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Genesis 28:10-22

Last time we covered how Isaac and Rebekah met. After that, Abraham dies at the age of 175 years. Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah. They were childless for twenty years, so Isaac prayed to the Lord, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins.

The two fought each other while still in the womb, and Rebekah asked the LORD what this was all about. The LORD tells her that there are two ancestors of nations inside her, but the older would end up serving the younger.

When it was time to give birth, Esau came out first, and Jacob second. Esau was hairy and a skilled hunter – a real outdoors type of a man. Jacob was a quiet man who liked to stay at home. Isaac favored Esau, since Isaac liked to eat game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

In ways we don’t understand, Esau had the birthright, and the blessing was also supposed to be given to Esau by his father, Isaac. But Jacob ends up buying the birthright from Esau with bread and stew, since Esau was hungry.

When Isaac was old and his eyesight was failing, Isaac decided it was time to bless Esau. He tells Esau to go hunt game and prepare a meal with it so that he could bless Esau. Rebekah overhears this and schemes for Jacob to get blessed by Isaac using trickery. She prepares a meal and has Jacob pretend to be Esau, by wearing Esau’s clothes and covering his hands and neck with goat skin so that his father would think it is Esau. Jacob obeys his mother, gets Isaac drunk, and steals the blessing.

The trickery is discovered when Esau comes back with game, prepares a meal, and brings it to Isaac. When they realize that they have been tricked, they are angry, but there is nothing they can do to reverse it. Through being blessed and owning the birthright, Jacob now is the leader over Esau.

Esau swears that he will kill Jacob, and Rebekah tells Jacob to run away to his uncle Laban’s house. Fearing for his life, Jacob starts his journey to Rebekah’s family. We pick up Jacob’s story with this morning’s passage.

The LORD speaks to Jacob in a dream. The vision he sees is a ladder, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. God did not create the world and then just step back and watch it go its own way – He is intimately connected and concerned with the world, sending His messengers to earth.

The LORD informs Jacob that He is the God of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob must have heard about the LORD from his parents and was familiar with the promise that was given to Abraham. Further, the LORD tells Jacob that he will be carrying on the promise and that Jacob’s descendants will become a great nation who will bless all the families of the earth. The LORD assures Jacob that wherever he goes, He will protect him and will bring him back to the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob.

Jacob senses that this is a special place – the place where heaven and earth meet. He calls it “Bethel”, the house of God.

It is interesting that even though he is in awe, Jacob is still trying to make a deal with God. His promises to make the LORD his God, as well as give a tenth of his possessions, only if God will keep him safe and give him food to eat and clothes to wear.

If a church was looking for someone to be a pastor, one would not choose someone like Jacob. Someone who will lie and cheat to get what he wants and tries to negotiate with God. But we must be reminded that God is not looking for a someone to fill a position – He is looking to build a nation. So, the lesson here is certainly not that we can act like Jacob and God will bless us for it. Jacob was chosen not because of what he did, but in spite of it.

It is interesting that Jesus refers to Jacob’s ladder in John 1:51 – “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection, He becomes the one who connects earth to heaven. By accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are assured of forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And unlike Jacob’s ladder, Jesus is not restricted to just to one place. We do not have to travel to Bethel – We can meet Jesus anywhere and whenever.

Let us be like Jacob in feeling the awe of our connection to heaven through Jesus Christ. But let us not be like Jacob in lying, cheating, scheming and trying to negotiate with God. Let us simply declare that the LORD is our God and that all we have is His.

(The above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano with us during our worship on July 23, 2023.)

Luke 18:35-43

One time Jesus was questioned by a teacher as to “the most important law, the most important thing”. His answer: “Love God, Love Neighbor.”  Recognize that you are created and live and breathe because of God’s power. Honor and love God. Recognize that all humans are created by God’s power and share the same Heavenly Father. Treat all humans as your sisters and brothers. Treat them… as you would wish to be treated.  Love God, Love Neighbor. Jesus stated this as the most important thing that we should be doing.

But if we forget who God is….. and if we forget who our neighbor is…. Things can go very wrong. We experience this presently in our politics; where people of different political parties don’t even recognize each other as mutual citizens of the same country. We resort to name-calling. And if we can’t even recognize each other as fellow-Americans, how can we possibly see each other as brothers and sisters, created by the same heavenly father?? We see faces, and words, and attitudes that result from ignoring God, and saying “you are NOT my neighbor.” We’re stunned, we’re saddened, we’re sometimes frightened by the open hostility and violence.

In the middle of this anger and hatred… how do we as Jesus followers live out the “golden rule”? How do we love God and love our neighbor?

Two weeks ago we began a sermon series called “BLESS”.  It is based on Genesis 12:1-3 where God said to Abraham “I will bless you… in order that all nations will be blessed by you.”  It, too, is a way of saying “Love God, Love Neighbor.” Recognize how blessed you are by God. And then reach out and bless those around you.

We are loved by God….. so that we can love others.

We are reached  by God…. So that we can reach out to others.

We are saved by God… so that we can participate in the saving of others.

We are blessed by God…. So that we can be a blessing to others.

How can we love our neighbor? How can we bless our neighbor?

How can we do that? We often feel so weak and unable to do so.

This is the theme of our sermon series: BLESS

1. Begin with Prayer. 2. Listen with care 3. Eat together  4. Serve with Love  5. Share your story

Our theme this week is LISTEN. LISTEN with care…..

Listen with Care

Our text this morning is from Luke 18:35-43.

Jesus is traveling with his disciples to Jerusalem, passing through Jericho. On their way to the Passover feast. Huge crowds, lots of noise.  A blind man calls out. “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!!” Others try to shut him down, but Jesus hears him and says, “bring him to me.” Then Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?”. “Lord, I want to see” he says. Jesus then heals him saying, “Receive your sight. Your faith has healed you.”

LISTENING TO PEOPLE

Jesus listened well. “What is it you want me to do for you?” He didn’t assume that he already knew what the blind man wanted.

Listening really well to another person requires skill and practice. It is not something that is easy for everyone.

When we think of the chaos and problems that we often see around us, and see people clashing in the streets and fighting with sticks and fists we know one thing for certain….. no one is really listening to the other.

But we have to admit that it’s difficult to really listen even to the people that are closest to us. Even among couples, perhaps “you’re not really listening to me!” is one of the most common complaints.

Sometimes we may find that rather than really listening to someone, we are merely rehearsing what we want to say next. The opposite of listening is not speaking, but “waiting to speak”. Have you ever experienced that?

To understand where a person is emotionally, the following questions may help:

“What are you most excited about?”

“What are you most anxious about?”

These may be questions that help us ascertain a person’s “emotional location.”

They may lead us to the question Jesus asked:

“What is it that I could do for you?”

“How can I bless you today?”

This kind of listening and responding has often been referred to as “playing catch”, as opposed to playing tennis or ping pong, where you’re trying to score a point.

LISTENING TO PLACES

Reading the paper, attending community events, being part of the PTA, or volunteer groups, or political action groups – all of these allow us to “listen” to a place. How could we “listen carefully” here in our neighborhood? Most of us no longer live here. What could we do to “better hear” where our neighbors are?

CONCLUSION

Please close your eyes with me. Picture people around you who are needy. Imagine a God who desires to reach out to each of those folks. Last time we began with prayer. We prayed to be available.

Are you available today? Are you willing to pray that way?

Today, we have talked about listening well. “Lord, how can we really listen well to those around us? Help us in our conversations to be good listeners Lord. Let us ask more questions, and offer less answers. Let us truly understand the emotional location of people. Finally, help us to listen to our neighborhood here as well. How can JCC bless this part of Seattle?”

(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on July 9, 2023. It is part 2 of our 5-part sermon series entitled: BLESS. BLESS is an acronym describing 5 things that we do in order to bless those around us: 1. Begin with prayer 2. Listen with Care 3. Eat together 4. Serve with Love 5. Share our Story)

Genesis 24:62-67

Genesis 23 tells us that Sarah died at that age of 127. Abraham is now getting old and he is concerned about a wife for Isaac. After all, the son of the promise needs a wife to become a great nation. Abraham did not see any of the local women to be suitable, so he sends his trusted servant back to the old country.

Once there, the servant waits by the spring of water and prays to God to let the woman who not only gives water when asked, but also offers to water the camels be the woman who is to be the wife of Isaac. As he is praying, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel and sister of Laban comes to the spring and offers water to the servant and also offers to water the camels. The servant gives Rebekah a golden nose-ring and two golden bracelets.

Rebekah runs back to her home and tells her family what happened, and Laban seeks out the servant and invites him to their home. The servant explains the situation to the family, and they agree to let Rebekah go and let her become Isaac’s wife but wanted to wait at least 10 days. However, when asked, Rebekah agrees to go immediately with the servant.

This section is a transition from the story of Abraham to Jacob. It does not linger on Isaac for very long. This seems like a nice love story that is developing, but Genesis does not dwell on it. The next time we encounter the couple, the narrative will be moving onto the story of Jacob, who will eventually receive the name, “Israel”, and then onto Joseph and the story of how the descendants ended up in Egypt to setup the Exodus narrative.

It could have just told us that Isaac married Rebekah and then moved onto the birth of the twins, Esau and Jacob. This leaves us to ponder for what reason this section is included with all the details. If we were to give a synopsis from Abram to Joseph, most of us would not bother to give the details of how Rebekah came into Isaac’s life.

What we notice in this chapter is that God does not give any commands, nor sends a messenger to guide and direct Abraham nor his servant. There is no vision or dream to guide in finding a wife for Isaac. We see the servant praying to God, as well as Abraham being confident that God will lead and help the servant, but it seems that God is passive in this chapter. A person on the street might conclude that it was good luck or fortune that things worked out this well, that a good and proper bride was found for Isaac.

This is in stark contrast to the narrative we looked at last week, where God issues a command to Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Although Abraham must have been alarmed and heart broken, he faithfully intends to carry out God’s command. It must have been confusing, but he decided to hang onto God’s promise of a great nation coming from Isaac and proceeded. Abraham passed the test that God had put in front of him.

In this morning’s passage, we see that all the characters – Abraham, the servant, Bethuel, Laban, and Rebekah – All acknowledge the existence of God and that when they review what has happened, they accept that God was behind it, working and guiding.

We know that sometimes God acts in a visible and audible way. Appearing and speaking to people, sending a messenger, or using dreams and visions. We read of such occurrences in the Bible. However, that is probably not our experience. Of course, most of us are not part of nation building, or about to go into battle for God, or about to give birth to a special person who is going to change the course of history.

Most likely our experience mirrors what we read in this chapter, rather than what Abraham (or Moses or Paul) encountered. We know God is working in our lives and we prayerfully go and do what we hope is the Lord’s will. Things happen, and when we get to the appropriate place, we look back on all the things that have happened and realize that God had been with us all along, guiding, directing, helping, and empowering us.

Abraham knew that Isaac needed the right wife, and she was not going to be found in Canaan, so he asks his trusted servant to go find the right woman, confident that the LORD will help the servant. The servant does not quite know how this woman is to be found, but in faith, prays that the LORD will reveal the woman in a specific way. The woman and her family have not been aware of the guidance that the LORD has been giving to the servant, but upon hearing the story, agrees that Rebekah is the one to marry Isaac. This morning’s verses confirm that Rebekah was the woman God had in mind for Isaac.

So, I believe that one of the reasons this story of how Isaac and Rebekah marry is included, is to remind us that even though our life experiences do not include miraculous encounters with an angel, a burning bush, or even God Himself in a physical sense, God is still working in our lives. Even though we may not audibly hear God’s voice, nor see Him in a dream or a vision, God is still working in our lives and speaking to us through scripture as well as through the Holy Spirit.

We should be encouraged to continue to trust in God, continue to pray to Him, and then look back and wonder at all the ways God had worked in our lives.

At any point along the way, we may not know why God has us in certain situations, but at some point, we will look back and know that God was with us and gain some understanding about our experiences.

The important thing to keep in mind is that God is there, guiding and directing, and we continue to live our lives in faith and in prayer. Then at certain points in our lives, we can look back on all the events that led up to that moment and give thanks to God.

If we look back at all the events and people that God sent to us so that we could come to believe in Jesus and accept His forgiveness and salvation, we see how God used people and events in our lives to get us where we should be.

We should also be aware that as we encounter situations and people, we may also be playing a role in that person’s life. So, we should be able to look back and thank God. We should also be able to look at the encounters in our lives and have faith that even though we do not understand it yet, it is part of God’s plans for us and the people around us.

(The above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on July 2, 2023.)

Genesis 22:1-19

Isaac is finally born to Sarah and Abraham in Genesis 21. Seems like everything is going smoothly, until God decides to test Abraham by commanding that Isaac be offered as a burnt offering. Surprisingly, instead of putting up an argument or pleading, Abraham seems to act without hesitation and heads to the place where God indicated along with Isaac.

Along the way, Isaac asks where the lamb for the sacrifice is, but Abraham can only respond that the LORD will provide.

Arriving at the destination, Abraham readies to sacrifice Isaac, but as he was about to use the knife, the angel of the LORD stops him. Abraham notices a ram that is stuck in the thicket and offers it as a sacrifice.

The angel of the LORD tells Abraham that he had passed the test, and that God will indeed bless him and his descendants, who will bring blessing to the whole world.

This passage raises some difficult questions, since it deals with the nature of God that might be uncomfortable for us and not so easy to explain. Does God really test people this way? Why does He test?

The answer to the first question is obviously “yes”, since he did so with Abraham. The situation with Job is similar. And apparently, Jesus, as he was about to be arrested to be crucified, was tested, since he prays in the garden of Gethsemane that, if possible, the burden of the cross would be taken from Him. Also, in the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, is included the phrase, “lead us not into temptation”.

As to why God would test this way, that is a more difficult question. Does He not know what the outcome would be? It seems that the angel of the Lord did not know the outcome beforehand, since he states, “for now I know that you fear God”. Is it for the person’s sake that God tests? Is it for us, the reader? We really do not know the answer, but we must admit that for whatever reasons God tests, He has the right to do so. Whether God really wants to see how we react, or it is to teach or reveal something to us or to others, God apparently does test.

In Abraham’s case, the letter to the Hebrews, chapter eleven, gives us the insight that Abraham believed that God would fulfill His promise of descendants through Isaac. So, if Abraham goes ahead and sacrifices Isaac, God can raise him back from the dead. Abraham is not sure how God will fulfill His promise, but he has faith that God will keep His promise, even if the command to sacrifice Isaac makes no logical sense. Usually, there is no hope for coming back from death. Resurrection is finding hope of life, when only death is anticipated.

In the Old Testament, we see numerous occasions when God tests Israel to see if they would trust only Yahweh or if they would at the same time look to other gods. The testing times for Israel and for all of us who are spiritual heirs of Abraham are those times when it is attractive to find an easier, less demanding alternative to God. The testings drive us to find out whether we really mean what we say about our faith being grounded solely in the gospel.

Abraham passed his test – He hung on to God’s promise and acted in faith. And because of this, he did become the father of a great nation that would bring the ultimate blessing to the whole world – The Messiah. Job was faithful and through all of his great tragedies, did not curse God. Israel often failed.

What about us? When testings come, will God find us faithful? If we really think about it, the only good choice we have is to continue to believe in the promise of resurrection. Every one of us will die one day, but the gospel promises us that there will be forgiveness of sins and a resurrection and life eternal with the Lord and fellow believers. We were created to do good works and the work Jesus Christ did on the cross ensures us that everyone has a chance at eternal life. But they must be told how this can become so for them. We need to be witnesses for Jesus Christ – That He is the Son of God and the Savior of the World.

We cannot be effective witnesses without believing in God’s promises. We must also pass our tests – To believe that God will keep His promise, no matter what is happening in our lives.

In this passage, we see that God tests but also provides. We may prefer that He just provides and never tests, but that is not the case. We can be comforted by 1 Corinthians 10:13 – “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”

If you are going through trying times, remember that God is faithful and will keep His promises. If we can hang on to that hope, then we too can pass any tests that might come our way.

(The above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship together on June 25, 2023.)

Genesis 12:1-3; Luke 6:12-13

Introduction to the BLESS sermon series

Towards the beginning of scripture, in Genesis 12:1-3 we see that God describes His plan for the world, and His plan for us.  God says to Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” In other words, I WILL BLESS YOU, SO THAT YOU CAN BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

We are loved by God….. so that we can love others.

We are reached  by God…. So that we can reach out to others.

We are saved by God… so that we can participate in the saving of others.

We are blessed by God…. So that we can be a blessing to others.

Most of us recognize how we have been blessed. But how do we bless others? How can we do that? We often feel so weak and unable to do so. This is the theme of our sermon series: BLESS – this acronym describes 5 topics that we will look at in order that we may become a blessing to those around us.

1. Begin with Prayer. 2. Listen with care 3. Eat together  4. Serve in Love  5. Share your story

Of course, this “BLESS” acronym doesn’t work in Japanese, but we will cover the same concepts.

These slides represent the 5 missional activities that we will be talking about over the next few weeks. All of them are natural, and in a way, simple. We don’t have to memorize lots of scripts, or learn new techniques, or go to a seminar. They are simple activities that each of us can practice in our own unique way. And it all begins with prayer.

WHY BEGIN WITH PRAYER?

We begin with prayer because Jesus himself began with prayer.

• In Luke 4 we see that Jesus, after his baptism,  was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for a time of prayer and fasting. It was important for Jesus to have this time of fasting and prayer as a preparation for the public ministry that he was about to begin.
• Two chapters later in Luke 6 we see that Jesus went out and spent the night in prayer just before he chose his 12 disciples. We’re not sure HOW he prayed but he evidently felt the need to spend this time with His Father, as a preparation for the important day and task which was coming.
• At the end of his earthly ministry, on the night when he was betrayed, Jesus said this to his disciples: “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a person remains in me, and I in them, that person will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) In other words, Jesus was saying that if the disciples wanted to be a blessing to others – to bear fruit in the lives of others – then they would need to stay connected to Jesus. They were not the blessing themselves, they were just the conduit – the pipe – that would allow the blessing to flow from God to others. The way that they would stay connected to Jesus was first of all by prayer.

So just as Jesus recognized the need for prayer in his ministry and outreach, we begin our ministry of blessing others with prayer. It’s a way of saying:

“I can’t do this on my own. I don’t know how to bless others. If I try to do this on my own, I know I will fail. So please come, Lord, and show me the way. In order for YOUR blessing to flow through me to others…. I choose to stay CONNECTED to YOU in prayer.”

THE PRAYER OF AVAILABILITY

In the past I have shared with you a formula for mission, for ministry that I learned in seminary:

(A Needy Person) + (an available Christian) + (God’s timing) =

                                    GOD’S MISSION /  A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

 A NEEDY PERSON…..

            AN AVAILABLE CHRISTIAN…

                        GOD’S TIMING….        =        GOD’S MISSION /

                                                                            A BLESSING TO OTHERS

In order for God’s Mission of “blessing the world” to take place we need 3 things:

• First, we need a “needy” person. That’s easy!!! They are all around us. People have financial, spiritual, emotional, physical needs!
• Secondly, we need God to work. That’s easy!!! Throughout scripture God promises to work on our behalf.
• The problem is the 3^rd thing: an available Christian. This one is more difficult. It requires a decision on our part. Are we available to God?

There is a hurting and needy world all around us. God loves the world and desires to reach out to this world. For some mysterious and wonderful reason, He has chosen to have us participate in that process. Are we available?

Example of my friend

In our ministry in Japan I would often pray this prayer of availability:

“Lord, please direct me to the person that I am supposed to speak with today.”

One day, I was swimming laps at our local pool during my lunch break. As I finished up by walking the length of the pool a couple times…. I noticed a young man walking toward me in the lane next to mine. As we passed each other he reached up his hand to give me a high-five and smiled. As we gave each other a high five I turned around, joined him in his lane and we began to walk together and talk. He had noticed me as a foreigner and had tried to connect with me in broken English but soon we were chatting in Japanese.

As it turned out, he was young – 21 or so – and going through rehabilitation. He had recently experienced a nervous / emotional breakdown while away at college, had returned home to enter a hospital and was now commuting for treatment as an outpatient. We discovered that we shared an interest in music and guitar and we made plans to meet again.

That began a friendship which continued many years. Hi-de had an interest in English so he joined one of Andrea’s English conversation classes. I continued to meet with him to enjoy music together but also to talk about the Bible and faith. While resistant at first, Hi-de eventually agreed to join us for an outdoor worship service in the park. It was his very first time to attend Christian worship. He heard the gospel through a short children’s story that we had prepared and during the picnic following worship asked to become a Christian. Several of us prayed with him right there in the park! No one was more surprised than us.

Within 6 months Hi-de was baptized and became a loved and important part of our church. While his emotional and psychological needs never really disappeared, he became a shining example of how new life in Jesus Christ could bring miraculous change to a person’s life.

His story is too long to tell here, but Hi-de eventually was diagnosed with stomach cancer. For the last 2 and a half months of his life people from our little church visited him faithfully in the hospital. They became a strong witness to Hi-de’s parents who noticed how genuinely the Christians loved and cared for their son. When Hi-de passed away at the age of 30 his family asked me and a Japanese colleague to perform the funeral service, even though none of them were yet Christian. When Hi-de’s mother died of cancer just 6 months after Hi-de, the church again rallied around the family. And today, years later, even though Hi-de’s father is not yet a professing believer, he often attends worship and is loved and cared for by the members of that church.

I share this story because it is an example of a “needy person, an available Christian, and God’s timing.” I couldn’t make any of this happen on my own. But I needed to be available to God in order for the blessing to begin.

Just because I am a missionary, it does not mean that I am always available to the Lord. It’s possible to get so busy, even with church tasks or mission tasks, that I really don’t stop to make myself open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“Lord, who do you want me to bless today?” “Lord, I’m available to you.”

But be careful when you pray that way! It can be a dangerous prayer! God will surely use you in order to be a blessing to others.

CONCLUSION

Please close your eyes with me.

Picture people around you who are needy.

Imagine a God who desires to reach out to each of those folks.

Are you available today?

Are you willing to pray that way?

Would you consider writing down the names of a few people who you know could be helped by God’s blessing and salvation?

As a first step toward blessing others, would you do this?

Of course, we don’t yet know HOW we will reach them or bless them.

We don’t know HOW God will use us to bless them.

But as a first step….

Let’s begin with prayer.

(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on June 18, 2023.)

Genesis 17:15-22

At the beginning of this chapter, Abram is 99 years old, which means it has been 24 years since God first called Abram and promised him to be the ancestor of a great nation. It also has been about 14 years since the events in chapter 15, when Abram looked up into the starry night and believed and trusted that the LORD would fulfill His promise. God considered Abram to be righteous and makes His covenant with Abram using an eerie ritual with cutup animals.

Genesis 16 describes the birth of Ishmael. Somehow, even after God restating that Abram will have his own son, Sarai decides that the only way this will happen is to use a surrogate mother. She reasons with Abram that he should have a sexual relationship with her Egyptian slave-girl, Hagar for this purpose. After all, the resulting child would be Abram’s. Instead of believing in the promise of God for them to have a son, Abram agrees with Sarai, and Ishmael is born. Instead of having faith in the promise of God, Sarai and Abram took matters into their own hands.

However, God is gracious to Hagar and her son. God gives the son the name Ishmael, and even though they are outside of the promise, God blesses them and promises that Ishmael will be the father of multitudes. God also prophesied what kind of a man Ishmael will become – “He shall be a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him; and he shall live at odds with all his kin” (Genesis 16:12).

A bit of research will reveal that Ishmael’s descendants will come to be known as Ishmaelites or the Arabs. Like Israel, they also will divide into twelve tribes, and will end up settling throughout the Arabian Peninsula. One of Ishmael’s direct descendants is the Prophet Muhammad, who would unite most of Arabia under a single religion – Islam.

So, we can see that this act that Sarai and Abram took because they could not believe that the promised child would come from Sarai and Abram, will have significant consequences for their respective descendants, even to the present time.

Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, God appears to Abraham and gives him a new name – Abraham – and makes circumcision as the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and his descendants.  God also gives Sarai a new name – Sarah – and makes it clear that a son will be born to her, and his name will be Isaac. Upon hearing this, Abraham laughs, since he finds ridiculous the notion that this could happen to him at the age of one hundred and to Sarah, who is now ninety. Abraham apparently no longer believes in the original promise, and even tells God to just bless Ishmael. God tells Abraham that He will also bless Ishmael, but that His covenant will be with Isaac and Isaac’s descendants.

From all of this, we are reminded that faith is not easy. It sometimes calls for persistence which goes against common sense. It calls for believing in a gift from God which none of the present data can support.

Hagar and Ishmael represent an alternative to God’s promise that on the short term seems to improve the situation. Sometimes instead of waiting in faith for God to act, we are tempted to take the initiative from God.

Ishmael is also a good reminder to us about the people who are not within the promise of God – God has concern for them, and they can be blessed by God.  Today, many people are outside of God’s promise, and go about living the way they seem fit, with no regard to what God teaches in the Bible. We see many Christians who consider these people as enemies of God and want the church to treat them as such. And yet, we should be reminded of our Lord’s command to love our enemies and bring blessings to the least of humanity. This does not mean to condone thoughts and behaviors that goes against God, but it does mean that we need to witness for Christ in whatever way the Holy Spirit directs us.

Through the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection, we can become the children of promise just by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Then our past, present and future sins can be forgiven, and we are ensured eternal life with our Lord and fellow believers.

Like Abraham and Sarah, even though we are given the promise of eternal life and the presence of the Holy Spirit to help us to be witnesses to those near and far that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the World, sometimes we are tempted by alternatives to God’s promises. We can be tempted to do and pursue things that we think are good, contrary to what God would have us do.

Faith is not easy – We have many temptations for alternatives that are contrary to what the LORD wants us to do. And we will often fail. But Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael are all reminders that God will not fail us nor break His promises to us, even though we keep coming up short on our end. This should give us comfort in time of hardship and failure on our part.

We also need to be reminded that Abram and Sarai were chosen by God not just to be great, but so that they and their descendants will become a blessing to the whole world. So, God’s intent for Israel was to become a blessing to the rest of the world. Likewise, we were chosen and saved by God through the cross of Christ not just to be blessed, but to be a blessing to others. We need to acknowledge and thank God for all that he gives us, but also know that we have a task to do in return – To be a blessing to others by witnessing to those around us about Jesus Christ and the salvation He can bring.

(The above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano at our worship on June 11, 2023.)

Genesis 15:17-21

At the start of Genesis 15, it has been about 10 years since Abram and Sarai left their home, believing that the LORD is going to make them into the ancestors of a great nation. But they are still without child, and Abram is starting to be afraid that maybe the LORD was not going to keep His promise, or that Abram had misunderstood the promise. The LORD speaks to Abram, telling him not to be afraid, and that Abram will indeed have an heir of his own. The LORD then makes Abram look into the night sky, and Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD reckoned him as righteous.

The LORD then instructs Abram to bring a 3-year-old heifer, a 3-year-old female goat, a 3-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. He was to leave the birds whole but was to cut the animals in half and place the halves facing each other. When it got dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

People making covenants would use this ritual to make it a serious agreement. The meaning was that if either of them broke the covenant, then the other could do to the one who broke it, what they had done to the animals.

This ritual was initiated by the LORD in response to Abram’s question about how he will know that his descendants will actually possess the promised land. Included in this question is a question about having heirs. And as verse 18 states, “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram”. As long as Abram continues to follow the LORD’s directions, he will become the father of a great nation, which will be a blessing to the rest of the world.

At the beginning of the chapter, Abram is afraid, since although he left his home in faith, there is still no child. By the time he reaffirms that he believes in the LORD’s promise in verse 6, his situation has not changed – He is still far from home, and he is still childless. So, nothing has really changed, but Abram goes from doubt to belief. The only thing that happened between the two states is that the LORD had Abram look up into the night sky to look at the stars.

When Abram was reminded that it was the same God that created the heavens who was promising him to be the father of a great nation, Abram must have realized that such a powerful God was certainly able to give him an heir. What is impossible for mortals is possible for God. So, he reaffirms his faith in the LORD. And because of this, God considers Abram as righteous – In the right relationship with God.

We too, need to be reminded of God’s greatness from time to time. We find ourselves in situations that we don’t like, and we wonder why God is not doing something about it. But God, who created the heavens and earth, has the power to do whatever needs to be done. It is a matter of whether it is His will to do something at that particular time. Often, we cannot know the mind of God, but just trust that He knows what He is doing.

As far as the covenant ritual is concerned, it is interesting to note that even though the LORD is making a covenant with Abram, Abram does not pass through the animal pieces. Instead, the LORD is representing both himself and Abram with the smoking fire pot and the flaming torch.

Since God will not break the covenant and Abram and/or his descendants will, this means that God is willing to pay the penalty of death for man’s sins.  This is the same basic premise that is behind Jesus’ death on the cross. God will never sin, but He is willing to pay for the sins of mankind.

The Son of God was the only person in the history of mankind that was without sin. So, He is able to die for others, and Jesus did so willingly so that whoever believes in Him and accepts Him as lord and savior will have their sins forgiven and gain eternal life.

Would we be willing to make an agreement with someone that we know for a fact will not be able to honor it? We would, if it was someone we loved, like a child or a grandchild. We would be willing to give all the benefit, while knowing that we will not get anything that was promised to us. That’s what God did with Abram in this situation, and with us through the cross of Christ.

Today is Pentecost Sunday, when we remember the day when the Holy Spirit came down with power onto the disciples and enabled them to boldly witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus had promised as He was returning to heaven after His resurrection. After teaching his disciple for forty days, he ascended into heaven, promising that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Jesus kept His promise. Will we keep our promise to be His witnesses? Hopefully some of the time. But we all fail to keep that promise at times. When the situation and the person we’re talking to is ideal, we are able and willing. But when the situation doesn’t feel ideal, or if we’re not feeling love for others, or if we are not in the mood, we often fail to be effective witnesses.

But Jesus already knew beforehand that we would often fail, and yet, He gives us the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our lord and savior. He will never fail us, even though we often fail Him. That’s why a human never walked through those animal pieces – It was just God. God walking through to represent Himself, as well as to represent us. And our failures were already paid by God, through His Son’s death on the cross.

So, when we are feeling inadequate, or after failing to be good witnesses, look up into the starry sky and be reminded that God created those, and if He can do that, He can empower us to be His witnesses. He will give us the words to boldly witness, just like He did on that Pentecost Sunday some two thousand years ago.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano with us during worship on May 28, 2023)

Acts 1:6-14

Acts begins as a continuation of the gospel of Luke. Luke states that following the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus has now appeared to the disciples and many others for a period of 40 days, teaching them, and showing them that he was really alive. So today, we are remembering what it was like for the disciples …. 40 days after the resurrection!

In today’s account, they are gathered on the Mount of Olives. With so much anticipation and expectation for what Jesus will do…..the disciples ask him “Is this the time that you’ll restore the Kingdom to Israel?” He says in so many words “It’s not important for you to know that.” And continues…“But you WILL receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you’ll be my witnesses, here in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. “

And then we’re told that he disappeared from their sight….into the clouds.The disciples are left gazing into the sky. Two men dressed in white ask them “Why are you gazing up into the sky?” And finally, we are told that they walk back to Jerusalem and the entire group – disciples, women including Mary, Jesus’ mother, and the brothers of Jesus – all wait, earnestly spending time together in prayer.

What Should be our takeaway…our lesson for today?

TWO REPROOFS

• “It’s not important for you to know that.”
• “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Don’t look back, or stare up… look forward. Focus on the task ahead. Focusing too much on heaven, end times, etc. may keep us from working hard for the kingdom today. Jesus is NOT disappearing. He will be with you as the Holy Spirit….this will be a new chapter of kingdom work.

ONE PROMISE

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus does not command, ask, encourage, or instruct us to witness. He simply states what will be happening in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. You WILL receive power when the Holy Spirit comes and you WILL be my witnesses.

ONE COMMAND

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

In this text Jesus only gives one command: “Don’t leave Jerusalem…but wait for the Holy Spirit.”

With all of the anticipation, and possible fear and excitement… isn’t it unusual that the first task to be done by the disciples…. is to WAIT. Why do you think that was?

Perhaps it was to teach them that they were to be responsive to the Holy Spirit, listening to the Holy spirit, aware of the Holy Spirit…not working on their own, or under their own strength?

How could this command to “WAIT!” be applied in our lives today?

(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on May 21, 2023.)

Genesis 14:17-20

After Abram and Sarai returned from their adventure in Egypt very wealthy, their flocks got so huge that the land couldn’t support them, and animosity started to build between Abram’s people and Lot’s. So they decide to separate. Abram, although he had the right to first choice, deferred to Lot. Abram told Lot to go wherever he thinks is good, and Abram will go the opposite direction. Lot chose to settle near Sodom, and Abram settled in Hebron.

Then a war broke out involving nine kingdoms, and Lot was captured, along with his family and possessions. Upon hearing this news, Abram takes a private army of 318 men and rescues Lot, his family and possessions.

This is when Melchizedek makes his appearance. He is a mysterious figure. He only appears in two other books of the Bible. He appears in Psalm 110, which prophesies about the coming Messiah, and then in Hebrews 5-7, where the writer describes the eternal aspect of Jesus’ priesthood. Jesus is not a descendant of Melchizedek, but He is a priest like Melchizedek.

So let us look at what we know of this person.

This is what we learn from this Genesis passage. The fact that Abram is blessed by Melchizedek and that Abram tithes Melchizedek, this would imply that Melchizedek is greater than Abram. Melchizedek serves the God Most High (El Elyon). Melchizedek is the king of Salem, and he brings out bread and wine.

From Psalm 110:4, we learn that the priestly order of Melchizedek is forever, unlike the priestly order of Aaron.

In Hebrews 5-7, the writer explains the nature of Christ and uses Melchizedek to do so. Christ’s priesthood is forever, just like it was for Melchizedek. Also, human priests have sins so that they must offer sacrifice for their own sins as well as for those of the people. This is not so for Christ, who had no sin. Christ offering Himself as the sacrifice for the atonement of humanity’s sins was only possible because Jesus had no sins.

The writer continues in Hebrews 7 that King Melchizedek means “king of righteousness” and king of Salem means “king of peace”. The line of priests for Israel was supposed to come from the line of Levi, specifically from the descendants of Aaron, Moses’ brother. And yet, Melchizedek is a priest of God, who collects tithe from Abram, even though he has no relationship to the tribe of Levi. Likewise, even though Jesus was not from the tribe of Levi – He belonged to the tribe of Judah – He is our eternal priest. This means that Jesus did not become a priest through blood, but by direct appointment from God the Father. The human priests were many, since they were mortal and died, but Christ is eternal as is His priesthood.

The human priests worked under the law and had to keep offering sacrifices to their contemporaries. However, Christ was able to offer Himself as sacrifice for all time and for all humankind.

The writer of Hebrews summarizes this section by writing:

²⁶For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.   ²⁷Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself.   ²⁸For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

The reason the writer of Hebrews explains these things about the priesthood of Christ is because he desires his readers to go beyond the basic knowledge of Christ. He wants his readers to be able to go beyond the basic truths – Salvation based on faith rather than works, baptism, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment – He wants his readers to go beyond “milk” and into “solid food”. He wants his readers to become mature in faith. He wants his readers to be able to teach.

Of course, the basics of salvation – that accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior will give us forgiveness of our sins, salvation and eternal life – are sufficient. However, if we are to teach, we ought to have a firmer foundation than just the basics.

We might think that we are not teachers – but there are always those around us that need to hear about Jesus Christ. So, although we may not play the role of a teacher on a regular basis, there are times that we are called to play that role.

Occasionally, someone will ask me how to study the Bible in a way that goes beyond just scratching the surface. I can only answer from my experience, and the times I am able to really dig into a passage for deeper understanding is when I am asked to either teach or preach. Those are the times when I know that I cannot just read it once and have a vague notion of what the Bible says. One suggestion I can give is to approach a Bible passage as if you had to teach from it. If the passage is not clear to you, study it, look up references, discuss it with someone knowledgeable.

In the Old Testament, King Melchizedek is only mentioned in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110 – a total of four verses. Yet, the writer of Hebrews uses him in three chapters to teach us the deeper knowledge of Christ’s priesthood. Let us use this as an encouragement to grow deeper in our knowledge and faith.

(the above is a summary of the message shared with us by Shun Takano during our worship together on May 14, 2023.)

John 14:1-14

Even though we are now starting the fifth week of Easter, the lectionary scripture text for this week places us back during Holy Week, prior to Jesus’ crucifixion.

In John 14, we are at the last supper, where Jesus is giving his farewell talk to his disciples.

• He has already washed their feet and explained why…
• He has pointed out that one of them would betray him….and Judas has left.
• He is about to tell them about the Holy Spirit who would come in new ways because he would no longer be with them in person.

First, Jesus offers words of comfort and encouragement:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. In my father’s house are many mansions. I’m going to prepare a place for you.”

Jesus knows he is soon to die. He must end this daily existence with his disciples. He offers here words of comfort and encouragement.  Yet, the disciples do not seem comforted or encouraged. When he states in v. 4 – “You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas objects – “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way??”

HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?

To this Jesus responds “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

When Jesus says in verse 7: “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

But Philip responds “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

SHOW US THE FATHER. LET US SEE THE FATHER.

Jesus answers him: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

“My whole life among you has been an attempt to reveal the Father. To explain my Father. To show you God. If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen God.”

In each case, Jesus offers himself.

“You want to know the way? I AM THE WAY. You want to see the Father? Look at me. If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father.”

To each question the disciples had, he offered a relationship. A relationship with himself.

We have questions too, don’t we?

• In verse 12 Jesus says to his disciples (and of course to us) – that if we have faith, we will do the same things that he has done. In fact, we will do greater things than these…… what does that mean?  The disciples were confused…..and so am I. What did Jesus mean?
• In verse 14 Jesus says “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Really? What does that mean? I’ve experienced many times that I prayed for something in Jesus’ name and didn’t receive it.

Of course, we have other questions as well:

• Why am I struggling with cancer?
• Why is this happening?
• Why did she die so young?
• Why don’t you love me anymore?

And the questions could go on and on. What are your questions today? Sometimes God DOES give us clear answers and tells us the details. But often, not.

But just like in this passage – we are ALWAYS offered a relationship. God’s presence. He doesn’t whisk us out of our problems. Or quickly give us satisfactory answers to every question. But he DOES offer his presence, friendship, and support. In short – a relationship – that we can depend on.

“Trust in God. Trust also in me.”

(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on May 7, 2023.)