Good Morning dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
I am Sheryl Guerrero Westhauser, 45 years old, married and have 2 wonderful children. Let me tell you about my testimony as a Christian. My Christian life started when I was 13/14 years old. I was born a Catholic because my parents were Catholics. I belong to a family of musicians. It’s in our genes. My grandfather (from the father side) is a famous guitarist in our town. He plays every day at Church. My grandma is a singer too! Because of our grandpa, me and my other cousins joined our little hometown church choir! We sing weekly for the Sunday Mass and if there’s a burial service and other occasions we all attend and sing with the choir! I remember I was just 10 years old that time and I can remember that my Aunt (my dad’s youngest sister) was the first Christian in our family and every time she visits our grandparents, she will gather some of us to share the words of God thru Bible Study! I remember attending and listening most of the time! One day she told us to attend a Sunday service in the next town so we can experience different a kind of service. So me and my other Aunt attended, and that day I felt different. Something that was missing when I was attending the Mass ! On that day I started getting more interested in the Bible and I remember I told myself one day I will stand in front and I will be leading the Worship Service. So I attended the Music Ministry meeting and practice. Until one day I get to be assigned to be one of the back-up singers . It was wonderful singing for the Lord and the feeling was completely different. Something I couldn’t explain. There’s happiness and fulfillment. So I became an active member of the Music Ministry. I attended Bible studies regularly, prayer meetings and 2 x a week practice for the Music Ministry. It’s like Church was my second home! It wasn’t easy at the beginning because I was young and thank God my uncle (my aunt’s husband) also joined the worship team as our guitarist. He had a car so he can take me to church any time! The time came when I was ready to lead the worship. I think I was 16 years old that time. When I finished High school and started going to College, I got very busy that I couldn’t attend Church. Very seldom do I go to Church. Until I graduated and got a job. I think for many years I didn’t go to Church anymore. There was an incident that the church was divided. Many people separated from the church. It was a challenge to attend the new venue and instead of going there I just thought, I’ll just stay home and rest! No more singing, no more Bible Studies, no more Sunday worship! That’s all! But I never forgot to pray and I never live like other young ladies who party and drink with worldly friends. No I did not do that! I was tired of working and dealing with people. Not to mention the traffic was worse that time. I was not happy and I feel something is still missing. Then a friend told me to apply as a singer in a band and travel to Southeast Asian countries. There I will sing in nice hotels. So in short got to travel to Malaysia, Singapore and India! Fast forward year 2000 in India I met my German Husband. In less than a year we got married in Germany and now we are married for 22 years and have 2 kids. We have lived in 5 countries the last 22 years (Germany, China, India, Malaysia and Japan). It was a big challenge, especially for us Christians, when we can’t find a Church in a foreign country. So in Germany we attended the German Evangelical Church , (my husband’s family is evangelical). In China I didn’t find any Church for us. In India there was a big Christian community at New Delhi. In Malaysia we also attended a Christian Service but we were not that active as we are now in Kobe Union Church. We first attended the EKK the German Service here until the time we decided to attend KUC and then the Filipino Service which is the Lamb of God. We are so grateful because finally we have found a Church where we can go regularly and continue to serve the Lord! I would like to thank Pastora Claudia for always being there and for introducing me to the Mislang Family. Brother Roy and his wife also introduced us to the rest of the Filipino Community. Life wasn’t easy for us expats moving from country to country, changing schools for kids every 4 years sometimes was hard! But I know in my heart I don’t need to worry because I believe God provides for everything. He sent us to Japan not only to work here but He has a plan and that is to finally use me again to serve Him and the Church! Bringing my Family closer to God is just amazing! I believe everyone here also faced the most difficult trials in your lives. It turned my world upside down! But with the Grace of God, I did not give up! Yes, I cried! I was down but I never questioned God why things happened these way. But instead I thanked Him for making us stronger as a Family and as a Christian! I want to share you my favorite song “Lord I Offer my Life” (sing Chorus part) – I will accompany with guitar. Every time I feel afraid, sad and worried I sing this song for Him. BEFORE, I USE TO SING IN THE WORLD, BUT NOW GOD CHANGED ME! NOW I AM SINGING FOR HIM. HE IS THE ONE WHO MADE MY VOICE, AND I WILL GLADLY OFFER BACK TO HIM WHAT HE HAS GIVEN ME. I FOUND THE MISSING PIECE IN MY LIFE. I believe my life is nothing without Him. I owe everything to Him. His name is Jesus! Jesus our Lord and Savior! Thank you so much and God Bless us All!
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Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts together this morning
be pleasing in your sight O Lord. You are our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Last week, we welcomed Pastor Mark as a preacher and had a chance to get to know him better at the forum. Among all the things he shared with us, one comment that he made in particular stuck with me. He said, “Healthy things grow. Healthy church will grow.” This week, I asked myself; where in the Bible could we find good examples of a healthy, growing church? And what immediately came to my mind was the book of Acts. The book of Acts talks about how the disciples of Jesus continued to preach the gospel of the risen Christ after Jesus ascended into heaven. You know the famous story in the book of Acts, don’t you? The Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples and those who were there in Jerusalem on Pentecost day, and they started speaking in tongues. Despite the fact that they were all suddenly speaking in different languages, through the Spirit they somehow understood each other. Peter, one of the disciples who had denied Jesus three times before Jesus was crucified, then started to preach powerfully about the power of God being shown through God’s son, Jesus Christ, and the need for repentance and baptism to receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:22-36) That day, three thousand people took Peter’s words seriously and, in the end, they were all baptized. Three thousand conversions! Wow just like that! And there are other places in the book of Acts where we see even more people joining the Christian community;(Acts 2:47, 5:14 and 11:24) When we read all these verses, I can sense nothing but excitement, elation and awe of what must have been happening in the growing church during those times.. No doubt that the churches were being energized, encouraged by what God was doing through the disciples. The work of the Holy Spirit was very much a visible and powerful force among them! But what was their secret? What was the key to their growth? What was it that led these early churches, which we read in the book of Acts, to grow? Well one thing we can tell is that they certainly valued living together as a community gathered around the things which God values. Look at Acts 2:43-47. It says that they were together, sharing all things and distributing them according to the needs of each person; they ate together, and they even praised God together as one people. (Acts 2:43-46) And the result of the people living so faithfully was this: day by day, more people were saved. (Acts 2:47) But I feel like that there must have been more to the growth of these early church communities than faithful living, and as I was reading through the first half of the book of Acts this week, it hit me. It came to me. A realization, a revelation of why exactly the churches of this time and place were able to continue growing. They continued to grow and expand because church communities handled the conflicts well. As tight as these communities were, as close as they all were at first, when Christianity began to spread to more and different places, there came challenges. Conflicts.. Christians, especially the leaders of the church - disciples and apostles - were often the recipients of direct attacks and persecution for talking about Jesus in public, because the religious authorities feared that people would join in this new movement of those who believed in the gospel of Jesus, rather than remaining faithful to them. So they were thrown in jail. They were about to get killed. These kinds of things are attacks from an outside force, but there were attacks coming from the inside from their own church communities as well. And what made these particular attacks and conflicts truly dangerous was that they had the potential to divide the unity of the churches, and prevent the Gospel from spreading. Think about it. When conflict grows within a community, a large portion of the community’s energy and resources are being consumed just in dealing with that conflict. As we all know very well, prolonged conflict exhausts us and wears us down. Today’s Scripture reading shows us one of those conflicts, something that was considered a major issue in Christian communities at the time, and it had to do with the salvation of Gentiles. Here is the context. A chapter before today’s reading, something amazing happens. There was a guy named Cornelius, a Roman army soldier of high status. What was amazing about him was not his high status though. What was amazing about him was that even though he was a non-Jew (At the time, it was believed that the only Jews were God’s chosen people, the only ones who could be truly devoted to God), he was devoted to God and feared God. (Acts 10:2) So God chose him, used him, and spoke to him. God used him to bring one of Jesus’ disciples, Peter to this community of gentiles (a fancy word that means non-Jews), so they could hear the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Peter, as did most Jews of his time, believed that it was unlawful for a Jew to associate with or even visit a Gentile (Acts 10:28) because doing so would contaminate a Jewish believer, making them unclean. So his human inclination was not to visit Cornelius and his community of gentiles at all. Until God told him otherwise. What happened was that Peter sensed the guidance of the Lord; he saw a vision three times (Acts 10:16), and heard directly from the Spirit too. (Acts 10:19) From these he realized that God had told him that he should not call anyone, including the Gentiles, profane or unclean. (Acts 10:28) With God’s guidance, Peter went to meet with Cornelius and the community of gentiles in Caesarea, and preached the gospel there just like he had been doing with the Jews, the people of his own race. He said that God shows no partiality, that in every nation, anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God (Acts 10:34). He said that God is the Lord of all. (Acts 10:36), and it does not matter whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. Everyone who believes in Christ receives forgiveness of sins through Christ’s name regardless. (Acts 10:43) Then the Holy Spirit - the gift which is given to believers whom God has chosen - fell upon all the gentiles who heard Peter’s word (Acts 10:44), and they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Amazing, right? Our God is not a God who discriminates! Let’s look at this verse again in Acts 10:34. In every nation - anywhere, not just Israel - anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God. God shows no partiality. (Acts 10:34) God does not discriminate. In this way, one of the hallmarks of what it means to be a Christian was revealed to humans. God forgives and accepts all people who come to believe in Christ Jesus, regardless of race and ethnicity, and gifts them with the Holy Spirit. And that is why we are allcalled God’s children, despite the fact that the many of us here are not Jews! What an amazing thing it is that happened! Peter might have had such a spiritual high from this! His vision connected directly to the encounter with Cornelius and the gentile community in Cornelius’s town. Peter had that wonderful experience where an idea he thought was central to his religion or his faithfulness to God was challenged and corrected by the firm-yet- gentle revelation of God. God does not discriminate. God is not partial. God is the Lord of all; not just the Jews, but all the Gentiles as well. God’s understanding was much much bigger than that of Peter. And just as he witnessed conversion and baptisms in Jewish community, he witnessed people turning to God and being baptized in a community he had once thought unclean, once thought God meant for him never to mingle with. But God didn’t think that, and actually approved and encouraged his going to the gentiles, preaching to them and welcoming them in God’s family! God allowed all these things to happen! And this is when we get to Chapter 11, today’s reading. From the get-go, things are tough for Peter because he’s getting some fairly direct criticism from Jewish believers (who are referred to as circumcised believers in this chapter; Acts 11:2). Their claim, their criticism was this: they had heard that the Gentiles also had also accepted the word of God just like we talked. (Acts 11:1) And they did not like that. Specifically, they did not like the fact that Peter had gone to preach to them, to share the gospel with them. And not only that, he ate with them! They say to Peter, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men (meaning gentiles) and eat with them?” Peter was criticized. (Acts 11:2) Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. How would you feel? How would you respond to this criticism? If it helps, you can think of the situations where you felt criticized. I can certainly think of a few cases myself, as I am sure most of us can! So how do we respond to criticism? Let’s reflect on that for a moment. And while we reflect on that, I can share with you a little bit about some of the very human, not-very-good ways that I sometimes respond to criticism. As Christians, we also know we are called to live differently from the way the world says, so I know that in Christ I am called to respond to criticism differently! However, when I am criticized, there are times that my human instinct gets defensive. I start to focus strongly on how to justify my point of view, how to more strongly support my claims, and I find myself starting to think about how to achieve that. If those who criticize me don’t give me the chance to speak, if they keep me from talking, I get annoyed. Of course I try to listen, but rather than truly listening to the other person, I am just developing counter- arguments quickly in my head rather than trying to understand where the belief that others hold actually comes from. Things can be worse because I do forget to pray all because I magnified my reaction. I get offended. I get emotional. I start to criticize the person’s character instead of their behavior or remarks. I am human and I have behaved like this. And later the Spirit revealed this humanness to me. How about you? Can you relate to what I say? Or is this just me? How do you respond to criticism? Do you invite God with you into situations like this? What impresses me, what inspires me, is how Peter responds to criticism here. I believe there is a lesson in it for us. In this space, Peter does not seem to get offended. He does not get angry. He does not start rushing people out. You know sometimes you see people rush others out when they are challenged or criticized. But Peter is not like that. Peter does none of that. What does he do instead? How does Peter respond to criticism? Look at verse 4. Here, Peter began to explain it to them (those who criticized Peter) step by step. It takes maturity, self discipline, and humility to explain things step by step when you are being criticized. It really does! Instead of jumping right to reacting, meeting that criticism with another criticism, this is what Peter did. Peter talked to them and explained things to them calmly and in order; in sequence, step by step walking them through what had happened. (Acts 10:4) This is such a great way of handling conflicts, but it cannot be done if the idea of self-defense or self righteousness is bigger in our heads than of God. And let’s face it. As humans, we love to hold on to the belief that “we are the right and they are the wrong,” don’t we? But I do not think Peter approached these conflicts with such a mentality. If he had, what he said would come with more of a condemning tone, depending on his authority. He might have said something like “why can’t you all understand that God does not discriminate just because I said so!? “ But instead, Peter chose simply to explain where he was, what happened to him, what he saw, what he heard from God, what the Spirit told him to do, and what he witnessed in the gentile community. (Acts 11:4-16) And Peter’s conclusion, a conclusion that he shared freely with those who had criticized him, was this. “If God gave [the Gentiles] the same gift [of the Holy Spirit] he gave us [Jews] when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God? “ (Acts 11:17) Who was I? Peter knew the answer to that. Peter knew he was not God. Peter knew he was just like anyone else. He was a discipline chosen by Jesus, yes, but Peter had humility, and a willingness to accept that his convictions could be corrected by God’s revelation. But here is the catch. Peter was not like this before. Before Jesus died, he was so sure of himself that told Jesus confidently that he would go with Jesus and follow him even if his own life would be in danger. But, in the end, he feared losing his life. He saw Jesus tortured and he ended up denying Jesus just as Jesus had predicted. (Luke 22:31-34 and Luke 22:54-62) So he had this humble moment where he could do nothing but admit that he could be wrong. He could be partial. And because he had this experience, Peter could understand where the people who were criticizing him came from. People can be strongly convinced, but Peter knows something much more important. Peter’s humility leads him to believe that it is not about him. It is not about them either. It is about God, and God alone. Peter handled the criticism by focusing on God and what God is doing, believing that what God reveals about God’s self cannot be changed by our own, partial understanding of who God is. Peter knew from his own experience that humans are limited. Yay Peter, awesome! You are a great disciple!!!!! OK, well I don’t think today’s Scripture is actually about that. I don’t think the message for us today is that Peter is a Godly man, we should be like him and that is the reason why the Gospel kept progressing and the church kept growing. I don’t think so. God was working through Peter so that those who criticized him could also come to have listening ears. Remember, this story isn’t about Peter. And it’s not about his critics either. It is about God. Peter focused on what God wanted to say through him. The people who criticized him listened to Peter intently after they shared their criticism. We can assume this not only because we do not see them interrupting Peter, but because verse 18 says, “when they heard this, they were silenced.” (Acts 11:18) They listened intently, setting aside their own strong convictions, their desire to cut off Peter and speak, to judge. Instead they meditated on what they heard. Do you see the remarkable thing that happened here? Both Peter and those who criticized him were able to set aside their conflict with each other, and choose to look at something other than themselves instead. They looked at God. God worked through the humility of two different, conflicting believers letting go of their own human convictions. Peter chose not to respond to criticism with defensiveness or more criticism. Those who criticized Peter chose to stop, and listen to what God was doing in their midst. And God worked through their shared humility, and caused unity to grow in that humble space. In the end, the people who had initially criticized Peter reach the same conclusion as Peter. “God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18) Isn’t that amazing? Think about it! They might not have reached this news of grace if Peter handled the criticism differently. Remember the verse in psalm 133:1 which says, “How very good and pleasant it is when we live together in unity!” This Word was realized at this very moment. So let me ask you all again; how do you handle criticism? Do you allow your human self to be worked up, and react with defensiveness or more criticisms? Or do you practice humility instead, focusing on listening for what God wants to say both to you and to the ones who criticized you? Are you open to the possibility that your view could be partial and incomplete and that God might use others to reveal more? And when you do criticize others (whether it is intentional or not), can you be prepared to let go of the strength of your convictions, and be willing to listen for the Holy Spirit within that person, to try and understand them in faith and humility, trusting that God will reveal the truth, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the truth (John 15:26)? We are a union church, and this identity is uniquely beautiful by God’s design. Someone once told me that they like Kobe Union Church because they respect one another’s traditions; there are Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Anglicans, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and even nondenominational folks here at Kobe Union Church, and we somehow manage to respect each other despite our differences, thanks to God’s grace and mercy. But let’s face it. I think some of us here today, especially those who have been at our church for a while, know that this diversity also means that we are very susceptible to conflict because we have faced major conflicts in the past. We all have differences in our understandings of what baptism entails, the work of the Holy Spirit, miracles done by God, the Bible’s position on members of the LGBTQIA community, female leadership in the church, whether the Scripture should be read very literally or not, how the science and Scripture interact with each other, how we should live our lives as Christians, the meaning of Israel-Gaza war, how we should reach out to people throughout Kobe, and even just what God has in store for the future of Kobe Union Church itself. We have to remember that God is here for us to unite not to make us be against each other. God gifted us with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit can guide us to the truth. The Holy Spirit can also remind us of the teachings of Christ, revealing to us ways forward that we could never have grasped on our own. I rely so much on the Holy Spirit. And in those times when I respond badly to criticism, the Holy Spirit helps me to be aware, nudging me to go back and talk to the person with whom I had conflict. The Holy Spirit helps me to be a compassionate listener, helps me to see where they are coming from. When we trust the Holy Spirit, amazing things happen! The unresolvable resolves. The impossible becomes possible. I invite you today and this week to reflect on how you approach criticism; not how you wish you could handle criticism, not what I just said about how God wants us to handle criticism, but how you actually do handle criticism. And I want to encourage you to reflect, in light of todays’ reading, about what it means to approach conflict with humility, seeking true unity in a resolution that doesn’t see one side victorious over the other, but in all of us, united, in submission to God. God is greater than our criticism. Therefore we can also be bigger than criticism. Let us pray. Lord, have mercy on us. We are not only judgemental people, but we are also people who get offended easily whenever we are judged or criticized. But we still thank you Lord for showing us that there is another way to handle conflict and criticism by further seeking you, fixing our eyes on what you are doing and walking, humbly with you Lord. Please Lord, help us here at KUC to continue to handle conflicts and criticism in ways that are pleasing to you. We want to be closer and closer to your truth, and the unity that comes from following you.. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. Last Sunday afternoon, after finishing writing a sermon on Jesus walking on the
water, I went to an onsen with my wife. I sat alone in the sauna, praying. I felt God say, “Your sermon is good, but I want you to speak on your journey of who you are in ME. Since many of you have heard me preach, I think it would be more profitable to let me share that today." A warning! From time to time, I have heard testimonials, and the focus has been almost a humble brag. Look at me. This is not that. I know that I am not a bad guy. I try to treat people well but don’t always live up to my ideal or the standard that the Lord has set for me. I also know the work the Lord has done in my life. One thing that struck me from the sermon on Walking on Water (Matthew 14:22-33) is this: the people who wrote titles for the passage named it, what? (Someone, take a look in their Bible). In almost every Bible, it is called "Jesus Walking on Water." I think they missed the point. It does not amaze me that Jesus, the Son of God, walked on water. It is within the realm of my belief system. Well, of course, the Son of Man would be able to do that. But what truly amazes me is that just by Jesus’ call of “COME,” Peter was able to walk on water. That amazes me. It is called the transference of power. It was not Peter’s ability but his Jesus giving him that power to do something amazing. And he could walk on water as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. When he didn’t, disaster happened. As soon as Peter started looking around, he sank and cried out. I am a person who has sunk more times than I should, but each time I have, I have refocused my attention back on Christ and have felt His strong hand on my life. Just as a side note, I believe in Satan. No, I do not believe in Satan, but I believe that he exists and is an adversary of life and health. One of the most insidious attacks (and I will use the Matt 14 passage) is not that Satan trips Peter or sends a wave to attack Peter. No, he simply tricks Peter into thinking that now that he is out in the water, he can do it himself. Church, we can’t. Whether you invite me to come alongside you as a pastor or not, it does not really matter in the long run. What does matter is KEEPING YOUR EYES ON THE LORD. It does not matter how long you have been in the church or a Christian. It does not matter if you take your eyes off the ball (Christ) you will not catch life. KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON THE LORD, and amazing things will happen. Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). This verse was given to me by my parents when I was 13 years old, written in a Bible given to me when I received Christ in baptism. As a child, I attended a Mennonite church in State College, PA, where Penn State University is. My dad was a psychologist, and my mom was a social worker. Our church was Christ-centered but very dry. The youth group was small, just two kids, and my parents did not think this was good for my spiritual development. A block over was a large American Baptist church, and my father was a friend of and respected the pastor of the church. My parents would drive over to our church, and I would walk by myself to the AB church. I received Christ there, my second birth. This verse reminds me that God began the process of faith. He is the author and perfecter of my faith but my faith is not perfected but a process of becoming more Christ like and it will be completed in God’s time not mine. My portion of the baptismal contract is to keep the faith. When I get off track to reorient myself and keep on keeping on. Because God began the work I know that it is a good work and no matter what valleys of death I walk I know that God is with me because I know his rod and staff will guide and protect me till the work God is doing in me is done. This verse grounds me. I fell away from God in college but the Lord’s goodness drew me back to him. "Then the LORD made the donkey talk, and she said to Balaam, 'What have I done to make you hit me three times?' Balaam answered the donkey, 'You have made me look foolish.'" (Numbers 22:28-30) Fast forward 20 years, and I fell in love with a girl who grew up in Japan. We came to Japan, supposedly for a year, but because the economy was so bad at home, we stayed and made Yokohama our home. Our boys were born in Yokohama, and we attended Yokohama Union Church. The church sadly had a sex scandal with the pastor right before we started attending, and the church and had decreased to about 20 to 30 people. We did not have money for a pastor, so we did it ourselves. I took part in every aspect of ministry except preaching. I always said no to that. Amazingly the church grew. With a focus on WORSHIP / THE WORD / FELLOWSHIP, the church grew from 20 some people to over 100. If I believe anything it is that healthy things grow. Just look at nature. When a church or a person is not growing the first question I ask is “Is the church healthy”? And if not. How do you get healthy? Our church focused on those three things and we grew to about 100 people and we needed a pastor. We hired Pastor Saito from the States. Anyway, he was at the church for just two Sundays when I had a dream that I was standing in front of the church (my friends) preaching a sermon on Numbers 22, Balaam, and the Donkey. (Read it at some point). In the story, Balaam is going to do something against the will of the Lord. While riding a donkey to put a curse on the Israelites, an angel of the Lord stood in the donkey’s path with a sword. The donkey could see the angel with the sword, but Balaam couldn’t. So, the donkey stops, saving Balaam’s life. But Balaam could not see the angel and gets angry and beats his donkey. At this point, the donkey starts talking and asks why Balaam was beating him when all he did was serve him and was saving his life. At this point, Balaam’s eyes are open, and he sees the danger and relents on his path. It is a very theological and interesting passage. I had a dream of myself preaching the sermon on this text. I had it one night and the next and the next night. I was not sleeping that well and I told Stephanie. She said maybe God wants you to preach it. I said, “No, that can’t be it.” The next day was Sunday; I went to Pastor Saito and said if you ever are looking for a person to preach, I would like to give it a try. He was new and nice. He said I just started, and I have a 10 to 12-week series on Romans, maybe after that, we can talk. I thought, great, I was off the hook. I went home, and as I was walking in the door, the phone was ringing. It was Pastor Saito. He said he was going away the next week and had a pastor from another church that was going to fill in, but that pastor had to cancel. So, would I preach? I had the dream one more night and wrote down all the points I made in the dream. The following Sunday, I preached it exactly like I did in my dream. The interesting thing was everyone was sitting in the exact place and wearing the same clothing that they were in my dream. My sermon title was "God Can Even Speak Through an Ass" I know it sounds crass, but God has spoken his words through me from time to time. From time to time I dream a sermon. My third scripture is Mark 9:29 when the disciples asked why they were unable to heal the boy with unclean spirits. Jesus replies, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Some translations, like in Matthew, say, “fasting and prayer.” A year after I preached the sermon and God gave me other chances to preach, I felt God’s call on my life to leave Japan and go to seminary. During the first year, Stephanie also felt called by God to attend seminary, and during my second year, she started. Which put her a year behind me. So after graduation, I had to wait while my other friends accepted ministry positions. Instead of being a pastor, I took a job as a court- mandated anger management counselor (not a fun job). My main two cases were a boy who was a genius who threatened to blow up the school. The other was a developmentally challenged boy in Stanton Middle School. I will call him J. J was as big as me, maybe a little bigger. He was 14 with an IQ about a 3- to 4-year-old. When he was calm, he was a sweet big boy. When he got agitated, he would pick up a computer and throw it across the room in rage. There was a court case between the school and his family, and I was the compromise. He would become agitated about 3 to 4 times a day. My job was to step in and first protect the other kids in the class, the teachers, J, and if possible myself. I would have to write up these incident reports detailing these violent episodes where he would hit, spit, and bite. Through calm and steady care, I got J down from 4 incidents a day to 2 or 3 a week. The school and family were very happy. I was miserable; two times a week I would come home with bruises, and I was feeling bitter that I had gone to seminary and all my classmates had positions and I was wrestling J to the ground. One day, J did exactly as the teacher asked and was going to get his reward, pink cookies. He loved pink cookies. But when she went to get the cookies, they were out. He lost it. He picked up the teacher and threw her across the classroom. I was right there and intervened. We battled; I got him safely away from other people into the hallway but got several blows to my head. Eventually, I subdued him. It was horrible. I was mad and screamed at him that he was a bad boy and then like a wave of cold water over my head I felt the Holy Spirit come over me. I started to pray out loud (PS. you are not allowed to do that in a public school). But God spoke, and I prayed casting out a spirit of King Saul (Who, if you know your scriptures, struggled with extreme rage). And then I asked God to fill him with His Holy Spirit of love and peace in the name of Jesus. The interesting thing happened. J did not get angry that day. Nor the next. Nor the following week. I thought I might be too nice, so when he did not meet his daily goal I did not give him his pink cookies. He did not like it, but he did not hit me or get upset. A month later, I went to the principal and said, “I am not needed here any longer.” They asked me to stay the rest of the school year, but I basically read books because J was healed. Strangely after the incident, the family started going to church. Incidents went down from three violent episodes a day to four a week. But God was able to heal him. We have more at our disposal than our human gifts. I am not charismatic, but God has taught me the power of prayer and trusting him. The daily question is will we. Let's pray. I am very grateful to the Lord for this opportunity to share the Word with my dear KUC
family once again. I still cherish many favorite memories of my time here at KUC from 2009 to 2013 - It was a very blessed season in my life. Thank you so much, Pastor Claudia, Pastor Akiko and KUC family, for having me. We live in a challenging era, but I am very grateful for the grace God had already given to us through His Son Jesus Christ. This morning, may we receive renewed courage and perspective from the Word of God to live out our faith in today’s world. Hebrews 12:14-15 gives us a solemn exhortation: “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” The Book of Hebrews is a written sermon to Jewish believers. With a deep pastoral concern, the writer exhorts discouraged members of a house church to persevere in their faith in a hostile society. They have been followers of Jesus for some time, but now in a danger of compromising their faith after experiencing hardship. The writer is concerned that some of the members of the house church are experiencing serious spiritual and emotional fatigue. The writer reminds them that the grace of God is sufficient to uphold them in all their situations because of Jesus, the High Priest. Then, the writer warns the congregation not to become indifferent to the grace of God, the gifts they have received through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Peace and holiness are the gifts that Christ has given to believers. Peace is the fruit of Christ’s redemptive work accomplished for us on the cross. Christ made peace between us and God and between us and others through His blood of the cross. Holiness is not a human effort. Holiness is the gift of God through Christ. Christ sanctifies us when we believed. Christ is the one who consecrated us to God through His sacrificial death. Holiness is the gift, the work of grace, that requires our response. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord as Jesus Himself told us, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8).” The writer admonishes the church members to pursue peace and holiness together with watchful concern for each other. Then, the writer of Hebrews moves on to a serious warning against apostasy followed with an awkward example of Esau. Esau was drawn into apostasy by his love for the world, just for one little meal. The writer makes a sharp contrast between Christ who endured the cross for the sake of eternal joy and Esau who despised God’s promise of eternal blessing for the sake of the earthly pleasure. Esau was a godless man who declared God’s grace was insufficient to meet his need and fell short of the grace of God. This grace is nothing less than the “great salvation” as the writer warns in Hebrews 2:3, “…how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” The writer expresses his serious concern that no one falls from the grace of God through spiritual indifference or carelessness. He urges believers to hold first to the grace of God. Indifference to the grace allows a bitter root to spring up in our lives and in church. Here the writer of Hebrews refers to Deuteronomy 29:18: “Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.” The Hebrews author uses a “bitter root” as a metaphor for anything that would bring harm to the church. The bitter root produces bitter fruit. If we allow a bitter root to grow, it will produce disastrous fruit in our lives, in lives of others and even in the entire church. The bitter root produces divisiveness, rebellion, false teaching and apostasy. As we reflect on the exhortation of Hebrews 12:14-15, I would like to share a story of the Asbury Outpouring (the Asbury Revival). A regular Wednesday chapel service at Asbury University on February 8, 2023, turned into 16 days of non-stop worship, praise, prayers and testimonies. When I was a student at Asbury Theological Seminary in early 2000’s, our beloved professor Dr. Steve Seamands often admonished us to pursue peace and holiness together as a seminary community. He also inspired us to pray for a revival. Steve is one of those who had been praying for a revival for decades after experiencing the 1970 Asbury Revival as a student. In March 2003, the student body divided over the war with Iraq. Our seminary president called for a service of reconciliation and prayer. He urged us, “Let us never allow the devil to use our divisiveness. We need to reconcile and love one another. This is a profound teaching moment for us: How to live together in a community with different emotions, opinions and commitments related to this awful time of war, to learn how to be a pastor in a time like this.” Many repented, confessed sins to one another, reconciled to one another and prayed together. Later Steve told us, “The Lord had been moving on our campus, and I was even expecting a revival. Then, all of the sudden, some of us began fighting. How Satan tried to prevent a revival. But praise the Lord that we came together before Him to repent and reconciled to one another. It is healthy to have different opinions, but we need to live in peace with everyone. Nothing is more important than seeking the Kingdom of God and holiness. Now we can move on and pray for a revival.” Steve was leading a prayer service called “the Kingdom Prayer” on Friday evenings. Some of us from both seminary and university came together to worship, to praise, to pray and to intercede. In February, 2006, another revival swept the Asbury University campus. A regular chapel service turned into 4 days of continuous worship, praise, prayers and testimonies. We recently experienced one of the most divisive years in the U.S. history. I allowed myself to be distracted. In early fall, 2021, my dear old KUC friends in New York invited me to stay with them. While I was taking a vacation in their home, those precious memories at Asbury flooding into my mind – including, the service of reconciliation, our seminary President’s loving exhortation, Steve’s words of wisdom and “the Kingdom Prayer” on Friday evenings. I immediately repented of all my sins before the Lord. During my time in New York, the Lord began restoring me. From January, 2022, I entered into a season of personal and corporate repentance, reflection and prayer with a regular fasting. The Holy Spirit continued urging me to persevere in faith and hold on to the grace in the age of apostasy. While doing some research on the 1970 Asbury Revival last fall, I began to see a glimmer of hope. On February 8, 2023, the Lord walked into Hughes Auditorium again. At the end of the Wednesday chapel service, Rev. Zach Meerkreebs challenged students, “If you want to become love in action, you have to experience the love of God.” A few students felt nudged by the Holy Spirit to linger at Hughes Auditorium to pray. More students started joining them. Many students were going through a difficult season related to the pandemic, political polarization and social climate. In the midst of their struggle, they responded to the grace of God. They humbled themselves before the Lord, repented, confessed sins to one another and reconciled to one another. By that evening, more than 1000 students, staff and faculty members from both university and seminary joined. Worship continued overnight. Early next morning, Steve posted on facebook, “The Lord is in our midst! I was there several hours last night. He is answering the cries of his people for Awakening and Revival. I was there as a student in 1970. Now my grandson, Andrew is there. This seems strangely familiar – like déjà vu all over again!” Ever since God walked into Hughes Auditorium, many Asbury students were delivered from hopelessness, anxieties and depression, even a suicidal thought. Their experience encouraged Gen Zs, and hundreds of students from different schools flooded into Hughes Auditorium. The news spread like wildfire across the nation and many parts of the world, and revivals broke out in several other universities. Thousands of hungry souls lined up to get into Hughes Auditorium. The campus was packed with people of diverse backgrounds – believers, seekers, students, young children, addicts, the elderly, people from different ethnicities, cultures and political views, the rich and the poor. They gathered in Hughes Auditorium for the common purpose – to worship the Lord Jesus. Thousands had given their lives to Jesus, rededicated their lives. Addicts were delivered, and emotional and physical healings took place, and many relationships were restored. There was no spiritual manipulation. No celebrity was leading the worship – Jesus was the only celebrity! And there was a sweet Presence of the Holy Spirit in such a profound way. It was just like a foretaste of heaven – Rapture, praise and endless worship. People in the community braced themselves for a sudden interruption of their ordinary life. People volunteered to clean Hughes Auditorium, bathrooms and other areas. Many brought foods, drove vans, welcomed visitors and prayed for others. I didn’t get a chance to go to Asbury to experience the Outpouring first-hand. But while worshipping the Lord via the livestream, my heart was strangely warmed the way I had not experienced for a long time. Providentially, our Free Methodist General Conference took place this summer. Many of our bishops, superintendents, pastors and students were involved with the Asbury Outpouring, and we were filled with holy anticipation. Also, for the past few years, the Board of Bishops and others prayerfully engaged in racial healing and reconciliations. The General Conference, indeed, turned out to be the Holy Spirit-filled, grace-filled and history-making week. We experienced many holy moments. We also witnessed a very historic moment - the election of our first African-American bishop. During the evening service on July 25 th , I was deeply convicted when the preacher quoted John Wesley’s statement: “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon earth.” More than a hundred people went forward to the altar, and I was one of them. By the grace of God, I was set free and returned to Chicago with a renewed heart and faith. The Lord gave me a boldness to reach out to individual clients and children with His love in ways I never imagined before. More importantly, the Lord began moving among us again. More clients started coming to the altar crying out to the Lord. Some clients prayed through at the altar, and some of our pastoral team knelt beside them to pray together. We now hear testimonies as the Lord is working in lives of clients. Recently we also started a Sunday service at our men’s shelter in another location, and the Lord truly touched hearts of clients in that location. Now our pastoral team divides into two groups to lead two Sunday services in these two different locations. Indeed, the Asbury Outpouring continues among us. We continue hearing testimonies from different people how God is moving mightily in different churches and conferences. Dear KUC friends, some of us may relate to the exhortation of the Hebrews writer. You have been followers of Jesus for some times, but some of you may be discouraged this morning. The pandemic was hard on many of us. You may be experiencing conflict with family, friends, co-workers or other church members. Maybe you are now experiencing spiritual and emotional fatigue. Let us consider this carefully. What is the root cause of the fatigue, conflict and all the problems we experience? We need to guard against spiritual indifference. Hebrews writer exhorts us to fix “our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews12:2).” He urges us to cling to the grace of God tenaciously. We need to rely on the all-sufficient grace of God at all times. This is the grace the writer tells in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” We should not allow ourselves to be distracted by all sorts of things – by all the noise of the world, worries, social media, opinions of others, our own feelings, our own egos, our own personal likes and dislikes. Let us rely on the Holy Spirit who guides us as Paul tells us in I Corinthians 2:12, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” A Methodist Missionary to India, E. Stanley Jones, who was a part of the 1905 Asbury Revival left us a profound statement: “The human spirit fails unless the Holy Spirit fills.” Holiness is God’s work of grace in us. Our pursuit of holiness is our response to God’s work of grace. Holiness is life-giving to us. Life-giving holiness ignites our spiritual fervor. Today, we learned what happened when Asbury students responded to His work of grace. The Lord poured out His Spirit when several Asbury students lingered in Hughes Auditorium to respond to His work of grace. More students, staff and faculty members from university and seminary joined to pursued peace and holiness together. Some of those students were experiencing spiritual and emotional fatigue. But they grabbed hold of the grace of God, and the Lord allowed them to behold His beauty at Hughes Auditorium. The lives of those Asbury students were never the same. God used their response to bring the Asbury Outpouring. Furthermore, God used their response to spread scriptural holiness over the land, to transform countless lives and to change the course of history. My beloved KUC friends, as I finish today’s message, I would like to leave you a couple of important questions. First and foremost, do you see God’s work of grace in your life? In other words, do you know the Lord’s Heart for you? Many of us would pray like this. “Lord, help me to serve You faithfully.” “Lord, give me a heart for people.” “Lord, help me to love those I find it difficult to love.” But do you truly know the Lord’s Heart for you? Do you truly know it was for you Christ died? How can we love and serve the Lord and others unless we experience the love of God? May God’s love pour out into your hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Secondly, how do you respond to His work of grace in your life? How do you respond to the work of God’s grace in your daily life, in your ministry, in your relationship with KUC family, in your family life, in your marriage, in your friendship, in your workplace or school? Maybe some of us need to repent before the Lord, to reconcile with someone and to make changes. Maybe some of us need to go extra mile for someone or to step in to serve. Maybe it’s time for some of us to purse God’s given purpose for our lives. Throughout this week and in the days ahead, I would encourage you to have a conversation with the Lord and reflect on these matters in light of the grace of God. |
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