Author: RCCM

↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Today, we will continue with Jesus’ teaching using parables in Mark 4:21-34. Like my previous message, a key theme in this passage is to listen well to God’s Word. Another theme is trusting God to work in people’s lives. Let us pray. The Lamp (4:21-25) Jesus’ question in verse 21, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?” has an obvious answer: no. First, what does this lamp refer to? Earlier in verse 11, after the disciples ask Jesus to

↓Audio link to the sermon: (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Today, we will look at a story Jesus told, called “the Parable of the Sower”, which is in Mark chapter 4. Jesus’ parables uses images from daily life and nature. These images are very simple and concrete, yet convey deep spiritual truths. Let’s start with the first 9 verses of Mark chapter 4. Mark 4:1-9 Why does Jesus teach in this way, instead of just explaining things directly? It’s his way of catching his audience’s attention, by inviting them to ponder: “What does Jesus mean?” They were memorable, making his teachings easier to remember.

↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) In today’s sermon, we get a small glimpse of Jesus’s earthly family. And we’ll hear Jesus start to talk about his wider, global family. We’ll read three short passages from Mark’s Gospel chapter 3. The first passage is verses 7 to 12. Mark 3:7-12 Here we see Jesus’ popularity skyrocket. Not just among people from Jewish lands like Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem but also from non-Jewish lands like Idumea, Jordan, Tyre, and Sidon. In later chapters we see Jesus reaching out not just to his own Jewish people but to other races,

↓Audio link to the sermon: (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Intro I watched an interview of a Japanese man who converted to Islam. After years of working as a salaryman, he began to ask about the meaning of life. He began to explore different religions. He was most attracted to Christianity and Islam. Islam had many more rules that were clearly defined—for example, telling you how many times to pray each day. Islam was the most appealing religion because he wanted order, rules, details, and clarity. These are not bad things necessarily. But as we’ll see in today’s passage, rules can also control our

↓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

　↓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

　↓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