Sunday Worship Service March 30, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Isaiah 55:3
Hymn JBC#21 Worthy of worship
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 388 Lord, lay some soul upon my heart
Offering
Scripture Revelation 22:16～21
Prayer
Sermon “Come, Lord Jesus”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 301 Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
Doxology JBC# 673
Benediction
Postlude


Today, we have come to the last Sunday worship service of the 2024 fiscal year. (Generally speaking, the new fiscal year in Japan begins from April)
　Let us sincerely be grateful to God that our church has worshipped, that our life of faith has been protected under His grace this year as well.
Along with the annual theme [Stand on the Word of the Lord] this year, our church has kept its walk of faith.
It might sound like to [Stand on the Word of the Lord] seems like “to do our best to keep on standing on God’s Word of the bible on our own feet by our own will and effort”.
Certainly, the point that we ourselves should strive is undeniable even in our life of faith.
However, to [stand on the Word of the Lord] is primarily to confirm the solid foundation which is “the Word of the Lord (God)” that is already given to us, rather than us trying an effort.

And it is a grace that, to stand firm on that absolute Word of the Lord, we can receive unwavering peace of mind on that foundation.
That Word of the Lord, which is the absolute foundation that we can always rely on throughout our life, is already given to us.
By always listening to the “Word of the Lord” that guides our journey, having His Word as a guideline to conduct our life, we can walk the certain way of faith, even if it’s slow (and even if at times we tend to lose our way)
The Word of the bible is God’s Word, and it gives us spiritual encouragement and strength.
Just by oral reading the Word of the bible and even just heard simultaneously by many people,
it’s quite possible that that Word resonates very uniquely.

Jesus said [For where two or three are gathered in My Name, I Am there amidst them] (Matthew 18:20)
If even two or three believers that believe Jesus Christ gather, and there the Word which is God’s Word is shared, the Spirit of Jesus that was promised to be with us turns the Word of God into something special.
Let us believe the promise of Jesus that said He will be with us where we gather in His name.
Let us at always stand on God’s Word, be sustained and guided, share His Word together, move towards the direction His Word reveals and walk together even from now on.
This fiscal year, we have shared with each other over the course of a year the entire bible from the beginning of the Old Testament in the worship service sermon.
Of course, the scriptures that we could take in the worship service message was just a portion of the entire bible.

However, I believe we have confirmed that [both the New and Old Testament testifies of Jesus Christ], and [The Bible is absolutely God’s message]
We hear [the Gospel of Jesus Christ (the Good News)] from the entire bible.
Today’s scripture, the last Sunday of this fiscal year is the last portion, chap. 22:16～21 of [Revelation] which is the very last book of the Bible.
“Revelation” means “what is concealed will be revealed”, that is, “God’s truth will be revealed”.
Why can we human beings come to know about God? We cannot reach God nor gain knowledge to know Him from the human side.

And yet, why can we come to know God?
It’s because God Himself has revealed Himself to us through Jesus Christ. It’s because God became human being and lived with people in this world.
Jesus was crucified, died and resurrected. After that, Jesus promised [I will come again] and ascended to heaven.
To this day, Jesus is not visible, but we can hear and share His message through the words of the Bible.
We can know who Jesus Christ is through the Bible.

Today’s verse 16 is written as follows.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

Jesus calls Himself [the Root of David (branch, meaning descendant)]. David is the name of a king of Israel that appears in the Old Testament.
To the Israelites, King David is a character that may well be said to be a historical as well as a hero of faith.
And in accordance with the prophetic words of the Bible (Old Testament), the Israelites believed that “in due time, their own Savior (the Messiah) will be born from the descendants of David”.
And exactly, Jesus was born into this world with Joseph of the House of David as his father.
Jesus calls Himself [the bright Morning Star]. Morning star refers to the bright Venus in the East at dawn.
Jesus calls Himself here [the Morning Star], meaning hope that “After the night, morning will surely come. That means, new morning comes along with the star (morning star) of Jesus Christ” as well.
Venus is not visible from the earth at night due to positional relationship. Although unseen, however, of course Venus exists. Similarly, though not visible in our sight, Jesus Christ is surely present.
And even when to us, it seems like dark night (in times of pain and sorrow) appears endless, it is well for us to believe through Jesus’ words, that new morning will surely come with His light (star).

In the latter half of verse 17 is written as follows.
Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

“One who is thirsty” refers to one who is spiritually thirsty. If we are not spiritually filled, we always thirst in our heart.
It is because man, by nature, receives spirit from God and lives spiritually. It is written in [Genesis], which is the beginning of the Old Testament that, God created man of dust from the ground, by breathing “breath” into man, He made him into living being.
That “breath” also means “spirit”. Man being breathed in with God’s spirit becomes a living being, and even now, for man to live in its true sense, it is essential to always receive the” spirit” from God.
If we don’t receive the spirit from God, we become spiritually thirsty, perpetually unfulfilled, empty, and in a feeling of uncertainty.
However, Jesus promises that [Anyone who is thirsty, “can drink” without value (it’s free) the water of life that I give], that no one will spiritually thirst.
Should one thirst, should one desire for the water of life, let us go to Jesus. He says [Come to Me] anytime, He invites and waits for us.

Concretely, to go to Jesus is to read God’s Word of the Bible, come to church and listen together to the message of God’s Word of the Bible in the worship service, read and share the Bible together with other believers and pray.
The pathway to Jesus is open. Even our church always welcomes the thirsty, and I wish to always keep the church’s gate open that we can walk together with them to Jesus.
Let us respond to Jesus’ calling, receive the spiritual nourishment, the water of life which is the Word of God and go to Jesus together with us.

In today’s passage, is also written extremely severe words that we should listen seriously. Let me read verses 18～19.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

We can say that the [words of the prophecy of this scroll], in broader sense, refers to the words of the entire Bible. The Bible is the Word of God that was written through the inspiration of God.
And each word of the Bible bears the weight of the Lord Jesus Christ’s cross. Jesus who bore the sins of us human beings, crucified and died, says that the Word of the Bible is certainly true and testifies about Him.

It says here that we should not modify, add human thoughts or take away significant matters arbitrarily from the words of the Bible.
Surely, there are passages in the Bible that are hard or difficult to understand, or unacceptable in our view of the present age. However, the Word of the Bible is, in any case, the Word of God that should be earnestly studied through Jesus Christ.
I repeat, it is because God’s Word of the Bible is the Word in which the One who has offered everything on the cross for our sake said, “this Bible testifies about Me”.

The most important thing in my work as a pastor, is to explain/ interpret God’s Word of the Bible.
　It’s not just theoretically or historically explaining its content as [this Word means this], [the historical background of this passage is this] (but that includes as well)
It isn’t that way, but it’s the role of the pastor to reinterpret and convey the words of the Bible that it may become words to make us at the present time live, and it is also our role as a whole church.
When God’s Word of the Bible is explained clearly at church, and each one of us who hears lives that Word of God in real life, the word of the Bible is reinterpreted to the world through us.
At that time, the Word of the Bible will be spoken as a vibrant and abundant thing, exactly as a “Living Word of life”.
Let us rejoice that we are being made to live in such Word of God, moreover, let us abundantly receive and share His Word, and together live the life of faith.

Let me read the last portion of today’s passage, verse 21 which is the concluding remark of the entire Bible.

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

This utterance “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people” condenses the purpose of the written Word of the Bible into one sentence.
It is concentrated in this sentence, how much God loves us, how He longs for us to live the abundant life under His grace.
And in this single sentence is summarized the calling of evangelism that our church must fulfill.
Let these words of prayer and hope [The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people], be our earnest prayer and hope.
And let us live ourselves to the joy and happiness of being made to live in the Word of Jesus Christ and convey God’s Word to the world as well.