Two Parables - Seeds and Hearing

Mark 4: 26-34

From August 23

The Kingdom of God is like ... what did the people expect? Not to be too hard on them, what do we expect for the Kingdom of God?

The first parable is about the seed (remember the soil, remember the light which is the Word.)
One of the parables we looked at was the parable of the farmer sowing seed. Often we are afraid and think that we are all alone when it comes to harvesting the seed. We have to remember that it is God who prepares the seed for harvest and we only need to tell God "we''re available" to bring in the harvest. God says in His Word that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. What harvest is God asking you to be apart of today?
Some passages that we looked at today I Corinthians 3: 5-9, Matthew 9: 35-38, John 4: 34-38, and Galatians 6: 7-10. Remember, we all sow, the question is what do we sow?

Blessings

Tim and Caroline

The Parable of the Light

Mark 4: 21-25
From August 16

Yesterday we were a small group of five but we worshiped the Lord with all our heart. We talked about not hiding a lamp under a bowl but putting it on a stand from Mark 4:21-25. Jesus is the light that lives in each of us and we need to let that light shine. We often tend to hide the Jesus that lives inside of us and even turning off that light. We decide to live in darkness and forget about the light that lives inside of us. Choices we make can keep us walking in the dark and stumbling through life. We need to decide to walk in the light. John 12:35 says "the man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going." John 12:36 says to "Put your trust in the light while you have it, sot that you may become sons of light." I was reading yesterday in Joyce Meyer's book "Pursuit of Peace" that many people who call themselves Christians are not really "sons of God" but still "children of God". She said "sons of God" means being mature in Christ. So as I look at this passage of John 12:36 I ask us all are we "sons of the light?" Do we really put our trust in the light in everything we do? What do you need to give over to God so you can continue to walk in his light? Would you rather walk in darkness the rest of your life? I prefer the light. Use the light of Jesus Christ today to help you make the right choices. Matt 5:15,16 says "... Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowel. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Walk with Jesus today. Let your light give joy to everyone!

Blessings

Caroline

Parable of the Sower

Mark 4: 1-20, also Matt. 13: 1-23 & Luke 8: 4-15
From August 2

Background. This parable comes immediately after the previous chapter - Jesus was meeting in a house and in a synagogue. And He had to deal with constant questions from the religious leaders of the day.

Now the location has switched to the open air by the sea. Why? He was reaching another group of people and more of them. People who were maybe less religious but more receptive to His message of the kingdom. And there were more of them, so many that He had to get into a boat to be able to teach them better. The message also switched to a parable, the first one in Mark. This story is about everyday experiences; agriculture and dusty paths; weeds, fields and crops; work. All things that the people had experienced and seen and been a part of on their way to Him.
After Jesus told this parable the people close to Him asked for an explanation. Do you? Do I? Is our belief based on traditions or opinions? How does the Word of God answer our questions? What does Jesus say?

The farmer sows the Word, or seed, which lands on the soil of hearts. How the hearts are prepared determine how the seed will grow. What training did the farmer have? I doubt that he went to Ag College, or even to the Skill Center. He probably learned from his father, or another mentor. He was a blue collar guy like most of us. Sowing the Word does not depend exclusively on a minister. We all can sow, and we all do. We even sow the Word into our own lives. This seed was scattered everywhere, extravagantly even wastefully. Wow!

Path - the seed is removed as soon as it lands by Satan. But what about the choices we make that make our hearts like a path? What do we use as excuses for not hearing the Word? Galatians 6: 7-10 says that a man reaps what he sows.

Soil Over Rock - warms quickly and cools off quickly; persecution takes it away. What persecution do you face? How much of it is self-induced because we don't want to give anything up?

Weeds - grow up and choke it out. Worries of life (the poor), deceitfulness of wealth, desires for other things (everyone else!) make it unfruitful. This is the opposite result of living the Jesus Creed - Love God, Love Others.

Good Soil - Extravagant seeding, extravagant results! Beyond imagining.

More Application - What is involved in raising a bumper crop of anything?

1. Seed - the Word
2. Care - Plants do not grow in darkness they need light and water and nutrients to grow. So do we! What choices are you going to make?
3. Harvest - the result is fruit.

What is the condition of your heart right now? Has it ever been a stony path? Are there parts of your life that you have given to the light? Are there any parts that are still in the darkness?
Where is Gods' Kingdom trying to take root right now in your life, in AC Church, in Allendale?
How do we improve the soil of our hearts?

Tim

More Compassion from Jesus

I started today by having everyone observe the Easter lilies growing under the cross in the middle of weeds and dying plants. What does that image make you think of?

Our message today was from Mark 3: 1-6 and Matthew 12:9-13

The Pharisees were baiting Jesus, trying to set Him up, get Him to break their rules of Sunday service. They had a man there with a shriveled hand and wanted to see if Jesus would heal him. Of course, if He did that would break probably several of their rules about work on Sunday. (Now my rules growing up were that Sunday was only for nap time. Well it seems that the pendulum has swung past that now.)
Anyway, Jesus answered with a question. From Matthew He asked if anyone has a sheep that falls into a pit, won't he pull it out? And isn't a man more valuable than a sheep? And then He heals the man. Jesus has been trying to show us and the Pharisees that we are to worship and act for the right reason. People are more important to God than rituals.
And how had the man with the hand been treated by the Pharisees? He was just a pawn to them used to try to trap Jesus. What was the response by Jesus? 1. Anger at the stubborn hearts of the Pharisees. 2. He healed the man despite the wrong motives that got him there.
God desires a loving relationship with us not a legalistic one. We've seen that God reaches out to zombies and outcasts and cripples, mixes us all together at one table, sinners and disciples alike because we have all been rescued like the sheep from the pit.
Who do your rules say you can help? How do you respond to your rescue?

One response is called The Jesus Creed (Scott McKnight, book of the same name).
"Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength." The second like it is this "Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these.

Tim

Rest Home or Hospital?

Mark 2:13-17

A third week of encounters with outcasts! This time it is the tax collector called Levi (or Matthew). This seems to happen soon after healing the paralysed man as Jesus is teaching to another group of people.
The Romans had this nifty way of collecting taxes and transferring feelings away from themselves. They required taxes, they had the local population collect them, and they didn't pay to have these taxes collected. So to make money the tax collectors had to charge extra in taxes, and sometimes a lot extra. So, these tax collectors were the ones hated not the Romans!
The Pharisees went further and made the tax collectors outcast - they and their families were restricted from a lot of things but especially from the synagogue. In the days of sacrifice, this meant that they were separated from God. (Just on a tangent thinking about Levi. I doubt that tax collector was the career choice he set out for after graduating high school. By the time he ended up as one I wonder if he felt that he had a choice in his future at all?)

What did Jesus see when He looked at Him? What did He say? What was the response?
Jesus said, "Follow Me"; Levi now had a choice for the future and he had two responses. The first response was the same as the other called men, the fishermen. He left everything to follow Jesus. (See Luke 5:28 and then vs 11). Jesus saw the same thing He saw when He looked at James, John, Peter or You and I. He saw ordinary people who could be extra-ordinary with Him.
The other response of Levi was to throw a party made up of tax collectors and fishermen; sinners and disciples. A) What, if any, was the difference between the two groups?
B) Being a disciple of Jesus does that - it pushes us together and connects us with "outcasts".

So the Pharisees were checking out this party from the door and asked the disciples (not Jesus) why He was hanging out with such sinners. What does a sinner look like? To the Pharisees - anyone who they said it was.

Some final questions.
What does it mean to eat together? What does it mean for Jesus to eat with all these people? Does it have anything to say about who should be included at Holy Communion?
Jesus said that He came not to call the righteous but the sinners. Of those two, who recognizes their sin? Is it enough to recognize your sin? Is the church a rest home for the righteous or a hospital for sinners?
See also Hosea 6:6, Micah 6:8, and Isaiah 1:10-20 about justice, mercy and personal righteousness.


Tim

Power Over Sin

Mark 2: 1-12

Jesus continues to show His compassion for people as He again provides emotional, physical, and spiritual healing. In this familiar story, Jesus returns home to Capernaum, to preach the word. And I'm sure that word was what He proclaimed in Mark 1:15-20, "The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Maybe most of the town had been healed by now? Jesus could get down to this part of His business on earth. His compassion was for the whole person as His message expands to include, "Your sins are forgiven."

Who else were there? The people of Capernaum crowded the place but see Luke 10:15 about them; the disciples were there, the owner of the house and ...

Suspicious Teachers
Maybe these guys, Pharisees and teachers of the law, got here very early to listen to Jesus, before everyone else. In the Luke 5:17-26 version it says that they were "sitting" while everyone else was standing! They were the hypocritical keepers of laws, they decided who sinned, who was forgiven, and what it would cost. When Jesus said that the mans' sins were forgiven they started to question and blame Him amongst themselves. And Jesus knew what they were talking about! Note to self - If we have questions, go ahead and ask Him. The Spirit knows what we are thinking anyway.

Faithful Friends
They overcame obstacles to get their friend to Jesus. And Jesus recognized their them for it, "When Jesus saw their faith". What an example of determination, love and daring. Note to self - follow their example!

Paralysed Man
Again we have an image of a man doomed, like last week. At that time the thinking was that the worse the disease, the worse was the sin that was committed. And the only way to be healed was to repent, and being paralyzed that wasn't going to happen. This is also a vivid description of ourselves and of a lost world. Jesus cut through all of that, for us and for the man.

And Jesus does this all with so much compassion. His first words are "Son", an emotional healing and a restoration to the family, to Jesus' family.

Then, "your sins are forgiven." What are the consequences of sin? Separation from God. This is a spiritual healing that restored the connection between God and this man.

Then, what was more difficult to do? Forgive sins or heal? Jesus said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." An action was required and a place of restoration was given. The response of the people who saw this was amazement; literally "it blew their mind."

Lessons and Questions and Statements

Friends get friends to Jesus
Jesus Heals
A Response to Healing Happens

Am I paralysed or what is keeping me paralysed? What is the mat that I am laying on and what is keeping me there? Do I need my relationship with God restored? Do I have friends who need to be healed by Jesus?
What was my response to my healing?

Tim (whose mind is blown!)

Three Healings

Mark 1:29-38

From 6/14/09

Healing #1. The mother-in-law of Simon. Jesus showed compassion when he touched her. And her response? Service. My response to my healing? Service also!

Healing #2. After sunset, so it was legal to travel. After a day of teaching, Mark says that all the town, all the sick, all the demon possesed showed up at the house for healing. How long did that take? Was that an all-nighter?

Healing #3. Jesus needed to "heal" himself. Maybe the word heal is a stretch, but He needed to restore Himself. After a late night of healing, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and prayed. Jesus went to His power source. Even though He is fully God and fully human, He is not super-man. He needed to, just like I need to, get re-charged and take time to listen and to talk with God.

Tim

Witness of Teaching, Power & Response

Mark 1:21-28

The first disciples witnessed the first teaching of Jesus in Capernaum. The people were amazed because He spoke with the authority of God and not worldly authority.

The disciples witnessed the Power of Jesus as He expelled the evil spirit from the man. (What was he doing in the synagogue?) "I know you are the Holy One of God" said the spirit. Jesus will release the world from demon possessions in the same way that he released the man from demon possession.

They also witnessed the response of the people who were amazed. But read the curse given to Capernaum for their lack of belief in Jesus in Matthew 11:23-24.

We have also been witnesses of the power of Jesus. What is your response?

Amazement does not equal belief. Knowing who Jesus is does not equal belief. Being in church does not equal belief. What is your belief?