... with no little conflict. Enter Jesus. Conflict comes in the presence of the I AM. Read the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John. It is filled with conflict. The chapter opens with the story of the woman caught in adultery. It's a trap set ... as this potter has done? Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O House of Israel." -- Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NRSV) That same evening Adelaide Pollard composed the words to a well-known hymn which has inspired countless believers the past century: Have ...
... and just, as often and as intently as we crave food and drink. This is a challenge to examine that for which we hunger and thirst. John Stuart Mill said his life was changed by his suddenly asking himself this question: "Suppose I attain what I am now pursuing. What sort of ... it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart" (1 Kings 8:18). It is like Robert Louis Stevenson's comment that "to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." It is like children at ...
... lepers were restored to community life. 3. David Owen, "No Thanks," The New Yorker 18 December 1995: p. 128. 4. Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology (New York: Signet Classic, 1992), p. 10. 5. Craddock, 121. 6. Curiously, this saying does not appear in the four gospels, causing some scholars to doubt its authenticity. 7. As quoted by B. A. Gerrish, Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), p. 45. 8. George Herbert, "Gratefulnesse," The English ...
... and just, as often and as intently as we crave food and drink. This is a challenge to examine that for which we hunger and thirst. John Stuart Mill said his life was changed by his suddenly asking himself this question: "Suppose I attain what I am now pursuing. What sort of ... it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart" (1 Kings 8:18). It is like Robert Louis Stevenson's comment that "to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." It is like children at ...
... hour up on the stageAnd then is heard no more: it is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing.18 This description is lush with imagery. Every line creates pictures in the mind. Combine an abstract, general statement with imagery like this (although 10 ... . Jesus' entire communication was oral. Except for the single instance when he wrote in the sand (John 8:6, 8), Jesus never wrote a word, and even in John 8 we don't know what he wrote. In speaking with people, he knew the power ...
... :2)." (3) remembering that God is able to use what is available and use it abundantly. Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10)." (4) to experience Christ's presence, Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20)." (5) to receive spiritual food for our journeys and cleansing for our souls. Paul said, "Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body ...
... on it and that Word has become flesh. "I will not leave you desolate;" Jesus says, "I will come to you ... because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I in you (John 14:18-20)." Christ is our guarantee. Nevertheless, though the new being has been promised, its fulfillment only comes in the "fullness of time." None of us was born suddenly. Our parents may have paced the floor but there was no way to hurry the pregnancy along. Our birth came in ...
... or become more Christian. In fact, Jesus tells us not to be like those people who "heap up empty phrases, [who] think that they will be heard for their many words" (Matthew 6:7). And 1 John says it just as plainly: "Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth" (3:18). Finally, some people try to become more Christian by gaining certain emotional experiences. They seek out a preacher whose sermons give them that "old time religion" feeling or make them feel good in some other ...
... in Christ is beyond togetherness. He moves past even the appealing call to our common humanity, illustrated most commonly in the words of Pastor John Donne many years ago, "... No person is an Island entire of himself; every one is a piece of the Continent, a part of the ... gave us the ministry of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)." To reconcile is to bring into harmony, not into unison, two opposing parties or points of view. There is ...
... great reverence. It was not to be used carelessly.” It is with the Holy name of God in mind that the power of John Macquarrie comes through in exclaiming: “All through the Hebrew scriptures, the one God of Israel is contrasted with the many Gods of the pagans ... recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor… (Luke 4:18-19, NIV).” This text is particularly appealing because verse 21 tells us that Jesus declared, “Today this scripture is fulfilled ...
... together and proposed the refortification of the holy city. They responded eagerly: "Let us rise up and build (Nehemiah 2:18)." Each of the business merchants and priests worked hard to rebuild a section of the fortification of Jerusalem, opposite ... the Word of God is Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth (John 1:1-14, RSV)." In other words, when Christ is ...
... was not to fear, however: “… the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever and ever (7:18).” The saints or faithful ones are given a promise that eventually they will overcome. At any given moment the verdict might not be clear; in ... -- William Carey, Mary Slessor and David Livingstone; Puritans -- Thomas Hooker, John Cotton and Thomas Shepard; Reformers -- Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer and Menno Simons; Medieval saints -- Thomas Aquinas ...
... promised, “Lo, I am with you always (Matthew 28:20).” “When two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be also (Matthew 18:20).” The King of kings is here with us today! He is not way out there somewhere in space ruling from a distant throne. He ... The young man shook his head and walked slowly away. Two weeks later the pastor saw the young man again and inquired, “John, I was wondering, did you ever make a decision about tithing?” The young man smiled and replied, “Yes, Pastor, I did. I ...
... be as sheep who have no shepherd (Numbers 27:16-17).” God heard the prayer of Moses and appointed Joshua, “A man in whom is the spirit (Numbers 27:18).” Throughout the centuries God has appointed shepherds for his people. Some were determined dynamic leaders like Joshua. Others were fiery prophets like Elijah. Some were gentle spirits like John. Like Joshua, all were ordained to lead God’s people into the promised land of tomorrow. The question before the church today is what kind of pastors must we ...
... sinful man" (Luke 5:8), and of whom Jesus had said, "You are Peter, the rock on which I will build my church." (Matthew 16:18) And, on another occasion, Jesus had said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me." (Matthew 16:23) Peter had all ... , he was disturbed. It bothered him to see the roles reversed. His feelings were like those of John the Baptist at the Jordan: "You should baptize me," John had said. "I should wash your feet," Peter was saying. "You? Wash mine? Never!" That was Peter' ...
... But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31, NIV) E. S. Martin has observed: Within my earthly temple there's a crowd,There's one of us that's humble, one that's ... ONLY WHAT I MYSELFKNOW OF MYSELF? 2. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, MacMillan Company, New York, 1963, pp. 18-20. Restless and longing and sick, like a birdin a cage, struggling for breath, as thoughhands were compressing my ...
... enemies that he prayed for their forgiveness, about the repentant thief, that he assured him of paradise, and about his mother, that he asked John to care for her. So in this case, Jesus is more concerned about the women and their children then about his own fate. He ... . Violence is seen in our movies and TV and transferred to city streets. By the time a child reaches age fourteen, he sees 18,000 acts of violence on TV. Guests in the hotels of the national capitol are warned not to leave the hotel after dark ...
... Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, to my God and your God." Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18) What a way to begin the most important day of history - tears! For Mary Magdalene, Easter was a day of tears - tears of sorrow that turned to tears of joy. Of all times, why would anyone cry on Easter, a glorious day of life? The angels at the empty ...
Text: Luke 4:18-19 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me ... : "What shall I say about this nation? These people are like children who say to their friends: 'We played wedding and you were not happy, and so we played funeral and you were not sad.' For John the Baptist doesn't even drink wine, and often goes without food, and you say of him, 'He's crazy.' And I, the Messiah, feast and drink and you complain that I am a glutton and a ...
So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. (John 19:17-18) Death is a common experience of life. All who lived in the past died. Every one of us now living will die sooner or later. Approximately five thousand Americans die every twenty-four hours. Almost two million deaths occur in our country every year. There are ...
... 1:16) When Hannah finally conceived and bore a son, she named him Samuel and gave him to the Lord as she had vowed. Elizabeth, another woman advanced in years, became the mother of John the Baptizer. During her pregnancy, she said, "Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men." (Luke 1:25) By speaking ... word. 1. Jack Paar, I Kid You Not, Little, Brown & Co., 1960, p. 79. 2.Walter Brueggemann, 2 Kings, Knox Preaching Guides, John Knox Press, 1982,p.18-19.
... is the God of judgment, yes. But that judgment leads to redeeming love and merciful entering into our insoluble problems of life. The rest of John 9 is all about that! Seeing In a World Still Blind The blind man is healed. Jesus makes clay spittle, puts it on the ... great work of God that means "the eyes of our heart are opened to the hope to which God has called us." (Ephesians 1:18) God be thanked for our eyes which see. God be eternally thanked for the vision which is ours by faith that puts us alongside ...
... ? And how shall they preach unless they are sent ... so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:14-18) This is how we have been brought to faith: by hearing the Word of the crucified and risen Lord. What a great mystery and marvel ... middle of terrible problems for the rescue and helping of people everywhere. Such a word proclaims "a faith that overcomes the world." (1 John 5:4) We live in the middle of such strong temptations to give in to the world, to live by the secularity ...
... controversy with the sons of Abraham Jesus affirmed "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad." (John 8:56) Let us examine some of the qualities of Abraham in order to try to understand his place in salvation history ... to the way of the Lord and to do what is right and just; thus I shall fulfill all that I have promised for him." (Genesis 18:19-20) Abraham worshiped. It may seem a minor detail that the story of Abraham includes various references "And Abraham built an altar there" at ...
... and subdue it; and have dominion ... over every living thing that moves upon the earth ..." (Genesis 1:27-31) In Genesis Chapter 2:18 we read the explanation of God’s reasoning "Then God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make ... the ages even to the crossroads of the New Testament early church. For example, at the healing of the lame man who clung to Peter and John ... "And when Peter saw it he addressed the people ‘Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us ...