Category: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Mark 4:39-41

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“He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ And they were terrified and asked one another, ‘Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had something happen in a relationship with another person that made you completely reevaluate what you thought of the person? Maybe it was a positive reevaluation, maybe it was a negative one, but you couldn’t ever think of the person in the same terms again. After a day of teaching like they had done dozens of times, Jesus and the disciples got in a boat for a little trip. Along the way, something happened that made them completely reevaluate what they thought about Him. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 4:35-38

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“On that day, when evening had come, he told them, ‘Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.’ So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. He was in the stern sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever been in a situation that left you completely unnerved, but didn’t seem to bother the other person at all? How were you feeling then? You probably had three competing emotions all vying for dominance in your mind. The first was fear because of the unnerving situation you were in. The second was frustration that the other person was not equally bothered by the situation as you were. The third was wonder at how the other person could keep cool in a situation like the one you were facing. As Jesus and the disciples headed across the Sea of Galilee one evening after a long day of teaching, this was exactly the situation in which they found themselves in one of the wildest stories in the Gospel of Mark. Check this out with me.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 4:26-27

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“‘The kingdom of God is like this,’ he said. ‘A man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What role do we play in the process of salvation? How do we actually contribute to the growth of the kingdom? If you would claim the name of Jesus as your Lord and savior, those are perhaps questions that have at least occurred to you. We often hear about evangelism and are chided over its lack in our lives and in our churches. What Jesus says here helps to frame out a bit what evangelism actually entails and what should be our focus in it in a way that may help give us more confidence in doing it. Pay close attention.

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Digging in Deeper: Galatians 3:27-29

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“For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female, since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Well, that was…anticlimactic. I stayed up until about 11:30 last night watching returns come in from the election and this morning when I checked back in I knew basically nothing more than I did when I went to bed. At least, that’s the case in terms of the results of the election. What I did have confirmed for me is something that I already knew. If you’ll stay with me for a few minutes, I’ll tell you about what that is.

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Election Day 2020

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The day has finally arrived! Are you excited? Are you anxious? Today is the day when…the political ads finally stop rolling in like the waves of the sea. Oh wait, I mean this is the day when we in the United States of America get to exercise our right as citizens of this great nation to cast our vote. We get to decide who our leaders will be. Consider what a unique thing that is in the history of the world. Ours is a heritage unlike any other this world has known. No other nation has ever seen as long and unbroken a string of peaceful transfers of power from one person to another, one party to another, one political foe to another as we have. As we move forward together into this momentous day, here are some thoughts and a prayer to send us on our way.

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