Verses For The Week

 I John 1:5 -- "This is the message that we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."

John 14:15 -- "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Weekend Sermon -- "Mark 8:22-25"

      Once again, I would like to thank you all for taking the time to read this week's message. I hope that this week has been a good one. 

     Last week in our message, we took a one week divergence from out study in Mark. Today, we get back into what the Lord has to teach us from this book. 

    Our passage for today is one of the turning points in this Gospel. While the events in the story did actually happen, the healing has a deeper symbolic meaning. 

    First off, after Jesus fed the four thousand, He encountered a blind man who needed to be healed. The first thing Jesus did was to take the man out of the village. He then spit on the man's eyes and asked him if he could see anything. The man said he saw men walking around like trees. Jesus touched Him again, and the man's vision was completely restored at this point. Jesus then instructed him not to return to the village. 

     As I said, this did happen. However, Jesus performed the miracle in this way to show a greater spiritual point. 

     We are all like the man who was blind. We have no spiritual sight whatsoever. The Bible says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. We need someone to show us how to see things in a new way. We need our vision transformed. 

     Jesus took the man out of the village, and he had to be willing to let Jesus lead him out. In order to have our eyes open and our hearts set free, we have to have the desire to move from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His glorious light. A lot of times, a person comes to a realization of the truth of who Jesus is in stages under the guidance and grace of the Lord. By the grace of the Lord, we begin to see more and more what the truth is and that we need a Savior. We begin to want to be moved from darkness to light. 

    Then, there comes a time when by His grace we come to place our complete faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and His glorious resurrection. We accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord and move completely out of darkness into the light of the abundant life that only Jesus can bring to us. 

    Once we have come to faith and trust in Jesus, we don't want to go back to the old way of life. We want to keep looking to Jesus who is the author and perfector of our faith. We don't look left nor right. We do not look back. We keep looking to Jesus and we follow the narrow way that leads to life. 

     Next week, we will see how this miracle was a turning point in the life of the disciples. They began to see more clearly who Jesus was and that revelation would be even more clear when they saw Him risen in power and great glory. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please pray that the rains being predicted in much of the USA this week will not be as bad as forecasted. 

     Keep praying for peace. Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan all still need prayer.

    Pray for an end to Ebola.

    For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in China and North Korea. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

 John 3:17 -- "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

Romans 12:12-- "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

Weekend Sermon -- "The Lord's Grace"

      It is time once again for this week's sermon. Thank you for reading it. I want to thank the Lord for giving me this ministry, and I hope that you are having a great week. 

     In our message today, we are going to step back from our study in the book of Mark this week because I want to bring a message about something that has been on my mind a lot recently. It has to do with the grace of God. 

     Grace can best be defined as God's unmerited favor. That means God giving us and providing us with good things not based on us doing something to earn or deserve it. He does it just because He cares for us and wants to provide the best for us. 

     As you know, I have sold my house and moved. Over the course of the last few weeks as this entire process has carried itself out, I have been looking back over the course of my life. Something really stood out to me in my reflections. I have been the recipient of the grace and goodness of the Lord over and over and over again. It is not through any good deeds on my part, it is all because of the goodness of the Lord. 

    One of the examples of God's grace in my life is the fact that He allowed me to be born in a Christian home to parents who showed me what it meant to live out one's faith for the Lord Jesus. By God's grace I was able to go to a Christian school and study and learn more about Him. 

    It was only by God's grace that I was able to beat the odds and make it through my early years and be here today. I was born with a congenital immune system problem and was not expected to live too long. But by the grace of God, I am still standing and moving forward trying to serve Him each day as He enables me to do it. 

     Another outstanding example of the grace of God at work in my life was finding my friend Toby. There was no way we would have ever come together unless the Lord Jesus made it all work out the way that it needed to work out. It is one of the defining points of my life finding him. 

    God's grace was also at work in allowing me to find a great teacher to help me learn about classical music and jazz. Some may say it was just the luck of the draw. But, I know that it was the grace of God. God providing for me more than I could ever ask or imagine out of His great goodness and love for me. 

    There have been numerous good things and good times that have happened in my life like becoming a writer and finding the right job that would not have happened except by the grace of God. It is all because of Him that I am what I am today and I have the things that I have today. It is all of Him and none of me. 

    The greatest gift of God's grace in my life is salvation through the finished work of Christ on the cross and through His glorious resurrection. It was not through any goodness or works of righteousness on my part that I am redeemed. It is all through what Jesus did for me. He took my sin and imputed His righteousness within me. By grace I have been saved. 

    I hope that you will look back this week at the many instances of God's grace in your life. And give Him thanks for all that He has done. If you have never come to know the grace of God through Jesus, I hope you will receive His gift of grace today. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying for me as I try to move into the new aspect of my life. Transitions are difficult, but your prayers make a difference. 

     Keep praying for peace. This is really on my heart right now. All of the battles and strife in the Middle East and Iran need to stop. We need peace in Ukraine now. The battle in Sudan needs to stop. So many are suffering. Pray for peace in these and in the other war torn areas of the world. 

     Pray for my friend at work who is having a hard time with his health. He has had an operation that has gone badly. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week let us pray for those in the nations of Cambodia and Senegal. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will resume our study in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

      John 1:16 -- "For from His fulness we have all received, grace upon grace. 

     Titus 2:11 -- "For the grace of God has appeared bringing grace to all people."

Weekend Sermon --"Mark 8:1-21"

      Thanks for reading the message. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to post the message. May the Lord's peace be with you this day. 

     Today, we are moving into chapter 8 as we continue our study in the Gospel of Mark. Earlier, we saw that Jesus had fed the five thousand. In our passage today, Jesus has a similar situation. He feeds four thousand this time, and the disciples still beforehand didn't understand that Jesus could perform this miracle. This is unbelievable to me. 

     After Jesus had fed the people, the Pharisees had the temerity to ask Jesus for a sign. He already gave them one. So, Jesus said that He wasn't giving them any more signs and walked off. 

    At that point, Jesus told the disciples to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod. The disciples thought He was upset about them not bringing bread. 

    Jesus was exasperated with them at this point. He recounted to them the miracle of the five and four thousand being fed. Don't you understand? Jesus was probably just shaking His head. 

     What are we to make of this passage? What are some lessons that we can derive from it?

     I want to point out first that Jesus makes it clear that He fed four and five thousand on separate occasions. Some more liberal Bible scholars point to this passage as a mix-up or discrepancy in the Bible. It is not. They were two different miracles, and Jesus says so Himself. That is one reason He is so upset with the disciples and their lack of understanding.

     Next, what is the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. This is interesting. Leaven is often used metaphorically in the Bible to represent something added that is impure. That is why unleavened bread was used. I think what Jesus is specifically referring to is the leaven of hypocrisy. That was the great sin of the religious leaders, and Jesus called them out on it time and time again. They did not practice what they preached. 

    More specifically in this context, they were trying to be deliberately obtuse in asking for a sign. They were just trying to cause trouble. Jesus had had enough of it. 

    We must be people who practice what we preach. We cannot say one thing and do another. If we claim to be followers of Jesus, people expect us to live according to a certain standard. To say we believe yet not follow the teachings and commandments of Jesus is the height of hypocrisy. It is one of the main reasons so many people are turned off of religion. 

    Now, to address what Jesus said to the disciples. They saw so much yet they did not understand. Sometimes the things Jesus said are difficult to grasp. However, Jesus does not give up on those who are trying. He kept on with these guys, and eventually, they saw the truth about Him, and they went and preached all over the world. 

    Sometimes, I think we do understand but say we don't so we have an excuse not to do what we know Jesus wants us to do. That is more of the yeast Jesus was speaking of. 

    Let us all strive to live out what we believe and practice what we preach. Let us always ask the Spirit to reveal the truth of the Word to us. Amen.

Prayer Request

     I purchased a new vehicle this week. I thank the Lord for His help. 

    Please keep praying for peace in the world. Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan still need our prayers. 

    I want to thank the Lord that the Cyclospora has passed. Keep praying for an end to the Ebola outbreak. 

    For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Tunisia and the UAE. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all.  

Verses For The Week

 Proverbs 21:21 -- "Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness and honor."

Galatians 6:2 -- "Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ."