It being the first Sunday of May, we'd like to worship our Lord with joy.

You should have the same problem; we get lots of wrong numbers. Some were for cable t.v., and some were for a certain office. One day, I was out almost the whole day, and left my answering machine on. When I returned home, there were eight calls, and they were all for the cable company. Some people wanted to buy cable. Others wanted their reception fixed. We get these kind of calls, especially for cable television services. Finally, I called up the cable company to try to sort out this problem. They felt very sorry for me, and I also felt badly for them, for it would influence their business. But, one morning, I think it was from God, I had an idea. I should record my voice in the answering machine, saying "This is [our phone number]. Oita Evangelical Church of Christ. Please leave a message and we will call you back. God bless you."

Here is another example: There was a beautiful garden on a campus in the U.S. Teachers of the university wanted to keep it clean, but, because it was a short cut through campus, the students always wanted there. They tried to keep them away, but the students kept using it. Finally, the principal advised the teachers to make a path through it. And they did. And, the students happily used it.

Well, through these stories, I learned to yield or give in. It's easy to keep our ways, and insist that it's the only way. But, in quite a few situations, if you give in, things go much easier. To build up a congregation in love, we need to share this concept: we have to have concern for other people.

When Jesus was leaving us to return to Heaven, after His resurrection, He left us the command to go out into the world, making all nations disciples of Christ. But, in another part of the New Testament, He also said that there were not enough workers for the harvest. There is such a big harvest, but the workers are not enough for it.

This coming Thursday, on the 7th, there will be a special musical concert featuring a Korean singer and other Christians from both Korea and Singapore. They will be coming to Chapel Noah to have a time of sharing in the name of Christ. Some of them, and other Christians, will be back here again in the summer to distribute tracts about Christianity in remote parts of Kyushu, including some part of Oita prefecture. As all of you know, in Korea there is a serious economic problem, and people in South East Asia are hardly rich enough to afford the expensive air fare to and from Japan. But, these people do have the eyes of Christ, looking over the world, for lost souls. They have the passion and love for people, which leads them to this wonderful action.

Back in Mark 2:1-12, those four people had the love of Christ, and because of this strong love, they had an idea. We would think about it this way, "If we make an opening in the roof, the people underneath would become dirty and get angry at us." But their love was beyond this earthly kind of thinking. Jesus, who was preaching to the crowd, saw their faith as well as their deeds. He found their love and faith in their deeds. They really wanted to help their paralysed friend to be saved from the final result of sin. When you are sick or have other health problems, you are eager to be healed. But, Jesus knew that it was far more important to be forgiven of sin first, and then, be given good health. So he forgave the man his sins, and then healed him. Refer to III John 1:2.

To observe His commandment to lead every creature to Christ is something that we can't do by ourselves. We need to have a congregation of love that will put the work into action.

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
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