Tag: Trusting Jesus

Morning Musing: Mark 6:35-37

Leave a comment

“When it grew late, his disciples approached him and said, ‘This place is deserted, and it is already late. Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.’ ‘You give them something to eat,’ he responded. They said to him, ‘Should we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had company stay too late? If you’ve been there, you know exactly how that goes. You invite some friends over for an afternoon visit. They arrive and everything goes swimmingly. Then the hour starts getting on toward dinner and you hadn’t planned on their being there for that and therefore have nothing prepared. But they just won’t leave. They just keep talking. One more story. One more story. Then your stomach starts rumbling loudly because you’re hungry and they joke about it being time for dinner. But they won’t leave. So you start fixing dinner…and they keep talking. You tried to be subtle, but they wouldn’t take the hint. You just want to pull your hair out! Well, after Jesus had spent a whole day teaching another huge crowd that had shown up uninvited and taken the time the disciples were going to have with Jesus for themselves, they wanted the guests to go home. Jesus had other ideas.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Mark 4:39-41

Leave a comment

“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.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Mark 2:13-14

Leave a comment

“Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. Then, passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the toll booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me,’ and he got up and followed him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I love a good whodunit story. It’s always fun to me to spend a movie or book trying to figure out which character committed the crime. The best of these stories manage to keep you guessing until the very end. When the final revelation comes, if it’s done well, your first reaction is shock: “I can’t believe that was the one who did it!” But then, when you’ve had a bit more time to think through the details of the story a second thought follows soon in the wake of the first: “Well, of course, that’s who did it. Nothing else makes any sense.” This next story in Mark’s Gospel isn’t a whodunit, but it does have a surprise twist to it that is just as shocking as any great whodunit has.

Read the rest…

Foes to Friends

Leave a comment

Yesterday we continued our look at the story of the first church in Acts as told by Luke. This week we see how God can bring boosts to His kingdom work from places we would never expect them to come. But, if this is going to happen, He needs something from us. Read on as we talk about what that is.

Foes to Friends

Kanye West is not a man well-known for his modesty and humility. Over the course of his career, he’s bounced around from one name to another and one grandiose claim to another. He’s been crude and crass and just downright rude. One of his biggest moments in the spotlight came when he grabbed a mic out of Taylor Swift’s hands when she was accepting a music award in order to make the case why she shouldn’t have won it. He was never known as a friend to Christianity.

Then he became one.

Read the rest…

Get Your Head on Right

Leave a comment

Is faith all we need to be useful to Jesus? That’s not as easy a question to answer as it might seem. Certainly faith is all we need to enter into a relationship with Him, but being useful goes beyond that. As we continue our series, Being Useful, we talk about something that has to go with our faith if we’re going to hit that mark. Keep reading to find out what it is.

Get Your Head on Right

I grew up in a hymn-singing church.  Every single Sunday morning we sang hymns.  As a result, the great hymns of the faith are like a warm, familiar embrace for me.  I suspect that in this room, I’m not alone in that sentiment either.  I suspect there are many of you who grew up with the hymns and have a genuine love in your heart for them.  Now, I love worshiping by singing more contemporary praise music too, but just like anything that was a regular—and positive—feature of your childhood just feels good, the hymns are that for me. 

Read the rest…