Not long ago we had the highlight that happens each year, the annual Psalm sing. All five congregations gathered together for both fellowship and the singing of Psalms as we considered the life of Christ. 

Food is appreciated most when hungry, rest when tired, money when poor, deliverance when enslaved, etc. This fellowship within the church is vastly more encouraging than normal simply because of it being in Japan. Somehow things are a bit more exhausting as a Christian when the entire culture around you doesn’t care about who God is, and therefore there is much greater joy when you are able to spend time with those who rejoice in his name. 

The Psalm sing this year had five encouraging aspects to it. The first being the joining together of God’s people. Getting to connect with people you haven’t seen in a while is one great part, but simply being able to see many people who love the Lord is enough to give rest. The second was that some non-Christians who had been invited showed up, got to hear the gospel, and one even took home a free book that had a collection of sermons in it. The third is perhaps a combination of numbers one and two which is merely a consideration that the majority of those who are gathered are Japanese and God has brought many of them to salvation. There can be a bit of despair for the church as it shares the gospel and it’s frequently faced with a lack of interest. But comfort is also found when seeing what work God has already accomplished. The fourth encouragement during the Psalm sing was having the Australian short-term mission team with us. It’s always a blessing to have more fellowship and for the Japan church to see God’s work in other countries. The fifth is the sharing of updates at the end. Through this, the members of the church are able to know what’s going on with each congregation. This enables each of us to pray for one another more. 

I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” (Psalm 122:1)

PRAYER POINTS:

• Pray for God’s people to have joy and rest in him and in fellowship with one another.
• Pray for encouragement when sharing the gospel and for people to come to faith, especially those who came to the Psalm sing.