“It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:26)

　↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Today’s message will center on Lamentations chapter 3, verses 25 and 26. It says, “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” First, let me briefly introduce the book of Lamentations. It is a song of prophet Jeremiah’s sorrow as he laments over the destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is often called the Weeping Prophet. We can imagine his despair and discouragement as he witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, the beloved city

“Jesus Saves Us from Shame and Bestows Us with Honor” (Mark 5)

[An audio recording of this sermon will be uploaded after the worship service.] As we continue reading the Gospel of Mark, I want to talk about how Jesus saves us from shame and bestows us with honor. The ideas of honor and shame run deeply in many cultures. Let me give an example in Japan. For a few years, a hot topic in Japanese media was the story of Princess Mako’s engagement to a commoner. The young man was scrutinized from all angles. Was he worthy of marrying a member of the Imperial family? Many people opposed this marriage because the young man’s mother had an unresolved financial dispute. This

Necktie of Righteousness_by OMF missionary Levi Booth

　↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) 2023 is well under way. I wonder what kind of year you have waiting for you. I am planning to get married in the summer so for me that’s the main thing on my mind. It’s very exciting of course, but at the same time I do have a bad memory from a wedding in Japan. If I show you photos from the wedding, maybe you can work out what happened. You see there’s one thing wrong about me. Can you spot it? Something about the way I’m dressed that makes me

“I will punish the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 50:18)

↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Today, we will read from Jeremiah chapter 50. It is about God’s judgment on Babylon. No matter how great a nation, if it becomes proud, oppressive, and abandons God’s ways, it will receive God’s judgment. May this message give you assurance and courage as you look at the condition of the world today. Verse 1 says, “This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.” Verse 2 says, “Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep

“I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed” (Jeremiah 33:8)

　↓Audio link to the sermon:(1st worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) 　 Good morning, everyone. Today is the 5th Sunday of the month. I’m thankful to God for Kitazawa-sensei, See Huang, and Park-sensei’s help in preaching at IBF. My prayer for this new year is that all of us will look to our Savior and be grounded and mature in our faith. In my previous message, I focused on Jeremiah chapter 32, verses 39 and 40: “I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for