As you all know, I am exchanging notebooks with the children of Sunday School. This is, to be honest, a lot of fun!! I knew how much they can understand my sermon. I received cute messages, and the other day, I found a testimony! I also found a certain notebook that belongs to a little one. The holy verse of Acts 9:31. Maybe that one recently mastered how to write. I could find lots of traces of using an eraser before he/she could complete it. I was very much impressed by it: "Then, the Church throughout Judea... was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit..."

Read also Ep.1:23. These two holy verses are very meaningful to me. We all are portions of our church; Chapel Noah. We all hope and pray that our church will follow the early church. The early church accomplished the growth after undergoing sufferings, though. Most of the people, who followed Jesus, expected Him to be a great leader of their nation. Until the day He was crucified, His disciples and followers were so proud of Him. But, the moment He was arrested, they all scattered, refusing to be associated with Him. [This was a form of suffering for the church too].

Peter, one of the leaders of the disciples, refused Jesus as much as three times, even though it was he who had prophecied that Jesus was the Son of the living God. See Matthew 16:18. He refused the Messiah. Peter represented a group of disciples who were uneducated, simple, and self-centered... Probably, it is hard to find Peter's good points. However, Jesus chose Peter to be a messenger of Christ. Though Peter had many bad qualities, Jesus chose Peter, according to His own will, and later, He came to Peter and tested his love for Him three times. Look to the passage in Re.2:2-6. [Loving Jesus is so important to our work].

Peter had the same kind of love that the Ephesian Church had. He tested Peter to see if he could love Him more than the other disciples there. All the time, a church starts with those who love the Lord with all their hearts and souls and minds and strengths. So, to build up the first church, Jesus reconformed Peter's love for Him. Without this love, it would have been impossible to finish the task of building His Church, and it would have been impossible for Peter to complete his life in such a great way later on!

Also, a church starts with those who can devote themselves only to the Lord. These are people who are truly committed to Jesus. Every single person in the congregation of believers is to be fully and personally committed to Jesus.

Peter asked Jesus if John would take the same way as Peter would. But such things were out of his hands. [Jesus concentrates on us. It is never what others will or will not do that matters, but what we will do.] It is the matter of the individual; a Christian couple is a very good thing. But their work for the Lord should be different. Even though a husband is a deeply committed Christian, that does not mean that his wife is. Even in a Christian family, each one should be deeply devoted to Jesus!

I remember the time when I committed my whole life to the Lord at a certain conference; a missionary wife was giving a testimony in which she indicated her strong love for Jesus. She said, "My greatest love is for the Lord. In my life, my second priority is my husband." I was shocked. I wondered if her husband was very upset. I looked at him. But, he was just sitting there, smiling happily, and listening to her. I understood, at that moment, the kind of love that the Lord wanted at that moment, and accepted it.

Now, we are all devoted and committed Christians in Chapel Noah. Let us remember therefore our first love, and if there is anything that we need to repent of, let us do it! As fully committed Christians, having God's love, let us lead our lives for the Lord.

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
For another sermon see: Oita Evangelical Christ Church
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