Hymn: All Creatures of Our God and King Bible Passage: Luke 12:27-28 27 "Think about how the lilies grow. They don't work or make clothing. But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon in all of his glory was dressed like one of those flowers. 28 If that is how God dresses the wild grass, how much better will he dress you!" (NIrV) ルカ12:27−28 27 ゆりの花を見なさい。別に働いているわけでもないし、紡いだり、織ったりするわけでもありません。だが全盛時代のソロモンでさえ、この花ほど着飾ってはいませんでした。 28 今日は咲き誇っていても、明日はしぼんでしまう花でさえ、神はこのように装ってくださるのです。そうだとしたら、疑い深い人たちよ、どうして、神がちゃんと着物を用意してくださるとは考えないのですか。 (JLB) Introduction: Welcome to English chapel this afternoon and thank you so much for coming today. My name is Don Frank and I'm the English Bible teacher here at Hokusei Junior College. A new school year has just started and it's quite an exciting time to be here! It's good to see all my old friends again now that the spring vacation is finished. It's also very nice to see all these new faces here on campus! You know, the cherry blossoms are blooming all over Japan already. Soon the snow will be melted and Hokkaido flowers will be blooming too! I'd like to take a short time today to tell you several stories. The first story is about a certain king and his garden. 1. The King's Garden - An old legend tells of a king who walked into his garden one day to find almost everything withered and dying. After speaking to an oak tree near the gate, the king learned that the oak was troubled because he was not tall and beautiful like the pine tree. The pine heard their conversation and said that she, too, was upset, for she didn't have delicious fruit like the pear tree. The pear tree heard his name and began to complain that he did not have the lovely smell of the spruce tree. And so it went throughout the whole garden. Near the very edge of the garden grew a little daisy. As the king approached, he noticed her bright little face, full of life. "Well, little flower," said the king, "I'm glad to find that there is at least one happy face in my garden." "Oh king," she said, "I know I'm little, and not many people notice me, but one day I realized that if you planted me here, you must have had a good reason. So, dear king, I've decided to be the best little flower I can be!" Our King, Jesus, has planted a beautiful garden also. Not one of us is greater than the next. It is his His perfection. We must come to a place where we trust that God has a reason for creating us the way He has. He has planted us in just the place he wanted. When we become satisfied with His creation, that's when we'll find true happiness... and... we will shine just like that beautiful little daisy. 2. English Is His Gift - My next story is about a man that some of you may know. His name is Katsuya Kobayashi and he is one of the top English speakers in this country! Mr. Kobayashi was born in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima in 1941. He grew up right next door to the U.S. Air Base at Iwakuni and by the time he was in the 3rd grade of elementary school, he was listening regularly to the Far East Broadcasting Network's English radio shows. On his own, he began to study about how our mouths and tongues work to make good English pronunciation. By junior high school, he was listening to and learning English from Voice of America broadcasts as well. From then on, top musicians and top U.S. DJs were having a big impact on him! He then decided that he definitely wanted to work in English! Throughout the 1970s he worked as a DJ on a variety of radio programs that helped introduce new Western music to Japan. Then in 1981, TV Asahi offered him the chance to be the host and VJ (visual jockey) of his own TV music program called Best Hit USA. For the next 8 years, he hosted some of the greatest artists in Western music on his program. And the result was that his English became almost perfect! I'm serious! I've watched many of his videos on YouTube and I can hear no accent at all! He sounds just like a native American! As far as I know, Mr. Kobayashi is not a Christian. But I definitely believe that God gave him the gift of speaking English. And he is using that gift even today! He bloomed where he was planted! 3. The King and All His Gifts - Our Bible passage today tells us about our third and last story. One day Jesus was talking to a large group of people about the many things. Maybe as He was teaching, Jesus could look around and see many wild flowers blooming. Maybe he stood up, went over to some lilies that were nearby and spoke these words. Look at these beautiful flowers of the field. Aren't they just naturally gorgeous? You know, even old, rich King Solomon didn't had such fine clothes made for him! Even his best servants couldn't make clothes as beautiful as this lily! Now think for a minute. If my Father in heaven makes the lilies so nice, how much more will he make you beautiful? Did you ever think about all the gifts God has given you? God made you. God planted you here in Sapporo. God gave you your family. God gave each of you special talents. And just like the King's garden, God plants each of us right where He wants us! You are not here by accident. God himself decided to put you here! And now today, God brought us together in this chapel at Hokusei University! God has a wonderful plan for our lives! Conclusion: And now my time is almost finished for today and want to leave you with this challenge. Will you be like the daisy in the king's garden? Will you trust God? Will you see that God has you right here for a purpose? Will you trust Jesus completely to make you the best that you can be - the best student - the best teacher - the best friend - the best follower of Christ? Please... bloom where God has planted you! Let's pray. Closing Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this wonderful day you have given us. Thank you for sending your Son to be our Teacher, our Friend and our Savior. Speak to each of our hearts today. Help us to understand how special and important we are to you. We want to follow you more and more everyday. Take us by the hand and guide us. Help us to trust you with all of our hearts, even right now! I pray for all these things now, in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Thanks ever so much for coming to English Chapel today.
God bless you today you as you follow His Son, Jesus, in everything you do!
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