Ministry of Love

The intention of this blog is to share Biblical messages at least on a weekly basis. Any response is appreciated. I do not expect everyone to agree with my interpretation of Biblical passages. I will try to respond with love and thoughtfulness.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Catastrophe-Christ-Catastrophe by John.

CATASTROPHE-CHRIST-CATASTROPHE
Mark 5:1-20

1. Almost 60 years ago, my second sermon as a pastor was on Mark 5:1-20. I called it Living Among the Tombs. The central thought was, a man was alive among the physically dead: All of us are alive among spiritually dead people, and we have the only message that can make dead people live!
2. What I said was true, but not to this text.
3. A preacher doesn't need to be slavish about the text, but he does need to speak out when God speaks, and be silent when God is silent.
(1) For instance, God does not tell us how this man became demon-possessed in this Scripture, so we leave that alone.
(2) He does tell us demons are real powers that must be dealt with, and Jesus is far greater than they are.
(3) From that, we need to be aware demons do not show themselves, but the evidence is still there. They exist, and they do great damage!
4. We are going to be as true to this Scripture as we can be as we discuss Catastrophe-Christ-Catastrophe, today.

I. INDWELLING DEMONS ARE CATASTROPHIC TO HUMAN BEINGS.

1. Demons are bad news to society, the people of Gadara would have been glad to tell us that.
2. We do not know how a demon can indwell a human being, but they did then, and they still do today.
(1) I've never seen a demon, have you?
(2) Perhaps through the ages they have learned how to conceal themselves better.
3. Demons apparently are not content without indwelling a body.
(1) Some theologians think they once had a body, but that is certainly conjecture on their part.
(2) These particular demons first had a single spokesman, but then all begged Jesus to send them into the swine.
a. At first, they sought to control Jesus by calling Him "Jesus, Son of the Most High God!"
b. That didn't work, and they switched to pleading with Him.
c. It is interesting to note that these who had tortured this man now were begging Jesus not to torture them!
4. What had they done? They robbed this man of all he had.
(1) Possessions.
(2) Family.
(3) Friends.
(4) Personality.
(5) Mind.
5. They robbed others, too.
(1) Remember the girl in Acts 16:16ff.?
(2) Her demons robbed her family of a daughter.
(3) They robbed the community of a citizen.
(4) These robbed some of their health. (The maniac attacked people. BTW, can you imagine holding a funeral in that cemetery.)?
(5)They caused great faith-destroying fear!!!
(6) They robbed the owners of the pigs of their property.

II. THE CATASTROPHE CALLED FORTH A CURE FROM JESUS.

1. He always has compassion when we need help. Ill. Paul on the road to Damascus needed help even if he did not know it.
(1) You may be seeking God like Paul was.
(2) You may be on the wrong track!
(3) Jesus cares! And He will help you!
(4) Ask Him! This demon-possessed man did!
2. Jesus removed the cause of the man’s problem.
(1) He identified the problem first.
(2) Then He called for the demons to come out.
(3) They resisted and cried out (5:7) “Swear to God that you won’t torture me.”
(4) Luke 8:31 says, “not to send us out into the deep.” While Mark says, (v. 10) “out of the area.” The word in Luke is abusson which means the bottom, or depth. The word used in Mark is choras which can mean country, but actually means the limit between two places. It could mean outer limits! Matthew 8:24 says, “before the time.” Which I see to mean the demons know judgment is coming! And they probably thought Jesus was about to send them into hellfire!
3. Jesus’ cure of the man was complete.
(1) 5:15, “dressed” (Some people have said that people who love the world take their clothes off and when they come to Jesus, they put them back on!)
(2) “in his right mind” in Greek is sophroneo which means “docile, quiet, self-possessed and habitually self-governing.”
(3) 5:18 says he desired and prayed that he might be with Jesus! Doesn't that make you wonder about people who stay away from church, away from the Bible, and away from prayer. Can their salvation experience be real???
(4) It interests me to note that Jesus gave this man the same instructions He gave the apostles and to us. Mark 5:19, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
4. This man was different to many people today. He did what Jesus told him to do!

III. THE CURE CAUSED ANOTHER CATASTROPHE, 5:13.

1. The swine were lost.
(1) So often we look at what a Christians are doing. We see mistakes being made, and we wonder if they are straying away from the Lord!
(2) The Jews according to Lev 11:7,8 were not to eat or touch a hog! What were those hogs even doing there? The cure still causes catastrophe in some ways. Ill. Rev Archie Stephens and the whisky store operator across from the church. When he became a Christian, he took a sledgehammer and destroyed his entire stock! Another man in Missouri had a similar experience, but he discounted all his stock and sold it! (Captain Lovell told me about him.
2. Many Gergasenes rejected Jesus for two reasons:
(1) Fear.
(2) Lost property.
3. Many reject Jesus today for the same reasons.
(1) “I could be better, but I am already better than…”
(2) “I could be better, but I don’t want to give up my pet sin.”
(3) “I want to be saved, but how would I make a living?”
(4) I wonder what Peter, or Zacheus, or Peter would say?
4. I think they would say, "It's worth it all! I'd give up the whole world for Jesus!"

Conclusion:

1. God is telling us, when you get in trouble, the world will try to bind you, and put you out of sight. You may want somebody to stop the world and let you off, and that’s what the world will want for you, too.
(1) Roy Hollomon was watching the front door of a bar in Wichita. It was a warm night and he had the window open. A woman stopped and spoke to him. About that time the bartender threw a drunk out. He shook his fist at him and told him to go home! The woman said, “Isn’t that awful!” Hollomon agreed with her, and she said, “That’s the third time tonight my husband has had to throw him out!”
(2) The world will help you start down hill, but when you get to the bottom, they will dodge you!
2. God is the answer to all satanic problems. Jesus wants to give you a life demons cannot control.
3. When God works in you several things happen:
(1) Your life will bear good fruit.
(2) You will be filled with Joy.
(3) All fear will disappear.
(4) Rejection and hatred will be things of the past.
4. Sin always bears harvest, too.
(1) That man lost himself.
(2) Those men lost their pigs.
(3) Both rejected their one hope, but the maniac repented and was saved!
(4) The people of Gadara lost the opportunity to hear the Words of Jesus and to be saved eternally!
5. What will you do? Will you accept of reject Jesus?

ECC 2/25/2007

Sunday, February 18, 2007

A Short Voyage of Growth by John.

A SHORT VOYAGE OF GROWTH
Mark 4:33-41

1. Nowhere in the Scripture are we told to pray to the
Holy Spirit, or to Jesus, but Jesus does tell us to pray to the Father in the name of the Son, and we are to be in the Spirit as were the disciples on the Lord’s Day in Acts.
2. Discovering the relationship of the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit is a part of the growing pains of discipleship, but in the pain, our faith and strength increase as we discover the glory of God’s care for us.
3. This portion of Mark reveals Jesus in an entirely
new way to the disciples as they make a short voyage of Growth.

I. I WANT YOU TO SEE FIRST OF ALL THE NATURE OF JESUS.

1. He was completely human.
(1) Mark 4:35, “that day” means that same day, and what a day it was! He taught inside and out! He was accused of casting out demons by the Prince of demons, Beelzebub! (3:23) All of the people in the boats were hysterical! There was no time to eat! There was no place to rest!
(2) His body cried out for relief, and all He could get was a ride with a leather-covered seat for a pillow! He suffered as a human being!
2. He was completely God, too.
(1) His disciples had seen the miracles, but miracles had been recorded before. (They may have doubted the miracles they had not seen.)
(2) Now Jesus reveals His control over His creation in two separate actions.
Wind be still! (Not just a wind, but a cyclonic wind (lialaps) blowing down into that 13 mile long below sea level lake.
(3) To the sea He said, ”silence! Be being quiet!” (Do you know much about the seas? They usually remain rough for a long time after the wind stops.
3. We don’t see this as anything unusual now because we have heard about it so many times, but who can do this now? Who can silence the sea?
(1) When a Navy ship goes to pick up someone in the water, they go up into the wind, turn sharply to create a slick in the water. Then they let a boat over the side. That boat goes and gets the person in the water.
(2) The same maneuver has to be done again to take the small craft back on board the ship.
(3) When our elder daughter was 13, she and I crossed Greer’s Ferry Reservoir in a ten foot Jon boat with a 3-½ horse motor. The water was more than 500 feet deep, but she wasn’t afraid! She trusted her Daddy!
4. Do you trust the Lord Jesus to carry you through the deep waters of life? Commit yourself to His care! He is God, but He became a man so that He could experience everything that we experience. He understands us!

II. NEXT, I WANT YOU TO SEE THE GROWING PAINS OF DISCIPLESHIP.

1. The disciples were with Jesus on the hilltop glorying
in the miracles and fame of Jesus.
2. How often things go wrong when everything seems so right! (Ill. W/great revival, new building, whatever.)
3. Their first reaction to the wind and the sea was, “We can handle it!” and they tried, but couldn’t.
4. Their next reaction was predictable: “The coach got us into this!” “The referees aren’t calling the game right!”; “We are just unlucky!” “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” v 38.
5. They had not yet learned that Jesus can handle everything! Everything!!! Ill. Years ago our 7 year old son John Mark wanted to ride the roller coaster at the Mid-South Fair in Memphis, TN, but he didn’t believe it would be safe even with Daddy. He thought the Ferris wheel would be okay, but he screamed and cried on the Ferris Wheel until the attendant let us off. He had no faith when his feet were off the ground! Can you trust Jesus to take you through the scary things of this life?

III. NOW LOOK AT THE GLORY OF GOD’S CARE.

1. Look at the parables, devices of division, but full of the love of God.
(1) Unbelievers who did not want their lives changed only heard Jesus stating what they were doing wrong.
(2) Seekers and believers heard Jesus giving them spiritual truths that they didn't understand.
(3) When the disciples were alone with Jesus, He explained the parables to them.
(4) Note that the unbelievers and believers neither understood the parables. It took the special care of the Master to enlighten them.
2. V. 36. There were other boats with them in the sea, and they were saved, too. God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah for just ten righteous people! Has it ever occurred to you that God spares this sinful nature because of you? And other believers like you?
3. Jesus expected more from the disciples. He asked, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” v 40.
4. I think He was disappointed in them, and I think He is disappointed with us!
5. I believe He loves us so much that He continues working with us in spite of the disappointments we give Him.

Conclusion:

1. Jesus knows you – He remembers what it is like to be human!
2. Jesus can save you – He is God.
3. Jesus knows pain attends growing, and He wants us to know growth is more important than the pain we experience.
4. Jesus cares about you!
5. Isn’t it time for you to step into the loving hands of your heavenly Father?


Emmanuel Community Church Bassett 02/18/2007

Saturday, February 10, 2007

A Description of a Christian by John.

A Description of a Christian
Matthew 5:3-16

1. Most children hear the beatitudes of Jesus read in Sunday School.
2. Usually, a lot of time is spent on them individually.
3. We just read over and over again until we become unconscious of them..
4. I don't think I ever heard of their being treated as I am treating them today.
5. I believe we have a wonderful description of a Christian in the beatitudes.
6. Let's see if we can view what God expects us to be, what He expects us to do and how the world reacts to Christians.
7. At the same time, the Beatitudes are not necessarily goals to reach, but rather the work of God's Spirit in Christian lives.

I. First, Let's See What God Expects Us to Be. vv 3-8

1. Blessed is frequently translated: happy, well-being, fortunate, or some similar word.
(1) The Greek word is makarias.
a. It is the word used of Mary by Elizabeth in Luke 1:45. "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished."
b. It means more than "happy."
c. It meant that Mary was in the spiritual position that God expected, and wanted, her to be in.
2. When we are "blessed," we may be in any stage of spiritual development, but it means we are where God wants us to be at this moment in our lives.
3. As I said, the Beatitudes are states of being. They may be hard to attain, but we do not need to strive to reach them!
4. The goal we should try to reach is simply to be the person God wants us to be.
(1) That means we should know Him.
(2) It means that we should be seeking to live as He wants us to live.
a. And that means we will be learning what sin is, and we will be ceasing to sin as we learn!
b. It means we will also obey God's commands such as, "As you are going, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and the son, and the holy spirit." (Matthew 28:19)


II. Second, Let's See What God Expects Us to do as Christians. v. 9.

1. He expects us to be peacemakers.
(1) That is one really big word, and it involves all that we are!
(2) For instance, how can you bring peace to people who are fighting each other?
(3) You may not be able to get between them and live through it, but individually, you can lead them to Jesus.
(4) When people have the peace that Jesus gives them, it changes them, and they begin to see things as God does.
(5) Whether you are successful or not, is not the issue here.
a. The issue is are you bringing peace to people, or are you stirring up hatred?
b. I don't think there is such a thing as a "hawk" or a "dove" in God's plan.
c. A peacemaker's character is wrapped up in Jesus who said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27).
2. Now remember this is the ideal person that Jesus is speaking of here.
(1) We have the Spirit of Christ.
(2) We are developing the mind of Christ.
(3) When we have done a good job of growing, we will be mature in the Lord, and we will fulfill Matthew 5:48 which says, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
3. Now let me reinforce what I've been saying. Just before Jesus spoke those words, He said, "I tell you, 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.'" (Matthew 5:44,45).
4. That's the ideal. In a less than perfect world, we also have to settle squabbles between brothers and sisters who have not reached maturity.
5. That means, we who are not yet mature have got a big job cut out for us! And the only way we will accomplish it is to yield our lives into the control of the Holy Spirit of God.

III. Third, Let's Acknowledge How the World Treats Christians. vv. 10-12.

1. When someone curses you, belittles you, calls you names, what is your immediate reaction?
2. I get mad! Really mad!
3. What should I do?
(1) Expect it to happen.
(2) Remember that God loves the one who is persecuting us.
(3) Remember that Jesus suffered far more than any of us ever can.
a. He carried our sins to the cross!
b. He carried the sins of Nero, Diocletian, and all of those Biblical antichrists to the cross!
c. He even carried the sins of those who cursed you, belittled you, lied about you, called you names to the cross!
(4) A fourth thing to remember is, those who are persecuting us are potential brothers and sisters in Christ!
4. Peacemaker! If any evil people turn to Jesus in true repentance, asking for mercy, and they give their lives to Him, He will forgive and save them! Can we do less?
5. Disbelief and pride keep God's enemies from turning to Him for salvation! They mistreat Christians to get back at God!

Conclusion:

1. A Christian should be: (1) Poor in Spirit. (2) mournful. (3) Meek. (4) Hungering and thirsting for righteousness. (5) Merciful. (6) Pure in heart. (7) Peacemakers.
2. They should expect to be and be persecuted for righteousness.
3. They should also expect lost people to insult them, have them repay the good they do with evil, and tell lies about them.
4. God is our Creator, and we respond to Him both as our Father and our God.
5. Some earthly fathers are not like Him. He is Good. He is Kind. He is Loving.
6. And we respond to Him accordingly.
With Love. With Reverence. With Service.
7. Others view us as God's children, and they call us "children of God."
8. They expect us to be different. It shocks and disappoints them when we are not!
9. They mistreat us, Christians!
10. It's okay to dread any form of persecution, but we should expect it if we live in harmony with our God!
11. They persecuted Jesus, but He is beyond their reach now, and being human, they persecute us!
12. The fact is, if we aren't persecuted in some way, we should ask ourselves, and then maybe ask the Lord, "Why am I not being persecuted? Is something wrong with my Christian life?
13. Expect to receive all the promises in these beatitudes. They show the world that you are a Christian.
14. You don't have to work to receive them, but you do have live in, and be filled with, the Spirit.
15. First, you have to trust Christ. He must forgive your sins and give you eternal life.
16. Decide to trust Jesus right now, and He will change you into a blessed person right now.

Emmanuel Community Church 2/11/2007

Thursday, February 01, 2007

TENDER LOVING CARE
Mark 5:21-43

1. It seems to me that almost everything about this
event in the life of Jesus is unusual in some way.
(1) Jairus was a ruler in the Synagogue.
a. Most rulers consider themselves above the common people.
b. They are quick to let you know they don’t expect to be kept waiting!
c. Jairus had to wait, but he didn’t complain! That’s unusual, isn't it?
(2) From what we just read Jairus believed the impossible is possible with God! And that’s unusual, too.
(3) V 40; The paid mourners and others gathered at Jairus' home laughed at Jesus.
a. If it had been me, I might have called down fire from heaven to destroy them. (James and John earned the name "Boanerges" because they suggested that to Jesus.
b. Jesus refused to even respond with “I’ll show you!”
2. There are four types of people in this story:
(1) Believers like Jairus.
(2) Hopeful, like the disciples, and others looking for miracles
(3) Unbelievers with open minds.
(4) Unbelievers with closed minds, people who thought they already knew it all!
3. Today, we want to major on the care Jesus gave
these people. You’re familiar with the term doctors and nurses use, aren't you? “Tender, loving care?”
4. Well, I’m glad they give it, but tender loving care did not originate with them. It originated with Jesus.

I. TLC REACHES EVERY PERSON IN EVERY SITUATION.

1. Jairus apparently had heard about Jesus.
(1) He poured out his heart in simple, desperate trust.
a. He had already reached his point of no return!
b. His daughter was his priceless treasure.
aa. We love our children and nothing is more important to us, but to the Jews their children also meant other things.
bb. We sometimes think of children as "accidents of nature?" but to the Jews, they were definitely a blessing from God.
cc. Psalm 127:3-5 says, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate."
dd. Such blessings raised their family's value in the community.
c. Jairus was probably already under a social cloud because he had only a daughter! No son! (Other accounts of this are in Matthew 9 and Luke 8. In Luke 8, it says "his only daughter.")
d. Jairus placed his entire burden on Jesus.
(2) Jesus went with him to answer his prayers.
2. On the way, the woman with an issue of blood touched his clothing.
(1) She was lost. She had no hope apart from this desperate attempt to be healed.
(2) Jesus healed her immediately! Without even talking to her! I believe there is no other incident like this in the New Testament. Unusual!
(3) Jesus sought her out, and gained her confession of faith. That was TLC!
3. His TLC also reached the Apostles.
(1) They were scheduled to become “little Jesuses.”
a. They were not like him yet.
aa. Peter was an ear-chopping denier.
bb. James and John were known as boanerges, “sons of thunder.”
b. They needed knowledge as well as faith.
(1) Jesus taught them.
a. He taught them step by step.
b. They didn’t really graduate until Pentecost.
c. Like us, they never arrived at perfection in their actions. Peter took the Gospel to the Gentiles. He ate with them, but when Jerusalem Jews showed up, he stopped eating with he Gentiles, and Paul corrected him!
4. Jesus' TLC reached the dead child.
(1) How much had she suffered? No one knows, but Jesus!
(2) Jesus raised her, restored her and ordered her to be fed!
(3) You see, He even cares for our temporal needs, too. (The Lord's Prayer, "give us this day our daily bread).
a. This child was sick a long time. She probably had little or no appetite during her sickness.
b. Her parents were in such joy because of her healing that they probably overlooked her hunger, but Jesus didn't!

II. Jesus' TLC Is Complete, But Some People Do Not Want It!

1. He went beyond the desire of each one of these
people, and He will go beyond your desires, too.
2. His TLC included life-everlasting and heaven!
3. Suppose these parents had not wanted Jesus’
TLC. Can you imagine anyone not wanting their child healed? I can’t.
4.Yet, those earthly leaders influenced the crowds,
and they rejected Jesus and all He could and would do for them.
(1) At first the multitudes flocked to Jesus.
(2) Later they left, and Jesus turned to the Apostles and said, “Will you go away, too?” He must have been terribly disappointed and sorrowful for those people.
(3) At one point, He stood on a hill overlooking the city and cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.” (Matthew 23:37,38).
5. Mockers scorned Jesus.
(1) He said the gate that leads to life is narrow and not many find it.
(2) The way to hell is broad.
a. The crowds were on it.
b. The mockers were right there with them.
c. Nothing has changed!
(3) Our heavenly Father sent His Only Begotten Son to carry all of our sins to the cross, and to open the narrow way for us.

Conclusion:

1. Jesus’ TLC is for you. Jairus is in heaven now, and he is calling for us to come home. Others are there, too.
2. They join God’s Spirit. Revelation 22:17 says,
The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” (We who know Jesus are the bride).
3. There’s a song in our hymnal that says, “Come
every soul by sin oppressed, there is mercy with the Lord.”
4. That’s our invitation to you right now. Take Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Join this church. Surrender your life for ministry. Do whatever the Lord tells you to do. You will always be glad you did!

ECC 2/4/2007