❖ Video ❖ Audio His Love Endures Forever Psalm 118 Andy Nagahara Psalm 118 is a long psalm in contrast to the previous one. So, my suggestion is, why don’t you read this psalm to yourself little by little this week, starting today, and have a short service of meditation and prayer every day?　So today I will try to provide a guiding explanation for this. The first thing I would like you to know about this entire psalm is that the 113-118, including this one, were sung as a series of prayers during the Passover meal.　So it is likely that these were also the songs that Jesus and his disciples…

❖ Video ❖ Audio The Practice of Love (Part2/2): “Love Your Enemies” Romans 12:17-21, Matthew 5:38-48 Mari Ikeda Today I’m going to talk about what it means to practice love by reading the Romans chapter 12, continuing from last time. While last time we heard about loving each other in church, we’ll learn today what it means to love our enemies. I’d like to briefly read the Romans first, but will more focus on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Mark afterwards. Let’s read from Romans 12:17-21. A. Flawed reasoning in Old Testament teachings （Romans 12:17-21） 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is…

❖ Video ❖ Audio Lord of “All Nations” Psalm 117 Andy Nagahara The Psalm 117 is the shortest verse in the Book of Psalms. However, as the Apostle Paul quotes it as an important matter, it offers important suggestions for us as we walk through this world with faith. Today, while introducing some related texts, I would like to consider how we can take on the problems that the psalmist and Paul faced, which are actually our challenges as well. Let’s read it once first. 1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. 2 For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures…

❖ Video ❖ Audio The Practice of Love (Part1): In Church Romans 12:9-16 Mari Ikeda Today I was planning to read the Romans 12:9-21, but I decided to divide the passage into two parts, as its content is quite broad. So we’re going to read the first half today, which is verse 9-16.The very first sentence of the first verse today, 12:9, says this: “Love must be sincere.” It means, love must be true and genuine. What does it mean specifically? We’ll learn it from the passage we’ll read today and in the next time.The passage up to v.16, which we’ll read today, talks about the practice of love in…

❖ Video ❖ Audio How can I repay the LORD？ Psalm 116 Andy Nagahara Like many of the songs in the Psalms, it seems that at the core of this song is the experience of the psalmist’s own near death, such as a serious illness, for example. But at the same time, when it came to be sung publicly in temple services, it was sung to recall the tribulations in Egypt, which were the common affliction of the people, and the tribulations under occupation by neighboring nations in later times. In some denominations of the modern church, it is even sung to thank God for the safe delivery of the…