It's already the second week of Advent this week. As all of you may have noticed, people around the world are also excited about this coming Christmas.

This morning we have some people from different countries with us (Sid, Tim and Maria) which reminds us about how difficult it is to communicate with foreigners. Language is so important -- here is a funny story about that:

A certain owner of a company here in Japan once made a special effort to encourage his employees to love their company. But, the next day, after taking such pains, he noticed many of his employees out washing their cars. Why? Well, in the Japanese language, the pronunciation of "company" and the pronunciation of "car" - "sha" sounds exactly the same!"

Yes, language is something. In the Old Testament, God repeatedly told the Israelites to love God, wait on Him and turn back to Him. However, the people were unable to understand His words. So finally, and just like it is written in today's scripture reading, the Word was incarnated, and came to live among us; and this is the real story behind Christmas.

I have talked before about the life and ministry of Ayako Miura. Just recently this well-used Christian lady author passed away. She had been writing on the themes of 'what is the truth?' and 'what is the word?' Once, she wrote about a certain lady who had suffered so much from the abuses of her alcoholic husband that she told their daughter she was going to kill him, and then later she did [not translated into English]. Often the words that we say have a strong power over us. In another book [also not translated yet], she wrote about three Japanese fishermen, who, after a great storm, were able to reach American shores. It was these men who first translated the English Bible into Japanese. They faithfully translated the very first part of the book of John.

Looking at the Bible itself we find that in the beginning (Genesis 1) God created this world using words! Again we find that words have a strange power. And, Colossians 4:4-6 tells us that we are to control what we say.

We have found that words used with kindness and salt really encourage people. Probably the salt in our words is like a cleansing agent, making what we say wholesome and helpful. Again, I mention that that Christian author was like a magician with words. Talkative people are those who have lots of subjects to talk about, also anyone who tries to help another in their business magically changes into a kind person in the sight, and expression of this author. She freely controlled her words. I am sure that she had a deep fellowship with the Lord every time she used her words. She, herself, once said that in writing her stories she can't even start without asking Jesus first "what should I write." She must have received the "Logos", or living words of God, all of the time.

John 12:48-49. Jesus always asked His Father God before He started about what steps He should take. Jesus always begged His Father for the Logos. We, too, are to follow Him in this practise. We do read the Bible, but do we truly receive His words? [this is something we should think about:] The words of God are our strength in living in this world. And these same words are also instructive to us. The Bible is everything. It encourages us, feeds us, and teaches us. In this season, let us once again think of the Word who lived among us, and who is also living in us.

Sermon translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
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