The Weekend Sermon -- "Mark 4:1-20"

     Welcome to this edition of the sermon. These last few days since the last time I posted the sermon have been wild near where I live. A tornado smashed up a little town not far from where I live. A tornado touched down briefly on the road behind the big field in back of my house. Giant hail caused extensive damage to the two biggest cities in my county. There were also numerous tornadoes and storms in other areas not too far away. I thank God that I had no damage. Thank you all for your prayers. I hope that all of you are doing well. 

     This week, we are once again in Mark, and we are starting on chapter four. In our text for the day, Jesus gives us the parable of the Sower and Seeds. 

     Jesus said that a man went out and sowed some seeds in his field. Some of the seed when it fell on the ground was immediately eaten by the birds. Some of the seed started to grow, but it didn't do much. It didn't take root, and the hot weather dried it up fast. There were some other seeds that took root and grew well, but the weeds came up and choked it out so that no crop was produced. Now, there were seeds that sprung up and produced a great crop. 

     The disciples didn't understand the parable, so Jesus explained it to them. Let's look into that. Jesus says first of all that the seed is the word. When the word of the Lord is spoken or given out it is the broadcasting of the message of the Lord to those who would hear. 

     Sometimes, when the word of the Lord and His message of love and forgiveness is preached, people don't want to hear it. They reject the word, or objections are given to make them doubt the word of the Lord. They doubt the love of Jesus, or they deny the truth about who Jesus was and what He did. 

     Then there are those who do receive the message of the Lord Jesus, and they begin to grow. They are like people who start to come to church for awhile, but after a few Sundays, you never see them again. They listened, and they started to understand. However, they were not willing to make a commitment. They wanted to do what they wanted to do. In the end, they rejected the word of the Lord. They decided to not give their heart and soul to the Lord, and they withered away spiritually. 

     The third group spoken of by Jesus in this parable is interesting. They did receive the word. I believe they represent those who do come to know the Lord as Savior. They are growing in the faith and they are making progresses. However, problems start to arise in their lives. They become disillusioned. They backslide and fall into sin. They never produce any fruit. They never accomplish anything for the Lord.  I have seen many people like this who will eventually make the decision not to follow Jesus anymore, and they walk away from the faith. Often this happens when they face a tragic situation in their lives. 

     Thanks be to God, some of the seed produces fruit. There are those who follow the Lord who do great things for the Lord. Their lives produce the fruit of the Spirit. They do unto others as they would have done unto themselves. They love God and their neighbor. They tell others about the life changing power of Jesus Christ. They make a difference for time and for eternity. 

     We want to be two of kinds of people in this parable. We want to be like the one sowing the seed. We need to spread the message of Jesus all over. And we want to be the ones producing fruit. We want to do all that we can to bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Prayer Request

     Please pray for all of those in my area who had so much storm damage. Pray that they will get the aid and the help that they need. Also, more storms are forecast this week, so please pray that they will not be bad. 

     Keep praying for peace. As I write this message, things are still unsettled in the Iran situation and in Lebanon and in the Middle East. I am very distressed about the situation in Lebanon. Please continue to pray for peace in Sudan. That situation is really catastrophic. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, pray for those in the nations of Gambia and Turkey. 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

 I John 4:16 -- "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them."

I Corinthians 16:14 -- "Do everything in love."

Weekend Sermon -- "Mark 3:22-30"

      Thank you for taking the time to read the sermon for this week. It has been a wild week where I live. A tornado hit the town just south of where I live and did a lot of damage. There was also a tornado just a little to the southwest of where I live. There was no damage in my town. Please pray that those harmed by this storm will be able to get the aid and the help that they need. 

     Last week, we paused our series going through the Gospel of Mark so that we could concentrate on Easter and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Today, we are once again back in Mark. If you remember, I skipped a section and said I would go back to it, and that is what our focus will be on today. 

     Jesus had been healing people and preaching His message of love and forgiveness and the coming of the Kingdom of God. His own family thought something was wrong with Him. The religious authorities did not like Him and wanted to do away with Him. 

     In our text today, the religious authorities go so far as to say that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the devil. Jesus rebuked them and said to them that a kingdom divided against itself could not stand. He also said that by saying that the devil was at work when it was the power of the Holy Spirit was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and it was the unpardonable sin. 

     For our message today, I want to focus on two things. First, I want to talk about a kingdom divided against itself. In the direct context of our passage, Jesus is speaking about how foolish it would be for the forces of evil to be using Him to defeat them. They would be working at cross purposes. Jesus by defeating the power of evil could not be evil Himself. A power divided against itself will collapse. 

    Now, let us take this and apply it in a different context. Paul in I Corinthians speaks about the church being like one body with many members. Each one has its own role and function in the life of the church. One member cannot go their own way or not function properly otherwise the body will not function properly as a whole. 

    When we are divided and bickering and being hateful to one another in the church, that is not allowing us to get the message of Jesus out into the world. Division causes the message to not reach those who need to be reached and helped. That is why we need to be one in Jesus doing His will and preaching His message. We do this when each of us exercises the gifts of the Spirit given to us by the Lord. 

     Now, let us look into this matter of the unpardonable sin. What is it? I think that from what Jesus said it is claiming that what He was doing in the power of the Spirit was actually a power from the evil one. Why is it unpardonable? If Jesus was not who He said He was, then we have no redemption. There is no pardon for anyone. Plus, to make this claim about the power of the Spirit is to insult the entire Holy Trinity as the Spirit was in the Son and the Spirit came from the Father and the Son. 

     Can a person commit this sin today? I am not sure on this. I think though that Jesus was speaking about this specific occurrence. He was there in the flesh, and yet the religious leaders still accused Him of being in league with the devil. There was really no hope for them. 

     The only way that we can do anything for the Lord is through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Him we live and move, and have our being. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying that I will be able to feel better. I am doing some better. 

     Pray for peace. We need peace in this world. We need an end to wars in Lebanon and Iran and throughout the Middle East. We need peace in Sudan and many other places in Africa. Myanmar needs peace and so does Haiti. 

     Pray for those affected by natural disasters that they will get the aid and the help that they need. 

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

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

Verses For The Week and Prayer Request

      First of all, please pray for the folks in the little town south of where I live. They got hit by a tornado last night, and there is quite a bit of damage. Also, storms are forecast for my area all week. Please pray that they will not be that bad. 

Hebrews 10:36 -- "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised."

Proverbs 18:10 -- "The name of the Lord is a fortified tower, the righteous run to it and are safe."

The Weekend Sermon -- Mark 3:20-21 and 31-35

      Welcome to the Weekend Sermon. I hope that everyone had a great Easter. I know that I had a wonderful day. 

     Now that Holy Week and Easter are at an end for this year, we will be getting back on course with our continuing series of going through the Gospel of Mark. In our message for today, we are back in chapter three. We are skipping over a few verses, but we will go back to them next week. The verses for today are all about the same incident. 

     As we have seen, Jesus was out preaching and teaching and healing people. Crowds were coming from all over the region and beyond to see the one who taught with authority and cared about the people. 

     News reached the family of Jesus about what He was doing and what was happening. The Bible says that they went to get Him because they thought that He was out of His mind. 

     While Jesus was teaching, someone told Him that His mother and brothers were outside and wanted to speak with Him. Jesus said, "Who are My Mother and brothers?" He went on to say that whoever did God's will was His brother, sister and mother."

     This reaction had to come as a shock to Jesus' family when they heard about it. There is no place in the Bible where it mentions that He went out and had a conversation with them. In fact, the Bible says that His brothers didn't even believe in Him until after the resurrection. 

     What does this incident in the life of Jesus have to teach us today? What can we learn from it?

     When we try to do something for the Lord, or even try to follow a dream, there will be those who are close to us who will not understand and who will try to hinder us. Jesus' family could not get their minds around the fact that Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah. They thought Him mad and wanted to take Him away. 

     In your life, there will come times when those who are your family and friends will try to hinder you from doing what God has called you to do. I know this because it has happened to me. I felt called to the ministry for most of my life. I have felt a strong desire to preach and teach the message of Jesus. However, there have been those who have tried to place obstacles in my path all along the way. Those who should have been my biggest supporters often turned out to be the ones who provided the greatest measure of discouragement. 

     When you try to take a stand for Jesus and His message, there will be those who think that you are crazy. They will want to know why you want to rock the boat or go against the grain so to speak. I don't say this to be negative, but people in this world that you are the closest too will often abandon you, make fun of you and try to keep you from fulfilling God's will in your life or the dreams that God has given you for your life. 

     As I said, I state this from experience. Unfortunately, everyone that I have ever known except my friend Toby has tried to keep me from doing what God has called me to do in one way or another. I have had some very bad experiences.

    So, what does this have to do with our text for today? Jesus didn't let it discourage Him. He just kept right on going with what He knew the Father wanted Him to do. That should be our example. If you know that the Lord has called you to do a work for Him, keep going. If you have a dream to accomplish something great and good for this world, don't let the doubters get you down. 

    Jesus knew that the Father was always with Him. We have Jesus with us in our hearts if we know Him. He will never leave us and He will never let us down. In the Bible, God said that even if everyone forsakes you, He will not forsake you. 

     Keep going and doing God's will for your life. Believe in Him and trust in Him. I kept on, and I have had a ministry for the Lord for many years now. I went to Bible college and seminary like I wanted to. I became a writer like I wanted to. Jesus was always with me. Praise be to the Lord. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying in regard to my health. I am pleased to report that one problem that I was experiencing has completed healed. Thank you for your prayers. 

     Keep praying for peace. Pray for the peacemakers and for those promoting peace. Do not get pulled into the warmongering that is going on in some Christian circles. Pray for peace in the Middle East and for the people of Lebanon. Pray for peace in Ukraine. Pray for peace in Sudan. Wherever you know there is war, pray for peace. 

     Please keep praying for the people in Hawaii who are recovering from the flooding. 

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

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

Prayer Request

      I am thankful that a ceasefire has been agreed on. Let us keep praying for peace in the Middle East. 

Verses For The Week And Something I Want To Say

 Matthew 5:9 -- "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God."

James 3:18 -- "And the fruit of justice is sown in peace by those who make peace."

    If you have read this blog for awhile, you are surely aware that I do not care for President Trump. I try not to get too political here on the blog because I want it to emphasize Bible teaching and some other more light things like book reviews etc. However, what was said today by President Trump has to be addressed. Today, on his social media outlet he said, "a whole civilization will die tonight never to be brought back again." This is a completely horrible statement. Civilians and civilian infrastructure are never to be targeted in a military conflict. I never in my life thought that I would see something like this from a leader of the US. Please pray for peace and an end to war and violence in this world. Let us follow the way of Jesus and not a political party or a person.