Sunday Worship Service April 30, 2023

Call to Worship Isaiah 49:6
Hymn JBC # 338 To worship, work, and witness
The Lord’s Prayer
Offering
Scripture Galatians 5:13
Prayer
Sermon “Give your service with love”
https://youtu.be/qXf8pqbp5zs
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 628 All to Jesus I surrender
Doxology JBC # 674
Benediction


One month has already passed since the new fiscal year (FY2023) began in April. This year we have been given the annual motto (church theme), “Give your service with love.”
We adopted that motto, but I believe it is through our prayers and discussions that that motto (hope) was ultimately given to us by the Lord God.
The Lord God of Jesus Christ has caused such a desire to come into our hearts.

God has given us “the desire to serve the Church, the body of Christ”, “to offer our service to the Lord God through the Church”, and “to offer the gifts we have received from Him”.
This year, we hope to live our life of faith (church life) together with the thought of “Service of Love.”
As a Scripture to support that motto and thought, today's passage, Galatians 5:13, was given to us.
This passage describes the essentials of faith: “What kind of person is a Christian?” and “How should a Christian live?”

　“Serve one another in love”—is translated in English as “serve one another humbly in love.” The original Greek word (verb) translated here as “serve” means “to serve as a slave.”
When we hear the command to “serve one another as slaves,” our first honest reaction is probably, “No!” Who wants to become a slave?
We may think, “I will try to do as much good as I can for others, but I can't/won't serve them as a slave.”

We believe that people should be proud of themselves and live confidently and freely without being subservient to anyone. Therefore, we are repelled by the command to serve one another as slaves.
But this command says, “serve one another in love.”
The key is “in love.” The Bible does not say here, “serve one another according to your own thoughts and abilities.”
Rather, we are told, “by love you shall serve one another.” The love referred to here is the love of God as demonstrated through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the love of Jesus Christ.

　Jesus Christ, God who became a man—it is by this love that has been given to us through Jesus that we are to serve one another.
If we Christians say we believe in Christ, but we do not learn to “serve one another” and practice serving one another, then we cannot say we believe in Christ.
Here, right now, I would like us to remind ourselves again of the love of Christ, which is the driving force that makes us servants of one another.

　During His life on earth, and especially with His twelve disciples, Jesus constantly set an example of how to live as a slave (servant).
When Jesus was having His last supper (the Last Supper) with His disciples before He hung on the cross, He got up and washed each of their feet. (John 13)
It was the night before Jesus was to die on the cross. With only one day left to live, Jesus got up, filled a basin with water, washed the disciples' feet, and finished by wiping their feet with a towel.

Then Jesus said the following:
“14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:14-15)

　 In those days, people lived barefoot and wore sandal-like footwear. Therefore, when people came home from outside, it was common to find their feet grimy with dirt and dust. When they returned home, they needed to wash their dirty feet.
And washing people's feet was usually a slave's job. Moreover, we are told that it was a job that only Gentile slaves were allowed to do, not Jewish slaves.
Jesus Christ, the Lord, King, and Son of God, took the initiative in washing the feet of others, a task that his fellow Jewish slaves were exempted from (a humiliating task).
　What does a trusted mentor or, if working in an organization, a trusted boss look like to us?

What kind of elder or boss would we trust, emulate, and follow?
I think it is someone who shows us what needs to be done by putting it into practice. I think we can trust such a person.
Jesus was such a leader. He showed us by His own example what a disciple should do, how a believer should live.
Jesus clearly showed us the example of “how we should serve one another” through the act of washing the disciples' feet.

　And I think it is fair to say that those of us who believe in Jesus and live nowadays have also had our feet washed by Him in faith (spiritually).
Having had our feet washed by the Lord Jesus, and having heard His words, “you also should wash one another’s feet,” and “serve one another (as slaves),” we must live according to His teachings.
That Jesus lowered Himself that low, even to the position of a slave, is clearly stated in the following famous Scripture.

Philippians 2:6-7.
Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

　It is Jesus Christ, our Lord God, who, though equal with God, became a slave Himself.
We who look to Jesus Christ as Lord, in this church, will surely be able to realize God's work of serving one another (as slaves) through the love of Jesus who gave Himself for us—we can believe that.
I will read from the first half of today's Bible passage, the annual theme of the church, Galatians 5:13.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.
We have been called by God and set free. That is what is being said here. In Christ, we have been set free.
　In John 14:31-32, Jesus says the following.
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus' words remain with us today through the Bible. We continue to abide in Jesus' words by faith.
By abiding in Christ's Word we know the truth, and that truth sets us free.

Unlike human common sense and ideas, and the trends and atmosphere of the times, all which are changeable, something that will never change—that is the truth.
That truth sustains us, strengthens us, and makes us truly free. That truth is the Word of Jesus Christ. His Word is truth because Jesus Christ is the truth.
Informed of that truth, we can have freedom through faith in Jesus Christ, unaffected by the shifting fashions of the world or by human reputation and rumor.
How should we use that freedom? Today's scripture says the following in regards to that.

But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; 」
We are weak and inevitably have prideful thoughts and pride in ourselves.
Unfortunately, we are in danger of misusing this precious freedom of faith, a freedom given to us by the truth of Christ, for the purpose of elevating ourselves and self-praise.
To cut off such thoughts of our flesh, let us always illuminate our own hearts with the Word of the Bible.
And let us always remember the event of Jesus' death on the cross.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who gave His all for us, is our Master. Jesus, even though He is our Master, set the example by personally washing the feet of His disciples.
That is how much God loved each of the disciples and how much He loves each of us as especially important people.
This year in particular we want to gratefully accept the immeasurable freedom given to us as Christians.
And let us use that freedom given to us by the truth of Christ, not to satisfy our flesh and fleshly desires, but to serve one another by His love (in His love).
When we make the decision to follow Christ and walk together with Him, God will make us one in Christ, and we will surely grow as a flock serving one another in love.
Having received such firm hope, let us entrust all the thoughts of our hearts to God, and let us walk together in this new year with faith in Christ.