Sunday Worship Service March 23, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Psalms 31:5 (NIV)
Hymn JBC # 3 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Supper
Hymn JBC # 388 Lord, lay some soul upon my heart
Offering
Scripture 1 John 3:19～24
Prayer
Sermon “We belong to the truth”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 92 Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee
Doxology JBC # 673
Benediction
Postlude


Today's Bible passage is from ‘1 Epistle of John”. It is said that the John who wrote this letter was John, one of the twelve direct disciples of Jesus, who also wrote ‘the Gospel of John’.
John recorded in the form of a Gospel the life of Jesus, whom he lived together with, the words that Jesus spoke, and Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection.
In this letter, on the other hand, John focuses on how believers in Jesus Christ should live their lives of faith, especially how believers should love one another.
It is believed that John wrote this letter about 60 years after Jesus died.
If 60 years had already passed since Jesus left the earth, was He a distant memory in John's mind?

Had Jesus become someone that he would remember, thinking, “Long ago, Jesus was our teacher, and He taught us about the wonderful kingdom of God. I remember Him fondly.”?
That was not the case at all. To John, Jesus, who had died 60 years earlier, was still alive as the Christ (the Savior).
Each word of the letters of John shows that John was receiving the power of Jesus Christ working through the Holy Spirit.
Even though Jesus Christ, as a human being, no longer lived on earth, He certainly continued to live in John and among those who believed in Christ with him.
Christ still continues to live now and to tell us the living Words of God. We still now can receive the living Words of God together.

Just before today's scripture passage, in chapter 3, verse 16, it says:

1 John 3:16
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16, it says:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Both are chapter 3, verse 16. Essentially, they both say the same thing: Jesus Christ died for us. God gave His only begotten Son to us. Through Him we now know love.
But John's letter says, “And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
Even 60 years after Jesus' death, the fact and truth that “the Lord laid down His life for us” was not just a memory of the past for John.
Rather, it (Jesus' laying down His life) remained the driving force of his (John's) life of faith, to the point that he said, “And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
We cannot die for humans as God died to save humans from sin. For humans cannot save humans from their sins.
However, John is saying that if we truly believe that God laid down His life for us, then that faith should take concrete form in a way of life that practices love for others.
Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. In doing so, we have come to know love. This remains the central message of the Bible.
And the Bible continues to urge us to this day, saying, “Now that we have known this true love, let us love one another. For Jesus first loved us, so much so that He laid down His life for us.”
Because Jesus laid down His life on the cross, we can know how much God loves us and values ​​us.

If any of us thinks, “I am worthless” or “I am not loved,” I urge you to look up to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ on the cross.
It is Jesus Christ, who gave His life on the cross, who teaches us true love, He teaches us, “how loved and precious in the sight of God this person who I am is.”
　At the beginning of today's passage, it says, “This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his (God’s) presence.”
The truth is Jesus Christ.
Specifically, it is the Word of Jesus Christ and the love of Jesus Christ. Because it is the truth, it will not change with the times, and its power will not weaken.
The one thing that is certain, the one thing that never changes, the one thing that is absolute, the one thing that will always have power, the one thing that will always encourage us, is the Truth. It is the Word of Christ and His love.
If you can believe that you belong to that Truth, then there is true peace.
Things in this world change. People's hearts, trends, ways of thinking, common sense, and so on all change with the times.
But Jesus Christ never changes. His love and His Word never change. We belong to the truth of Christ. And there is security and peace in that.

If the unchanging Word of Jesus Christ continues to be spoken in the church, if that Word is shared, and if love is practiced based on the Word, there will be a firm hope.
Nowadays, the number of people gathering in churches, the number of Christians, is very small. Our church is also a small flock. It is my hope that we will pray together that we may be given good wisdom and methods to preach the gospel of Christ.
　But above all else, let us remember the truth that the Word of Jesus Christ never changes, and that Word is always with us, and let us continue to stand on that truth.
We can rest assured knowing that we have been given the unchanging treasure that is the Word of God.

Verse 20 says, “If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”
When we face ourselves honestly, we may at times blame ourselves.
I think there are times when we are made aware of our own unpleasant aspects or shortcomings, or when we make a mistake, and find it difficult to forgive ourselves or even start to hate ourselves.
When we are made aware of our sins, we may think that as we are we will never be able to stand before God. It is important to face our sins to the extent that we feel this way.
However, even if we find ourselves blaming ourselves in these ways, we can still feel secure because God is greater than our hearts.
For God, despite our shortcomings, despite our unpleasant aspects, has invited each of us to live in His love, forgiving us nonetheless.

Some of Jesus' first disciples, such as Peter and John, were the first to experience the great joy of being forgiven by God after facing their own shortcomings and unpleasant aspects.
When Jesus was arrested, all of His disciples, including John, the writer of this letter, abandoned Him and fled.
The disciple Peter remembered the words that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times,” and when this actually happened, he broke down in tears.
Such disciples met the resurrected Jesus Christ, learned that their sins were forgiven, and from then on became powerful evangelists who spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The driving force behind their evangelism was the conviction that people are not saved by their own efforts or achievements. Humans that are weak, flawed, and even cowardly can be forgiven and saved only through God's mercy.
The gospel is not about boasting about ourselves, it is about the fact that it is only by the love and mercy of Christ that we are forgiven, kept alive, and loved. This gospel is our true strength and hope.

And it is this hope that changes the way we live.
Verse 22 of today's passage says, “receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.”

The next verse, verse 23, reads:
23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

The Name of Jesus Christ describes the essence of Jesus Christ, including that He is God, what He has done, and His Word.
Believers believe in Jesus' words, His love, and everything He has done, and live their lives trusting in each of these things.
And when believers believe together in the name of Christ and gather together in His name, the love of Christ is shared and put into practice.
In this way, in a community of faith where we believe in the name of Christ and love one another by faith, we are promised in today's scripture passage that if we join our hearts together in prayer and ask God for something, whatever we pray for will be granted.

When we hear, “whatever we ask God for, He will grant it,” we might think, “Is that really true? Aren't there some wishes and prayers that cannot be granted?”
When we have such doubts, especially when we have such doubts, let us focus our hearts on the fact that Jesus Christ gave His life for us on the cross.
And let us once again take confidence in the great love that God has for us.
Surely God, who gave his only Son for us, would not fail to hear our prayers as we pray together in unity and love for one another.
Let us continue to receive Christ's love abundantly through His Word.
And receiving Christ's love in abundance, let us cherish the faith that enables us to cherish and love one another.