It was as many as 16 years ago when we dedicated Chapel Noah to God. Some of us here this morning remember the scene when we offered our thanks-giving 16 years ago. Yes, people do change. Some of us are already now in heaven. And, our children of Chapel Noah have been growing in many ways. Actually, recently some of the children of "Angel Kids" are starting to play musical instruments to praise God.

Zechariah 4:6-7: This is the scripture I was given 16 years ago, when we had nothing to depend upon, after we had decided to build our church (we had no money)! Only with this scripture did we start building the Church of God. Through this we learned and experienced, not with our physical strength but with God's power, that we could even do such a difficult thing.

Looking back to this morning's scripture reading, we know that St. Paul was eager to visit Rome [the capital of the Roman Empire] so that he could spread out the message of the Gospel. God is truly wonderous! Being under arrest, Paul was now going to Rome.

Today's passage is something like journal entries of Paul's voyage there. As we read today's passage, I thought on how it resembled our life together. Human lives are often compared to journeys. The distance to Rome was 3,000 Km. How long that distance is by the sail boats of those days! It was a very long ways, but they had a goal to achieve. I suppose that goal was one of the things that was so helpful in encouraging them on -- well, we also have a goal as Christians. You might know what it is -- it is to be like Jesus, learning how to wait on God, and on people with love. We are in the middle of this journey. It is not an easy way to go alone. True, Paul was with Luke. Luke wrote the passage we read today. Paul was with other people too. One of them was Aristarchus, who was from Thessalonica. He had been with Paul all through his times of hardship. Another was a centurion, Julius. He did not belong to Paul, but to the Roman Empire. Instead, you could say that Paul belonged to him, as he had to guard Paul along with other prisoners until he brought them to their destination. Unlike Aristarchus, Julius was not a Christian, but he still provided Paul a very useful service.

This fact reminded me of my own job; as a pastor, I have various kinds of relations with people outside of the Christian world. In each of our lives, even non-Christians do many good things for our work. Again, we do not live our lives alone!

Before Chapel Noah was built, our missionary [a Reverend Visser, from South Africa] had been around to many places trying to spread the Gospel out; I think this is another journey.

We settled down in this place, Shimomunakata. And, we have been here for 16 years. In this period, we have experienced not a few events. Some were very enjoyable, but others were terrible to endure. Each church may have to go through hardships to reach the goal. Some churches in Japan had such a problem that they had to go through trials. They must have been hurt very badly. However, they are one of the most blessed churches in Japan. Hallelujah!

In Paul's ordeal, they were just about to have a great storm. It was so terrible that they ran out of hope. They had lost a lot. But, after the storm, we find that Paul encouraged them with words of prophecy that God had given him during that trial. Their journey seemed terrible, but they finally arrived at their destination. So too, our lives may seem terrible and too difficult sometimes, but with God's hands, we will also reach our goal.

THIS MESSAGE WAS SHORTENED BECAUSE OF THE ANNIVERSARY LUNCHEON THAT THE CHURCH HAD PLANNED FOR TODAY.

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
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