... recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). What hopeful words from the prophet Isaiah and how pleasantly they fell on the ears of Jesus' kin. And then he said, "Today ... the church in Jerusalem. Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." -- John 15:13James, brother of our Lord, saw this love in Jesus and later circa 62 AD. Jesus saw this love in James, when James ...
... The writer of this book points to the books of Exodus, Daniel, Zechariah, and the Psalms, among others. John does not simply string together words from other books, so much as he points to the one Word ... Word captures all God has to say, and that is the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. John points us to Jesus as the central Word in the vocabulary of faith. This insight offers ... 22. 2. Eugene H. Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988), pp. ...
... sinfulness. "Truly I tell you," the Lord says, "one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me" (Mark 14:18). Those who hear him begin to exchange glances and say, "Surely, you're not talking about me, are you?" For such people ... to him. "I give you my life; I claim you as my own." Christian faith is nourished through receiving and responding to this gift. As John Calvin wrote in one of his letters, "The moment we receive Christ by faith as he offers himself in the gospel, we become truly members of ...
... whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:66-69 (RSV) Jesus said to the twelve, "Will you also go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words ... of 43,000 in membership. The Roman Catholic Church anticipates the number of its diocesan priests to drop from 34,000 to 18,000 by the year 2000. Put Jesus' question to the rank and file of church members today and what will be the ...
... slips. Having distilled his life down to Mable, John learns that there is much of life he hasn’t gotten to yet. And, Mable, torn between two demands, learns there’s much of life she, too, hasn’t seen. Jesus teaches us a great lesson of the faith. Judaism was distilled to two commandments. Jesus had selected them from the Scripture and put them together as others had before him. Here was the essence of the faith, taken from Deuteronomy 6:4 and Leviticus 19:18. As the centuries went by, the prophets and ...
... the King is coming, prepare! Today we continue with that sermon. Hear the words of John, the son of Zachariah, recorded in Luke 3:7-18. John, austere preacher, calls for the multitudes to prepare the way for Christ’s coming with ... him bring peace on earth, goodwill to men (author unknown). The good news of Christmas is: “He who is mightier than I is coming,” said John, “the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Teilhard de Chardin ...
... and pointing. The words are simple but true: "Religion, religion, oh there's a thin line / Between Saturday night and Sunday morning."18 The song goes on to talk about the dishonesty of preachers and notes that religion is in the hands of some ... that is a matter of experience and not of appearance or language. Jesus' words to His disciples are quite clear. They are recorded in John's gospel: "... you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go ...
... in heaven is our assurance that nothing can ultimately harm us. He has all authority on heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). One of the 16th century Protestant reformers expressed the Catholic faith very well at this point. Here is what he said: " ... : "... lo I am with you always, to the close of the age (Matthew 28:20b)." The Holy Spirit makes Christ present to us (John 14:16, 17; 1 John 4:13; Romans 8:9). We are not alone when we do evangelism. Jesus is manifest and doing it with us! Evangelism is surely ...
... words, Jesus was in charge of his own fate, and he chose the way of suffering and death to finish the work he had come to do. Earlier Jesus had said to the disciples, "No one takes (my life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." (John 10:18) Christ had a capacity for tragedy. There are many people who know of, or know about, the experience of tragedy. We don't need Shakespeare to tell us about it. Life takes more out of some than it demands of others. The difficult edge of things cuts into their ...
... words of Jesus who said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20) However fearful Israel might have been of God's august presence, they still knew they could not live without it! Taylor Caldwell (in ... but it's not enough. Sometimes on a Monday or Tuesday of the week's mission I am in, the pastor will hand me a "love-card" John has sent to me, in care of the local church. That helps a lot, but it also lacks a lot. And then, there are the phone calls ...
... in the English language and growing at the rate of 450 words each year. The latest supplement to the Oxford Dictionary contains 18,750 new words. More and more words and less and less respect for words - that is our situation today! There are obscene words ... period of 1,500 years? The words are reduced to the Word, for the Bible is considered by Christians as the Word of God. In John’s Gospel, Christ is identified as the Word. Is it a book only of words, words, words? Is there a reality to those words, or ...
... ruin and misery, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:10-12, 16-18). That is the condition of persons before they respond to God's first overtures. NOW LET'S MOVE TO THE SECOND TRUTH OF THIS VERSE: ... a fight. But also remember this: "The One who is in us is greater than He who is in the world." FINALLY, A FOURTH TRUTH FROM JOHN 6:44: IF YOU RESPOND TO PREVIENT GRACE, YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY TO SALVATION There are further stages of grace up ahead. If you ...
... disregarding his own safety, searched until he found the straggler, often plucking it from some perilous plight with his crook (cf. Matthew 18:12). How like God the shepherd is, reflects the old poet, seeking and saving his own. It is a thought to ... one by one as they passed by. Jesus spiritually identified himself with this practice in a discussion he once had with certain Pharisees (John 10:7, 9). As each animal moved slowly past him, the shepherd carefully scrutinized it. From the horn of olive oil and the ...
... all, a sinful nature. In the place of the River Jordan, we could substitute Calvary where John says, “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Consider three things we see in this Scripture passage. I. The Man, Naaman “Naaman, ... angel unaware? Three other Old Testament personalities “entertained angels without knowing it.” They were Abraham (in Genesis chapter 18), Gideon (in Judges chapter 6) and Manoah (in Judges chapter 13). Have you ever entertained an angel unawares? ...
... was alive. In the same way the cross of Christ is a living cross. It has never known defeat. (2) Jesus won! WE WON! Somehow John knew, but Mary did not. She returned to the tomb and wept again. When she looked inside the tomb, she saw two angels. They ... to work for the Del Monte Company packing peas. The others who came to do the work were a pretty rough bunch. This young man was 18 and thought of himself as an adult and a man. The field work was demanding on his back. He was husky and worked hard, thoguh. ...
... salvation is the free gift of God. It is an inheritance that is bestowed upon us the moment we become children of God. Father John Powell in his book, Unconditional Love tells about when he was serving as a chaplain in Germany. A dear little nun, 87 years young, was ... thanks to senseless slaughter by poachers, it is true. So Dian Fossey left her home in California to live for 18 years among those fierce creatures studying them closely. Gradually the gorillas accepted her and trusted her. From 1967 until 1985 ...
... the Majestic Glory, This is My beloved Son with whom I am well- pleased' and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven. . . ." (2 Peter 1: 16-18) Something very strange happened on The Mount of Transfiguration ” something outside of ordinary experience. It had an amazing impact on Peter, James and John. Recalling this experience years later gave them unusual power, unusual confidence, unusual authority to proclaim the newly born Christian faith. And such experiences are not isolated. Throughout ...
... think: "It's impossible" God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27) We think: "I'm too tired" God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30) We think: "Nobody really loves me" God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 13:34) We think: "I can't go on" God says: ... s not worth it" God says: It will be worth it (Romans 8:28) We think: "I can't forgive myself" God says: I forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1) We think: "I can't manage" God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19) We think: "I'm ...
... called “the testing of Jesus." You know the story well. Jesus came from Nazareth at the age of thirty to be baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan. As he came out of the water, the spirit of God descended upon him and a voice ... for us to know we have a friend who has been tested, who passed the test and can help us pass our test as well. In Hebrews 2:18 we read, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." NONE OF US GOES THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT ...
... by King Herod Antipas. You may recall that Herod Antipas divorced his first wife to marry Herodias, the wife of his own brother. (Mark6:17ff) It was this bizarre marriage which John the Baptist criticized by telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." (Mark 6:18) This critique cost John the Baptist his head! Since the Pharisees were "buddy-buddy" with the Herodians, we can picture them rubbing their hands, anticipating how Jesus might answer this question. If Jesus speaks for ...
... . And many of us have fallen into this trap. The Pharisees, following the directions laid down in Deuteronomy 11: 18, wore small leather boxes called phylacteries on their wrists and foreheads. These phylacteries contained verses of Scripture on them ... in Africa, where he lived in poverty. He died of a tropical disease. Both brothers lived out their dreams. And yet, on John Livingstone's tomb are engraved these words: "Here lies the brother of David Livingstone." (10) "The greatest among you will be your ...
... that he said, “Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” (John 16:23b) We often misunderstand those words to mean some sort of magical formula, thinking that to merely mention the name of Jesus in ... the three loaves so that he can go back to bed and get a good night’s sleep. Then there is that strange story in Luke 18 about the crooked judge who refuses to hear the case of a poor widow, presumably because he knows that there isn’t much in it for ...
... be joy later at the new life given. In the light of everything else Jesus has just said in the sixteenth chapter of John, we note that Jesus is here specifically referring to the suffering and persecution which His disciples will experience at the hands of an ... its way out; its leader has already been deposed. “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.” (Luke 10:18) said Jesus, in a strange verse whose full implications we have not yet fully explored. The old ruler of this world has been ...
... Him. Then there came the voice of one who was normally silent: Thomas, who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16) Thomas was a born pessimist. He could see nothing ahead but disaster. But he was willing to go anyway. I suggest to you that ... the Lord’s Day, for “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) But, when Jesus appeared on that first Easter evening, Thomas was absent. The others tried to tell them what they had seen ...
... in bringing himself to bring God. He came to give us the power to be and do all those things God wants us to be and do. So John could also say, to as many as received him, to them he gave power to become children of God. Now at the heart of the good news is ... be rushed to the hospital, an appendix had almost ruptured. Just as she was coming home from the hospital, the day before Christmas, our 18-year-old nephew, Tim, the son of my brother who had been killed, came to live with us, and there issued five or six ...