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Luke 9:26; John 12:48 One of the true marvels of Christendom today is the number of people who say they believe in Jesus but do not accept everything which He taught. They want the gracious and compassionate Son of Man but don’t want the holy and zealous Son of God. They want the Lamb of God but not the Lion of the tribe of Judah. They want the suffering Savior but not the Christ of God with eyes “like a flame of fire,” a voice “like the sound of many waters” and “a sharp two-edged sword” coming out of His mouth. They want to pick and choose their Jesus and what they will believe of the words He taught. However, Jesus does not allow us that luxury. He said that if we are ashamed of Him and His words (Luke 9:26) that He will be ashamed of us on that final day. He said that if we reject Him and His words that His word will judge us on that last day (John 12:48). So if you believe in Jesus, then... ...you must believe that God created the human family and that He made marriage for a man and a woman (Matthew 19:4-5). ...you must believe in Noah and his ark (Matthew 24:37-39). ...you must believe in Jonah’s being in the great fish (Matthew 12:40). ...you must believe that Jesus is God (John 8:58). ...you must believe that He was dead, and that God raised Him from the dead and that He is alive now (Revelation 1:17-18). ...you must call no man either Teacher or Father (Matthew 23:8-10). ...you must love your enemies (Matthew 5:44). ...you must believe that both belief and baptism are necessary for salvation (Mark 16:15-16). ...you must believe in a final judgment of the evil and the righteous (Matthew 13:41-43). ...you must love the Lord Jesus above all others, including yourself (Luke 14:26). We could add many, many more. So, do you believe in Jesus? ><>Jeff

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 We all need a visit to the funeral home. Your response to that is: “Jeff, I’ve had enough visits there. I’d just as soon stay away.” I hear you, but hear me out. We need to go when we can be somewhat detached and consider the event and not the person. Observe the absolute stillness of the body, the total absence of movement. Where once there was animation - the raising of the hand to gesture, the tongue and lips working in unison to engage in conversation, the blinking of the eyes - all now motionless. Feel the hand. What was at one time warm to the touch and itself used to give warmth and comfort is now terribly cold. The cheeks which were ruddy with the flow of lifeblood are now colored to make the body look like it used to be. We praise the funeral director for making a “lovely” memory (as it should be), but the attempt to portray former days of life is clearly a ruse. Stillness, coldness, paleness - lifelessness. We gaze upon the body much like it would have been before God breathed life into Adam. Life does not exist apart from God. No breath we draw is really our own. We live by His will. And this body which once was filled with excitement and joy, purpose and possibilities, now lies in lifeless decay for one reason and one reason only - sin. If we fail to make this connection, to learn this lesson, we have missed the reason for our visit. For death is not a chance occurrence. It is not the natural end of a being evolving in a long line of other beings toward a higher plane of existence. Death is the unnatural end of a being who has fallen from its lofty pinnacle of being in fellowship with God. And only God can give life again by restoring that relationship. He promises to do just that through Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life. The Preacher, the son of David, tells us that it is better to visit a house of mourning rather than a house of feasting. He was a wise man. Shall we listen to his counsel? ><> Jeff

Genesis 1:1 True science and the Bible will always agree. Scientists and theologians will not. Take, for example, the origin of our universe. Over the years, different theories have existed among scientists about the origin of the universe, but today, for the most part, science has accepted the idea that the universe did in fact have a beginning. This position is generally known as the “big bang” theory. For the theologian, no question arose as to the origin of the universe. The Bible was quite plain: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” There was most definitely a beginning. The debate continues today for the scientist would have us believe that the universe sort of “self-generated,” while the theologian tells us that a loving, all-powerful and eternally existing Supreme Being brought it into existence. Let’s take a brief look. The big bang theory begins with an infinitesimally small bit of highly compacted matter (often called the singularity). The reasons given for the existence of this bit of matter are sheer speculation. Then, for no known reason, this bit of matter explodes, and the fragments expand in all directions into space, gradually slowing and condensing into stars and planets. Then on one planet, by blind luck, the conditions for life come together and a living cell begins to function. From this one cell, all life, plant and animal, evolves without any direction. All of this is by pure chance. The biblical explanation has a loving Creator God creating a space called the heavens with a planet Earth which He fashions to support life. He fills the heavens with the sun, moon and stars which all serve the Earth and its inhabitants. Then He makes plant life and creatures of all sorts to live in the seas, the air and on land. Finally He makes human beings in His image. His plan is to live among them for a while and offer them life everlasting. Both beginnings are incredible. Which do you find to be more credible? ><> Jeff

Luke 6:46-49 Jesus always cuts to the heart of the matter and into the heart of His hearers. He wastes no words for time is precious. Alfred Whitehead said: “Apart from blunt truth, our lives sink decadently amid the perfume of hints and suggestions.” In our text, Jesus destroys our silly notions that Christianity is a “designer religion.” Because of our selfishness and arrogance, we tend to accept some of what Jesus teaches but ignore other commandments which we find “difficult.” Thus, we “design” our own Christianity by selectively applying Jesus’ words. We want His forgiveness but don’t take Him seriously about forgiving others - every person who has wronged us. We’ll gladly come to the assembly and worship whenever there isn’t anything else going on that we want to do. We give into the offering basket but don’t want to hear about my giving an afternoon or evening for the cause of Christ. We convince ourselves that “going to church” is what Jesus wants and ignore His words about good works, the second mile, proclaiming the gospel and denying ourselves. Jesus’ question is founded not so much in rebuke as in incredulity. “Do you think I’m blind? How can you call me your Master and then turn around and not do what I tell you to do?!” Do we truly see Jesus as a loving Master with our best interests at heart, or do we see Him as a divine “advice Giver” whose words we can choose to follow or not depending upon how we feel? Our Lord then provides a warning for those who would design their own way to follow Him. If you build your house according to my design (words), you’ll endure temptations and stand firm in the evil days. If you design your house your way, your life will come crashing down when the tests of life come. Jesus’ words are both a promise and a warning. Designer Christianity is a calamity waiting to happen. ><> Jeff

Matthew 5:14-16 We have seven night lights in our house. (No comments, please.) Night lights teach us a valuable lesson. Every time I get up in the middle of the night or before the sun, those night lights invariably provide more than enough light for me to see where I’m going. Not one time has the darkness of night overcome one of those night lights so that it could not show me the way. I recall Dr. Del Tackett (The Truth Project) made the same observation. He noted that whenever the door of an unlighted closet was opened that the light in the hallway would always illuminate the closet. Never did the darkness of the closet blacken the hallway. As is the case with so many things in the natural world, they reflect a spiritual truth. John wrote (John 1:1-5) about Jesus coming into the world that He was “the Light of men.” He went on: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” But the ESV as well as NAS and NKJ footnotes have “overcome” instead of comprehend which seems a better fit. Jesus shone into the darkness (evil) of the world and illuminated all of the wickedness and corruption. The radiance of His beautiful life with all its goodness and truth could not be overcome by the blackness of human sin. Jesus’ life described to us in the gospels still stands as a beacon in the night of men’s evil. But Jesus has placed in the world today some other luminaries to stand against this present darkness and help show the way for those who are looking for their true home. His disciples are those “night lights.” (See our text.) What a glorious truth for the Christian to know! As you go about doing good and so reflecting the light of Christ, your life stands out against the darkness of the day and evils of the age. Your good deeds “cannot be hidden” by the evils of the world. It often seems that there is so much evil in the world that the good is being overcome. Truth is: Christian light overcomes darkness - every time! Believe it. Keep on shining! ><>Jeff

Philippians 3:1-14 In our text, Paul argues that if anyone had reason to have confidence in the flesh, he was that person. He goes on to enumerate his ancestral standing as a Hebrew and his personal achievements in keeping the Law. He says that really no one could surpass him in these things. But then he says an astounding thing: he counted all these things as loss and considered them rubbish. He gave them up. He ditched them! He trashed them! He let go of them all! What would cause such an extreme change in Paul’s value system? He tells us: “in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” We must let go of whatever may be keeping us from knowing Christ Jesus. What are some of those things? We certainly must let go of sin, works of the flesh, evil deeds. These are enumerated in several places. Sexual immorality, lying, drunkenness, greed, lust, pride, outbursts of anger, divisiveness, jealousy, envy, hatred, etc. But what other things must we let go of? What about my prejudicial thoughts toward people of different cultures, skin color, countries, political persuasions? What about my desire to always get my way? To watch my programs, to take the vacation I want, to eat at my favorite restaurant? What about my continued habit of “sneaking at peek” at that porn site when no one’s around? What about failure to control my tongue? Gossip? Slander? Crude jokes? Backbiting? Tearing others down? What about my needless fears? Fear of what people think of me? Fear of doing something different? Fear of letting go of myself and letting God take over? Fear of failure? What about my inability to objectively examine myself in light of scripture and never admit I’ve been wrong? What is it that you need to let go of? It could be just about anything. God will help you. Time to get on with it. ><> Jeff

Genesis 50:20; Psalm 105:16-19 One of the things which we as Christians have difficulty learning is that we are part of something bigger than ourselves - much bigger! We each tend to hold to a narrow and near-sighted view of life which centers around my life, my family, my health, my finances, my job, etc. Our prayers seem to gravitate to these things, and we wonder why God does not bless us more in these areas. Now, there’s nothing amiss in asking for God’s blessings in our personal life, but we should always keep in mind that He most likely has some other plans for us which go far afield of our small view of things. Joseph is an excellent example of this. He was part of this nice little shepherding family which was well-to-do and quite richly blessed by God. Joseph had a father Jacob who favored him over his ten brothers because he was the son of his father’s true love Rachel. Well, the favoritism backfired. Joseph’s brothers got jealous and sold him to some slave traders who took him to Egypt. While there, Joseph did very well for a while, but he ended up in prison through no fault of his own. But the Lord God was with Joseph and gave him the interpretation of the dreams of two fellow prisoners and eventually for Pharaoh himself, whereby he came into favor and was appointed governor over all of Egypt. In this position, Joseph devised a plan by which all of Egypt and the world (including his own family) could stay alive through seven years of famine. When Joseph was recalling all of this with his brothers, he said this: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” God’s hand was in Joseph’s life, and He used his suffering to bring about much good on a grand scale, even reaching into eternity. It has been said that if you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans. Remember, God has plans, too - other plans which reach beyond your own life - and you are right in the middle of them! Keep this in mind - God is always at work! ><>Jeff

Mark 1:32-38 If you’re like me, you prepare “To Do” lists. It seems like there is always so much to do that if you don’t write things down, they never get done! There are things to do for church. Things to do around the house. There is yard work. There are things to do on Saturday. I have three calendars because of all our appointments to keep and happenings to attend. It is never ending. In our text, Jesus is “up to His neck” in things to do. The residents of Capernaum were bringing Him all their sick for healing and those possessed to be freed from the unclean spirits. It says “the whole city had gathered at the door.” The next day, Jesus had risen while it was still dark and went off by Himself to pray. Later, the disciples came looking for Him with these words: “Everyone is looking for You.” More people wanted to be made well. But what does Jesus say? We need to go into neighboring towns so I can preach the gospel there also. We can’t just stay here. There is more to do in other places. Other people need to hear the gospel and be healed. For Jesus, the “to do” list was always full. And so it is with the church today. There will always be people to minister to in some way. Someone will be sick or having an operation. Someone will be having marital difficulties. Someone will lose their job. Somebody needs to hear the gospel. Somebody needs a visit. Someone requests special prayers. Someone will have trouble with a child. Somebody will start drifting down the path of some sin. Someone wants some questions answered about the Bible. Someone will end up in jail. Somebody has been absent for three weeks. Someone will cross over. We follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We just need to be ready, and not grow weary in doing good. On some Saturdays, I get to cross off everything on my “to do” list. It’s a good feeling. Mission accomplished. Then about that time Shirley says, “Next Saturday, we need to...” Oh, well. ><> Jeff

Isaiah 40:28-31 The attributes of God are the subject of many articles and sermons: His love, power, wisdom, holiness, eternalness, etc. But one of the characteristics of God which seems to be seldom discussed is His tirelessness. Isaiah writes in our text of the Everlasting God who “does not become weary or tired.” We humans all experience the tiredness which comes from living in a body of clay. We must get proper rest, or we begin to function in a diminished capacity or in extreme cases - not at all! However, God does not live in such a body but is spirit, so He has no potential problem of “running out of gas.” Isaiah, though, is discussing a different type of weariness which God could experience. This type of weariness works on the six-year-old who is the brunt of all the teasing at school since he is the shortest one in class. It’s the attitude which can develop when over and over again at work we are passed over for promotion in favor of someone younger and newer on the job. It’s the tiredness which can result from having to deal day in and day out with the open rebellion and ingratitude of an unruly child. It’s the faint heartedness which can well up in the spirit from the continual assaults of an abusive husband or the ceaseless clamor of a contentious wife. It is the tiredness which drives a person to say, “Enough is enough. I quit!” God will never entertain such a thought. Let’s be perfectly clear, though. At times, God gets totally fed up with our sinning and gives a nation (Israel’s repeated experience) or a person over to oppression to provoke repentance. But God is never too tired or weary to listen to the cries of the down-trodden and broken hearted or to answer the prayers of His people. And note this well: He has been listening to the weeping and calls for help from the teeming millions on earth for thousands of years. Yet, He never grows weary in hearing and responding to their cries. God is indeed a loving Father and a tireless Shepherd. Thank you, Lord. ><>Jeff

1 John 4:7-21 God’s love for mankind is an incredible thing. This is an understatement. It can be observed throughout the scripture record and especially affirmed in the New Testament. The source of this love is God Himself for “God is love.” Let’s examine this a little. Since God is love, love becomes the primary motive for all that He does. It is the driving force behind his will and purposes on the earth for mankind. Love is about relationships. If there is no one to love, then love cannot function. Thus, we observe that God creates Adam and Eve, the first people, and lavishes His love on them. He places them in a paradise with everything they could possibly need, even fellowship with Him. Alas, they did not return that love. However, their actions did not stop God from loving them nor their offspring. Through His promises and providence, He brings a Savior into the world, born of a woman to save humanity from its sin and reckless folly. And wonder upon wonder, not only is there a saving but a granting of an eternal life through this Savior Jesus. Paradise restored. O the depth of God’s love! In reflecting upon this (as well as other things we know), we confess that we do not deserve God’s love. Each one of us has disobeyed the voice of God and trampled on His commandments. We have pursued our own ways and spurned His love. We deserve the death of which the word speaks. Should we recognize and admit our failings, we are helpless to earn God love. We are condemned as sinners with no way to rid ourselves of the curse. But, behold! God has not stopped loving us! Even in our rebellious state, His love is strong as He waits patiently for us to come to the cross for the forgiveness and healing which we need so desperately. Behold the power and depth of God’s love. When we begin to truly grasp this, we start to change. “We love, because He first loved us.” God’s love has the power to transform us! Praise our God. Thank you, Lord Jesus! ><> Jeff

There's a lot going on in the world right now. I think it's fair to say that this is the most tense the world stage has been in a while. It's times like these when people begin to worry about the future, for both those involved and, potentially, the rest of the world. Jesus says in Luke 12:4-5 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell." The Lord reminds us here that God is sovereign. No power on earth is worth worrying about when He is watching over us. Regardless of the state of national affairs, God's comfort is always readily available to help us through life's troubles. In our toughest times, nothing is more comforting than knowing that God sees all of our struggles. God has the power, the time, and the love to watch over all of His creation. Luke 12 is one of my go-to passages of scripture, and I doubt I'm alone in that. In verses 22-31, Jesus says that God consistently provides for all parts of His creation, from the birds to the flowers. He ensures that they never have anything to worry about. Yet, God loves no part of His creation more than us. After all, God made us in His image. He says in verses 6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." So, if we are worth that much more than sparrows, which have no reason to worry, then why would we ever have to worry? Now, I'm well aware that's always easier said than done. I, for one, never seem to stop worrying. Nevertheless, God shows us here that no matter what troubles we face, He has already accounted for them and He will always make sure things work out in the best way possible. As much as we may wonder and worry about what is to come, we can always take comfort in knowing that God is in control over everything, and that He is always looking out for us. The future is in God's hands. There's no place I'd rather it be. No matter how bleak parts of the future may look now, God knows the result. We just have to trust that He'll get us there. He will. He always will. In the meantime, we might need help along the way. No matter how big or small our problems may be, God sees our struggles and remains ready to aid us. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Our Lord is ready to help each of us carry our burdens. All we need to do is ask.

Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Peter 3:1-7 The scriptures are filled with teachings for husbands and wives about the “one flesh” relationship referenced by Jesus in Matthew 19:4-6. Here’s a little quiz for spouses to serve as a reminder and encouragement in your “one flesh” togetherness. 1) Do you make it easy or difficult for your spouse to fulfill his/her role in your marriage? 2) When you have a disagreement, are you or your spouse the first one who seeks to “work it out”? 3) Do you speak the language of God in your home, or is everything said in worldly speech? 4) Do you pray together? How often? 5) Do you really listen to your spouse and engage in open dialogue, or is real conversation absent in your relationship? 6) Is all of the family income available to meet all of the family’s needs with the consent of each one of you? 7) Husband, is your love for your wife regularly seen and heard in your home? Wife, is your respect for your husband regularly seen and heard in your home? 8) Do you see your relationship as being much greater than your own selves as it reflects the love of Christ for His church and the submitting of the church to Christ? May the Lord bless your marriage and your family life. ><> Jeff