Sunday, October 8, 2017

“Five Loaves of Bread and Two Fish”

Luke 9:10-17

1. Strange explanations of this miracle

* (1) Everyone was so full and satisfied with Jesus’s wonderful teaching that they forgot they were

hungry.

(2) This took place in the evening, and became dark. Jesus stood before a cave and the disciples

hiding in the cave brought out bread and fish to the people from behind.

(3) The child brought forth his lunch, so the adults felt embarrassed and brought forth theirs as well to

share and eat.

(4) The people split the five loaves of bread and two fish into tiny little pieces to share and eat. Their

stomach’s weren’t full, but their minds were.

(5) This is just a story of teaching people to share what they have.

* The miracle on Timor Island (Indonesia)

2. The purpose of this miracle

3. The less of this miracle

* Wilma Rudolph (American track and field athlete)

* Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (NIV)

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. Have you ever experienced a miracle of God?

2. What lesson did you learn from that miracle?

3. Why does God still do miracles today?

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Sunday, October 1, 2017

“The Result of Faith and Unbelief”

Luke 9:1-9

1. Jesus’ disciples’ faith and obedience

* Matthew 6:31-33 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (NIV)

* Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” (NIV)

* Psalm 34:10 “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” (NIV)

* Psalm 37:25 “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” (NIV)

2. King Herod’s unbelief and disobedience

* Mark 6:19-20 “So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.” (NIV)

* Mark 6:26-28 “The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.” (NIV)

* Dr. Okio Hino’s “A Good life is Determined by One’s Last Five Years”

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. If you have had an experience in which the Lord satisfied a need you had, please share.

2. If your life was going to end in five years, how would you spend that time?

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Sunday, September 24, 2017

“The God Who Manages Time”

Ruth 2:1-13

1. Naomi’s hardships

* Ruth 1:20 “‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.’” (NIV)

2. “By chance”

* Ruth 2:3 “So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.” (NIV)

3. “Just then”

* Ruth 2:4 “Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, ‘The LORD be with you!’ ‘The LORD bless you!’” they answered.” (NIV)

* Ruth 2:11 “Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.’’ (NIV)

* Dr. Randolf Byrd’s experiment

* Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” (NIV)

* Psalm 31:15 “My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.” (NIV)

* Good timing is God’s timing.

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. Please share if you have experienced God working “just then.”

2. Please share if you have experienced the benefits of intercessory prayer.

3. If you cannot experience the God of “by chance,” then why do you think that is?

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Sunday, September 17, 2017

“Taking to the Stage of Life Again”

Luke 8:49-56

1. A heart that is humble

* The conversion of American millionaire, Rockefeller

2. A heart that waits for God’s timing

* John 11:5-6 “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” (NIV)

* Acts 3:1 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” (NIV)

* Acts 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (NIV)

* The faith of previous New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

3. A heart that believes

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. Why do you think a “heart that is humble” is difficult?”

2. Why do you think people cannot wait for “God’s timing?”

3. Why does God desire a “heart that believes?”

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Sunday, September 10, 2017

“Your Faith Has Healed You”

Luke 8:40-48

1. “When she heard about Jesus” (Mark 5:27)

* The state of Christianity in China

*In 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was established

Population: 541,670,000 people

Christians: 850,000 people (0.2% of the population)

*In 2017

Population: 1,390,000,000 people

Christians: 130,000,000 people (10% of the population)

2. “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed” (Mark 5:28)

* Luke 8:44 “the edge of his cloak” = Bundles of thread put on the four corners of a garment “Tsuitsuioto”

* Numbers 15:38 “… ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.’” (NIV)

* Hebrews 4:2 “For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.” (NIV)

* The testimony of Orville Kelly “Make Today Count”

3. “Your faith has healed you”

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. Who do you think Jesus is?

2. If you think so, then how is that impacting you now?

3. What kind of difference do you think there is between “knowing something” and “believing something?”

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Sunday, September 3, 2017

“Jesus, Who Calms the Storms of the Heart”

Luke 8:26-39

1. A man possessed by a demon

* Mark 5:5 “Night and day he screamed among the tombs and in the hills. He cut himself with stones.” (NIV)

* Genesis 1:31 “God saw everything he had made. And it was very good...” (NIV)

* 2 Peter 2:4 “God did not spare angels when they sinned. Instead, he sent them to hell. He chained them up in dark prisons. He will keep them there until he judges them.” (NIV)

* Jude 6 “Some of the angels didn’t stay where they belonged. They didn’t keep their positions of authority. The Lord has kept those angels in darkness. They are held by chains that last forever. On judgment day, God will judge them.” (NIV)

* Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘You are cursed! Go away from me into the fire that burns forever. It has been prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (NIV)

2. Jesus’ authority and works

* 1 John 4:4 “Dear children, you belong to God. You have not accepted the teachings of the false prophets. That’s because the one who is in you is powerful. He is more powerful than the one who is in the world.” (NIV)

* Psalm 86:11 “Lord, teach me how you want me to live. Do this so that I will depend on you, my faithful God. Give me a heart that doesn’t want anything more than to worship you.” (NIV)

3. The responsibility of the saved

* The testimony of Jorge De Amorim Campos (i.e. “Jorginho”) (past Brazilian soccer player)

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. What is the origin of the “devil and demons?”

2. Do Christians need to fear the devil and demons? Why?

3. What is the responsibility of those freed through Jesus Christ?

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Sunday, August 27, 2017

“God’s Family”

Ephesians 2:12-22

1. God’s family can become one in Christ

* The conflict between Jews and Gentiles

* Ephesians 2:14 “dividing wall of hostility”

* Ephesians 2:15 “setting aside… the law with its commands and regulations”

* John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (NIV)

2. God’s family complements each other

* Jews and Gentiles: They were able to complement each other’s needs

* In present times:

3. The aspect of faith

4. The aspect of generation

3. God’s family is lead to growth

* Ephesians 2:21 “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” (NIV)

* The position of women, children, and slaves in the Greek and Roman society at that time

* Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

* Through the love shown by God’s family, many people have met Jesus Christ

* The testimony of Martha in an American church

* The performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony by high school students in California

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. Have you ever experienced an agreement through the love of Christ with someone else?

2. Have you ever known the love of Jesus Christ through the love of God’s family?

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Sunday, August 20, 2017

“Where is Your Faith?”

Luke 8:22-25

1. Faith in Jesus’ words

* 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (NIV)

* Ted Hustead and his wife Dorothy’s faith

2. Faith in Jesus’ capabilities

* Psalm 89:8-9 “Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.” (NIV)

* Psalm 34:3 “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.” (NIV)

* 2 Kings 6:17 “And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (NIV)

* Ephesians 1:18-19 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength.” (NIV)

3. Faith in Jesus’ second coming

* Matthew 28:20 “… And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV)

* John 14:16-18 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (NIV)

* The testimony of the Christian lawyer, Mitsuo Sasaki

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. At what kind of times do you become anxious, scared, or worried? Why do you think that is? How do you think you can be freed from such things?

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Sunday, August 13, 2017

“Those Who Hear God’s Word and Put it Into Practice”

Luke 8:19-21

1. Jesus’ family

* Matthew 1:25 “But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (NIV)

* Mark 6:3 “’Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.” (NIV)

* Acts 1:14 “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” (NIV)

2. Attitude toward Jesus’ family

3. Jesus’ true family

* Romans 8:14-16 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (NIV)

* The salvation of Mitsuo Fuchida and Jacob DeShazer

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. Why do you think Jesus’ virgin birth was necessary?

2. Some people claim that Jesus’ mother Mary was “sinless,” but what do you think?

Why do you think so?

3. Are you a member of the “family of God?”

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Sunday, August 6, 2017

“Consider Carefully How You Listen”

Luke 8:16-18

• Psalm 119:103 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (NIV)

• Psalm 19:10 “They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.” (NIV)

1. Listen as you would speak to someone

* “Westminster Larger Catechism” (1647)

#160 Question: “What is expected of those who listen to the sermon of God’s Word?”

Answer: “To meditate on and talk with others about what they heard”

* Colossians 3:16 “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” (NIV)

2. Listen as God’s Word

* 1 Thessalonians 2:13 “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” (NIV)

* 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” (NIV)

* John Wesley (1703 - 1791)

Thoughts to share at Mini Church:

1. What do you make an effort to do when listening to God’s Word?

2. What do you think is good to do so that you can further understand the Word you have heard?

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