This morning, after the first service at Grace Chapel, I arrived at Chapel Noah where I found very few people. It reminded me of Jesus' second coming. I was wondering for a while if other people might have been taken to Heaven! I am pleased to be able to welcome this many people today!

At the very end of last year, we said goodbye to a lady from our church. She finished her 79 years in this world. Her son is a pastor in Aichi prefecture and her daughter is one of our Elders. When he was wondering and wanting to be a pastor, he had such difficulties to face. The place that he was called to serve was such a remote place from the city. There are only a few family names in this district; Kawanos, Kugimiyas, and Naitos. This means back in the long past, all of these peoples' ancestors were very close relatives. In a place like this, the bond is very strong between neighbours. So, he had a hard time devoting himself.

His neighbours were very against christianity. They all thought that it was the religion of a foreign land. Everyone in this place looked down upon him. Being in this kind of situation, his mother also suffered so much.

All of these things remind me of my experience when I was thinking about becoming a pastor. I was the only Christian in my family, so other family members didn't like me becoming a pastor. In those days, becoming a pastor meant deciding to live a very poor life devoted to God, My friends became richer and richer while I was still a bible college student. They were buying electric things for their parents; television sets, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, etc. These things were very expensive. When I heard this from my father, I was very hurt. Becoming a pastor meant that I would not be able to do these things for my parents. To be a pastor is to devote our families to God, of course including self. Pastors can't do good things in earthly ways. But, we do experience grace from our Lord and God, and His blessings - those of us who are fully devoted to Jesus.

Mt.9:35. When Jesus looked around at the crowd, He found them to be like helpless sheep lacking a shepherd. Do you know what kind of an animal a sheep is? Without a shepherd, many of them would die out! Just think of our people. They are like members of a crowd. Crowds have a very cold mind. A christian lady felt very sick on the street one day. She fell onto her knees. The surprising thing was that no-one payed any attention to her struggle. No-one cared! Mother Theresa once said about Japan, "It is a very rich country, but very poor in mind." Well, Jesus had compassion on such people in this passage. When we have compassion, it can be said, we have the mind of Jesus. Jesus has a totally different point of view from ours.

Rich people might be envied by poor people. Successful people may look very happy - this is our way of looking at things. But God's eyes see things differently.

John 4:35. Last year, we had a gathering for non-christians around Christmas. We prayed for our non-Christian families and friends. However, some of them -- well, maybe most of them -- failed to come to Jesus. We felt depressed about it. But just try to think about it this way: it should have been a time for them to get to know Jesus. It might have been a harvest time for them, but the workers were too few. Did you have enough time to wait on them? Did you spend enough time sharing with them? It was a harvest time, but there weren't enough well-devoted workers around them.

One time in a church in the U.S., they taking the weekly offering. In that church, they put their money on a big plate. It was a little boy's turn to put in an offering for the Lord, but he asked the man, who held the plate, to put the plate down instead. He was insistent, so the man did as he was asked. When the man had put down the plate, the little boy sat down on it. He said, "I have no money to offer you, so I am offering myself. Please accept my offering." This boy later grew up to be a well-used missionary.

This year, we would like offer ourselves to God in many ways; in fellowship, and in helps, changing our selfish lives to devoted ones. Please join with us in this offering.

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