❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) God’s love endures forever (Psalm 136) Andy Nagahara Today’s text, Psalm 136, is thought to retain well the form of a hymn sung in temple services, in which the worship leader sings the first half of the verse and the congregation follows with, “God’s love endures forever.” Even today, there are Christian churches that sing hymns of this type during worship services. Today’s keyword is “compassion” in Japanese and “love” in English. The original Hebrew word is “hesed.” If you would like to know more, you can read it on Wikipedia in both Japanese and English. Because this word has a broad meaning, different modern…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) My Friend’s Suicide and My Faith (Isaiah 53:6, John 10:11-16) Mari Ikeda We are sorry, but we will not be uploading this sermon in written form. Please watch the video or listen to the audio from the link above. (Isaiah 53:6)We all, like sheep, have gone astray,each of us has turned to our own way;and the LORD has laid on himthe iniquity of us all. (John 10)11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. …14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) Hallelujah (Psalm 135) Andy Nagahara Today’s text, Psalm 135, is a somewhat longer psalm that begins and ends with “Hallelujah.” Many people, even those who have never read the Bible, may recognize the word “hallelujah” from the name of a song.In Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament, this word is a combination of two original words, “Hallel” (praise) and “Ya (Yahweh),” and means “Praise Yahweh.” However, most English Bibles do not use the word “Hallelujah” as it is, but instead translate it into English as “Praise the LORD.” Even in the NIV that we use, “Hallelujah” only appears four times in Revelation chapter…

❖ 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…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) Like a weaned child with its mother (Psalm 131)  Andy Nagahara On the Sundays that I speak, we are reading a series of psalms, and today we are reading Psalm 131. It has been eight years since I started this series, and since there are 150 psalms in total, I think we will be able to finish reading them by next summer.The Psalms teach us important lessons even though we live in a time and culture completely different from those in which they were written. It is the answer to the question of how to maintain peace of mind and joy in the midst of…

❖ Video ❖ Audio (Message) God Is Good And Faithful Easter Sunday (Luke 24:36-49, Isaiah 53, etc)  Mari Ikeda      Today is Easter, the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. There are many ways to describe the meaning of the event that Jesus, who suffered and died on the cross, rose from the dead after three days. In the second half of today’s message, I would like to talk about those meanings, but if I were to encompass them all, I would say that Jesus’ resurrection is an event that proves that God is faithful and good. We have nothing to fear if we can believe that God…