Japanese free lessons at church in Matsuyama

This week, we have a lot of things to thank God.  First, sister Ponyadira and brother Asante has graduated, and sister Ponyadira has become a master and brother Asante has become a doctor.  And as Asante’s family ( his wife Gifty and their kids ) is going back to Ghana, we could share their testimony and also shared a song with them.  The praise we sang together was “Glory be to the Lord”, and we sang the gospel song first in English and then in Akan (the language of Ghana).

[Today’s bible verses]  Mattew7:7〜11

In Japan, we think spring is the time of the beginning of the new-year.　　And we are living in the time of rapid change.  Nowadays, the society has turned into an old society, few kids but many elderly people.　　And because of this, the number of diapers sold for the elderlies seems to pass over soon to the number sold for babies. 　Maybe in the near future, the definition of Diapers should be changed!　 Even in these rapidly changing days, it is important to keep our faith and practically activate our faith in God in our lives.  In today’s bible verse, it says that we may have the blessings in the desperateness deep down in our mind.  And that We Need Prayer!!  Prayer is Always the Key of Blessing!

1. Jesus commanded us to Seek & Knock!  If is important to continue to pray.  To clinch our goal, it is required to keep on doing our work consistently.  For example, Ponyadira and Asante would have had a tough time during their study, but as they consistently did their study, they were able to graduate.  Continuity in praying is important when we week for something in God.

2. (verse 8) We have to Develop our Life through Prayer!  We should develop our character and improve our habit in our real life through our prayer. 3. (verses 9-11) Your Prayer Gives the Relationship with God!  Our heavenly father will give us what we will through our prayer. And it will not be only the answer from what we required for but the best that God has prepared for us.    So, now, let’s Activate our Faith in our Prayer!!!

( Easter festival )

◆　4/8  We will have  Combined Sunday service  (internet into English on PC) 
Time : AM 10:00〜12:00 
This service is a style of music concert.  Surely you will be blessed.
After the Easter service, the church organizes a buffet style luncheon  for everyone to enjoy at 200￥.  Please join us! 


(Next English worship)

◆4/22  Worship service in English (PM 1:30〜2:45) 
You are invited to our church.  Everybody is welcome!  
 We are looking forward to seeing you.
　

 Asante's family is leaving Japan for Ghana on the firest of April.  His wihe, Gifty prepared a testimony for us.  Below is her testimony.

 

Praise be to God almighty.  The Lord is good and his mercies endure forever.
He has been with us since we arrived in Matsuyama.  Though I was in Matsuyama from 2004 to 2005, the experience was different because this time our children were with us.  When I became pregnant for our third child, it was a mixed feeling, happy but also anxious of being far away from home but God was merciful to us.

I always had someone who accompanied me each time I had to go to the hospital.  One of our neighbors was so nice to my kids, helping out with their home work and also translating information from their school to us.  Little did I know that she was a member of this church, so it was all joy when she invited my kids and I to a bazaar of the Matsuyama Fukuin Center.
I got to know about the English service and the Sunday school for kids and since that day we have not missed the service. 

The service is always uplifting and very fulfilling. The teachings from the pastor always serve as a guide for our everyday activity.  The love and friendship from members is always warm-heartening.  We are very happy to have been part of this fellowship though not long enough. The memories will be with us forever.  It is my prayer that the good Lord will grant us all our hearts’ desire.  Glory be to God. During my pregnancy,  I made a request to God that I didn’t want to go into labor in the night and low and behold it was granted.  Isn’t our God so wonderful? 
Let’s trust in the Lord with all our heart and acknowledge him in everything we do and he will surely direct our path.  Amen   

Our church planed to ski on Feb 11.  Only Maurice joined this event from Prise fellowship.

It was a fine bright day, and the skiing ground was very good!

 
Brother zennke helped other members as always. He was teaching the beginners how to ski. He is good
at skiing.

Skiers relaxing at the end of the skiing marathon.
This photo was taken at the end of the skiing fun. It was a wonderful time and it felt like a family time.

It was though a little bit late, we had a New Year party on Feb 4 at Fukiko's house.   



We heard that international students like Nabe dishes, so we prepared those foods.  We introduced two kinds of　Nabe cooking, "shabushabu" and "miso-chanko"


Those foods tasted fantastic!  They were so amazed and satisfied with the foods.  They loved "Pork-shabushabu" particularly.  



Hiroshi, who is a son of Ruwan and Veena's, could enjoy those foods, too. 


Also some sister brought some dishies, which tasted good. 


We could exchange some ideas and enjoy talking with each other.


We encouraged our faith and felt God's love through this party.  We expect this year to have a lot of God's blessing! 

                                          
                                                  The Birth of Christ:
The Good News of the Living God and the True Meaning of Christmas (Luke 2:8-20) 

The real Christmas comes to our hearts through Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ, the celebration is nothing but a regular holiday where there are a lot of joyful things and merrymaking. For many people, including most Japanese, Christmastime is one of the best times for business because during this time people would give gifts, want to have many things, and would eat the favorite Christmas cakes and fried chicken. Many misconceptions about Christmas still exist until now, but the truth is that Christmas should be celebrated with Jesus in remembrance of his birth and coming to this world for the atonement of our sins.

In fact, the word ‘Christmas’ comes from two words: ‘Christ’ for Jesus Christ and ‘mas’ for the Latin word meaning time or celebration. Indeed, Christmas means ‘Celebration with Christ’ and without Jesus Christ the celebration is meaningless.

The Year 2011 has been a year with many problems, catastrophes and bad news. From the Tohoku earthquake to Fukushima Nuclear Plant disaster to the economic recession in Japan, it would be difficult to end the year and celebrate Christmas with good news. But the good news is that we have the Big God and despite all the problems and bad news, there is still the good news and that is the coming of Jesus Christ.

In Luke 2:10-11, we are reminded not to be afraid and not to dwell on the past and bad things of the past, but be happy because the Savior has come ‘today’. The Savior came to this world ‘for you’, ‘for us’! He came to be a savior for us all.

God never regrets and He never becomes anxious because He is much greater than anything else in this world. He goes beyond any given space and time. As the term AD (Latin: Anno Domini) means ‘the year of our Lord’, it has been 2,011 years since His birth, and still counting until He comes back. He is not a past figure in history but a living Savior until today and will rule forever because His love never fails.

 

Next Sunday Service

We will have a monthly English Service. 
◆1/29 Worship service in English (PM 1:30〜2:45)  We are looking forward to seeing you. 
Let's join us, and praise our Lord together!

Now, it is the time of Christmas. As Christmas is coming, the atmosphere in Japan has changed to celebrate Christmas. Even it is the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, in Japan, many people are just enjoying the decoration of Christmas and thinks that this is a time for the lovers. Therefore, as a Christian, we would like to utilize this time for the Japanese-none-believers to have a chance to come and hear the word of God.

*Today’s Bible verses; Mattew 1:18-25

 In the book of Mattew, it talks about the miracle of the birth of Jesus.

Here, it talks about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ’s birth.

1.   Born through the work of the Holy Spirit.

 This has been mentioned in verse 18 and 20. Jesus was not born through man and woman, but by the work of God.

 2.   His birth has been prophesized.

In verse 21-23, the commandment has been given through an angel. And in the book of Isaiah, God has already given his word about the birth of Jesus Christ.

 3.   God is always with us.

 By the salvation of God, we are always in the presence of God, and also in the blessings from God. Therefore, if we testify that God is our God, all the blessings from God will be given to us.

 

And because of these reasons, Christmas is such a blessing. When we believe Jesus, we are free from our sin.

 So, let’s remind the real meaning of Christmas!!!! 

 

（Ｎｅｘｔ　Ｓｕｎｄａｙ　Service )

We will have a monthly English service.
12/25 Worship service in English (PM 1:30〜2:45)
Let us enjoy worshiping and singing to God in English!  We are looking forward to seeing you. 

On November 27 early morning, sister Yan went to hospital after rupturing her water bag.  And within 4 hours she has delivered her baby girl of 2998ｇ.  It was not a complicated, but an easy delivery.  She said God helped her a lot!  How great God is!  Baby's face just looks like her father.  We wish her baby grew will be God's blessing!
 

We have a good news.
Sister Ayame already left the hospital on November 8.  Thank you for your prayers.  She is doing good and recuperating.  But her body doesn't have immunity now because of steroid treatment.  She has to spend less time with other people, and have to relax, and free herself from works and worries.  So she recuperate in the house of an older sister in Tokyo for the time being.  Please continually pray for her complete recoverry.

 

(Today's Bible verses)
To enter the kingdom of God, only faith is required for us. We do not have to pay nor train for God’s presence. Faith is the only thing which is required. Then what can we do to deliver out faith to God?!!! The things we should do are written in the verses of Mark 4:30-32.

*Four elements for our faith (about our faith)

1. Have it!!! Even it is small.
Everything starts from small things. And in the bible, today, is says that even from a tiny mustard seed, life begins.

2. Have life in it.
It is important that the small seed has life in it. So that it will become a tree and become fruitful and become able to make thousands of new seeds. Therefore, the seed needs to have life and it should be seeded.

3. Have possibility to grow.
When the small seed of mustard is seeded, they grow 4000 times bigger, and even the birds can nest on it. Therefore, if our faith is seeded to the ground plenty of nutrients, it could be used to grow the faith of ourselves and also of others.

4. Have influence.
When the seed is just on the ground, a bird may pick up and eat it, and all might be finished. But when the seed is seeded in the ground, it may grow and become useful by making hundred-times of seeds, and also providing space for the birds to rest and also making shadows. By this example, we can realize that when our seed of faith is seeded, it can have influence, even though our faith itself may seem too small.

 

(Nest Sunday Service)

We will have a monthly English Service.
11/27 Worship service in English. ( PM 1:30~2:45)
We are looking forward to seening you.  Let's join us, and have a good time.

Sister Ayame, who is Pastor Mandai’s wife, has got an incurable disease.
From two months ago, she felt physical fatigue.  She couldn't get over the tiredness.  Besides she found some marks of an insect bite in her body.  It looked like mosquito or tick bites.
 
So ｓhe went to the Red Cross hospital, and there she was dignosed to be suffering from an intractable disease.  The disease is called "pemphigus foliaceus", and as it is known to occur by autoimmune system malfunctioning.  Therefore she has been hospitalized for about one month. 
 
 Before her hospitalization, we got a message from her.  "When I heard about my disease at first, I was surprised.  But now God has touched me, and gave me peace and thankfulness in my heart.  I believe that whatever happenes, God will show his glory through this disease.  Even though I have got this disease now I feel best how wonderful it is to be able to walk with God.  Thank you for your prayes."

Sister Ayame requested  us to sing worship songs with Praise Fellowship members.
Last October 22, we visited her and we sang several worship songs together on the rooftop of hospital. 
 
One of the songs we sang together was "All in the name of Jesus".  This song is her favorite and makes her very encouraged.  The link for the song is ;  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PmvH5socm4

"All in the name of Jesus"

Truth and beauty and happiness
It's all in the name of Jeasus
Health and heaven Peace and rest
It's all in the name of Jesus
Joy and gladness forgiveness too
Life everlasting and free …
All that I long for
And all that I need
It's all in the name of Jesus

Jesus Jesus
Your here and you show us the way …
Jesus Jesus
Your all that we need today

Care and comfoｒt  healing and grace
It's all　in the name of Jesus
Welcome, pardon, a hiding place
It's all in the name of Jesus
Warmth and sunshine, friendship true
Fulfilment and blessings untold
All that I long for
And all that I need
It's all in the name of Jesus



We prayed together for her complete recovery and encouraged her.  We had a wonderful time with her. 
God is great and every situation is a good opportunity to worship Him.  We know that God is working for her and HE will heal her!



 
Last sunday, we heard her condition from Pastor Mandai.  "She was going through steroid treatment, and finally the symptoms started to reduce. Therefore, the doctors are starting to reduce the steroid treatment dosage.  And she was given permission to leave the hospital by 2nd Nov.  It was a good news for us, then.
 
But unfortunately, the doctor said later,she needed hospital treatment for two more weeks.  The doctor ordered compllete bed rest.
Her condition is not so bad, but her body doesn't have immunity now because of steroid treatment. 
 
Please continually pray for her complete recovery.　

 
 

[Today’s Bible verses]
1st Peter 2:22-25
Verse 24: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. That is because we might die to sin, and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been helped.
Verse25: You were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and are pretected of your souls.  God is with us.  Therefore, do not fail to activate your faith, to receive the love from God.

1. Need expectation.
The Japanese want to learn about lots of things. Even about God. But we should not forget that the faith is not a thing that we can learn or understand. Faith is a thing that we should just receive.  Faith is Expectation.
Sometimes we need to act like a little child. When a child wants something, we can see he does not doubt. His expectation will never be disregarded and so, he appeals with all his heart for what he wants.
God is the same. He always looking at us if we are ready to receive his love and blessing.
So, why don’t we expect God's love with all our strength!!

2. The Bible is the word of God.
Do not forget that the Bible is not only a thick book, but the word of God.
It is a word of Healing, Blessing, and Saving. The things described in the Bible, also occur in our lives. This is because God is a living God.   He is waiting for us to call his name.
Therefore, it is important that we receive the words from the Bible so that we are saved from our sins.

As September is approaching, we all expect a cooler weather. But the weather of today was very hot, just like after the monsoon season. Spending an extremely hot summer this year, we felt exhausted, but we must keep in mind that we still have things to thank God.
Few days ago, pastor Eiji saw an article about Bill Clinton. The article was about his yearly income, and by comparing the amount of money per speech with pastor Eiji, he got shocked about the difference. Although the income is comparably low and we feel as if we had nothing, we are the one who are blessed and powerful in God!!  Amen!



[Today's message]  "3 Things to keep in mind! "
 We opened Bible John 10:7-15

1, Verse 7: "God is Door!" ( door = divides area)
Are you inside of the Door? Or outrside of the Door?  
Nowadays, the society is complicated, and sometimes we forget what is important. Where are we now? Are we in the presence of God? Or are we standing in the society of sin and evil spirit?

2, Verse 10: "Relationship differs from which way of the Door you stand!"
Standing inside the Door, our life will be blessed and happy. Last week, one famous comedian announced that he will retire. It was because of the bad relationship with the Yakuza(Mafia) in the past .  By this happening, we could see how terribly the dark power destroys everthing in one-second.  So let's stand in the way of God! And make sure that we are walking with God!

3, Verse 11: "God gives his life for us!!"
Inside of the Door of Jesus Christ, there are so much love and care. And standing in the side of God is like having the most powerful insurance for our life.

Therefore, let's make sure that we are Standing Inside of The DOOR with God!!

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