February 21, 2012

What does the seed do?

Mark 3

²⁶      And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.²⁸ For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.²⁹ But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰                   Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?³¹ It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth;³² but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."

The power of the spreading of the gospel is the point of these parables.  When the seed of the gospel is spread we do not know where it will take root and grow.  As seeds are put in the ground and grow up and bear fruit so is the working of the gospel.   The gospel bears the fruit.  I remember going to seminars to become a better “soul-winner.”  The idea was that if we could somehow be better at presenting the gospel more people would be saved.  It was a great premise and a great motivation to want to learn better ways to give the gospel.  However, I cannot cause the gospel to bear fruit! 

Conversely, when the gospel is working in someone’s heart I cannot pluck it out.  I cannot make someone get saved nor can I stop the work of the Spirit in someone who is coming to faith.  We plant, we water, but God gives the increase.  Do we have a responsibility to give out the seed of the gospel?  Absolutely, Jesus commanded it as His final commission to His followers.  But we cannot bring someone to faith, only the power of the gospel can do that.

Then when someone comes to Christ, the second parable tells of a tree growing from a small seed.  Again, the seed is the gospel and the growth of the tree is someone coming to faith through the seed.  When one comes to faith in Christ they become like a great tree bearing fruit and providing shade.  A life lived for Christ influences others to come to Christ, bears the fruit of the Spirit helping others both saved and lost and is a place of strength in a barren world. 

What has the gospel done in your life?

We received a call from a church in Kansas City wanting to bring their school choir to our church the first Sunday in April.  We would need to house 32 people Saturday night.  How many of you would be able to house some teenagers or sponsors? 

On Sunday night our family spent time thanking God for opening up ministry opportunities over the weekend.  From RU to Mike’s funeral to church Sunday God opened many hearts for ministry of the word.  Keep praying for our community to be opened to the seed of the gospel.

There are many people amongst us in need.  Please keep each other in your prayers.  Beth Kochan is going in for a biopsy Wednesday.  This is disconcerting to her.  Pray that it not be cancerous and pray for God’s grace and strength for her and Tim and Chris. 

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

February 17, 2012

Gain truth, don’t  lose it

Mark 4:24 Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

25 "For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

Using the form of a proverb, Jesus teaches us something about the stewardship of truth.  While these proverbs could be used of money, the rich tend to get richer and poor tend to get poorer, Jesus was teaching about economics but about the kingdom of God.  The expression “take heed” was an idiom meaning, “pay attention to” or “give this your undivided attention.”  When it comes to truth then, we are to give attention to listening to it.  For when we give our undivided attention to listening to truth we will understand it in a greater measure.  Then when we have an understanding of truth in our minds we can receive more of it. 

However, when we do not pay attention to truth or only give it a little bit or our attention, we will not get much nor will we get much more.  This is exemplified by the person who comes to church Sunday morning but never again picks up their bible until the next Sunday.  The truth they heard will be diluted by a week of life and they will not have added to it by paying attention throughout the week. 

And then Jesus adds another proverb that seems a bit unfair.  Those who give their undivided attention to the teaching of truth will gain an understanding and will gain more.  But those who do not give their attention to the hearing of truth, even what little truth they have will eventually be lost.  This is not unfair; it is just the way life works.  I have known many men who having gone to church as children knew the truths of God’s word.  But as teens they left the church to follow their lusts and as grown men had nothing of the truth left in them. 

Using the words of Jesus, “Take heed what you hear.”  Add to your knowledge of the truth with more truth and be diligent about it lest what you have be taken away and you be left without any guiding truth.

I am back in the office now and feeling much better.  Not quite 100% but much better than Monday through Wednesday.  Jared seems to have contracted the cold.  Poor child, he does not realize it but just becomes lethargic when he gets sick.

Patrick Bland asked prayer for friends of theirs, Doug and Melissa.  Melissa was pregnant with twins and has lost both of them.  It is a sad story and a painful one.  Pray for these believers who are seeking God’s will and comfort. 

Michael Roberts died this week.  Those who knew Mike knew him as one who was kind, friendly, and willing to help out.  He had a life-long battle with addiction that finally took his life.  We are hosting a memorial service for Mike this Saturday at 5:00PM.   Bobbi is looking for ladies to help bring food for a reception following the service.  Pray for Fred and Bonnie and Mike’s sister Susie during this difficult time.

A woman stopped by yesterday and is bringing her adult son to RU tonight.  Pray that this man will come and will give his life to Christ.   Pray for all who are coming to RU to get serious with God and give Him all that they have and are.

Bob Fowler is in good spirits but the doctors have determined that nothing else can be done for his cancer.  Keep him and Kristin in your prayers.

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

February 15, 2012

What are you hiding? Is it really hidden?

Mark 4

²¹      Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?²² For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

From the beginning of sin men and women have tried to hide their sin from God.  Adam and Eve hid in the Garden.  Cain denied killing Abel and on and on it has gone.  Throughout our lives we hide our sin.  We don’t want anyone to think less of us so we hide from them sins that would do just that.  In the process of becoming good hiders of sin, we somewhere cross a line and think that we are hiding something from God Himself.  We justify sin, we compare with others’ sin, and we decide that we are doing pretty good and that even God would agree with us. 

Jesus here lets us know the truth.  After all, He is the truth.  And the truth is that we are not hiding anything and that one day the most hidden secrets will be brought out into the light.  Have you ever taken a flashlight under your couch and been ashamed that it was so dirty under there?  What is going to happen when God shines His flashlight under the hidden places of your life?  What is He going to see? 

The action point here is to hide nothing from God, be honest with yourself and with others, let Jesus take all of your sin and put on His righteousness and then confess and forsake sin throughout your life.  There will be those faithful servants who will hear the Master say, “Well done, enter into the joy of thy Lord,” 

Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory but shall be the legacy of fools.

There were many well wishers for my birthday yesterday.  I was humbled by the outpouring of friendship and respect.  We had a nice dinner here last night ending it with a slide show our trip to see Justin’s family.  It was a good day.

I have contracted a cold that is not leaving me alone.  Pray with me for it to depart and not to bother anyone else in the house.

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

February 14, 2012

Which one is truly receiving the Gospel?

Mark 4: The Parable of the Sower

¹     And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.² Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:

³     "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.⁸ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

⁹     And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

The Purpose of Parables

¹⁰   But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.¹¹ And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,¹² so that

        ' Seeing they may see and not perceive,

        And hearing they may hear and not understand;

        Lest they should turn,

        And their sins be forgiven them.' "

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹³            And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?¹⁴ The sower sows the word.¹⁵ And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,¹⁹ and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

As Jesus taught in parables, He used common examples to explain eternal truths.  A very important truth is taught in this parable. (I had better be careful, they are all important.)

The same seed is thrown on the ground but four different results happen.  When the gospel is given it is the same gospel but we find here four different responses to the giving of that gospel.  Some people have no spiritual interest at all and as soon as they can get away from the gospel giver they do and think nothing about that seed again.  Some love it, grab it but never let the seed of the gospel sink into their wills and before long get caught up with drama and trials and difficulties and distractions and the like.  The seed sown is killed by the myriad pressures. 

Then there are some who receive the gospel and begin to grow in their “new” faith.  But they never produce fruit.  A plant without fruit is not attached to the vine.  Jesus taught that in John 14.  When we abide in the vine we will bear fruit.  From this parable we can learn that unless someone bears the fruit of the Spirit in their lives they are not true receivers of the gospel. 

For the soil that took the seed and allowed it to grow and bear fruit typifies the life that hears the gospel, receives it, and is changed by it.  That new life will bear the fruit of the Spirit and will be unable to hide that fruit. 

What fruit are you producing? 

We had a great trip out to Fair Oaks, California with our son, his wife and their children.  Quite frankly, it was a blast!  We loved every minute there and are so thankful to have children serving God and seeking to raise children by God’s standards.  They are good boys and it was hard to leave them. 

I have contracted a head cold from the trip.  Little Hudson had a runny nose which I wiped when necessary.  Apparently I got too close to the germs.

Thanks to Ben for preaching Sunday morning!  He brought us a strong message on walking in the Spirit from Galatians 5. 

Pastor Bill is speaking at Sunrise this morning, pray for his strength. 

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

February 3, 2012

True Relatives

Mark 3

³¹      Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.³² And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."

³³      But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"³⁴ And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!³⁵ For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

When you were born you were born into a family.  Families take different views on the value of their relationships.  A lot of families accept each other only when they do what is expected of them.  Any deviation from what is expected can yield rejection by the family. And yet, families are important.  They are the building-blocks of society.  Strong families make strong children, strong neighborhoods and a strong nation. 

In this passage, Jesus did not diminish the family.  When His human family came to Him asking Him to come with them back home.  They were not sure Jesus was in his right mind and thought they could gather around Him and help Him.  At the cross, Jesus reminded John to take care of “mom.”  But at this point, Jesus turned to the crowd, with his family listening, and said that those who do the will of the Father are His true family.

I have found this true in church families.  When a person comes to Christ their natural family does not understand what has happened to their brother or sister.  They sometimes try to call them back to the “family” to talk some sense into them.  At that time the believer finds more identity with his or her Christian family than with their blood relatives. 

When we are related to each other through the Fatherhood of God, John 1:12, we are family.  We understand life, we understand values, we understand God’s word and will.  Those who do not have God as their heavenly Father do not get it and can bring pain to us.  Identify with your family in Christ.  Jesus did. 

Remember to pray for Pastor Bill’s services in the community today.  Pray for open hearts to the Word of God. 

Remember to pray for RU throughout the day.  Spiritual battle takes place throughout the day as the powers of darkness resist the work of God in the lives of those who need to attend.  Pray for Dave and the other leaders who will be teaching and counseling and providing biblical counsel. 

Pray for Sunday as I will be preparing for the morning message throughout the day. 

Tomorrow morning is our men’s prayer breakfast at Denny’s at 7:30.

Have a great day in the Lord,

PS

February 2, 2012

The unpardonable sin

Mark 3

 28 "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;

 29 "but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" --

 30 because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

 This passage has caused much debate regarding the “unpardonable sin.”   Some churches have a list of unpardonable sins, but Jesus only listed one. 

The Pharisees, in their hatred of Jesus, could not give glory to God for the miracles that Jesus did.  To give glory to God would have meant that they acknowledged the deity of Jesus which they just could not do.  But since they could not deny the miracles they ascribed the miracles to Satan who was doing his work through Jesus.   This was the pinnacle of blasphemy!  The Scribes has such reverence for God that they would not utter nor write the word “Jehovah” YHWY.   Their respect for the name of God was more than God required.   They would never have ascribed the work of God to the devil.  But in their denial of Jesus as God or from God they blasphemed God.

This blasphemy was the worst blasphemy of all time.  It was this blasphemy that Jesus said that there was not any forgiveness available to those who uttered it.  This was not accidental blasphemy.  This was well thought, well planned, and precisely executed.  They knew what they were doing and chose to give Satan glory for the work of Jesus Christ.  This is why Jesus’ rebuke of them was so strong; they knew exactly what they were doing.  

Most human beings will not commit the unpardonable sin.  There is only one sin that God will not forgive.   Therefore, whatever you have done in your life, except this blasphemy,  God will forgive you.  Forget what any other church has said or taught, all other sin can be forgiven.  It has been said that suicide is the unpardonable sin.  The Bible does not teach that.  We have known people with very solid faith in Christ to go into a depressed state and commit suicide.  It is the saddest death a person can die but it does not condemn one to hell unless they die in unbelief. 

The blood of Jesus Christ was shed to save sinners.  Paul called himself the chief of sinners in whom a pattern of forgiveness was established for all who would follow.  If God could forgive and save Saul of Tarsus He could save anyone.  Therefore, we pray for all lost men and women and children to come to Christ and find Him able and willing to forgive them of all their sin.

We do have men’s prayer breakfast this Saturday morning at 7:30 at Denny’s.  This has become a well-attended event and a great time of fellowship and bible study and prayer.   If you don’t usually come, join us Saturday morning. 

A correction to yesterday’s announcement about our concert Saturday night, it is with the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club.  These really are a fun time and the music is top notch.  If you can make it, you won’t be disappointed. 

Remember to continue constant in prayer with watchfulness for one another.  

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

February 1, 2012

Misunderstood in your faith?

Mark 3

²⁰      Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.²¹ But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."

²²      And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."

²³                   So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: "How can Satan cast out Satan?²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.²⁷ No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

Notice today just how much Jesus himself was misunderstood.  On the one hand, the multitude came to Him to be healed of diseases and to be set free from demonic possession.  Whoever came to Jesus He healed.  The crowd that came was so large that people could hardly bring their hands to their mouths to eat their lunch. 

Jesus own people, which would be his family, his brothers, his uncles, heard about the crowd and thought Jesus was out of His mind.  Imagine, they thought Jesus needed to be rescued from Himself!  They must have thought that Jesus was acting crazy and the crowd came to see just how crazy He was.  When people today come to Christ and give their lives to Him, family members still think they have lost their mind.  When a believer changes his or her values goals and future plans because of Christ their family does not understand.  We are in good company.

But then, even the religious people did not understand Jesus and misunderstood His work.  Because they could not cast out demons but had demon possessed people even in their synagogues, they assumed Jesus was part of satan’s host!  Again, this has happened often in church history.  When someone gave their lives to Jesus the religious crowd would feel threatened and want to ostracize or even kill the follower of Jesus.  Spiritual people, possessed of the Spirit of God, do not do satan’s bidding but God’s.  Those who do satan’s bidding are his followers.  Jesus is the strong man who binds the weaker one, satan. 

Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.  If they misunderstood our Lord and Master, we can expect to be misunderstood. 

A young man came to Christ at Wayside this morning.  Pray for Zack to grow in his new faith. 

A friend of mine, Kent, had a massive stroke early Tuesday.  Pray for Kent’s recovery and for his wife and son, Steven. 

Tonight is our prayer time, please join us in our dependence upon God.

Sonia had a vehicle breakdown.  Pray for her needs.

This Saturday night the Glee Club is having a joint concert with the Michigan State Men’s Glee Club.  If you would like to join us for an evening of music, contact me for tickets.

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 31, 2012

Called by Jesus to follow Jesus

Mark 3

¹³                   And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.¹⁴ Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,¹⁵ and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:¹⁶ Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter;¹⁷ James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder";¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

Have you ever thought about what it might be like to be called by Jesus to be one the 12 apostles?  Have you ever whished that you lived during the time of Jesus so you could have followed Him and perhaps been one of these 12?  That would have been amazing, to say the least.   But I don’t think the 12 really understood the implications of the call of Jesus probably until the Day of Pentecost after the resurrection and ascension.  They often did not understand Jesus’ teaching and one of them, Judas Iscariot heard Jesus for over three years and still betrayed Him. 

Well, notice here that Jesus called the men that He Himself wanted.  He came knowing whom He was going to call to be a disciple and called them.  And, those He called came to Him.  Has Jesus called into your life?  Have you known His voice calling you follow Him?  2 Peter 3:9 tells us that He is not willing that any should perish.  Romans 10 tells us that whom He calls them He chooses.  Whom does God desire to be saved?  He desires that all be saved.  Who gets saved?  Those He calls are saved for they hear His voice and they follow Him. 

Are you praying that someone be saved?  Pray that they will hear the voice of God calling them above the noise of their lives.  People are not listening to the Lord they are too busy with life to do that.  When they go to church they go to ask for something not to listen.  Encourage them to listen to the Lord who is trying though His word to speak to their hearts.  For if they hear His call they will be able to follow Him.

Then we see that those who followed Jesus were empowered by Him to do His work.  Jesus work is a spiritual work on a spiritual plane.  I am not empowered to heal physical issues of life and death but I am empowered to do battle against spiritual hosts of wickedness.  Christ Himself saves us and empowers us to do spiritual battle and to come to spiritual victory. 

Are you called by God to follow Him, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?  Has He empowered you to live for Him and to lead others to spiritual victory?    Then you have the same opportunity through the written word and the Holy Spirit to be a disciple, a called follower of Jesus even today.

Jessie and I went to Victory Academy Sunday night and Monday.  It was great to see the work there.  We got to spend some time with the boys.  Please keep them in your prayers as there are some great spiritual battles taking place.  Keep Chris and Julie in your prayers.  They are doing very well and little Evelyn is really cute!  We got to play together for quite a while. 

Sunday at our church was a great testimony to the beautiful unity God has given us.  We are seeing God bring us together and then being able to see what God can do through a unified church.  Pray with me for the continued unity that we have so that God can do His work through us knowing that He will receive the honor for the results. 

I loved hearing the annual reports from the different ministries!  What a joy to hear what God has done and is doing, the amount of people involved and the amount of lives being ministered to.  Keep up the great work to the glory of God.

Have a great day in the Lord,

PS 

January 27, 2012

People above traditions

Mark 3:

¹        And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.² So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.³ And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward."⁴ Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent.⁵ And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

⁷                      But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea⁸ and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.⁹ So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.¹⁰ For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.¹¹ And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."¹² But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

Jesus loved people and showed it wherever He went on whatever day it was.  The Pharisees loved their rules and regulations and lifted them above people.  Jesus went to the synagogue and wanted to help someone on the Sabbath.  He knew the Pharisees would be against it but he healed a crippled man anyway.  The Pharisees were infuriated but the man was happy and the people then flocked to Jesus with their needs. 

I read a book once about churches being so busy with their programs that if God showed up and tried to change the program at all He would be told not to do so.  Do we look forward to Jesus being in church with us?  If someone has a testimony that “messes up” the program do we allow the Lord to use someone who is not scheduled to speak?   If the Lord wants to work, do we let Him or are we like the Pharisees who did not want Jesus to “mess up” their plans? 

We need to be so intuned with people and their needs that whether they ask for help or not we are looking to bring Jesus into the equation.  We need to get past our protocol, sometimes, and let the Lord do His work.  The result for Christ was that multitudes followed Him.  I believe this: people today still need the Lord Jesus but most have never seen Him through the lives of true believers. 

Are you willing to let someone see Jesus through you?  It might mean changing something about your schedule, your likes or dislikes, where you go, who you care for, what you are supposed to do or more.  It may be that others might think you crazy or not too spiritual.  That does not matter, follow the Lord’s leading to care for someone for His sake. 

My fuel pump went out yesterday, yeah.  At least it went out in my driveway. 

Pray for Pastor Bill’s two services today.  The first at Spring Meadow Retirement Center and the second at Sunrise Assisted Living.  The Spring Meadow service used to be well attended but some have died and some have moved away.  Pray for others to respond to the invitation to come. 

Pray for RU tonight as they have been having upwards of twenty to twenty-five people.  God is working on men’s and women’s hearts and we rejoice. 

Pray for Sunday as we prepare messages, lessons and songs for the service.

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 26, 2012

What is more important?

Mark 2

 23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.

 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"

 25 But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:

 26 "how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"

 27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

 28 "Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."

 When man takes over for God he thinks God needs to follow His prescriptions.   Here the Pharisees had built rules around the Law so that people would not break the Law.  Was it more important to eat on the Sabbath or to observe the Sabbath?  To the Pharisee it was more important to keep every law than to meet human needs.  Jesus quotes from the story of King David bringing his soldiers into the temple and asking for the showbread.  This bread was sanctified for the temple use but David knew that God would be honored if he met the physical needs of his men. 

Jesus went on to say that Sabbath, the day of rest, was created for man.  When religion gets ahold of men’s lives it makes rules that men have to keep if they want to be a good religionist.  Jesus debunked all of this thinking.  Man was not made for religion but for God.  Be careful what you hold up as absolute standards that must be followed at every turn of life.  God has created us and He has created this world.  He knows our needs and made the world to meet our needs. 

I think Jesus is saying here that He was more concerned with the needs of his disciples than with the Pharisees laws and opinions.   We can be too concerned about what someone else thinks about us and miss opportunities to care for someone in need.   We are instructed to do all that we do for the glory of God.   What greater way to show the glory of God than to help someone in their time of physical need.  Let’s not get hung up in what someone else might think but let’s care for those who have needs in their time of need. 

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and of all things.  We are to live for Him.

We saw Kim Lavryk yesterday.  She has improved having used the cpap machine.  Do keep her in your prayers.  While there we met a friend of hers who has no leg.,  Melissa was born this way but is the sweetest person you could meet.  She wants to go back home and asks us to pray for her to get back to health.   After being with Kim and meeting Melissa I decided that I did not have any problems.  Some perspective. 

Keep the daycare in your prayers.   We still need more children to make the finances work.  Pray for us also to have ministry with these families.

Have a great day in the Lord,

PS

January 25, 2012

We can’t make Jesus like us but are to let Him make us like Him

Mark 2: ¹⁸             The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"

¹⁹                   And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

The world did not understand Jesus life.  They expected Him to act like them.  They saw Jesus as a man who did not keep the Law of God instead of as God who set the Laws of men.  Men today still try to put Jesus into their boxes hoping that they can justify their actions as the Pharisees ever sought to justify themselves. 

We are called to put ourselves into Jesus to let Him live through us.  We still tend to want Jesus to match our lives, match our likes and dislikes and to approve of our thoughts.

Jesus answer to the Pharisees let them know that His disciples were acting just as He wanted them to and were not required by Law to do differently.  Jesus fulfilled the OT Law and when He lives through us He lives the completed Law in us.  We do things contained in the Law because of Christ in us not because we had to memorize and keep it. 

As long as Jesus was with His disciples they did not fast.  They did not need to they had God with them.  We fast because we are burdened and pray to God to accomplish His purposes through us.  We do not fast to be seen of men but to be seen by God that He might manifest His will through us in a clear way.  One day, when we are with our Groom and united with Him eternally, we will no longer fast for we will be with Him and all will be known. 

Until then, we are to live lives of faith in our Lord Jesus, let Him live through us, believe His word and recognize the lies of temptation.  We are to seek His will to let that will be lived through us.  He then takes our old lives, the old wineskins, and replaces them with His new life for us, the new wineskins.  The old rips and tears and cannot hold the will of God.  The new can stretch and grow with the new will of God.  The old was dead, the new is alive.  The old was the sin nature, the new is the nature of Jesus Christ in us and living through us.  “Oh Lord, live your new life through me today.”

Our men are at Wayside as I type.  Pray that their messages fall on hearts willing to hear and accept God’s word and will.

As I left Sunrise yesterday one woman thanked me for coming and with tears told me how much she missed going to church.  When we minister the Word of God believers are encouraged.  Thanks for your prayers for each ministry opportunity.

Did you watch the State of the Union address last night?  I wish it was as easy as our President made it sound.  One day, King Jesus will do all of that and more for He will do what is best for all mankind and will do so from a throne of peace.  Pray for our President to seek the God of heaven and seek His wisdom to do his job. 

Kim Lavryk is back in the hospital today.  Pray for her as her lungs are not getting the oxygen that her body needs.

See you tonight for prayer and bible study.

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 24, 2012

Jesus heals the sick of heart.  I was sick but am now healed

Mark 2

 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.

 15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.

 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"

 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

 I really do love this teaching.  To know that Jesus came to save those who were lost, those who were sick with sin, those who were in desperate need of a Savior, is to know that Jesus came to save me.  The truth is that every human being is sick with sin and is lost, separated from Christ for eternity.  Every human being is a sinner and not one of us is well but all are sick. 

There are men and women who think they are OK.  They think they have it all worked out with God and since they are not as bad as someone else they really aren’t in need of a Savior.  The murderer and the rapist need a Savior but they don’t.  In their mind they are not sick!  This is what the Pharisees felt about themselves in comparison to the truly sick ones of their society.  Because they were better than them they looked down their noses at them.  When Jesus met and ate with the sinners the Pharisees felt Jesus was below His class.  What Jesus told them was that they were as sick as the lowest of the low but were too proud to admit it and therefore would never know the Savior who came to save those who knew they were lost. 

Jesus came to save me.  I was lost in my sin and depraved in my thinking.  There was nothing good about me that caused God to want me.  I did not seek after God but after all of the desires of my wicked and sinful heart.  I was liar, a lustful man, and was not going to be content as my heart was filled with covetousness.  I was proud of who I was and what I could do and was unsubmissive to a God who wanted all of me.  Yet, when I felt the weight of my sin and realized that Jesus came to save me from sin and from my sinful self, from my sin-sickness Jesus healed me by His grace.  In my sin, Jesus called me to repentance and I have never been lost in sin again. 

I guess I like this passage because I see myself so clearly in it.  Then, in seeing myself I see Jesus coming to seek and to save me who was lost.  Amen and Amen!!!!!

Sunday morning we had a great time studying  the Helmet of Salvation from Ephesians 6”17.  The helmet of salvation protects our thoughts from satan’s attacks.   We are saved by God we are kept by God and God still has an eternal plan for our lives.  There is no reason to put up with spiritual and emotional insecurity.  Stand against satan’s schemes with the helmet of salvation.

The last week of March, school districts 203 and 204 both have Spring Break.  We would like to schedule a church trip to the Creation Museum near Cincinatti.  We would leave Sunday after morning service, go to the museum on Monday and return Monday evening.  The dates would March 25 and 26.  We are working on a price for this trip.  Stay tuned.

We loved having Doug and Ruth Bachorik and Julia, Joseph, Evan and Lydia with us Sunday.   What choice servants of God they are!  We were blessed by their ministry to us. 

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 19, 2012

Jesus heals a leper, He still heals us

Mark 1

⁴⁰      Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."

⁴¹      Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."⁴² As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.⁴³ And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once,⁴⁴ and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

⁴⁵      However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

When people know where to get help it is not unusual for them to go there.  I have been to Mayo Clinic which has been called the healing place or the place of miracles.  The doctors there have made some amazing breakthroughs in health issues that people suffer from.  When you get to Mayo and are accepted in you feel a sense of hope that maybe this time, maybe this place, maybe these people will be the ones to help.

In Jesus day, Jesus was the one people heard about and did all they could to get to.  If they could get to Jesus He could heal them and He could get them their lives back.  So with the man who had leprosy.  Leprosy was a disease much like cancer but was on the outside of the body.  Leprosy would eat the skin of it’s’ victim until it eventually took their life.  Leprosy, they believed, was highly contagious so once someone contracted it they had to move out of the house, away from their families.  They may never again feel the touch of a loved one who would be afraid to get the dreaded disease.  Leprous people gathered in colonies where they were brought food and clothes by family members or they begged for subsistence. 

So, when a leper came to Jesus imploring Him to make him clean, he was a desperate man coming to his last hope.  Notice what Jesus did for this man.  First of all Jesus was moved with compassion.  He cared for this man.  Perhaps no one had had genuine compassion for him since there was no cure and no hope for his condition.  Secondly, Jesus touched him.  No one touched him, no one dared.  But Jesus did.  God reaches past the worst of sins and touches those who come to Him.  He receives all sinners regardless of the depth of their sin and the corruption of their lives. 

Then Jesus spoke the words the man hoped to hear.  “I am willing, be you cleansed.”  And immediately the dreaded and painful disease left his body.  What a moment that was!  He who was put out of his home could now return.  He who could not enjoy the touch of his family could not go and be touched.  He who brought fear to all who knew him could now bring peace to them.  That which was condemning him had been removed and had been replaced by total health. 

Do you see a picture here of salvation?  We are lost in sin, cursed by sin and condemned by our sin.  We are separated from God and often from man because of our sin.  Because of our sin we will die and be separated from God and from man for eternity.  But Jesus comes and offers us life.  In fact, He calls us to Himself and removes our sin from us.  Cleansed from our sin we are free to live in Him, free to enjoy our families and friends like never before.  Focused upon Jesus every part of life changes and improves so much and we are no longer cursed and condemned but know life eternal and life abundant.  I am so thankful that Jesus is still healing people from the leprosy of sin, most of all I am glad that He has fully healed me.

Do you know the healing touch of Jesus Christ?  He is still in the healing business.  Call upon Him today to heal you from your sin and to set you free in His truth.

Begin to pray with me for Sunday.  We will have the Bachorick family with us this Sunday and look forward to their visit.  Doug will be reporting in the AM service and speaking in the evening service.  Doug and Ruth are choice servants of God and we will be blessed by their time with us.

We are not sure about the surgery that Patty’s mom, Betty, is or is not going to have.  She needs the surgery on her heart but the doctor is very concerned about her strength to go through with it.  Pray for wisdom and direction. 

Both Dad and Ben had opportunity to point people to Jesus yesterday.  Pray for a man and a woman who gave their lives to Christ to grow in their new faith.  I spoke to a man named Dan yesterday who did not think that praying a prayer could save him.  Pray for Dan to give his life to Jesus.

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 18, 2012

Is prayer our custom?

Mark 1

³⁵      Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.³⁶ And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.³⁷ When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."

³⁸      But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."

³⁹      And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.

If any one who ever walked on the earth did not need to pray we would say that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, did not need to pray.  And yet, His ministry was filled with prayer.  In fact, this passage says that he rose a great while before day and went out to be alone in prayer.  Jesus prayed, in one place it says, “as His custom was.”  The Apostles began to understand where Jesus was in the early morning hours.  Do those who know us know that we are people of prayer?  Do they know that we spend time with the Lord on a regular basis?  Maybe you are not a morning person, do you have a time of prayer? 

In fact, Jesus was more concerned about being in prayer than He was about his disciples worrying about Him.  Prayer was not just something Jesus did, prayer was vital to what He did.  Do we lace every activity with prayer?  Do we implore the throne of God for the events of each day to follow His plans and His goals?  Do we cry out to God in the middle of the day when we cannot quite see how something comes together?  Do we end the day thanking God for His leading and letting Him know that we are thankful for all that He did for us and through us?  Is prayer our custom?  It was Jesus’ custom. 

From prayer, Jesus left the town of Peter’s house and went to the next town.  Day after day Jesus went from town to town, from person to person, healing and dealing with the results of sin’s curse in the lives of people.  May God grant us a greater sensitivity to people’s real needs as we go from day to day.

I went to see Bob Fowler yesterday.  He was very alert and talked freely with me.  Last night Kristen got a call that he had turned for the worse.  Pray for Bob and Kristin today as they work through God’s will.

Yesterday was a great opportunity to minister God’s word to the people at Sunrise.  Remember to pray for a man named Rich who is young but had an adverse reaction to a medication and his fingers and toes are permanently curled up. 

Tim and Jessie and Ben are just finishing at Wayside this morning.  Pray that the Word given will sink into the hearts of these men.

Patty’s mom did not have surgery yesterday but is in the hospital for observation leading to surgery.

Tonight we will have prayer and Bible study at church.  I hope to see you there.

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 17, 2012

Always caring

Mark 1

²⁹      Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.³⁰ But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once.³¹ So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.

Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset

³²                   At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.³³ And the whole city was gathered together at the door.³⁴ Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.

Jesus quickly established His heart of compassion and care for those who were sick and demon possessed.   When He knew of a need, Jesus would meet that need.  He healed Peter’s mother-in-law, which was a great blessing to Peter’s wife and family.  Jesus saw people as significant.  He cared at a level unknown to mankind.  No one cared at Jesus’ level of care.  By going to heal Peter’s mother-in-law Jesus changed His whole day’s agenda.  For when the townspeople heard about the healing, they brought others until the whole city was gathered at the door.  Did Jesus send them away?   No, He carefully ministered to their every need. 

We spend a lot of energy inviting people to come to church and to church related activities.  No one invited this multitude to come, they came because needs were being met.  Is this now how church should be?  If your needs are being met when the Word of God is opened shouldn’t you be inviting others to have their needs met?  Getting people should not be like pulling teeth but should be as natural as one beggar telling another beggar where he can get bread. 

It was Jesus care that set Him apart from all who came before Him.  Elijah and Elisha healed some people and raised some from the dead and there were times when people were sent to them because of this power.  But there were none who could care as Jesus cared.  Not only did He teach people but He met their physical needs as well.  No, we cannot heal as Jesus did but we should care as Jesus cared.  We should open our hearts and our homes and our schedules and our wallets to care for people for Jesus’ sake.  What does this look like?  I spent five hours driving yesterday, spent gas money and bought lunch for a hungry family all to minister to their real needs.  I got home at midnight tired but rejoicing.  I met a man for prayer today, as every Tuesday morning.  We meet to pray for our neighbors.  When God brings people with needs across your path does He know that you will change your schedule and open your wallet and heart to help? 

Jesus cared at a level unknown to mankind at that time.  We now have an example of care and we should care for people as Jesus did.  He gave His all and those who came to Him knew it.  Do you give your all to show the care of Jesus to those who come around you?

Patty’s mom, Betty, is having open heart surgery some time this morning.  Pray for the surgery and for a quick recovery.  Pray for Patty as this is difficult for her as well. 

Pray for our service today at Sunrise that the Lord Jesus will be exalted.

Pray for one another this week.  Pick one or two at church to pray for then let them know on Sunday that you were praying for them. 

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 16, 2012

The powers of darkness must obey Jesus

Mark 1: ²³        Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,²⁴ saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are --- the Holy One of God!"

²⁵            But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"²⁶ And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.²⁷ Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."²⁸ And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

There are those who want to make Jesus only a great teacher.  He was that but He was more than that. Not only did Jesus teach with the authority of God but He also had authority over satan’s kingdom.  In Isaiah 14 we read that satan, Lucifer, Son of the Morning, wanted to be on an equal plane with God.  In his mind he could and should be.  The pride of his heart became sin and the sin grew so that he deceived himself and a third of the angels of heaven.  When they were expelled from heaven they made the earth their habitation. 

Since men are born sinners, sinful mankind was the perfect place for the powers of darkness to thrive and to do their evil work.  Away from God, these evil spirits inhabited men and women and children doing the work of satan both in the world and in the church. 

Jesus met a man in the synagogue who was controlled by such an evil spirit.  Jesus, the Light of the world, saw the darkness in this poor man’s soul and commanded it to leave. This was the first time the Lord Jesus, in his human body, made such a command and the onlookers watched in amazement as the evil spirit obeyed the Lord Jesus! 

Satan is not God and despite all of his pride must still listen to God.  There is not a man alive who has the power necessary to command the powers of darkness.  Jesus, God in flesh, had and still has that power.  Satan has no power over the Lord Jesus nor can he take back what God has saved and inhabits.  Satan sends his fiery arrows against God’s children but he cannot inhabit them.  Jesus lives in us and Jesus commands the powers of darkness and they must obey Him.

Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.  In the book of Revelation we read that God gives satan time to operate and God has already prescribed satan’s end. He will be cast into the Lake of Fire and will be tormented there as long as we who are redeemed are in heaven enjoying the presence of God.  Amen, and amen!

Yesterday was an awesome day at church.  With three baptisms, visitors, the joy of the Lord amongst our church members, the realization that we do not have to fall to any of satan’s fiery arrows of temptation and the blessed fellowship of the saints, it was an awesome day.  Last night we studied the man Barnabas and found that God uses all personality types to accomplish His purposes and His work. 

Today we are helping a struggling family get a car.  I love helping people beyond their means.  God has given us so much and whenever we are able to help someone else in a real and tangible way it is just fun. 

Tomorrow Patty’s mom is having open heart surgery.  Please pray with Patty for her mom as this is a delicate surgery. 

Have a great day in the Lord,

PS

January 12, 2012

Jesus taught with authority, He still does

Mark 1

 21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.

 22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

 From the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He went and taught at the synagogue.  Even at 12 years old Jesus was teaching in the synagogue.  So we are not surprised to find Him going immediately into the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Nor are we surprised to find Him teaching.  The usual teachers were the scribes who were trained in all of the ways of the Old Testament law.  They were experts in it having memorized, as a minimum, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  They also knew the books of the prophets having memorized much of them.  The scribes, however, had no authority of their own.  They were teachers.  As teachers the scribes quoted other scholars, much like we do today, to enforce their teaching points and their opinions about the Law and how it should be lived.

When Jesus got up and taught, as we read in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, He did not quote anyone.  No, Jesus did not talk about what Rabbi so-in-so thought nor about what a Pharisee expert said.  Jesus was the Word of God made flesh, John 1, so when He taught He simply spoke with the authority of God.  He explained the Law in ways no one had ever done before.  His teaching made sense and was understandable even by the most common of people who heard Him gladly.  Jesus spoke with words and illustrations that people understood.  He spoke of being the Good Shepherd, the Door, the Way, the Truth and the Life.  He spoke about masters and servants and wineskins new and old.  He spoke about yeast and salt and light.  Jesus spoke about His kingdom and about eternal life in heaven and eternal death in hell.  When Jesus spoke there was no question about what He was talking about.

When Jesus spoke He spoke with His own authority.  He was God in flesh.  He knew this though no one else really got it.  Jesus came with messages from God, John 17, and came with an agenda to give them all that God wanted them to hear.  The result of Jesus’ authoritative teaching was that the people were astonished, they were amazed.  They were accustomed to hearing a teacher teach with his own authority, none of the others did.  Jesus did and they liked it.  The words of Jesus must have been like cold water to a thirsty soul, like bread to a hungry soul.  The Water of Life and the Bread of Life was served and the people rejoiced. 

How do you respond to the teaching of Jesus?  It is still the same today as it was in that ancient synagogue.  How do you respond?

It is snowing!  Those who know that I drive a plow truck know that I am happy about this.  Those who don’t want it to snow should move to Florida or to Arizona or California.  We Midwesterners like snow once in a while, especially when we can make some money on it.  Do be careful though, don’t apply the brakes or the gas too fast, don’t jerk the steering wheel and you should be fine. 

Be in prayer for Sunday.  I will be bringing a message on the shield of faith.  What a great teaching this is!  It is by faith that we are saved and it is by faith that we live.  It is faith in God’s teachings that keep us from sin and error along the way.  Yes, the truth sets us free but faith in the truth quenches the fiery arrows of satan’s attacks upon our life.

Have a great day in the Lord,

PS

January 10, 2012

Follow Jesus

Mark 1

¹⁶      And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

¹⁷      Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

¹⁸      They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

¹⁹      When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.

²⁰      And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

In John’s gospel we learn that this was not the first time Jesus had met these men.  They had already met Him and had heard Him and had believed in Him.  At this point Jesus called these men to discipleship.   What is the call to discipleship?  It is a call to follow Jesus Christ with all that you have.  These four men were occupational fishermen.  Fishing is how they provided for themselves and for their families.  We might say today that these men were machinists who left their machines or that they were engineers who left their computers or truck drivers who left their trucks or salesmen who left their stores.  You might ask, “But how did they provide for their families?”   We were not given that information but Jesus did teach them that all who follow Him God will meet their needs.  Jesus did, on two occasions, fill their nets with fish and their baskets with food.  We never hear them complain that their families went without so the Lord must have met their needs.

Believing in who Jesus was, the Messiah from God, Peter, Andrew, James and John immediately left all to follow Him.  They learned at His feet, they watched Him heal and heard Him teach.  They observed more following Christ than they ever would have learned had they remained with their nets.

What does Jesus want from us today?  Does He want us to leave our jobs to follow Him?   Sometimes He does.  Jesus does want us willing to forsake all to follow Him.  Let’s get real basic.  Are you willing to turn off your TV to follow Christ?  Are you willing to change your priorities to follow Christ?  Are you willing to give your free time to follow Christ?  Are you willing to be a follower of Christ even at work?   I was recently at a work meeting where the company president told the men in the meeting that there was a new company policy to open every company meeting with prayer and he bowed and led us all in prayer.  Are you willing to take a stand and show that Jesus lives in you in every arena of life? 

Becoming a disciple is saying, “Lord, teach me all that you want me to learn.  I want learn from you and live like you.”  Do you consider yourself a disciple of Jesus Christ?  Would you tell the Lord that you want to be His disciple?  OK, now begin learning from and following Christ.  Begin saying yes to His every word as He lives His life through you.

Bob Fowler is still hanging on to life and his family is grateful.  Do keep Bob and Kristin and their family in your prayers.  These life and death ups and downs can be a real drain on them all.   We thank God for life.  He is the only giver and taker and we rejoice as long as He allows us to live and to love. 

I will be at Sunrise today at 10:30 and would appreciate your prayers for that service. 

Pray for one another today.  Call someone you have prayed for and let them know you did.  Be an encouragement to someone whose needs you do not know. 

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 9, 2012

Content? 

Mark 1          

¹⁴      Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

¹⁵      and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

Two thoughts for us today, first is that John the Baptist was a man who knew his purpose and did not ascribe to be more than God had determined.  John had quite a following.  Thousands came out to hear his hell, fire and damnation sermons and repenting of their sins were baptized.  They became followers of John the Baptizer.  But when Jesus came, John surrendered the spotlight to Jesus and dropped into relative obscurity.    In fact, he was arrested, imprisoned, and beheaded. 

Are we content with whatever God has for us?  Are we content to be in the limelight for a moment and taken from it the next?  Are we content with the will of God whatever or wherever it may be?  John was.  We should be.

Secondly today we look at the message that Jesus brought, His message was one of the opportunity to enter the kingdom of God.  Israel wanted their Messiah but they wanted an earthly king.  Jesus came as a king but as one in the hearts of men.  Entering into Jesus’ kingdom required faith.  Israel wanted a king they could see and follow because he took over the earthly kingdom. 

Are we content with a King who rules in our hearts?  Are we content with a King we cannot see but who wants us to give our lives fully to Him?  His kingdom is still at hand.  His kingdom still requires repentance, turning from all that we have to all that He is, and faith to enter.  Christ came inviting men and women into His kingdom.  He is still inviting us in.  Christ established His kingdom in His life and in His resurrection.  His kingdom is eternal but it begins in each of us the day we give our hearts and lives to Him. 

Each Sunday is a day of great blessing at Grace for Life Bible Church.  We see people come to church, we have children running the halls, our hearts are lifted in worship and praise, and the Word of God is taught and preached and discussed.  Yesterday was such a day.  I thank God for our church and for what He does each and every Sunday amongst us and through us. 

Caleb, Emily and Hannah left early today for Bob Jones University.  Pray for their protection today as they travel.  We sure did love having them all home.  They add so much to our house and to our church when they are here.

Allison and John leave tomorrow.  Pray for all of them as they begin a new semester.  Alicia is not able to return this semester.  She will be living with her mom and sister in Missouri.  Pray for God to meet her needs enabling her to return to school in the fall. 

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 6, 2012

Angels minister to those who stand

Mark 1:12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.

13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

Let’s focus today on the angels ministering to Jesus Christ.  For forty days Jesus was apart from people, family and friends.  (Some of us can’t be an hour away from our cell phones, emails and texts!)  For forty days Jesus prayed, fasted and spent time with God the Father.  He was about to embark on the most intense three and half years that anyone has ever lived.  At the end of that time Jesus was going to the cross as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.  At thirty years of age He was in His prime as a man.  Yet, Jesus did not assume anything, before beginning all of His ministry, Jesus spent an intense time with God.

While spending time with God, the Devil himself decided to attack Jesus.  So in His weakest physical moment, without food for a long time, satan tempted Jesus to eat.  He tempted Jesus with a thrill and he tempted Jesus with a short-cut to the cross.  Each time Jesus answered with scripture until the Devil had to leave.  Once the devil left, the Bible tells us that angels came and ministered to Jesus. 

When was the last time you resisted temptation by submitting yourself to God and with His word battled off temptation?  When you did and the temptation was past, did you enjoy the ministry of God’s angels bringing peace and joy to your soul?  If succumbing to temptations brings a war to your soul then standing against temptations brings peace and joy from heaven itself.  God sends His angels to give us assurance that we did the right thing and then we know that God is for us. 

There might be a moment in temptation when we feel tempted above what we are able. But God promises otherwise.  God wants us to stand against the wiles of the devil.  (Come Sunday for a fuller message on standing by having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.)  When we do, God sends us His messengers of peace affirming the victory and bringing greater joy than the sin could ever bring.

Our Friday night RU ministry has been seeing more people in attendance.  Pray that God will continually bring those whose hearts He is preparing.  Pray for our leadership to bring the truth of God with the love of God to these so desperate for truth in love.

Pastor Bill ministers at Spring Meadow this morning and at Sunrise in the afternoon.  Pray for God’s word to be received.  If you are looking for something to do with your children today either of these services are great opportunities for families to minister God’s love to the dear folk who live there.  Call Pastor Bill if you would like to come.  He meets at Spring Meadow at 11:45 and at Sunrise at 1:30.

Be in prayer for Sunday.  We are looking forward to a great day together in the house of the Lord.

Tomorrow morning is our monthly men’s prayer breakfast at Denny’s at 7:30.

Have a great day in the Lord,

PS

January 3, 2012

Jesus is God.  Worship Him and worship God.

Mark 1

⁹        It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

¹⁰      And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.

                  ¹¹       Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

At Jesus baptism a pattern was set for all future disciples of Him.  John was a bit reluctant to baptize the Messiah but Jesus compelled him telling that it was necessary.  Later, baptism, by immersion, became the physical identification for all true believers.  Anyone could believe in their heart but once that faith brought them to a public baptism they were committed followers and wanted all to know it. 

Baptism then was commanded by Jesus in the Great Commission.  A true follower of Jesus then will want to be baptized to fulfill the public testimony of the inward baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Ironically, the decision to follow Christ has not been the point of family rejection and potential persecution but the baptism has been that point. 

God physically approved of the baptism of Jesus by the descending of the Spirit upon Him signifying God’s anointing of Christ’s ministry.  Again, this was for men to see.  Jews knew what it meant for a prophet to be anointed by God.  Now, there was a true anointing. 

Here and at the Mount of Transfiguration God allowed men to hear His voice confirming the deity of Jesus Christ.  For men throughout history to deny the deity of Christ they have to deny events that were witnessed by many men.  Just because you decide to deny an event does not mean that it did not happen.  If the event does not fit your life philosophy you can deny it but your denying does not change its reality.  So with the deity of Jesus.  God Himself spoke from heaven and men heard His voice telling them that Jesus Christ came directly from Him and with Him God was well pleased. 

To follow Jesus is to follow God.  To deny Jesus is to deny God.  There is no middle ground here though many religions try to establish middle ground.  Jesus Christ is God in flesh.  God became man so we could see and touch and hear Him.  We understand much about God through the life and death of Christ.  He said that those who saw Him saw the Father also.  He said that He and the Father are one.  He said that those who rejected Him rejected the Father also. 

Come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and you will come to know God.  Follow Christ and you are following God.  Worship Jesus and you are worshipping God.

Pastor Bill is taking the Sunrise service today.  Pray for him as he ministers to these dear people’s hearts.  Tomorrow morning is our service at Wayside.  Pray ahead of time for that ministry of the Word. 

Wednesday night, missionaries Larry and Jane Parks will be in the service with us.  We support the Park’s work in Spain.  They will be giving an update of their ministry. 

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS

January 2, 2012

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Mark 1:

¹        The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²        As it is written in the Prophets: " Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You."

³        " The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ' Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.' "

⁴        John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

⁵        Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁶        Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

⁷        And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.

⁸                      I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

I find it interesting that people came to hear John.  He was not well dressed nor was he preaching a popular message.  He stood firmly on the message of repentance which exposed everyone for the sinners that they were.  Today John would have been told to tone down his message.  He would have been told that people would not put up with that type of exposing of their sin.  Yet, people came to him by the thousands! 

Even today, people love to hear the truth.  They like to have their ears tickled but when given the truth it is like water to a man dying of thirst.  Never back off from giving people God’s truth.  John preached truth and prepared people for the coming of Jesus Christ.  When the Lord came they were ready for Him.  When you give the truth of God to people you are preparing their heart for Christ to come to them. 

Our message to people needs to include Jesus Christ.  We can give them our testimony which must include the reason for our changed life is Christ and Him alone.  The message of Jesus and repentance from sin is a message of hope.  It is the water of life to a dying soul.  We are to prepare people’s hearts for the message of Jesus.  Live Christ and tell people why you live that way. As they see and hear Jesus in you their hearts are being prepared for Christ’s call to them. 

Finally, our message is not ours, it is Christ’s.  We are not worthy of Christ yet He comes to us by grace.  He is the One who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit.  At every chance, exalt Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord whom you have turned to and for whom you live.

My neighbor’s sister died within two days of her diagnosis.  Pray for this family to find God’s peace this week. 

Pastor Bill is ministering to a community family whose 32 year old son overdosed this weekend.  Pray for this situation that God would allow our church to minister to this family.  We have had several visitors come to church over the holidays.  Pray that we would be able to minister to their needs.  If you have time and would like to make some visits we have plenty to make. In a follow up visit we thank people for coming to our church and ask them for prayer requests and ask if they have any questions about our church.  Then we ask if they know the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord,

Tim has a special prayer request regarding a business trip he and Beth are taking this week.  He will tell us more about it later but requests our prayers for God’s leading.

We have a housefull again.  The Massey family has come in for two nights.  They are dear friends and we enjoy when they come. 

Have a great day in the Lord,

PS

December 29, 2011

How did Jesus defeat the devil?

Matthew 4

 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

 7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

 9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"

 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
 

Have you ever wondered why satan could not get Jesus to sin?  There has been much debate as to whether the God-in-flesh man could have sinned.  Well, Jesus did not sin and went on with His sinless blood to become our Savior. 

Let me suggest a reason to you today as to why Jesus did not sin when satan tempted Him.  Perhaps this reason will be the very tool that you need today in your battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Jesus taught us that the devil is a liar and that when he speaks he speaks of his own resources because he is a liar and the father of lies.  Whenever satan speaks he is lying or is using truth to promote a lie.  Yes God did tell Eve she could not eat of the tree in the middle of the Garden but God did not say that she could not touch it.  Yes, the Bible says that if the Son of Man bumps His foot against a stone that the angels will bear him up but the Bible does not say that the angels will catch Him in a frivolous jump for fame.  Satan used truth in his temptations to make it more appealing but they were still lies meant to tempt and destroy.

Jesus is called the way, the truth and the life.  In Christ, who was God in flesh, was full understanding of all things.  Thus, when satan twisted the truth with a lie and tried to tempt Jesus to sin, Jesus could see through the lie to the pain that it would cause and easily resisted the temptation.   Usually when we succumb to temptation we later regret it.  We weren’t thinking right, we weren’t paying attention to all of the facts, and we just did not examine the way that the sin would hurt us, cost us time or money, damage relationships and separate us from God. 

Suppose that every time we were tempted to sin we asked the Lord Jesus to reveal the lie of that sin to us.  Suppose that when we understood the completeness of the lie we were able to chose, as Jesus did, to resist the temptation and walk away free from its’ painful consequences.   You see, temptations are lies.  They cannot make your life one bit better, one bit happier, one bit more fulfilled.  Just the opposite is the truth.  Temptations to sin make life miserable and empty!  Ask the Lord to show you the truth about every temptation that you fight and then you will want to choose the life-giving truth instead of the life-killing lie.

This morning Ben and I went to the Mayor’s prayer meeting.  It was my turn to give the devotional so Ben and I sang some songs first then I gave the outline of Sunday’s message from Luke 2:11.  It was a great opportunity to exalt Christ to a very spiritual audience.   Be thankful for a Christian mayor who believes in Christ and the power of prayer. 

Last night we spent nearly an hour in prayer.  Only the Lord can do His work and we are asking Him to do what only He can do.  Pray for our church.  Pray that God will protect us, train us, and strengthen us to reach those around us with the message of His gospel.

Pastor Bill and Kit are driving back today.  Please pray for their safety.

Tim is having mechanical problems with his work truck.  Pray for God to meet His needs.

Please uphold my neighbor, Vincie and her sister, Ann, in prayers as they deal with Ann’s cancer.

Have a great day in the Lord,
PS