Sunday Worship Service November 16, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)
Hymn JBC# 105 There is sunshine in my soul today
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 554 All the way my Saviour leads me
Offering
Scripture Acts 9:1~19a
Prayer
Sermon "You will be told what you must do"
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 339 The church’s one foundation
Doxology JBC # 676
Benediction
Postlude
Welcome & Announcements

Since the beginning of this year, we have been reading the New Testament book of Acts as our bible passage in worship service. Today, we will be reading from Chapter 9.
Today's passage describes the dramatic conversion of Saul (later known as Paul), in which he was transformed from a persecutor who violently persecuted those who followed Christ into a believer in Christ and a zealous evangelist who spread the word about Christ.
Every Christian has had a conversion experience, a change from not believing in Christ to believing in Christ.
Some people may have Christian family members or guardians and have been attending church since childhood.
In such cases, the change (circumstances) that led to faith in Christ may not necessarily be clear (or at least, there may not be much awareness of it).

However, in our Baptist church in particular, we place great importance on the practice of publicly confessing one's faith and being baptized to become a Christian based on one's own clear desire and decision.
Baptism is not just a ritual (a formality), but a very significant event in that it represents a believer's new birth (conversion).
In my case, I was baptized 26 years ago.
I was not born and raised in a Christian home.
When people hear that I became a Christian and even became a pastor, they often ask me, "What was the trigger that led you to become a Christian and even to become a pastor?"
The initial trigger was when I met my current wife, who was a Christian. She invited me to church, encouraged me to read the Bible, and prayed fervently for me.
In addition, so many people from the church prayed for me.
Through being led into the fellowship of the church, being exposed to the words of the Bible, and having many people pray for me, I was led to the decision to believe in Christ.

In my case, it was not a dramatic (instant) event, as described in today's passage, where a light suddenly shone from heaven and I heard the voice of the resurrected Jesus directly.
However, in my case too, I believe it was a major turning point, a conversion, in the sense that it changed (changed direction) my way of life, which had been self-centered, and I (at the very least) decided to live my life with Jesus, rather than myself, at the center of my life.
The reason I was able to make this decision was because God had already performed the gracious act of having Jesus Christ die on the cross to atone for my sins, forgive me, and give me eternal life and hope through his resurrection.
Through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the way for our salvation has already been prepared.
We believe this and want to be grateful for the blessing of being able to walk the path of salvation prepared by God, the path of hope that leads to eternal life.
In today's passage, Saul was planning to find "anyone who followed the Way, whether male or female, and bring them bound to Jerusalem." He received permission to do so from the high priest.
"Those who belong to the Way" refers to those who believe in Jesus Christ and walk the path of Christ (those who practice their faith).

Saul was never going to show any mercy to anyone as long as they believed in Christ.
That's how thorough Saul's attitude towards persecution was.
To Saul, anyone who claimed to be a follower of Christ was intolerable, regardless of who they actually were.
Anyone who followed this path, who said he was following Christ, was his enemy.
When people are driven by anger and resentment, they are unable to focus on the existence of each actual (living) person, their individuality and character, just as Saul did when he viewed all Christians as the enemy.
Excessive feelings of anger and resentment thus rob us of sound judgment.
I hope that we can cherish the ability to care for the existence of each and every person and the heart of each and every person we meet.

As Saul hurried along the road to Damascus, excited and ready to arrest and persecute anyone who followed the way of Christ, a light shone from heaven.
Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice speaking to him.
　“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
The voice was that of the Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke to Saul by name, "Saul, Saul."
To Saul, all Christians were his enemies, enemies to be persecuted, and it didn't matter to him that they all had names.
The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ called out to Saul by his name, "Saul, Saul." Calling someone by their name means acknowledging and respecting their character.
Our Lord God is the one who calls each of us by name. He calls us by name and recognizes each of us as a special person before Him.
God calls each of us by name, and He knows everything about us, even our innermost hearts. Let us rejoice in the knowledge that we are known and treasured by such a God.
The voice of the Lord told Saul, "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do" (verse 6).
I have chosen the Lord's words, "You will be told what you must do," as the title of today's message.
Up until then, Saul had been violently persecuting Christians out of his own volition and anger, and he may even have thought that this was righteous before God.

However, I believe that in today's passage, the Lord is telling Saul, "Stop living your life based on your own thoughts and beliefs, and live by listening to and obeying the voice from outside that is shown to you, the voice of God."
This is a message that is also directed at us: we should not be self-centered, but rather seek out what God wants for us, what God's will is as revealed to us by God and through the people around us, and listen to and live in obedience to it.
A Christian is someone who has decided to stop putting oneself at the center of themselves.
We want to be people who are not self-centered, but who allow God to enter the center of our hearts and live according to what God shows us.
At that time, Saul was on his way to Damascus, where a disciple of Christ named Ananias was, and the Lord appeared to him in a vision and told him to go to the house where Saul was.

To Ananias (and not just to Ananias, but to many Christians), Saul was a horrible man.
It was widely known that Saul was a violent persecutor of the followers of Christ, and Ananias was certainly aware of this.
I believe that Ananias' words in verses 13-14 express his feelings that he absolutely did not want to go to such a man.
But the Lord said of Saul, "This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel."
This word "instrument" is also very important. We are instruments chosen by God. We are instruments to receive God's Word, God's love, and the Gospel, and to share the Gospel with others.
God uses us as instruments (vessel) to spread His gospel.
As God's "vessels," God expects us to live by surrendering control to God, who uses those vessels.
Are we ready to live as such a "vessel"? Are we ready to live in obedience to God as a vessel through which God can use us to spread His gospel, His good news?

Or will we cling to ourselves and continue to live self-centered lives?
We are created by God. As created by God, we can live our truest lives when we live according to God's plan and as vessels serving the great purpose that God has ordained.
Therefore, let us renew our resolve and determination to become believers who live as God's "vessels."
Ananias obeyed the voice of the Lord and went to Saul's house as instructed by the Lord. Ananias laid his hands on Saul and he called out to him, "Brother Saul."
Unless Ananias had been led by the Lord to meet Saul, for Ananias, Saul was not someone he could call “brother” (a fellow believer).

However, Saul, whom the Lord had brought together with Ananias, was now his “brother.” We too call each other “brothers and sisters,” especially those in the family of faith (friends) whom God has brought together with us.
How fortunate we are that we believe in the same God, that God has brought us together, that we are a family of faith, and that we can call each other "brothers and sisters."
First, I talked about the trigger that led each of us to become a Christian. In my case, as I mentioned, the first direct trigger was meeting my wife.

　From then on, I was accepted, supported, and loved at the church I was led to, and the people of the church poured out their fervent prayers on me, even though I was selfish and cheeky.
God has put me in contact with so many people who pray for me.
I believe that their prayers and wishes led to my decision to live by faith in Christ and to serve as a pastor.
Prayer is a great blessing (gift) that we as a church have received from God, and at the same time, it is also an important responsibility.
We can pray to the true God, and we can remember and pray for one another, and it is our Christian responsibility to do so.
In today's passage, Saul experiences a dramatic conversion, but Ananias, who placed his hands on him and prayed, would continue to be a special person to Saul and a friend in faith.
Let us each have friends in faith, and as we become new friends in faith, let us pray for others and live in relationships of prayer for one another.
We can live in joy as members of God's family, relating to one another, calling one another by name, and praying together in encounters of faith.
Let’s live such a blessed faith.