ALL IN 5 VERSES. すべては 5 節の聖句で

     Well, last week, we looked at Acts 2:42-47 and saw that the early Church had it right by following 1) the Apostle’s teaching—staying in the Word of God御言葉にとどまること. 2) They broke Bread together—remembering the Lord Jesus主イエスを覚えること and looking for His return and 3) that Prayer was central to their Fellowship祈りをその交わりの中心とした.  

This week, we will be looking at “THINGS” the early Church did that is very important for us to follow today!  Three things: 1. they spent TIME with each other互いに時間を過ごす.  2. They were active in their society社会の中で活躍するand 3. they kept the Sabbath -the worship安息日礼拝を現実に守る.

Do you remember falling in LOVE?  What did you want to do most of the time?  Look into their eyes?  Listen to their voice? Hold them in an embrace? Was it important to be in their physical presence?  Were you satisfied with a photo of them or sitting across from them?  Was it better to be in FB contact or walking with them in a park?  Of course, some of us were satisfied with the least contact possible because you really did not like their face, their voice was too scratchy, their body order was too strong.  No?  It might be fair to say that being with them was the only think you might have thought about. 

Well, it is true that presence is best but there is a saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I feel safe to say that being together with the ones you love is a good thing.  You feel safe with them.  You are at ease.  There might be some tension but for the most part, you want to be there.

The Psalmist had that same feeling:  I want to be where You are!  I long to be in Your presence.  I hunger for that time—in your Throne Room—which is filled with the Shinning Glory of the Lord.  If you would read the Song of Solomon or Song of Songsソロモンの歌 - 歌の歌, one might get the idea that there is a lot of loving going on—at least in the author’s mind! 

How beautiful you are… How handsome you are… Your hair is like a flock of goats… Your teeth are like a flock of sheep…  Somehow I feel that that man is in love!  And he is not ashamed to say so.

So can I ask you this morning… How is your love for the Church? あなたの愛は教会のためにどうですか？ On Saturday night, do you say of that relationship “All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves?” Maybe not…but what is wrong with that kind of longing to be in His Presence?

And that is what the early church experienced.  There was a longing for contact with the Body!  There was a devotion to the Body.  Everyone was filled with awe!  All the Believers were together.  Every day they continued to meet together…  They broke bread in their homes…ate together…they had glad and sincere hearts.  They were praising God AND all that seemed to result in a most peculiar and visible result.  They enjoyed or delighted in the favor of all the people AND The Lord added to their number daily! 

Is that something to aim for?  Can we find that kind of response today or is it only a description of what they experienced?  I believe that this could be the right response to The Church and I’d like to tell you why.

It has to do with LOVE. And that has to do with keeping the Sabbath.  Since Old Testament times, the Hebrew People had been instructed to keep their worship clear of error.  Clear of idolatry: reverence of something other than the Divine.  The call to follow the Nations around them proved too much of a temptation for them.  They not only stopped worshiping Jehovah, the Creator, but also, they allowed themselves to be divorced from any kindness toward Holy God. Ten Commandments dealt with this relationship. 

As a review:  In Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, we find (ESV)

And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

1.  You shall have no other gods before Me. 他の神々はわたしの前にいない

2.  You shall not make for yourself a carved image偶像を作らない, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3.  You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain無意味に主の名を唱えない, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His Name in vain.

4.  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy安息日を聖なる日として守る. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

5.  Honor your father and your mother父と母を敬う, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

6.  You shall not murder殺人を犯さない.

7.  You shall not commit adultery姦淫しない.

8.  You shall not steal盗まない.

9.  You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor偽証をしない.

10.  You shall not covet your neighbor's house隠さない; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

As with the Apostle’s Teaching, the Ten Commandments are still in effect.  They are still to be followed.  Still to be taken seriously.  They are not just mere suggestions提案よりもっと！.  They are not a reflection of an ancient way-of-life.  They are, in fact, COMMANDS that God expects His creation to follow.  Even for non-believers to follow because He has made it all clearly understood—even pagans, that this was His Plan for Mankind.  

Romans 1:18-25 ローマ人への手紙1:18-25 ¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

And the early Church was all about restoring the relationship between God and His creation.  The Ten Commands showed us that the Lord of Love had a relationship with Mankind and that Mankind needed to restore the relationship with God.  The Law showed people our need for a Savior and to ultimately restore fellowship with Father God’s most beloved creation-Man … through the Work of Christ Jesus on the Cross.  We were created for a relationship with God and with one another.  The early Church saw that and started to live that out before the citizens of Jerusalem.  And God was pleased! 

Again; Acts 2:42-47  ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people神を賛美し、すべての民に好意を持たれた。. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

A few words concerning this: Verse 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Not only were they around each other, they must have been communicating with each other so that they could tell who needed the help and who could step up and help out.  All things in common-shows that personal ownership meant very little.  They did not hold things too dear to their hearts.  They were free to give.

They were together in TIME彼らは同じ時間を過ごした.  Doing things together.  Worshiping together.  Living their lives out together.  In some ways, it might have been a sort of Ghetto.  But public all at the same time.  They were together.

Don’t loose that, my dear friends.  Be a together Group—not exclusive but inclusive.  They involved each other in all that life had for them and it came out later, when there was a natural disaster, they pulled together.  When persecution took a hole of them, they stood up for the Lord. They became stronger united than they could stand strong alone. 

All this centers on ONE factor.  They were about a Worship time of Belief and not the building of a place.  Can’t you just see them in your mind’s eye…all over that city, people who are lovers of life, giving themselves to those in need?  People saw it!  They were glad for it.  Society changed because Believers took to the streets and met people’s needs.  And they GAVE to ANYONE as he had need.  How cool was that?  People were not waiting for a Federal handout.  Nothing wrong with food stamps of government aid but the Church took it on and it became a Faith Based social help program彼らは信仰を基にして動いた. 

They gave to those in need. Sold what they had—not to the point of injury, to meet the needs of those around them.  It seemed that they gave to their own first.  Later, you will see the care of their own widows, and food aid for the Church.

THEY KEEP THE WORSHIP REAL彼らはまことの礼拝を保ち続けた.  ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

They kept in focus the real issues of the Faith.  Meeting together in the Temple courts, broke bread together—remembering the Lord—they had GLAD喜びと HEARTS and with SINCERE HEARTS they praised God誠実な心で、彼らは主を賛美して.  There was little room for petty issues.  They were looking after the interest of others.  They took care of each other.

Many of the Believers came from broken homes.  Sure there were families that came to Jesus but at first, someONE person needed to be the first to believe.  Let me read a short testimony of one I met 33 years ago. Hideo Sato 佐藤秀夫氏.

Hideo Sato on the left with fellow classmates, Emi and Haruo. 1979

He is still walking with the Lord.  His wife is still walking with the Lord. He is still worshipping the Lord.  STAYING POWER WAS LOVE留まり続ける力は愛だった.

And read what was happening BECAUSE of this Power of God: 47 And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

When was the last time someone came to Jesus here at the Chapel? What part does each of us have in that? How can we re-visit that time in our history when we had visitors almost every week?  New people being brought by others already in the fellowship.  enjoying the favor of all the people. And God was pleased with them.  He still is pleased with us.  His love for us has not changed.  Our game plan needs a jump-start.  Our love for Him must get hotter.  Our passion for the Lord must increase.  Our passion for the lost must be rekindled.  We must pull together and grow in His Love.  Together.

                       AMEN.

COMMUNITY 共同体

Helping/ discipleship / Service

Acts 2:42-47     …in the Word…Break Bread…Prayer

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts^{, 47} praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This is the first report of the first Church.  This is the foundation of what they did, enjoy, acted upon: IT WAS WHAT THEY WERE ALL ABOUT.  In the Word: The Apostle’s Teaching　言葉において：使徒の教え

As this phase of ministry at ICCS comes to a close…and it is a chapter…what do we expect to see in the NEXT period?  Something of the same and a lot more of something new.  Have you dreamed what it will be like?  Have you wondered what ICCS will look like in one year…in five…in ten…in 20 years?  We might all be different people but IF the core of our DNA as a Church remains, it will look like this that is found in Acts 2:42-47.  A growing community. 成長する共同体

I have asked the Lord to teach us what it is that is necessary for us as a Body of Christ to know in the next 10 weeks.   What is it that I can share with you that will help as you face 2014 and beyond?  I believe He has been showing me this: Keep the Main Thing of the Gospel the Main Thing. 中心とすべきところを中心に置く I believe that advice was good for us when we started IC back in 1990 and I feel it will serve us well as we move on.

What are the main things of the Gospel?  Apart from the Apostle’s Creed, which we say every once in a while, what is MAIN?  These verses give demonstration of them. The Apostle’s teaching. 

The early Church “DEVOTED THEMSELVES TO THE APOSTLE’S TEACHING.” 

This shows me that the central factor in this following was THE WORD OF GOD!  That was central to their teaching.  That God is: He is eternal and Holy.  That Jesus is His Son: that He is all God and all Man-who came to die on the Cross-to take away the sin of man.  That the Holy Spirit –the third Person in the God Head, was sent to indwell us and seal us for all eternity.  And that is only the start.  Paul, Peter, James and others continues this teaching in Romans and elsewhere, as to how this all plays out.  

What do you believe?

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; On the third day He rose again; He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.

我は天地の造り主、全能の父なる神を信ず。我はその独り子、我らの主、イエス・キリストを信ず。主は聖霊によりてやどり、処女マリヤより生まれ、ポンテオ・ピラトのもとに苦しみを受け、十字架につけられ、死にて葬られ、陰府にくだり、三日目に死人のうちよりよみがえり、天にのぼり、全能の父なる神の右に座したまえり、かしこより来りて生ける者と死ねる者とを審きたまわん。我は聖霊を信ず、聖なる公同の教会、聖徒の交わり、罪の赦し、身体のよみがえり、永遠の生命を信ず。 アーメン

   Questions need to be answered: Are you involved in the teaching and understanding of the Apostle’s teaching?  How is your own Bible study doing?  Are you reading the Word each day?  Would you know false teaching if you heard it? Are you developing a solid foundation on the Word of God?  In short, how much of The Word do you really know and follow?  I am not talking about can you recite a Bible verse or if you know who the brother of Mary and Martha is.  Is the Word of God central in your life and life style? 

   The early church was excited about their new Faith.  Before Acts 2, many of them were literally dead in their trespasses and sin: they were dead spiritually.  Once they found salvation in the Person of Jesus, they were motivated to grow.  They met daily to hear the Word and they lived by that teaching.  Have we become dull of hearing?  Have we become tired of putting the Word of God first in how we deal with life’s issues?  Have we—as we said on Resurrection Sunday—remembered His Word?  “Just as He said…”

   Have we become laxed in our study of the Word?  Are you growing in the Knowledge of the Lord?  Is there a hunger of His Word?  I don’t mind getting up close and personal here.  Are you reading your Bible?  Could you tell if I taught falsehood?  Can you identify a false teacher when you encounter one?  KNOW the Apostle’s teaching.

   The second element that was found in the Early Church was that they Broke Bread together. パンをともに裂く Communion, Lord’s Table, the Lord’s Supper, partaking of the elements… They did it at every encounter.  Was it necessary?  IS the Bible teaching us to do the very same thing---at every meeting, have communion?  In one sense, it would be fantastic!  Some have asked me to have Communion more than once a month.  They might be thinking of these very same verses. 

   I really enjoy our Lord’s Table.  A time to remember…to take into account my own need for forgiveness…of what Jesus did on the Cross.  How He gave Himself for my sin.  How He paid with HIS BLOOD the penalty of sin for the whole world.  Hearing Him say: “Do this in memory of Me.” 再び来られるまで主を覚え  Mark 14:17-27

   Let’s do that right now.  A Memorial. Right now, in the middle of the sermon… let’s remember Him.  “On the evening that Christ was betrayed… He took the cup, saying ….” 

Mark 14:17-2717 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

マルコ14:17-27    17夕方になって、イエスは十二弟子といっしょにそこに来られた。18 そして、みんが席について、食事をしているとき、イエスは言われた。「まことにあなたがたに告げます。あなたがたのうちのひとりで、わたしといっしょに食事をしている者が、わたしを裏切ります。」19 弟子たちは悲しくなって、「まさか私ではないでしょう」とかわるがわるイエスに言いだした。20 イエスは言われた。「この十二人の中のひとりで、わたしといっしょに鉢に浸している者です。21 確かに、人の子は、自分について書いてあるとおりに、去って行きます。しかし、人の子を裏切るような人間はわざわいです。そういう人は生まれなかったほうがよかったのです。」22 それから、みなが食事をしているとき、イエスはパンを取り、祝福して後、これを裂き、彼らに与えて言われた。「取りなさい。これはわたしのからだです。」23 また、杯を取り、感謝をささげて後、彼らに与えられた。彼らはみなその杯から飲んだ。24 イエスは彼らに言われた。「これはわたしの契約の血です。多くの人のために流されるものです。25 まことに、あなたがたに告げます。神の国で新しく飲むその日まで、わたしはもはや、ぶどうの実で造った物を飲むことはありません。」26 そして、賛美の歌を歌ってから、みなでオリーブ山へ出かけて行った。27 イエスは、弟子たちに言われた。「あなたがたはみな、つまずきます。『わたしが羊飼いを打つ。すると、羊は散り散りになる』と書いてありますから。

   Getting back now to the question at hand.  How often should we do this?  The early Church did it every time they got together.  Is the Book of Acts Descriptive or Prescriptive.  In other words, does it showed us HOW they lived the Christian life or that this is the way to live the Christian Life?  Much of the material in the New Testament falls into 2 groupings: Descriptive is a narration of what took place (Acts 10:45-46). And Prescriptive, which are commands about how we should indeed follow to live out the Christian life (2 Tim 4:2 and Col 2:9).

   John R.W. Stott wrote in Baptism and Fullness, IVPress 1975, pp.15-17: 

 “What is described in Scripture as having happened to others is not necessarily intended for us, whereas what is promised to us we should appropriate, and what is commanded us we are to obey . . . What is descriptive is valuable (in determining what God intends for all Christians) only in so far as it is interpreted by what is moral . . . We must derive (develop) our standards of belief and behavior from the teaching of the New Testament . . . rather than from the practices and experiences which it portrays.”

   If we wanted to follow ALL that the Book of Acts showed us, would some of us die after giving collection because we had lied to the Holy Spirit?  Would we watch one of our own being stoned?  Would we welcome persecution for His Name sake?  We would want the closeness the early church had but not the cutting and beatings. So, to keep it clear, Acts is both prescriptive & descriptive.

   Let’s not forget the sermon title: Community. 共同体  This was the first time since Israel was a nation that The People who lived in that land felt like they were One People.  They were experiencing real community based on Historical Biblical predictions.  And with the community came the problems of interpersonal relationships.  The Gentile widows felt slighted from getting what was their due while the Hebrew widows were getting more of their fair share.  (Acts 6). That happens in a community.  We don’t excuse it, but we expect it and we need to deal with it as they did. (Vs.7 numbers increased rapidly.)

   And this memorial覚えてwas given to us to keep doing until He returns.  It is not a blank ceremony.  It is not just actions but it IS the reality of the Promise Jesus made to us.   “I will return.  Do this until I return.” When will that happen?  No one knows the time.  No one!  If someone says he knows, he is a liar.  The Word of God tells us to keep watch.  Look up into the heavens!  He will come back the same way He left.  Visible.  Physical. He will do this—just as He said. 

Our third point:  Prayer. 祈り

   We need to be deeper in our prayers.  We need to pray more.  We need to be in prayer more often.  Prayer in community and in private.  交わりの中心When my Dad was a young man, he felt that prayer was too personal to be heard by others.  In fact, the whole Christian experience was that way: “It is a private thing!”  But the Scriptures shows us time and time again—both prescriptively and descriptively that God’s People are called to prayer.

   Prayer is talking to God and it goes both ways. 祈りは双方向に  It has words and there is silence.  Both are needed. Open hearts—that are made that way because of the cleansing from The Word—are open to The Lord and there is healing in all that.  God is well pleased when He hears His Body respond to issues in prayer.  And we want to please Him. We want to please Him because we love Him and He loves us…so later in the service, let us pray…thanking God for Biblical teaching, for communion and for prayer. Still later in May, we will join the World in prayer during the GDOP.  Part of the Church Movement that is called into Community.  Amen.