Education

Bible Study

Wednesday Night Bible Studies: The Coming of the Messiah
    November 21, every Wednesday through December 19, 7:00 - 8:30 PM in the church office; led in English by Pastor Phil.
    Since ancient times, people have looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. The prophets of the Old Testament, especially, write about their longing for a savior, a redeemer. The New Testament records that when the time was right God sent his Son.
    The word "Christ" comes from Greek and means "Messiah." What are the insights that the ancient prophets had about this one who was to
come? What message did God give through these prophets as they proclaimed and "forthtold" about the Messiah? There is much speculation about such "prophecies." In fact, the prophets had a special role to call all the people back to worship and service of God. Some of their words will surprise and delight us with both promise and challenge.
    We invite you to join us and read the prophet's words yourself as we pray, study, discuss and learn together. Every Wednesday night - welcome!

Sunday School

    For the Adults we have an ADULT FORUM. lead by Pastor Phil that meets in the 1st floor Lounge following worship time, from 11:00 AM - Noon. This month of December, the topic is "The Unknown Biblical Christmas Story". -- Perhaps we may not really know the whole Christmas story. The rest of the story is there, in a gospel, but we do not pay much attention to it. Maybe you have never heard anyone preach this part of Christmas. You might have read it without realizing it was about Christmas.
    We will look at this Unknown Biblical Christmas Story in our Sunday Adult Forum starting on Sunday, December 2. This series will last for four Sundays, leading us right into Christmas Eve. This Unknown Biblical Christmas Story is a beautiful story, full of drama and surprising insights. This is a story that St. Paul's as the International Lutheran Church for Tokyo, needs to know in order to fulfill the Christmas promise. This special Biblical Christmas story will open our hearts and minds and nurture our faith. This story will make Christmas a blessed and compassionate experience. We invite you to join us.
    Our Sunday School class for our small children ages 4 to 10, is a joint effort with the Center Church Sunday School and open to all children in the neighborhood. Meeting in the 2nd floor classroom, this class begins at 10:40am, with the Japanese portion of the session. From 11:10am, the class
continues with a bilingual time of singing, craft activities, and Bible story readings. The latter half of the hour will be conducted in English. The theme of "Old Testament Stories" for the Fall sessions continues as we move toward the Christmas season. If you would like to help with these workshop type classes, please speak to Marcia K.