Introduction by Pastor Hirota:
As you all know we have a special speaker, Rev. Hiroyuki Suzuki for a sermon today. He used to be a mafia who did every single bad deeds he could tell. But one time during his hard life he encountered Jesus Christ. Now he is a well-used pastor who was even invited to American President, Bill Clinton's breakfast prayer meeting.

II Cor. 5:17.

I feel like singing to the Lord, after giving such praises this morning [We had just finished our songs of praise, as led by our translator, Junko Okamoto]. (I personally believe I have a beautiful voice of a canary.) In this limited short period of time, though, I'd like to speak to you as just one of those who has received God's grace.

I used to be a member of the Japanese mafia (yakusa), which is a fact that is so widely spread out to the people that they might regard me as some kind of special person, but I am not. I am just a simple person, or rather, I am one of these weak people. Yes, we are all weak and simple people in reality [Power is an illusion].

Looking around, we can't help finding lots of sinfulness, weakness and dirtiness in people's lives. People are so depressed that naturally they think there's no other way to live, and that we can never start brand new lives. We are so helpless when it comes to starting over again.

I Cor. 1:26. As one who is being used by the strong hand of God, I often wonder why God is using me like this; I have been to various places in the world, of course ind\cluding Japan, but I am nothing. I am not educated at all. I am no special man, rather I was such a bad guy. This part of the Bible gave me a light to see by. Now I give thanks to the Lord for the fact that I am nothing. No matter how many people are gathering in front of me, and no matter what kind of people are watching and listening to me, I am able to remain the same; I am truly nothing, one who can't do anything without God's help and work.

I used to be so scared of everyday life; some people were always trying to kill me if they could get a chance. I was so strongly addicted to gambling, alcohol and women. I was miserable. There seemed to be no hope in my life. I did silly things; I was a loser as a husband, a father and a single person. However, God, with grace, changed my whole life. My wife used to be such a miserable woman in our old marriage. I did every single bad thing I could do to her. True, we did have a lot of money with which we could do a lot. But with this money I enjoyed one woman after another. My wife and I had no love between us, yet now she claims to be one of the happiest women alive. I didn't do anything with my daughter, who is now a teenager, as her father. But now she says "I love my father." She adds "He used to be a devil, but now he is an angel." It should be okay; there is an angel who has a rather large tatoo running acrossed his shoulders.

I was put in jail twice in my life. As you can see, a part of each of my little fingers is lost. These are the prints that show I used to be bad. [These are my hands but look at Jesus' hands!] For my sins, Jesus Christ was crucified with His hands stuck to the cross. Through His cross I was forgiven. By His cross, I was saved. Our being sinful is forgiven only by His cross.

If you see or only imagine in thought, it is also a sin. When we reach to a certain age, we get interested in having sex. In the Bible it says if a man sees a woman with this thought in mind that man is guilty of committing adultery. According to the words of the Bible, to make love to one's husband or wife should be considered precious and respectable. [Conversely, having sex with someone else, or even to someone whom you are not married to, is terribly disrespectful. The lack of commitment attached to the act soils what is meant to be sacred.]

"Abortion" is another such sin in the world, and is especially present in Japan. Some people regard it as nothing -- it's only an unborn baby. No! It is a definite murder! Worshipping a stone idol [as is done in Japan] can never give you forgiveness.

I used to be bad. I hurt my family and people around me -- why? Because I didn't know anything about God. Without knowing Him, and without Him inside of us, we let our natural sinfulness work naturally, and freely, in us. Even in our families, we exchange words to severely hurt one another.

I was No.2 in my yakusa family. I was completely depending on my own power. I mistakenly believed I could do anything in my own strength. To get and grasp my own success, I didn't care about anyone or anything else. To get what I really wanted, I tried any kind of method that was available to me. But one time I found my limit. I left Osaka where I had grown up and began my work as a yakusa. I left my wife and daughter. I went alone to Tokyo. I was hiding myself in that society, and running away from people and shadows all of the time. I could not do anything to save myself. I was a wretch. There was no hope for my future. I was so depressed that I tried to commit suicide. I went through the motions of killing myself, one time with a gun. At that time, as I began to pull the trigger, I began to tremble. I could not even kill myself. After that, I became mentally ill. I went to a hospital for treatment, but they just gave me terribly expensive drugs that didn't help me.

Though she was once like I, my wife had become a Christian who had been praying for my salvation for many years by the time she was able to take me to her church. She had a broken knee at that time. With her disabled leg, she dragged herself to her church to worship and pray. I had little knowledge of what a church was. I grew up in a Buddhist family that often practised chanting. So when I was brought to her church, I discovered that a church was a place of prayers. Then my wife had her knee prayed over by her pastor. He said, "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, get your knee healed!" At that moment, she left her walking stick and walked back home unaided. I just couldn't believe it. I was suspecting her knee would surely give her pain again, but it didn't. My knowledge of this Jesus was only of someone who had lived and died 2000 years ago. I couldn't believe the strength that was in that name.

Today, we are all surrounded by cults and all kinds of evils. In these evil cults, there are so many intelligent people claiming belief. They must truly belief their organizations are places that can truly be depended on. No. They have no answers. They have no salvation. Nobody can save us. Every kind of doctor or counsellor can help you out. Even intelligent people can give you answers. We think someone or some organization can save us. But it's not true. I personally respect my ancestors, but I do not worship them. Many who were born where people naturally believe there is a God [still do not know Him. It is sad].

In Japan, we have to start right from the beginning again, from the most basic truth; there is God who created everything including us, who says to me, "You are precious to me. I love you." If you see me this morning as a person who used to be in the mafia, this is it. There is no more you will be able to see than this. But here in front of you, if you really can see me, is a Christian whom God loved so much that He saved me for His sake. This same God loves each of you too this morning. He is the only One who not only loves but changes you and can give you a brand new life. All you are to do this morning is to accept this wonderful God. I was like a virus that left only evilness to people around me. But now I have been transformed into a person whom God loves and uses for His sake.

I pray that all these people this morning will able to understand and accept God as I did. In Christ we can all be made new people!

Concluding comments of the day by Sid Matheson:
After the close of today's service, the church continued to buzz with activity. There was still much in store for people as we prepared to launch our March for Jesus/Millenium 2000 festival that was to conclude at Wakakusa Park behind Centaporta in downtown Oita City. I arrived at the site early to help with setting up chairs. And though I have passed by this small innercity park many times en route to my Tokiwa Morning English Classes held at the nearby McDonald's (pronounced here as "makudonarudosu") this was the first time I noticed a decorative childrens' wading pool replete with fountains and cascading water falls. You had to be there at just the right time, I guess. Anyway, when I arrived, several band members for the later presentation, and Christians whom I did not know, were setting up their sound equipment, testing drums, guitars, and pre-recorded music, and it was just nice to be able to sit in the shade with my Shimomunakata Tambo Fields straw hat all bent out of shape from compressed storage now almost Aussie style in appearance, the wind occassionally tried to whip it off.

As I waited, other members of Chapel Noah appeared, and then members of Oita Christ Church. Finally, the truck came ladden with collapsable metal chairs and we went to work setting up for the latter performance. As we waited and worked the Oita Gospel Choir practiced some of the numbers it was going to perform later that day and then Mission Barabbas came, and Pastor Suzuki proved that he really could sing like a canary. And I had to remark that he could really dance too! Sugoi! Finally, it was time for us to meet at our rendezvous point opposite Oita's Funai Castle - some fifteen minutes away on foot.

There I met more wonderful people: my family was there only just arrived by van, and I had the pleasure of sneaking up behind my daughter and squeezing her. Nice dad, eh? She so easily embarrassed. My wife looked like a more typical Japanese farmer. My son looked like a future yakuza with his blue mirrored wrap-around sunglasses on, but his smile gave him away. I met with two of my Sunday morning bible study students, from different parts of the globe: Zacchary from the French-speaking Central African Republic, and Gapsu Han from South Korea, both like my son, big smiles on their faces. I met a couple who belonged to a Chapel Noah house-church in Fukaoka City. I'm sorry, I didn't know we actually had a house church in Fukaoka City, so this was a glorious surprise. I met members of two other churches and of course Mission Barabbas. And perhaps finally I met Hiroyuki Suzuki face-to-face, and he patted my fat belly (I told my wife I was pregnant) and told me that he had recently visited Calgary, not mine but another city in Canada. Which was a particularly kind thing to say to me here because if you are white in Japan, everyone assumes you are American. Have you ever seen a free yakuza smile? Well, it's like the Son is coming out. Anyway, Hiroyuki was very engaging and a popular target for all of the church ladies who wanted group pictures taken with him. Such freedom Christ has bought!

But, now it was time for the march! We collected into our respective church groups and were prepared by Mission Barabbas members to go out triumphantly with a pep-talk and prayer. Flags and mounted vertical banners and placards were distributed and we left the school grounds with songs of praise.

On the way back to Wakakusa Park, we sang, smiled, marched and distributed papers. We wore t-shirts distributed by our various churches: Oita Christ Church white, Chapel Noah orange-yellow, Mission Barabbas black, another white. And at the park, another church light blue. When we arrived, the Gospel Singers were already underway, and every seat had a plastic bag containing Japanese Gideon Bibles, information and plastic fans. All of which could, and we hope will, be used throughout the summer, though with the gracious wind, and the excitement there was no time or need to peruse and use.

I also met many others there at the festival. Friends and acquaintances, most of them Christians. Tim Dyck, a former member of the original Africa Inland Mission, then led by South African missionary Visser, and now resident member of Oita International Christian Fellowship. Butch MacDonald, a former Chapel Noah Hello English teacher, who is now working on his own, married to a young Japanese lady with a son in tow. A young lady working for the Oita International Exchange Center, who is now Christian, and attends the TEAM Mission-sponsored Akeno church. However, it was time for me to go to work. It had been a wonderful day, but I needed a shower and change of clothes before I travelled to Beppu for my Sunday Evening Tokiwa class. So, at 5:30 PM, barely half an hour into the scheduled festival event, I walked back to my car, payed the parking fee, and drove away. Much later, my family reported to me that Pastor Suzuki was a very funny man, making lots of sound effects in his presentation, and moving energetically around. This was considerably different from this mornings' sermon, and was no doubt an effect of hanging around the Angel Kids during the march. We hope, or perhaps not, that he soon recovers. God bless you all. Sayonara!

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