Author: RCCM

↓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

↓Audio recording of the sermon: (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) In my high school, there was a teacher we were all scared. Mr. Ang had a loud booming voice, a stern face that rarely smiled, and a thin long cane that he carried everywhere. When he passed by, even naughty students cowered in fear. During his lessons, no one uttered the smallest squeak and no one fell asleep in class. He was the school’s head of discipline. So when I think of the word “authority,” I think of Mr. Ang. In today’s passage, Jesus is described as a person who taught with authority and

　↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) This is my fourth message on the book of Jeremiah. The theme of the previous message was “Return, faithless people” (Jeremiah 3:22). In that passage, God desired his people to repent and return to him. In Jeremiah 3:14-18, God said he would forgive his people and bring them back to Zion. He will restore both the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel. This restoration will involve a small remnant of exiles from Israel who had lost their country. The stubborn hearts of his people will change; and the