Hymn: 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus Bible Passage: Luke 7:36-38 36 One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So he went to the Pharisee's house. He took his place at the table. 37 There was a woman in that town who had lived a sinful life. She learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house. So she came with a special sealed jar of perfume. 38 She stood behind Jesus and cried at his feet. She began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair. She kissed them and poured perfume on them. (NIrV) 36 あるパリサイ人から食事に招待されたので、イエスは快く応じました。 一同が食卓に着いていると、 37 町の女が一人、高価な香油の入った美しいつぼを持ってやって来ました。 この女は売春婦でした。 38 女は部屋に入るなり、イエスのうしろにひざまずき、さめざめと泣きました。 あまり泣いたので、イエスの足が涙でぬれるほどでした。 女はていねいに髪で涙をぬぐい、心を込めて足にくちづけしてから、その上に香油を注ぎかけました。 (JLB) Introduction: Good afternoon and welcome to English Chapel time. My name is Don Frank and I am very happy to be with you today. I would like to share with you about a story that I teach in English Bible 1 class every year. It's a simple story about 3 people and their journey through the challenges of faith. 1. Simon, the Pharisee - Our Bible passage today tells us that our first character is a Pharisee and his name is Simon. Pharisees were a group of Jewish leaders in Jesus' time. He was a religious man, an educated man, a man with some money and power in his community. One day, Simon invited Jesus to come to his house for a nice dinner together with some of his friends. They were curious about Jesus and His teachings. As they were enjoying the meal, a bad woman from town came in and sat on the floor near Jesus. Simon and his friends' reactions tell us a lot about their faith! Immediately Simon thought to himself in verse 39 of our Bible part, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him. He would know what kind of woman she is. She is a sinner!" His first thought was to judge this woman! His friends had the same kind of reaction in verse 49 when Jesus forgave the woman. The friends said, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" Where is Simon on his journey of faith? Not very far at all! Could he sing with us today's hymn? Could he sing from his heart, "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus?" No, he couldn't! And as far as we know from what the Bible says, he never believed in Jesus. I hope that he did, but it seems that he and his friends were only curious about the Son of God. 2. The Sinful Woman - The next person that we see was an uninvited guest to this meal. The sinful woman was the opposite kind of person from Simon. She was a prostitute, a lady of the evening, a disgraceful, totally low-level person of society. She had no power, no status and was not a good leader of her community. Everyone looked up to and respected Simon, but everyone looked down on and disrespected this woman! And yet, she was much farther along her journey of faith than all the others! She believed that Jesus was a man of God. Our Bible passage tells us that her heart was broken by sin and she showed her deep emotions in front of everyone right there at Jesus' feet! She cried on His feet, kissed them and poured costly perfume on them! The smell of that perfume filled the house! She was giving up her sins and wanting forgiveness! She definitely could sing with us, "O how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust his cleansing blood; and in simple faith to plunge me, neath the healing, cleansing flood!" And then what happened? Jesus says to her in verse 48, "Your sins are forgiven." He also says at the end of the story, in verse 50, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." She overcame the challenges of faith and simply trusted Christ - and she was saved! 3. Jesus, the Savior - The last of the 3 people in our story today is the main character. We see Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, God's own Son! He kindly accepts Simon's invitation to dinner. And in return, Jesus offered a simple invitation to all at the dinner party. The invitation was to believe in Him! He taught Simon and his guests a simple story about 2 people who owed money to a money lender. One owed a little money and the other owed a lot. The money lender forgave both people and they didn't have to pay back the money anymore! Then Jesus asks Simon a very important question in verse 42, "Which of them will love him more?" and Simon says in verse 43, "I suppose the one who owed the most money." And here's the point of the story. Jesus offered the same thing to both Simon and the nameless, sinful woman. As far as we can tell from the Bible, one took the offer and the other didn't. One person's life was changed forever and the other just went back to his normal life! Conclusion: As our song today says, "Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease; just from Jesus simply taking, life and rest, and joy and peace." A story from 2000 years ago, is repeated in our hymn for today. The words of Jesus ring just as true today as they did so many years ago! Verse 47 of our Bible part today says, "So I tell you this. Her many sins have been forgiven. She has loved a lot." My time today is almost finished, but I'd like to leave these final thoughts with you. Where are you and I on our journey through the challenges of faith? Are we just "curious" about Jesus, as Simon was? Do we just listen to His words and then go back to our normal lives? Or are we as the nameless woman of our story? Do we feel the weight of sin deep in our hearts and the need for Jesus and His forgiveness? Are we searching for Him as she did? I hope and pray that each of us will come to Jesus, find forgiveness and then simply receive from God's Son "life and rest, and joy and peace." Closing Prayer: Our loving Heavenly Father, thank you ever so much for this English Chapel time today. Thanks for giving us another chance to get together, sing together, open the Bible together and worship you from our hearts. Now Jesus, go with each of us as we return to our classes. Help us to teach and to study by the power of the love you have for us! Guide us and be with us all through this beautiful day. And I pray all these things now, in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Thanks for coming to English Chapel today ~ and see you again next time! God bless!
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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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