❖ Video (Whole Worship Service) ❖ Audio (Message) What Lies Beyond “It Wasn’t Supposed to be Like This”  Luke 1:5-25 Mari Ikeda In the church calendar, the four weeks of Advent has started from today. Today I’d like to pick up the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth in Luke’s Gospel 1:5-25.Have you ever felt about your life, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this?” Perhaps for some of you it is exactly how you feel now, while there should be people who have gone through such feeling in the past. It might be a loss of health, a loss of someone important, or a loss of dream. In anyone’s life,…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) י (Yodh) The History of The Kingdom of God Series: Finding the Gospel in Psalm 119ーA Hymn to the Law　10/22 Psalm 119:73-80 Andy Nagahara The tenth in the series of Psalm 119, called Hymn to the Law, is the tenth paragraph in the entire series. It is verses 73 through 80, where the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Yodh, is placed at the beginning of each line.　This character is thought to derive from a hieroglyphic script that depicted a hand (Hebrew: יד yad). As we read today’s section two verses at a time, we can see the history of God’s relationship with us, who…

❖ Video (Whole Worship Service) ❖ Audio (Message) “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” John 1:24-34 Mari Ikeda Today, we’re going to read John 1:24-34. It’s about John the Baptist’s testimony. I’d like to divide it into three parts and read accordingly. Firstly, let’s read v.24-28. 1. We cannot save ourselves (24-28) 24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) ט (Teth) You are good, and what you do is good Series: Finding the Gospel in Psalm 119ーA Hymn to the Law　9/22 Psalm 119:65-72 Andy Nagahara The ninth in the series of Psalm 119, called Hymn to the Law, is the ninth paragraph in the entire series. It is verses 65 through 72, where the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Teth, is placed at the beginning of each line. The origin of this script is not well known, but some scholars assume that it derives from a script depicting a spindle (a tool used for spinning yarn).Now let’s read on as usual. 1. The…

❖ Video (Whole Worship Service) ❖ Audio (Message) We are the Voice Calling in the Wilderness John 1:6-8, 19-23 Mari Ikeda Last time we heard in the very first part of John’s Gospel that God is the Word, and Jesus is the word of God. Today I’d like to say that we are the “voice.” Let’s start from the passage we skipped last time, 1:6-8. A. Who was John? (6-8) 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only…