RCCM of Japan

From a sermon series on 1 Kings by See Huang Lim, a missionary at IBF. Today’s sermon is about taking on big new challenges. Today’s Scripture is about David’s advice to his son Solomon as Solomon takes on a huge new responsibility: becoming the next king of Israel. May David’s words be useful to us in our own challenges today. We will only a short passage in 1 Kings 2, only the first 4 verses. [Read 1 Kings 2:1-4] Background We don’t know how old Solomon was when he became king of Israel. How many people here are 30 years old or younger? Please raise your hand. Some scholars suggest

From a sermon series on 1 Kings by See Huang Lim, a missionary at IBF. Intro Today we are entering a new series of sermons on 1 Kings, a historical book in the Old Testament. As a young Christian, I used to dislike the Old Testament. It has stories that are weird, more dramatic and shocking than your 7:00pm TV drama. Sometimes I don’t know what God wants me to learn from those stories. Yes, it’s not easy to study the Old Testament, but it is part of our Bible and is very interesting. I hope together we can learn some good things from the book of 1 Kings. Today

This summer, together with friends from church, I visited the families of American missionaries who had served many years in Minami-Nagareyama. That is, Otto and Pat who now live in Lewiston, Idaho, and Steve and Sheila who live 3 hours away in Walla Walla, Washington. We visited for only a week but had a chance to renew old friendships and were encouraged to see our friends doing well, still lively as ever. Pat threw an international reunion party at River City Church, and we had a great time with many people – dearly-missed old friends, exchange students, and others. Otto, on the other hand, borrowed a huge van from the

In September 2016, I was asked to conduct a groundbreaking ceremony for a new building. The Church’s ongoing role is to help people live by the Word of God. Accordingly, during a groundbreaking ceremony, we pray for the safety of people involved in the construction, for God’s Word to be shared, and for God to use the building for His purposes. As a symbol of Christ’s redemption, we pour wine on the four corners and pray for Christ’s redemptive work to protect the land. At times, a Bible is wrapped up and buried in the foundation as well. (Pastor Shoichi Ino, IBF)

Some of these messages still echo clearly in my heart. The first was from the time Pastor Shunichi Miyamoto visited our Friday worship service and shared about the work of evangelism he was doing in Detroit. About 20 volunteer staff from Faith Covenant Church are involved in this ministry to the Japanese people. Some time ago, a Japanese housewife left all alone at home – and living not far from the church – suffered a nervous breakdown and committed suicide. After hearing about this tragic incident, the church opened its doors wide through English classes, cooking lessons, and a gym for housewives, to try and prevent such a tragedy from

A short sharing by Mrs. Kua (mother of an IBF member), who visited from Malaysia.

We live in the era of the Holy Spirit. In all things, the Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of everything Jesus has said (John 14:26). Also, it is written that he will prove the world to be in error concerning sin and judgment (16:8). Let us be led forward by the Spirit. Let us walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). My hope is that we will do both these things. Human relationships can sometimes be difficult. We have all surely experienced this in the workplace or home, in church or at school. As we attempt to correct others, let us also have meek hearts and be careful not