Recently we've had such nice weather - nice and cool - that it has been a great relief to me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be as healthy as I am right now! And, this morning, I am glad to see you all here today to worship together.

I once heard that a pianist said that if she didn't practise her piano seven days, she would know that her skill had gone down. And, if three days, her teacher would say that she was being lazy, and if even one day, her audience would hear the difference. To constantly practice demands patience and effort. This is such a hard job that probably no one likes to do it. However, to remain as a skillful pianist, you must do it.

Exactly the same thing applies to Christians. We are all supposed to grow up spiritually. Once we were all born as a baby Christian. And, as time goes by, we also keep growing. So, by now, we should be eating solid foods.. we should not be infants any more.

1 Co.3:1-4. But, just look around and think about yourselves, and you will probably discover that you are still immature, needing milk.

In today's reading, we find out another thing: to reach maturity, we should be aiming for a goal. We should be continually running towards that goal. For this we need to forget the past. Of course, we should not forget the blessings God has given us, but we should not be living in the past either. Various kinds of things always happen in our lives. But, we should not stick to the sad and unhappy events. We should live positively. As Christians, we are encouraged to keep running ahead; fixing our eyes on the goal that is before us.

Now here maybe a good example of this; a well-blessed Japanese pastor, who is constantly forgetting the past, and continuing to run ahead: he is half-American, and was born right after the end of World War II. During that time, we Japanese hated the Americans, and severely looked down on those who were born of mixed ancestory. We called them "Ainoko". Now, at first, this gentleman took this to mean love - of - child. And, he was happy about this, thinking that he was a child of love, but later when he discovered the intented meaning, he was very discouraged. Well, anyways, he became an athlete later on, and ran into a certain man who was married to the daughter of a pastor. This was how he first came to know of Christianity. Various kinds of things happened in his life (I will omit these today), but eventually he became a pastor too. Last week, he came to Oita for a gathering that was for Christians. I had a chance to attend this, and met him there. His figure was really quite outstanding. He wore a brightly-coloured shirt and tight, black leather pants, with lots of chains around his waist. In a way, and as some pastors say, he is not a normal Christian pastor. I think this is so; he is not a "Christian" as we think of Christians. He confesses that he does not belong to the "religion" of Christianity, but belongs to Jesus Christ. Well, yes, he has been sent to several kinds of people; Japanese Yakuza, Buddhist priests, etc. His name is Arthur Holland, and now he is reaching out to youngsters, who enjoy motorcycling. That's why he was wearing the tight black leather pants, with the chains, he is practicing Paul's words, "to the Greek, I became like a Greek, to the Jew, I became as a Jew.." God uses many kinds of people for the salvation of several kinds of souls.

In the church, I think there are three kinds of people: 1. those who just have their names on the church membership list, 2. those who come to church on Sundays, offering their tithes, and 3. those who serve as a part of the church, attending meetings, providing helps, teaching, singing, and/or many other things.

My wish for you all is that you will belong to this third group, which is where I am sure God wants us all to be. We have been Christian long enough to be teachers -- let us keep running towards the goal!

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
For another sermon see: Oita Evangelical Christ Church
For all sermon indicies see: cHaPeL nOaH sErMoN iNdEx