“Jesus Saves Us from Shame and Bestows Us with Honor” (Mark 5)

[An audio recording of this sermon will be uploaded after the worship service.] As we continue reading the Gospel of Mark, I want to talk about how Jesus saves us from shame and bestows us with honor. The ideas of honor and shame run deeply in many cultures. Let me give an example in Japan. For a few years, a hot topic in Japanese media was the story of Princess Mako’s engagement to a commoner. The young man was scrutinized from all angles. Was he worthy of marrying a member of the Imperial family? Many people opposed this marriage because the young man’s mother had an unresolved financial dispute. This

Necktie of Righteousness_by OMF missionary Levi Booth

　↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) 2023 is well under way. I wonder what kind of year you have waiting for you. I am planning to get married in the summer so for me that’s the main thing on my mind. It’s very exciting of course, but at the same time I do have a bad memory from a wedding in Japan. If I show you photos from the wedding, maybe you can work out what happened. You see there’s one thing wrong about me. Can you spot it? Something about the way I’m dressed that makes me

“I will punish the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 50:18)

↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Today, we will read from Jeremiah chapter 50. It is about God’s judgment on Babylon. No matter how great a nation, if it becomes proud, oppressive, and abandons God’s ways, it will receive God’s judgment. May this message give you assurance and courage as you look at the condition of the world today. Verse 1 says, “This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.” Verse 2 says, “Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep