... only that, Lydia, that woman he talked with, was a rich woman. Another breakthrough considering Luke's warning to the rich as recorded in Luke 18:25. "Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom ... . But to enter God's kingdom we must have the key. And that key is Jesus Christ." Jesus is the key to the kingdom of God. John 10:9-10 records: I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The ...
... the manner he did because she was not an Israelite. But the Master loved children and wanted only the best for them. (cf. Matthew 18:16; 19:13-15) So there must have been some other reason for his seeming insensitivity. And there was. Jesus was trying to ... he incurred the wrath of Herod Antipas, thus facing the threat of suffering the same fate as the Tetrarch had meted out to John the Baptist; he had likewise experienced a bitter encounter with a delegation Israel's hierarchy had sent to grill him on his ...
... . For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it." (Luke 9:18-24) One of my students took the Bell Telephone commercial to heart - "Reach out and touch someone." Last Thanksgiving, he decided that he should ... of the world. And it is all on the basis of the eyewitness reports of the disciples and the other believers. St. John concludes his gospel this way: "There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded ...
... us are sinners, and the wages of sin is death. Those who disregard Christ are not condemned in some future time. The condemnation is now. Listen to Jesus’ words in John 3:18—"Whoever believes in him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." In John 3:36 we read, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him." But here ...
... stories would be lost if Luke had not included them. If we had only three records of the Gospel - according to Matthew, Mark, and John - much that we simply take for granted would be missing. For example, only Luke tells about the trip of Jesus to the temple when ... , Luke and Paul came to ________ where they visited with _________, the evangelist, who had four ______. (Acts 21:8, 9) 18-21. Luke accompanied Paul, by ship, on a journey to _______; a centurion named _________ was in charge of prisoners; the ship ...
... 10) and that those who are rich are not to be haughty or set their hopes on their riches, but are to be generous (vv. 17-18). The Gospel Lesson from Luke 16:19-31 echoes these themes with the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man ignored the ... significance. Open your eyes, and you will see that (sometimes in a hidden way) you are doing God’s work! The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, put it so well once in a sermon: 3. Yet again: In what spirit do you go through your business? In the spirit of ...
... heard Jesus saying to him: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church...” (Matt. 16:18) I. OVER THE CENTURIES, A DEBATE HAS RAGED OVER THAT VERSE. Here is where footnotes come in handy. If you check your Revised ... (or any of us) ever had, or ever will have. V. THERE IS ONE LAST SCENE IN THE LIFE OF PETER. WE FIND IT IN JOHN 21. After Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter tells the others that he is going fishing. That doesn’t mean that he was taking a vacation, but rather that ...
... hands over the flames.(May 1, 1989, Vol.31, No. 17, p.79) One of the leaders points to Mark, chapter 16, verses 17 and 18 and says that he has been commanded to do all of these strange things because there it is, in the Bible. Why on earth would Jesus ... this: There’s a sweet old story translated for man, But writ in the long, long ago: The Gospel according to Mark, Luke, and John, Of Christ and His mission below. Men read and admire the Gospel of Christ, With its love so unfailing and true; But what do ...
... versus joyful worship comes from our passage today, Mark 2, verses 18-22: “Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, ‘How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours ... then we know that sincere worship and devotion flow from a sense of joy, not obligation. As Jesus explained to his followers in John 10, “I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.” In fact, in Mark 2, Jesus is declaring ...
... life. Write that down if you're taking notes -- there's nothing static about the Christian life. I came across a shocking word in John Wesley's Journal recently. Listen to it, "My friends affirm I'm mad, because I said I was not a Christian a year ago. ... agonizing as Paul did in Romans. You remember that word in Romans 7:18: "I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. (7:18) There's no question about it -- Wesley was a Christian, yet he was ...
... this lone man was not excited about getting to the city, "Aren't you eager to get there? Don't you want to see all these things?" That black brother responded with wisdom, “Mr. Crawford,” he said, “to be better off is not to be better."18 The novelist John Updike put his finger on the pain of our prosperity with this observation, “The fact that we still live well cannot ease the pain of feeling that we no longer live nobly.”19 Of money and its limits, someone said: “It can buy you a house, but ...
... him how to live with one another. It will go much smoother if we leave the judging to someone more competent. Dr. John Stott makes this comment about who is Lord and who is not: “The secret of our relationships with one another, especially when we ... eating. The relative chuckled, “Enlightenment is finally reaching the farm. Who are these wise ones?” “My pigs,” the farmer replied.18 I suspect it was quiet the rest of the meal. Conversation moved to contemplation. One hopes two heads were bowed at ...
... a diary so that the story of the crib can be read on Christmas Eve when it's returned to the church and its journey told to the congregation (for more see Diana Klein, "Prepare the Way," The Tablet, 26 November 2005, 18). In their recent book on Seasons of Grace (2003), Alan Jones and John O'Neil tell how "St. Francis of Assisi found in the humble birth of Jesus a touching image of God's hospitality. God, the universal host, thought Francis, came as a vulnerable guest into the world. He saw the crib in the ...
... presumptions couldn't let them see the presence of the Son of Man in their midst. The beggar Jesus heals is described by John's text as having been blind from birth (verse 1). He had never had an opportunity to see. His blindness had kept ... no one greater, he swore by himself saying, 'I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you." And again in Hebrews 6:17-18: "In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose, interposed with an oath, ...
... the son or refuse it. They argued about the meaning of life. Jesus met them with the declaration, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63). No more debate is necessary; one is compelled to listen and obey, or to refuse to listen and reject. (D. T. Niles, That They May Have Life pages 18 - 19.) This is where our Christian experience and discipleship has its foundation. The incredibility of the incarnation: the radiant glory of j d shin in the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus ...
... a flood to destroy human-kind (Genesis 6:8). God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, engulfing them in a “volcanic catastrophe” (Genesis 18: 19). God judged Pharaoh an the Egyptians just as he foretold he would (see Genesis 15:14), unleashing against them ... lamb is the clear representative in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the beloved disciple, John, called Jesus “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world” and John Baptist denoted him “the Iamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” ...
... be able to figure out how to love and obey him. Jesus gives us what we need in order to do both. In John 14 he promises to grant us another Advocate, the Spirit of truth, so that through the Spirit we’ll again encounter the living ... are my flesh and blood.” Without Jesus we are cosmic orphans, separated from our original source of life. Jesus, however, promises in verse 18, “I will not leave you orphans.”[1] You can think of Jesus’ family relationship with us in a couple of ways. You could consider ...
... life?” The psalmist wrote in Psalm 66:17-18, “I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue . If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (Psalm 66:17-18, ESV) The psalmist was talking about how he was ... do it. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, ESV) Notice the very first part of this, “If we confess our sin.” The first thing you’ve got to do if you ...
... placed Jesus’ body in a new tomb in a nearby garden cemetery. Our gospel reading for this day, John 20:1-18, picks up the narrative at that point. John tells us that early Sunday morning while it was still dark Mary Magdalene went alone to the cemetery ... of faith we claim the resurrection of Jesus the Christ as the greatest event in human history. According to the gospel of John, Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the resurrection. As a good friend and loyal follower of Jesus, should she not have taken ...
... Fast Facts About The College Admissions Scandal” by Zack Friedman https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/03/18/30-facts-college-admissions-scandal/#3214093012a0. 2. “College Admissions Scandal Proves ‘Rich People Are Insane,’ Seth Myers ... : Does It Make Any Difference? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), 2006. 6. Biblegateway.com https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/John/Jesus-Light-World-Opens-Eyes. 7. Gianpiero Petriglieri in “The key to loving your job in the age of burnout ...
... 1 Chronicles 17 (God’s promise to flourish the House of David) Psalm 84 (Psalm of praise for the courts of the Lord) Psalm 18 (The Lord is my rock) Ephesians 2 (You are members of the Household of God) Matthew’s Story of Jesus’ Teaching to his Disciples ... a brilliant rabbi. His interpretations were authoritative. He was a master. He began his ministry carrying on the message of John the Baptizer, who had already garnered attention among the people and the authorities. He had provoked them. And now Jesus ...
... ideas. Nothing wrong with being compared to some of Israel’s greatest prophets . . . you can’t do better than John the Baptist, Elijah and Jeremiah . . . unless, of course, you are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Great ... be a community of love. And finally, Jesus calls us to reach out to those who do not know him. Look again at Jesus’ words in verse 18: “. . . and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” “I will build my church”—Jesus is ...
... . He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory . . . We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18). Can you imagine the impact that this experience had on Peter, James and John? They were kneeling in the presence of the Son of God. Jon Tal Murphree in his book, Made to be Mastered, tells about the impact that walking on the moon had on two of America’s astronauts. For one of them ...
... synagogue, as he reads from the Old Testament book of Isaiah concerning the coming of the Messiah, and then proclaims himself to be the fulfillment of that prophesy (Luke 4:18-21). The writer of John is very much into signs and wonders, what Jesus actually DID. It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that the first public appearance of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John is at the wedding in Cana, where he changes water into wine. Now none of the four gospel writers dispute the fact that Jesus is the Son of God ...
... believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25). Jesus clearly thought that he was the Messiah, the Christ, true God. "I and the Father are one," he said (John 10:30). The people - believers and unbelievers alike - got this message very clearly. Saint John tells us of three separate attempts on the life of our Lord before his crucifixion (John 5:18; 8:58; 10:31). All three times his enemies tried to kill him because he tried to make himself ...