教会について
About
Pastoral Team
Ryuta and Patrizia Kimura Lead Pastors
Ryuta is Japanese and Patrizia is Swiss.
Since they met each other and got married in Europe in 2002, They dreamed of coming to Japan to build God's Kingdom through the Local Church.
After finishing Bible College in England, Ryuta has been involved in Mission, Youth Ministry, and has been working as a pastor for almost 20 years.
Ryuta's passion has always been to raise up and equip Japanese people, especially Japanese men. He has trained and impacted the lives of many people so that they can live effectively for God.
Patrizia's passion has always been connecting people to the local church, through building strong communities. She loves to inspire those around her to live out their God-given destiny.
Because Ryuta and Patrizia are running their own business, they are also passionate about helping Christians to run successful businesses and use their business resources and connections for the Kingdom of God.
Together they have two super cute daughters.
They love traveling, shopping and exploring their favorite city Tokyo!
Lukas and Mami Kernen Lead Pastors
Mami and Lukas met during their study in England and got married in 2007. Lukas then graduated from Bible College and for the following six years, they interned as a couple in the Pentecostal movement in Switzerland.
Lukas worked as a Youth Pastor and Mami served her Church through the worship & design ministry. In 2012, Lukas was officially ordained as a Pastor. Their vision and love for Japan continued to grow until they were finally sent out as missionaries to Japan in January 2014.
Besides actively building the local church, they love traveling and learning about different cultures.
Vision and Values
The vision of Double O Cross Church is to preach the Gospel and bring salvation to as many people as possible beginning here in Tokyo, Japan and then spreading throughout the world. We want people to know God and have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. We exist to equip, disciple and release God’s people to do the same.
The name of our Church, “Double O Cross” (OO＋) comes from the concept of ‘endless possibilities’, ‘circles of community in Jesus Christ’, and ‘going back to the basics.’ Zero and plus represent God’s creation which began from emptiness and nothingness. Two "O" represents our heart for birthing, multiplying, and planting more churches, communities around Japan and the world.
With this in mind, we want to accomplish our vision by focusing on the following things
Gospel-Centricity (Christ-Centered)
One of our most important purposes and vision is to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible. We believe that the Gospel should effect every area of our life, influencing our identity, values and vision in our life. Therefore we believe that Church also must be built and centered upon the Gospel.
Community
Our vision is to build a community of people united in faith, gathering as a family, praising and worshiping God as is described in Acts 2, rather than a community which simply gathers as a crowd.
We believe that our love for one another will exhibit to the world (local town, cities, and countries) that we are Jesus' disciples.( John 13:34-35)
Destiny
Our vision is to fulfill God's mission, as it is described in Matthew 28:18, as a church. We believe that we can accomplish the mission of our church by fulfilling our own individual destiny as we serve and function in our local church (1 Corinthians 12).
Servanthood
Our vision as a church is that we will serve the needs of our local community, society and the world, to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Jesus also describes “true leaders” as servants in Mark 10:42-46 and John 13. Therefore we believe that through "serving", we will be able to "lead" people to the destiny which God has prepared for them.
Our values are very simple and clear;
we value what Jesus values.
Relationship with God
Jesus taught us how to walk with God, communicate and listen to God, and live a life which is pleasing to God through only relying on Him and His Gospel (Christ's accomlishment, not our effort and works). His most important priority was to do God’s will and please His Father in Heaven. This priority is the same with us.
Relationship with people, and loving people.
Jesus taught that loving people is nearly as important as loving God, and he always taught people to forgive others, to keep a clean heart and to maintain a healthy attitude towards other people through the power of the Gospel. We want to love people as Jesus loves people.
Fulfilling God’s mission
Jesus had very clear vision and purpose given by God during his time on earth. We have been entrusted the same mission as it is described in Matthew 28:18.
Discipling people (teaching, equipping people)
Jesus taught his disciples as they were willing to follow him. Jesus gave them purpose in their life, helped them to discover their gifts and potential, taught them God’s wisdom and about the kingdom culture and other principles in very clear and simple ways. He equipped them as leaders and led them to each of their destinies. We want to do the same!
Meeting people’s needs
Jesus always helped people in every area of their need (life). He healed people’s illnesses and sicknesses, both mentally and physically, he fed the hungry, helped people to get to integrate back into society and experience a healthy life-style. We want to do the same!
Relating to culture in a creative way
Philippians 2:1-11 describes how Jesus, although he was God, came to our world cross culturally, gave us an image of God, and revealed God’s heart and plans to us. Our heart is also to reveal God to Japanese people in a clear and understandable way through our life-style and creativity.
Teamwork
Jesus focused on building a team of disciples who would go out and reach the world after he had gone back to Heaven. It was never a “one man show” but Jesus’ focus was always on teamwork. We want to operate in a similar way. We want to value individual skills and uniqueness, accomplish our mission together, and change the world as a team.
What we Believe
-
The Bible was written under the Holy Spirit’s perfect inspiration of each writer, containing all that God desires to reveal to humanity concerning salvation. The Bible is the single and absolute standard for faith and practice.
-
The living and true God is one, who is eternally existent in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
-
God created all things, visible and invisible, from nothing, which are subject to His absolute sovereignty.
-
Adam was created in the image of God and in right relation with God, but was tempted by Satan and sinned against God, thereby experiencing both spiritual and physical death. All human beings are therefore born with a sinful nature, being sinners in thought, word and deed.
-
The Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man. He was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, died on the cross for the sins of the world, was buried, and rose on the third day. He ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God where he executes his ministry as High Priest for us.
-
Because of the substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ, all who believe in Him are forgiven of their sins, justified by faith and redeemed from the penalty and dominion of sin. There is no other way to salvation.
-
The Holy Spirit is a person whose ministry is to convict and regenerate sinful people, making them children of God, conforming them to the image of Christ; and empowering them for effective world evangelization. The Holy Spirit is sovereign, having perfect liberty to do as He pleases. He gives gifts of graces as He wills for the edification of the church.
-
The church universal is the body of Christ, and all who are born again by the Holy Spirit become members thereof, with Christ being the head. The church on earth, in a manner befitting its head, should maintain purity of faith and life and preach the gospel to every creature.
-
We believe in water baptism by immersion. Baptism is a visible symbol of God’s saving work within a person. It is the outward sign of belonging to the people of God—those who have repented and put their faith in Jesus Christ.
-
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is coming again personally, bodily and visibly. He will raise bodily the just and the unjust–one to everlasting blessedness and the other to everlasting punishment, after which He will renew all things and deliver the kingdom to God the Father.
Related Networks and Movements
Swiss Pentecostal Movement
Double O Cross is a Church cultivation that began with the support of the Swiss Pentecostal Movement and leadership with a vision of world missions. As a vision of the church, we will connect with Churches around the world that have the same ambition, not only in the area of Tokyo, but in cooperation to convey the Gospel to Japan. Among them, relations and cooperation with Switzerland are very strong, missionaries or teams from Switzerland or Europe come to Japan each year to serve.
Grace Church Planting Network
I believe that to meet the Gospel in the heart of Tokyo and to inform all people about Christ, a number of new Churches need to be created. Double O Cross is involved in the "Grace Church Planting Network" as a cooperative relationship for the continued creation of Churches and promotes the Church development movement. In addition, the Grace Church development network is formed by cooperation with Redeemer City to City, and through their Movement, it participates in the work of Church development not only in Japan but also around the world.
Churches that are connected to the Grace Church Planting Network
