August 24, 2025 Sunday Worship Service

Prelude
Call to Worship Psalms 33:6
Hymn JBC # 495 Thy way, not mine, O Lord
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC# 510 When we walk with the Lord
The Lord’s Supper
Offering
Scripture Acts 5:12~26
Prayer
Sermon Tell the people all about this new life.”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 134 Sing them over again to me
Doxology JBC # 672
Benediction
Postlude
Welcome & Announcements

Today's Bible passage begins with this sentence; “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.”
　The disciples who were called apostles, who played a central role among Christ's disciples, performed many signs and wonders.
These included healing people's illnesses and casting out demons from those who were demon possessed.
　Although the apostles performed such works, it was not their own power that made it possible.
It was the power of the Lord God.
And the fact that many signs and wonders were performed through the hands of the apostles was also evidence that God had answered their prayers.
They had prayed as follows in the passage preceding today's passage.

Acts 4:29～30
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

　The apostles prayed that they would be able to boldly proclaim the word of God, even in the face of persecution from those who sought to hinder their evangelical work.
And even in difficult circumstances, they prayed that through the hand of God reaching out to them, and in the name of Jesus Christ, the sick would be healed and those in distress would be helped.
This was also the apostles' resolve: “May God's work be done. For this purpose, we dedicate ourselves and work as Your hands and feet.”
When we dedicate ourselves to God and pray, wishing “We will work for God,” God will surely answer our prayers.
Whether God hears our prayers depends on whether those who believe in Christ and pray make the decision to dedicate themselves to God.
Every time we dedicate ourselves and experience the faith that God's work is done through us, our faith is strengthened and grows.

We desire to accumulate such experiences of faith together, where we entrust ourselves to God, dedicate ourselves to Him, and see His work come to fruition.
In today's passage, it is also written that the apostles gathered together with one heart in Solomon’s Colonnade. Solomon's Colonnade was a long corridor outside the temple in Jerusalem.
Solomon's Colonnade was the place where Jesus once clearly told the Jews that he was the Messiah.
In John 10:22, it is written about the time when Jesus was walking in Solomon's Colonnade.

The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” (John 10:24)
Jesus answered: “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, (John 10:25)
In today's passage, although Jesus was no longer physically present with the apostles, I imagine that they were recalling what Jesus had said to them in Solomon's Colonnade.
Jesus had declared in words that He was the Messiah (the Savior who redeems humanity from sin). That Jesus Christ is the Messiah was the very truth upon which the apostles stood.
Jesus also said, “There are those who do not believe, but the various works (deeds) that Jesus Himself performs will testify about Him.”
As the apostles recalled Jesus' those words and deeds, they likely hoped that God's glory would be revealed not only through their words but also through their actual works.

Their prayers and desires were heard by God. Through the various powerful works performed by the apostles, the kingdom of God was proclaimed to the people.
　In the passage from verse 15 onward, it is written, “People would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them there so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”
　　In verse 16, it is written that many sick people and those tormented by unclean spirits were brought to the apostles, and not one of them was left untreated.
　“Not one of them was left untreated” means that everyone received what they truly desired.
　From this, I was made to think that it would be wonderful if the current church could be a place where “everyone can receive what they truly desire.”
What is it that we truly desire?
　I believe that each of us carries an unfulfilled heart. We have a longing for something to fill that unfulfilled heart.

It is a spiritual thirst and a desire of the soul. We try to fill it with various things.
　However, the only One who can truly satisfy the thirst of our souls and spirits is the Lord God. Only the love of God revealed through Christ can fill our hearts.
In the church, I pray that each and every one of us who are connected to the church may be truly satisfied by God, who can truly satisfy our hearts and souls, and that we may all be healed without exception.
　May each one of us be filled with the love of God, which is not temporary, but permanent, certain, and true. I sincerely pray that the church will always be filled with such love from God.
　In the latter half of today's passage, it is written that jealousy arose among the high priest and his Sadducee toward the apostles. They arrested the apostles and put them in prison.
“Jealousy” is one of the most prominent characteristics of human sinfulness. The Bible states that it was the jealousy of the Jewish authorities that led to Jesus Christ being crucified.
　For the high priest and the Sadducees, who formed the main sect of Judaism, it was unbearable that the apostles were performing powerful works and were being praised by the people.

　The high priest and the Sadducees were supposed to be people who believe in God, convey God's will to the people, and encourage them to serve God.
If they had been truly faithful to their duties, there would have been no need for them to feel jealous of Christ's apostles, for God's work was being done through them.
However, rather than acknowledging the wonderful works being performed by the apostles, they felt jealous that the praise they believed they deserved was being directed toward the apostles, and this jealousy consumed their hearts.
And so they put the apostles in prison. But the Lord sent angels to rescue them.
　We too may find ourselves in crisis situations. But even when we think there is no hope, the Lord God will send us the help and helpers we need, according to His plan.
　After Jesus was crucified, died, and buried in the tomb, the women went to the tomb on the third day to anoint His body with spices. It was Easter morning.
　The entrance to the tomb was covered with a large stone, but the women hurried to the tomb without knowing who would roll the stone away. (Mark 16) However, when the women arrived at the tomb, the stone had already been rolled aside.
Just as the stone blocking the entrance to Christ's tomb—a major obstacle—had been moved, when we are confused and troubled, wondering, “What should we do?” God will surely provide help at that time.

　God will surely give us the help and guidance we need according to His plan, so let us trust in God and continue to move forward, even if only little by little, even in the midst of difficulties.
The angel of the Lord opened the door of the prison where the apostles were being held, led them out, and said to them,
Verse 20: “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about (the words of) this new life.”
(In the NIV version, it is written “all about this new life”, but in the original Greek version, it is written “all about the words of this new life.”)

　“Proclaim this word of life to all the people”—this is still the mission given to us as Christians today.
In the church, the word of God (the words of the Bible) is heard and shared. And the word of God is the word of life. For we humans are those who live by the word of God.
　The word of God is not merely a word that is “useful for living, so it is better to hear it than not to hear it.” The word of God is the word of life for us to live.
　　God has ordained that this word be preserved by those who believe in it, by the church, heard, and transmitted to the world.
　In today's passage, the Lord God sent an angel to assist the apostles, but it was not merely to save them at that time.
It was so that the word of life, that is, God's word, might be transmitted to many people and eventually to the whole world.
The work of hearing God's words, living by God's words, and spreading God's words to the world has been carried on continuously from the time of the first Christian church about 2,000 years ago to the present day.
　“To speak all the words of life”—this is not something that can be accomplished by a single Christian, a single church, or a single era.
However, with the goal of accomplishing this, Christians continue to speak God's words without any omission. Through such work, we come to live and be sustained by the word of God.
　God has given us His words of life through Jesus Christ.
　We can never hide or lock away God's words of life just somewhere.
　Let us listen to every word that Jesus Christ spoke throughout His life.
Let us be filled with God's words, share the overflowing grace with others, and proclaim it to the world.