... of the sower. Most of us think we know the point of the parable. After all, Jesus himself explained its meaning (Matthew 13:18-23). But did he? In its present form, the parable is about our response to the seed (the word of God) which has ... it is just a channel (like the rain). God makes the growth happen. The ancient North African bishop who greatly influenced Luther and John Calvin, a man named Augustine, has a compelling image for explaining how God can be the source of all good while using earthly ...
... 7:7) "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you." (Mat 11:28) "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (John 14:18) "I will not leave you orphaned." (John 3:36) "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life." B. There are hundreds of other promises as well. Promises that we can and should claim; promises that are ours because we are heirs with Christ and they are part of our inheritance. These ...
... are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” Remember, in John’s Gospel, miracles are reported as signs that Christ is who he says he is. That is the purpose of miracles. That was the ... his skateboard and still land on his feet. He even created a special skateboard trick that is named after him. By age 18, Eddie was the two-time world skateboarding champion. But Eddie discovered that his achievements and awards and fame didn’t bring him ...
... honey or vinegar or they would be ground into flour and made into a kind of biscuit or cake. So, if you were to go to John’s abode at tea time, you may just find yourself snacking on locust biscuits with honey. Ugh! you still say. But wait a minute. Is ... is “slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Num. 14:18). “God is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3 ...
... -- perhaps a death in Tiberius' family -- Herod accepted his brother Philip's gracious invitation as house guest, then promptly rewarded the fraternal hospitality by stealing Philip's wife, Herodias. True to form, John denounced Herod for his immorality. Nor did he do so from afar. Rather, he charged the lecherous ruler with his sin to his face. (Mark 6:17-18) It was more than Antipas could bear. So, goaded on by his partner in the sordid affair -- and tricked into making her an infamous promise -- he had ...
... And afterward we hear Jesus saying, "I am he who lives and was dead, and, behold, I am alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:18 KJV). Forevermore! It is of much interest that they who had killed him never tried to do it again. Forevermore! He who ... must. They do their best, and then they say goodbye, and death comes and takes them away. But not Jesus; he says, "I will see you again," (John 16:22) and death comes, but it doesn’t take him away; it brings him closer than he was before, and he says, "I am with you ...
... the one the prophets foretold and about whom they kept saying, “God is up to something.” This is the one through whom God changes everything. How we think about God changes. No one has seen the Father, but God has made himself known in Christ (John 1:18). In Christ, God shows himself to be love, a love that heals, and forgives, and sets the captives free! How we think about salvation changes. God doesn’t just deliver and give victory over warriors like Goliath, but over the monstrosity of sin that has ...
... and sought to follow him as others later were to follow Jesus. Indeed, two of Jesus' most prominent disciples, Andrew and John, were originally followers of John the Baptist. You will remember that one of the most gifted and influential preachers mentioned in the book of Acts was a man named Apollos, who, according to Acts 18: 25, was baptized as a disciple of John. YET, CONSIDER THE HUMILITY OF THIS MAN JOHN. "Somewhere among you," he said, "stands a man you do not know. He comes after me, it is true, but ...
... , a live-in nurse, to help out for the first few weeks. Having read up on sibling rivalry, the new mother watched her 18-month-old daughter, named Robyn, for signs of jealousy or insecurity. But Robyn seemed to adore her little sister from the start. She ... fruit today. Let’s not be too critical of those who follow a different path, regardless of where we are in our Christian life. John the Baptist had his faults, but he pointed people toward Jesus. And that, of course, is what Andrew did as well. Andrew was ...
... father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham." In other words, don't you dare say, "This does not apply to me; I am a church member...have been all my life; I'm OK, John." Don't dare say, "I'm saved; I was born again on July 18, 1985 at a city-wide crusade; I'm 'washed in the blood of the Lamb,' so John's words don't worry me." Don't dare say, "I read my Bible and pray everyday; I'm at church every time the doors are open ...
... , Approval, and Equipment. It meant DECISION. For 30 years (roughly) Jesus had stayed in Nazareth, subject to family responsibilities. He must have waited for a sign, and the ministry of John was that sign. As William Emerson says so cleverly: “John was the dynamite cap that set Jesus off!” (THE JESUS STORY, New York: Harper & Row, 1970. p. 18) It meant IDENTIFICATION. While Jesus (we believe) did not need to repent from sin, others did. And so Jesus led the way. It is important to know what causes we ...
... 3:16 when he scraped out the three numbers in the black-out smears he made on his cheekbones before every one of his college football games. We all know John 3:16. But let me try again. Who can tell me John 3:15? Or John 3:17? Or John 3:14? Or 3:18? If you can, you are the exceptions that prove the rule. You are a minuscule minority. If you don’t know, it is not because your faith is fainthearted. Not because your Sunday school failed you. Not because of any form of faithlessness. If you don’t know what ...
... -41: Job’s Confession of Faith in the Creative Power of God Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Breaking of the Sabbath and the Questions of the Pharisees and John’s (the Baptist’s) Disciples (9:14-17 and 11:2-12:21) Mark’s Witness to Jesus’ Breaking of the Sabbath, calling himself God, and the Questions of the Pharisees (2:18-3:12) John’s Witness to Jesus’ Breaking of the Sabbath, calling himself God, and the Accusations of the Pharisees (5) Paul’s Letter to the Galatians: Do you live by rules ...
... ; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). John's thoughts run in the wrong direction at first as well. Scripture records that Peter and John, "the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved" (v. 2), run to the tomb to substantiate Mary's report. John arrives first. Looking inside he observes "the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in" (v. 5). John apparently concludes Mary is right. From where he and stands and looks he sees nothing that leads ...
... t send Herodias back to Herod Philip. He had flagrantly flaunted the Torah-directive that no man may marry his living brother’s wife (Leviticus 18:16). John the Baptist understood Herod’s actions as an offense not against Roman power or the snares of Palestinian politics or even the rules of good leadership. John the Baptist saw Herod’s actions as an offense against God. John’s moral integrity is what ultimately cost him his head. Who wants your head on a platter? What truth is worth your head? What ...
... is not simply learning how to say the right things, or confessing the right words, though that is not mutually exclusive to this life. In the epistles of John, the elder reminded believers that one has to confess that Jesus is the Son of the Father 1 John 2:18-28 (RSV). The symbol of “bread” is another metaphor for Jesus in John’s gospel. Roman Catholic theologians are quick to point out that Jesus’ giving of his body in the form of bread mirrors the practice of Eucharist or Holy Communion ...
... out of the prophet Isaiah that indicated to an oppressed people that they were not alone; their God was with them. But no direct response to John saying yea or nay. Nothing saying "I did it" or even "I didn't do it." No indication that he is involved one way or the other ... The Unexpected Answer," Reader's Digest, 9/84, pp. 87-88 2. Matthew 3:2, 10-12 3. See Leviticus 18:6-16; 20:21 4. Barbara Brown Taylor, "Are You the One?" Mixed Blessings, (Cambridge MA ; Cowley Publications, 1998), p. 92 5. Ron Rolheiser, "ADVENT ...
... . The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father" (John 10:11,18). The raising of Lazarus would lead to the death of Jesus, and Jesus knew it. When Jesus wept, he faced the inevitability of his own death. This was the Gethsemane moment in the Gospel of ...
... a child, an employer has power over an employee, a teacher has power over his or her students, a pastor has the power of the pulpit. And John says to each of us, if you have power, do not abuse it. There is no better example of the tragic abuse of power than King Herod. ... Dec. 13, 1993. 5. Maura Christopher, "America's Women: Meeting the Challenges of Today," SCHOLASTIC UPDATE (May 18, 1987). Cited in Bill Hybels, HONEST TO GOD? (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan Publishing House, 1992). 6. Paul L. Maier, IN ...
... term “God” meant the Divine Sovereign, the heavenly Parent, who alone exists as the Source and Ground of all being. In Mark’s Gospel (10:18) Jesus refuses to be called “good,” because for Him, that word was reserved only for God. In John 20:17 Jesus calls the heavenly Father “my God,” and says plainly, “the Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28) Popular piety tends to put the two together, and some Christians even find themselves praying to Jesus. But Jesus Himself prayed to the Creator ...
... these epistles share a single author, a trio of authors? Or were they composed by a “Johannine school?” Whatever the case, it is clear that 1 John was written to a wounded community. In 1 John 2:18-19 and 4:1‑6, the author describes a community of faith that has undergone a serious schism. The division is so deep between the two groups that those who argue against 1 John’s assertions are referred to as “antichrists.” While the details of this division are never itemized or fully clarified in 1 ...
... then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’” (John 9:18-21, ESV) They bring the parents in for a time of interrogation and investigation. They ask them for an explanation. He is your son. Now he can see. He couldn’t see for 40 years. How did this happen? Mom and Dad aren’t getting involved. As we read in ...
Luke 9:10-17, Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, John 6:1-15
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... . They feel warm, loving, soft, and they somehow for us represent all that is good in life, don’t they? Soul food. When Jesus lost John the Baptist, he was deep in mourning. He went across the lake to a deserted place to be alone in his grief. As Vance Havner ... Restoration (Jeremiah 31:10-14) Ezekiel’s Prophecy of Restoration (Ezekiel 36:29) Joel’s Prophecy of Restoration (Joel 2:18-19) The Apocalyptic Apocryphal Book of Baruch: The Prophecy of the Messiah and Feasting from Leviathan (29-30) The ...
... life of an uneducated doorman; let us ready ourselves in some small way as our Lenten journey continues this day. Wednesday Week TwoJeremiah 18:18-20Matthew 20:17-28 Agape -- Service To All In the mid 1960s as I recall, Joan Baez, the well-known folk singer, ... given to him. I am sure that all of us can relate to the indignation which the other ten apostles felt toward James and John, as we hear in today's Gospel. Their mother wants her sons to sit in exalted positions in the Kingdom of God. Jesus wastes no ...
... .I. But recent books and articles have uncovered a variety of behaviors and improprieties which would have greatly offended my dad. John F. Kennedy lauded Thomas Jefferson when, at an assemblage of artists, actors, authors and musicians in the East Room of the ... . For example, Chuck Colson points out that in Washington, D.C., "46 percent of the inner city black population between the ages of 18 and 31 is either in prison, on parole, or on probation." Let's say that again -- that's nearly half the inner city ...