Resurrection Morning 復活の朝

Resurrection Morning  復活の朝 

Luke 24:1-12 

  The real joy and difference found in Christianity is that our God is alive.  And because He is alive, we can really live.  We can live because He did not stay dead! We serve a risen Lord!

     Colossians 1:10-14コロサイ1:10-14 ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His Holy People in the kingdom of light.  ¹³ For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Paul’s Prayer for us …私たちのためのパウロの祈り

1.     … Live a life worthy of the Lordの生きがいのある人生を送る

2.     … Please Him in every wayあらゆる方法で彼を喜ばせる

3.     … Bearing fruit in every good workすべての良い仕事で実を結ぶ

4.     … Growing in the Knowledge of God神の知識で成長する

5.     … Strengthened with all powerすべての力により強められる

According to His Glorious Might, He rose from the dead!

•To have GREAT ENDURANCE   大いに耐え忍ぶ

              Endurance in action.  Heb. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, CAN’T afford to sit still!   Dr. V. Raymond Edman of Wheaton College said … “It is always too soon to quit.”

Charles Spurgeon said “By perseverance the snail reached the ark.”  We need long-suffering ---meaning “Self-restraint” ~~ that is the opposite of revenge.  Don’t hit back!  Don’t try and get even!  God is long suffering toward us because that is His PLAN. That is His Promise.  We too must forgive!

•2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  ペテロの手紙　第二 3:9  主は、ある人たちがおそいと思っているように、その約束のことを遅らせておられるのではありません。かえって、あなたがたに対して忍耐深くあられるのであって、ひとりでも滅びることを望まず、すべての人が悔い改めに進むことを望んでおられるのです。 

 That is Good News for those we love! One of the fruit of the Spirit   

(Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,) ガラテヤ 5:22 しかし、御霊の実は、愛、喜び、平安、寛容、親切、善意、誠実、

 and should be put on like “garments of Grace” as in 

 Col 3:12. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ガラテヤ 3:12 しかし律法は、「信仰による」のではありません。「律法を行う者はこの律法によって生きる」のです。

••And PATIENCE忍耐 Very important in the family.   Easy to be patient with outsiders—but lost it with family members.  See Proverbs 25:28  “Like a city who is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit—who lacks self-control.”  自分の心を制することができない人は、城壁のない、打ちこわされた町のようだ。Needed to grow in patience together as we grow spiritually into the next phrase of ICCS. Developing Self Control takes time!

God does not force HIS people to be patient but He seeks it in us!  

  PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE, POSSESS IT IF YOU CAN.  "忍耐は美徳であり、可能な限り持つようにFOUND SELDOM IN A WOMAN, NEVER IN A MAN.  Source unknown      

And, “True patience is waiting without worrying.”  C. Swindoll                 Seek after this!    

God’s power is evident in our lives in our patience and in our long suffering and also in our JOYFULNESS!

•–• JOYfully ~喜びone that last a long time/not short lived.  On that first Resurrection Sunday—the people found nothing to be joyful about.  They had a Dead Savior.  Hope was nailed to a Cross.  Didn’t even have time to get body ready for the grave. Second day-holiday-they couldn’t go to the grave.  Third day…wonder how to remove the stone---horrified to find the grave empty!  Did someone steal the Body?  And then they heard— Don’t be afraid! 恐れることはない
    “Don’t be afraid! He is not here; He is risen, just as He said. COME AND SEE---Come-see-go-tell!  Now they had JOY! Return with the GOOD NEWS that Jesus is alive!

They began to grow in the JOY.  Not self-made—“work up” up from within; it is something the Spirit Himself “works in us”  --“Joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.   ローマ 14:17       17 なぜなら、神の国は飲み食いのことではなく、義と平和と聖霊による喜びだからです。 Times of Joy!

•–• There were times in my life—joy was easy to know—other times—I gave into the problem.  I felt defeat and lack of joy and victory.  The early followers grew in this joy as they learned to trust Him and grew in their understanding of Him.   

   THEN…..Giving THANKS to the Fathe感謝we need to remain thankful.   

See EPH. 5:18-20 ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  エペソ人への手 5:18-20 また、酒に酔ってはいけません。そこには放蕩があるからです。御霊に満たされなさい。19 詩と賛美と霊の歌をもって、互いに語り、主に向かって、心から歌い、また賛美しなさい。20 いつでも、すべてのことについて、私たちの主イエス・キリストの名によって父なる神に感謝しなさい。

   When we lose our joy—we loose our vision and loose our sight of Jesus—we start complaining and become critical— very evident in how we respond to pressure and change—GREAT NEED TO GUARD OUR ATTITUDE! 我々の（主に対する）姿勢を守るために大き必要です Practical obedience means pleasing God, serving Him and getting to know Him better.  That is our job.  That is what we need to be doing with our lives.  For some, it will take working on forgiveness of wrongs suffered ~ both real and unreal.

   Learning to love members of the family that has been hard to work with in the past.  Forgetting past hurts as you ask for forgiveness.  Not keeping a list of wrongs made against you and your family.  Let this Resurrection Sunday be the start of newness in your relationship with others.  Forgive so you can be forgiven too!

Paul prayed that their life would be worthy of the Lord: spiritual intelligence霊的な知性might result in practical obedience実践上の服従.  That is the first two of a three-legged chair that is necessary—but the last leg is there is so that the Believer could maturity成熟.  That has to do with MORAL EXCELLENCE …道徳的卓越性

•–• WISDOM and CONDUCT should always be connected to MORAL CHARACTER.  Many are concerned with knowledge and service but little concern for the development of a solid Christ-like personal character. 

God was at work to build MORAL EXCELLENCE in His band of 120 so people. He showed them the life of Jesus up close and personal.  They watched Him deal with the sick, the sinner and the saintly.  He was pure toward them all.  Then, according to God’s plan, He took the life of Jesus and gave them a lifeless body to bury.  Then, when all hope was gone—He injected JOY!  Jesus is alive!  He is no longer dead!

God has •–•QUALIFIED US•–•認められた私たちmade us OK in His sight.  TO SHARE~ The Good News was given to us for us to share with each other… in the Inheritance of the Saints in the Kingdom of Light.

•–•–• Hebrews  2:14-15  •–•–• “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of  death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their… fear of death…”  ヤコブ 2:14-15 私の兄弟たち。だれかが自分には信仰があると言っても、その人に行いがないなら、何の役に立ちましょう。そのような信仰がその人を救うことができるでしょうか。15 もし、兄弟また姉妹のだれかが、着る物がなく、また、毎日の食べ物にもこと欠いているようなときに、

 Since God sent His Son to die for the people of the world—not sent to die for fallen angels—it was His intent to give to us an inheritance in Him.  This is the joyful present the Lord has for us on this Day of Resurrection.  The Kingdom of God is ours–•–in Christ Jesus!  He is no longer dead!  He will come back for us!

Death could not –did not—hold Him!

FOR HE HAS RESCUED US FROM THE DOMINION OF DARKNESS AND BROUGHT US INTO THE KINGDOM OF THE SON HE LOVES, IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 

That is the message of Resurrection Sunday •–• Whatever is God’s Best—to give Him Glory—that He will do! Nothing can keep Jesus down!

The Lord, He Has Risen! 主は生きておられる！ He Has Risen Indeed! 主は確かに、生きておられる！

Psalms 46:1-3 ESV

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah"

More than enough room! 十分な部屋以上のもの

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 Luke ルカ14:16-24

Once again, we are looking at a parable of Jesus.  So far, we have learned that Parables are teaching tools that come out of real life experiences and Jesus uses them to teach us some real life Spiritual lessons.  The weak point here may be with us who misunderstand the parable or if we don’t follow the teaching.  The lesson here seems to be straightforward: Be ready to come when He calls.

The problem in this story is that the people who were called did not take it seriously at all.  In fact, they came up with three pretty silly and, could be interpreted as selfish or foolish reasons.  三人の貧しい者の言い訳

1. Bought a field and now I got to go see it?  Really?  Would you really buy a field and not see it first?

2. Bought five oxen and need now to go try them out?  Really? Why did he really buy them before he tried them out before hand?

3. Just got married?  Really?  Already blaming his inaction on the wife!  If something goes wrong-blame the wife.

It would like the line some make when they don’t want to go on that date: “I can’t go out with you on Friday because I am washing my hair.”  “What about Saturday?”  “No, I’m drying my hair!”

It would have been better if they told the truth: “I don't care about your party! Leave me alone!”

Well, this response from the man’s friends angered him.  Angry because his friends were treating his offer so poorly.  Angry because his friends would not show him any courteous for his kindness. In short, they grew cold toward him.

The active people in our story are unnamed but ever so important to the results.  “His servants”, “the servant”, “his servant” by title only.  This role was one of action and of being very involved with the community around him.  He was doing the will of his master. この共同体における仕えるも

のとしての役割 Going, talking, pleading in some cases, reporting back factual reports of how things were going.  This person or group of people were really dedicated to their master and would do anything and DID do anything for him.  They responded to the master’s request to compel others to come for the meal.  To go beyond the comfort zone and really ‘get’ those people to come in for the feast.

In short, I really liked these guys.  Men of action.  行動する男性。Men with a mission.  Men who really went the extra mile to satisfy their master.  But we don't know their names!  A group of no bodies.  No named workers…

The Bible is filled with such people.  Who was it that built the Tabernacle? (Exodus 25) Oh, we got a few names of the men God chose to give special talents with gold and silk and gems but he (Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur of the tribe of Judah and Oholiah from the tribe of Dan) did not do ALL the work by themself.  They had helpers.  Who were they?  Don’t know.

Who were the men who fought for Israel.  We got a few names of the leaders and about 70 Men of Valor with King David, but they too had seconds to help out but we never hear their names.

And even if we did read of their names, the names were hard to pronounce.  Yet, the Work of God continued and He got the Glory for all the Acts of God in Human History.

When it comes to the New Testament, Paul, esp. uses a lot of names of Saints who followed the Lord.  He even named some enemies of the Gospel-telling the reader to watch out for Alexander, the metalworker who did Paul great harm. (2 Tim 4:14) In the letter to the Romans, Paul goes into very deep theology when he explains the Gospel.  Great passages dedicated to the understanding of the Secrets of God and he ends that great discourse with a list of names he wanted to say hello to.  Names that we know like Priscilla and Aquila and Mary but also names like Urbanus, Herodion, his relative, and Rufus and his mother.  Who are they?  What is their story? In that passage, over 36 names are used and other men and women.  Most of us will not know—or care—who they were but they were part of the early church and ones that were ready for the Great Banquet.  

Why am I taking this time to talk about these unnamed people?  Because we are those people. わたしたちはそのような者です! People who will follow us in the Church in Japan may never remember our names, but God knows them.  He knows our names.  He knows our every thought.  Those names are written on the palms of His Hands.  Those people—like ourselves—are remembered by our Savior.  We all are part of this work here in Tokorozawa.  All of us.  No matter if you are a deacon or a piano player or a teacher or the one who sits in the back row on the left side of someone who comes only once or twice a month.  We are known by the Master and we are part of the whole.  And when you are not in the picture—when you stay home or go someplace else rather than to church on Sundays, you are really missed and that hurts the Body. 

It is not the question of “What am I getting out of the service?” Or even “I am not being feed here.”  What are you putting in the service/THE CHURCH? It is a matter of coming to the banquet and sitting down to the meal the Lord has provided.  I may not be the best preacher this land has ever seen but your ‘role’, if you will, is to pray for this man so that he would be the best in this spot on Sundays. 

Sunday after Sunday, do you pray for me?  祈る必要Do you ask the Lord to bless my heart with deeper understandings of His Word?  Do you ask the Lord to protect my heart from fear and uncertainty?  Are you praying for the next person who will be leading our Church?  Make no mistake about it.  The Power of the preaching is not in the pastor’s words but in the prayers of God’s People for the delivery of God’s Word.

I can look back over these years in Japan with a great deal of wonder and excitement.  Sometimes, the ministry went very well while other times it seems like lead was added to my shoes.  Sometimes that was because I was not looking to Christ for my direction. Other times it was because I was.

In 1979-80, while teaching English at Unoki Church in Ota-Ku, Tokyo, I was excited about the Work the Lord was doing.  We had well over 60 kids in our Sunday School program while the church only had about 25 members.  My helper and I were speaking about the size of the group and he said: “There are too many kids!”  I thought he was getting his English a little mixed up and said to him: “Not enough room for all the kids!”  すべての子供のためのない十分な部屋。 He said: “No, too many children!”  He did not misunderstand me; he misunderstood the Work of God. 

The time is right for us to look ahead to grow.  The tendency is for people to stop coming—for the group to shrink.  No real need for that.  If it gets hard to come to a shrinking community, invite others to come with you.  The more the merrier.  Go into the areas of your own relationships and ask them to come—to the banquet. Remember the Words of Jesus?

Matthew マタイ25:35-44.   “³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 35 あなたがたは、わたしが空腹であったとき、わたしに食べ物を与え、わたしが渇いていたときに、わたしに飲ませ、わたしが旅人であったときに、わたしに宿を貸し、36 わたしが裸のとき、わたしに着る物を与え、わたしが病気をしたとき、わたしを見舞い、わたしが牢にいたとき、わたしをたずねてくれたからです。』

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 37 すると、その正しい人たちは、答えて言います。『主よ。いつ、私たちは、あなたが空腹なのを見て、食べる物を差し上げ、渇いておられるのを見て、飲ませてあげましたか。38 いつ、あなたが旅をしておられるときに、泊まらせてあげ、裸なのを見て、着る物を差し上げましたか。³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 39 また、いつ、私たちは、あなたのご病気やあなたが牢におられるのを見て、おたづねしましたか。』40 すると、王は彼らに答えて言います。『まことに、あなたがたに告げます。あなたがたが、これらのわたしの兄弟たち、しかも最も小さい者たちのひとりにしたのは、わたしにしたのです。』

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 41 それから、王はまた、その左にいる者たちに言います。『のろわれた者ども。わたしから離れて、悪魔とその使いたちのために用意された永遠の火に入れ。

42 おまえたちは、わたしが空腹であったとき、食べる物をくれず、渇いていたときにも飲ませず、43 わたしが旅人であったときにも泊まらせず、裸であったときにも着る物をくれず、病気のときや牢にいたときにもたずねてくれなかった。』

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 44 そのとき、彼らも答えて言います。『主よ。いつ、私たちは、あなたが空腹であり、渇き、旅をし、裸であり、病気をし、牢におられるのを見て、お世話をしなかったのでしょうか。』45 すると、王は彼らに答えて言います。『まことに、おまえたちに告げます。おまえたちが、この最も小さい者たちのひとりにしなかったのは、わたしにしなかったのです。』

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Our problem was indeed that we had so little room for all the kids that were coming to Unoki Church.  The children’s number was great!  He—even after I explained to my helper the importance of all these kids coming to hear the Gospel, still he did not move from the idea that God was doing a great work.  Later this month, I will be visiting that very church and some of our past students have been invited to attend the service.  Some of the names will be missing from my memory but God knows them very well.  He had died for them and He will remember. 

Just like here. The purpose of ICCS is not to have your or my name be remembered but that the Cause of Christ would impact people’s lives for Christ sake and for His Glory.  To please Him in all we do.  And in all we do, we are getting people ready for the Great Banquet. There is room here for a lot more. 祈る必要 Get ready for them.  Keep the Gospel alive here and they will come.

Go beyond your comfort zone and get “THOSE” people to come.  The master is happy when the room is full to receive his blessing.  So that ALL will taste and see that the Lord is good!

It is a question of HOW, isn’t it?  We will grow God’s way.  Can I quickly share what has been on my heart for a long time?  Walk with me here:

•Vision, ビジョン Mission ミッションand Goal ゴールof ICCS: We glorify God by making disciples of all nations.  ....として私たちはキリストのようになる(Starting with ourselves!)  Not a game, not a club, but as a Family of God!

•We Glorify God as we become LIKE Christ. ....として私たちはキリストのようになる

Following Christ and becoming like Him is the vision of ever Believer and of every Church! It should be.

•Through our worship gatherings, we exalt God in Christ as the Only one who is:

--Worthy of our Worship

•We glorify God by making disciples… ....弟子を作ることで...again-start with us…

Four primary facets of discipline-making are:

o   Share the Word 言葉を共有する-lifestyle

o   Show the Word言葉を表す-in action

o   Teach the Word言葉を教える-in word and deed

o   Serve the Word言葉につかえる-out of the heart of Love.

•The question we need to be constantly asking at ICCS is:

How can we most effectively make disciples of all nations?

•Small Grow Groups: The primary avenue for disciple-making to occur:

1. Approximately 8-12 believers sharing life together

2. Growing inward by showing and teaching the Word

3. Growing outward by sharing and serving the Word

4. We want to see small groups of disciple-makers all over the planet

•We glorify God by making disciples of all nations.

Everything we do at ICCS, we do ultimately for the sake of God’s Glory in all nations! すべての国は、神の栄光のために！

a. Through short-term missions, we encourage one another to give 2% of our time each year in contexts around the planet in a way that transforms the other 98% of our time here in the process.  Work toward reaching out to others.

b. We are investing in national disciple-makers and churches in other contexts and equipping them to go into the world with us.

c. We are joining hands with Faith Families around the planet so that together, we are impacting our world for Christ.

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•The WIN is World-Impacting Disciple-makers

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Acts 2:42-47 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he 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.

42 そして、彼らは使徒たちの教えを堅く守り、交わりをし、パンを裂き、祈りをしていた。43 そして、一同の心に恐れが生じ、使徒たちによって多くの不思議としるしが行われた。44 信者となった者たちはみないっしょにいて、いっさいの物を共有にしていた。45 そして、資産や持ち物を売っては、それぞれの必要に応じて、みなに分配していた。46 そして毎日、心を一つにして宮に集まり、家でパンを裂き、喜びと真心をもって食事をともにし、47 神を賛美し、すべての民に好意を持たれた。主も毎日救われる人々を仲間に加えてくださった。

•Our Values: Biblical 聖書

Biblical Proclamation  (Acts 2:42)

Sacrificial Care (2:42)

Wholehearted Worship (2:42)

Desperate Prayer (2:42)

Exponential Multiplication (2:47)

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•Reproducible: 7Questions we NEED to ask are …再現性  7つの質問

1. What if God choose to add 10,000 people to the kingdom this year in Tokorozawa?

2. Would we be ready to support such growth?

3. Are we currently organized for routine addition.

4. Can we be organized for rapid multiplication!

5. Is ICCS is not a place of ministry or a base of ministry

6. Can we eliminate all references to the church as a building from our vocabulary.

7. Are we decreasingly dependent on ministries that require large budgets or buildings

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•To Be Cross-Cultural.  That is the thing we all like about ICCS.  Don’t loose it!

•Keeping things SIMPLE: 物事を保つ シンプル

·       Worship Gatherings

·       Small Groups

·       Short-Term Missions

Four levels of support:

·       Assimilation

·       Administration

·       Communication

·       Education

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•KEEP things Radical: 合理的な

·       For the sake of the lost ... 失われた...

·       For the sake of the poor ... 貧しい…

·       For the sake of the Church ... 教会...

·       Ultimately for the sake of Christ! キリストのために！

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•So that His Word can Impact The Planet

A church with this vision, mission, goal, values, and strategy will produce world-impacting disciple-makers.

Pray with me?

愛CCS