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Love God, love people, and change the world. We believe the life and lessons of Jesus aren’t just good advice, but are Good News for us here and now. As a church, we are all about following Jesus and know there’s no end to that journey—we’re more about becoming than arriving. We are committed to becoming a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multiplying movement of Christ followers, equipping and empowering our kids and students to not only be the church of tomorrow, but the church of today.
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"The basic premise of the event is that hunters hunt rattlesnakes from the surrounding environment all across West Texas, and bring them into the roundup for the weekend. And during the roundup, these snakes are kept in a pit and then, one by one, beheaded and skinned in front of in front of audiences." - Elizabeth MeLampy Elizabeth MeLampy is a lawyer dedicated to animal rights and protection, and her passion for this work shines through in her latest book, Forget the Camel, the Madcap World of Animal Festivals and What They Say About Being Human . To research the book, Elizabeth traveled across the country, immersing herself in a wide range of animal festivals — from the Iditarod dog sled race to the rattlesnake roundup in Sweetwater, Texas. Elizabeth examines these festivals as revealing microcosms of our broader relationship with animals. Whether it's rattlesnake hunts, frog-jumping contests, ostrich races, or groundhog celebrations, these events reflect the ways humans use animals to express cultural identity, community pride, and historical traditions. Yet beneath the pageantry and excitement lies a deeper question: Is our fascination with these spectacles worth the toll it takes on the animals involved? With compassion and insight, Elizabeth invites readers to consider whether there’s a more ethical and empathetic way to honor our stories — one that respects both animals and the traditions they inspire. Please listen, share and read, Forget the Camel. It will be released on April 8th, 2025. https://apollopublishers.com/index.php/forget-the-camel/…
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Innhold levert av Marshall Daigre. Alt podcastinnhold, inkludert episoder, grafikk og podcastbeskrivelser, lastes opp og leveres direkte av Marshall Daigre eller deres podcastplattformpartner. Hvis du tror at noen bruker det opphavsrettsbeskyttede verket ditt uten din tillatelse, kan du følge prosessen skissert her https://no.player.fm/legal.
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It's the twelfth day of Christmas, and we're in John 1. The prologue of John is a remarkable piece of literature. For Christians, it is the word of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14). He gives light to everyone (Jn. 1:9). Send us a text
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If you have your bibles, turn to mark 938. 00:00:07 You know, it's really great I get to see my little cousin up here singing. I didn't even know she could sing until today. 00:00:16 Please stand for the reading of the gospel. Mark 938. John said to Jesus, teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us. But Jesus said, do not stop him, for no one who does the deed of power in my name will soon be able to do evil afterward. Whoever is not against us is for us. 00:00:43 For truly, I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose the reward. If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me. It would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 00:01:09 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have 2ft and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than have two eyes and to be thrown into hell where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire. 00:01:34 Salt is good. But if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another. Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus, thank you for your word. 00:01:49 We pray today that your holy spirit would come among us and fill our hearts. Give us understanding, Lord, in your name I pray. Amen. You may be seated. 00:02:02 If you were here last week, then you may remember that my father preached about the disciples and their selfishness. They were arguing about who was the greatest. In today's text, we see the same thing. The disciples tell Jesus that someone was casting out demons in his name. He started to think, man, you know, that's great. 00:02:21 Jesus ministry is spreading and it's growing, and people are using his name to heal people. But they told him to stop. And they told this man that he needed to stop casting out demons in Jesus name. Why? The disciples say it was because he was not following them. 00:02:39 Notice they said, the man was not following us. The disciples thought that they were also ones to follow, that they were in some secret club. That nobody could be a part of except through them. They obviously thought pretty highly of themselves because they had just finished arguing about who was the greatest, but they were wrong. Ultimately, Jesus is the one we followed. 00:03:02 We must trust in and follow Jesus himself. It is in his name that there is power. It was his name that the unidentified disciple invoked, but because he didn't go through the disciples, because they didn't know about him, because it wasn't the formal structure that they thought was set up, he was not apart as far as they were concerned. If we go back to earlier in the chapter, we can find another reason that they told him to stop. The disciples themselves had just failed to cast out a demon in the same chapter. 00:03:33 Imagine you're trying to do something at your job and you just try and you try and you try and you just cannot get it. And then somebody comes up and they just do it immediately without training. I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't think that that would make me like them very much. The disciples, they felt the same way in their minds. This random guy had just shown up and showed them up. 00:03:57 Their ego was hurt be Send us a text…
That's where we're going to be this morning. 00:00:06 I don't sing on microphone often, but last week, Jackson, my oldest son, who works back there in the sound booth, he told me that I accidentally had my mic on for the last song last week. So there you go. I serenaded you along with the. With the crew. So. 00:00:24 All right, turn with me to Mark, chapter eight. Because I'm a little self conscious of that sometimes. Because Jack, one time he told me when I leddehe a song, he said, well, he said, that was good, but let me know what four keys you're going to be in next time. You know which. Hey, look, I am no singer. 00:00:41 That's why we've got other people doing that kind of thing. Hey, stand with me once you've found mark, chapter nine. And we're going to read starting with verse 30. Notice these words here. This is the word of God. 00:00:59 Jesus and his disciples passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the son of man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him. And three days after being killed, he will rise again. But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he asked them, what were you arguing about on the way? 00:01:35 But they were silent. For on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. Then he took a little child and put it among them. And taking him in his arms, he said to them, whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 00:02:09 And whoever welcomes me welcomes not me, but the one who sentence me. Lord Jesus, thank you for your holy word. We pray now that the same holy spirit who inspired these words for our benefit would be among us and enlighten us and call us to himself, and then transform us and empower us, Lord, to go and be about your business. We pray this would happen today in this room. In your name, Jesus. 00:02:42 Amen. And you can be seated. 00:02:50 Well, we come to this text here, and maybe it's one you've read before, maybe not. Maybe it's your first time hearing it. Jesus prophesies something here. And of course, we've got a little scuffle with the disciples. And then he brings a little child among them in front of them, which is a fairly famous story in Jesus life, where he does this but sometimes for us modern readers, some things are lost on us because we don't really think in terms of the first century world, all right? 00:03:24 And so if you may, let's just dial it back for just a second and think in terms of the first century and read it in such a way that we're back in ancient times, right? And if we do, we'll see that this little child being brought before them is quite shocking. In fact, in the ancient world, children were of no avail. What were they going to do, okay? Especially little children, all right? 00:03:50 They can't produce anything. They're not going to help your bottom dollar. They're not going to spend any money. And so for the ancient world also, they died often, okay? Most kids didn't make it past one year old, and even the ones who made it past that, it was even less, okay? 00:04:08 And then most people, you know, shoot back in, what was it? I think, like 1800, the average life of a male was like 43 years old. That's my age. That was like normal to be dead by that point, okay? Like, statistically speaking. 00:04:24 Again, now we've elongated that all the way into seventies. Now, like a male is like 74 or something. But not in the ancient world. Not an ancient. You have to remember that little things Send us a text…
For us here, let's turn to the gospel according to Mark, chapter eight. So the Gospel of Mark, chapter eight. And once you found mark eight, go ahead and stand for our gospel reading this morning. 00:00:25 As you know, and as we've been saying, we've been in year, or we are in year b, which deals with Mark. So, A, Matthew, B, Mark C, Luke. Right. Makes sense, doesn't it? With the gospel of John interspersed through all three of the years. 00:00:41 Okay, so it's a three year cycle of scripture readings. And today the readings have already been great. But catch this one. This is one of the most important, if not the most important section within the gospel of Mark because it is a turning point. There's a pivot here. 00:00:59 This is Mark, chapter eight. And we'll start reading with verse 27. Notice these words here this morning. This is the word of God. Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. 00:01:15 And on the way, he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they answered him. John the Baptist and others, Elijah and still others. One of the prophets, he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are messiah, you are Christ. 00:01:39 That's the terminology there. And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the son of man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed. And after three days, rise again. He said all this quite openly, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 00:02:14 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me, Satan, for you are setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things. He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it. And those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life or their soul? 00:03:01 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of them, the Son of man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels. Lord, we thank you for this reading from your holy word. Would you now, O Holy Spirit, come and enlighten us and teach us? Just as Jesus taught these first disciples, we pray in your name. 00:03:40 Amen. And you can be seated. 00:03:47 Today's readings have a thread, and they often do. If you look through the Old Testament into the psalm and into the epistle reading or the New Testament reading, and then into the gospel, there's often a thread that will hold these four readings together. One of those threads is the idea of teaching. If you can remember, in the Isaiah reading, we're being taught about the suffering servant, as Derek pointed out, this suffering messiah. Okay, keep that in mind. 00:04:21 The psalm reading also speaks of teaching and teaching us again with its understanding of how God is actually full of compassion, and that when we call upon him, that he hears us and that he's merciful, and we must call upon him as if we were the student and he the teacher, not vice versa. Never vice versa. In fact, he helps me. Okay. And then finally, in the James reading, of course, it begins with many of you shouldn't be teachers, because teachers are held at a stricter judgment than everyone else. 00:05:04 It's a warning for teachers, and all teachers ought to heed that warning. And ultimately, we all are teachers to some degree, aren't w Send us a text…
According to Mark, chapter seven. The gospel according to Mark, chapter seven. And you may remember that last week we also were in mark seven. And we're actually picking up right where we left off from our reading from the previous week here. So notice these words. 00:00:21 And let's see here. We're starting with verse 24. So, 724 of Mark. Go ahead and stand when you found that we always stand for our gospel reading out of honor to God's holy word. Hear these words this morning. 00:00:37 Powerful, powerful story. I really can't wait to share this with you. This is one of my favorite ones right here. All right, you ready? Here we go. 00:00:43 Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice. But a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now, the woman was a gentile of syrophoenician origin. 00:01:13 She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs. But she answered him, sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs. Then he said to her, for saying that, you may go. The demon has left your daughter. 00:01:40 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed of and the demon gone. Then he entered from the region of Tyre and went by the way of Sidon towards the sea of Galilee. In the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech. And they begged him to lay his hand on him. 00:02:08 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears. And he spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, be opened. And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then jesus ordered them to tell no one. 00:02:43 But the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, he has done everything well. He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. Lord Jesus, thank you for your holy word. Would you make it holy to us in this place today and apply it so that we might be those who not only are hearers of your word, but doers also? 00:03:14 We pray in your most holy name. Amen. And you can be seated. 00:03:22 Well, have you ever read that text? That's an interesting to come across, right? I mean, like, what in the world is going on in this text? What an odd sort of thing to read this morning. In both of these stories we kind of have, if you noticed here, part one that deals with the syrophoenician woman and then part two that deals with the deaf guy who obviously then has a speech impediment because of his deafness. 00:03:51 And, man, it's kind of weird how both of these miracles happen, isn't it? I mean, what an odd thing for Jesus to say to this woman upon her request for her daughter to be exorcised from this demon, to say, well, actually it's not proper for the food. That's for the children to be given to the dogs. And because of what she says, then Jesus says, hey, that right there, that was it. Now your daughter is healed. 00:04:28 We're thinking, I don't know what's going on. Okay. And then in the second story, of course, we kind of run into the same thing. Jesus takes this guy away from everybody, which normally he does the miracles publicly. If they ask publicly, he does them publicly. 00:04:43 But now he takes him away in private and then he gives him a wet Willie. I don't know what to call it. I mean, right? I mean, that's what it sounds like to me. Send us a text…
The gospel according to Mark, chapter seven. The gospel according to Mark, chapter seven. 00:00:12 If you're new with us today, you may have noticed that we have several readings that we do together, and that happens each and every Sunday. And it's a good reminder for all of us that these are called, actually, lectionary readings, just kind of a fancy word, three year cycle of readings. The gospel will come from Matthew in year A, mark in year b, which is the year we're in now, and then Luke in year C, and then you have various Old Testament readings, acts readings, epistle readings, also psalm readings. Okay? So every time that we get together, we're gonna read from the Old Testament or acts, and then we're gonna read from a psalm, and we're also gonna hear a new testament reading and then a gospel reading. 00:00:57 That's every Sunday. All right. And interestingly, that's every Sunday around the world, people are also doing this. So Catholics, Orthodox, Presbyterians, Lutherans, some of what we call more your high church churches and denominations, they use this as well as many, many different protestant groups. And so on any given Sunday, you could be worshiping in Los Angeles or in India. 00:01:24 And it's the same readings for everybody, which is kind of neat as the church this huge, you know, two plus billion people somewhere, estimated 2.5 billion right now, 2.3 billion christians around the world that are meeting with these various readings. The church has given us these readings. And by the time you make, like, in other words, if you came all three years for every Sunday, 52 times three, whatever that is, I'll leave it to the. To the mathematicians. I can't do that in my head. 00:01:53 If you were to make all of those, you would have read most of the Bible, like, out loud in church. Isn't that kind of cool? I think that's kind of cool. You know, like, we actually get most of the bulk of the Bible, the big stories, all of this, and some interesting stories, too, that we kind of skip over sometimes. And so if you would join with me, this is maybe one of those interesting stories here. 00:02:13 Join with me as we stand for our gospel reading this morning, found here in the Gospel according to St. Mark, chapter seven. I'm reading from the NRSV here. And our pew bibles, by the way, are esv. Just to note that, notice these words here. 00:02:30 When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them for the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders. And they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it. And there are also many other traditions that they observe. The washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles. So the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? 00:03:17 He said to them, Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites. As it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. In vain do they worship me. Teaching human precepts as doctrines. You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition. 00:03:41 And then we're dropping down here to 14 and 15, and then drop down again to 21 and 23. Then he called the crowd again and said to them, listen to me, all of you, and understand there's nothing outside a person that by going in can defile. But the things that come out are what defile. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come. Fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, Send us a text…
The gospel according to Mark, chapter seven. The gospel according to Mark, chapter seven. 00:00:12 If you're new with us today, you may have noticed that we have several readings that we do together, and that happens each and every Sunday. And it's a good reminder for all of us that these are called, actually, lectionary readings, just kind of a fancy word, three year cycle of readings. The gospel will come from Matthew in year A, mark in year b, which is the year we're in now, and then Luke in year C, and then you have various Old Testament readings, acts readings, epistle readings, also psalm readings. Okay? So every time that we get together, we're gonna read from the Old Testament or acts, and then we're gonna read from a psalm, and we're also gonna hear a new testament reading and then a gospel reading. 00:00:57 That's every Sunday. All right. And interestingly, that's every Sunday around the world, people are also doing this. So Catholics, Orthodox, Presbyterians, Lutherans, some of what we call more your high church churches and denominations, they use this as well as many, many different protestant groups. And so on any given Sunday, you could be worshiping in Los Angeles or in India. 00:01:24 And it's the same readings for everybody, which is kind of neat as the church this huge, you know, two plus billion people somewhere, estimated 2.5 billion right now, 2.3 billion christians around the world that are meeting with these various readings. The church has given us these readings. And by the time you make, like, in other words, if you came all three years for every Sunday, 52 times three, whatever that is, I'll leave it to the. To the mathematicians. I can't do that in my head. 00:01:53 If you were to make all of those, you would have read most of the Bible, like, out loud in church. Isn't that kind of cool? I think that's kind of cool. You know, like, we actually get most of the bulk of the Bible, the big stories, all of this, and some interesting stories, too, that we kind of skip over sometimes. And so if you would join with me, this is maybe one of those interesting stories here. 00:02:13 Join with me as we stand for our gospel reading this morning, found here in the Gospel according to St. Mark, chapter seven. I'm reading from the NRSV here. And our pew bibles, by the way, are esv. Just to note that, notice these words here. 00:02:30 When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them for the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders. And they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it. And there are also many other traditions that they observe. The washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles. So the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? 00:03:17 He said to them, Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites. As it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. In vain do they worship me. Teaching human precepts as doctrines. You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition. 00:03:41 And then we're dropping down here to 14 and 15, and then drop down again to 21 and 23. Then he called the crowd again and said to them, listen to me, all of you, and understand there's nothing outside a person that by going in can defile. But the things that come out are what defile. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come. Fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, Send us a text…
Pastor is gone. He will be here next week, and he will be finishing up John chapter six. We've been in John six for quite a while, and it is such a great passage, and it's very paramount to our faith. And so we're going to be diving into some deep stuff this morning. Not sure if I'm the guy qualified to do this, but the lectionary fell on this week, so here we are. 00:00:26 So we will be wading through together as a church. All right? So turn with me to John chapter six. And when you get there, please stand for the gospel reading. We're gonna be going through 51 through 58. 00:00:43 Get there myself here. This is the word of God, Jesus speaking. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. 00:01:02 The Jews then dispute it among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him, as the living father sent me. 00:01:48 And I live because of the father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:02:13 Some of the passages are pretty tough. It was pretty tough for the Jews back then, and it's tough for us today. Some of your passages, Lord. So I pray that you would give us ears to hear, eyes to see, Lord, and that then we would leave this place ready to act on your behalf. We ask this in the name of Jesus. 00:02:34 Amen. You may be seated. Whew, man, did any that sort of rub you the wrong way a little bit? I mean, that's some strong language. What if somebody that we know said, hey, if you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you ain't got no part of it. 00:02:51 You don't have life in you. You're like, that guy's crazy. And so let's dive into this. Now, the Bible talks a lot about bread, and we're going to sort of go through this a little insight into the dag family. We always like to play dag trivia at the house, where I'll bring up some historical thing and ask the kids, hey, what is this? 00:03:16 Or whatever. Well, they all know that casts rates restaurants based off their bread. So it's not the quality of the steak. It doesn't matter the steak. It doesn't matter the salmon or the pork chop. 00:03:30 She doesn't care about that. That isn't dessert we leave there. And she's like, man, that was a great restaurant. Was it? That bread was so good. 00:03:36 And you're just like, I mean, the bread was free, you know, that steak was a lot of money, dude. And, like, you're focusing on that bread, like, wow. But that's just some insight into the dag family. So y'all get a part of dag trivia, and she rates restaurants by bread. Well, the Bible thinks a lot about bread as well. 00:03:54 And so if you remember a youth in the nineties or you remember that, you remember these Bible drills. Does anybody remember this? The Bible drills? Yeah. Where you have a competition, they would say Ephesians, chapter four, verse one. 00:04:08 And you'd have to. Or you had to go, you know, Hosea? And you're like, oh, boy, that was a tough one, you know? And so we're gonna do a little bit of a Bible drill this morning. So if you have your Bible and you want to follow along, let's do it. 00:04: Send us a text…
We're going to be in the Old Testament. We're going to be in first kings today. First kings. Now, growing up, there was a couple words that my parents frequently mentioned. And when they would say these particular two words, I did not have to ask for a definition. 00:00:18 I never asked what they meant by it. Usually it was spoken when me and my brother were in the back seat and we had had enough of each other and we were fussing. And usually I'm sure it was Adam's fault, and he was probably irritating me. But my parents, sometimes my dad would just magically look in that little mirror, and I could see his eyes, and he would say two words. He would say, that's enough. 00:00:45 Y'all heard it, too. Y'all have dads like I have dads. That's enough. And, you know, something happens as you begin to parenthood. All of a sudden, you hear yourself saying words that you heard growing up, and then I'll look at my kids and I'll say, that's enough. 00:01:02 And they don't have to ask, oh, what might she mean by that? They know exactly. You better stop what you're doing. I was asking my brother. I said, do you remember hearing, that's enough. 00:01:12 I felt like we heard that all the time. And he said he was a wrestler, and usually he would be practicing his maneuvers on me, and all of a sudden, mom would say that, enough. It was getting too far. That's enough. On the other side, sometimes in life, we get to hear the words of Jesus at just the right time. 00:01:34 He'll speak to our hearts. And I tell you, when you hear Jesus speak, it's enough. It's enough. No matter what you're going through, when you hear Jesus speak, it's enough. One year ago today, I was preparing to drop off my son at college. 00:01:54 And I can tell you that that process, some of you know what that's like. Have you ever left a child at school before? Raise your hand? Some of you have. Yes. 00:02:03 Yes. It's not an easy process. And so that process of dropping someone off is hard. And I was preparing myself. So I had prayed, and I said, you know what? 00:02:16 I'm not going to be that mama that sobs as she leaves. And I had seen some Facebook pictures of moms with mascara running down their face. And Eli had warned me, he said, mom, please, please don't post that on Facebook. And I said, of course I wouldn't post that. I mean, who does that? 00:02:33 Well, a lot of people do. Anyways, I had prepared myself, and I said, you know what, God, on the day I dropped him off at college will be a day of worship. I love to worship. So I'm going to worship my way to Tuscaloosa, and I'm going to worship my way home. That's what I planned to do. 00:02:51 And so on that day, I did real good, and God helped me, and I dropped him off. And in his dorm, there's four. Four rooms, and everybody's. All the parents are there. His room is set up. 00:03:06 And Eli gently looks at us and says, are you ready to go? And I'm thinking to myself, you know, there has to be a family that leaves first. Might as well be us. Okay? So we leave. 00:03:20 And God helped me. And I tell you what, I did not cry. Did not break down until he turned around. And when he left, I did not get off campus before I broke down. And I am driving my dad's borrowed truck because you have so much stuff to take. 00:03:40 And we learned a lesson, didn't we? We don't need all that stuff. Anyways, we dropped it off. And so as I'm leaving campus, I am sobbing, and I'm trying to cry quiet. Some of you women know what that's like when you try to cry quiet. 00:03:54 You can't breathe, actually, and so you're trying. And I'm driving, and my youngest son is in the backseat, and my husband's beside me, and I'm pretending nobody can see me. And I've got Send us a text…
So here to John, chapter six. So turn with me to the gospel according to. According to John, chapter six. As you know, there are four gospel accounts. And that's why we say the gospel according to. 00:00:19 That's actually in the title of all of these in the manuscripts is in the ones that do have a title is according to. And a lot of them didn't. Just because we already knew who wrote them and the early church did. So once you find John six, go ahead and stand with me. We're going to, as you remember our gospel reading for five Sundays in a row. 00:00:41 This is the second Sunday of. That are in John, chapter six. So the church obviously wants us to see what is happening here and the important of these events here. Notice John, chapter six. And we'll begin with verse 24. 00:01:02 The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the 5000 saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea they said to him, rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus said to them, very truly or amen. Amen. I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 00:01:40 Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life which the son of man will give you. For it is on him that God the father has set his seal. Then they said to him, what must we do to perform the works of God? Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sentence. So they said to him, what sign are you going to give us then so that we may see it and believe you. 00:02:18 What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then jesus said to them, very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. But it is my father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 00:02:39 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said to him, sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Lord, thank you for your holy word, your divine revelation, written for us inspired by your holy spirit. 00:03:18 Inerrant in all that it teaches. Help us now to be taught by the very holy spirit who inspired these words. We pray in your name. Amen and you can be seated. 00:03:35 Our Old Testament reading today was from Exodus 16. And if you know the story of the Exodus and of the people of Israel, one thing kind of surfaces with them quite frequently, and that is they complain. Have you ever noticed that, like, over and over again we find them complaining? Now we looking back on them, sort of give them a hard time about this, don't we? What in the world, guys? 00:04:07 Like, he just delivered you out of egyptian slavery, which would have been a superpower, okay? I mean, back in the day at least, would have been a superpower, and even during this time was a superpower in the world. And here, God delivers them, Yahweh delivers them out of egyptian slavery. And then with signs, remember ten plagues that were signs, okay? Miracle. 00:04:35 Remember we talked about that term? Sign is miracle here, miracle is sign pointing to something more than just that event. And ten signs, okay? Gives them ten signs along with the Egyptians, and then they come to the Red Sea. Ah, you brought us out to kill us. 00:04:53 And then he delivers them through the Red Sea on dry ground. You remember this, right? Like miracle upon miracle. And then they get out to the desert and Send us a text…
To the gospel according to John. Okay? Gospel according to John. And I say that with emphasis because as you may know, we've been in, well, you tell me where have we been this year? In Mark. 00:00:13 Right? So we've been in the gospel of Mark and in particular for the past three weeks we've been in mark six. And so now we jump over, the lectionary readings have us jumping over to John chapter six. And interestingly, we are going to be in John six for five weeks. Okay? 00:00:36 Now, it is a long chapter and it is a pivotal chapter. It is really ground zero for our faith, all right? And it's ground zero for why we have the sanctuary set up in the way that we do, all right? It is the central, maybe if we could say it this way. Miracle and remembrance and command of Jesus. 00:00:59 It is the exact way that we are told to remember him. And he tells us to remember him in this way. And so once you found, and if you would just. I'm encouraging here the past couple weeks just to grab a Bible. There should be one better. 00:01:14 There's some behind you there, buddy, if somebody can hand you. But there should be one in the basket, one of the baskets there. Pull it up on your phone, whatever. I'd like for you to look at this with me. This is John, chapter six. 00:01:24 And when you found that, go ahead and stand. So John, chapter six. And we're going to begin here at the beginning of the chapter. Notice these words. This is the word of God. 00:01:39 Jesus went to the other side of the sea of Galilee also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the passover, the festival of the Jews, was near when he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread for these people to eat? He said this to test him for he himself knew what he was going to do. 00:02:18 Philip answered him, six months wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people? Jesus said, make the people sit down. Now, there was a great deal of grass in the place so they all sat down, about 5000. 00:02:50 Then jesus took the loaves. When he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated so also the fish as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied. He told his disciples, gather up the fragments left over so that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and from the fragments of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten they filled twelve baskets. 00:03:20 When the people saw the sign that he had done they began to say, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. When jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea got into a boat and started across the sea of Capernaum. Sorry, across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark and jesus had not yet come to them. 00:03:56 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they rode about three or 4 miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat. And they were terrified. But he said to them, it is I, do not be afraid. Then they wanted to take him into the boat. 00:04:21 And immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going. Jesus, thank you for your word. We pray now that the same spirit that inspired these words from the apostle John to us this morning as your holy, inerrant word, Lord, may that same Send us a text…
To the gospel according to Mark, chapter six. The Gospel of Mark, chapter six. And you may be thinking to yourself, possibly, oh, we've been in mark six for a few weeks now, and that would be correct. We have been. And so grab a Bible there. There should be one in your, in the seat in front of you, or at least on that row that you're on. If you would just grab a Bible and just crack it open to Mark, chapter six. And when you found that, go ahead and stand with me. And then we're going to start reading at verse 30. And you can see that this is right after our lesson from last week, our scripture reading from last week with John and Herod. So notice these words as found in Mark, chapter six, verse 30. The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now, many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. Then, if you will, drop down to verse 53. Now, when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or arms. They laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak or the hem of his garment. And all who touched were healed. Jesus, thank you for your holy word. We pray now that the same holy spirit who inspired these words would speak to our hearts this morning. Lord, we need your voice in our life. Speak to us now. We pray in your name. Amen. You can be seated. Now, we've been all over chapter six, and in fact, we've read almost the whole chapter except for 17 verses. All right. I counted them up this morning and I said, interesting, what 17 verses here are we missing? And it really is between the space that we skipped over here. We read from 30 to 34, and then we picked up again 53 to 56. But is there anything that happens here, what we miss in these 70 verses? And most of the time, I would say that probably not much, you know, because sometimes when you're reading through there's just this moving here, moving there, whatever. But interestingly, today the church has us reading these particular verses. I say the church because the lectionary readings are hundreds and hundreds of years old. All right? And so it's not like I designed them to be matching right here today in this way. But rather they've been given to us and they're on a three year cycle like we always talk about. And these come about but they skip over 17 verses in chapter six. So we read the whole thing except for these 17 verses. And I said, what in the world are we missing here? And I thought to myself, probably not much, but in fact it's actually kind of a lot here in these 17 verses. You know, what happens is once he has compassion on them they then realize there's nothing to eat and no one has enough money to buy everybody food and cater it in. So what are they going to do? So Jesus, as you know, takes a little lunch, right? And he multiplies it. You remember this feeding? 5000 mendinh. Okay, now note, 5000 men. That means there's way more than that because the men are with their wives more than likely and with their children. Okay? So we're talking over 5000. But this is known as the feeding of the 5000. And then right after that, they get in a boat and guess what happens? Jesus is seen wal Send us a text…
Gospel according to Mark, chapter six. Gospel according to Mark, chapter six. And you'll know. And if you don't, you'll know now that in year B, which is the second of three years, we are primarily in the Gospel of Mark, which is one of my favorite gospels. To be honest. 00:00:21 If you've never studied Mark, you really should give it a real go. It's the shortest of the gospels, but maybe the most powerfully crafted one in the sense that it's like a punch. He really, he gives us several times in his gospel, more detail, but then other times less detail. So the way he's writing here is obviously led by the Holy Spirit, but also very maximally impactful is the way I would say it. And so once you find Mark six, go ahead and stand with me as we read these words and really quite shocking words this morning. 00:01:05 Notice here in mark, chapter six, and then we'll pick up with where we left off last week. Really, almost the whole chapter is going to be read with verse 14. Notice these words. This is the word of God. King Herod heard of Jesus his disciples, for Jesus name had become known. 00:01:26 Some were saying, John the baptizer has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him. But others said, it is Elijah. And others said, it is a prophet like one of the prophets of old. But when Herod heard of it, he said, john, whom I beheaded has been raised. For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. 00:02:06 For John had been telling Herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not. For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him. 00:02:37 But an opportunity came when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, ask me for whatever you wish and I will give it. And he solemnly swore to her, whatever you ask me, I will give you even half of my kingdom. She went out and said to her mother, what should I ask for? 00:03:10 She replied, the head of John the baptizer. Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The king was deeply grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately, the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl. 00:03:47 Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. Jesus, thank you for your holy word. We pray now that as you have placed this story in the scriptures for a purpose, that you would reveal that purpose this morning and that you would speak to our hearts, and that not only would we listen, but we would obey. We pray in your name. 00:04:18 Amen. You can be seated. 00:04:26 One of the things that I love about preaching through the lectionary is that it forces you to preach on verses or pericles sections of scripture that you normally wouldn't. And I must admit, this is one that I would not have chosen myself to preach from. In fact, I've never preached from this passage of scripture before. And it's quite intimidating, really, to look at, and especially in light of the events of even yesterday, where someone was. Where former President Trump was Send us a text…
Six. Go with me to mark the Gospel of Mark, chapter six. And you may know that as we are in year b of the lectionary cycle, that is a focus on the gospel of Mark, which is one of my favorite gospels, by the way, not just because it's the shortest, but because he really packs a punch, honestly. Like, when you read Mark, there's just certain things that he says differently than Matthew or Luke or John, of course, which is not one of the synoptics. But nonetheless, he says it in such a way that it just kind of gets you right in the. 00:00:39 Almost like James. He reminds me of the epistle of James. Has anybody read that one? Boy, you really want to punch to the gut. You know, some of us like that. 00:00:46 It's like, just give it to me, man. You know? Read Mark. Read James. Okay, let's all stand once you find Mark, chapter six, and we'll just start reading here from verse one. 00:01:00 Notice these words. This is the word of God. Jesus came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him on the Sabbath. He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, where did this man get all this? 00:01:21 What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters with us? And they took offense at him. 00:01:46 Then Jesus said to them, prophets are not without honor except in their hometown and among their own kin and in their own house. And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages, teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 00:02:21 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place, if any place will not welcome you. And they refuse to hear you as you leave. Shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them. So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 00:02:53 They cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. Jesus, thank you for your word. We pray now that the same holy spirit who inspired these words would inspire our hearts this morning. As you speak to us. We pray in your name. 00:03:13 Amen. You can be seated. 00:03:20 Well, what a passage. And one that upon first reading is a bit shocking, I might say, and maybe even confusing at a certain point. But I don't want to start here in Mark first, but rather go straight back to our Old Testament reading. And, you know, I'm not going to give you a test, but we always should be hearing the word of God because these Old Testament readings actually are going to always correspond in ordinary time or proper time, as we call this season of the church. They're always going to correspond with each other, working off of each other, as it were, I complementing one another. 00:04:00 And so when we go back to that Ezekiel reading, as you may recall, it's interesting that this is actually Ezekiel's call. And of course, Ezekiel, you may remember, was trained for 30 years to be a priest. So he's actually trained to be a priest. And this would have been kind of from early childhood all the way up to 30 years old. And in jewish society in Israel, in the Old Testament at 30, you would have finally now been able to practice what it is. 00:04:31 You're in that ordination track, and now you get to practice actually being i Send us a text…
To be back here. I was here at the end of May, and we did not know that I would be back at the end of June. So how gracious of you to allow me to be back. I do appreciate it. I am Emily. 00:00:14 Justin was kind. He could have shared so much and he restricted himself. And I appreciate it. If you will stand with me, I'm going to read from the Gospel of Mark. Mark, chapter five. 00:00:29 And I am reading from the Niv. And I start in verse 21. When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders named Jairus came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, my little daughter is dying. 00:00:53 Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live. So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him, and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. And she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. 00:01:18 When she heard about Jesus. She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, if I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him, and he turned around in the crowd and he asked, who touched my clothes? You see the people crowding against you? 00:01:45 His disciples answered, and yet you can ask, who touched me? But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering. 00:02:09 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. Your daughter is dead, they said, why bother the teacher anymore? Over hearing what they said, jesus told him, don't be afraid, just believe. He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion with people crying and wailing loudly. 00:02:40 He went in and said to them, why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead, but asleep. But they laughed at him. After he put all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and he said to her, talitha kum, which means little girl, I say to you, get up. 00:03:03 And immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around. She was twelve years old at this. They were completely astonished. He gave strict orders to not let anyone know about this and told them to give her something to eat. Let's pray. 00:03:21 Holy Spirit, we thank you for your presence in this place. And I pray God that you would use your word today. Would you bring truth in awareness of your presence? God, we give you all room to do whatever you want to do. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. 00:03:44 Lord, you are my strength and you are my redeemer. Have your way in this place. We pray. Amen. And you may be seated. 00:03:54 The title of the message today is, only believe. Only believe. When I was here last time, our passage was in Isaiah. You may remember, he saw the king. And it was only when the little cave king died did he get a vision of who the real king is. 00:04:18 And he saw the king seated on the throne. And you have this scene where the seraphim, the Send us a text…
He just wanted to help, man. I think we have an up and coming preacher, is what it sounds like to me. Hey, if you would turn with me to the gospel according to Mark, chapter four. The gospel according to Mark, chapter four. And as you know, in year b of the three year cycle of liturgical readings we're in, Mark. 00:00:25 Mark is our main gospel. And so each year, your a, B, and C all have an emphasis. And so year a, Matthew B, Mark C, Luke, and all throughout all three years is the gospel of John spaced out. So it's kind of neat how they do that. And so, as we read through our readings each and every Sunday, we're going to get really in a. 00:00:48 If you stay with us for three years, you will have read almost all of the gospels. Okay? Together, we all read it publicly from our mouth. And so this particular story here, when you find Mark four, if you would stand with me for our gospel reading this morning. This particular gospel is actually found in Matthew eight and Luke eight, as well as Mark four. 00:01:12 So all three of the synoptics, you remember the synoptic just means similar gospels contain this story. They actually have this story. And so notice these words here as found in mark, chapter four, verse 35. When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. 00:01:42 Other boats were with them. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him up and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? He woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. 00:02:15 Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, why are you afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Jesus, we thank you for your word. 00:02:39 We pray now that your holy spirit would come among us and teach us, enlighten us, encourage us, rebuke us, and turn us to Jesus. We pray in your name. Amen. And you can be seated. 00:02:58 Well, what a story. If you were to ever come into my office here you will see two pictures, paintings, I should say, that are on the wall. Big size paintings, both of them I purchased. And, you know, they weren't just cheap, either, because they're kind of big, and they're, of course, replicas. Okay. 00:03:21 They're not original Rembrandt paintings. Okay? So don't think I spent, like, a lot of money on them somehow. A hundred in dollars or so, okay? But I got these big pictures from, like, art.com, and they're paintings, and both of them really mean something to me. 00:03:36 But both of them came out of a very difficult season in my life, a time where I was in a storm, and I really didn't know if I was going to make it. I really didn't. I wondered about if I was going to drown. And both of these paintings in my office represent certain parts of that journey, parts of that season. And one of them is called Hope. 00:04:03 And you've probably seen it before, and I've talked about it before, but you can imagine how that helps in the storm, hope, it's all dark, it's all dreary, but there's one little star at the very top of the painting, almost off the border of it. If you don't have a careful eye for the painting, you really won't even see it. It's just a little. One little star, but it's enough to give you hope. All right? 00:04:25 And that's kind of the point of the painting. And then the other one is actually by Rembrandt, and it is Jesus on the stormy sea. And it's a very famous painting. In fact, if you c Send us a text…
Whenever you get there, please stand and then drop. Down to verse 26. 00:00:14 Jesus said, the kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow. He does not know how the earth produces of itself. First the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe at once, he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come. He also said, with what can we compare the kingdom of God? 00:00:45 Or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground, is is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. With many such parables, he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. 00:01:15 You may be seated. 00:01:20 Jesus talks a lot about the kingdom of God. And if you don't know what the kingdom of God means, then you can get pretty confused, especially in today's reading. And, you know, before studying it last time, I really thought that the kingdom of God was heaven. It seems to make sense, considering that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are used interchangeably. And, you know, it does have the word heaven in it. 00:01:48 But when we look at the actual context around the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, we get into the deeper meaning of it. The first thing I want to say about the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God is that Jesus is not talking about heaven. He's not describing physical aspects when he speaks about the kingdom of God. Instead, it is meaning is a little bit closer to home. The kingdom of God is God's reign on earth, which, of course, he reigns over everything. 00:02:17 But how can we spread the kingdom of God if he already rules everything? Well, to understand that, we have to understand that you can reject the kingdom of God. Rejecting the kingdom of God leads to sin, while accepting it leads to a relationship with God and to heaven. When we are saved, we enter into the kingdom of God. We can't be a part of the kingdom of God without being a follower of Jesus. 00:02:43 We also have to understand the difference between spreading the gospel and spreading the kingdom of God. Many people often talk about spreading the gospel, but not as many people talk about spreading the kingdom of God. Well, we should spreading the kingdom of God is something Jesus talks about a lot, actually, so we too should be kingdom oriented. Of course, Jesus kingdom is not a physical kingdom with knights and regiments of Calvary. Instead, it is a spiritual kingdom. 00:03:13 It is seen through the eyes of faith, not by sight. There is a king in this kingdom, and he is the king of kings. Jesus. There are also servants in this kingdom. We are the servants of the king, serving under his rulership. 00:03:28 So back to the original question, how can we spread the kingdom of God? It's by spreading the word of God. It is by teaching people about the gospel and by bringing them to Jesus. Now we understand what it means by the kingdom of God. But what about parables? 00:03:52 What are they? And why does Jesus teach in parables? Parables are stories that teach something both morally and spiritually. St. Mark, believe it or not, actually, the person who wrote the Gospel of Mark actually discusses Jesus use of parables in these verses. 00:04:10 In verse 34, he says, in fact, in his public ministry, he never taught without using parables. But afterward, when he was alone with Send us a text…
Me to the gospel according to Mark, chapter three. The gospel according to Mark, chapter three. You remember that in year b we're in the Gospel of Mark primarily. And so once you have found Mark three, verse 20, go ahead and stand with me for our gospel reading this morning. 00:00:27 Notice these words as found in mark three. And then, starting with verse 20, the crowd came together again so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, he has gone out of his mind. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, he has beelzebul. And by the ruler of the demons, he cast out demons, and he called them to him and spoke to them in parables. 00:01:08 How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, the house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand. But his end has come. 00:01:31 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strongman. Then indeed, the house can be plundered. Truly, I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. For they had said, he has an unclean spirit. 00:02:06 Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside asking for you. And he replied, who are my mother and my brothers? And looking at those who sat around him, he said, here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. 00:02:41 Jesus, we thank you for your holy word. We pray now that you would send your spirit to enlighten us today and speak to us as those who would do the will of God. We pray in your name. Amen. And you can be seated. 00:03:07 Last week, I mentioned marking time that every day is not just the same as the other day, but rather we're actually called to mark certain days as unique. And some of you are celebrating birthdays or anniversaries. I've seen all kind of stuff on facebook, and it is good to mark certain days. And we, too, as Christians, we mark certain days in a liturgical calendar. So it's not just that we follow the gregorian calendar, which, again, is a christian invention. 00:03:40 You got to look that up sometimes because it's very precise mathematically. In fact, it's the most mathematically precise calendar that has ever existed in humanity. All right? And there's been a lot of calendars, by the way. Okay? 00:03:53 And Muslims, as you may know, still follow a different one. But the gregorian calendar, christian invention, they are based on marking certain days. All right? Now, we also have what we call, though, as I said, a liturgical calendar. Now this term, liturgy. 00:04:09 And we oftentimes will say that, you know, liturgical paraments or the liturgical colors or what have you, this term just means the work of the people. And that is to say that when we worship, there is something that a leader would do, or an officiant or a clergy member, or as the song just said, the preacher. It's me who's standing in the prayer, not the preacher alone. Right? Not your neighbor boy, that's a good message, isn't it? 00:04:33 It's not so and so. That's the problem. It's right here. Point those thumbs right back to yourself. Right. 00:04:38 I'm in the need of prayer. Right. Okay. Well, liturgy means the work of the people, which is to say that when we worship, you have a Send us a text…
To mark chapter two. The Gospel of Mark. Chapter two is where we find ourselves this morning. You remember that we're in year b, which is to say that the second gospel is correlating with year b. And we are only in chapter two. 00:00:22 But if you remember, it took us forever to get out of chapter one a few months ago. Because one is just jam packed with things that other gospels expound on even more. Remember that Mark is pretty tight in how he. And short, if you will, in how he says things. And so go with me here to mark chapter two. 00:00:43 And once you're there, go ahead and stand. 00:00:51 Notice these words as found in Mark 223 in this episode of Jesus life. One Sabbath, Jesus and his disciples were going through the grain fields. And as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? And he said to them, have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 00:01:23 He entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest. And ate the bread of the presence. Which it is not lawful for any but the priest to eat. And he gave some to his companions. Then he said to them, the Sabbath was made for humankind. 00:01:43 And not humankind for the Sabbath. So the son of man is lord even of the Sabbath. Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath. So they might accuse him. 00:02:06 And he said to the man who had the withered hand come forward. Then he said to them, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath. To save life or to kill? But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger. 00:02:26 He was grieved at their hardness of heart. And said to the man, stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him how to destroy him. Lord, we're thankful for your word this morning. 00:02:50 We pray now that you, Holy Spirit, would come and help. Lord, we need your help. I need your help this morning. And we pray that the same holy spirit that inspired these words originally by Mark's hand. Would inspire us today. 00:03:10 And enlighten our minds so that we may obey you and love you. We pray this in your name. Amen. You can be seated in this text today. We. 00:03:28 It's kind of an interesting one. And you know, you have some big text where it's like something wow happens. And there is a miracle here. But the thrust of the text really has to do with law. And Sabbath and observation or observing these things. 00:03:48 And when we start talking about law, most people start yawning. Nobody reads a law book, for instance, except for lawyers, right? And you remember that the Pharisees are ultimately experts at the law, okay? So that's, you know, nobody, I don't think, does their, what do you call it, leisurely reading of the law or bylaws or this sort of thing like that. Just is not on most people's radar to do. 00:04:15 But the Pharisees, I guarantee they probably would relax sometimes, reading commentary on the law. That's how much they liked it. That's how expertly they knew how to decipher it. And you'll remember too, and this is helpful in our text today. Is to remember that the Pharisees also had laws that. 00:04:33 Oral laws that they had created. That were not in the word of God as the law, all right? But that they had put around the law in order to protect from ever breaking the law. Okay? So just think of it like this. 00:04:48 You've got the law of God at this center circle, okay? And then around that Send us a text…
Good morning. So, as I was saying, I have known Marshall and Justin for a long time. Pastor Marshall Dagg and Doctor Justin Dagg. We grew up in the same children's church. We grew up in the same youth group together. And it is a privilege to be with harvest point today. I have prayed for you and I will continue to pray for you. It is my privilege to be here with you. I also want to lift up Pastor Marshall and Jessica, and I thank God for how they are being used here. Would you just give them a hand? When you have a pastor and a first lady who pray for you and love you, that is an honor, that is a gift, and we acknowledge them today. I thank you for having me and some of my family here. I am Emily Moore, my husband. You're so sweet. My husband, Ryan, is in the sound booth where he prefers to be hidden. Back in the back, I have my youngest son, Carter, who is 13, who is here today, and my brother Adam, who is here. I have one other son, Eli, who is in call college. He just finished his freshman year at the University of Alabama roll tide. And he has prayed for us as well. He is at a church in Tuscaloosa today. Thank you for having us. I was sharing some of the pictures in the children's chat. My earliest friend is Amy. My earliest friend is Amy. I have memories that stick out in my mind, many memories of spending time with Amy. We would pretend we were like the girls on the little house on the prairie, and we had dresses and we would play at her home. They were homeschooled. I thought it was fascinating. My mom would let me spend the night and I would get to be homeschooled. I always wanted to be homeschooled, just like her. I have a memory of standing in my kitchen, talking on the phone with her when phones had cords and you could only go so far. I have memories of Marshall and Justin, and I am not going to go into detail about the prank they played on me as teenagers at a place called Crybaby hollow. And I am not going to go into details, but you could ask them later what that was about. I do remember the time the spirit of God rained down upon us that February at a youth retreat. There are many times where we were gathered together and the Holy Spirit came down not because of who we were, but because of who he is. And we would position ourselves in a place to receive, which is what we're doing today. Today. That night at that February retreat, I remember singing a chorus. I could sing of your love forever. And we sang it over and over and one by one. Every single person in the place was on their face before God. Every single person. Teenagers. We were in full surrender to the king of kings. I remember as a very young girl, little girl, seeing a beautiful, dark haired teenage girl playing the piano. Her name was Deborah. She was playing the keyboard. Today as a little girl, I looked at her and thought, I want to be just like that. Beautiful. Using her gifts for the glory of God. Memories that stick out in our mind. There are memories that we have that we could never forget. Things that we have seen that we cannot unsee. Some things that we would want to, some that we wouldn't. I think about 911. Most of us in this room can remember where you were when you saw the news. I think about my wedding day, the day my children were born. I think about as a little girl, hearing my father testify in services about Jesus sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God. I remember heartaches, breakups, salvation and surrender, some good and some painful. Today we get a glimpse of a vision that Isaiah received. And I believe Isaiah never forgot. And I hope we don't either. Let's read together. Isaiah, chapter six, verses one through eight. I am going to be reading in the Niv. And it says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a thr Send us a text…
All right, well, you're turning with me to John, chapter 15. The Gospel of John, chapter 15. And when you've reached chapter 15, if you would stand with me for the reading of our gospel today. And if you would stick another finger there or just be ready to turn the page into chapter 16. Because we only have two verses here that are coming from chapter 15. 00:00:43 And as you may remember, we have been in the Gospel of John for a little while. That's been the. Even though this year is Mark, we've been reading John. And so here we are once again, reading John. And notice these words from holy scripture as found in John 15. 00:01:03 And then verse 26 and 27 and then 16. And we'll go to four. Jesus said to his disciples, when the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the father. The spirit of truth, who comes from the father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. 00:01:29 Go ahead and turn the page. 16, verse four, b. We'll pick up halfway through. I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me. 00:01:43 Yet none of you asked me, where are you going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the advocate will not come to you. 00:02:02 But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin. Sin and righteousness and judgment about sin, because they do not believe in me about righteousness. Because I am going to the father. And you will no longer see me about judgment because the ruler of this world has been condemned. 00:02:27 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears. And he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 00:02:52 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Lord Jesus, thank you for your holy word. We pray now that the same holy spirit who inspired these words would now inspire, enlighten, enliven our own hearts and minds this morning so that we can be a flame of love for you. We pray in your name. 00:03:26 Amen. And you can be seated. 00:03:31 Well, Christmas and Easter are often celebrated with gusto. You know, in fact, Christmas, we start preparing for Christmas, and, you know, oftentimes you can kind of look at Walmart or target or these other places, and they will let you know which holiday is coming up next, won't they? Because they're ready to sell the things, right? You know, if it's. I don't even know what. 00:03:54 July 4. I assume there's probably already. July 4. I'm getting a yes, there's July 4 stuff on the shelf right now. We're what, a month and a half something out from that. 00:04:04 Okay, but get it. They want to sell you these things, so they prep you for it. They're preparing for it. And of course, we, too, you know, in the church, we have four Sundays of preparation for the Christmas season, which is twelve days. And so we, too, are, hey, we prep for Christmas. 00:04:18 And Christmas is a big deal. You know, even the secular world, have you noticed, recognizes that something unique is going on. And even before all of the marketing stuff, even pagans would have worshiped because of the winter solstice, which coincides with roughly the time of Christmas. And, of course, again, Easter, we get something similar, don't we? Even Send us a text…
John, chapter 17. The Gospel of John, chapter 17. And when you found that John 17. Go ahead and stand with me as we read from the holy word of God as found in John 17. And then we're going straight to verse six here. Notice these words. And I would just to place this in context real quick. This is the very night in which Jesus is going to get betrayed and be arrested and then go straight to the cross and do his work. So this is what's called the high priestly prayer of Jesus. Some of the profoundest words ever spoken. All right, so let's hear these words as we pick up here in John 17 six, Jesus prayed for his disciples. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words that you gave to me, I have given to them. And they have received them. And know in truth that I came from you. And they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine. And I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world. But they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me. So that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost, except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them. Because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in truth. Your word is. Is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself. So that they also may be sanctified in truth. Jesus, thank you for your holy word. Thank you for this prayer that is toward and for us right here in this room. Your disciples. Oh, God, would we be able to hear it today? Would we be able to receive it today by the power of the very Holy Spirit that you came to send on the day of Pentecost, Lord, may it be. We pray in your name. Amen. And you can be seated. Thursday was the ascension of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. And that is, remember, we are in the season of Easter, which is a 50 day season. All right? And so Thursday marked day 40, and day 40 was when he then was taken up into the heavens as the disciples watched, you remember this? And then we have ten days, which we already are closer than ten now, obviously, to Pentecost. And then we celebrate the descent of the spirit. So you have. Remember, it's kind of simple, but it's very important for us to understand God the Son is sent down to us to save us, right? And he goes all the way down. He becomes a little baby, right? Remember this? In the womb, okay? Then he's born, then he grows, and then he's going to be crucified, die, and then descend. We said it just a minute ago in our creed, descended to the dead. He went all the way to where everybody that is human will go, which is to the dead. And he goes all the way down, and then he comes all the way back up. And the ascension of our Lord. Remember, he hangs around for 40 days, revealing himself, post resurrection, in his glorified body, which is both transcending this world and a part of the heavenly world. Now, right? Remember, it's a spiritual body, so he's in both dimensions, if you will. And for 40 days, Send us a text…
Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this to lay down one's life for one's friends. 00:00:37 You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer because the servant does not know what the master is doing. But I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last so that the father will give you whatever you ask in his name. 00:01:13 Sorry. In my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. Lord Jesus, would you bring understanding, conviction, help, power, all by your mighty spirit, we pray. Amen. 00:01:41 You may be seated as we are approaching the season of Pentecost. And Pentecost is a big deal. Pentecost ought to be one of these holidays that is as big as Christmas or Easter, shouldn't it? It should indeed, because Jesus himself, I will remind you, tells us, dear friends, I must go, not to be physically present with you any longer. Why? 00:02:18 He tells us directly, doesn't he, so that the comforter will come. The comforter is God's holy spirit. And so Jesus tells us that his mission was so that the spirit may be given to all, which is exactly what happens on the day of Pentecost. And did you notice in our reading today that we get the spirit descending or falling upon those gentiles? By the way, in the acts reading that we had, did you catch that? 00:02:57 And the gift of the spirit was given, it says, and then there were tongues and other gifts that come from the greatest gift, who is God's spirit. And could we just go ahead and say that God is still pouring out his holy spirit upon people? The Holy Spirit still is coming upon people and empowering gifts and abilities that are not our own, but rather are gifts from God. And we do not neglect to say that, oh, this, you know, because tongues and some other gifts are what we call extraordinary gifts. They're extraordinary, right? 00:03:45 The ordinary ones are the ones I want to focus on today. When the Holy Spirit comes into every life, this is what he brings. All right. The extraordinary gifts are awesome to study and all of that. Okay? 00:04:01 But not everybody has those. But when God's spirit comes to us, I'd like to submit to you that at least there are three, if not here, four that you'll kind of see that are sort of under the text here. Because remember, when we're in John 15, which is the vine and the branches which we covered last week, you remember that John 15 is in the middle section of a very important night. This is the very night in which Jesus shared the meal with his disciples. He washed their feet. 00:04:35 You remember this? And then they go together and we get this conversation that begins in 13 and will end with Jesus prayer in chapter 17. Well, this is right in the middle here. Okay? And all throughout here, littered throughout it, is some of the most profound and clear teachings on the Holy Spirit. 00:05:01 In other words, when we just moments ago said we believe in the Holy Spirit and even claimed that we worship the Holy Spirit, this means that the spirit is not just some mystical power of God or mystical breath of God. That is not God. Rather, the spirit is the power of God, is the breath of God, and is the love of God in such a way that it has to do with his personhood, not a function of another. That's why we can say we Send us a text…
According to John, chapter 15. The Gospel of John, chapter 15. 00:00:09 And of course, those of you who are familiar with the gospel of John know exactly what this passage is known for. Right. So when you found it, go ahead and stand with me for our gospel reading. And again, even the standing of the word of God, right, that's found in the word of God, isn't it? In the Old Testament, they stood when the law was written. 00:00:29 And so in the New Testament, the gospels are the equivalent of the law. And so we stand. So notice these words as found in John, chapter 15. We'll just start at the beginning here. Jesus said to his disciples, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine grower. 00:00:50 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 00:01:21 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me, you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers, such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. For my father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 00:02:05 Jesus, thank you for your holy word. And now, Holy Spirit, would you make this a word for us this morning in this room? Make it a holy moment. We pray in your name. Amen. 00:02:20 You can be seated. 00:02:25 Reading the Bible as a kid was often frustrating. If you grew up in church and you're familiar with the Bible, it can be frustrating at times. Anybody. Amen for that, because really, it is difficult sometimes to really get a handle on what's going on. In fact, John, the Gospel of John, is one of these books that a child can read it and understand what it's saying. 00:02:52 Truly, you read John three, which is one of the, I mean, most fundamental, deep theological things that could ever be said. All right. Or John one, think of that. Or right here in 15. And a child could read through it and grasp almost intuitively the basics of what's being said. 00:03:10 And yet I'm still a 43 year old trying to understand John 15. And I revisited it, of course, this week and was again blown away by what is here. But as a kid, I remember. I distinctly remember getting frustrated because of these dad gum analogies. Do you know what I'm talking about? 00:03:30 And John is full of them, isn't he? I mean, it seems on every single page, born again. And you remember Nicodemus. He's us, right? Nicodemus represents us. 00:03:41 He comes to Jesus at night in his darkness, in his ignorance. Right? That's what that means. You don't have clarity, right? He comes to him at night and born again. 00:03:52 You may not have to enter in my mother's womb. Oh, come on, man. You've been at the word this long, brother, and you don't know? You're a leader in Israel and you don't know. Do you know how many times Jesus said that about. 00:04:03 I'm sure he didn't say it to my face, but I'm sure he. Here he goes again. You know, he doesn't understand. And truly, we have to have God's light, his holy spirit, to understand the scriptures so that when we read them, even personally when we read them, we should ask specifically for God's spirit to come and enliven that word to us, shed light on it. And so as a kid, I just remember, like, man, why not just tell us who you are? 00:04:34 You know? Remember Send us a text…
Gospel according to John, chapter ten. Gospel of John, chapter ten. Now, historically, this Sunday, this fourth Sunday after Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday because, well, we're dealing with the good shepherd today. All right? And so if you would turn with me to, again, John ten, where we have this passage. 00:00:25 And this one's not dealing with the resurrection like the others, but rather the good shepherd here. So stand with me when you have found that, notice these words in John ten. And we'll start with verse eleven. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:00:49 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away. And the wolf snatches and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the father knows me, and I know the father. 00:01:17 And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also. And they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 00:01:31 For this reason, the father loves me. Because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I've received this command from my father, Lord Jesus. 00:01:53 Thank you for your word. And, Lord, now we pray that the same author of this word would enlighten our minds to hear and our hearts to obey. Today we pray in your name. Amen. You can be seated. 00:02:16 Years ago, I took a trip to India. And on that trip I went to a gift store. And it was at the end of my trip, I was in Bangalore, or what they call Bengaluru now. And I went to a little gift shop. Of course, the gift shops, there are idol shops. 00:02:33 You know what I mean? In other words, they have idols everywhere, right? That's what they're selling. And, I mean, I can't describe to you if you. We just don't have a concept of what it would have been like to been in ancient Greece or been in ancient Rome or what it would have been like or what it is like to be in India, which is probably the closest representation to that sort of polytheistic mini gods mindset. 00:02:56 And I was there in the gift shop. I was looking for something to take home. And they had all these beautiful carved out of wood idols, all hand carved wasn't through machinery for sure. And they were tall. And I'm looking through there. 00:03:10 And of course, because I teach on Hinduism, I knew quite a few of them just by their symbols. In other words, if you've got a snake involved, that's probably Shiva, right? Because the snake is powerful, it's wily, and there's this whole story to do with it. So I'm, like, looking there, and then I see Hanuman, which is the monkey God, and so on and so forth. And then all of a sudden, something catches my eye, and it's a, you know, all of them are in human form, right? 00:03:39 So it's not unusual to see a human represented in idol worship, right? But I see one human who has a lamb wrapped around his neck. And, of course, this was Jesus. And here's Jesus literally among the gods, right? And of course, that's the reason I had come, was not to learn about Hinduism, but instead to preach Jesus on this trip. 00:04:06 And it was so moving in that moment. I can still picture exactly where on the shelf Jesus was. Just, like, in the mix there, right? All these other gods are wielding power with snakes and with cows and with swords and with all these magical powers. And here's Jesus among them with a lamb wrapped around his neck, carr Send us a text…
According to Luke, chapter 24. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 24. Go with me there, and we're going to pick up at verse 38. 00:00:14 And once you've found it, go ahead and stand with me. As we read our gospel reading this morning. Don't you love that prayer of illumination? I hope you hear that Justin read earlier, that all of our readers will read before we read it. And there's one part in it I love, which is, let us hear today with joy what you say to us. 00:00:35 Wouldn't it be nice to leave here and say, you know what? I feel joy because God has spoken, right? Jesus loves me. This I know how. Cause the Bible tells me so. 00:00:46 Right. All right. Let's jump in here and start with verse 36 here, and we'll go halfway into it. Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, peace be with you. They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 00:01:05 He said to them, why are you afraid or frightened? Sorry. And why did doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet. See that it is I myself. 00:01:18 Touch me and see. For a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet, while in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering. He said to them, have you anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. 00:01:48 Then he said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, thus it is written that the messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Jesus, help us today as you open our eyes and our minds to understand the scriptures. We pray in your name. 00:02:38 Amen. And you can be seated. 00:02:43 Well, chapter 24 is a big deal. It holds for us. I mean, in the gospel of Luke, chapter 24, huge deal. Resurrection, the road to Emmaus. Remember that. 00:02:56 And then now this story on that very night of the road to Emmaus, which is the very day of the resurrection. Okay, lots of stuff going on here. And then finally, chapter 24 is gonna end also with the ascension of Jesus into the heavens. That's where he ends. And of course, Luke the author, remember, is the author also of what book acts. 00:03:20 Right? And guess how acts begins the ascension of Jesus. So it's almost like when we watch a show and then season one is done, and then you're waiting, waiting, waiting. Season two comes out and then they recap for you. Remember, they show a little bit of what happened in the last season, even sometimes reshowing it. 00:03:38 That's what Luke is doing. He's trying to say, listen, these go together, okay? When Jesus ascends, then the spirit descends, right? And so this Easter tide, as we call it, this time of Easter that we're in right now, represented with white, of course, for this resurrection and celebration and all of that that lasts for 50 days until Pentecost, which will change our season once again, right? And so 40 days, though, in Jesus ascends into heaven. 00:04:07 So during that 40 days, he's going to appear to many. And so we get these appearings of Jesus here in the text. And so our readings, if you've noticed, have actually been about the day of the resurrection or the days following within that week. And so again, we're parked here. Luke parks us here on this one day. 00:04:31 And there was a lot of thi Send us a text…
And we're going to be looking at verses 19 through 31. 00:00:13 Once you've found your place in the Gospel of John, chapter 20, beginning with verse 19, please stand for the reading of God's word. 00:00:25 Hear the word of the Lord. So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, peace be with you. And when he had said this, he showed them both hands and his side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. 00:00:53 As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit if you believe. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 00:01:16 So the other disciples were saying to him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. After eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, reach here with your finger and see my hands and reach here your hand and put it into my side. 00:01:50 And do not be unbelieving. But believing, Thomas answered and said to him, my lord and my God. Jesus said to him, because you have seen me, have you believed. Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed. Therefore, many other signs. 00:02:08 Jesus also performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. Let's pray. Father, may your will be done, Jesus, may your word be proclaimed in spirit. May your work be accomplished in us. We pray. 00:02:30 Amen. You could be seated. 00:02:35 I could count probably a handful of times that I've studied this passage and heard about it in Sunday school and growing up in the church, and it's always referenced, or the title of that teaching or the preaching was doubting Thomas. I remember my grandparents often attributing Thomas with this doubt of faith. And as I matured in my faith and as I continue to read through the scriptures and study all of scripture, and specifically here, the gospel of John. I do not know why so many have taught such a negative view about Thomas and why Thomas gets the bad rap over the last three days at this point, before they're gathered here in this room for fear of the jews, you have Peter denying Jesus in the courtyard. You have all the disciples scattering. 00:03:22 But yet Thomas is the one that gets the negative rap. He's the one doubting because he won't believe his own brothers. The disciples that they witnessed and have seen, the resurrected Jesus, none of them have believed necessarily. Mary, remember, was the first one to encounter the resurrected Lord, and she was sent to go tell them. If Mary was sent to tell the disciples that Jesus has risen to go meet him in Galilee, why are they in a room with fear of the Jews? 00:03:50 The gospel of Luke would tell us, matter of fact, Jesus tells us that they are fearful and doubting in Luke 24. So I'm of the mind that we can't have this negative view. And I don't know where it comes from honestly about Thomas, and Thomas alone. When all the disciples over the events that took place in the last three days left their allegiance Send us a text…
According to John, chapter 20. The Gospel of John, chapter 20. Now, remember, John wrote quite a bit in the Bible. I had a student recently tell me, he said, hey, instructor, I read John. I actually read all three of them, but I didn't read the Gospel of John, which is actually the assignment. 00:00:22 And so he read the epistles of John, but he didn't quite get to John. Well, in the sequence of things, we want to read John first and then his epistles, and then, of course, that final book, the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse, the appearing of the end, the appearing of Jesus Christ himself. And so John wrote a lot. We're going to focus in and dial in this morning, of course, on the resurrection story. Stand with me as we read from John, chapter 20. 00:00:53 And starting right there at verse one, notice these words. This is the word of God. Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have laid him. Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 00:01:35 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb. First. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there and the cloth that had been on Jesus head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. 00:02:09 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept. She bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 00:02:45 They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken away my lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for? 00:03:13 Supposing him to be the gardener? She said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him, in Hebrew, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not hold on to me because I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father to my God and your God. 00:03:46 Mary Magdalene went out and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. And she told them that he had said these things to her. Jesus, thank you for your word. And now we pray that the same holy spirit that inspired these words would move among us this morning, teaching us all things that pertain to salvation and to our mission here as your church. We pray in your name. 00:04:19 Amen. You can be seated. 00:04:27 He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And this is our refrain this morning, and ultimately the fundamental confession of our faith. For Paul says, without the resurrection, we are of all people to be pitied. 00:04:47 Without the resurrection, we can all go home. This is just a show. Without the resurrection, we have no hope. Listen. No hope beyond the grave. 00:04:57 In other words, all those who have already passed before us to th Send us a text…
ad 00:00:00 To mark chapter 15. Mark chapter 15. And this is, well, I can say officially to you all, welcome to Holy Week. Okay, so welcome to Holy Week. And this is, of course, Palm Sunday. 00:00:16 But it's interesting, this day, this Sunday really holds intention, all right? The celebration, but also the passion. All right? It holds intention, interestingly, this week, because we have the whole week ahead of us, right? Like, in other words, if you don't come to any of the services, which I really hope you do, then you just move from Palm Sunday straight to Easter Sunday, which then you kind of miss the cross, right? 00:00:46 So on this day, the church has asked us to actually read two different readings, which we've already read. One, which is this triumphal entry, right? And the second one, though, deals with the passion of the Christ. All right, these are the last of the week. It's Friday, all right? 00:01:05 And so I want you to join with me as we look here, Mark 15. We got something going on there, Bob, was I. Yeah, yeah, I think I'm coming through on the live or something. You hear that? You hear that bit of an echo? 00:01:26 Yeah. Oh, there you go. It's done. All right, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to come down and read, in the midst of all of us, this whole chapter of chapter 15. 00:01:37 We can all pay attention to this very. I mean, this is like the crescendo of the gospel. It is the very center of our faith here, what's happening at the cross. So if you would stand with me and then turn toward where I'm located here, somewhat in the middle, and notice these words reading from the NRSV here. As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. 00:02:09 They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews? He answered him, you say so? Then the chief priest accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, have you no answer? 00:02:29 See how many charges they bring against you? But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. Now, at the festival, he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now, a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 00:02:59 Then he answered them, do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews? For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over but the chief priest stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them. Instead, Pilate spoke to them again. Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews? They shouted back, crucify him. 00:03:29 Pilate asked them, why? What evil has he done? But they shouted, all the more, crucify him. So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them. And after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. 00:03:48 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace that is the governor's headquarters. And they called together the whole cohort, and they clothed him in a purple cloak. And after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him, and they began saluting him. Hail, king of the Jews. They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 00:04:19 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. They compelled a passerby who was coming in from the country to carry his cross. It was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought jesus to the place called Golgoth Send us a text…
You can be done at your home, not by yourself. Communion at home, by yourself. No. Let's just go ahead and say that. No, the church has said no to that for 2000 years. 00:07:27 You can't do that on your own. There has to be an authority placed there by God, called of God and trained of God, and in the apostolic line, actually. So that it's not heretical what we're doing here. You say, I don't think you're that special, though. Agreed? 00:07:45 100%. Okay. But here it is. I have a calling that I'm under an authority given to me as a pastor. Listen, and trust me when I say it is a weight at times. 00:07:59 It is a weight at times. I worry, okay? I worry about you. I worry about what we're doing here. Making sure that we're aiming at what is right, doing what is helpful, to bring people to Jesus, to make disciples, and then to serve others and listen. 00:08:17 One of our fundamental things as a church, right? Gather, scatter, matter. We gather for worship once a week. That's it. Just once a week. 00:08:29 How many things have you joined that require more than once a week? Kind of like your job, right? Kind of like sports, kind of like eating. Got to do it all the time, right? It's everyday kind of thing. 00:08:41 All right, worship. We have one day that's designated, and it's designated by God himself. Brothers and sisters, you say it's just arbitrary. Somebody just chose that. That is not true. 00:08:53 It is not true. And it was given by authority to those who first went and saw him risen from the dead. You see, when you come into Christianity, you're not coming into something you design. Not something I design, but rather something. We come under something. 00:09:13 We come into an already established family, an already established order. And this is important for us because we're so used to kind of. Yeah, it's just a suggestion. Like most things in our life. The boss says to do this, I'll stretch out a little bit. 00:09:35 The law says to do this, but I'll stretch that a little bit. Right? Some of us are guilty of that. Right? Heavy foot, anybody? 00:09:42 No? Okay, just. All right. You already know. You already pinned me. 00:09:45 I have to ask for forgiveness for that. That's true. No, we're coming into something that is not ours to remake, but we are to be remade now. That's what we're baptized into, brothers and sisters. That's what we rise into, is a new family, one created by God himself. 00:10:10 It's called the church. It's called the church. Okay, so here they are. They're worshiping. But notice, isn't it interesting? 00:10:18 Listen, anytime there's, like, this little nuance, this little interesting tidbit in John particularly, much less the rest of the Bible, but John particularly, because he has a lot of them, something like this, they went up to worship. Who? Well, there were some Greeks. He just mentions this, and he never. Do you ever see him come back up again? 00:10:36 No. It's just like what happened to those really. It's not clear in the text, but it's this little tidbit. What's going on there? Well, these Greeks were coming up to Passover. 00:10:46 This is Passover. If we want to locate, again, contextually, here in John. We're already past the triumphal entry. We're already past Palm Sunday in chapter twelve here. We're past that now. 00:10:57 All right. We're on the other side of it. And right before that text, here's what happens. 00:11:05 Notice this. Truly sorry. Hold on. Let me find this. I'm in 13. 00:11:12 Look at this. The Pharisees then said to one another, you see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him now. They've just seen the triumphal entry, the Send us a text…
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Mark 8 is the pivotal chapter in this gospel. Jesus clarifies his mission and what it will take to follow him. Send us a text
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Mark 13:24-37 Send us a text
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