Giving Up Everything vs. Getting Authority

I preached this sermon at the Isesaki Covenant Church on November 11th, 2018 and again on November 25th at the Shimonita Church. Yes, I confess… sometimes I use the same sermon more than once. My goal is to write a new sermon for every Sunday, but sometimes I just can’t pull it off.
Mark 12:38-44
Authority is an unavoidable reality in this world. Every time people get together to do anything, some sort of authority structure emerges. Everywhere we go, we deal with issues of authority. Politics is mostly about authority. Every time I get behind the wheel of a car, I’m aware of a certain authority that tells me what I can and can’t do. When I pay my taxes

The Disciples Were Only Human

I preached this sermon at the Isesaki Covenant Church on October 21st, 2018.
Mark 10:35-45
The church is the body of Christ. Scripture teaches us many things about what it means to be the body of Christ. We are given the task of continuing the work Jesus began here on earth. We are commanded to obey the teachings of Jesus Christ. We are called upon to bear witness to what God has done and is doing in the world. We are told to live in hope and hold onto the promises of what God will do in the future. We are charged with going out into the world, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, and making disciples of Christ. And thru it all, we are taught to live in peace and harmony, based on our common faith in Jesus Christ. Being the body of Christ is a high calling; perhaps even too high,

Raising The Bar

I preached this sermon at the Sunday evening service of the Machida Christian Center on September 30th, 2018. A large typhoon was approaching and it’s a three hour drive from our home to this church. As I arrived in Machida City and stopped at a convenience store I could here the warning announcements being broadcast across the city from the city hall. They were telling everyone to prepared for the big storm, and the number one piece of advice was to stay indoors and definitely avoid trying to travel anywhere! Needless to say, attendance was a bit lower than usual that night but fortunately I made it home around midnight and the worst of the storm hit a couple hours later. We woke up to find a couple trees knocked over in our yard and part of the siding of our house ripped off.
Mark 9:38-50
When I was a child playing with others, we would often begin by choosing teams. Two kids who were good at whatever sport we were playing would be the captains. I don’t think I was ever a captain in any sport… The two captains would then take turns choosing team mates. The talented kids would get chosen first and needless to say, the less talented kids would be chosen last. I was usually somewhere in the middle, but it was a rather awful way of doing things, especially for those kids who didn’t get chosen right away. For the last couple of kids chosen, it almost felt like nobody wanted them on their team. The thing we all dreaded was being chosen last. While it may be tempting to chalk this one up to the insensitivity of children, the truth of the matter is that adults frequently do the same thing.

Who Do You Say I Am

I preached this sermon at the Saitama International Church on September 16th, 2018. It’s a bilingual church with two consecutive worship services; the first in English and the second in Japanese. So they asked me to preach in both languages. I almost always preach in Japanese but my manuscript is always in English (my native language) regardless of the language in which I’m preaching. I often preach the same sermon multiple times in churches with more than one worship service or when I do one church in the AM and another in the PM. But it is quite rare (maybe this was a first) for me to preach the same sermon twice at the same church in two languages. Fortunately I managed to keep my languages straight for the most part. 🙂
Mark 8:27-38
Jesus put two questions to his disciples. “Who do people say I am?” and “Who do you say I am?” These are questions that continue, over the centuries, to echo in the minds and hearts of Christians all over the world. The church has historically included our corporate response in the liturgies of worship thru the use of creedal confessions such as the Apostles’ Creed and others. In the Apostles’ Creed we confess the following: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. That is one of our most frequently used answers to the question; “Who do you say I am?” Jesus first asked the disciples who other people said he was. This is important, because Jesus was revealing himself and his mission to the world. None of the responses are quite right, but

Crumbs Are Enough

I preached this sermon at the Shimonita Church on September 9th, 2018.

Mark 7:24-37

Today’s passage is so unusual! If you were to read just the last verse you might not think so. READ v.37 But look more closely and you’ll see some surprising things. READ 24a and 31a Jesus was no longer in Galilee, and he definitely wasn’t in Jerusalem or anywhere in between. Jesus was in Gentile territory, quite a ways from where he spent most of his time. We don’t know for sure why he went there but look at v.24b Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there. Jesus appears to have been actively avoiding the crowds that followed him everywhere. And then he has this rather awkward, less than loving interaction with a woman seeking his help. He calls her a dog…

Seeking A Friendly Audience

I preached this sermon 3 times at the Kurume Christ Church and then once in the afternoon at the Isesaki Covenant Church on July 8th, 2018.

Mark 6:1-13

Jesus had been on the road for quite a while, going up and down the Galilean countryside with his disciples. Although they met with plenty of resistance along the way, by and large I think it had been an affirming trip for Jesus and his disciples. Everywhere they went large crowds gathered around them; always pressing to get closer. At last Jesus heads back to Nazareth, the place

Healer Jesus

I preached this sermon on July 1st, 2018 at the Shimonita Church.

Mark 5:21-43

Jesus was in Galilee, along the shores of the lake. This is where he and his disciples felt most at home. Not that everyone welcomed them; far from it. But this is where Jesus chose to do the majority of his work. This is where the great crowds followed his every move. Always surrounded by the jostling crowds, Jesus must have felt conflicted at times. On the one hand, the mere thought of those crowds could move him to tears; and he would see them and put personal concerns aside; just so he could teach, touch and heal them. But at the same time, Jesus was never seeking to draw large crowds around himself. His primary interest was

God Given Growth and Transformation

I preached this sermon at the Chigasaki Covenant Church on June 17th, 2018. I lived in the parsonage of this church for one year when I was age 5 so I have lots of fond memories and always enjoy returning.

Mark 4:26-34

READ v.30… When crowds were gathered around Jesus, he loved to talk about the kingdom of God. He came up with parable after parable and they all had something in common. They would start out like this… “The kingdom of God is like…” So why did he tell so many parables about the kingdom? Did the people of that day really need to hear them? And even more importantly for us today, do we really need to hear them?

My father’s mother immigrated to the U.S. from

Misunderstandings and Reversals

I preached this sermon at the Shimonita Church in the morning and the Isesaki Covenant Church in the afternoon on June 10, 2018.

Mark 3:20-35

One might conclude, from this third chapter of Mark, that things were not going well for Jesus. Perspective of his family Jesus’ family members were worried about him. They try to take him away. V.21 is a bit unclear as to who is saying Jesus was crazy. Some translations say it was the family members themselves. Other translations say it was other people. But either way, his family would rather not have him carrying on as he is. They would rather silence him and get him out of the public eye if his actions are causing anyone to think he is crazy. Either they think he is crazy and are feeling embarrassment and shame, or they are fearful of those who are saying he is crazy and want to prevent more conflict with powerful authorities by shutting him up. They decide it’s time for an intervention.

Called to be Losers

I preached this church at the Shimonita Christ Church on February 25th, 2018.

Mark 8:31-38
Nobody likes to lose. And few people are attracted to losers. Have you been watching the Olympics? I’ve come to the conclusion that I actually enjoy the winter Olympics even more than summer Olympics. Perhaps it’s because I live in the mountains where we enjoy lots of cold weather and snow in the winter time. Or perhaps it’s just because of how dynamic everything is. There are so many events that involve people flying thru the air like birds. Ski jumping, half-pipe, freestyle skiing and several others all involve gravity defying acts of flying thru the air. There is nothing even close to that in the summer Olympics. Or perhaps it’s the incredible speeds at which people travel. Speed skaters go much faster than any runners in the summer Olympics. Downhill skiers reach speeds in excess of 100 kph! Bobsled and luge competitors go even faster, reaching speeds of 150 kph! Compared to what? Sailing??? And then there are those ultra-competitive events like short track speed skating and slalom skiing where competitors race side by side on extremely slippery surfaces, often resulting in spectacular crashes. Yes, I like dynamic sports! As you can probably imagine by now, I’m not a very big fan of