Sunday Worship Service September 1, 2024

Prelude
Call to Worship Proverb 3:19
Hymn JBC # 125 All creature of our God and King
The Prayer Time
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 134 Sing them over again to me
Offering
Testimony
Scripture John 1:1~5
Prayer
Sermon “In the beginning was the Word”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 506 ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude

From the beginning of April this year until last week, we have been listening to God’s words mainly from the Old Testament. Starting today, we will listen from the New Testament at our worship service.
Today's Bible passage is the beginning of the Gospel of John, the fourth gospel of the four Gospels.
Jesus Christ does not appear directly in the Old Testament. Now, it is in the New Testament that we learn that Jesus Christ was born as a human being.
There are four Gospels in the New Testament that record the life and words of Jesus Christ: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke have many common features. However, the Gospel of John has distinctive features compared to the other three.
Why are there four Gospels? Sometimes, even when the same story is told, there are subtle differences in each Gospel, and we may wonder, "does it mean one book is accurate and the other is inaccurate as a record (of history)?"
However, I believe that having four Gospels allows the news of Jesus Christ, His good news (gospel means "good news"), to be conveyed more richly.
Not just one Gospel, but each Gospel conveys the news of Jesus Christ, the gospel of God, to us from each perspective.

Each Gospel has its own characteristics. The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy. The genealogy is written at the start of the gospel, starting with Abraham, passing through David, and leading to the birth of Jesus.
　It is said that the Gospel of Matthew was probably written primarily for Jewish Christians.
Therefore, it starts with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, which is connected to Abraham, who is said to be the father of faith for the Jews, and the great King David.
The Gospel of Matthew tells the event in which Mary, the mother of Jesus, conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit before she had relations with her husband Joseph, showing that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.
The Gospel of Mark does not record the story of Jesus' birth.
The Gospel of Mark begins with the description of John the Baptist's missionary work in the wilderness, which was prophesied in the Book of Malachi, the passage of last week's worship message, and with John's baptism of Jesus.
I think it is fair to say that the Gospel of Mark was written with emphasis on the actions and work that Jesus actually did.
The Gospel of Luke begins with the record of the birth of John the Baptist and is the only Gospel to contain the story of Jesus' childhood (when he was 12 years old).

The story is of when Jesus, at the age of 12, traveled to Jerusalem with his parents for the Passover. On the way back from Jerusalem, they lost sight of their son Jesus, so Joseph and Mary went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
There, Jesus was sitting in the midst of the scholars in the temple, listening to them and asking them questions. It is written that the people were amazed at his wise answers (Luke 2:47).
All the Gospels tell us that Jesus was the Son of God, that he was eventually crucified, died, buried in a tomb, and resurrected three days later. All the Gospels tell us that Jesus is the Son of God and is equal to God.

As for the Gospel of John, the beginning is very unique, it says: "In the beginning was the Word." These words make us think of the opening words of the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis.
　On Sunday, April 7th, the first Sunday of this year, we listened to God's Words from the Old Testament (Genesis 1:1-5), which is the very beginning of the Bible.
The beginning of Genesis begins with the words, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.," and declares that God created everything in our world.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." By God’s first word “Let there be light” the creation of the world began. With God's words, light was created in the midst of empty darkness.
The first words of the Gospel of John, "In the beginning was the Word," are directly connected to God's Creation of the World. As we continue to read John 1 beyond today's passage, we can see that the "Word" here refers to Jesus Christ.

Verse 14 says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." This means that the Word, that is, Jesus Christ, was born into the world as flesh (a human being with a physical body) and lived with people.
It is amazing news that God became man in the form of Jesus Christ and that He lived as a human being with a physical body just like us.
The fact that God became man and lived a life with a physical body just like us tells us that our lives have great meaning before God.
Although our lives on this earth are limited, we can encounter God, be strengthened by His Word, and know the dignity of our existence.

"In the beginning was the Word" means that Jesus Christ was from the beginning of the world. Jesus Christ is God and the Creator.
Today's verse 3 says, " Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
Again, in the Gospel of John, the "Word" refers to Jesus Christ, so the Gospel of John states that "all things were created and came into existence through Jesus Christ."

Colossians 1:16 says like this:
　 For in him (*God’s son Jesus Christ) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

This last part, "created for him," is very important. We were created for His Son, Jesus Christ.
One of the sufferings of life is that we cannot find meaning or significance in life. The Bible clearly shows us the answer to this: "We were created by Christ and for Christ."
Therefore, the meaning of our life is "to live for Christ." We come to know Jesus Christ through the Bible, and we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior.
And because we were created for Christ, I pray we would examine and think about whether our way of life, our daily lives, is for Christ.
One indicator of whether we are living for Christ is whether our words and actions point people to Jesus Christ.
An indicator of whether we are living for Christ is whether our church points people to Jesus Christ.

In other words, one indicator is whether Christ is visible to people through our life of faith, our way of life.
The question is whether people can see through us the joy and power of the Lord.
Therefore, the important thing is not whether people think, "a pastor’s sermon was wonderful!” after the service ends, but whether they can think, "Jesus Christ is amazing!".
When people come to our church, it is not whether they think, "Beppu International Church is a good church" (although we would certainly be happy if they thought that), but rather whether they think, "Jesus Christ is amazing."
Those who believe in God and live by God's Word will surely live that way and have that kind of face (expression).

It is our hope that we, who stand on the Word and are alive through Jesus Christ, will be able to represent Christ through the way we live.
Today's verse 4 says, " In him (The Word) was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”
True life is found in Jesus Christ. That life shines on us as light, and we too will brightly light up those around us with the light of Christ.

　Let’s read verse 5, the last verse of today’s message.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[or understand] it.

Certainly, there are times in our world when the reality can only be described as “dark.” There is also the reality of war, where people and nations fight, hate, and kill each other.
Above all, there is the problem of our sin, but Christ shines in the darkness as the true light, the light that never goes out.
The light of Jesus Christ always shines forever as a light that darkness can never overcome. We can receive and live in that eternal light.

Later on Jesus said like this:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Let us follow Jesus together, receive the light of life from Jesus, be alive by that light, and walk in the light every day.