Jesus

 

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under 

heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Hail?

 

I live in the American South. Why is there hail this morning??

True

 

Let love be genuine.

Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

Never be wise in your own sight.

Repay no one evil for evil, 

but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

Romans 12:9-17

Remnant

 

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Romans 11:1-6

Daffodils

 

Fast From Discouragement

 

Fast from discouragement and feast on hope. 

That's how this lovely saying goes. Thank you, Gretchen, for letting me borrow it.

I have hope. If I look around at our world I see turmoil, despair, all the troubles from which we run and hide. Do you see them too? I hope not. While I am staring at it I am interrupted by a still, small, powerful voice that says, simply, "Look up." And I see like a blind man who has never seen before. What is that bright light? Do you see it? I have hope that in a thousand tomorrows, or one, this great light will defeat the darkness. 

I heard a song this morning that sounds like how I feel.

This is "No Man's Land" by Mean Mary. What do you think she means?

Here I stand, in no man’s land, drear and stark and dead 

Contrariwise, these merry eyes, see blue skies overhead 

All is Bleak, so very bleak 

In this land of grim mystique 

Empty spaces, harsh places, send a wistful plea 

Like someone near, someone dear, calling out to me 

And the wind wails its desire 

And it’s hungry, hungry like a fire, like a wildfire 

CHORUS: 

I’m full of fight, here I stand 

I’m doing alright in No Man’s Land 

With Blinders gone, I look upon, this mystic land of strife 

This open door, to the ground floor, of rough and restless life 

I looked up at the sky once more 

Had it ever been so blue before – 

Birds fly, shadows rush by, there’s movement behind each stone 

I’m lonely in name only, for I’ve never been alone 

All the earth is fierce and alive 

And it’s hungry, hungry to thrive, to survive 

CHORUS 

Endless rocks, endless knocks, endless shifting sand 

The sun’s ablaze, no shady ways, but still, I understand 

I understand this No Man’s Land 

What are the odds?

Edwin Booth

John Wilkes Booth had a famous brother, also an actor, named Edwin Booth. It was to Edwin's great shame that his brother had assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Years after that fateful day in the theater, Edwin Booth was traveling by train and was caught up in an impatient crowd at a busy railway station. He was a recognizable man and hoped no one would notice him. However, he moved forward toward to the conductor in an attempt to use his fame to get a last minute ticket.

As he drew closer he saw a man fall between the platform and the train. In the commotion no one else seemed to see him. The man was trapped. The engine roared, and with moments to spare, Edwin Booth reached down, grabbed the man by the collar, and pulled him to safety. The man turned to see who had rescued him and was astonished to be face-to-face with none other than Edwin Booth. The men parted ways quickly and Booth did not know who he had rescued until some time later when he received a letter from an old friend, a military General, who informed him the man he had saved that day was Abraham Lincoln's son. 

This knowledge gave Booth a measure of comfort, that despite the horror linking his family to theirs, he had been able to show this kindness to one of them.

Do you believe in destiny or was this merely a coincidence?

His Eye Is on the Sparrow

 

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,

Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,

When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,

And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,

When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,

I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Civilla D. Martin, 1905

Far From Home

 

Haggai 2:4-9

 

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. 

Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 

Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. 

Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: 

Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.

Asbury Revival

 

Habakkuk 1:5

 

Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

Invitation

 

If you find yourself in a dark place, come and sit here instead. 

For you: peace and joy. Peace like a river. 

Joy that is hard to describe with simple human words. 

The Lord bless you and keep you.

And Now

 

A new Asbury Revival? And now spreading:

We need this. I mean the whole world, right?

Do you need this?

Your Story?

 

What's your story?

How did you get Saved? How did it change your life?

I did not believe this book, not fully, not really, until I met Jesus.

Then I understood.

Wow

 

Do you have 24 minutes?

This is an amazing video about a Christian revival that took place at Asbury College in 1970. 

When Jesus Splits the Sky

 

"Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus"

Glorious rendition.

Hallelujah!

The lyrics:

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!

Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!

Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love

Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!

How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!

How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;

How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!

’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;

And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Samuel T. Francis, 1875

Holy Moly

 

Do you see it?

 

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 

He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 

“We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also 

the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 

Nathanael said to him, 

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” 

Philip said to him, 

“Come and see.” 

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, 

“Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 

Nathanael said to him, 

“How do you know me?” 

Jesus answered him, 

“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 

Nathanael answered him,  

“Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 

Jesus answered him, 

“Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

John 1:43-51

Times of the Gentiles

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, 

and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, 

until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 

Luke 21:24

What do you think this means?

What happens next?

Prophecy

 

Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. 

And many followed him, 

and he healed them all 

and 

ordered them not to make him known. 

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, 

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. 

I will put my Spirit upon him, 

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 

He will not quarrel or cry aloud, 

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; 

a bruised reed he will not break, 

and a smoldering wick he will not quench, 

until he brings justice to victory; 

and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” 

Matthew 12:15-21

Tax Collectors & Sinners

 

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 

‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of  tax collectors and sinners!’ 

Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

Matthew 11:19

Do you know any tax collectors and sinners? There's a party.

Matthew 10:5-6

 

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, 

“Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 

but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Choir

 

Lithuania

Shofar

 

Isaiah 63:9

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

A Christian minister sounding a Jewish shofar in Russia.

Do you see it happening?

Healing for the nations.

A Question

 

What do you think about the most?

Holy

Adonai

The angel of ADONAI encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. 

Psalm 34:7

A Question

 

Holiness, holiness is what I long for

Holiness is what I need

Holiness, holiness is what You want from me

But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, 

for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15

The "it is written" referenced here is found in many verses of 

Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and probably elsewhere. Here's one:

Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, 

‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Leviticus 19:2

What is holiness?

Light of the World

 

I am the light of the world. 

Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness 

but will have the light of life. 

John 8:12

Forever

 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, 

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6

My Friend Simcha

 

From her vantage point the mountains below spread out forever. She had inherited this place of peace from an ancient scribe, Simcha the Jew, who painted and taught and read and wrote. He was a foreigner here, like her, though he had lived 

in this simple wooden house his entire life. 

"Why do they call you 'the Jew'?" She'd asked him once.

He was surprised, "They don't call me that. I call myself that. I say it all the time."

"Why?" She wondered.

He replied, "So they will know."

It was like Simcha to say something and leave it at that. He wanted to be known, understood, heard, but it was like he spoke another language. Some people hide their faith and others their background. They'll see us, you know, if we speak up. 

Simcha knew they see us anyway. Better to be bold. 

He was no ordinary man. Simcha knew God. He knew Jesus the Messiah. That made him a stranger to his own people, and stranger still to those who do not know God and reject the Son. He was alone on that mountain, or so he thought, until she came and asked him a million questions. You are just as strange as me, he thought, but never said aloud, because he did not want her to know. 

And so she stood staring at the open sky, in the frame of the wooden door, high on a mountain, thinking of all she'd learned from Simcha the Jew. It was a lot.

Forgiveness. How had she learned that? 

As far as she could tell Simcha never held a grudge. Maybe that's how.

Refuse offense. You could not offend Simcha. 

He lived in peace because he chose to, not because the world is perfect.

He forgave and he blessed those the Almighty put within his reach, continually, each day, all the time, and when the sun relaxed into a peaceful sleep so did Simcha. 

She was afraid of the whole world. "It's horrible," she said. He disagreed. 

"Don't be afraid of them," he said. 

"All of these problems are really one problem and they have one answer: Jesus."

It was like Simcha to say something and leave it at that. 

Sometimes people misunderstood him and sometimes they did not. 

She understood him and stood at the doorway looking out for someone to bless.