Miracles of Jesus
Here's an really cool list of where to find records in the Bible of the miracles Jesus performed on earth. I scanned and uploaded it (with some help from my descendants and their new-fangled technology).
Clash of Temperaments
10th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: St. Luke 10:38-42
When there’s a clash in temperaments, we need to stop and recall this old Indian proverb:
“Don’t condemn a person until you have walked a mile in their moccasins.”
Jesus knows what is about to happen as He is on the way to Jerusalem. This is a stop of rest and relations with two precious friends, Martha and Mary. He is beginning to realize the intensity of inner battle in His heart. He prays, “Father, not My will but Your will be done.”
As we come to the reality today of a large number of friends are coming to our house for dinner, Martha is excited about this event. As the lady of the house, she has prepared for this in-gathering.
· She has cleaned the house from top to bottom.
· The best china has been polished.
· A beautiful tablecloth made by her mother drapes the dining room table.
· The table has been prepared with the best silverware.
Now it’s time to prepare the food. There will be between 20 and 25 guests. The potatoes are ready to be cooked. The meat of the day, lamb and goat, is slowly roasting in the oven. There is gravy to be made and there are several veggies to prepare. Martha has baked apple and cherry pie for dessert. As she walks by the kitchen door, she sees her sister Mary among the men as she is speaking. And her temperament boils over! She says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to prepare this large meal? Tell her to give me a hand.”
Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried about the little things, yet only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better thing, and that shall not be taken from her.”
One person may say, “Lord, of all the pots and pans and things, since I have no time to be a saint by doing lovely things or walking late with Thee or dreaming in the dawn’s light or storming heavy gates. Make me a saint by getting meals and washing up the plates.”
Now think, once again, where Jesus is about to go. To Jerusalem, where He will be crucified.
May we all open our hearts and minds and quietly meditate on who we are: Martha or Mary.
May we pray unto the Lord, asking Him, “Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner, and save me by Your grace.
“Open our hearts and lives to see that divinity is possible for each of us when we center down and hear your low, soft voice whisper.”
God calls us all. Insert your name into this statement: “Richard, I love you and will use whatever you offer me to bring peace to you and all others. I need a kind word and helping hands to show and to spread My love for and to a sinful world today.”
Help me to be faithful to my commitment to You. Let us pray!
Scripture: St. Luke 10:38-42
When there’s a clash in temperaments, we need to stop and recall this old Indian proverb:
“Don’t condemn a person until you have walked a mile in their moccasins.”
Jesus knows what is about to happen as He is on the way to Jerusalem. This is a stop of rest and relations with two precious friends, Martha and Mary. He is beginning to realize the intensity of inner battle in His heart. He prays, “Father, not My will but Your will be done.”
As we come to the reality today of a large number of friends are coming to our house for dinner, Martha is excited about this event. As the lady of the house, she has prepared for this in-gathering.
· She has cleaned the house from top to bottom.
· The best china has been polished.
· A beautiful tablecloth made by her mother drapes the dining room table.
· The table has been prepared with the best silverware.
Now it’s time to prepare the food. There will be between 20 and 25 guests. The potatoes are ready to be cooked. The meat of the day, lamb and goat, is slowly roasting in the oven. There is gravy to be made and there are several veggies to prepare. Martha has baked apple and cherry pie for dessert. As she walks by the kitchen door, she sees her sister Mary among the men as she is speaking. And her temperament boils over! She says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to prepare this large meal? Tell her to give me a hand.”
Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried about the little things, yet only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better thing, and that shall not be taken from her.”
One person may say, “Lord, of all the pots and pans and things, since I have no time to be a saint by doing lovely things or walking late with Thee or dreaming in the dawn’s light or storming heavy gates. Make me a saint by getting meals and washing up the plates.”
Now think, once again, where Jesus is about to go. To Jerusalem, where He will be crucified.
May we all open our hearts and minds and quietly meditate on who we are: Martha or Mary.
May we pray unto the Lord, asking Him, “Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner, and save me by Your grace.
“Open our hearts and lives to see that divinity is possible for each of us when we center down and hear your low, soft voice whisper.”
God calls us all. Insert your name into this statement: “Richard, I love you and will use whatever you offer me to bring peace to you and all others. I need a kind word and helping hands to show and to spread My love for and to a sinful world today.”
Help me to be faithful to my commitment to You. Let us pray!
4H
Today, we did not have a regular session in the church building. Rather, we answered the call to be the arms and feet of Jesus in our community and volunteered at the local 4H. Check out the pictures Katie posted on Facebook!
Who is My Neighbor?
8th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: St. Luke 10:25-31
One hot North Carolina afternoon, a family is going home from a family outing. Then they came upon 2 Native American teenagers selling watermelons at a 4-way crossing.
They stopped to get a melon. They immediately started to barter about the price. After several unfruitful tries with no luck…
…one of the teenagers stated, “Sir, these are the only things we have in this world.” The man was so touched with the words of the teenager tears appeared in his eyes and began to run down his cheeks. They bought all the melons the boys had.
In a movie, the interaction between these 2 white men in their 30s and these 2 young native boys would not look like that.
This is a good example of a story about who my neighbor is.
Luke 10:27 reads that we must love the Lord our God with
· all our heart
· all our being
· all our strength
· all our mind and love
· our neighbor as ourself
Our scripture for today tells us the story of the good Samaritan who stopped to help a bleeding and beaten man left on the road to die.
As one views this scripture, one is told that our neighbors are not just the person who lives on either side of us, nor the person who crosses the street, nor the one who lives behind us.
ALL of these are our neighbors. Any of us should be ready to reach out to anyone who needs help.
One side of my family tree has a real problem with alcohol.
A cousin at age 18 or 19 was arrested by the Illinois state police in 1957 for driving 100 miles an hour, seeking to get away from it all. He was fined and classified as a drunken driver.
Another, my own brother, became an alcoholic. Praise God that today he is a dry alcoholic, but he is still an alcoholic. His drinking took its toll on his body, and at 84 years old he struggles daily with his health.
Consider:
· A man who beats his wife and children
· Another one who abuses his little children
All these and countless of millions of others are a serious problem to our social environment, yet each one of them is our neighbor. We must help them any way we can to correct their addictions.
Like our Lord, we need to reach out to these individuals.
All too often, the good Christians in our world don’t see or sense people with these social problems as neighbors, and we either fail to reach out or flatly refuse.
Our Lord has reached down to see and touch each one of us.
Likewise, we need to reach out and embrace each one of these people with the same love and compassion and concern that Jesus gave to each one of us.
All too often the church’s population stays safe and secure within the confines of the church structure.
God, help us and forgive us, for we have almost completely lost Christ’s ministry of searching out and reaching real needs of others who so desperately need to be understood and loved.
Anyone who would lower themself to aid the suffering like our Lord Himself did as a suffering servant, dying for each and every one of us, offering each of us forgiveness. We need to do the same.
For all humanity is the offspring of the church of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray!
Scripture: St. Luke 10:25-31
One hot North Carolina afternoon, a family is going home from a family outing. Then they came upon 2 Native American teenagers selling watermelons at a 4-way crossing.
They stopped to get a melon. They immediately started to barter about the price. After several unfruitful tries with no luck…
…one of the teenagers stated, “Sir, these are the only things we have in this world.” The man was so touched with the words of the teenager tears appeared in his eyes and began to run down his cheeks. They bought all the melons the boys had.
In a movie, the interaction between these 2 white men in their 30s and these 2 young native boys would not look like that.
This is a good example of a story about who my neighbor is.
Luke 10:27 reads that we must love the Lord our God with
· all our heart
· all our being
· all our strength
· all our mind and love
· our neighbor as ourself
Our scripture for today tells us the story of the good Samaritan who stopped to help a bleeding and beaten man left on the road to die.
As one views this scripture, one is told that our neighbors are not just the person who lives on either side of us, nor the person who crosses the street, nor the one who lives behind us.
ALL of these are our neighbors. Any of us should be ready to reach out to anyone who needs help.
One side of my family tree has a real problem with alcohol.
A cousin at age 18 or 19 was arrested by the Illinois state police in 1957 for driving 100 miles an hour, seeking to get away from it all. He was fined and classified as a drunken driver.
Another, my own brother, became an alcoholic. Praise God that today he is a dry alcoholic, but he is still an alcoholic. His drinking took its toll on his body, and at 84 years old he struggles daily with his health.
Consider:
· A man who beats his wife and children
· Another one who abuses his little children
All these and countless of millions of others are a serious problem to our social environment, yet each one of them is our neighbor. We must help them any way we can to correct their addictions.
Like our Lord, we need to reach out to these individuals.
All too often, the good Christians in our world don’t see or sense people with these social problems as neighbors, and we either fail to reach out or flatly refuse.
Our Lord has reached down to see and touch each one of us.
Likewise, we need to reach out and embrace each one of these people with the same love and compassion and concern that Jesus gave to each one of us.
All too often the church’s population stays safe and secure within the confines of the church structure.
God, help us and forgive us, for we have almost completely lost Christ’s ministry of searching out and reaching real needs of others who so desperately need to be understood and loved.
Anyone who would lower themself to aid the suffering like our Lord Himself did as a suffering servant, dying for each and every one of us, offering each of us forgiveness. We need to do the same.
For all humanity is the offspring of the church of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray!
Laborers for the Harvest
7th Sunday of Pentecost
Scripture: St. Luke 10:1-11
Today’s text includes the labors of the 12 Jesus sent out before sending a 2nd group of 70.
The number 70 is the number of how many were chosen to help Moses in leading the Israelites in the wilderness.
70 is also the number of Sanhedrins, the supreme counsels for the Jews.
If we relate these 2 groups of men as the helpers of Jesus, we are talking about laborers for the harvest.
Luke, in chapter 10, is nothing short of emphasizing the amazement and terror these men experienced.
Jesus, sending his followers out 2 by 2 ahead of Himself, showed all His faithful disciples the things that may be required of them in serving. He provides a kind of traveling checklist that includes danger, dependence, and the deeds of His power.
Today we have a big picture understanding of where that may take us. That’s hindsight 20:20 theology. The 70 came back with joy and surprise. They were amazed at the power He had given them.
Does this mean that they might have power like Jesus Himself? Absolutely yes!
There is one essential thing we must do to find the Lord: One has to leave home.
• Adam and Eve, for disobeying the Lord, were sent into the wilderness.
• Abraham and Sarah became wanderers.
• Jacob journeyed far from his family.
• Jonah ran away to the sea. There he found wisdom inside a whale.
• Elijah lived in the wilderness.
• Ezekiel was alone with the people of Israel, living in exile.
• The oldest Biblical law, found in Exodus 22:21, states: “Don’t mistake an oppression for punishment, because you were once an immigrant in the land of Egypt.
• Jesus also includes Himself in the stories because He wandered from heaven to earth.
Wanders in sin, the lost sheep, and a despised woman are all at home in the realm of God’s love.
I believe that God sends out you and I yet today to gather the lost sheep of His flock. The decline in the Protestant church in the United States is because we all stay in the church building
Meanwhile, the harvest for sinful brothers and sisters wander in the world for each passing day. At the same time, laborers for harvest grow smaller and smaller. Some Christians stay in the safety of the church, afraid that the sinful world may engulf them if they leave it, yet someone left the church building to harvest and seek each of us out so that we may encounter God’s love.
The greatest love one can experience is the living presence of Jesus in their heart and life.
Father God, help us to cry out for mercy as sinners. Have mercy on each one of us so we will step up from the plate and serve You.
One local church I served a while back when I was reappointed has stepped up to the plate to gather in the harvest.
• A certified accountant with many years of experience. (Ed)
• A professional typist for several lawyers. (Judy)
• A chemist, who experienced 2 tragic deaths in his family: his father and his sister. (Tim)
• A church janitor, who became a layspeaker and now serves as a laypastor. (Linda)
Who among us will be the next one to step up to the plate and hit a home run for God with Jesus guiding us?
Let us pray!
Scripture: St. Luke 10:1-11
Today’s text includes the labors of the 12 Jesus sent out before sending a 2nd group of 70.
The number 70 is the number of how many were chosen to help Moses in leading the Israelites in the wilderness.
70 is also the number of Sanhedrins, the supreme counsels for the Jews.
If we relate these 2 groups of men as the helpers of Jesus, we are talking about laborers for the harvest.
Luke, in chapter 10, is nothing short of emphasizing the amazement and terror these men experienced.
Jesus, sending his followers out 2 by 2 ahead of Himself, showed all His faithful disciples the things that may be required of them in serving. He provides a kind of traveling checklist that includes danger, dependence, and the deeds of His power.
Today we have a big picture understanding of where that may take us. That’s hindsight 20:20 theology. The 70 came back with joy and surprise. They were amazed at the power He had given them.
Does this mean that they might have power like Jesus Himself? Absolutely yes!
There is one essential thing we must do to find the Lord: One has to leave home.
• Adam and Eve, for disobeying the Lord, were sent into the wilderness.
• Abraham and Sarah became wanderers.
• Jacob journeyed far from his family.
• Jonah ran away to the sea. There he found wisdom inside a whale.
• Elijah lived in the wilderness.
• Ezekiel was alone with the people of Israel, living in exile.
• The oldest Biblical law, found in Exodus 22:21, states: “Don’t mistake an oppression for punishment, because you were once an immigrant in the land of Egypt.
• Jesus also includes Himself in the stories because He wandered from heaven to earth.
Wanders in sin, the lost sheep, and a despised woman are all at home in the realm of God’s love.
I believe that God sends out you and I yet today to gather the lost sheep of His flock. The decline in the Protestant church in the United States is because we all stay in the church building
Meanwhile, the harvest for sinful brothers and sisters wander in the world for each passing day. At the same time, laborers for harvest grow smaller and smaller. Some Christians stay in the safety of the church, afraid that the sinful world may engulf them if they leave it, yet someone left the church building to harvest and seek each of us out so that we may encounter God’s love.
The greatest love one can experience is the living presence of Jesus in their heart and life.
Father God, help us to cry out for mercy as sinners. Have mercy on each one of us so we will step up from the plate and serve You.
One local church I served a while back when I was reappointed has stepped up to the plate to gather in the harvest.
• A certified accountant with many years of experience. (Ed)
• A professional typist for several lawyers. (Judy)
• A chemist, who experienced 2 tragic deaths in his family: his father and his sister. (Tim)
• A church janitor, who became a layspeaker and now serves as a laypastor. (Linda)
Who among us will be the next one to step up to the plate and hit a home run for God with Jesus guiding us?
Let us pray!