1. Power of God in Okinawa
It was early in 1945. As United States forces pushed deep into Okinawa they came across a village unlike any they had ever seen. Here at Shimabuku they were met and welcomed by two old men who invited the troops in as "fellow Christians."
Correspondent Clarence W. Hall described the hamlet like this: "We'd seen other Okinawan villages, uniformly down at the heels and despairing; by contrast this one shone like a diamond in a dung heap. Everywhere we were greeted by smiles and dignified bows. Proudly the old men showed us their spotless homes, their terraced fields, fertile and neat, their storehouses and granaries, and their prized sugar mill."
Searching for an answer as to why this one village was so different from all the rest. Hall uncovered an incredible story. Some 30 years before, an American missionary on his way to Japan had paused at Ahimabuku and stayed only long enough to make two converts and leave a Japanese translated Bible. These new converts, with only instructions to read the Bible and live by it, began sharing their faith with neighbors. Before long the whole town had accepted Christ and for 30 years had been following the Bible completely.
They had adopted the Ten Commandments as their legal code, the Sermon on the Mount as their guide in social conduct. In their schools they taught the Bible, and in their courts made decisions on what God's Word said.
Hall noted that they managed to create a Christian democracy at its purest. The result was that there were no jails, no bars, no drunkenness, no divorce, and a high level of happiness!
On leaving the town, his jeep driver had said, "So this is what comes out of only a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to live like Jesus." Then with a glance at a shell hole, Hall recalled the driver murmuring, "Maybe we're using the wrong weapons to make this world over!"
2. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Romans 1.16-17
3. Dunamos = Power
a. Dynamite – Destructive; Dynamo – Constructive
b. Electricity – Capital punishment; Lighting houses
c. Nuclear Power – Hiroshima; Energy for our cities
4. Gospel is intended to be “good news” – can be used to tear down or build up
a. The same message saved the Hebrews and drowned Pharaoh’s Army
b. The same message will save the faithful and condemn the disobedient
I. The Good News Is God’s Power to Inform
A. The Facts of the Gospel – 1 Corinthians 15.3-4
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
1. Most here – grew up in church, knowing these facts
2. Some of us did not grow up with these facts
3. Either way these are the crucial, essential foundation of our lives
B. Facts Bring Understanding
A freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26, 1997. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmist practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."
And for plenty of good reasons, since it:
• Can cause excessive sweating and vomiting.
• It is a major component in acid rain.
• It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state.
• Accidental inhalation can kill you.
• It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
• It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.
He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical. Forty-three said yes, six were undecided, and only one knew that the chemical was H20 (water). The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?" He feels the conclusion is obvious.
1. While facts are important, we do not have to have a complete understanding of everything God commands us to do
2. Baptism – Naaman – 2 Kings 5; [A. Campbell – translated NT and discovered baptism meant “immersion” – so, he asked a Baptist preacher to immerse him; 15 years later “baptism for the remission of sin”
3. Reenact the DBR; Pre-enact our DBR
C. Understanding Brings Action
1. Change occurs when we LEARN enough
4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Ephesians 3.4-6
2. or Hurt enough
[EEM AND WBS
Remember when people prayed for the Iron Curtain to come down so we could spread the gospel? IT HAS! God did his part. Here is an opportunity to provide Bibles for public schools in Ukraine. $945/school. $1 Million+ will take care of the schools in 2 States. The plan is to accomplish this by end of school year!
II. The Good News Is God’s Power to Transform – Romans 12.1-2
The true story of the Mutiny on the Bounty has often been retold. One part that deserves retelling was the transformation wrought by one book. Nine mutineers with six native men and twelve native (Tahitian) women put ashore on Pitcairn Island in 1790. One sailor soon began distilling alcohol, and the little colony was plunged into debauchery and vice.
Ten years later, only one white man survived, surrounded by native women and half-breed children. In an old chest from the Bounty, this sailor one day found a Bible. He began to read it and then to teach it to the others. The result was that his own life and ultimately the lives of all those in the colony were changed. Discovered in 1808 by the USS Topas, Pitcairn had become a prosperous community with no jail, no whisky, no crime, and no laziness (Timothy A. West at westmin@theinnet.net, as quoted from Gospel Herald).
A. Universal Transformation (Jew/Greek) – Hebrews 4.12-13
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
1. Good News – 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2.10-11
2. Bad News – Romans 3.23; 6.23
B. Personal Transformation – Romans 1.16 (I am not ashamed . . .)
1. Shame is a big motivator – Dead Messiah?
2. Impacts Individuals – Paul; Ethiopian; Cornelius; Jailer; Lydia
3. Impacts Groups of Individuals – Pentecost; Priests (Acts 6.7); Philip at Samaria; HOUSEHOLDS
III. The Good News Is God’s Power to Reform
A. When We Fail – 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1.6-7
B. When We Are Confused – Focus on Yeshua (Jesus)– Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12.1-2
Conclusion
1. Pioneer 10 Story
In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon Jaroff in Time, the satellite’s primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons, and beam data to earth about Jupiter’s magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, for at that time no earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target.
But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much, much more. Swinging past the giant planet in November 1973, Jupiter’s immense gravity hurled Pioneer 10 at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly three billion miles; Pluto at almost four billion miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun.
And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth. "Perhaps most remarkable," writes Jaroff, "those signals emanate from an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light, and takes more than nine hours to reach Earth."
The “Little Satellite That Could” was not qualified to do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life of just three years. But it kept going and going. By simple longevity, its tiny 8-watt transmitter radio accomplished more than anyone thought possible.
So it is when we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. God can work even through someone with 8-watt abilities. God cannot work, however, through someone who quits.
