Mark 10:46-52 gives us the story of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar man sitting by the road, pushed aside by the crowd. He cries out in desperation for Jesus to meet his need and finds healing.
The sermon can be found here.
1. Blind. Consider situations in your life where you are finding it hard to see. Maybe in a relationship that seems headed nowhere. Or changes in work. Or dealing with a particular issue. Blindness is not only a physical issue. It can very much be a spiritual condition. Prayerfully ask God to renew your vision.
2. Pushed Aside by the Crowd. Have there been voices in your life that suggest God is not interested in your particular circumstances? When Bartimaeus cried out for his need to be met he was met with the response that Jesus would have more important things to do than to deal with him. Don’t believe it! Don’t listen to the negative voices that belittle God’s love. In prayer thank God that His love is so awesome that if you were the only fallen creature in all creation Jesus would still have gone to the cross to set you free!
3. Keep Shouting. Bartimaeus didn’t listen to the voices that sought to silence him. He, in scripture’s terms “prayed without ceasing”. An important aspect of his prayer was its reality. It was whole hearted. Such is the kind of prayer that always seems to get results. When prayer life becomes barren, it is worth challenging ourselves to seriously consider the depth of our commitment. Ephesians 6:18 instructs us; “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying…”
Final Thought: It takes courage to go against the crowd. But in an age where the crowd seems to be heading away from God, we need to stand our ground and wholeheartedly pursue the reality of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
What do you want?
Our reading today came from Mark 10:35-45. It’s a passage in which James and John request to be seated at Jesus side when He comes to reign in power and glory.
The sermon can be found here
Today’s lesson challenges us to consider, not only what we want in life, but how our desires can be achieved.
1. It speaks to us about prayer. Our prayers can be self-focussed rather than God focussed. We tell God what we think God should give us. Sometimes we are even 'James and John-like' in that we have a sense that we deserve to have our requests answered in the way we feel they should be. That is not praying! Prayer is seeking what God desires for our lives and seeking the strength to achieve it. Of course we pray about our needs, but we need to first discern the difference between needs and wants.
2. This passage speaks about perseverance. Jesus asks the disciples if they are capable of drinking the cup that He will have to drink. His life is about to be submerged into deep suffering. They desire a crown, but fail to see that Christ’s glory came through a Cross. The Christian life does offer great things. But they do not often come easy. Spiritual life is the long haul option!
3. This passage is also about pride. “Everybody wants to rule the world”. (Or at least their small corner of it.) Jesus us calls to the abandonment of our quest for personal gain and towards embracing a servant lifestyle that keeps the needs of others always in our minds eye. Now that is not easy! It doesn’t grab the attention in the way winning a race or gaining a promotion may do.
Prayer. Lord Your Word invites us to consider what we want from You. By asking the question it challenges us to consider our motives. Teach us how to pray in a way that sets our life on the path You wish us to follow. Through your Holy Spirit preserve and protect us on our journey. Save us from the kind of misplaced pride that takes away our desire to serve others. All these things we ask in our Saviors name, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The sermon can be found here
Today’s lesson challenges us to consider, not only what we want in life, but how our desires can be achieved.
1. It speaks to us about prayer. Our prayers can be self-focussed rather than God focussed. We tell God what we think God should give us. Sometimes we are even 'James and John-like' in that we have a sense that we deserve to have our requests answered in the way we feel they should be. That is not praying! Prayer is seeking what God desires for our lives and seeking the strength to achieve it. Of course we pray about our needs, but we need to first discern the difference between needs and wants.
2. This passage speaks about perseverance. Jesus asks the disciples if they are capable of drinking the cup that He will have to drink. His life is about to be submerged into deep suffering. They desire a crown, but fail to see that Christ’s glory came through a Cross. The Christian life does offer great things. But they do not often come easy. Spiritual life is the long haul option!
3. This passage is also about pride. “Everybody wants to rule the world”. (Or at least their small corner of it.) Jesus us calls to the abandonment of our quest for personal gain and towards embracing a servant lifestyle that keeps the needs of others always in our minds eye. Now that is not easy! It doesn’t grab the attention in the way winning a race or gaining a promotion may do.
Prayer. Lord Your Word invites us to consider what we want from You. By asking the question it challenges us to consider our motives. Teach us how to pray in a way that sets our life on the path You wish us to follow. Through your Holy Spirit preserve and protect us on our journey. Save us from the kind of misplaced pride that takes away our desire to serve others. All these things we ask in our Saviors name, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
CAMELS AND NEEDLES
This past Sunday we looked at a passage from Mark 10:17-30. Jesus made the statement that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Such an observation is the kind of thing that’s bound to raise some questions!
The sermon can be found here
In his book ‘A GOSPEL TREASURY’ - Poems Based on Lectionary Gospels, Andrew Daughters has the following reflection on today’s passage.
Lord, I almost wish You hadn’t said the words you said that day,
How it would be hard for those with wealth to climb the heavenly way.
For the people You were seeing had so little when compared
With what I just take for granted in the worldly things I’ve shared.
I’ve a home, a place more comfortable then any You had seen.
And I probably live better than the average King or Queen
Lived when You were on the earth and teaching people what to do.
Yet we think that we don’t have enough though real wants are few.
We own things that were not dreamed of. We enjoy them every day.
And they make our lives so easy. Yet we seldom think to pray
In thanksgiving for the much we have we don’t appreciate.
And that’s too bad. For if we did then we would really celebrate.
But, at least, Lord, I am grateful that You said it’s not for us,
In the end, to earn our heaven. I would never make it thus.
Though a rich man can’t buy heaven, still according to Your word,
As a gift he can receive it, like a poor man, from the Lord.
Lord, when I am taken home, I know that I can only take
what my lifeless hands can carry as that final trip I make.
Help me, Lord, convert my treasure into heaven’s currency.
That way, I won’t be a pauper when this life is gone from me.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Scratching For Peace
Our reading for today, (which here in Baldwin was also World Communion Sunday and the Sunday we received a Peace Making Offering) came from the Old Testament Book of Job 1:1, & 2:1-10.
In these early passages the situation of Job is put before us. He is suffering, not because of any action he has taken, but due to forces beyond his control. Such is the situation of many people throughout our world. In the midst of such a dilemma, how is Job to find peace?
The sermon can be found here.
We are confronted daily with issues that we have no control over. War, hunger, injustice, and poverty to name but a few. Most of the time they seem so overwhelming we feel there is nothing we can do. As Billy Joel sang, “We didn’t start the Fire”.
Job gives us some guidelines towards action.
1. Scratching for peace. Job is covered in sores. Naturally he begins to scratch. Such is where a search for peace or justice usually begins with us. Something gets under our skin and we can’t ignore it any longer. It becomes personal and we start to take action.
2. Questions for peace. Job is challenged to believe the conventional wisdom of the day. Bad things happened to bad people; therefore Job must be a bad person. He protests his innocence. His wife suggests he should curse God and die. Job expresses surprise that one so close to him had been taken in by such shallow arguments. He will not curse God but rather protests that God was not subject to the same ground rules as mortals! We should not stop at scratching, but start to ask questions about the issues that draw our attention.
3. Surrender for peace. Job s powerless to change the events that have befallen him through his resistance. Instead he seeks a path of surrender in the hope that through his situation God would work some unknowable purpose. In a similar way, our hopes for change must rest in God, not in our own self-sufficiency. It is through ordinary lives such as our own that the Kingdom of God is being constructed.
Prayer. “Thy will be done on earth as in heaven”. Lord, as we pray such words help us to respond to the challenge of being Kingdom builders, of bringing Your perspective and love to bear on issues that trouble and disturb our lives. Create within us a servant heart. Help us to accept that whilst we can never fully understand, there is still so much we can do! Amen.”
In these early passages the situation of Job is put before us. He is suffering, not because of any action he has taken, but due to forces beyond his control. Such is the situation of many people throughout our world. In the midst of such a dilemma, how is Job to find peace?
The sermon can be found here.
We are confronted daily with issues that we have no control over. War, hunger, injustice, and poverty to name but a few. Most of the time they seem so overwhelming we feel there is nothing we can do. As Billy Joel sang, “We didn’t start the Fire”.
Job gives us some guidelines towards action.
1. Scratching for peace. Job is covered in sores. Naturally he begins to scratch. Such is where a search for peace or justice usually begins with us. Something gets under our skin and we can’t ignore it any longer. It becomes personal and we start to take action.
2. Questions for peace. Job is challenged to believe the conventional wisdom of the day. Bad things happened to bad people; therefore Job must be a bad person. He protests his innocence. His wife suggests he should curse God and die. Job expresses surprise that one so close to him had been taken in by such shallow arguments. He will not curse God but rather protests that God was not subject to the same ground rules as mortals! We should not stop at scratching, but start to ask questions about the issues that draw our attention.
3. Surrender for peace. Job s powerless to change the events that have befallen him through his resistance. Instead he seeks a path of surrender in the hope that through his situation God would work some unknowable purpose. In a similar way, our hopes for change must rest in God, not in our own self-sufficiency. It is through ordinary lives such as our own that the Kingdom of God is being constructed.
Prayer. “Thy will be done on earth as in heaven”. Lord, as we pray such words help us to respond to the challenge of being Kingdom builders, of bringing Your perspective and love to bear on issues that trouble and disturb our lives. Create within us a servant heart. Help us to accept that whilst we can never fully understand, there is still so much we can do! Amen.”
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