Sunday Worship Service July 27, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship   Isaiah 6:3～4
Hymn JBC # 538 A Mighty Fortress is Our God
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 278 There is within my heart a melody
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Supper
Offering
Scripture   Acts 4:23-31
Prayer
Sermon          Speaking God’s Word with Great Boldness
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 134 Sing them over again to me
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction
Postlude


Today's scripture just read now (“Acts” 4:23-31) reminds us once again that this is what the Christian church is like.
　Today's passage begins with Peter and John being released and going (returning) to their friends.
After Jesus Christ's death on the cross, His resurrection, and His promise that the Holy Spirit will descend on His disciples and they will receive power, He (Jesus Christ) ascended into heaven.
Later, two of Jesus' disciples, Peter and John, healed a man who had been lame from birth in the temple in Jerusalem in the name of Jesus.
This led the Jewish authorities to arrest, imprison, and interrogate Peter and John.

Peter and John declared “the lame man was healed in the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ was killed, but He rose again. And only in the name of Christ can one be saved," and they began to preach the salvation of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ and salvation in His name were unacceptable to the Jewish authorities (rulers, priests, elders, teachers of the law, etc.).
In the eyes of the Jewish authorities, the man Jesus was a blasphemer. That is why they brought Jesus to the Roman authorities and had him executed by crucifixion.
Let’s take another look at verse 23 from today’s passage.

23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

Peter and John were released and went to their friends, meaning they had a place to return to.
They had somebody they could call “their own people.”
Let us regard our own church in the same way that Peter and John did, having gone to their own people first thing upon their release.
We, too, go about our daily lives, wherever that may be, and then return to church.
In church we meet God (we encounter Him through prayer and His Word), and we also meet our fellow believers face to face.
We can come back to the church when we are going through hard times in daily life. It is the church where we can meet our friends, our own people.

It is my hope that each one of you would consider the church a place you can always return to, a place where you can find friends and family.
When Peter and John returned to their own people, it is written that they spoke all that the chief priests and elders had said.
　Peter and John told them all about how they had been strictly commanded by those in authority not to henceforth teach in the name of Jesus or say that Christ had risen from the dead.
　They told their friends all about the harsh reality of the situation that had befallen them all and that they were all in danger of being persecuted.

　So what did they do first?

Let’s read verse 24.
24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.

When they heard how dire their situation was, they first raised their voices to God in prayer together. They were entrusting their difficult situation to God first.
They were given the desire to pray first before rushing to come up with some kind of solution on their own.
　We of course try to do our best on our own, but let’s strive for the kind of faith that says, “Let us pray first,” “Let us entrust the situation to God,” and "Let us seek God's will together.”
　Then it is written that they raised their voices and prayed.
They may have all prayed aloud simultaneously, but it seems more likely that Peter or John was praying aloud on their behalf.
　In the Christian church, we sometimes pray aloud so that others can hear us.
When someone prays on behalf of someone else, that person prays aloud, and others pray along with him or her.
　Prayer can also be done privately from the heart. Prayer as an individual is also important.
　However, by listening to the prayer of the one person, we can pray together about the same thing.

It is also very important that we all pray together in this way, and for this to happen, we must truly be united in our faith.
　Jesus said the following in Matthew 18:19-20.

19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
　We must now firmly believe in what Jesus says. Whatever we ask, if two of us agree about anything we ask for on earth, God our Heavenly Father will grant it.
Getting whatever we ask for is a tremendous promise. But we need to take seriously the part “if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for,.”
　If two believers in Christ, brothers and sisters in the family of faith, come together and ask for something in agreement, God the Father will grant it.
　Thus, it is easier said than done for us to be truly united in prayer (in faith) with others. Our desires, spiritual conditions, or opinions might not be the same.
Nevertheless, we must build up relationships grounded in faith that enable us to offer a united prayer in agreement with each other, especially when gathered in the same church.
Only then will our Father in Heaven grant us whatever we ask.

Let us build up relationships for being united in prayer so that Jesus’ promise would be fulfilled.
Let us look at the first words of the prayer in today's passage.
　Sovereign Lord,　you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. (verse 24)
　The God of the Bible created everything in the world.
Everything in the world and everything that lives in it was created by God, and God is the One who rules over everything.
　The prayer in today's passage reminds us that we have the privilege of praying to such a God.
The words in this prayer urge us to pray to God with the confidence that there is nothing that such an amazing God cannot do, and that He knows everything.
　Let us be convinced once again of the amazing grace of being able to pray to the true Creator, the Maker of all things in the world.

Let’s read verse 29.
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
　The threats from the chief priests and elders were very severe. It was truly a visitation of persecution. Preaching the name of Christ from now on would truly be a matter of life and death.
　　Peter and the others left the difficult situation to God. “Now, Lord, consider their threats“ is a statement of their confidence that even the threats of the authorities are all under God’s control.
They prayed that because the authorities are under God’s control, God would protect them so that they would not fear the authorities, no matter the threats that come.

　And they prayed that God give them the strength to speak the Word boldly in the midst of difficulties and threats from the authorities.
They knew that the strength and courage to speak boldly in the midst of difficulties would not come from anywhere else but from God (not from within themselves).
　Let us pray and ask God Himself to give us the power to speak the Word with boldness, to live according to the teachings of Jesus, and to live trusting in God as believers.
　When the church speaks the Word with God-given boldness, the Word has the power to encourage and move people.

Let’s read verse 31, the last verse from today’s passage.
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

When they finished praying, the place where they had gathered was shaken.
The fact that the place where they were gathered was shaken could also mean that the hearts and faith of each and every one of those participating in the prayer were greatly shaken (moved).
They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the Word of God with boldness. They were united in their prayer-filled hearts, and their prayers were heard by God. And just as they had hoped, they began to speak the Word of God with boldness.
They would have received power and been sent out to many places. And in their respective places, they must have spoken (and continued to speak) the Word of God boldly.
　　In our daily lives and in our faith, we may face various crises.
In such times of crisis (or rather, it is precisely in such times of crisis) we should unite in prayer, support and encourage one another. Let us build such bonds of faith.
Let's live out our faith and pray that our church will be a place for meeting fellow believers with whom we can pray wholeheartedly, and that more such friends will be added to our number.