Sunday Worship Service January 18, 2026

Prelude
Call to Worship Deuteronomy 31:6
Hymn JBC # 120 Praise to the Lord, Almighty
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC #493 God sent His Son
Offering
Scripture Acts 10:1~8
Prayer
Sermon “Praying to God regularly”
Prayer
Hymn JBC# 510 When we walk with the Lord
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction

Today's Bible passage takes place in a city called Caesarea. Caesarea was a city located on the Mediterranean coast in the northwestern part of Israel.
At that time (about 2,000 years ago), Caesarea served as one of the bases for the Roman Empire's rule over Judea.
Caesarea was a port city that flourished under King Herod the Great of Judea. The name “Caesarea” literally means “Caesar's City.”

It was named after the Roman Emperor Caesar. It was also King Herod the Great who developed Caesarea and named the city “Caesarea” in honor of the Roman Emperor.
Herod the Great had been appointed King of Judea by the Roman Empire. For Herod, backing from the Roman Empire was indispensable for maintaining his position and power as king.
That he named this prosperous port city after the emperor and undertook various improvements to the city was likely because he wished to curry favor with the Roman emperor as much as possible, hoping to make his position as King of Judea secure and strong.

King Herod, upon hearing from the wise men who came from the east to Jerusalem that “a king of the Jews has been born,” became greatly troubled (Matthew 2).
Anyone would feel uneasy like Herod if their secure position or status were threatened.
Not knowing who this new king was, Herod ordered the killing of all the newborn boys at that time.
We Christians today know that the newly born King of the Jews at that time was the true King and Savior, Jesus Christ, who came to save the people of the world from sin.
However, I believe we cannot simply condemn King Herod as foolish.
For we must constantly examine whether we truly welcome Jesus Christ as the true King into the center of our lives.
Unlike Herod the Great, who committed the cruel act of killing all newborn male infants because he could not precisely identify the one who would replace him as king, we do not do such things.

But what if we claim to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, yet fail to truly welcome Him into our hearts and live in obedience to Him?
If so, I am compelled to think we are no different from King Herod in that we are rejecting the true King.
The weakness Herod displayed—naming his city after the emperor of the empire, currying favor with that human emperor, and relying on the backing of a human ruler to protect himself—is a weakness we also carry within us.
We desire to reaffirm once more that the only One whose name should be revered and praised is the Lord God, Jesus Christ, and that the only true strength and support for us comes from God's power alone.
In today's passage, a man named Cornelius appears in Caesarea. He was a centurion in a Roman military unit known as the “Italian Regiment”
A centurion was the commander of a military unit consisting of several dozen to a hundred soldiers.
In fact, several men referred to as centurions appear in the Gospels, and they are portrayed as figures demonstrating significant faith.

In Matthew 27, when Jesus breathed His last on the cross, the centurion who witnessed this, along with others, declared, “Surely he was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54).
I believe it is fair to say that upon seeing Jesus breathe His last on the cross, he made this confession of faith: “Surely he was the Son of God.”
At the beginning of Luke chapter 7, we see a centurion whose servant was gravely ill. He asked Jesus to come to him.
So the centurion sent word to Jesus, saying:
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof... Just say the word, ..." Thus, he demonstrated unwavering trust in God's word.

It was the non-Jews who displayed this astonishing faith, declaring, “If you only say the word, it will surely happen.”
According to the Jewish thinking of that time, non-Jews were Gentiles, and Gentiles were outside the scope of God's grace. Therefore, Jews were even considered forbidden to associate with Gentiles.
But God also chose the Gentiles, and had already given them the faith to recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Jesus Christ, God became man, Himself tore down the walls of division erected between people, between races, and between countries, and accomplished the work of establishing peace.
We desire to realize the peace established by Jesus among us who believe in Christ as Lord, so that the various differences between us do not lead to conflict or mutual exclusion.

What does today's passage say about this centurion?
As verse 2 states, it says of this centurion: “He was a devout man, revered by his whole household, a generous man who gave generously to the people, and prayed to God continually.”

Though he was a centurion in the Roman army, he recognized that the true General, the true King, was the Lord God.
It is astonishing that in Caesarea, a city named after the Roman emperor, a commander of the Roman army lived a life of genuine reverence for God, together with his entire household.
And most importantly, he “prayed regularly.”
I have made “Praying regularly (or constantly)” the title of today's message. What a blessed posture of faith it is to pray to God constantly, always. The ability to pray is one of the greatest blessings of our faith.
Through prayer, we can entrust ourselves to God, we are permitted to speak to Him, and through prayer, God speaks to us.

I believe Cornelius' prayer was that of believing in God and seeking to entrust himself to God. Moreover, to pray without ceasing is a way of life—persevering in prayer without giving up.
Within that centurion's prayers, I believe there were prayers that were heard (answered) and prayers that were not heard (unanswered).
Yet even so, I believe that continuing to pray without ceasing was the driving force of that centurion's life.
And because he continually believed in God and kept praying, his sincere faith even influenced his own family.
The many acts of charity Cornelius performed were likely also based on the grace and strength he received from God through his constant prayer.

Through such a life of prayer, he was given the faith that “what we should truly fear is not the human ruler, the Roman emperor, but the true God.”
We too desire to know that God alone is the One to be feared, to humble ourselves before Him, to lower ourselves, and to understand that man is not an object to be revered as God.
　　Around three o'clock one afternoon, an angel of God called out to Cornelius. Three o'clock in the afternoon was one of the times for Jewish prayer.
I believe we can understand that Cornelius consistently offered prayer as a regular, sincere practice of his faith.
The angel of God called out to him, “Cornelius.” It is written that he was terrified at that moment.
　He was afraid because he was called directly by God (by the angel) through a voice. Yet Cornelius asked, “Lord, what is it?”
　Faced with an event beyond ordinary experience and sensation, Cornelius, though afraid, sought God's will by asking, “Lord, what is it?”
We too desire to live a life where, in every circumstance, we say, “Lord, what is it?” always seeking the Lord's will and walking in obedience to it.

The angel of God told Cornelius, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. ”
Through his life of prayer, Cornelius had a rich relationship with God. By the grace he received from God, by the love he received from God, he was able to give generously to others.
Cornelius was able to give generously to others because he himself had received overflowing grace, love, and power from God. It was because Cornelius was conscious of God's grace, love, and power.
The source of our faith, the source of our practice of faith, is the grace, love, and power we receive from the Lord God. We desire to always keep the grace, love, and power we receive from God as the driving force of our faith.
God's angel told Cornelius, “Send men to Joppa now and bring back a man named Simon, who is called Peter.”

The meeting between Peter, a Jew and an apostle of Jesus Christ, and Cornelius, a Roman centurion, was unfolding at that time according to God's plan.
From today's passage onward, their encounter unfolds to reveal that God's salvation is open not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles, to all people.
　We too are given encounters with various people. I believe we can trust that God guides these encounters between us within His great plan.
　Moreover, when we consider that each encounter among us, each meeting brought about by God, forms part of His great plan, we feel profoundly encouraged.
　We desire to cherish the encounters granted to us by God.
　And through a life of prayer, we wish to live daily in obedience to His Word.
By continually praying and listening to God's word, we may receive new revelations and new encounters.
　Let us walk forward, trusting in God, looking forward to the plans and guidance He has prepared for us.