Sunday Worship Service (3rd Advent) December 17, 2023

Call to Worship Lamentation 3:22~24
Lighting of the Advent Candle~Prayer
Hymn JBC # 153 Lo, how a rose e'er blooming
The Lord’s Prayer
Offering
Scripture 1 Peter 1:3~9
Prayer
Sermon “Filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 16 To God be the glory
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction

　Today we are dedicating the worship service for the third Sunday of Advent, the period we await the birth of God's Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
At the beginning of the service, the third Advent candle was lit and a prayer was offered. The meaning of the third candlelight is "joy.
Christmas is a time of great and true joy for all people. However, we know that there are many people in the world who are at risk of their lives every day, whether they are in a state of war or in a disaster.
We remember the many people who are not able to celebrate Christmas in peace, and we would like to give our prayer for them. We pray that the war and hatred between people will stop as soon as possible.

Christ was born into the midst of the reality of our human world, which is full of hatred, strife, and evil thoughts and minds.
Christ was born as a man in order to show us clearly "what God is like" through him.
The verse 1 of today's Scripture passage (1 Peter 1:3-9) begins with the following words of desire and prayer.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
These are words of great joy given to believers in Christ, words that give us great strength and hope.
God has given us a mouth to speak. God has given us words. With the mouth and words God has given us, we can proclaim and pray, "May God be praised."
　We are human beings with sin. Therefore, we always seek not the glory of God, but our own glory, and we want to be praised and appreciated by others.
We inevitably feel superior to others by comparing ourselves with them, or conversely, we are troubled by a sense of inferiority.
Christians, however, know that we are loved by our God Jesus Christ.

Because we know of God's love, we know that we do not need to evaluate our worth in comparison to others.
We do not need to seek to be praised. We are to desire that God, who made the world, who made me, and who loves me, be praised.
Looking up to God and thanking Him for the grace He has always given us, we sincerely hope, "To God alone be the glory."

　Many churches are suffering from declining attendance, membership, and finances, especially since the spread of the new coronavirus. We also have heard of churches closing their doors.
So I think that we, too, sometimes wonder “what will happen to our church in the future”.
At our church Beppu International Baptist Church, worship attendance has decreased to almost half of what it was before Corona.
The ban (restriction) on entry into the country for the purpose of preventing the infectious disease had a completely unexpected and significant impact, especially on our church, where many people from oversea gather.
Now, we are finally returning to the way things were before the spread of infectious diseases. (Or should I say, a new form with countermeasures)
However, we have a certain hope from the Scripture today too. We are encouraged by the words of Scripture that we will not at a loss in any situation.
That is because we can praise, glorify, and worship "God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" in any circumstances.

If we are united in the heart of thanksgiving to the God of Jesus Christ, the heart of wishing glory to Christ alone and giving back all the glory to God,
If we praise and rejoice in God with all our hearts, even if we are a very few in our eyes, God will continue to bless us and give us more and more grace.

And if it is God's will, then we can have hope that God will cause people who come to church and believe in God anew as His own work in the future.
So, we do not need to be at a loss at all, for it is clear that the one whom we praise and glorify is the "God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This "our (we)" includes not only those of us who gather in the church today, but also all Christians and non-Christians as well.
Because there is only one Lord. Because the only true God is God the Father of Jesus Christ.

No matter how wonderful the things of this world may be, no matter how God-like they may seem, the one true God is God the Father of Jesus Christ.
There may not be many people who gather in church right now, but still we can have such great desire that "the day may come when all people of the world will praise the God of Jesus Christ" and "may all people find the true God."
Wouldn't that be a wonderful wish? It is not just a pipe dream (not a fantasy) for we have the desire “that all people may praise the God of Jesus Christ" based on a sure (firm) hope,

Continuing in verse 3, the following is written
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
God has given us new life. As Christians, are you aware that you have been born again through faith in Christ? Do we have the joy of having been born again?
When I was baptized (I was baptized in an American church while studying there), the people of the church gave a celebration for me with a cake after the service.
The cake was decorated with the words "Tomo, Happy Birthday in Jesus." Seeing that, I was moved and reminded once again, "I have been born again in Christ."
When we believe in Jesus Christ, it means that we are born again, we receive new life.

In the same chapter as today, chapter 1 of 1 Peter verse 23 says as follows
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

　Here is written how we will be born again. We are born again through the unchanging, living Word of God.
Indeed, the Word of God (the Word of the Scripture) does make us born anew. When the Word of God dwells in our hearts, when we are empowered by the Word, we are born anew each time.
When we share the Word of God in worship like now, we are filled with joy.
Then we are reborn from the one who seek our own glory but into someone who will truly desire, "Praise be to God alone, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who alone gives us this joy."
We can live such abundant days of faith, being born again through the unchanging, living Word of God.

Let us read the last verses of today's passage, verses 8-9.

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

　The writer of this letter was Peter, the first disciple of Jesus Christ. Peter was a man who lived and evangelized with Jesus.
　Peter was terrified that he too would be caught, and when Jesus was caught, Peter abandoned Him, saying, "I do not know that man."
　Nevertheless, Peter met the resurrected Jesus Christ. The resurrected Jesus commanded Peter and the other disciples, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19).

　　After meeting the resurrected Jesus, Peter and the other disciples were so filled with power and joy and then they started to evangelical work.
Today, we do not have the experience of meeting the living and resurrected Jesus and seeing his body in person, as Peter did.
　But today's passage tells us that the joy that is available to us today is no less great than the joy of Peter and other disciples, who saw the living and risen Jesus in person.
Because we "love Christ even though we have not seen Him and even though we do not see Him now, we believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."
Invisible to the eye, but through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God comes into our hearts and souls as the living Word of life, filling us from the inside out with "unspeakable and wonderful joy."

　Jesus Christ is with us, supporting us, guiding us, and comforting us in times of pain and sadness. We have such sure salvation.
　We celebrate Christmas every year, remembering the birth of the Son, Jesus Christ, and offering our thanksgiving heart.
This is not just a repetition of an annual l event (it should not be). We are filled with the "unspeakable and wonderful joy" that Christ gives us each year and each day.
Let us walk in gratitude and joy that such great joy is given to us through faith in Christ, and let us walk in it every day of this week.