❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) Ambassadors of Reconciliation (John 7:45-52, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21) Mari Ikeda 　As a new school year or a new fiscal year starts in April in Japan, many of you may have been in a new environment from April. I wonder how you are feeling after a month since then. Even if there are no major changes in our living environment, we live our lives interacting with various people on a daily basis, and there are both positive and negative stimulations. I work at a social welfare shelter during the week, and this past April my boss was replaced. When the personnel change was announced in March,…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) A Family Living Together in the House of the Lord (Psalm 133, 134) Andy Nagahara Today I would like to introduce two short psalms. These are the last two verses in a series entitled Songs of ascents among the Psalms. Both are quite short, but they teach us the core of what the church is supposed to be. Psalm 133 teaches us about the nature of the church and its work, and from 134 we can learn what we need to do in order for that work to be done according to God’s will. So let’s start reading from Psalm 133. A. The Church as…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) The water that keeps people alive flows from within our hearts (John 7:37-39) Mari Ikeda     Today we continue our series on the Gospel of John, and today we are on 7:37-39. Let’s read it. A. Belief in Jesus gives our hearts a spring that never runs dry. (7:37-39, 4:14) 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) God who swore an oath to the people (Psalm 132)  Andy Nagahara Today’s psalm is not like the previous 131, in which the psalmist appeals directly to God for his feelings, but rather it reminds listeners of King David’s relationship with God and makes them consider their own relationship with God. This psalm is about four times longer than the last one because it uses many references to past events to explain the story.Let’s divide the whole text into four parts and read them in order. First, we’ll read up to verse 7. A. David swore an oath to the Lord (1-10) 1. An oath…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) Knowing God’s Love Is The Beginning of All Rebirth (John 7:32-36) Mari Ikeda We have been away from the Gospel of John series for a while, but today we are returning to the series again to read John 7:32-36, but since this passage only raises a question for us, I will read other passages as well today. Let’s read them. John 7:32-36. 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. 33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the…