The thing that changes death into life

What we fear the most in life is death among things we feel fearful.

Soseki Natsume is a famous novelist who wrote “I am a cat”. When he was forty-eight, he lost his daughter and wrote in his diary.

“Yesterday we had a wake, today we have a funeral and tomorrow we will place the ashes in a grave. It is busy. But, after doing all these things, I think what we are doing is meaningless. Unless death is not changed into life, everything is meaningless.”

He seems to have said this as a father, not as a notable writer. We can sympathize with him in his suffering. Death takes away all our hope from us. However, here is a book that gives us hope! It is a bible. It tells us there is Jesus, who changed death into life. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”(John 11:25)

This word is not just a consolation. Jesus said this while the funeral of a young man named Lazarus who had become sick and passed away four days ago. And the Bible tells Jesus raised him from the dead.

If this event had been a fake one, attendees of the ceremony would have criticized him and the story would have been eliminated a long time ago. But it has been told as a fact till this day, not just a symbolic story, because it really took place in the past.

For forty years, I have attended the last moment of many people as a pastor. It makes a big difference whether he or she has hope for eternal life or not. May you come to church and know the thing that overcomes death so that you have peace in your life.

Senior Pastor  Masao Nakanishi

Whenever, Anytime

March has come. In Japan, many people go to a higher school, get a job and start a new life. We often get afraid and worried when we depart from where we feel familiar and launch into a new field. Perhaps, you may already have got disappointed.

While I went to a language school in New Zealand, I felt the same way. Though I enjoyed a lot, I had difficulty communicating with people and got discouraged. Because Western people rarely sensed how I felt as Japanese did, I came not to talk much. But, there was one who always encouraged me. The one who helped me was my host mother. 

She treated me as one of her own family members. When I worried about conversation and lost confidence, she came to my room and encouraged me, saying, “You speak English very well. Be courageous.” When a gift from Japan arrived, she brought it to me and got rejoiced as I did. The day I left the country, she blessed my future and saw me off with her family. She still contacts me and looking forward to seeing me in the future.

However, people have their limitations. Is there a gentle person everywhere? Even if there is, he or she can’t be with you all the time.

Here I have a good news for you. According to the Bible, there is God who made you. He knows all your situations. And if you seek Him, He will give you what you need. If you look upon Him, He will be with you anytime. No matter how big problems you face, you can overcome them and go forward. This is what I experienced every day. And I felt the fact in different places I have lived in my life.

The Bible says, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) This means, “Since God is 100 percent on your side, be courageous and fear not.” Let me give you another word of God. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) How peaceful it is to have an unchanging foundation.May the blessings of God be upon you!

Youth Pastor  Kenshiro Goto

What’s happening when things don’t move?

February is a cold month and it is a tough season for examinees. In Japan, February and August are known for months that things don’t go well. Perhaps you may think this way. “When will these things move? Until when should I bear?” Sometimes you may feel “God forgets me”. But I don’t want you to think that is true. 

1. Things are moving even if you can’t see them

For example, deciduous trees lose their leaves in winter and we can’t see any change from the outside. However, their roots are growing under the ground and they come into leaves and flowers in spring. We shouldn’t think things are stopping. 

2. God’s timing has not come

There is a time things don’t seem to be moving. We become impatient but we can’t change anything. The point is, until God’s timing, things don’t go well even though you do your best. However, when God’s time comes, things moves even if you try to stop it.

As the Bible says like this.

”There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

3. It is a time to be still and think about yourself

The Bible says, “When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider.”(Ecclesiastes 7:14)The thing that you should do when things don’t go well is considering about yourself. It doesn’t mean to regret that you have done something wrong. It is a time to notice God is working. He has a better way that is different from yours. You might have lived well to a certain extent, but He wants to show you the way He prepared for you. And He wants to giveyou the way that you will experience His blessings. That’s why he sometimes stops things around you. It’s a good time you come to realize what He is doing for you.

Hope you know the will of God, and your heart will be filled with peace.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”(Isaiah 55:9)

Senior Pastor  Masao Nakanishi