In this sermon, guest speaker Naoto Funada examines Isaiah 6:1-13 and God’s supernatural commissioning of Isaiah the prophet. Naoto Funada explains from the passage three ways to be heart broken for the Lord so that the Lord will use you to bring the gospel to all the nations.
1. We Must Be Heartbroken over Who God Is (vv. 1-5)
2. We Must Be Heartbroken by Our Salvation in Jesus (v. 6-7)
3. We Must Be Heartbroken for the Fact that So Many People Are Lost and God Commissions Us to Reach Them (vv. 8-13)
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well good morning people thank you so much for inviting us uh let’s let’s greet in Japanese it’s very easy good morning in Japanese is Ohio Ohio don’t say New Jersey all right all right so um I am very thankful that many of you have prayed for us and many of you are still continuing to pray for us um I’m here with my 5-year-old son toshiki he’s right there you want to say hi okay he’s a pretending to be shy but uh yeah uh he he’s a great uh great son of mine and we have his younger brother uh Subaru in Japan he is now being taken care of my in-laws in near Tokyo um as I am finishing up my support raising as a missionary to Japan and uh I it was a little tooo much for me to to have the two-year-old son with me at this moment and so uh I am here um coming back from Japan in May with my uh older son toiki with me this time and uh we are uh we just started our deputation trip yesterday and this is our first stop and we are very glad to be here with you thank you so much for uh inviting us inviting me me to to preach the word of God and thank you so much for praying for for us as many of you know my wife Elisa and I are missionaries to Japan and in in God’s Eternal and good purpose and plans Arisa was brought back to to be with the Lord in heaven uh in February this year uh her cancer was found last uh last year September and uh that was a shocking news to us to all of us and uh God we we we don’t know we can’t comprehend what God is doing but we don’t have to comprehend we can’t comprehend that’s okay as long as we know that the Lord God is a good god he has so much more wisdom than than we do and we don’t have to know exactly what he is doing at least we know that he is doing everything for his good purpose and his good plans and he will use anything it is is passing for his glory so we can count on him he has promised he has given his promise to us he has re revealed himself who he is to us so what a blessing that we we can trust in this Lord uh in the Sunday School Sunday school hour I forgot to um show the video of my presentation so I’m hoping to do that later in during this uh sermon time but also I have my newsletter and my prayer card uh with Arisa on it um in the back table uh in the center there so if you are interested in uh learning more about us or you know have this on your refrigerator or something to pray for us that would be awesome um so today so yeah as as Pastor David introduced me uh we met at the mass Seminary and uh that was a very sweet time of my life and uh I was I I never imagined myself I myself that I would study at The Graduate level and uh that’s just um God’s God’s miracle that I I was able to do that and um to t you need to be quiet okay um so that was God’s miracle that I studied at the mass Seminary and Faith Bible seminary in Indiana and I graduate did there last year and uh I am now in the phase of going back to Japan as missionary Pastor I want to be a pastor at my um wife’s parents church in near Tokyo so if you happen to come to Japan contact me and uh you know I’m I’m near Tokyo so I hope to see you um so Pastor David he is such a kind person right he has arranged my my my stay and and itinerary here so well that I didn’t have to worry about it I just moved out from my home uh two days ago and packed everything for my my son and myself for the 37 day trip and uh I had a presentation and preaching this morning so what a what a busy time um and uh so Pastor David he as a good friend of mine he is supporting me so well and I’m so grateful he and his wife Emma they they’ve been to Japan and I believe they enjoyed their time in Japan so much uh part partly because of their interest in Japan that brought us you know close to each other at the master Seminary and uh I I praise the Lord for that um so in Japan where I grew up for 20 years uh there is statistically about like 1% 1.5% Christians but the actual number of Christian is much less because the government Japanese government statistics includes ev Everything as Christians like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witness and Catholic and everything right and so 1.5 five five% the the biggest number among that 1.5% of Christianity is morons oh my goodness right so if you count Evangelical Christian Sunday attendance the this this number is just for for Sunday attendance church attendance is 0.2% of the whole population of Japan basically people don’t know where the churches are what they are doing and they are not prohibited um chist Christianity is not prohibited in Japan there’s no physical severe persecutions but uh in people’s mind there is this kind of internal uh persecution that happens often times among the families so that’s Japan um 0.2% of the 125 million um is of course you know very small number although it’s it’s like you know maybe a million or or maybe less but um 1% is about a million people so um there are Christians in Japan but 99% of the people are unreached so Japan is the second largest unreached people group in the world and so uh at least say like 123 or 4 million out of 125 million people are headed to Hell without knowing the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is a devastating reality and when I was 21 that was the year I came to the states and uh I listened to the sermon from Isaiah 6 I don’t remember the contents of the sermon but I was struck by the message I got to realize this devastating reality that someone has to you know preach the word in Japan God would use some one who would go for him and so I I raised my hand to God I promised to God that I would go so send me like just like Isaiah prayed um so I I’m finally after 20 years since then I’m fin finally being ready to be sent to Japan and thank you for your prayers for that too so today I want to speak from Isaiah 6 and I want you to be heartbroken like Isaiah must have been so that you will also respond well to God’s calling commission for your life let’s uh open Isaiah 6 verse one in the ear of King uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on the throne high and lifted up with the train of his robe filling the temple in the year of King uzziah’s death what what was happening then King Uzziah was the king of Judah for 52 years he was a successful King and under his 52 years of leadership the nation prospered um 200 almost 200 years before that King Solomon was the king of um Israel and the nation um had the the prosperous time then and yet after King Solomon died uh the nation went into turmoil uh the nation was divided into northern kingdom and Southern Kingdom Northern Kingdom Israel and Southern Kingdom of Judah and many many many or most of the the kings of these nations were bad uh they didn’t do the the will of the Lord and the the Nations two kingdoms had the severe um consequences of that so so so so much struggle in that 200 years but almost 200 years after that time or of that time King Uzziah LED Southern Kingdom Judah um according to the will of the Lord and so he contributed to the to the prospering of the the nation that time what he did what was right in the sight of the Lord and he was a strong military leader who conquered for foreign enemies enemy Nations he loved the soil and Dev developed the kingdom by Agriculture and all that too and so now after 200 years of Solomon’s Reign God’s people in southern Judah enjoyed a prosperous time during uzziah’s Reign but then Uzziah became too proud before the Lord he did something that he was not supposed to do and he didn’t repent and so he was struck by leprosy and his last years were very miserable and then Uzziah died that’s how this passage opened so what would you feel feel when a successful leader of your country for 52 years died and a person whom you look looked up as a strong leader who was so successful in restoring the country and he dies that there should be a sense of discouragement and despair right so that was the time for Israel this time and even though UAH let the kingdom quite well that time if the people hadn’t had his leadership they would have been so disobedient to the Lord still we can say that because of Uzziah the people’s tendency to go against the Lord has was put put on hold for sometime but their original nature was so sinful so that’s why even in the the beginning of the book Isaiah in chapter one he said this it is um chapter 1 verse4 alas sinful Nation people heavy with iniquity seed of evildoers Sons of sons who act corruptly they have forsaken Yahweh my uh reading comes from Legacy Standard Bible so instead of putting God’s name the Lord it says Yahweh here so you are sinful Wicked people is Isaiah’s beginning of his message in Isaiah 1 and God’s judgment was to come and in chapter five Isaiah Pro pronounced Pro um uh he prophesied that they were going into Exile they were going to be taken away from their own land that was God’s judgment and so he was giving warning after warning to these people you guys are sinful you need to repent there’s salvation available for you if you repent or else God’s judgment will surely come that was his message then in chapter six Isaiah went back to his initial calling which he received in the year of uzziah’s death King King uzziah’s death and so um that was his his description of how he received his calling from the Lord from here we can learn the three ways at least to be heartbroken before the Lord so that he will use us for people’s salvation in all the nations so first we must be heartbroken by knowing who God is let’s read uh from verse one to to five in the year of King uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on the throne high and lifted up with the train of his Rob filling the temple saraph stood above him each having six wings with two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew and one called out to another and said holy holy holy is Yahweh of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory and the foundation of the threshold Shook at the voice of him who called out while the house of God was filling with smoke then I said woe is me for I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king Yahweh of hosts so back in verse one here we see that Isaiah is speaking of his experience when King Uzziah died and and people are anxious about what’s going to happen to them now that their great leader is gone Isaiah says I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up with the train of his robe filling the temple when Isaiah saw this Vision he must have sensed uh a sense of Peace a sense of relief because we we you know they don’t know we we don’t know what’s going to happen now now that our great leader is gone but then Isaiah saw that God was on his throne still he was Seated on his throne that reminds us of his authority right um just before this um service started I I finished my Sunday school hours my my presentation of Ja Japan’s go um Japan’s need of the Gospel my my mission and I had to run back to to my hotel to pick up pick up these things and you know as I was running there was no Authority in that to to forget something and to run back and and pick up these things but I was thinking that you know God he is Seated on the throne he he is served by others he doesn’t have to run he doesn’t have to serve others God that Isaiah saw in his vision was that he was Seated on the throne and the Lord is still there the Lord didn’t abandon his people he was still there with them so there has to be a sense of relief in Isaiah’s heart then a sense of awe because the Lord God was seated so high and lifted up that imagine that we look up above this this roof um and uh we see God’s Throne high and lifted up that we cannot approach him we cannot touch him we cannot reach him he was still there and from there the terrain of his robe just filling this Temple what what presence of the Lord that Isaiah was seeing and feeling so the sense of a and then verse two sarim was above the Lord each having six wings so seraphim is are are the Angels um in Hebrew word the word IM at the end of the word uh is is for the M what’s it called like um not one not not singular but uh PL plural plural so um there are two angels and they were saying to one another right so so they were flying um just to be ready to serve the Lord and praising the Lord and they each having six wings with two he covered his face with two he covered his feet with two he flew uh seraphim were was or sarap was um the name comp from fire in Hebrew so it was a fiery angel A Burning Angel and fire is often associated with God’s judgment in the Bible and it is partly because God is a consuming fire that burns everything that is not holy like gold is refined by the fire and it becomes pure gold so fire often speaks of God’s holiness that brings judgment to Unholy things or unclean things so sarim the the two fiery Angels were you know they were without sin they they were holy in that sense they were not defiled and yet they were not able to see the face of the Lord they covered their face with two Wings because seeing the Lord meant even to them death not only to men and then they covered their feet with with two other wings uh as Pastor David prayed earlier in the service that the Moses where Moses met the Lord in the burning bush that was the Holy Ground and he had to take off his sandals where you know our our feet uh signifies our you know un uncleanness and uh um even seraphim they they had to cover their feet with their two wings and with other two Wings they they flew near the The Throne of God they were ready there to serve the Lord and they were praising him verse three one called out to another and said holy holy holy is Yahweh of hosts why is Holy repeated three three times this is the only place in the Bible that God’s attributes is God God God’s attribute is repeated three times in a row holy holy holy God is of course good God is love God is wise but nowhere in the Bible says the Lord is love love love the Lord is good good good the Lord is wise wi Wise Wise so the only attributes of God that is repeated three times in the Bible is Holy this is because the Holiness is the primary and essential character of our God in the Bible the Hebrew word holy means cut apart distinct or separate and God is separate from from anything else everything else God is Not Like Us or anything else he is perfect there is no one like him in this sense Holiness is not just one of God’s attributes but it is the overarching Perfection of God overarching character of God description of God’s per Perfection and this holy God is called Yahweh of hosts Yahweh is the name of this God so earlier in our service we we read Exodus 3 where Moses encountered God and in this mountain God revealed himself his name as yahwe to to Moses and in that context um Moses saw the blazing fire that was burning in the bush but but but the Bush was not burning and surely that that was mysterious mysterious um revelation of God himself so let me read verses 4- six again God Called to him from the midst of the Bush and said Moses Moses and he said here I am and he said do not come near here remove your sandals from your feet for the place on which you are standing is Holy Ground he said also I am the god of your father the god of Abraham the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob so what was Moses reaction to that that then Moses hit his face for he was afraid to look at God then God said that he had seen the Affliction of his people Israelites from the slavery in Egypt and that he was going to send Moses to release these people from slavery so Moses answered who am I that I I should go and release these people I’m nobody um and what what if the people ask me who what which God send send you to us and what what should I what should I answer to these people what if they asked the name of God who sent you and here is God’s answer to that verse 14 reads and God said to Moses I am who I am and he said thus you shall say to the sons of Israel I am has sent me to you God said that his name is I am who I am this means that he just is right I am he is he depends on nothing else he just is that’s his absoluteness that’s his self-existence nothing defines God but himself he’s matchless so in this sense God’s name Yahweh I am who I am also implies his Holiness he is set apart he is he is um he he doesn’t depend on anything right it’s about the godness of God so God says that his name is I am and then and God father Moore said to Moses thus you shall say to the sons of Israel Yahweh the god of your fathers the god of Abraham the god of Isaac and God of Jacob has sent me to you so here God says that his name is Yahweh the most Bible B English Bible translation uh puts the Lord in all caps here um and instead of transliterating the Hebrew four alphabets that that should be uh pronounced Yahweh so in this context Moses was receiving his calling from the Lord but he was afraid and he was wondering like what should I say to these people God what is your promise to us and God’s promise that given that was given to Moses was that he was with him certainly surely God was with him and his name Yahweh I am who I am is the the Covenant of that promise that that was given to Moses so Yahweh his name I am who I am that name is also his name forever and God said this is my Memorial name from generation to generation you see Yahweh is the name of God that implies God’s covenant with his people he was not just the Creator Somewhere Out There He was not just the self-sufficient self-existent alls sufficient God out there yes that he’s all that but not just that he’s the God who makes Covenant with his people special relationship with his people so if you are his you can rely on in him you can trust him because you are his that he made Covenant with us too we can enjoy this special relationship with him that’s what his name Yahweh implies so that’s why I love my legacy standout Bible uh translation that puts Yahweh instead of the Lord so back in Isaiah 6 the seraphim were saying to each other holy holy holy is Yahweh of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory so God’s holiness or God’s godness is seen on the earth as his glory so John Piper explains here God’s glory is the manifestation of the Holiness of God God’s holiness his incomparable Perfections his intrinsic infinite worth when that goes public when that goes on display it’s is called in the Bible the glory of God the glory of God is the radiance of his Holiness the Holiness of God Is concealed glory and the glory of God is the revealed Holiness so after Isaiah heard the seraphim praising God God’s holiness and glory in verse four Isaiah felt that the the threshold where he stands that um the foundation was shaking at the voice of the seraphim and the temple was filled with smoke again that that signifies God’s presence where Isaiah was not only seeing his robe coming down from high and lifted up from his throne but he sees the smoke and he could smell the smoke right God’s very PR presence just like God appeared to Moses in in the mountain of Si in Smoke God’s presence was just as real to Isaiah there so what kind of response is proper in this situation how should we respond if we were to see such a vision look at Isaiah’s response in verse five then I said woe is me for I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king Yahweh of hosts wo is me was God uh was Isaiah response to to God so wo is the term used to pronounce a curse on someone often resulted in death I am ruined I’m lost I’m devastated I am dead I’m ruined that was Isaiah’s response to what he saw in his vision and he says for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among the people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king Yahweh of hosts even seraphim they covered their face they covered their feet and here Isaiah having unclean or having unclean lips he felt that he was nowhere near that he should be um with God this holy God he knew that he was a sinful defiled man unworthy even to praise his his his glory his Holiness his heart is unclean his thoughts are crooked that Isaiah knew because as he said that I have un clean lips Isaiah knew that that unclean lips speaks of what’s in his heart and thoughts right just as Jesus said the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and those be defile the man for out of the heart come evil thoughts murders adulteries sexual immoralities thefts false witness Slanders so when Isaiah encountered this holy God he knew that he deserves death He’s So Unworthy he is utterly unclean before this holy God so he was heartbroken to see God’s holiness and his own sinfulness so that’s the proper response what about us do we know the Holiness of God do we see our sin evil and wickedness that cannot be accepted accepted by this holy God do we know that we are unclean people deserving death or better yet do you see this holy God with your spiritual eyes do you recognize the Holiness of God even unbelieving people can be devastated by their sinfulness by their uncleanness by their wickedness right but only only Believers can understand and be devastated by knowing this God’s holiness his good godness his true value of who he is is enough to make us heartbroken so this is the first heartbreaking matter we need to be heartbroken by knowing god whose name is Yahweh I am who I am and his Holiness his godness and His glory and then next secondly we must be heartbroken by our Salvation in Jesus so we are sinful we are filthy utterly unworthy before this holy God Isaiah is devastated by this reality then an amazing thing happened to Isaiah look at verse six then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongues and he touched my mouth with it and said behold this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away your sin is atoned for do you see the picture of Salvation here Isaiah didn’t even ask for forgiveness but it was initiated by God that sarim took that burning cold and touched his mouth with it the altar there is the altar of sacrifice es by shedding the blood of the animals and sacrificing their their lives burning them on the altar the people back then were cleansed and they were forgiven they received forgiveness by God now when the burning Co that came from the altar touched Isaiah’s lips mouth he is pronounced righteous fiery angel took the fiery call to cleanse him so again God is a consuming fire and he brings judgment to unclean things but he gives forgiveness he gives atonement for for our iniquities and our uncleanness Isaiah’s uncleanness is completely burned he is justified by the Lord he received forgiveness his iniquity is taken away and his sin is atoned for so this pictures the future sacrifice future lamb and future altar The Cross by Grace God initiates our Salvation to our forgiveness and our justification through the perfect lamb Jesus dying and being sacrificed for our sins on that altar the cross whoever comes to Jesus with repentance and faith is accepted by the Lord and forgiven by the this holy God isn’t this heartbreaking why did God G gave his Sent His only begotten son to to save the sinners like us and not only sending his son to this Earth but he sent his son to the cross and experience let him experience the agony izing horrible death on the cross I was seeing this this cross with the Thorns thorn of crown that was put on his head and this this reality that our Savior Jesus Christ was put on the cross experienced the agonizing pain and Death on the cross for our sins that is a heartbreaking reality of our Salvation there is nothing within us that merits this salvation but God this holy God Did It by his grace oh we should be heartbroken by the death of God’s son on the cross in order that we may receive reconciliation with God so have you received this cleansing have you received Eternal salvation in Jesus through your faith faith in Jesus to receive this cleansing it is necessary that we know that you know how unclean you are and you need to come approach to God with a repentant heart asking for forgiveness and receiving his atonement nothing that nothing about us nothing in US deserves that that salvation and and and yet God in his kindness and love he wanted to save the Sinners and he wanted to make those beli in Jesus who believe in Jesus his his children his sons and daughters and he sent his son his only begotten son to die on the cross in the place of us so that we may become his children so that God would accept us as Justified righteous people so if you really know the love of God you should be heartbroken by it but it doesn’t stop here we still have unclean areas in our lives that need to be burned still by God’s holiness so this is the process of sanctification we are pronounced as righteous when we believe in Jesus for eternity but we still have the unclean areas in our lives that we need to be Sanctified to be more like more like God more like God’s son so that is our Progressive sanctification that that will last as long as we live on this Earth but once but once we are called into glory after the end of this life we are glorified just as Jesus received his glorified body and then we will have no more sins to deal with oh what a glorious day that would be and we would be completely free from sin and sufferings so let’s continue to ask for the Lord’s Mercy in our daily cleansing and in our daily sanctification to be more like Jesus so we should be heartbroken by our Salvation in Jesus who was killed on the cross in our place so we could be the children of God and third we must be hard to broken by the fact that so many people are lost and that God God commissions us to reach them now Isaiah was re has received God’s cleansing and forgiveness then came God’s calling in verse eight then I heard the voice of the Lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for us then I said here am I send me was Isaiah enthusiastic would would he say would he said would he say here I am I here am I send me Lord like you know maybe some Christian singers they are pumped to to do music Ministry and and they they want to they want to go they say for the Lord but you know maybe some of them are seeking their own satisfaction and and Glory too maybe here am I send me no Isaiah was not like that he was devastated already by his unclean his sins so when he said here here am I send me I don’t think he could be enthusiastic but he knew that his sins were atoned for when the burning coold touched his lip and he knew that he was now you now to use his lips to speak for God so when he heard God’s voice seeking someone who would go for him he didn’t even ask ask he didn’t even know they didn’t have to know what the mission was or where he was going to be sent but as soon as he heard the voice he couldn’t help but to say here am I send me because I have received your forgiveness and salvation I also receive your calling are you looking for someone to go for you I don’t think I can go on My Own Strength but here am I because you you’ve cleansed me send me because you’re with me I think that was Isaiah’s demeanor and he didn’t have to know what he was gonna do he never asked what the will of the Lord was because he was willing to do whatever that God would tell him to do that now the Lord gives him a specific calling this calling was to tell the people God’s judgment to come the Lord is looking for people from every generation who would go and want the people of the coming judgment verse n Yahweh said go and tell this people keep on hearing but do not understand keep on seeing but do not know what what is he saying he’s saying that they’ve been so far gone already that what you’re going to do is to pronounce judgment to them verse 10 render the hearts of these people insensitive their ears dull and their eyes dim lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and return and be healed so the Lord is telling Isaiah you go and preach you warn people for the upcoming judgment but know that the people are not going to listen listen to you they are not going to see or understand their wickedness they are not going to repent so as we see we can see from the chapters before this 1 through five we see that God has been inviting them to turn back to him God was saying that forgiveness was available for them if they repent and come back to him so go tell them that the Lord is inviting them to come back but understand that they are not going to do that they will not listen their hearts are so hardened already they don’t want to believe they don’t want God to be in charge therefore they will not repent even when you warn them what a hard breaking state of Israel so Isaiah responds then I said Lord how long and he said until cities are devastated and without inhabitant how’s it are without people and the land is devastated to Desolation and Yahweh has removed men far away and The Forsaken places are many in the midst of the land the Lord is saying continue doing that until there will be no people to hear it hear your message but then in verse 13 there is still hope for this people yet there will be a tenth point portion in it and it will again be subject to burning like a tabin or like an oak whose stump remains when it is failed the holy seed is its stump the Lord is saying that the nation will suffer just like a forest that is burned and trees in it are failed and yet a stump will remain from it comes a seed he talking about the future coming of Messiah the Savior Jesus Through the remnant of God’s people who will remain so there is the message of Hope still not for not only for Isaiah’s contemporary listeners uh they were headed to judgment but God will keep some people for his seed to come the Savior who was to come for salvation of his people so in the next chapter God’s promise of the seed is more crystallized verse um chapter 7:14 reads behold the Virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call his name Emmanuel and 96 and 7 reads for a child will be born to us a son will be given to us and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be be called wonderful counselor Mighty God Eternal Father Prince of Peace there will be no end to the increase of his government or of Peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with Justice and righteousness from then on and forever more the Zeal of Yahweh of host will accomplish this so brothers and sisters our Sal ation came from yahweh’s Zeal for his people he was an his heartbroken for the lost and he is zealous to reach to to save the lost and he wants to use us to bring his message to these people the message of judgment and the message of Hope of Salvation in Jesus we can see God’s zeal to bring Salvation to all the nations in the last command that Jesus gave to his disciples in Matthew 28 the great commissions go therefore and Make Disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to keep all that I commanded you and behold I Am With You Always even to the end of the age and even more God or Jesus said in Acts 18 you shall be my Witnesses both in Jerusalem in and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the end of the Earth there we see Jesus heart for all the nations he wants to make disciples he wants to save people from all the nations and he will send his disciples to do that He commands his disciples to do that do you hear here in Jesus last words that the Zeal of Yahweh who wants to save the people of all Nations and this is a command for all his followers we are called to make Jesus disciples and an amazing thing is that as uh Pastor Dave prayed in his prayer early earlier just as Yahweh promised to Moses that he would be with Moses in his commissioning Jesus also promised promised to be with us always until the end of this age and that’s why we can go and that’s why we must go because Yahweh Jesus is with us so if you have received this child God’s own son Jesus Christ you are called to be his Messengers to bring his word to those who are not saved how have you responded to this call do you say with Isaiah here am I send me send me to these people around me send me to these people that only I can I can bring this message to or are you just going to lay back and keep soaking in God’s grace do you think that this is a call for someone else some missionaries or some pastors some others not for you do you not do you not feel the Zeal of Yahweh in these words so it has to start with us it has to start where you are at but it doesn’t stay with where you are at we are commanded to make disciples of all the nations we must take a part in bringing the gospel message into all the nations and make his disciples so some actually go into different parts of the world and others send these people who would go and it’s it’s teamwork that’s how World missions work in my case I responded to God by saying here am I send me I was crying hard I was heartbroken by the reality of Japanese spiritual famine so I because Japanese average pastor’s age was like 60 years old many pastors are much older than I was so I I promised to God that I would become a full-time Minister when I Grew Older I didn’t know when that time was coming but that was my promise to God a long story short almost 20 years have passed since then and here I am now finishing up my support raising and to really begin my pastoral Ministry in Japan there are many Amazing Stories uh especially that involve Arisa and I’m I’m thinking of you know maybe writing uh those stories down in in the coming months and yeah yes our Our Lives H has its ups and downs right oh how I wish that I could do ministry with Elisa at her parents church in Japan but God’s calling is still the same and he has provided every means that is necessary for me to do his will in Japan because he is a good God and he is faithful uh can we see the video of my my presentation [Music] now hi I’m now toada a missionary to Japan from Faith Church of Lafayette Indiana I grew up in Japan for 20 years do you know that Japan is the second largest unreached people group in the world Christians are only 1% of the whole population on the one hand Japan is a great and beautiful country it’s a developed country where most people work hard to provide high quality services and great products it’s also a beautiful country and you would enjoy visiting Japan in many ways but on the other hand Japan has many significant social problems it’s a highly aging Society with its birth rate being the lowest in the world last year its population decreased by 800,000 its economy has been stagnant for three decades among young people between ages 15 to 39 the highest cause of death is suicide Japan’s need for the gospel is even greater Evangelical Christian Church attendance on a Sunday is only 0.2% of the population although many people might say that they believe in Shintoism and or Buddhism they usually don’t have solid faith in these religions because they only practice religious rituals as part of their culture and tradition most people are hostile to the idea of being devoted to one religion in this nation it’s often very hard for Christians to have a vibrant Christian Life or church life I was actually born in Los Angeles and grew up in Japan from age 1 my first and main language is Japanese when I was 18 I was saved in Japan and was baptized so I know the Japanese society as well as the general mindset and worldview of the people there at age 21 I moved to Los Angeles and later in my life I was called to be a missionary then I met my wife Arisa who was already a missionary to Japan and raising support the Lord led us to marriage in 2014 we moved to Lafayette Indiana in 2019 and I graduated from Faith Bible Seminary last year during my time in seminary the Lord blessed us with two precious sons toshiki and Subaru also as a pastoral intern at Faith Church I was growing in the areas such as teaching the word of God counseling discipleship team leading leading musical worship Hospitality parenting and so on last year in April 2022 we were designated as missionaries to Japan by Faith Church we began raising support but in September Arisa was diagnosed with stage four cancer in the Providence of our good and mighty God just within six months from then on February 18th this year she passed into the presence of her Lord in heaven God’s grace and his power still sustain me every day I have peace and unwavering hope because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ I need to Proclaim this gospel and bring hope to the Hopeless people in Japan my goal is still the same as before to serve at bethl Baptist Church where arisa’s Dad Joe is pastoring we are waiting for you one of the key strategies is to build a counseling Ministry in the church I will strive to make strong disciples by preaching and teaching the word of God providing biblical counseling and its training and using my music skills not only to train Believers for musical worship Ministry but also to minister to unbelievers so I want to finish my support raising this year and return to Japan to serve there as soon as I can nto is a friendly person he becomes friends with Christians and non-christians but at the same time he has a missional mindset at the end of the conversation he always asked hey what are you doing this weekend you want to come to my church and then Worship the Lord together after becoming a Christian Nat becomes my discipl he helped me with my walk with Jesus with important advice if you are interested in learning more about my Ministry please sign up to to receive my newsletters you can go to faith.org funada to get more information or give Financial contributions to my Ministry I trust in our faithful God that he will not waste arisa’s life or our pain but rather he will bear much fruit in Japan out of it thank you for your prayers and your consideration of joining me in this Mission work in Japan thank you so much for your prayers for me and for the Salvation of Japanese people and I I want us to be heartbroken by knowing who God is our holy God who is utterly different from us and heartbroken by the Salvation that is given to us through Jesus death and heartbroken by his wonderful commissions for our lives that he would use us to bring Salvation to these lost people here in in America of course but into the world including Japan thank you let’s pray our heavenly father you are so holy that we shouldn’t be able to approach you but in your kindness you chose us us to be your sons and daughters through the death of your son only begotten son Jesus Christ what a devastating heartbreaking reality in Salvation that is we are so thankful and we want to respond to to you to your calling for our lives with a sense of awe and sense of thanks Thanksgiving we ask that you are going to continue to break our hearts by the reality of these things and with our brokenhearted ourselves that you would use us to bring the the gospel the gospel message and bring Salvation to the people around us who are lost who are headed to Eternal destruction without knowing the gospel that you would use us to bring the Gospel Light to these people that they would turn from their sins to to the light and that they would receive salvation from you and even in case of um world missions and in Japan missions you would provide necessary means to accomplish this commission this I ask in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ
