Sunday Worship Service January 4, 2026

Prelude
Call to Worship Micah 6:8
Hymn JBC # 19 Love divine, all loves excelling
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC #493 God sent His Son
The Prayer Time
Offering
Scripture Acts 9:19b ~ 31
Prayer
Sermon “As a fellow believer”
Prayer
Hymn JBC# 262 Holy Spirit, breathe on me!
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction

Since the beginning of last year (April 2025), we have been reading and listening to the Book of Acts from the New Testament as the Word of God in our worship messages.
During Advent and Christmas, we heard the Word in worship not from Acts, but from Bible passages related to Christmas.
Starting today, we will once again hear God's message in worship from the divine works in the Acts of the Apostles.
Saul (later called Paul) was a fierce persecutor of those who followed Christ.

In the passage preceding today's reading, as he was traveling from Jerusalem to the city of Damascus (to arrest and bring back anyone who believed in Christ), he encountered the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Suddenly, a light from heaven flashed around him, and he was struck blind. Led by others, he was brought to a house in Damascus where he stayed.
There, a man named Ananias, instructed by the Lord (God), prayed for him. Saul's sight was restored, and he was baptized.
Saul, having his sight restored, ate and regained his strength. Today's passage continues that story.
After spending several days with the disciples in Damascus, Saul, according to verse 20 of today's passage, “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.”

This means that the very person who, just a few days or a week earlier, had been fiercely persecuting those who believed in Jesus Christ, immediately after becoming a believer himself (almost without delay), began telling people, “This man (Jesus Christ) is the Son of God.”
What Saul's example shows us is that any Christian, once they believe in Jesus Christ and become a Christian, can (even immediately) share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.
Saul did not seem to think, “I've only just believed, so I should wait until I've strengthened my faith a bit more before starting to preach.”
　We are shown that every Christian, having been baptized and made a child of God, can and should proclaim Christ like Saul from that very moment.
Some of you may have had a similar experience. After my baptism, I was asked to teach the elementary class at Sunday school the very next year.
I recall feeling hesitant, thinking, “I've only just been baptized. I don't really understand the Bible that well yet.” But I loved children, so I accepted the role of Sunday school teacher.
Looking back now, my faith and knowledge of the Bible at that time were very basic. Yet, the crucial thing is simply this: “Jesus is Lord,” “Jesus is Christ, the Savior.” That is all that matters.

If that essential core of faith is present, then whether one's faith is strong or weak, or whether one's knowledge of the Bible is abundant or lacking, I believe it makes little difference, at least in God's eyes.
Now, as a pastor, I have been entrusted with the duty of being the spiritual leader of the church. Compared to when I first came to faith, I have accumulated various spiritual experiences, and my knowledge of the Bible and what I learned in seminary may have increased.
Yet in the core truth—that the confession “Jesus is Lord” was given by the Holy Spirit, that I am guided and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, and that I am permitted to walk by faith each day—I remain unchanged from those early days.
And this remains unchanged for every other Christian as well. The presence or absence of some experience or knowledge is not a major issue.
Moreover, each of us has been given different gifts. Each has their own way of serving.
Not everyone needs to preach from the pulpit like a pastor or engage in pastoral work.

Through the gifts given to us, let us share with others, whenever we have the opportunity, about the God of Jesus Christ whom we believe in and share in our church.
We desire to become such Christians and such a Christian church that evangelizes (proclaims the gospel) in this way.
Saul had previously been a fierce persecutor of Christians. Therefore, his sudden change seemed to bewilder many people, especially the Jews who had previously persecuted Christians alongside him.
Eventually, they even came to want to kill Saul. However, Saul had disciples who helped him.

Verses 23-25 describe how the Jews tried to kill Saul, but he was rescued by his disciples and escaped by being lowered over the city wall at night.
Verses 30 and following also record how he was saved by the brothers when his life was threatened by Jews in Jerusalem.
Seeing how Saul was repeatedly saved by others in this way makes us realize that we too are surely protected and our lives preserved by many people in various situations.
And behind the protection of our lives, we are reminded that there is the protection and guidance of the Lord God. We want to thank God for the blessing of being kept alive and protected day by day.
After arriving in Jerusalem, Paul sought to join the fellowship of the disciples of the Jerusalem church.

Receiving faith in Christ means not living as a solitary believer, but becoming part of a community of other Christians, joining the flock of faith.
When a person believes in Christ and is baptized, it is both a confession of their decision to believe in the Lord God and live as a Christian, and it also signifies that person becoming a member of the church.
Looking back on myself, my faith in Christ has truly grown through connecting with the church of Christ who shares the same faith, within the fellowship and connection of faith with my faith family (brothers and sisters).
I pray that within the fellowship of faith in the church, each of our faiths may be nourished, and that through each of our acts of faith and service, our faith may continue to be nurtured.
In today's passage, Saul experiences the difficulty that the believers in Jerusalem are reluctant to trust him.

It was a man named Barnabas who came to help Saul. Barnabas explained to the disciples in Jerusalem how Saul had been transformed from his former self.
Barnabas explained how boldly Saul had preached in Jesus' name. “This man is truly different now, transformed,” Barnabas must have passionately argued on Saul's behalf to persuade the apostles in Jerusalem.
Through Barnabas's help like this, Saul was able to begin building a relationship as a fellow worker with the apostles in Jerusalem.
It can be said that without Barnabas's help, Saul wouldn’t have lived as an evangelist later. Though Saul would later become a great evangelist for Christ, the Bible tells us he was truly helped by many people.

As mentioned earlier, we are reminded that behind the work of the many people who helped Saul was the protection and guidance of the Lord God, and that this same protection and guidance is given to us today.
Returning to the beginning of today's passage, Saul immediately declared, “This man is the Son of God.” And according to Barnabas' words, Saul preached “in the name of Jesus.”
Saul did not speak about what had happened to him (at least not as the central point).
He may have spoken of what happened to him personally—that Christ appeared to him, the fierce persecutor of Christians, and proclaimed the gospel to him; how he lost his sight, and then, through Ananias' prayer, regained his sight and strength.
But the central message Saul proclaimed, the most vital thing, was not about himself, but that “this man (Jesus Christ) is God.”
We, as Christians today, and the Christian church, desire to continually proclaim this message: that this man (Jesus) is the Son of God, that He is God, that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior, and God Himself.

We do not speak about ourselves. Even when we speak of ourselves, it is to speak of God's grace—how the Lord God worked through us—and to speak of God's greatness.
Christians are permitted to speak of the grace of God received, the grace of Jesus Christ in whom we believe.
Therefore, our church also desires above all to be a church where only the grace of Christ is proclaimed: “God is alive. Jesus is the Christ. The Lord's word is wonderful.”

　Let us read verse 31, the last verse of today's passage.

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
“The church enjoyed a time of peace” does not mean there were no problems among them at that time.
In fact, other passages in the Bible clearly state that various problems and conflicts arose among believers within the early church.
However, the believers in that church were united in their desire for “the peace of Christ” to be among them and in their reliance on the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.

They valued reverence for the Lord (which involves the humble faith of acknowledging “I know nothing”) and received the Holy Spirit's comfort (in English, “encouragement”).
“To be continually empowered by the Holy Spirit” means believing in the presence of God's Spirit—the Holy Spirit—who invisibly yet surely protects and guides us, and relying upon that Holy Spirit.
In the church—a gathering of believers in the Lord God, a family of faith—it is vital that each of us rely on the Spirit of God, who works beyond our own thoughts, rather than being led by the abilities or experiences of any one exceptional person.
And this is our grace.
May our church, in this new year, always rely on and desire the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.
Let us pray that we may seek the Holy Spirit's guidance with humility, without relying on our own strength or that of others, nor boasting in it.
May we be those who, constantly encouraged and comforted by the invisible Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, walk the path of faith.