❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) Jesus Is God’s Truth (John 3:31-36) Mari Ikeda Continuing from the Gospel of John, today we will read 3:31-36. This section is like a summary of chapters 1 to 3 so far. Like verses 16-21, which we read last time, it is considered to be the narration part by John, who wrote this gospel. John’s sole purpose here is to reemphasize to the readers that Jesus, as a historical figure, is God Himself, who created the world, and that He is the one who reveals God’s truth. It’s a short section, but I’d like to divide it into two parts and read it. First, verses…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) צ (tsadeh) Righteousness Series: Finding the Gospel in Psalm 119 – A Hymn to the Law (18/22) Psalm 119:137–144 Andy Nagahrara Now we continue with Psalm 119, which I have been talking about in a series for a while. Today we will focus on verses 137-144, where the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “צ (tsadeh),” is placed at the beginning of each line of the 18th paragraph.Although the origin of the letter is not clear, the name of the letter is also tsadek (צדיק/tsadík), which means the righteous one, or righteous, and in fact many words translated as “righteous” appear in today’s texts. I…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) We Cannot Replace Jesus (John 3:22-30) Mari Ikeda      Today we are reading the continuation of the Gospel of John series, 3:22-30. This is actually the last time John the Baptist appears in this gospel. Appropriate for his final appearance, John’s words in this passage teach us something very important, as if they are his testament. That is today’s title, “We cannot replace Jesus.”      We are told to love the people around us as Jesus loves us, and we can say in a way we are given the role of loving them on behalf of Jesus. But no matter how far we…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) פ（Pe) Seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit Series: Finding the Gospel in Psalm 119 – A Hymn to the Law (17/22) Psalm 119:129–136 Andy Nagahrara We are continuing our series on Psalm 119.Today, we will take up verses 129-136 where each line of the 17th paragraph begins with the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “פ（Pe)”.Today is Pentecost, the church has begun with the Holy Spirit poured out on the disciples who have been praying and waiting. It is, so to speak, the birthday of the Christian Church. Chapter 1 of Acts of the Apostles tells us that the resurrected Jesus appeared to…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) Believing in God means Believing in God’s Love (John 3:16-21) Mari Ikeda Today, we’ll read John 3:16-21, continuing our reading of John’s Gospel. This passage today, as we read in advance last time in the end of the story of Nicodemus, is like a summary of the whole Bible. In my attempt to summarize the content in one sentence, I ended up with the message title today, “Believing in God means believing in God’s love.” Believing that God loves us is the start of our faith and the objective that takes more than our whole life to attain. Before reading the text, although it’s not…