobs, or with children or both. So, in order to be faithful to God to the end, they end up sacrificing their lives, including that of their loved ones, hating them in pain (cf. Lk. 14:26). The great work in UBF is God’s blessing upon such devotions - individually and church wide - refining them as disciples and apostles, as shepherds and bible teachers, while some of them are called as missionaries.