Hymn: His Name Is Wonderful Bible Passage: Matthew 11:28-30
The Japanese Living Bible Version 28 重いくびきを負って働かされ、疲れはてている人 たちよ。 さあ、わたしのところに来なさい。 あなたがたを休ませてあげましょう。 2 9 わたしはやさしく、謙そんな者ですから、それこそ負いやすいわたしのくびきを、わた しといっしょに負って、わたしの教えを受けなさい。 そうすれば、あなたがたのたましいは安らかになります。 30 わたしが与えるのは、軽い荷物だけだからです。」 Introduction - Everyone, welcome to a new school year here at Hokusei University. For those of you that don't know me, my name's Don Frank. I'm a part-time teacher at the junior college division and teach English Bible and Oral English. I started teaching here some 20 years ago with a bit of a break back in the late 1990s. Now I'm back and enjoying every minute that I spend here on this delightful campus! Like many of you, I too am a student - a student in the University of Life. God has been teaching me a very special lesson lately that I'd like to pass on to you today. Yes, even we teachers can still learn many new things long after we graduate from school! Many years ago, I found out about a student ministry group called the Navigators. They had a very simple but wonderful impact on my life. They used a very modern version of the Bible called The Message. It was translated by a very talented man named Eugene Peterson. He thought that when we read the Bible that we should be able to understand it instantly. So, he wrote it in very modern, slang and idiomatic English. I immediately fell in love with it. It spoke directly to my heart! Over the years, I got busy in my life and forgot about that version. Then just about a month ago, someone posted a Bible passage on my Facebook page. That passage and that version are the ones I just read to you a few minutes ago. It was The Message version of the Bible. And it was a Bible part I had memorized long ago from the King James Version. It was Matthew 11:28-30. But as I read it on Facebook, God began to teach me again this lesson that I thought I had already learned. God used modern words to do this! 1. "Take" a Real Rest - Verse 28 reads, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest." My goodness, how sweet this is! I can definitely say "YES" to all these questions! How about you? Is your soul tired today? Is religion not satisfying you anymore. Then get away with Jesus and He'll recharge your spiritual batteries for you. Get back to just quietly reading His Word as often as you can. As you do that everyday, He'll give you a real rest, deep down in your heart! 2. "Watch" How I Do It - Then He goes on to say in verse 29, "Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you." Then as your life is recovering and your batteries are charging up, He takes us by the hand and we begin to walk back out into life again. But this time, Jesus is leading the way. He is the master (名人 [めいじん]) and we are the apprentices (見習い [みならい]). It's best for us to stand back and watch how the Master works. He'll teach us that His grace is like a river. It can flow very smoothly all the way through life! 3. "Learn" to Live Freely and Lightly - And my last point today is in verse 30, "Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." He tells us that this type of lifestyle should be our usual experience everyday. As we spend more and more time with Him, we'll feel the stresses and problems of life float off of our shoulders. Not only will we feel His loving hand in ours as He walks with us, but we'll also sense His powerful arms lovingly lifting and carrying every worry, every care and every burden for us, His friends! Conclusion - What a wonderful invitation we see in today's Bible passage! And where does this invitation come from. Well, Jim, I'm going to borrow a Bible verse that you shared just recently. The verse comes from John 15:9 - and I'll read this one too from The Message version of the Bible. "I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love." Absolutely wonderful! Jesus says that as we keep company with Him that we can make ourselves at home in His love! Wow! We can just relax into His arms of love, be ourselves and trust Him for everything in our lives! Anyway, this is the lesson that Christ is teaching me these days. I'm happy I could share that with you during this time. Who knows, maybe God will begin helping you to study this lesson as well. He calls us to escape the pressures of this world. He'll refresh us. He'll teach us. He'll work in us and through us. And then He will give us a freedom and lightness of spirit that we've never known before! Closing Prayer - Loving Lord, thanks so much for this time we could spend together here at Hokusei today. I pray for all my teacher friends that they would feel your grace and strength as they go about teaching all their classes today. I also pray for all the students. Lord Jesus, speak to each of them and help them as they study and learn under all their teachers. Dear God, help us everyday to know how much you love us - and how much you want to keep company with us too. I pray all these things in Jesus' precious name, Amen. ☼ ☺ ☼ ☺ ☼ ☺ ☼ ☺ ☼ ☺ ☼
Thanks so much for coming to English Chapel today. God bless you and be with you!
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About This PageThis is my personal space to share my messages and thoughts about Hokusei English Chapel and the things that God brings in to my life. Archives
October 2015
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