Sunday Worship Service May 18, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Isaiah 32:15
Hymn JBC # 3 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 320 Shine and Live
Offering
Appeal and testimony
Scripture Acts 2:1~13
Prayer
Sermon “In their own language”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 272 Breathe on me, Breath of God
Doxology JBC # 676
Benediction
Postlude
Welcome & Announcements

Today’s Bible passage starts with the phrase “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.”
“Pentecost” means “the 50th day” in Greek, and this festival was so named because it was held 7 weeks, that is, 50 days, after the festival of the Passover.
In the Old Testament, this was referred to as the “Festival of Weeks”, as is mentioned in the following passage.

In Chapter 16 verses 9-10 of Deuteronomy, it says:
9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.
　
The Passover is a time of thanksgiving and remembrance for when the Israelites were delivered by the grace of God from their 400 years of slavery in Egypt.
The Passover is still an extremely important festival in Judaism to this day.
God gave the Israelites the command to observe the Festival of Weeks including giving thanks for the harvest given by God, in the seventh week after the Passover.
In the passage we just read from Deuteronomy, it says “giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.”
The Israelites were commanded to give freewill offerings in gratitude to God for delivering them from slavery, or captivity, in Egypt, and for providing them with the food they needed to survive ever since then.

　In today’s Christian church, we do not celebrate the Jewish festival of the Passover or the Festival of Weeks.
However, it is just as important for us as Christians today to give our freewill offerings to God in gratitude for saving us from our sins and for always providing us our daily needs.
Chapter 16 of Deuteronomy continues on to talk more about the Festival of Weeks. Deuteronomy Chapter 16 verses 11~12 says this:

11 And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.

God said to the Israelites “rejoice and celebrate God’s salvation and blessings with everyone who is with you.”
And God also commanded the Israelites to never forget that they themselves had been slaves in Egypt, and that God had delivered them from this slavery.

Offering gratitude to God, never forgetting that he has saved us, and sharing God’s blessings with many people, these teachings are just as important for us as Christians today.
Christians were forgiven and saved by the grace of God from the state of hostages of sins in the past.
And so, let us give thanks for God’s blessings, give our offering willingly from our heart, tell many people of His blessings and share His blessings with others, and hold these things close to our hearts.
　Today’s passage follows on from the previous passage where the resurrected Jesus’ ascended to Heaven and Mathias was appointed as a new apostle, being chosen to take Judas’ place as one of the 12 Apostles.
On the day of Pentecost, they were all together in one place (verse 1). I imagine they were all gathered together in prayer and would have been offering their gratitude as well.
Then it says that all of a sudden, they heard a violent wind from heaven, reverberating through the house they were in, and tongues of fire appeared, separated, and came to rest on each of them (verses 2~3).

This is the event known as “Pentecost”, the descent of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost will be actually remembered and celebrated according to Church calendar this year on June 8th worship service.
The violent wind and flames like tongues were signs that God’s spirit, the Holy Spirit, descended on the Apostles at that time.
Jesus had commanded them to “wait for His father’s spirit, the Holy Spirit, that was promised,” and just as He had promised to the apostles, the Holy Spirit finally descended on the Disciples.
And, the part where it says that the Holy Spirit came to rest on each of them, on those who believed in God, is important.
The Holy Spirit is not given only to certain special believers. The Holy Spirit is given equally to all those who believe in God.
The act itself of being able to believe in God, to be able to believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord God, this is made possible by the Holy Spirit.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 3, it is written that “no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit is given equally to believers, but the gifts that the Holy Spirit brings to each person are different. We are each given different, unique gifts.
In the same chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, it says “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them” (verse 4), and that “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (verse 7).
God gives each of us different gifts through the Holy Spirit. This is so that we each offer these gifts to one another, bring our thoughts together as one, for the good of all.
In other words, this is so that in offering our gifts to each other, we are always giving glory back to God.
Our church’s theme for this year is “All for the glory of the Lord God”.

Shall we not recognize each other’s gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit, bring ourselves together in hearts and minds, and work together for the glory of God?
In today’s passage, the flames stopped on each person who was there, and they all began talking in the languages of different countries.
In verse 5, it says that “there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven”.
These Jews were the descendants of the Jewish people who, in the times of the Old Testament, had been forced to leave their homeland and migrate to various distant countries when Israel and Judea were conquered by foreign powers.

　They were those who had returned to Israel, the land of their ancestors.
Verse 6 shows the shock they felt at hearing the apostles of Jerusalem speak in the tongues of the lands they had been born in.

In their surprise, they said:
“Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? (verses 7~8)
Galilee was a rural area in Israel, and the people from there were considered to be uneducated.
Since Peter and the other apostles were mostly born in Galilee, those foreign born Jews couldn’t believe that they (those Galileans) were speaking in foreign languages they had no way of knowing.
However, this in itself was the work of the Holy Spirit. God wanted “word of God’s kingdom to be spread beyond Israel throughout the world, to every corner of the earth”, and at that time He gave to the apostles who had received the Holy Spirit the ability to speak in foreign languages.
　But the more important thing that happened at that time, more so than the Galileans speaking in foreign languages, was what they were actually saying.
According to verse 11 of today’s scripture, the Apostles who had then received the Holy Spirit were talking in various languages about “the wonders of God”.
The hearts of those who heard this were most struck by the fact that the Apostles were declaring the wonders of God in each of their languages.
Whenever I read today’s passage, I always identify this with our church, Beppu International Baptist Church.
Why is this so? Because in our church there are people from so many countries and regions, gathering and worshipping together.
Each person has their own native language. Differences in language can make it difficult to communicate.

However, beyond our differences in language and culture, the wonders of God, Jesus Christ, always bring us all together as one.
Why do we meet at church? Is it because there are many people in church and it’s fun to meet together, or because the praise hymns is great? There may be some people who think this way.
These are all good things. However, in the end, the reason that we gather in church is to worship God, and that we want to hear about the “wonders of God” and the words of the Bible.
As the pastor here, I have taken on the role of spiritual leader of the church and as the chief administrator of the church as an organization.
In this role, I think about how everyone who comes to this church might receive strength and hope, and hope they can enjoy and smile at church as much as possible.
　And to be honest, I also want the church to run smoothly as an organization.

　However, what today’s passage shows me is that continuing to declare the word of God that is written in the Bible and the wonders of God, this the most important work for a pastor.
I am convinced that continuing to faithfully speak God’s words as written in the Bible and to tell of the wonders of God, guided by the Holy Spirit, is what most empowers us as people and also gives hope and joy to others.
The Bible includes accounts of phenomena which seem to be inconsistent with our modern everyday senses. The Holy Spirit is surely one of these things.
When we first hear these kinds of accounts, I think many of us must be bewildered and think things like “I don’t believe it” or “what is going on here.”
But, even so, God’s words and each and every word written in the Bible tell us of God’s truth and His love.
Let us open our hearts, invite the God’s spirit, the Holy Spirit, to live within us, acknowledging the wonders of God and becoming people who believe in God.
The Holy Spirit that brings us to faith in God even now is bringing us together, and it is the Holy Spirit that is the source of power that builds this church.

If we were to try to rely on our own strength to build this church, the church would quickly come to a standstill.
If we were to try to live in our own strength, our lives would also undoubtedly become stuck.
However, if we rely on the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God, and entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, each and every one of us, as well as our church, will always be supported and able to walk and live day by day, step by step, under the protection of the Holy Spirit.

So, let us ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit together. Let us receive God’s protection and power, and continue walking this path of living with the Holy Spirit together.