Warsaw International Church Sunday News: April 24, 2016 THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER Tel. 22 513 16 76; +48 601 331 032 (M) Worship every Sunday at ul. Miodowa 21(near Old Town) at 11:00AM Email:
[email protected]; Website: http://www.wic.org.pl
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And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples. John 13: 34 – 35 (GNB) Image copyright © www.sermon4kids.com
ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES ORLEN Marathon. The ORLEN Marathon is taking place this coming Sunday. Miodowa Street will be closed till 10:20AM so there may be difficulties getting to church. Please consider using the Metro (RATUSZ-ARSENAL Station) to get to church. The Armenian Youth Society is meeting in our place of worship from 12:30 to 14;40 this coming Sunday. We have to leave the sanctuary by 12:15 so there will be no Coffee Hour. For those interested there shall be coffee at a Cafe of the Franciscan Sisters at ul. Piwna 9/11 (Old Town). Language Fellowship meetings or gatherings after worship are being planned. If you would like to contribute in language and fellowship over a cup of coffee please contact Anna Niedzialkowska or Pastor Young Osawaru. MEMBERSHIP at WIC. We hereby extend an invitation to membership at WIC. You can be a member at WIC while retaining the membership of your home church. Membership also does not involve any financial obligations, but would help us in God's ministry in Warsaw. Please talk to Young for more details. Helping to make this Sunday a fine one for our worship: Worship Leader: Young Osawaru Music: Katarzyna Kalisz-Kedziorek Readings for April 24 (The Fifth Sunday of Easter): Acts 11: 1 – 18; Revelation 21: 1 – 6; John 13: 31 – 35. After washing his disciples’ feet, predicting his betrayal, and then revealing his betrayer, Jesus speaks of his glorification on the cross. This deep complicated love of Jesus even to death on the cross, will be the distinctive mark of Jesus’ community.
The Target Prayer group meets on the last Sunday of every month. Our next meeting is on Sunday April 24. (Postponed to next Sunday because we have to leave the sanctuary after worship) BIBLE STUDY. The Bible Study group meets on Fridays at the premises of the Polish Ecumenical Council (Willowa 1) at 7:00 PM. Please contact Young (601 331 032) for more information. https://www.google.pl/maps/place/Willowa+1,+Warszawa/@52.2074313,21.0229112,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x471ecd20ab90 1ae7:0xb633149b266bcfbd
OUTREACH CORNER WIC reaches out to a number of Children’s Homes in Poland aiding in English teaching, financially and in fellowship. We also collect clothes to donate to families in difficult financial situations and to different social services in the region for further distribution. If you would like donate clothes, household equipment or contribute your time in helping please contact Young Osawaru. Last week’s scripture readings: Acts 9: 36 – 43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7: 9 – 17; John 10: 22 – 30 [below]. JESUS IS REJECTED 22 It was winter, and the festival of the Dedication of the Temple was being celebrated in Jerusalem. 23 Jesus was walking in Solomon’s Porch in the Temple, 24 when the people gathered round him and asked, “How long are you going to keep in suspense? Tell us the plain truth: are you the Messiah?” 25 Jesus answered, “I have already told you, but you would not believe me. The things I do by my father’s authority speak on my behalf; 26 but you will not believe, for you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father’s care. 30 The Father and I are one.” NOTES FROM LAST WEEK’S SERMON TITLED “THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE" BY YOUNG OSAWARU. Please join me in prayer. May the words of my mouth and the fellowship of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight O Lord. Amen. 25
Jesus answered, “I have already told you, but you would not believe me. The things I do by
my father’s authority speak on my behalf; 26 but you will not believe, for you are not my sheep. Today is Good Shepherd Sunday and the gospel reading starts with the mention of winter and the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem. In this particular winter, not only was the weather outside cold, but also the attitude of the people of the Temple towards the person of Jesus Christ. The teachers of the Law had been looking for an excuse to bring him to court because of his teachings and also because of what he had been doing as the one sent by God the Father. One way to do that as to accuse him of blasphemy, so they had come to ask, “Are you the Messiah?”
The idea of a Messiah was of one who would come with an army and sword in hand to drive away the foreign occupants of Israel and ensure peace and salvation. One who would be in conflict with the enemies of Israel. So in confirming that he was the Messiah, Jesus would be breaking both the law of Moses and the law of the Roman occupiers. But these people had seen miracles performed, they had heard also of miracles performed by Lake Galilee, and heard him teach even in the Temple, but they didn't believe. They didn't believe because they had their ears tuned to a different voice. They did not believe because they were not part of his sheep. The Kingdom of God had arrived, the new covenant had come with a message of deliverance for all, but the teachers of the law had chosen to remain with the cold of the winter. There is a special relationship between shepherd and sheep. A warm relationship based on value they have for each other, trust, on caring and on obedience. The sheep know, trust and obey their shepherd. They also know his voice. The shepherd also knows his sheep protects them with a rod against predators and uses the staff to bring back to the group anyone which strays away. He also leads them to where they graze for nutrients and water. Even if the sheep of two shepherd happen to mix up, once the shepherds start moving in different directions the sheep separate and follow after their shepherd’s call. You cannot follow one while listening to the call of the other. For this reason Jesus told the people that they did not believe because they were not his sheep. He says his sheep listen to his voice and he knows those who do so.
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“My sheep listen to my
voice; I know them, and they follow me,” he had said. The voice of Jesus Christ is the voice of the Son that was sent by God the Father. The voice of truth, wisdom and comfort. For he says “Come to me all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light” (Matthew 11:28). The purpose of the voice is freedom from sin, leadership in the Spirit, purification of the heart and salvation. Because he knows us, his voice relates to our very own being. It is also the voice of hope in the life now and the life to come. In the next chapter of John he says: “I am the resurrection and the life and he who believes in me will live even though they die” (John 11:25). We hear so many voices today promising everything possible here on earth but only one voice talks of life now and the life to come after living in this world. “I give them eternal life and they shall never die,” Jesus says. We hear voices from the media on disasters, national pride, of whom we should be, whom to like, of those whom we should avoid. We hear voices that call for revenge, punishment and prejudice. The people at the Temple had also heard voices telling them of whom the Messiah should be. They did not believe Jesus Christ was the one because
he did not fit that image. But God's voice is heard only when we believe in the One, who has the authority to do things and speak his Word. Only one voice says come and receive of my love, my mercy and my peace. Only one voice says, "Stop, look around and see the great things I have done. Believe in him who does things by God's authority and show that you hear is voice and are his sheep." The Father himself had declared at his baptism and transfiguration that Jesus Christ is his Son in whom he is well-pleased and tells all to listen to him. The voice of Christ is that of forgiveness, love and care. In John 15 he says, “I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” Jesus Christ says that he knows those who listen to his voice and follow him. People usually wish they were known by someone famous – a president, star, learned or spiritual person. But our Lord says to listen to his voice and be known by the Son of God himself who is King of kings and Lord of Lords. He further reassures us that those who listen to his voice cannot be snatched away from him. The question is: Do we believe and are we following Christ in such a way that he will call us his sheep? Anyone who follows Christ bears good fruit and stores treasures in heaven. At the beginning of the reading John had mentioned the Feast of Dedication. This feast, referred to as Chanukah, is to commemorate the re-consecration of the Temple that had been defiled by the Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 or 165 B.C. Antiochus had tried to force Greek philosophy and religion on the Jews, but had met with stiff opposition especially from the Maccabeus family. The people listened to God's voice and refused to be snatched away from Him. Failing to get what he wanted, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem, looted the temple treasury, and desecrated the altar by sacrificing a pig on it. On the death of their father, Judas Maccabeus and his brothers gathered an army, liberated Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, and rededicated the altar. There had been oil only for a day in the temple to light the lamps, but by divine intervention it had lasted for eight days till the next portion could be made and consecrated for use. The festival of Dedication is therefore observed with the lighting of lamps and rejoicing to commemorate that rededication of the Temple. In the same way those who listen to the voice of Christ the shepherd cannot be snatched away by anyone even in the dark cold long nights of the winter. They receive life and may also be able to give life to others. In fellowship with Christ, Peter prayed and Tabitha was resurrected from the dead, so that she could continue to help the widows and poor women in her community. In fellowship with Christ, “his blood washes the robe of all who go through a great tribulation, because the Lamb, who is in the center of the throne, will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of living water,” as we read in the book of Revelation.
The shepherd still calls today to listen to his voice. There are so many voices here on earth so loud that the gentle voice of the Savior is barely heard. But the sheep should be aware that only the shepherd will lead them to green pastures, protect them from predators and ensure life everlasting. The voice of the good shepherd is heard when we pray, his words come live in our hearts when we read the Bible and we are comforted when we talk about him in fellowship with our sisters and brothers in faith. Today’s messages are of Hope and reassurance of God's care. In the translation of our pew Bible we (his sheep) are greater than everything God has given to Christ. The King James translation is somewhat different, but this does not reduce our value as Christ's sheep. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles illustrates what great things can happen even in a small community of faith just as in Lydda’s community. No community of faithful believers that lives through prayer, good works and charity is too small for our Lord to perform miracles. Our property and careers can be snatched away, but the soul belongs to Jesus Christ and God the Father. These all come from the spiritual sight and hearing we receive in following Christ our Lord. Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. He also sees us from the inside because of His love for us. Faith in Christ can restore us from the great oppression and offer us eternal life. As our Good Shepherd he has the rod to drive away predators and the staff to bring his great sheep back in whenever we stray. There is no reason not to listen to his voice and be a great gift from God that cannot be snatched away from him. The privilege of being His sheep is also a responsibility to share his voice with our fellow brothers and sisters. To do things in his name and share what we have heard and to share his love. We have not seen, yet believed he is our Messiah so let us count it as a blessing. Let our festival of Dedication to the risen Christ, the Temple raised after three days, last for our whole lives, and I pray that his goodness and mercy follow us as we sing praises to God in heaven. Amen.
Christian Calendar [Courtesy of Sundays and Seasons (Augsburg Fortress)] Monday, April 25 Mark, Evangelist Though Mark himself was not an apostle, it is likely that he was a member of one of the early Christian communities. It is possible that he is the John Mark of Acts 12 whose mother owned the house where the apostles gathered. The gospel attributed to him is brief and direct. It is considered by many as the earliest gospel. Tradition has it that Mark went to preach in Alexandria, Egypt, became the first bishop there, and was martyred.
Mark’s story of the resurrection ends with women at the tomb who say nothing to anyone because of their fear. Though their witness is faltered, the good news of the resurrection, the good news of the fifty days, reaches out to include us. Friday, April 29 Catherine of Siena, theologian (1347 – 1380) Catherine of Siena was a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), and among Roman Catholics she was the first woman to receive the title of Doctor of the Church. She was a contemplative and is known for her mystical visions of Jesus. This gift of mysticism apparently extended back into her childhood, much to the dismay of her parents, who wanted her to be like other children. Catherine was a humanitarian who worked to alleviate the suffering of the poor and imprisoned. She was also a renewer of church and society and advised both popes and any persons who told her their problems. Catherine’s contemplative life was linked to her concern for the poor and suffering. She is a reminder that prayer and activism belong together.
