1. The Old life, and the New

For the Japanese nation, August is the month of repentance. The Japanese military once invaded China, Korea, Phillipines, and a number of other Asian countries. That Military aggression and Government policy, eventually led to a full-scale war in the pacific, with other nations. Imperial Japan surrendered officially on the 15th of August, 1945. Now we, as Christians, should remember the day as the day of God’s judgement and condemnation. (³¤­…)

1. Paul at the situation of human boundary*

Recently, a number of similar homicidal cases occurred in Japan. For example, in March, eight people were killed at a railway station. The murderer, a 25 year old man, reportedly said, “I wanted to die but I couldn’t. So I thought I would be executed if I killed somebody.” Then in June, seventeen people became victims of a similar incident at another railway station. The killer was of the same age of the previous case. And in July, at a cooperative building,there was another outbreak of violence. The aggressor who wounded and killed visitors to the building said, “I did it because I was frustrated with the poor conditions and miserable situation of my job.” (³¤­…)

1. Apollos and Paul, Models

Even though the Church represents the body of Christ, conflicts and disagreements still occur. This often results in the dispersion of people originally called by God to worship at a particular church. The word church came from “ekklēsia ” in Greek, which means being called and assembled. As the etymology indicates, it should be the place where people, called by Jesus, come together and listen to God’s word. Then, ideally, each one goes forth to spread the good news of the Gospels. (³¤­…)

# On the 4th Sunday of every month, Pastor Mizuguchi gives a lecture of reflections upon, “The Sermon on the Mount.” This session today, is the fourth of the series.

1. The Prohibition of Violence

Jesus’ long discourse known as the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is so named because He taught His disciples and the crowds that followed Him from a mountainside at the beginning of His public ministry (Matthew 5:1). Continuing to focus upon the Sermon on the Mount, we are reading today from Matthew 5:21-26. Here, Jesus, interprets the prohibition of murder in the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:13) to apply to the destruction of people with violent and publicly abusive anger. In relation to Judgement, Jesus likens anger to murder. (³¤­…)