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The Fear of the Lord Awe and Reverence of God. We were over in the building next door, and Harold Eberle was with us. He asked us if we wanted to know God more and wanted more of Him. He had us close our eyes and groan and plea for more of God. I remember crying out for more of God. I remember saying…

The Purpose Fascination - Discovery - Identity - Authenticity One day, Napoleon was speaking of the Divinity of Christ; when General Bertrand said:— “I can not conceive, sire, how a great man like you can believe that the Supreme Being ever exhibited himself to men under a human form, with a body, a…

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled…

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony…

What it says: Matthew 10:24–25 ““A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.” What…

Inevitable Resistance Matthew 10:16–18 ““Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake,…

In Season or out of season — Preach the Word I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For…

The Mission Introduce, set timer, welcome, introduce series In Chapters 1 and 2 we were introduced to the king, and Matthew gave us proof that he is in fact the rightful heir to God’s kingdom. And in chapters 3 and 4 God comissions Jesus and he goes out and he states his purpose. Preach the message,…

After years of putting money into a savings account, a wife tells her stay-at-home husband the good news: “Honey, we’ve finally got enough money to buy what we started saving for in 1979.” Her husband blushes with giddy excitement. “You mean a brand-new Cadillac?” he asks. “No,” says the wife, “a 1979…

WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)?

Peace is Not Guaranteed 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be…

Persecution Is Real 16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness…

Have you ever wanted to write a book? Me neither. Writing books is really hard. Reading books takes a while, I imagine writing one takes a little longer. Now, what’s funny is we’re a church of about 100 people, and we have several authors in our midst! Gene Poppino has helped write a book. Hannah Russell…

Last time we discussed Jesus healing the two blind men, commanding them to tell no one, but instead they proclaimed it all over the land. Jesus healed the man with a demon and was unable to speak. He was accused of casting out the demon by the prince of demons by the Pharisees. And, the last discourse…

Peter, John & James together served as the elders of authority in the Jerusalem church. James challenges those who claim to possess wisdom, yet they show little to no evidence. Jealousy and selfish ambition were evidence of false wisdom. The Greek eritheia (selfish ambition, NRSV) – a self-seeking pursuit…

Mark 6:7-13 Years ago I read a book entitled “Mark These Men” by J. Sidlow Baxter. In this book were bibliographies of people in the scriptures he had preached upon and their circumstances. Some men were marked as having made bad choices in their lack of faith; The Man who played the Fool, Saul 21 Then…

The Wrath To Come As we overhear Jesus giving instructions to those whom He is sending out (See Matthew 10:1-4 ) the context changes. Beginning in vs 16 Jesus is speaking more broadly about the task of taking the message of Jesus to the broader, Gentile world. Yes, there would be persecution from among…

Seeking Harmony I’m not a singer. But I like to sing. I like to sing in a choir, in a group, and with the congregation. I sometimes get confident somewhat and I try to harmonize. I will seek to sing tenor or the bass line but it is often out of tune, or I just cannot find the notes at all. My problem…

Risk and Reward

1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; 2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. 3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? This…

What does it mean to be a disciple? A disciple, understood as one intimately associated with his teacher; as a father-son relationship. What is a disciple? Someone who follows another person or another way of life and who submits himself to the discipline (teaching) of that leader or way. A follower…

Trouble in the Text: Jesus was continually preparing his disciples for the day when he would not be physically with them. Jesus told them many times that he would have to leave them, either in clear language or by metaphor, that he would have to die and return for a short while, but then he would have…

Palm Sunday Foretold by the Prophets 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 22 The stone which the builders rejected…

Where do we start? 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever. What do we tend to fear? The unknown…

In Matthew 10, Jesus chooses his 12 disciples, and then sends them out to announce the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. But he warns them: not everyone will be happy with this message. Humanity has been in rebellion against God since the Fall of Adam and Eve, and by identifying themselves with Christ, his disciples will find themselves in conflict with many who insist on continuing that rebellion. We, too, find ourselves in conflict, if we wish to identify with Christ. How should we handle this? What does Jesus offer? How can peace come out of conflict?