❖ Video ❖ Audio God? Lord? My Lord? Psalm 110 Andy Nagahara 0 Of David. A psalm.1 The LORD(Yahweh) says to my Lord(New king): “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”2 The LORD(Yahweh) will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies.3 Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth.4 The LORD(Yahweh) has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”5 The Lord(Yahweh) is at your…

❖ Video ❖ Audio The God Who Reaches His Hand Toward Us as We Reach Our Hands Toward Heaven Romans 9:30-10:13 Mari Ikeda A. The mistake of reaching out to heaven (9:30-10:4) 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:“See, I lay in Zion a stone that…

❖ Video ❖ Audio Why Does the Bible Include Curses? Psalm 109 Andy Nagahara There are parts of the Bible that baffle me as to why it says so many terrible things. Today’s verse is no different. The title is “A Psalm of David. The title is “A Song of Praise,” but the content is clearly “A Psalm of David. A Curse”. In Romans 12:14, Paul says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them,” but who is right, Paul or the Psalmist? In a word, the Bible is God’s word, but we have to read it differently in the Old and New Testaments. This is because…

❖ Video ❖ Audio The Joy of Living Taught by Jesus and the Author of Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes, Matthew 16:25-26, others Mari Ikeda Today, instead of our usual series on the book of Romans, we’re going to read Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament and the words of Jesus from the New Testament. I wanted to read Ecclesiastes because I came across a book last year that taught a new interpretation of the book that was so good that I wanted to share it with you. The title of the book is ” Let’s read Ecclesiastes – a book that calls us to ‘live’” by Satoshi Otomo, and published by UCCJ (The…

❖ Video ❖ Audio Becoming a Church That Pleases God 1Peter 2:3-5, 1Samuel15:22, Proverbs 21:3, Hebrew 12:28 Andy Nagahara 1. What pleases God? But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.  2.  What is a church? now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him– you…

❖ Video ❖ Audio What it Means to Love One Another Luke 10:25-37 Mari Ikeda A. Our love is limited 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to…

❖ Video ❖ Audio The Shepherds Who Found Jesus Christmas message Advent 4-Luke 2:8-20 Andy Nagahara And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in…

❖ Video ❖ Audio The Friendship of Mary and Elizabeth ADVENT 3-Luke 1:26-56 Mari Ikeda We have entered the third week of advent. Today, from Luke 1, we will read the story of Mary, who became the mother of Jesus, and Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Mary and Elisabeth were relatives. We don’t know exactly how old they were, but we can say that they were at least as far apart as grandchildren and grandmothers in the sense of that time. Today, through their relationship, I would like to talk about how God gives us friends who look up to Him and walk with us. It’s a little…

❖ Video ❖ Audio Not a Religious, a Revolutionary, a Politician, but a Friend ADVENT 2- Isaiah 11:1-5, 42:1-4 Andy Nagahara A. The Arrival of the Prophesied Savior (Messiah) (Isaiah 11:1-5) 1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him– the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD–3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears…

❖ Video ❖ Audio Joseph’s Solitude ADVENT 1- Matthew 1:18-25 Mari Ikeda Today Advent just started to wait for Christmas. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ birth, but I don’t think it’s that easy to celebrate with all of our hearts. The most important meaning of Christmas is Immanuel, that God is with us. But don’t we find ourselves searching for God rather than feeling safe knowing God is with us more often? I think there are times when we know that God is with us, but we can’t feel it. That’s something all people would repeat throughout their lives, and it was the same with the people 2000 years ago…