The message of the Gospel (good news) will find a way!!!
Ephesians 4:11-13 “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
Reflecting on Pastor Les’s message this Sunday and the calling of all believers to step up and make their time, talents and treasures available to the Body of Christ reminded me of the chronicles of the Japanese church of history.
We of the west often know our own church history well but have forgotten that the gospel truly went to many peoples before the advent of the modern missionary movements. Christianity first reached the shores of Japan in the year 1549 in the form of Jesuit priest named Francis Xavier. Father Xavier spent 2 years in Japan establishing a church and within a generation there were over 300,000 believers. Persecution soon followed as the shoguns became suspicious of the outsiders influence and the changes in their society Christianity was bringing about. The shoguns expelled the missionaries and required that all Christians renounce their faith and register as Buddhists. Twenty six crucifixions soon followed and a national campaign took place to exterminate all believing Christians and many stories are told of the extreme cruelty performed on Christians who would not renounce their faith. Terror and torture were the weapons of choice and a special emphasis was reserved for evangelists and leaders among the congregations. To avoid extermination and annihilation the church went underground and to the eyes of the governing shoganate disappeared.
Flash forward to the late nineteenth century when a church was again allowed to be built in the city of Nagasaki, Japan. When the doors opened priests were astonished to see thousands of Japanese Christians streaming down from the hills. They had been worshipping in secret for over 240 years without any formal clerical leadership. The members of the house churches that had sprung up during the persecution had assumed the roles of priest, pastor and evangelist. The leadership had no formal training and no discipleship program to administer, they simply did what they felt the Holy Spirit was calling them to do and what they knew of the example of Christ.
What is exciting to me is that this is the legacy we as life group leaders have to look to. It is not only the story of the Japanese church, it is the story of the church universal, the Body of Christ…our family.
Let’s remember this rich heritage as we too minister for the “cause of Christ”.

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For the summer months we will include these notes and updates on an every other week basis.

Steve Bishop
Interim Director of Life Groups