1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,960 Well, good morning, Heist Church. 2 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:03,380 It's very good to be with you. 3 00:00:03,380 --> 00:00:05,420 As you just heard, my name is Jay. 4 00:00:05,420 --> 00:00:08,480 I'm married to a Prescott native named Caitlin Greer, 5 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:10,000 but she used to be Caitlin Valley. 6 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,600 Yes, there is a fan. 7 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:13,820 We have four kids. 8 00:00:13,820 --> 00:00:17,360 We've lived in Japan for 16 years now. 9 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,360 The Heists has walked with us for many years. 10 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:22,760 It is good to be able to be in front of you 11 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,680 and tell you thank you for supporting our ministry 12 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:26,480 in Japan. 13 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,660 As you are making disciples of Jesus in Prescott, 14 00:00:29,660 --> 00:00:33,140 you are supporting us to make disciples of Jesus 15 00:00:33,140 --> 00:00:35,160 on the other side of the world in Japan. 16 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:38,280 We work for an organization called Mustard Seed Network, 17 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,420 and we have a mission as an organization 18 00:00:41,420 --> 00:00:44,360 to glorify God by making disciples 19 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:49,200 through planting gospel-centered churches in urban Japan. 20 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:50,960 And you've supported us to do that. 21 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:53,160 We want to go and make disciples all over the world 22 00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:55,040 because Jesus told us to in Matthew 28 23 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:00,080 and because Jesus is the center of all things. 24 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,080 So we've been trying to make disciples in Japan 25 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,040 and live for Jesus for the last 16 years of our lives. 26 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,720 And Japan is a country of 124 million people. 27 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,280 Let me tell you about the millions in just a moment. 28 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,560 But for now, I wanted to zoom in on just one. 29 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,640 Tell you about a guy I met by the name of Yuma. 30 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,320 Yuma I met in the city of Osaka in 2011. 31 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,440 He was in his 20s, and he had just 32 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,600 left the Japanese company that he was working for. 33 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,840 And in his words, he said, I felt like everyone 34 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,160 was on this elevator going up, but no one bothered to ask, 35 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:34,960 hey, where's this elevator going? 36 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:36,960 And I thought, I got to get off this elevator. 37 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:38,880 So he's kind of this deep reflective guy 38 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:40,880 who is in this searching season of his life 39 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:42,640 trying to figure things out, looking for purpose, 40 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:44,260 looking for meaning, looking for hope, 41 00:01:44,260 --> 00:01:46,680 and also loving to play the guitar. 42 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,940 He was an atheist and kind of a feisty atheist at that. 43 00:01:50,940 --> 00:01:53,040 If asked about Christianity, Yuma 44 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,880 would tell you that he thought it was very Western and just 45 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,400 frankly irrelevant to his life. 46 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,000 That's Yuma. 47 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,520 Let me jump back to the millions in Japan. 48 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:05,960 There's 124 million. 49 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,040 They all have their own stories, just like Yuma. 50 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,440 We live in a city of 37 million, the city of Tokyo, 51 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:14,080 the largest city in the world. 52 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,080 We used to live in Nagoya, and then we lived in Osaka. 53 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,320 Osaka has 19 million people. 54 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,600 Japan has at least 12 cities of a million or more people. 55 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,860 And less than 1% of the population of Japan 56 00:02:27,860 --> 00:02:28,800 is Christian. 57 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:34,000 However, only 0.2% are in church every Sunday, 58 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,160 meaning about 80% of the Christians in Japan 59 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,680 are not active in their faith. 60 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,440 It's estimated that 95% of the people in Japan 61 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,880 have not heard the gospel, that 88% don't know a Christian. 62 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,280 The average church size is 30 people. 63 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:48,920 Here in the United States, there is 64 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:51,840 one church for every 800 people. 65 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,040 In Japan, it's one church for every 16,700 people. 66 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,840 Now, I just said a bunch of numbers. 67 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,280 Let me try to put it into perspective for you. 68 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,060 In the city of Prescott, there are 48,000 people, roughly, 69 00:03:05,060 --> 00:03:06,360 so says Google. 70 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:07,600 48,000 people. 71 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:12,240 If Prescott had the same spiritual condition as Japan, 72 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,200 had the same ratio of Christians and non-Christians in churches, 73 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:16,840 et cetera, then in the city of Prescott, 74 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,920 you would have three churches. 75 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:24,280 You would have 480 Christians, but only about 90 of them 76 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:25,720 would go to church. 77 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,880 You'd have two churches of 15 people a piece 78 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,920 and one megachurch of 70 people. 79 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:37,760 Now, if that was the city and the environment 80 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,640 in which you grew up, would you have heard about Jesus? 81 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,960 Would you have met a Christian? 82 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,200 Would it have seemed compelling to you? 83 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,320 Would you have been drawn to the gospel? 84 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,320 So I tell you this to tell you that Japan 85 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:53,480 is a place of great need. 86 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,560 It's not the only place of great need in the world, 87 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:57,440 but it is a place of great need. 88 00:03:57,440 --> 00:03:59,200 It's not a Christian context. 89 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:01,160 It's not a post-Christian context where they 90 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:02,920 had a Christian heyday, and now they're just 91 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:04,680 moving away from Christianity. 92 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,040 No, it is pre-Christian. 93 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:11,760 So we do not pray for revival in Japan. 94 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:16,040 There is no past vitality to revive. 95 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,480 We are praying for the first great awakening in Japan, 96 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,240 and I ask you to join us in those prayers. 97 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,720 How in the world would that happen? 98 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,960 We preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, 99 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:32,880 because Romans chapter 1, verse 16, 100 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:37,220 tells us that the gospel is the power unto salvation. 101 00:04:37,220 --> 00:04:41,280 The gospel is the power unto salvation. 102 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:43,520 That is very important for us to figure out 103 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,800 that it's the good news about what God did through Jesus 104 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:51,240 that is the power that leads people to salvation, not me, 105 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,240 not our organization Mustard Seed Network, not our programs, 106 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,000 not our character, not showing someone a good marriage, 107 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,040 not having a good building or doing good deeds or acts 108 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:02,560 of love or random acts of kindness, 109 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,520 though those things are good. 110 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,320 It's the gospel, the message about what God did, 111 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:09,880 that is the power unto salvation. 112 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,400 And so we moved to Japan to set up 113 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,240 these churches that would be these hubs of gospel 114 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,040 proclamation, constantly sharing the message. 115 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:22,320 And after doing that for what's almost been 15 years now, 116 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,600 we've been blessed to see God help us to establish 117 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:26,760 eight churches in Japan. 118 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,080 In our network, we've been a part of three of them. 119 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,120 And every week, we'll have over 900 people gather, 120 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,160 and we've seen 330 people baptized in Japan. 121 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:36,400 We're incredibly thankful. 122 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:37,400 Yes. 123 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,880 Let's give them a hand and clap, God is good. 124 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,480 The question is, how did that happen, 125 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:46,960 and what's the story of this? 126 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,560 That story is actually the same as your story. 127 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,000 It's our story. 128 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,920 And that story is in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 129 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:56,800 verses 17 to 21. 130 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,720 So if you have a paper or digital Bible, 131 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,160 go ahead and go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 132 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,720 And it's going to tell us about the story of reconciliation. 133 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,920 I, J, was reconciled to God. 134 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:11,920 And through faith in Jesus, we can all 135 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,260 be reconciled to God because we broke a relationship with God 136 00:06:15,260 --> 00:06:16,360 by sinning. 137 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,040 We sinned in such a way that reconciliation 138 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,840 becomes necessary. 139 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:27,120 And God then had a plan to reconcile us to Himself. 140 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,080 And He then, after reconciling us, 141 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,600 gives us the opportunity to join Him in that same mission. 142 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:34,100 So here's the main point that you're 143 00:06:34,100 --> 00:06:36,720 going to see in 2 Corinthians 5. 144 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,120 It's through Jesus's death and resurrection, 145 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,320 we have been reconciled to God and now serve God 146 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,920 through leading others to reconciliation with God. 147 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:49,520 That's today's main point. 148 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:51,440 Let's make it shorter, shall we? 149 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,800 Through Jesus, we have been reconciled to God 150 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,120 to reconcile others to God. 151 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:57,400 Let's make it even shorter. 152 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,080 We are reconciled to reconcile others. 153 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,000 Main point in three words, reconciled 154 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,480 to reconcile. 155 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:05,440 That's the main point. 156 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,280 Will you say it with me, those three words? 157 00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:07,780 Ready? 158 00:07:07,780 --> 00:07:08,960 1, 2, 3. 159 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,040 Reconciled to reconcile. 160 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:12,680 Excellent. 161 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:14,120 That's my story. 162 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:15,320 That's your story. 163 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:19,520 Let's see it in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 164 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:25,960 Verse 17 says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 165 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,680 He is a new creation, a new creation. 166 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,440 There is some kind of born-again experience. 167 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,120 You don't just go along in life and kind of always consider 168 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:37,040 yourself a Christian. 169 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,120 There is some change where it says, the old has passed away. 170 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,280 Behold, the new has come. 171 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,720 All this is from God, who through Christ, 172 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,760 reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry, 173 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,280 the service, the ministry of reconciliation. 174 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:55,360 You see that right there? 175 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,240 Reconciled to reconcile. 176 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:04,280 Verse 19, that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world 177 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:06,080 to Himself. 178 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:07,520 This tells us God's mission. 179 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,640 Earlier I told you our organization's mission 180 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:10,140 statement. 181 00:08:10,140 --> 00:08:11,080 Here's God's mission. 182 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:12,540 What's God's mission? 183 00:08:12,540 --> 00:08:15,840 Reconciling the world to Himself. 184 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:20,100 And this is a mission that God has had for a very long time, 185 00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:24,060 long before you and I, long before the Heights Church. 186 00:08:24,060 --> 00:08:29,000 In fact, long before the global church, before Jesus 187 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,000 came to earth as a man, God had this mission 188 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,000 of reconciling the world to Himself from the very beginning. 189 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,640 God created us to be in relationship with Him. 190 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:41,640 If you're wondering, what am I longing for? 191 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:42,520 What am I living for? 192 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,080 What purpose could I possibly have as a human? 193 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,760 It's to be with God. 194 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:49,860 And God created us for that relationship. 195 00:08:49,860 --> 00:08:51,080 We sinned against Him. 196 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,640 And now we need reconciliation. 197 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,360 And so God then began working this plan 198 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:58,600 of reconciling us to Himself. 199 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,520 And He said there's going to be a Messiah that comes, 200 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:02,440 a Savior that comes. 201 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,720 He's going to come through the line of Abraham. 202 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,360 And all nations will be blessed through this person, who 203 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:10,680 will be the seed of Eve, descended from Abraham, who 204 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:13,520 will also be from the line of David. 205 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,920 So He will be an eternal King, just like David was a King. 206 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,160 And then the prophet Isaiah comes along and says, 207 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,460 ah, this Messiah is going to be born of a virgin. 208 00:09:22,460 --> 00:09:24,160 And then chapter 53 says, He's going 209 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,360 to be a suffering servant who suffers for our sins 210 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:28,640 and then brings people to God. 211 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,000 And after his suffering, sees life again. 212 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:32,840 And He's going to make many people righteous. 213 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,340 God has been working this mission 214 00:09:35,340 --> 00:09:39,320 of reconciling the world to Himself for ages. 215 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,520 Go back to verse 19. 216 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,520 God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting, 217 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,520 that is in Christ, God was reconciling the world 218 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:54,240 of not counting their trespasses against them. 219 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:55,880 How? 220 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,680 How does God just not count your trespass against you? 221 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:03,880 Just sweep it under the rug, maybe turn a blind eye, 222 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:04,800 just forget about it. 223 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,080 No, how does He not count your trespass against Him? 224 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:09,120 Look at verse 21. 225 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,440 So skip a verse, go to verse 21. 226 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,080 It says, for our sake, He made Him 227 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:20,320 to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him 228 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,400 we might become the righteousness of God. 229 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:24,760 Who is Him who knew no sin? 230 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:25,920 That's Jesus. 231 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,080 He made Him to be sin so that in Him we might become 232 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:31,120 the righteousness of God. 233 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,880 So I've brought something with me today for you. 234 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,960 This is my crime file. 235 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:41,520 This is a written record of every sinful thing 236 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,920 that I've ever done. 237 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:45,400 We have it right here, and listen, 238 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:47,600 you don't want to read this. 239 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,360 But the thing is, you also have one full of thoughts, words, 240 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:53,200 actions that you wouldn't want us to put up 241 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,280 on these big screens here. 242 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,120 And understand also, this is what we call a sermon prop. 243 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:00,640 This is just an illustration. 244 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,920 This is not an actual written record of my sins, 245 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,440 because if it were, I would not have one file folder. 246 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,280 I would actually have filing cabinets lining the stage 247 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:15,440 full of files of all of my sins. 248 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:17,720 But here's what happens. 249 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,160 If I open up Jesus's folder right here 250 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,880 and take a peek inside, in Jesus's folder, 251 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,360 we just have pure righteousness. 252 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:29,960 And on the cross, all of my sin and everything 253 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,720 that I've done wrong gets taken, and it 254 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,520 gets placed in Jesus's account. 255 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:42,080 And he then takes it, and he carries it to the cross. 256 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:45,440 And God's wrath towards my sins and the wrong things 257 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,680 that I've done is then poured out on Jesus 258 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:52,420 as he dies the death that I should have died in my place. 259 00:11:52,420 --> 00:11:56,000 And he who knew no sin became Jay's sin, 260 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,880 so that I, if I am in him and have faith in him, 261 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:05,640 can then become the righteousness of God, 262 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:08,680 as his righteousness is placed into my account. 263 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:10,920 And now I'm forgiven, and when God looks at me, 264 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:13,440 he doesn't see all the terrible things that I've done, 265 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:18,320 but looks at me and goes, ah, there's my son, my child, 266 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:19,840 the righteousness of Christ. 267 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:24,560 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 268 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:30,360 And that is how our trespasses are not counted against us, 269 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:35,560 so that we can be reconciled to God. 270 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:37,960 Continue on in verse 19. 271 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,400 Yes, God is good. 272 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:45,280 It says that in Christ, God was reconciling the world 273 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:47,560 to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, 274 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:53,240 and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 275 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:54,760 OK, so you've got this service. 276 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,280 You have this ministry of reconciliation. 277 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,480 We're going to give you your tools for the mission. 278 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:02,440 So here's the toolbox. 279 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:03,560 You open the toolbox. 280 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:05,320 There's one tool inside. 281 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,000 And it's a message. 282 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:08,240 That's all you got. 283 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,080 The whole thing that we have is this message of reconciliation. 284 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:14,240 That is how you go and reconcile people to God 285 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,280 and get involved in this mission. 286 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:17,360 Continue on in verse 20. 287 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,720 It says, therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, 288 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:25,080 God making his appeal through us. 289 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,080 Silly little people like us. 290 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:31,720 We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 291 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,760 An ambassador goes carrying the authority of the person 292 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:35,360 they sent them. 293 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,400 And you get to go with the message of reconciliation, 294 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,560 with the authority of God, and tell a lost world, 295 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,720 be reconciled to God. 296 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,720 It's what your heart is looking for. 297 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:48,640 So how is someone reconciled to God? 298 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:50,920 Through faith in Jesus. 299 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,160 How does someone come to faith in Jesus? 300 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,240 Well, they have to hear. 301 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,240 How do we go to Japan and take someone who says, 302 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,360 I'm culturally a Buddhist because my parents have told me 303 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:03,080 I'm a Buddhist and all my ancestors are Buddhists, 304 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:04,640 although they actually are functionally a little more 305 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,960 atheist and agnostic, and take them and make them 306 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:08,640 a disciple of Jesus who's bearing 307 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:10,640 the fruits of the Holy Spirit? 308 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:12,520 We share the gospel. 309 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:14,080 You speak the message. 310 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,400 How do you take someone born and raised in Prescott 311 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,020 and turn them into a disciple of Jesus? 312 00:14:18,020 --> 00:14:21,240 You have to speak the gospel message to that person 313 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,840 and let the Holy Spirit do his work. 314 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,640 And this is what Romans chapter 10, verse 13 through 15 says. 315 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,840 It says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord 316 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:33,040 will be saved. 317 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,280 That's good news right there, that it says everyone, 318 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,880 not first 1,000 people, limited offer. 319 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,560 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 320 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,320 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? 321 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:49,560 And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never 322 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:49,800 heard? 323 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,320 And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 324 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,240 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? 325 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:58,640 Verse 17, so faith comes from hearing and hearing 326 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:00,460 through the word of Christ. 327 00:15:00,460 --> 00:15:06,000 Someone has to hear the gospel message, the events 328 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,080 that God did through Jesus in order 329 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:09,680 to come to faith in Jesus. 330 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,240 And our mission as ambassadors is to go and take 331 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:14,600 that message to people. 332 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,200 So if you look at Romans 15, I'm sorry, 10, 15 one more time, 333 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:22,360 I'm going to ask you to go backwards, 15 to 13 with me. 334 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:23,920 We are sent. 335 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:25,520 I'm sent to Tokyo, Japan. 336 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,120 You are sent to Prescott. 337 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:29,880 And you're thinking, no, actually I was born here. 338 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:33,400 In God's sovereignty, he decided you would be born here. 339 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:34,640 And in that way, you are sent. 340 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:39,000 So we are all sent to then preach. 341 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,400 And then back up in verse 14, in preaching, people will hear. 342 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,840 And after hearing people, some of them will believe. 343 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,000 And in believing, they are saved through coming 344 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:51,320 to faith in Jesus. 345 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,040 That's our mission. 346 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:58,080 Our mission is to speak the gospel with as many people 347 00:15:58,080 --> 00:15:59,240 as we possibly can. 348 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,560 And now let's try to get really precise on this. 349 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:03,980 Someone says, OK, I was out. 350 00:16:03,980 --> 00:16:04,980 I was sharing my faith. 351 00:16:04,980 --> 00:16:05,880 I was evangelizing. 352 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:07,280 I was witnessing the other day. 353 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:08,160 I was reaching out. 354 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:08,920 And you say, OK, how? 355 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:09,360 What did you do? 356 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:10,320 What did that look like? 357 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:11,440 What was going on? 358 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:19,160 I say, well, what I did was, at work, I avoided cussing. 359 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,440 OK, good. 360 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:23,720 What is sharing your faith? 361 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:24,560 How did that look? 362 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:25,880 What did it look like when you're evangelizing, 363 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:26,600 making disciples? 364 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,680 Well, I was very nice to my neighbors. 365 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,160 I tried to control my temper. 366 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:32,920 This is also good. 367 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:33,840 I had a barbecue. 368 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:35,180 And I invited a bunch of people. 369 00:16:35,180 --> 00:16:36,480 And we shared life together. 370 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:38,200 Nice, very good, very nice. 371 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:39,600 I picked up trash. 372 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:41,960 I volunteered at a nursing home. 373 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:43,560 Listen, these are all amazing things. 374 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:45,180 And I prefer that you do all of them. 375 00:16:45,180 --> 00:16:46,600 They're all very good. 376 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:52,560 Understand that none of those things will save someone. 377 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,160 None of those will bring them to faith in Jesus 378 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,840 because they have to actually hear the message in order 379 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:04,160 for them to believe they have to hear the gospel message. 380 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,480 Yes, go and shine your light. 381 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,640 Go and shine the light of Jesus. 382 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:10,080 Go and love your neighbor. 383 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:12,480 But someone has to hear a message 384 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:13,760 to which they can respond. 385 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,680 They must hear the gospel from your lips. 386 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:19,280 You say, OK, what's the gospel? 387 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:20,960 I'm supposed to speak this gospel thing. 388 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,360 What is it? 389 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:25,960 Someone might say, OK, well, what you should do 390 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:27,500 is you should go to your neighborhood. 391 00:17:27,500 --> 00:17:30,120 And I want you to live the gospel. 392 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:31,680 Or go be the gospel. 393 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,360 So someone said, I'm going to go be the gospel to my friends. 394 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:37,080 Here's the problem with that. 395 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,760 Gospel means good news, news. 396 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:45,040 News is, by definition, a report on events 397 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:49,480 that have happened in time and place, in history. 398 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:50,960 Something happened. 399 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,680 I have to tell you the content of what happened. 400 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,000 So I can't go and live that. 401 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:59,600 I can't be that. 402 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,960 It would be like if someone said, hey, Jay, tell me 403 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:03,440 your email address. 404 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:05,960 And I said, well, instead of telling you my email address, 405 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,800 I'm going to be my email address. 406 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,080 I'm going to live my email address for you. 407 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,160 At some point, I have to actually open my mouth 408 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:15,820 or write something or do something 409 00:18:15,820 --> 00:18:17,840 to communicate content. 410 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:19,320 You can live in light of the gospel. 411 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,280 You can live out the implications of the gospel. 412 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,920 But you cannot live the gospel message because it is news. 413 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:26,760 We sinned. 414 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:27,920 That's news. 415 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:29,160 Prophecies were made. 416 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:29,840 That's news. 417 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:31,480 A baby was born. 418 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:32,560 His name was Jesus. 419 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:33,560 He lived a perfect life. 420 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:34,520 He died on a cross. 421 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:35,600 These are news events. 422 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,560 Now let's make it good news. 423 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:38,680 It's good news. 424 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:39,400 It's gospel. 425 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,960 It's good news if we say, when he died, he died for your sins. 426 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:45,760 He rose and offers forgiveness and eternal life by grace 427 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:46,760 through faith in him. 428 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:48,240 Now that's good news. 429 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,840 That's the message that we are to go and take 430 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:53,640 to everyone that we know. 431 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:58,400 And friends, when you join God's mission of reconciling 432 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,760 the world to himself, he gets behind your efforts. 433 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:05,200 And I have been humbled to the floor 434 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,800 to see the way that the Holy Spirit has empowered 435 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,520 our efforts in Japan. 436 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,520 We moved to Japan in 2008. 437 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,480 And we began a year and a half of language and culture 438 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,080 learning and just studying. 439 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,240 It was then in December of 2009 that we 440 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,160 decided we're going to plant a church in the city of Nagoya, 441 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:29,760 a city of 9 million people. 442 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:31,720 And what we were thinking was, OK, 443 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,040 we need some center of gospel proclamation. 444 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:35,280 We need to share this message. 445 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,200 So how do we get people to sit down and just 446 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:38,080 give Jesus a hearing? 447 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,400 So we launched this church in Nagoya. 448 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,600 And we're looking to rent some venue. 449 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:45,440 And no one would rent us a venue because we 450 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:47,400 hadn't done anything and we weren't established. 451 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,440 Finally, we found people who would rent us a venue 452 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,240 as two Indian Muslim guys who owned a sports bar. 453 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,120 And so we started the church there. 454 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,000 And so we invited people to come and hear the message. 455 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,840 And we know that after the first year of just sharing 456 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,280 the gospel, every year we know 230 people came and heard 457 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,240 the gospel at least one time. 458 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:08,600 OK, how many of them were Christians? 459 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:09,360 I don't know. 460 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:10,640 How many of them came twice? 461 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:11,680 I don't know. 462 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,040 However, we know that 230 people heard. 463 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,080 And after the first year, seven people were baptized. 464 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:21,600 And so we said, ah, we should continue to do this more. 465 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,560 We were told by several other missionaries 466 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,520 and different people, hey, for the first seven years 467 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:29,760 that you're in Japan, you're just going to be an impediment. 468 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,000 Get ready to see nothing happen. 469 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,000 It was on the third or fourth Sunday 470 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,240 that a friend of ours brought a friend named Kyoko. 471 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,000 And she was this Japanese woman studying to be a beautician. 472 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:42,800 And she said, I'm actually in my studies. 473 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,480 I need someone to practice gluing eyelash extensions onto. 474 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,480 Is there anyone who'd like to volunteer? 475 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:49,960 Prescott native Caitlin, my wife, 476 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,320 raised her hand and said, yes, you 477 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:52,880 can glue eyelash extensions on me. 478 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,480 So they then had this long conversation 479 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,160 this far away from one another while she 480 00:20:58,160 --> 00:20:59,400 was gluing eyelashes on her. 481 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,560 And they talked about Jesus. 482 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:05,520 The next Sunday, she shows up to church and says, 483 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:07,960 I would like to follow Jesus. 484 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:09,560 And we were floored because we've 485 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,080 been doing this for five weeks. 486 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,000 And we're not supposed to see anything happen. 487 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,120 So I'm thinking, oh, no, I don't even know how to ask you. 488 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:16,520 We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son, 489 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:17,240 and the living God. 490 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,680 But it is written in Matthew 16. 491 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:21,800 So here, open the Japanese Bible. 492 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:27,040 And it says, yes. 493 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:27,560 Great. 494 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:28,160 That's wonderful. 495 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,560 Now we need to know how to say, I need to know how to say, 496 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,440 I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 497 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,000 I don't know how to say that yet because we just got here. 498 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:38,600 Ah, but it is written in Matthew 28. 499 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,520 So we'll just flip over there and find that. 500 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:41,560 And then say that. 501 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:43,080 OK, now we're ready to baptize you. 502 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,400 And Kyoko came to faith in Jesus. 503 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,360 The church in Nagoya continued to grow. 504 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:51,000 And it graduated from the sports bar to a dance studio. 505 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,440 Things were looking up. 506 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:56,600 And we then moved our family from Nagoya 507 00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:01,600 to the city of Osaka to start a church there in 2011. 508 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,160 And at the very first service, there 509 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,520 is a young man there playing guitar for us 510 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,520 in the band who didn't yet believe named Yuma, who 511 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,640 you met earlier. 512 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:16,680 Yuma told us after he'd been going 513 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,120 to church for six months, because he's playing the guitar, 514 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:20,480 he's hearing the gospel every week. 515 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,040 But he then called one of my teammates and said, hey, 516 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:24,000 can we do dinner? 517 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,400 They sat down for dinner. 518 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,280 And over dinner, Yuma said, hey, I need to let you know. 519 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:33,040 I've decided I am never going to become a Christian. 520 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,640 And our teammate Seth said, oh, wow, that's interesting. 521 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:36,760 Well, what are you doing this weekend? 522 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:37,360 You going to church? 523 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:39,200 And he's like, yeah, I'm going to church. 524 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,200 And so he said he left that dinner. 525 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,040 And he said, for the first time in my life, 526 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,800 I felt I was a sinner. 527 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,360 I felt guilty of sin. 528 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:51,400 And he said, before I felt like I was a sinner, 529 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,160 the cross just sounded like this Western idea that 530 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:55,520 was just totally weird. 531 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,120 And once I realized that I am a sinner, at that point, 532 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:02,480 the cross became life to me. 533 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:04,720 And after telling Seth that he would never 534 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:06,240 become a Christian, that next Sunday, 535 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,560 Yuma was baptized and became a Christian. 536 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:10,060 Yeah. 537 00:23:10,060 --> 00:23:10,560 Yeah. 538 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:11,060 Yeah. 539 00:23:11,060 --> 00:23:11,560 Yeah. 540 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,060 Yeah. 541 00:23:14,060 --> 00:23:15,720 There's a few years later, there's 542 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,480 a young woman by the name of Sally who came to our church 543 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,840 and started coming and hearing the gospel 544 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:22,000 and learning more and more. 545 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,400 And then she was baptized and became a Christian. 546 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:25,640 The two of them started dating. 547 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,560 And I had the pleasure and joy of then doing their wedding 548 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:30,920 at a park in Osaka. 549 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,360 Yuma now writes worship songs in Japanese. 550 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:36,080 He's a preacher. 551 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,320 He is now part of our church staff 552 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,440 at that church plant in Osaka. 553 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,960 And they have two little boys named Isaiah and Elijah. 554 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:46,960 That's right. 555 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,080 Woo. 556 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,320 Well, the church in Osaka grew. 557 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,560 And after five years, we had 105 people. 558 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,400 I have no idea how many of you are in here right now. 559 00:23:58,400 --> 00:23:59,960 But when you are only 105 people, 560 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:01,680 you count to the very last digit. 561 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:03,880 So we knew we were 105. 562 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,280 We had the city right next to us, Kobe. 563 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:08,840 And we were going to plant a church. 564 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:10,800 We had a lead planter to go there. 565 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,000 And we said, let's take these 15 people who 566 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,240 are traveling from Kobe into Osaka. 567 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:16,760 Let's tell them to stay there. 568 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,520 So we take 105 minus 15. 569 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:20,560 You're very good at math. 570 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:22,760 That equals 140. 571 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:23,800 Very good. 572 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,200 So kingdom math. 573 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,880 Immediately, as we multiplied the centers 574 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,000 of gospel proclamation, we saw more people worshiping. 575 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,880 We're like, it took us five years to get to 100. 576 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,760 And now almost instantly, we're at 140 577 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,720 because we multiplied churches. 578 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:43,680 Let's do that again. 579 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:45,880 And so in 2017, the very next year, 580 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:47,760 we sent another team to Kyoto. 581 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:49,920 And they started that church there 582 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:53,800 in the religious and educational capital of Japan. 583 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:55,840 At that point, our team decided that we 584 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,800 would have this goal of planting 12 churches in 12 cities 585 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,680 of a million or more, including the city of Tokyo. 586 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:07,720 And so my family and I once again moved to Tokyo in 2019. 587 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:13,360 And we set a launch date for the church in Tokyo of March 1, 588 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:17,480 2020. 589 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,880 Amazingly, God saw fit to grow that church. 590 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,200 And we've now been worshiping for over four years. 591 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,160 And we've celebrated over 40 baptisms in Tokyo. 592 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,200 And I want you to be encouraged, inspired. 593 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,680 And I don't know which one of you needs to hear this. 594 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,040 But one of the first people who came 595 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,760 to be a part of our church there is a businessman who 596 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,120 runs a software company. 597 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:42,420 And it's a software company started by a Christian 598 00:25:42,420 --> 00:25:44,800 with a kingdom focus. 599 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,480 Tokyo is a city that is the population of New York and LA 600 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,520 combined with three times the density of New York. 601 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,000 Property is very expensive. 602 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,920 I cannot imagine this space in Tokyo. 603 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,560 And we had this idea, and we discussed together and said, 604 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,120 what if your software company and the church 605 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:05,100 rented a space together? 606 00:26:05,100 --> 00:26:07,400 And he said, that's exactly why I'm living in Japan. 607 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:09,360 How do we do this for the kingdom? 608 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:11,160 And that is how the church in Tokyo 609 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,700 has continued to grow to where we're 610 00:26:14,700 --> 00:26:18,160 seeing hundreds of people gather to worship there every week. 611 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,200 In 2021, we sent a team up north to Sendai from our churches 612 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:23,680 in Kyoto and Kobe. 613 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,720 In 2023, we took seven people from Tokyo 614 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,140 and sent them down to Hiroshima. 615 00:26:29,140 --> 00:26:30,600 And they launched that church. 616 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,360 Earlier this year, 2024, we were able to see the launch 617 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:36,080 of the church in Yokohama. 618 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:39,320 This is why earlier today when the sun came up on the east, 619 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,400 your brothers and sisters gathered 620 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,600 in eight different churches to worship 621 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,840 the god of reconciliation. 622 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:51,200 We now have teams formed for Sapporo, Saitama, and Fukuoka. 623 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,140 All of those are set to launch in 2025. 624 00:26:54,140 --> 00:26:57,680 And we are praying that we could plant these 12 churches 625 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:01,400 in these 12 cities, because if God allows us to do that, 626 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,760 62% of Japan will be within reach of the gospel 627 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,320 at one of our churches. 628 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:08,600 That's what we're praying for. 629 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:17,800 But I want to ask you what are you praying for for Prescott? 630 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,280 And what are you praying for for your neighborhood 631 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:22,480 and for your family? 632 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,680 And what are you praying that God will do in your life 633 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:29,680 to shape your character to be more like Jesus? 634 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,400 One day, Jesus will return. 635 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,040 And people from all nations will gather before the throne 636 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:36,000 to worship Jesus. 637 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:37,720 And Japanese people will be there. 638 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:39,300 And Americans will be there. 639 00:27:39,300 --> 00:27:41,760 And Sudanese and Finnish and Indonesian people 640 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:42,360 will be there. 641 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:48,440 And you will be there if you have faith in Jesus. 642 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:49,040 Why is that? 643 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,880 Because you're particularly good? 644 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:52,720 Because you deserve it? 645 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:54,400 Because you earned it? 646 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,680 Because you went and decided to be a missionary somewhere? 647 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:58,600 No. 648 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,200 Only by God's grace. 649 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,760 Only because Jesus died for our sins 650 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,480 so that we could be reconciled to God and made righteous 651 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,560 and not have our trespasses counted against us. 652 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:16,060 And then what a joy that we then get 653 00:28:16,060 --> 00:28:19,920 to join in God's mission of reconciling 654 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,100 the world to himself. 655 00:28:22,100 --> 00:28:25,720 For some of you, you are not yet reconciled to God. 656 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,760 And maybe you're like Yuma was before. 657 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,360 And you're looking for purpose and hope and love and meaning. 658 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:36,600 And I want to tell you to be reconciled to God. 659 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,680 There's people who would love to talk with you afterwards. 660 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:42,560 For those of you who are reconciled to God, 661 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:43,880 you are God's ambassador. 662 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,720 Do not be afraid. 663 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:52,000 Carry his message to as many people as you possibly can 664 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:56,360 so that they can hear and believe and then call out 665 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,240 in faith and be saved. 666 00:28:59,240 --> 00:28:59,920 Let me pray for you. 667 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,520 Revelation 15, verse 3. 668 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:17,600 Great and amazing are your deeds, oh Lord God the Almighty. 669 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:21,840 Just and true are your ways, oh King of the nations. 670 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,680 Who will not fear, oh Lord, and glorify your name, 671 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:26,400 for you alone are holy? 672 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,720 All nations will come and worship you, 673 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:33,520 for your righteous acts have been revealed. 674 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:34,920 God, give us a chance. 675 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:39,240 Give us opportunities to speak about you to other people. 676 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,960 We pray for those opportunities and that when they come, 677 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,000 you would give us boldness. 678 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,000 We pray that you would give us the words to say. 679 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,680 Help us to worshipfully and joyfully 680 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,240 talk about you so that you will be glorified 681 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,040 and that people will know great joy in Jesus. 682 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,560 We ask this in the name of Jesus. 683 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:21,120 Amen.