As all of you this morning, it is Mother's Day! And, it is wonderful to know that it was first started by a holy verse in the Bible. God is so good!

Well, last week, I was sent to a church for its gathering with your prayer support. Over 40 people from our church came, and the conference has been held for some years now for the purpose of their spiritual growth. This year it was held in a "pension" a country inn, at the foot of Mount Aso (a semi-active volcano and tourist attraction in Japan). The place we stayed in was very nice and neat. It was my first experience in finding ground coffee in the ashtray! And, the soy-sauce container was so neat that I mistook it for milk which I put into my coffee -- well, it was terrible!

The theme I was speaking on at the conference was "giving our ears to the Lord". In the case of the ashtray, I asked one of the inn's staff how to use it, otherwise, I would have surely eaten it. But, in the case of the milk, I didn't. Instead, I put it into my coffee and ruined it. All I had to do was ask. Without asking, we might make these kind of mistakes, especially being in a brand new place. It was a good lesson for me too, in the point that we should continually remember to ask. (We are to ask, or listen, to the Lord in every situation that we face).

Mark 6:3; Mt.12:47. In this place, Jesus' family were just standing outside of the building in which Jesus was teaching. They couldn't get through the circle of people. They had come to talk to Him, for they had heard that something was wrong with Him (At this point, Jesus just started the work which He was called into, and it which much surprised them and gave them a strange feeling. So they wanted to take Him home.) They badly wanted to talk to Him, so they gave a message to someone to pass to Him. But, Jesus did not care at all about the message from His family. He said that just because they were His earthly family did not mean that they were in touch with the work He was going to do. Rather, He said, His brothers and sisters were all of those who were around Him. When Jesus mentions brothers and sisters here, of course, it includes us.

Well, don't take this wrongly. Jesus was not feeling a coolness towards His family. But, at that moment, His family, including His mother Mary, were outside of the Family of God. And this kind of fact is very often seen in the families of pastors and other Christians. Fleshly or earthly we are, families; bound to each other firmly. True, we families love each other. But, it is also true that, at present, some of the members of a pastor's, or Christian's, family are outside of the spiritual bond of the family. Often, we leave behind our non-Christian families to worship God. In another place in scripture, a certain woman cried out to Jesus, "Blessed is the woman who bore You [Christ]! But Jesus replied that the blessed are those who listen to the Lord and walk with the words of God.

This morning, looking around we feel so blessed to find mothers, fathers, and brothers and sisters of God's family.. And, of course, we are not to forget our earthly families so that they can be saved through knowing us, as He promised in the Bible. See Acts 16:31.

"Family" is our eternal theme and we should think about it, pray over it, and love and wait on our families. Let us keep praying for our families!

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