1. Distorted form of Communion in Corinth

After the successful series of lectures from John’s letters, we now revert back to the normal program in accordance with the church calendar. Today’s given verses are from, 1 Corinthians 11: 23-29.

Through the writings of his letter, addressed to the Corinthians, Paul tried to rectify the way with which they observed their worship service. Concerning Holy Communion, there are different views and opinions about the establishment and observance of this commemoration in the early church. (³¤­…)

1. To love God, is to love all humans.

We continue today with the 6th session of the lecture series from John’s epistles. Normally we choose passages from the Bible for the Sunday service in accordance with the Church calendar. However, as an exception, we programmed this session. It is because of an incident which happened in our former preaching place, Maihama. A schism occurred, and we had no other choice than to preside over its closure. I thought we needed to contemplate what exactly is the nature of the issue from a theological point of view. (³¤­…)

1. Surrounded by false prophets

During these Sunday Services we have been reading from the epistles of John. Today is the 5th session. In John’s church some believers who followed false teachings provoked conflicts then left the church. They became known as Gnostics and it seems their new break-away churches became very influential. But John says, “They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them” (1 John 4:5). (³¤­…)

1. Remain in Christ

We continue the series of lectures from the Epistles of John in the Sunday service today. Schisms impacted the early church of which John writes. Some believers, who followed false teachings, provoked conflicts then left the church. They became known as Gnostics who denied the Incarnation of Christ. They also rejected the salvation of humans, redeemed through the Cross of Christ. Therefore John condemned them decisively: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John2:19). (³¤­…)

# On the fourth Sunday or every month Pastor Mizuguchi gives a series of lectures on The Sermon on the Mount, from the Gospel according to Matthew. Today’s lecture is part three of the series.

1. Jesus came to fulfill the law

Today I will talk about real the significance of the law. It is believed the Sermon on the Mount was told through separate teachings, at different times, not all at once. So all the contents might be later edited as one continuous speech. Matthew probably did not compile those teachings at random, because each one is connected to another following a logical order. Today’s lecture is taken from chapter 5 :17-20, which presents further teachings continuing on from the previous part two. (³¤­…)