Sermons

This passage deals with the scene of the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples before bearing the cross. In particular, it reveals human limits through Judas Iscariot leaving the table to betray Jesus, and through the disciples afterwards leaving Jesus because of their own weakness and betrayal. Though Jesus knew that all the disciples would stumble, he prays for them and shows a loving heart that understands their weakness.

The sermon finds in these disciples a picture of believers today, and emphasises that even when we want to give up amid suffering and hardship, God gives believers strength and courage. It also warns that attitudes that stir up complaint and quarrels in the church or hinder God's work can lead in the end to spiritual judgment. On the other hand, it says that to believers who devote themselves wholeheartedly and keep the faith, God promises not only long life and riches but blessing in the eternal kingdom.

It leads us to think about what attitude believers should take so that they do not fear in the world and do not lose hope to the end, and what choice they must make in order to meet the risen Christ and enjoy true peace.

This passage covers the scene in which Jesus, seeing that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, is moved with compassion, and his command to ask God for laborers for it. Through this passage the sermon points out how urgently devotion to the salvation of souls is needed in the last days. In particular, it emphasizes that church members must not be satisfied merely with religious rituals or material giving, but must tend their own hearts in order to bear the true fruit of faith.

The fruit Jesus desires comes not from service or devotion that shows on the outside, but from a life that lays itself down on the cross and obeys God's word. It reminds us that this is a time when laborers are needed who will obey at once and share the gospel with people who are spiritually thirsty in a hardened world. We must cast off our own righteousness and greed, prepare a clean heart, and make ready to welcome the Lord at his return.

As we come to Thanksgiving, we look back on what true fruit we have offered to God over the past year. It also asks how we should tend our hearts in order to stand as laborers who save souls, and how we should make the decision of obedience that God asks of us at this very moment.

This passage revisits the deep meaning of the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples, and deals with how we should know God and live. It stresses that God's name being held holy, and his kingdom and will being done, must come first. But we often seek our own needs and interests first, and show a hypocritical faith aimed at persuading God or winning people's approval.

True prayer is time spent in a secret inner room, taking off our masks and talking honestly with God. The name ‘Yahweh’ that God made known to Abraham and Moses is connected to the atoning work of the cross, and this means that God gave himself up to save us. So we must use the grace we have received not as a tool for our own glory but as a channel through which God's will is done.

We must lay down the world's values and greed, and live a life that responds only to the love of Jesus Christ on the cross. If God willingly bore the cross for us, what choice should we make as his servants?