Author name: Editor

Starting from 7:30 pm, we read Psalms 2 and 3.

Participants were Kana, Hiyori, Ko, Akari, Yukino and Seiyu.

Hiyori shared that from Chapter 3, verses 5 and 8 stood out to her the most. These verses reminded her that she is not alone and that God is always with her.

Ko shared that we should always trust that God can deliver us. He is currently struggling with school, but realizes it is time to put his trust in God.

Akari shared that the end of Chapter 3 relates to the song, My Help Comes from the Lord. She learned that going to church serves as an encouragement from God while living in this chaotic world. She shared that God is always with her and that she has personally experienced it.

Kana shared that the people who rebelled against the kings in the Old Testament did not respect or appreciate God, and their values were wrong.

I didn’t share anything from today’s chapters.

Yukino-san had questions about Psalms Chapter 1. Akari answered her questions, and Yukino-san mentioned that she enjoyed Griffith Park.

Hiyori prayed that tomorrow’s activities would go well and stood on Psalms 133.

Starting at 7:30-8:20pm, we read Job chapter 41 & 42.

Participants were Seiyu, Hiyori, Ko, Akari & Kanami.

Ko shared how Job 42:5 stood out to him. He learned that, like Job, suffering can make someone truly seek God because, when things are out of your control, you realize there’s nothing else you can do. Looking back at his sickness last year, he says he’s thankful God used that experience to better and transform him. Even though he wouldn’t want to go through it again, and doesn’t believe God caused it, he feels it helped him know God on a more personal level, see how good He is, and grow a stronger desire in his heart to seek Him more.

Hiyori learned that in Job 42:7, God was angry with Job’s friends because they sounded wise but did not speak truthfully about Him like Job did. Even through suffering and confusion, Job stayed faithful and honest with God. She also learned that people may sound right, but it’s important to know the real truth about God and keep faith during hard times.

Seiyu learned that Job prayed for his friends and forgave them, even though they probably had sour feelings between them. From this, he learned that people should forgive others and not hold onto bad feelings.

Akari sees in this chapter how God is in control and realize in her life time when there were Eaton fire. It was surprising for her that her home area were safe and see how God works in times like this.

I see in chapter 42, when you overcame with any suffering, God will surely help and give more good things than what you expect. I also see this in my lifetime, when I had downfall, but I overcome it and God guided me and provide me with more like when I got my job which was unexpected.

Lastly, we prayed about the Memorial Day, so that it goes well and for safety. Also, thanking God for guidance and organizing for this event. We stood on Psalm 133:1.

Participants: Kanami, Seiyu, Hiyori, Ko, Akari

I started with prayer and we read from Job 40.

Ko: He shared that verse 12 stood out to him, where God is talking to Job, whether you can maintain the world such as knowing what is good or wicked. This made him realize how wise God is. As human, he sometimes tend to think the way he can understand about God. But God has always plan for his life.

Hiyori: I shared that from looking at how Job repented, he realized what was wrong on his side. And also that he repented from his heart, so form this I also need to do the same, not just realizing what was wrong, but really repenting and know that God forgives us.

Akari: She didn’t have anything to share.

Kanami: She shared that she went to pass out church and house church flyer at park in Arcadia, during the house church time.

Seiyu: verse 1 stood out to him. Sometimes he says harsh things to his mom. So from these things, he shared it’s important to control your emotions right way.

In the end, Kana prayed about how passing out the flyers goes well and that each one of will be used for God’s word to spread. We stood on Isaiah 54:2, and 55:11.

We started at 7:30 pm and read Job 38 and 39.

Hiyori learned that God reminded Job that he is in charge of the universe and that our problems are small compared to what he can do.

Akari learned that God is in control of everything and that instead of trying to figure things out on her own, she should ask him for guidance.

Ko learned that God is bigger than our problems. He shared that problems sometimes overwhelm him, but he learned that God is the one in control of our situations.

Kana learned the importance of trusting God, sharing that when we focus on our problems, we can’t focus on him. She was reminded of who God is and how powerful He is.

I shared the importance of trusting in God no matter the circumstances. I shared how it is painful to hear and see my dad say mean things to my mom sometimes, which makes me want to move out. But, I shared that it is important to trust in God’s timing and stay patient.

Hiyori prayed for the youth Memorial Day activities, asking that everything goes according to plan.

Job 37

Hiyori stated that from v.13-14, she learned that God has a plan/purpose for everything.

I shared how Elihu and Job’s friends are always talking about how vast God is, which is true, but I believe it’s also important to remember that I can now come directly before God because of what Jesus did for me. This helps me to be more personal with him.

Kana: At this point, she feels that it is meaningless for Job to listen to his friends or Elihu. She learned from this chapter that it is important to not let anything get in between your relationship with God. Therefore, when it comes to these types of situations, it is important to ask/talk to God directly.

Akari did not have anything to share from the passage.

Seiyu: God made nature and so it’s important to do what you can to preserve the earth; that’s one way to express your love for God.

Prayer:

Akari suggested a prayer for God guidance for everyone (in the Bible reading group). I asked in what sense, but she stated that she had not thought that far yet. We were looking for a Bible verse for her prayer and I suggested Matthew 6:33. However, she stated that that was not what she had in mind when she brought up the prayer. It seemed like she got lost in her thoughts and in the end, she decided to cancel the prayer. I still thought it was a good prayer so I took it up in the way that I thought the prayer was about which was for God to continue guiding us within our lives so that we may continue to draw closer towards his purpose for us. I stood on Matthew 6:33.

Attendees: Kanami, Seiyu, Hiyori, Ko, Akari

Time: 7:30pm – 8:15pm

Job 35-36

Ko shared that he thought Jobs’ friends aren’t really helping him but are just accusing him. From that, he said that when he’s leading or encouraging someone, he needs to level with them, understand their situation, and speak to them at the same level, rather than trying to impose his own thoughts. K
Hiyori shared that if you have problems and worries it may seem like God is not looking and taking care of you, but in reality, God has bigger plans that we don’t know about. She shared about writing a literature review for her class on communication with children.

Kana shared about how she didn’t like how Elihu referred to himself as one with “perfect knowledge” and talked down on Job rather than encouraging him.

Seiyu didn’t have anything to share from the chapters.

I shared that I was reminded that it is so important to acknowledge and respect God in your heart. I also saw that it was necessary to reflect on my values and ideas.

In the end we prayed for unity and guidance since we started new houshi (church schhol, audio, web).

Time: 9:00 PM – 9:40 PM

Participants: Kana, Hiyori, Ko, Akari, Seiyu

Hiyori shared that verses 18 and 20 stuck out to her the most. From these verses, she learned that it is good to question things about life and the Bible, as it signifies that God is trying to teach you something.

Akari spoke about the verse concerning fearing the Lord. She reflected on how, before entering high school, people around her would tell her what they thought was best for her. This advice didn’t sit right with her because, as a Christian, she knows that what God says is best.

Ko shared his belief that true wisdom only comes from God. He spoke about the importance of not accepting the words of doubt from those around him and expressed a desire to truly learn how to do God’s will, sharing past instances where he realized he wasn’t following it as he had thought.

Kana shared that true knowledge and wisdom come from God and cannot be attained by oneself. She noted that true knowledge resides in the heart rather than the mind.

I did not share anything regarding today’s chapters.

Akari concluded with a prayer of thanks for the church since the anniversary is this Sunday, and she also prayed for Keisuke-san’s friend.

Job 30-31 (*We were actually on ch. 28, but we incorrectly assumed, thus we will return back to that chapter tomorrow)

Ko:
Whenever hearing about Job, I would always wonder how I would’ve reacted if I were in his shoes. From what I’ve read so far, it seems that Job handled the situation way better than I would’ve. I most likely would have panicked (*wouldn’t be thinking straight) and acted irrationally. Thus, I can learn from Job in how he tried to seek out the reason behind why he was suffering instead of letting it overtake him.

I could also connect this to something God taught me through Masami-san in a call this evening. She taught me that God’s will does not always correlate with the “right thing to do.” Like Job’s friends, I too have tried to say what I believed was “right” (moral) to people, but looking back, I realize it was not God’s will and it ended up hurting the person rather than encouraging them.

Hiyori:
Whenever bad things are happening to us, we often feel like God does not care. That is not the case; he is trying to train us to help us to build our faith upon him. And so, he will always provide a way out for us.

Akari:
She felt that Job was being a bit self-righteous. She felt that he was becoming too focused upon justifying himself to his friends. If people don’t understand you, that’s fine, let them think that way.

Seiyu:
He learned that it is important to be honest with God, whether that be in problems or things you question in life. He also learned that it’s important to be honest to the people around you. By doing so, it allows God to help you more. Sometimes when he would have questions about life, he would ask his mother. But she hasn’t been able to give him the answers he’s looking for. Therefore, he has realized that it’s important to ask God first.

Kana:
She learned that it’s important to notice the specific situations/circumstances when Satan tries to attack you. When God disciplines us, he wants us to understand the reason for it. In Job’s case, it is his current period of having to wait upon God. There is a reason behind why God hasn’t answered Job yet.

Prayer:
On Saturday, Masami-san told us Rikuto’s situation and how he’s in an isolated medical setting where he is unable to communicate with anyone. She then told us what we—the youth—could still do for him: pray.
On that note, I prayed for his peace and joy (from what I’ve heard, it seems that his faith for his healing is already strong and complete, so I thought it would be better to pray for something else).
Scripture: Romans 15:13

Starting at 7:00-7:40pm, we read Job chapter 25 & 26.

Participants were Seiyu, Hiyori, Ko, Akari & Kanami.

Hiyori shared that when Job’s friend questioned him on verse 4, she thought it was an interesting question to think about. His friend was trying to convince Job that he didn’t do righteous things and that’s why the judgement grew again.

Akari didn’t have anything to share from this chapters.

Ko learned that it’s okay to question God when you’re confused like Job was. In his life, he feels like he’s doing his best, but it still feels not enough and that leaves in a place of confusion. But through Job, he was reminded that God sees everything and always has better plan for us.
For his week, nothing much happened.

Seiyu also didn’t had nothing to share on this chapters.

I also didn’t had nothing to share on this chapter.

Lastly, we prayed on starting next week the boys are going to teach and lead the kids so we pray that we could guide and control them in the right way so that they can grow. We stood on 1 Peter 5:2.

Participants: Kanami, Seiyu, Hiyori, Ko, Akari
Time: 9-9:50pm

I started with prayer and we read Job 23 and 24.

Hiyori: What I shared from here that Job was being unsure about what he should hope for when being trained, but he kept strong thought about how God does his works. So when I’m being trained, not losing hope but keep believing in what God does/plan for you.

I shared about how my spring break ended and started final project in class towards the end of semester.

Ko: He shared how he noticed Job is coming to seek God more by questioning and try to find like what is almighty set for judgement? Then he shared how he used to try to know everything in a sense that wanting to know all about own life, so that he can be more of control of his own life.

But he came to learn that you can’t know everything and certain things he does not reveal something yet, and God has plan. As we learn in Sunday service to be simple and be like a kid, trust in God’s hand because God knows best. At the same time ask God and not overthink by yourself when you don’t understand.

About his week, he said he watched 呪術開戦by binge watching episodes.

Kanami: She shared that she could see how Job is getting to come closer to God in sense of fear him, like how he fear God. When God is trying to discipline or train you, to have mindset of God doing for Good, but gives you training person need.

For her week she went to some shopping and played with Kat-chan’s dog Beanie at home for two hours.

Seiyu: He shared about how Job went through hardship and through that he came to have faith. And from Job 23:10-12, he saw that hardship is necessary for your faith to grow stronger.

For his week, he said he had online class for ethnic studies.

Akari: what I noticed that job was righteous and was confident about what he did from beginning of chapters. Job also was not too frustrated or irritated with his friends, he kept straight on what he believed about doing right actions. So knowing what you doing is right and that God trains us because he has plan for each person.

For her week she shared how her spring break ended and went to classes today.

At the end, we prayed about kayak activity for coming Friday, to go well and that leaders could take care of younger ones and each other. We stood on 1 Peter 5:2.

Time: 7:00 PM – 7:56 PM

Participants: Kanami, Hiyori, Ko, Akari, and Seiyu

Ko shared that it was ironic how Job refused to back down to his friends, while his friends simultaneously refused to admit they were wrong. He learned that to come boldly into God’s presence, we must fully accept that we are made righteous through Jesus’ death and resurrection. He shared that he has a desire for more boldness to approach God openly.

Hiyori noted that those who align with the world often succeed in society. She shared that following God’s will allows Him to grant the desires of her heart, such as her new part-time job.

Akari shared that life is a valuable gift from God, made possible through Jesus’ sacrifice, and it is something money cannot buy. This led her to reflect on the importance of how she lives after college and after entering the workforce.

Kana learned the importance of discerning right from wrong based on God’s standards. She shared that knowing God is not just about “head knowledge,” but about having a close, personal relationship. This intimacy is what allows for true discernment.

I did not share reflections on the chapters this time but mentioned going to the gym frequently last week.

Akari prayed that more people be saved and that God would use the group as His vessels. Afterwards, we prayed in tongues for a few minutes.