Was Jesus Against Law and Tradition?
Jesus is once again confronted by the Pharisees because his disciples don't adhere to their tradition of ritual hand washing before a meal. He points out that their traditions subvert God's law rather than complement it, thereby exposing their hypocrisy and hardness of heart. However, the point of the law was to teach the right ordering of the soul. Ultimately, it is the interior act of the soul (what comes out of the heart) and not what materially happens to the body that “defiles” or “profanes” a person in the sight of God.
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Will You Go Away Too?
John 6 is one of the most radical and mysterious of Jesus’ teachings about himself. In hindsight, we Christians know that Jesus was speaking about the Eucharist (or Holy Communion). But most of the crowd (or those on the fringes) weren’t interested to stay around to discover what Jesus was speaking about. They just said, “This is too hard”, and walked away. And you know what? Jesus let them. He asked, “Do you want to go away as well?” to his closest disciples. Peter then said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have come to know and believe that you are the Holy One of God.” How about you?
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Unless...
John 6:53-59 are some of the most radical verses in all of Scripture. But, Jesus is not mincing words here. He clearly says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” So, let’s “chew on this” text and ponder the magnificent mystery of it all! Ready? Let’s go.
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Whether They Hear You or Not
Speaking the love of God to a godless culture is not easy. It’s hard. Ezekiel, the prophet, certainly knew this. But, the LORD told him to proclaim his love anyway—whether they would “hear him or not”. As Christians, we are called to do the same. Proclaim the gospel—no matter what. Leave the rest to the Lord.
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Jesus--Food for Life
On this Heritage Sunday, our Gospel lesson just so happens to be one of the most foundational texts for our Christian faith and life—Jesus came down from heaven to give life to the world. “I AM…the bread of life.”
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The Great I Am in the Midst of the Storm
After the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, our Savior shows compassion to his disciples when he comes to their aid as they “strain at the oars” in a mighty storm on the Sea of Galilee. The Son of God shows who he truly is as the One who “tramples the waves” — the Great I Am. Likewise, just as he showed compassion for his 12 disciples then, he also shows us his compassion today as he watches and protects his flock and gives us his rest from “straining at the oars.”
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You Give Them Something to Eat
Jesus is LORD—the Word made flesh; and the LORD is and has ALWAYS been full of compassion and mercy. The story of the multiplication of the loaves and fish greatly illustrate this. And as his disciples (shepherds who follow THE Good Shepherd Jesus), WE are to show forth the same mercy and compassion for the people of the world who are hungry for him. We are to (in Jesus’ name) take care of the sheep—to protect, to provide and to give rest. We need God’s grace and each other in order to actually live this out in our world!
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Chosen, Called, Saved, Sent.
Make no mistake--Jesus has chosen, called, and saved us for a purpose: He is sending us to be ambassadors for him in the world. The question is: Will you listen and follow him?
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Always Enough Grace
The Apostle Paul’s “thorn” is unknown … we can only conjecture what he was pleading with the Lord to remove; and we believe (by the guidance of the Holy Spirit) that he intentionally left his thorn unknown so that any one of us can put our own situations into that place and hear the gentle assuring voice of Jesus say to us as well, “My grace is sufficient for you.” It’s enough.
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No Fear. Only Faith.
In our gospel text today, we read of two people with situations that are wrought with fear and desperation for different reasons. And the incredible truth is: Jesus makes TIME to meet both situations with his tender care and mercy. He always will because he is faithful. GREAT is his faithfulness!
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Life on the Farm
As Christians, even though we can’t see what God’s up to sometimes (causing us frustration), we still are to go forth and scatter seed…we scatter the seed of the Word of God as we also LIVE as citizens of the Kingdom of God. And the LORD is in charge of the growth!
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Jesus Binds the Strong Man
Jesus the young prophet from Nazareth ushers in the kingdom of God and in doing so breaks the walls down of another kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, the devil’s kingdom. Prophesied to do so as the “seed of the woman” who will crush his head, Jesus the stronger one binds the strong man, Satan, and brings healing, teaching and preaching the Gospel, and casting out demons who no longer have dominion. As His people we have His Holy Spirit to continue in His work in the world.
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Sabbath Was Made for Man
With Jesus, rules are meant to be fulfilled, enlivened, and embodied so that their purposes are experienced. The sabbath rule we find in the ten commandments is about resting from work, yes, but it’s about much more than the work we do to pay our bills and keep a roof over our heads. It’s about teaching us to rest from the things that keep us from God, the places that tempt us to selfishly live and work in ways that cause harm to our neighbors, and to be reminded that we continuously need to be reoriented towards God.
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Blessed Trinity
This sermon intends to answer three questions as it relates to Trinity Sunday: First, why do we hold to the doctrine of the Trinity? Second, why do we hold to the Athanasian Creed? Third, why do we celebrate Trinity Sunday?
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Live in the Spirit
The Day of Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples), the Church was born! Miraculous signs and wonders happened that day and for years to come as the Church spread throughout the nations! It’s how we ended up as Christians all the way on the other side of the world! Today, however, we need to re-examine ourselves to see if we are actually LIVING in the Spirit like Paul talks about in Gal. 5. Because if we are not living in the Spirit, why even bother to celebrate Pentecost? Let’s seek the Lord, turn from our ways, and walk in step with the Spirit—God loves you!
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Jesus' Mighty Prayer for Us
The Ascension. Many don’t understand what Jesus’ role is now (as our High Priest and Advocate in HEAVEN) in the place of ALL authority. And many don’t understand OUR role now (as the Church) the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, our Advocate here on earth! Make no mistake, we need to understand it! Because the Holy SPIRIT SENDS US OUT as divine image bearers who are seeking oneness with God (as Jesus prays) and who are “sanctified in the truth”! So to live… like Christians!
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Hope for Everybody
The gospel of Jesus is for everybody. Today’s scripture from Acts makes it clear. The Holy Spirit is wanting to smash down some barriers of prejudice that we have built up around ourselves and around our churches so that EVERYBODY can come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Will we listen? Or not? Because if you truly love Jesus, you will listen and obey.
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The Encourager
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to all who believe. He is the free gift of God’s eternal presence, power, grace, truth, and encouragement that comes through Jesus Christ…and he’s SO much more! But, in today’s gospel, we just unpack 3 things that Jesus talks about when it comes to the promise of the Holy Spirit, “The Encourager.”
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What Makes the Good Shepherd Good?
Jesus shares an image of himself with the Pharisees that He is the Good Shepherd. This image has been one of the key images throughout the Old Testament of God himself and Jesus teaches us why he himself fulfills that image of the Good Shepherd and why we all need him to Shepherd us.
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Resurrection Leads to Transformation
Today we are in Acts 4:5-14 and we see Peter and John standing before the same council that had Jesus crucified… and yet, without fear! They boldly preach the gospel! So much so, that the council was pretty much left speechless!
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