Sunday Worship Service June 25, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Proverb 22:9
Hymn JBC# 120 Praise to the Lord Almighty
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 262 Holy Spirit, breathe on me
Offering
Scripture Acts 2:43～47
Sermon “Life of the Believers”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 19 Love divine, all loves excelling
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude
Welcome & Announcements


The Bible passage given to us today begins with the words “Everyone was filled with awe (*”fear” in other translations) at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ”
It says that many wonders and signs were performed by the apostles of Christ, and everyone was filled with “fear” at the sight.
　Jesus Christ rose from the grave (from the dead) and revealed himself to his disciples.
Jesus Christ, who was completely sinless, bore the sins of humanity and was crucified (killed).
　Through Christ's death, we are forgiven of our sins and were able to receive true life (eternal life) and were able to live.
　Having received eternal life, we can say that those who believe in Christ no longer need to fear death. What a blessing!
On Sunday, the day of the Lord's resurrection, Christians still gather for worship, remembering the Lord's resurrection and receiving from the resurrected Lord the power to live and the grace of eternal life.
Once again, Jesus died on the cross and was buried in the tomb.

However, Jesus did not remain dead, as the Bible (Psalms) says, “He was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.”
That Christ would never remain dead was foretold through the words of Old Testament prophecy.
After appearing to his disciples for about 40 days after his resurrection and encouraging them, Jesus ascended again to heaven.
Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus promised His disciples, "The Holy Spirit will fall on you. When the Holy Spirit falls on you, you will receive power.” (Acts 1:8)
And as promised, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples, and they began to speak of the great works of God in various foreign languages, and they began to do many other wondrous works, too. (We celebrated the events of Pentecost last week)
Seeing what had happened, today’s passage says, “Everyone was filled with awe”, or in other translations of the Bible, “fear came upon all.” What kind of fear was this?
“Fear” is one of the most important elements of the Christian faith. Once again we need to know the fear of the Lord God.

Through Jesus, we are made known to God our Heavenly Father. Through Jesus, we know the infinite love of God and are greatly comforted.
For Jesus, the Son of God, has delivered us from sin in exchange for His own life.
That love of Jesus is truly unlimited, and we humans can never fully know the magnitude of that love.
When we are touched by such deep love and the essence of God, we become deeply grateful for the blessings we receive, but at the same time we also come to feel fear.
One of the indicators of whether or not a Christian believes in and lives according to the true God of the Bible is whether or not he or she has this "fear of the Lord God.”
I dare say that God is "terrifying One”. By terrifying, I mean that God completely transcends us in everything, including our thoughts and ideas.
We can never know everything about God, much less the things we stand above Him and dictate to Him.
However, isn’t it the case without our noticing well that we are demanding various things to God as if doing so are our legitimate rights.

God is the One to be feared. The fear is to "honor God and recognize His greatness and immeasurability.”
In Old Testament times, Moses was the man chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, where they had lived in slavery for about 400 years.
When the Lord God first appeared to Moses, the Lord spoke to him, “Moses, Moses” (Exodus Chapter 3).
Then God spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Then “Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God,” the passage (Exodus 3:6) says.
Hearing God's voice, being made known to God, inherently causes so much fear in us.
　We know that "God is love”. However, we want once again to remind ourselves of the fear toward God, that God is the one whom we should fear.

　We should be afraid when we remember the immeasurable power of the One who created everything in the world, heaven and earth, ordained all the laws of nature, and made all of us alive.
　We should be afraid that we will never be able to stand before Him.
　When we lose our fear of the Lord, we become arrogant, we think we know everything, and we become self-centered in many things.
　To fear the Lord is also to know (or admit) that we know nothing. The Apostle Paul said the following.
He says, “Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.”

(1 Corinthians 8:2).
Knowing that we know nothing forces us to be humble. And we become willing to be constantly taught, both by God and by others.

So we always need to listen to one another and teach one another. For one person's understanding and faith are limited. For we are the ones who "do not yet know what we need to know.
When Christians in faith honor one another, listen to one another, teach one another, and fellowship with one another, the love of God is at the center of such fellowship.
Paradoxically, having fear of God leads to knowing God's love and love for others as well.
Let us always humble ourselves before God, acknowledge His immense power, and know that we rightly fear Him. Let us also receive with gratitude the love of God that is made known to us at the same time.
　In today's passage, we read that the apostles (disciples of Christ) “were all one, having all things in common, selling their possessions and belongings, and sharing them with one another according to their own needs.”

　This was the early Christian community filled with the love of Christ. How was it possible to have everything in common?
　That is why they believed that "all things are given to us by God.” When we are proud of our own strength, we think that what we have earned with our own abilities is our own.
But if we believe that “we are created by God and made alive by God’s mercy,” we are given the faith that "everything is a God-given gift.”
　When we receive the faith that “everything is a gift from God,” we are freed from attachment to our possessions, our talents, or ourselves.
　The Bible tells us that when we live by the faith that “everything is a gift from God,” then we can share what we need with one another.

　And in today's passage, when it says that “the apostles all shared in one another's needs,” it means that they knew who needed what from one another.
　There was a kindness among them that showed consideration for each other, and a relationship of trust was also built between them that allowed those in need to ask for help.
We hope to build a community where we can share with each other and where those who are in need can call out for help, based on the love we receive from Jesus.
Let’s read verses 46~47
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

They were "enjoying the favor of all the people.” Why was this?
The reason was that the apostles (disciples and believers) had gathered together in faith, and they were "praising God.”
　When Christ's followers gather by faith, there God is praised (glorified and worshipped). And such an appearance has won the favor of many people.
　Here is what is important, or we can say even only one thing that is important in evangelizing Christ.
　It means that when believers praise God genuinely and sincerely, such an appearance captures the hearts of those who do not know God, too.
　To praise God is also to seek His glory, to attribute glory to Him.

The theme of our church this year is “All for the Glory of the Lord God”. This theme condenses the mission and purpose of the Christian faith.
We do not seek the glory of ourselves or of our church, but only the glory of the Lord God of Jesus Christ.
Let us ask that only the God of Christ be praised. Let us desire it with all our hearts.
　It is the supreme joy and blessedness for the believer that God is praised and all glory is attributed to Him, and God's praise is the most powerful way in which His gospel is preached.
　And at the end of today's passage, we read, “The Lord added to them daily those who were being saved, and made them one.”
When believers in Christ gather together under the Lord's grace and love, united in the thought that all is given to us by God, when we share and help one another, and when we praise the Lord, He will add daily those who will be saved.
　There are many around us who must be saved by the grace of Christ and should be fellow members of the community of faith.
Remembering that there are many such people, let us once again have a “fear” of the great God, but let us also be kept alive in His love and mercy.
　When we love, share, and help one another by faith, God is praised and glory is returned to Him. And one by one, people who come to believe in the Lord will surely be arised.
　Encouraged by such a picture (vision) of gospel evangelism as conveyed in the Acts of the Apostles, we, too, hope to live a life of faith daily living and sharing the gospel.