↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) In preparing for today’s sermon, I came across the stories of two rabbis—that is, two Jewish religious teachers: Rabbi Honi and Rabbi Hanina Ben Dosa. Rabbi Honi lived a hundred years before Jesus and was famous for praying for rain. The one time his prayer was not immediately answered, it’s said that he drew a circle on the ground and told God he would not leave the circle until it rained. Then it rained right after. As for Rabbi Hanina, who lived a few decades after Jesus’ death, he was known for
“Let the one who boasts boast about this” (Jeremiah 9:24)
↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) “But let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me” (Jeremiah 9:24) This is my sixth message on the book of Jeremiah. In my previous sermon, the theme was from Jeremiah 7:4, “Do not trust in deceptive words”. Those deceptive words, said by false prophets, was that Israel will surely be safe from foreign invaders, just because they have the Lord’s temple. This is similar to Japanese beliefs about supernatural blessing or protection. For the Christian, we have to know what we believe and consciously
Luke 7:1-10 “I have not found such great faith”_Pastor Kitazawa
↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them. He
“Repent, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38)
↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) “Repent . . . and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38) Today we celebrate Pentecost. On Pentecost we remember the birth of the Church, a birth that was the work of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost takes place 50 days after a Jewish festival called the Passover. Pentecost falls on a day when the Jewish people celebrate the barley harvest. Let’s begin by reading in the Bible about the first Pentecost. In the book of Acts of the Apostles, 2:1-4, the Holy Spirit came upon a group of