We have had quite a few days of rain, which may have made you sick [as it happened, I and my family were, and this message almost didn't get placed on the internet] physically and in other ways. But soon we'll have the beautiful season of autumn [the air usually becomes dryer in Autumn, and there are several tastey seasonal fruits Japan looks forward to].

Well, last week, I found a surprising piece of news in the papers, a well-used Christian lady writer [possibly the best in Japan] has become seriously ill [She is now in coma, and will likely die]. She has been publishing lots of books about God, and what is real love, and Christianity itself. I found it very interesting that she was reported to have become sick in the secular news, for I usually find only reports of people's deaths there. Widely, they press the death of famous people, but reporting that someone is very sick is very rare. It was clear to me that this woman has had a very strong impact of the lives of Japanese citizens; her messages about the love of God, and Christian lives, have been well received.

Here, in today's scripture, we can also see another strong Christian, who deeply influenced people through his Christian life; St. Paul. As you know, he had a very strong Christian life; he used to persecute Christians, but later he became one, and became zealous to spread the Gospel to many places, far and wide.

The lady, Mrs. Ayako Miura, and St. Paul led very remarkable Christian lives, while you might think that you yourselves have done very little. You might have experienced the joy and excitement of your salvation so much that you couldn't help but tell everyone around you about it -- and in this case, you have influenced others to some extent -- but, as time has passed, your salvation and God's forgiveness may have become a thing that was done and is in the past as well, and you might have lost the excitement that you once had. Well.. we can't tell what will happen in the future. We have no idea what great things we might do. Today, we have quite a few children with us, and for none of them can we predict what great things they will do. This unexpectation of our future really happened to Paul too!

He used to persecute Christians, and as you know from the passage, Jesus Christ Himself! He thought he was purging an evil from his sacred faith, and the faith of his people, but actually, and Jesus said this, he was hurting himself through hurting people. There is no joy or happiness in hurting people. Probably, after becoming a Christian, those terrible deeds of persecution were forgiven, but Paul couldn't forget the evil he had done. So the love of God was such an unprecedented blessing to him that he confessed and testified to how he had become a Christian as many as three times [in the biblical record. He may have confessed this continually]. We used to be under the reign of Satan, but now we are living in the Light.

Well, I often get a chance to talk with elderly Christians in my work. Most of them have told me that the greatest event in their lives has been to know Jesus Christ. They have told me repeatedly how they first met Jesus. Every time I see them, they tell me exactly the same story they told me before!

Just like Paul, we were also living in darkness, however after we experienced salvation, we became people who are to have a real life- saving influence on people. You might think that you have not changed as much as Paul did. But, we have changed, and we will keep changing [Ph.1:6 makes this promise: that once you have recieved God's salvation through your faith in Jesus Christ's power and reality, God will not stop changing you until he has made you perfect -- this is a very special kind of salvation, that we can expect God to give us]! Some of the people who have committed their lives to God have gone on to become pastors or missionaries. Others might work for God through more indirect means such as their regular jobs.

You have probably heard of the Brazilian soccer player who has come to Japan; Bismark (I'm afraid that I don't know his family name). Brazil is a Catholic country, and he was also Catholic, but then his sister became a Protestant, and this affected him so much that he followed after her. He is famous because after every goal he makes at his games, he kneels down in the field and gives the Lord a prayer of thanks. Through this, many fans have discovered that he was a Christian, and have become interested in Christianity. He is sure that he has been sent to Japan to do God's work through his job. He had badly wanted to go to Spain to play soccer, but God had different plans for him, and he obeyed. Today, Bismark has an association of Christians in Japan so that whoever sees him pray, or becomes interested in God, can really get to know God.

We have a significance in being here, and it is to lead others around us to Jesus Christ. No matter how we can work for God, we are to approach people with the same objective -- that they may be saved by the cross.

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