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2008年03月24日
The Church In Japan: Easter 2008
Next to our Chrismas Serice, our Easter Service is no doubt our biggest yearly service. While Christmas is a household word in Japan, Easter is hardly known at all. However, I am thankful that those who are Christains are aware of the centrality of Easter to our faith and our Easter Service is always a time for our church members to once more think about the wonderful power of God that raised Jesus from the dead.
Whenever possible, at Easter, we try to schedule a baptism and 2008 was no exception. Mr. M was able to share his testimony and be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Mr. M mainly came to faith in Christ through reading the Bible-first the New Testament and later the Old Testament. As is often the case, it took a lot of courage and the grace of God to cross the thresshold of the church but Mr. M was able to do so and as a result we were able to welcome into our church membership. If some of you have not been able to hear his testimony, I would urge you to borrow the CD from the church.
After our Easter Service and lunch we all went to our church gravesite for a simple service of praise and thanksgiving there.We were joined by the members of our sister church, the New Life Church of Kawachinagano and a wonderful time of fellowship was had by all. We were worried about the weather but our service started at 2:30 under a cloudy sky but with no rain. We ended at 3:00 and enjoyed coffee and tea and talking together till 3:30 when it started to rain and this seemed to be a clear sign that our Easter schedule for 2008 should end.
For myself, Easter was quite a challenge as I was fighting a fever the whole week before. However, by God's grace I was able to preach and baptize Mr. M and also share at the gravesite service.
Let me close with the words we read in church at our service.
"He is not here, for He is risen, as He said." Matthew 28:6
投稿者 bethany : 2008年03月24日 09:46
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