Author: RCCM

↓Audio link to the sermon: (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) When people meet my daughters, they say, “She looks just like Dad!” or “Looks just like Mum!” I’m sure many of you have been told that you look like one of your parents or siblings. However, don’t you think it would be a great compliment if someone said, “You really remind me of Jesus”? Because, that is one goal of the Christian—to be like Christ Jesus. And since we believe Jesus is the Son of God, it implies that our goal is to resemble God, to reflect his image. This is my topic for

↓Audio link to the sermon:(Sunday worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) During my last sermon we started reading the book of Daniel, which contains prophecies about our Savior, Jesus Christ. One of the prophecies was about a rock cut out of a mountain (2:45), which symbolized that the rule of the Romans and all other powers would be destroyed, and there would be a new kingdom. That rock which is stronger than anything is the Messiah. The Messiah to be born was Jesus, and the followers of this Messiah would spread throughout the world, going beyond national borders and eras of history. The

↓Audio link to the sermon: (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Each morning, I send my daughter to kindergarten. One day, another parent said, “Be careful. There’s an old man near the school who shouts at people walking by: ‘右歩け! Walk on the right side of the road!’” “Who does he think he is?!” she told me. Sure enough, I encountered this man. He shouted at me, “右歩け,ばかやろう! Walk on the right, you stupid idiot!” Now, it’s a different story if a police officer told us to walk on the right side of the road. We would probably obey the officer, even if there were

↓Audio link to the sermon: (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) A few months ago, Park-sensei preached on 1 Corinthians 6, about the idea that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. He mentioned the story of Jesus chasing out merchants from the temple of Jerusalem. Park-sensei asked us to imagine that if our hearts are a temple, then what needs to be cleared out and cleansed? Today’s sermon is about the story of Jesus clearing the temple in the Gospel of Mark. Before we read it, let’s pray. [Read Mark 11:12-25] The fig tree and the temple We read about two events:

[An audio recording of this sermon will be uploaded here after the worship service.] In Japan, there is a saying, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” This is similar to a Chinese saying, “A bird that pokes its head out gets shot.” When we act differently from how society expects, we may be criticized and shamed. Do you remember what the Japanese government did a few years ago to control the spread of Covid-19? One of the methods was the threat of shame. Travelers who entered or re-entered Japan were supposed to isolate themselves for awhile. If they were caught being outside unnecessarily, the government threatened to publicize

[An audio recording of this sermon will be uploaded here after the worship service.] Recently, I was taken by surprise when my daughter, who is almost 5 years old, asked me, “Daddy, when can I be baptized?” As you may know, different churches have different answers to this question. After this I started reading many articles about child baptism as well as infant baptism. Coincidentally, at this time, I was also preparing for today’s sermon. In our passage for today, Jesus talks about children and about entering the kingdom of God. So, let’s hear what Jesus says about children from Mark chapter 10, and at the end I’ll return to

↓Audio link to the sermon: (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Today’s passage in the Gospel of Mark deals with a tough and controversial subject: divorce. Christians hold different views about divorce. Regardless, from reading the Bible we can see that it elevates the status of women in times when they were often considered the property of men. Before reading from Mark, let’s pray. [Read Mark 10:1-12] The Pharisees’ debate on divorce Back then, the Pharisees were caught in a debate about when divorce was permissible. The Law of Moses had only one reference to divorce, in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. It’s quite long, so I’ll summarize