Sunday Worship Service June 25, 2023

Call to Worship Psalm 31:24 (NIV)
Hymn JBC# 16 To God be the glory
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Supper
Offering
Remember the Seminary Week
Scripture 1 Corinthians 16:13-24
Sermon “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.”
https://youtu.be/a3niIYcFnu0
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 455 Jesus is tenderly calling thee home
Doxology JBC # 676


The passage of scripture given to us today is the last part of "1 Corinthians." Today we will share the closing part of this letter that was written by Paul, the Evangelist.
The church in the city of Corinth in Greece had many problems. The first chapter of this book addresses the problem of “divide” that was taking place within the Corinthian church.
In the verses following 1 Corinthians Ch.1:10, it was described that people in the Corinthian Church had arguments with each other, saying “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
In response to that, Paul, who wrote this letter said in 1 Cor 1:13, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

Judging from that his words, I think the reason why the Corinthians were confused about the leadership issue of whom to follow was because they were losing sight of the cross of Jesus Christ, the root of salvation.
From the statement "Was Paul crucified for you?", we can also read that there’s a possibility some in the Corinthian church even tried to worship Paul as if he was a god.
Paul responded by emphasizing: "It is Jesus Christ who died on the cross and by his death forgave our sins. It is Jesus Christ alone. Christians are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” He tried to remind people about this.
Today, as Christians, once again let’s remember that we receive forgiveness through the cross of Christ, we are baptized in His Name, that is, the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And also, to all non-Christians here today, I would like you to know that we are gathered at church in the name of Jesus Christ, and anyone is invited to confess Christ as Lord & Savior and be baptized in the name of Jesus.
I would like you to understand that because we are weak, we sometimes lose our hearts to something other than Christ, but at church we are trying to focus our thoughts on Christ alone and to live a Christ-centered life.
　As a pastor, I have also had the opportunity to baptize several people. But it was never done by my own authority or power.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, a person is given the faith to believe that "Jesus Christ is Lord." Then that person will profess his/her faith publicly and show their desire to join the church community, which is the body of Christ.
We who have already joined the church community will then listen to the public confession of faith, confirm and acknowledge the content, and by the command of Christ, the church takes the main role on behalf of Christ in ordaining baptism for the new believer in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, baptism is not something that happens by human power or human efforts, but it’s just a way for us to joyfully confirm and acknowledge the faith that God gives us.

Once a person decides to believe and gets baptized, that does not mean the person's faith is complete.
Rather, baptism is the beginning of faith. From there, a never-ending life of faith on this earth begins: fellowship with the church community, continuing to hear God’s Words, and growing in faith.

Therefore, we live a life of faith by continuously connecting to the church, which is the body of Christ, and keep listening to God’s Words in the Bible.
Verse 13-14 from today's passage (in 1 Corinthians Chp.16) says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”
"Be on your guard” (or “Keep watch”) - This is the same word that Jesus used to rebuke his disciples in Matthew 24:42. Jesus said, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”

It means to always keep our eyes firmly on our faith in Jesus Christ.
From the parable of “you never know when the master of the house will come home, so always wake up and get ready”, we probably have often this image of a passive attitude (even feels threatened) that says “I'm afraid of being scolded by the master, so let's prepare properly.”
Indeed, the reverence of knowing God will judge our lives on the Lord’s Second coming (we will be questioned on how we lived our lives) is important for believers. We should never take God's judgment lightly.
However, Christians are also given the faith that believes "the Lord will always be with us." The book of Matthew ends with Jesus saying, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

If that’s the case, Christians’ way of life will not be like this: "not knowing when the Lord will return, so I will wait fearfully (live in constant fear) for that day."
Rather, I think the question that will be asked to us would be: "How joyfully have you lived your faith in the grace of Jesus who is always with you?"
Therefore, today's passage encourages us to keep our eyes firmly on our faith, to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ who is always with us, and to live with our eyes fixed on the grace that Jesus has given us.
Let us open our eyes of faith and lead a joyful and peaceful life of faith together with Jesus, who is always with us.

Then, verse 13 continues to say “stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” and verse 14 says “Do everything in love”. All of these are possible if we keep looking to Christ with our eyes of faith and keep Him at the center of our faith.
The root of our salvation is the cross of Jesus Christ, and the assurance and joy of our salvation are in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We can keep standing firm if we stand on the foundation of Christ’ cross and resurrection.
We can be steadfast not because of our own strength, but because the powerful strength of Christ of the cross and resurrection sustains us.
We can live strongly because Christ lives in our hearts. We no longer need to rely on our own strength.
Because the spirit of Jesus Christ, who died and was resurrected then ascended to heaven and now works as the Holy Spirit, dwells in us believers, we can live strongly in Christ.
The power of Christ is actually His boundless, unconditional love. It is by this boundless love that He interceded and prayed to God the Heavenly Father even for those who crucified Him.

Such love never exists among us humans. Such love is something we can only receive from our God, Jesus Christ.
I believe once (or many times) we have felt disappointment (despair) when we realize our own lack of love. Our own lack of love can only be filled with the true love of Jesus Christ.
Conversely, if we surrender ourselves completely to Christ, His love will fill us and our lives will surely change in a way that reflects His love.
I hope we keep on praying that the love of Christ may fill each of us and our church.

　From verse 15 onwards, Paul introduced the household of Stephanas (1 Cor 16:15) to the members of the Corinthian church, saying, “For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.” (Verse 18)
In verses 19-20, there are greetings from brothers and sisters (members) of other churches to the Corinthian church. In verse 20 it says, "All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings.”
Paul, on behalf of many people, delivers a greeting of love from them to the believers in the Corinthian church. Imagining the feelings put behind each word, we can feel the love of God that binds people together behind all these words and greetings.
In verse 22, a harsh expression is used: “If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed!” But I think it is a reflection of Paul’s strong and passionate wish: “I do want you to stay in God’s love”.
This last part of the introduction and greetings made me realize that “each of us Christians is also like a letter from God”.

The expression "We are the letter from God (Christ)" actually appears in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Let us contemplate more deeply about this again when I preach from that passage next time.
It means that it can be said that God sent us believers into the world as God's own letter in order to convey His love to the world.
Since each of us is different, God's love will be conveyed so richly to the world through us in various ways and expressions. But the content, the message from God, does not change.
So let us hope and pray sincerely from our hearts that this unchanging message of God – the unchanging love, “we (you) are loved” – will be more conveyed to the world through each of us and through our church.