A Bible Walk-and-Eat Tour
Sunday Evening English Worship
June 2, 2019 - 5:00 pm
Messenger: Don Frank
Bible Passage: 1 Timothy 6:17 and others
Introduction: God is showing his bounty as we see spring quickly move into summer. All the trees are turning green, lots of crops are growing in the fields and all the farm animals are getting bigger and healthier.
And as usual, there are more and more TV programs about food these days! There’s one custom that you have here in Japan that I think is interesting. It’s called 食べ歩き (tabe aruki) or as we might say in English "walk-and-eat" or "eat around." That seems to be a hobby that many Japanese people enjoy these days. There seem to be a lot of really delicious restaurants all over this country.
So, being inspired by these many TV programs, I decided to talk about the next aspect of God, God's Infinity, by talking about some various meals that we can find in the Bible. I thought this might be an interesting way to understand how infinite God is!
And to get things started with the infinity of God, let me share a couple of scripture passages with you that I have enjoyed studying recently. The first one is... 1 Timothy 6:17 (CEV) Warn the rich people of this world not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life. Here Paul is saying that God is so rich that he gives us everything that we need to enjoy life. God wants us to enjoy our lives!
And the second scripture that I wanted to share with you as an introduction this evening is Acts 2:46 (CEV) Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely. And in this Bible passage, Luke is telling us that the Christians reacted to this infinite God by sharing all their meals with each other! So now, I’d like to take you on a walking and eating tour of three meals that we find in the Bible that really show how infinite God is.
1. Joseph's Banquet - Forgiveness - Genesis 43:33-34 (CEV)
33 To the surprise of Joseph's brothers, they were seated in front of him according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest. 34 They were served food from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was given five times as much as each of the others. So Joseph's brothers ate and drank with him and had a good time.
We begin our tour in the book of Genesis chapter 34 with a big, special meal that Joseph gave to his brothers. This was an amazing meal that showed he had really forgiven his brothers from his heart. Do you remember the story of Joseph? His brothers were so jealous of him that they sold him into slavery into Egypt. There he became the second most powerful person in the country. When his brothers came down to Egypt to buy food they could meet again after many years! Over those many years, God had taught Joseph that God had sent Joseph down to Egypt for the purpose of saving his family!
This shows us very clearly how much God wants to forgive us as well. God is infinite in his forgiveness. We have learned here at church before that Joseph is a type of Jesus Christ. Jesus loves us so much that he would die on the cross for us!
2. The Last Supper - Love - John 13:1-5 (CEV)
1 It was before Passover, and Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to return to the Father. He had always loved his followers in this world, and he loved them to the very end... 3 Jesus knew he had come from God and would go back to God. He also knew that the Father had given him complete power. 4 So during the meal Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 He put some water into a large bowl. Then he began washing his disciples' feet and drying them with the towel he was wearing.
Now, the next meal that we see is over in the New Testament, in the book of John chapter 13. All of the gospels talk about the last supper, but only John talks about this story. During the meal, Jesus got a big bowl of water and began to wash the disciples feet. What does this mean?
Well, think about it for a minute. Here is God himself, the king of the universe, and he is stooping down to wash our feet! Of course this is a symbol of his forgiveness by making us clean. But I think this shows even more that God loves us with all of his heart. In fact, those are the exact words that John uses in this Bible passage.
God's infinite love shines through His Son as Jesus stoops down and gets his hands wet and dirty by washing our feet! He wanted so much to forgive us, to cleanse us, to make us pure again, no matter what it took!
3. The Marriage Feast of the Lamb - Celebration - Revelation 19:6-9 (CEV)
6 Then I heard what seemed to be a large crowd that sounded like a roaring flood and loud thunder all mixed together. They were saying, “Praise the Lord! Our Lord God All-Powerful now rules as king. 7 So we will be glad and happy and give him praise. The wedding day of the Lamb is here, and his bride is ready. 8 She will be given a wedding dress made of pure and shining linen. This linen stands for the good things God's people have done.” 9 Then the angel told me, “Put this in writing. God will bless everyone who is invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” The angel also said, “These things God has said are true.”
Now we have one more meal to look at as we approach the end of time. This is one of the most famous meals in the Bible. It’s called the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. When time has come to an end, all believers of all time will get together in heaven and share a really special meal together. God is infinite in his forgiveness, in his love and now we can see that he is infinite in his celebration! This is going to be the greatest party of all history!
All of you know that I do weddings as one of my part-time jobs. It’s a real joy to see each and every celebration of these young couples. Weddings are in amazingly happy time for all the family members and friends. Sometimes these wedding parties can be really huge affairs with several hundred people and so much food and drink that you could hardly imagine it! And yet the final wedding in heaven is going to be bigger than anyone has ever seen before!
Conclusion: And so, let’s close out the evening with one more meal-connected Bible verse, Revelation 3:20 (NLT) “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Sure, we humans think it’s a really good idea to sit down and eat and drink together. But can you catch the meaning here? Jesus also thinks this is really important. When we open the door of our heart to Christ, then this infinite God comes in and begins a non-stop meal with us as friends, a meal that’s going to last for all of eternity!
Closing Prayer: Let's close out our evening by reading together part of our final Bible passage this evening.
Revelation 3:20 (NLT)
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”
Now let's look at our closing prayer, based on God's Word and pray it back to Him together:
Dear Loving, Infinite Father, we came here tonight to worship and praise You as your servants. You stood at the door of our hearts and knocked. When we opened the door, You came in and called us Your friends. And now everyday, You prepare a gorgeous meal for us and share truly sweet fellowship with us. We love You so much. Help us to learn how great and infinite You are more and more, day by day. We pray this now in Jesus' precious name, Amen.
June 2, 2019 - 5:00 pm
Messenger: Don Frank
Bible Passage: 1 Timothy 6:17 and others
Introduction: God is showing his bounty as we see spring quickly move into summer. All the trees are turning green, lots of crops are growing in the fields and all the farm animals are getting bigger and healthier.
And as usual, there are more and more TV programs about food these days! There’s one custom that you have here in Japan that I think is interesting. It’s called 食べ歩き (tabe aruki) or as we might say in English "walk-and-eat" or "eat around." That seems to be a hobby that many Japanese people enjoy these days. There seem to be a lot of really delicious restaurants all over this country.
So, being inspired by these many TV programs, I decided to talk about the next aspect of God, God's Infinity, by talking about some various meals that we can find in the Bible. I thought this might be an interesting way to understand how infinite God is!
And to get things started with the infinity of God, let me share a couple of scripture passages with you that I have enjoyed studying recently. The first one is... 1 Timothy 6:17 (CEV) Warn the rich people of this world not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life. Here Paul is saying that God is so rich that he gives us everything that we need to enjoy life. God wants us to enjoy our lives!
And the second scripture that I wanted to share with you as an introduction this evening is Acts 2:46 (CEV) Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely. And in this Bible passage, Luke is telling us that the Christians reacted to this infinite God by sharing all their meals with each other! So now, I’d like to take you on a walking and eating tour of three meals that we find in the Bible that really show how infinite God is.
1. Joseph's Banquet - Forgiveness - Genesis 43:33-34 (CEV)
33 To the surprise of Joseph's brothers, they were seated in front of him according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest. 34 They were served food from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was given five times as much as each of the others. So Joseph's brothers ate and drank with him and had a good time.
We begin our tour in the book of Genesis chapter 34 with a big, special meal that Joseph gave to his brothers. This was an amazing meal that showed he had really forgiven his brothers from his heart. Do you remember the story of Joseph? His brothers were so jealous of him that they sold him into slavery into Egypt. There he became the second most powerful person in the country. When his brothers came down to Egypt to buy food they could meet again after many years! Over those many years, God had taught Joseph that God had sent Joseph down to Egypt for the purpose of saving his family!
This shows us very clearly how much God wants to forgive us as well. God is infinite in his forgiveness. We have learned here at church before that Joseph is a type of Jesus Christ. Jesus loves us so much that he would die on the cross for us!
2. The Last Supper - Love - John 13:1-5 (CEV)
1 It was before Passover, and Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to return to the Father. He had always loved his followers in this world, and he loved them to the very end... 3 Jesus knew he had come from God and would go back to God. He also knew that the Father had given him complete power. 4 So during the meal Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 He put some water into a large bowl. Then he began washing his disciples' feet and drying them with the towel he was wearing.
Now, the next meal that we see is over in the New Testament, in the book of John chapter 13. All of the gospels talk about the last supper, but only John talks about this story. During the meal, Jesus got a big bowl of water and began to wash the disciples feet. What does this mean?
Well, think about it for a minute. Here is God himself, the king of the universe, and he is stooping down to wash our feet! Of course this is a symbol of his forgiveness by making us clean. But I think this shows even more that God loves us with all of his heart. In fact, those are the exact words that John uses in this Bible passage.
God's infinite love shines through His Son as Jesus stoops down and gets his hands wet and dirty by washing our feet! He wanted so much to forgive us, to cleanse us, to make us pure again, no matter what it took!
3. The Marriage Feast of the Lamb - Celebration - Revelation 19:6-9 (CEV)
6 Then I heard what seemed to be a large crowd that sounded like a roaring flood and loud thunder all mixed together. They were saying, “Praise the Lord! Our Lord God All-Powerful now rules as king. 7 So we will be glad and happy and give him praise. The wedding day of the Lamb is here, and his bride is ready. 8 She will be given a wedding dress made of pure and shining linen. This linen stands for the good things God's people have done.” 9 Then the angel told me, “Put this in writing. God will bless everyone who is invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” The angel also said, “These things God has said are true.”
Now we have one more meal to look at as we approach the end of time. This is one of the most famous meals in the Bible. It’s called the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. When time has come to an end, all believers of all time will get together in heaven and share a really special meal together. God is infinite in his forgiveness, in his love and now we can see that he is infinite in his celebration! This is going to be the greatest party of all history!
All of you know that I do weddings as one of my part-time jobs. It’s a real joy to see each and every celebration of these young couples. Weddings are in amazingly happy time for all the family members and friends. Sometimes these wedding parties can be really huge affairs with several hundred people and so much food and drink that you could hardly imagine it! And yet the final wedding in heaven is going to be bigger than anyone has ever seen before!
Conclusion: And so, let’s close out the evening with one more meal-connected Bible verse, Revelation 3:20 (NLT) “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Sure, we humans think it’s a really good idea to sit down and eat and drink together. But can you catch the meaning here? Jesus also thinks this is really important. When we open the door of our heart to Christ, then this infinite God comes in and begins a non-stop meal with us as friends, a meal that’s going to last for all of eternity!
Closing Prayer: Let's close out our evening by reading together part of our final Bible passage this evening.
Revelation 3:20 (NLT)
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”
Now let's look at our closing prayer, based on God's Word and pray it back to Him together:
Dear Loving, Infinite Father, we came here tonight to worship and praise You as your servants. You stood at the door of our hearts and knocked. When we opened the door, You came in and called us Your friends. And now everyday, You prepare a gorgeous meal for us and share truly sweet fellowship with us. We love You so much. Help us to learn how great and infinite You are more and more, day by day. We pray this now in Jesus' precious name, Amen.