bearing fruit that lasts

Jesus Teaches Me About Sacrificing for Faithfulness

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:22:00 +0000

From Matthew 19

God seems to really value the quality of sacrificial faithfulness. Look at marriage in v 3-9. When the Pharisees wanted to challenge Jesus on his stand regarding divorce, Jesus reminded them that marriage is about a man and woman discovering that their oneness grows out of their faithfulness to each other and that a hardened heart will not sacrifice for their spouse and this kind of heart will lead to unfaithfulness.

Jesus says in v 28-30 that those who sacrifice and are faithful will be rewarded greatly.

The rich young man (v16-24) was not willing to sacrifice and missed the reward of God because he would not follow in faithfulness.

In the middle of this chapter is a puzzle, a teaching on children (v13-15)

Children require sacrifice and faithfulness on the part of parents and other adults. Adults (especially when they are not the parents)often look to dismiss and discount the children as unimportant to them personally. Parents know of the sacrifice and faithfulness children require but they grow weary of the demands. Children live completely dependent upon the sacrifice and faithfulness of their parents and other adults. Even when they are disobedient, they still look to their parents for love and care.

When the disciples of Jesus were not being faithful to the children, Jesus rebuked them and received the children to bless them.

My heart must be willing to sacrifice for others if I want to be known as a faithful person. There can be no real faithfulness without sacrifice, and the more we sacrifice the more faithful we become. Jesus promises that sacrificial faithfulness leads to real and lasting rewards. I suspect it is the ones who have nothing left (the "last" in verse 30) are the ones who come out the real winners.

I am glad Jesus said that "MANY who are last will be first" - at least we will be in good company!

My Barriers to Growth

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:50:00 +0000

Growth is an evidence of life.
When I think about growth, I think about how there is “old” growth and “new” growth.
Old growth is like the trunk of a tree that continues to get bigger around with more bark every year but is a growth that is hardly noticeable except when it gets really old and is obviously a big tree; and that is really all that is said about it “that’s a big tree!”. Old growth was once “new” growth but has now become hardened with age and it’s glory has faded into the past. It now becomes the home of insects and parasites, another part of the food chain. “Old” growth has an important role to play in the “new” growth that the “new” growth is dependent upon. The “old” growth provides resources, protection and stability for new growth that is vulnerable. The “old” growth provides wisdom of how to weather the storms and challenges that the “new” growth will encounter.

New growth is where the fruit happens. In my garden, I look for the new growth, the evidence that the plant is healthy. I planted things for the new growth, for the flora, for the fruit. Where the old growth is sentimental to the heart the new growth brings joy to the heart.

Both are necessary for the fruit to set on, but some “old” growth trees support very little new growth and bear little fruit. My life is a combination of both “new” growth and “old” growth...

What keeps me from developing new growth?
Here are 10 things that can be barriers to my growth

1. New growth is costly -
        growth requires time and resources
        have to be willing to pay the price

2. new growth takes attention
        have to think about new growth
        new growth needs nurturing
        the inclination is to focus on “old” growth that will not produce

3. New growth takes intentionality and planning
        I have to make room for new growth
        I have to anticipate the requirements of the growth

4. New growth takes work
        I have to do something if I want to grow. New growth takes change
        I have to do things differently
        respond to a changing environment / culture

5. People around me can limit my growth
        growing people help people grow
        positive people help people grow
        informed people help people grow

6. Loneliness limits growth
        little grows in a vaccuum -
        too inward focused

7. Information can keep me from growing
        not knowing what to do leads to bad decisions
        wrong information leads to wrong decisions

8. Perspective can keep me from growing
        desiring stability and security over joy
        desiring comfort and ease produces little fruit

9. Unrealistic expectations will hinder growth
        expecting a forest to spring out of a desert - over night
        discouragement is a growth killer

10. More fear than faith
        fear of failing - loosing sight of future growth
        not taking time to hear from God
        unwilling to respond to God

Jesus prays for you

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Read:
John 17:1-26

If anyone’s prayers are to be answered, Jesus’ prayer to the Father is sure to be. Jesus asks to be glorified by the Father, to be able to fully express His goodness, to fully express God Himself. When God glorifies another it is always to demonstrate God Himself, not the individual.

Jesus had done all He was sent to do, and now Jesus was dependent upon the Father to do all that God desired to do. To truly be a sacrifice Jesus had to place himself completely into the hands of His Father.

Jesus’ concern is not for himself as he faces the cross, but for His disciples, and you, and I, and all His followers. Jesus prays for our protection from the evil one, by the power of His name. He asks that we be set apart, made distinct, by God’s word of truth. Jesus also prays that we be brought to unity, together with Him.

Our unity is not with the world, though we are not taken out of it. But our union is with God Himself. It is in an extraordinary relationship with God that the world will know His love that is only experienced through Jesus and was established through His sacrifice.

Just as Jesus placed Himself into the hands of His Father, will you trust him too, faithful to obey what He calls you to do?

Prayer:
• Thank God that He answers Jesus’ prayer for you.
• Confess your need for His protection.
• Listen to His truth as He distinguishes you from the world around you.
• Ask Him to display His love through the unity of your life with Him and others.
• Thank Him for the incredible gift of displaying His glory through your life.

Meditate:

John 17:22-23
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

The trial of eternity

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:18:00 +0000

Read: John 18:1-11; Luke 22:66-23:25; Mark 15:16-20; Matt 27: 32-56

Jesus was arrested and His trial immediately began very early in the morning. The trial of all eternity, that took place in three courts, was over by mid-morning. Jesus allowed rulers that He had established to condemn Him, soldiers that He had knit together in their mother’s womb to beat Him mercilessly then nail Him to a tree that He created, and carried to the hill.

Jesus experienced the rejection of His followers, the pressure of arrogant men, the pain of senseless beatings, the humiliation of a naked crucifixion, but His heart breaks and he cries out because He is separated from His Father (Matt 27:46) for the first time in His existence.

Restoring your relationship with God is the reason He went to the cross. The pain of the brokenness of that relationship is what cost Him his life. There is no life apart from the Father, because He is the source of all Life. When Jesus died, the earth shook to exclaim, “He was the son of God.”

Prayer:

• Thank God that He loved the world so much to send His son to die for it.
• Confess that your sin required Jesus’ death on the cross.
• Listen to His spirit as He shows you the cross He died on
• Ask Him to help you never loose sight of the cross
• Thank Him for loving you so much.

Meditate:

Isa 53:5-6
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

A covenant of hope!

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Read:
John13:1-20; Matt 26:17-30; Mark 14:27-41; Luke 22: 24-62

God had made a covenant with His people long ago in a desert where He gave them the Law, the unattainable Commandments for them to live by. A covenant was established by God with Moses and sealed by the sacrifice of blood. However, this old covenant only lead people into the guilt of their sin for breaking God’s Commandments. Breaking the covenant required new sacrifices.

Jesus establishes a new covenant that fulfills the old one and brings hope to us today. His life became the sacrifice required. In His death, His flesh was broken and His blood shed for the forgiveness of our sin. This is a covenant of forgiveness that is sealed by His blood and is symbolized in the act of communion. It is in a relationship with Jesus now that we find our hope.

Even in this, Jesus continued to demonstrate the importance of humble service as He washed the feet of the disciples. He brings strength to our weaknesses as He prayed for Peter (Lk 22:32) though He knew he would deny Him. He demonstrates His control over the situation as he walks into the hands of His accusers fully aware of what lay ahead of Him.

He wants His followers to believe in Him. Not blindly, but connecting His sovereignty with the realities around us (Jn 13:19). He is at work in the world around you today. Do you recognize the hope He brings to your life today?

Prayer:
• Thank God that He desires to bring hope into your life.
• Confess your dependence upon Him for your hope – to make it through the doubts and darkness that your days can bring.
• Listen to Him as He calls you to commune with Him in this covenant of hope.
• Ask Him to be your strength today and to fill your heart with the hope that only He can provide.
• Thank Him for being your only source of hope.

Meditate:
Heb 6:19-20
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.

God Glorifies His Son through Sacrifice

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:30:00 +0000

Read:
John 12: 20-50; Matt 26:1-16

Jesus knows now is the time for which He has come. This is the culmination of His time on earth. God is about to glorify Himself, through His Son, in an astonishing way to demonstrate the extraordinary love He has for His creation. Jesus reinforces the values of the Kingdom of God that He has spent the last 3 years building into His followers. Values of self-sacrificing service, giving up ones own life for the benefit of others (v 25-26). God Himself confirmed Jesus’ life, message and purpose once again. The Father is pleased to multiply His Glory upon His Son and Jesus declared that as He is lifted up, on the cross and in our lives, He would continue to affect peoples lives for the rest of time (v32).

Even after such a great confirmation by the Father, Jesus remained under complete submission to Him. He continues to show that He is in the world as one who had been sent (v44). Jesus also acknowledges the level of His submission to the Father, for He never spoke on His own, God always told Him what to say and how to say it (v49). If Jesus, as God’s son, was that submissive to the Father, how much of your life are you willing to submit to God’s control?

Prayer:
• Thank God that Jesus demonstrated self-sacrificing service on your behalf to enable you to come into Gods presence even now.
• Confess the times you have not been willing to submit your speech, actions or attitudes to Gods will.
• Listen to the things He wants to change in you.
• Ask God that He forgive you and help you live the self-sacrificing life that Jesus demonstrated for you, so that you will become a “son of light” (v36)
• Thank God for the love He has shown you through His son Jesus.

Meditate:
John 12:49-50
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

Faith and Prayer

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:19:00 +0000

Read:
Matt 21:18-22; Mark 11:20-33; Luke 20:1-19

Jesus teaches His disciples a lesson about faith and prayer. He knows what lies ahead for all His followers and they will need both the strength of faith and the power of prayer in the coming days. God works through people who are relying on Him alone, expecting Him to do things only He can do, for His benefit and glory.

Jesus teaches us that all of nature is to respond to God and bear fruit to His glory, and that prayers to this end can move any mountain we face. Through our faith in Him we can see Him respond to our prayers.

Often, Jesus’ authority is questioned. He was doing things that could only be done because He was God, and yet some were still unwilling to believe He was who He was. Sometimes we think “this is too hard for God, He would never do this in my life” and we opt for the easy way out, saying “we don’t know” just like the teachers who challenged Him. Will you let Jesus be God in your life and give Him the authority to do what He wants to?

Prayer:

• Thank God that He is able to do anything He desires
• Confess the times you have not believed He was who He said He was in your life.
• Listen to Him tell you how He wants you to trust Him today.
• Ask Him to increase your faith as you commit to obey Him.
• Thank Him for being faithful even when you are not.

Meditate:

Luke 20:17-18
"'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

Jesus cleanses His temple

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Read:
Matt 21:12-17; Mark 11:12-19; Luke 19:45-48

Consider:
Jesus entered the temple and did not like what He saw. It was not the place it was intended to be. The temple was to be a sacred place where God’s Spirit resided and where God would meet with His people. The temple was a holy place, a place of prayer. A place set a part for God’s purpose, but it had been infiltrated by the activities and purposes of the world.

1 Cor 6:19 says “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus desires to inhabit our hearts. Our hearts are to be the place we meet with Him, set a part and belonging to Him. It is in our hearts where His life springs new in us.

If Jesus were to cleanse your temple, what would he over turn and throw out? Where and how has the world infiltrated your own heart. Are there things in your life that you would not want to be in the same “room” with Jesus?

Jesus declares His house to be a house of prayer. If you were to turn your life into a house of prayer, how would your life be different than it is today? Prayer is how we communicate with God, we tell Him what is on our heart and listen to what is on His heart. Our lives are to be a temple for Him, a place for Him, and He wants to communicate with us through prayer.

Pray:

• Thank God that we can know Him.
• Confess the things that He wants to cleanse out of your life.
• Listen to how He wants to communicate with you.
• Ask Him to make your heart a temple that honors Him.
• Thank Him for making your heart a temple for Him.

Meditate:

1 Cor 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

"... The Stones Will Cry Out"

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:15:00 +0000

Read:
Matt 21:1-11; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests” declared the angels at Jesus birth (Lk 2:14). Now the people of Jerusalem proclaim “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Lk 19:38). Like striking bookends of praise to begin and conclude Jesus’ time on earth.

No one deserves more praise than Jesus!

The King of the universe is coming! As if the King of all creation were coming to His own coronation, the jubilant cries of all of nature would resound with praise. As the psalmist wrote; “All you have made will praise you, O Lord;” (Ps 145:10) or Isaiah the prophet who declared 700 years earlier as he spoke of the anticipated salvation that God would one day bring; “the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isa 55:10) – and this was that day.

Jesus, the King was entering Jerusalem for the very last time as the man/God. He was making His way to establish the new creation. He who created the heavens and earth in the beginning, from beyond the heavens, was making His way to His next creative space on a hill and from under the earth where creation would happen again. This is where a covenant of salvation would be established and a ‘new Adam’ formed.

Though this new creation would be of a very different nature from the old creation, it was as though all the existing creation could feel the energy swelling as Jesus entered the holy city. By their very nature as ‘created ones’, the people on the roadside could not help but to be ‘caught up’ in the praise of the King as He passed by them. Though their hearts would soon turn dark and their cries of joy soon become shouts of violence, this day all creation welcomed their master into their presence.

Today, will you welcome Jesus the King into your life with praises as He comes to create His covenant to new life in you?

Prayer:
• Thank God that His Son was both the sovereign of all creation, the King of Kings, and also the only one who could save you.
• Confess to Him where you have not been open to His presence in your life.
• Listen to His Spirit as he shows you the things in your life that He would like to use to display His glory.
• Ask Him to change you, to heal you and give Him the areas of your life that He has just shown you.
• Thank Him for His love for you that draws you to Him.

Meditate:

Isa 55:11-13
“... My word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD 's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."

Passion Week ~ Easter Devotional 2009

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:02:00 +0000

Easter is my favorite holiday of the year, it is truly worth celebrating. It is more than just a day when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, but it is a whole week leading up to that glorious day that leaves us with a glimpse of eternity. It is a week of pageantry, and passion. The culmination of God’s incarnation wrapped up in betrayal, denial and pain. It is an emotional week of intense love, that leads to the deep despair of death but ends with the exhilaration of life and the revelation of God’s enormous grace

Once again this year, the Lord would not let me free until I had prepared this for you. This is my gift to you. As I have worked to write this for you this Easter, my prayer is that you will have a passionate encounter with Jesus, our living Lord and King, this week. This guide is designed to help you walk through this coming week with Jesus, remembering what He did for you.

As you read, pray, think and meditate, may God’s Spirit draw you close to Him. May you hear His heart beat for you. May you feel the scars He bore, may His presence be as close as His breath on your neck. As you walk with Jesus on the road to the Fathers grace may you be captured by His love for your life.

The Path of Spiritual Growth

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:06:00 +0000

Col 1:9-11
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

Thanks to a recent blogpost by Ed Stetzer, who I enjoy reading and am always challenged, some thoughts were spurred that I want to capture (and share).

There is a progression in this passage that moves us towards spiritual maturity. The need to grow in this area, both personally and for all who I influence and lead, seems always on my mind. To become more like Christ, in my thoughts, attitudes, values, actions. To encourage others to pursue these - there can be no greater pursuit in life I believe.

Stetzer quoted an amazing statistic from 2500 church attendees, 3.5% displayed any measurable spiritual growth over a years time while 55% perceived themselves to have grown spiritually. It appears we are painfully deceived. Surely, not me, I can hear the thoughts and conversations. Perhaps the bar is set too low. Perhaps it is not set at all.

In Col 1:9-10 there is a progression of spiritual growth; Knowing --> Being --> Doing

Knowing - "...the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding..."

Being - "...live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way..."

Doing - "...bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,"

Many have shared with me, and I have experienced it myself at times, that they know what they should do - they don't need to read more books, they don' t need to memorize more scripture, spend more time reading the Bible, but they just need to do more of what they already know.

What a common experience in maturing this is. We have been around Christianity long enough to hear enough sermons, read enough verses, we get the concepts, but the actual application seems to be an impossible struggle.

Perhaps we have skipped over the crucial step of BEING. The step that actually changes my attitudes, that transforms my values, not my understanding, but my beliefs, where I am living what I am becoming. The step that integrates what I know with what I want to do, and the problem exists in the personal pronouns of that statement - "I". We think "I" can do this, and "I" can not.

The transformation of our BEING occurs through my obedient responsiveness to the power of the Holy Spirit. The only thing "I" can do is let Him be Lord and let Him change my being as I respond to Him. He is the Master and I am not and from there He changes my being and I begin to "...live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way...". I don't set the bar, He does, and yes there is one. He moves it up little by little, and I grow.

Doing then becomes a step of faith, responding in both knowing and being.

...to fear the Lord...

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:18:00 +0000

2Cor. 5:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Do I know what it is to fear the Lord?
...in my feable, immature attempt, I have some inkling
...but not what I will have, can have,
but still, in what I know, I know to fear the Lord
and it is GOOD - He is Good

and so, as a result,
I try to persuade men.

the rest of this passage says nothing of their responsibility to respond to His offer which I, as their “ambassador” deliver,
but the rest of this passage speaks of MY RESPONSE AND RESPONSIBLITY.

I am compelled by Christs love
I am convinced of what I believe
I am motivated by a different purpose

I have a responsibility of reconciliation

and so can I say “I implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God”

strong words,
my Christian culture would like that tempered, my heart is like theirs too often, so I can blame others for my slow and un-empassioned efforts to relay God’s message entrusted to me. How often we can look for reasons not to, believing the method is ineffective,
believing that somehow the message is weaker than the method.

do I really believe that God’s message will not return void - ineffective, unproductive

it leads me to think about 2 Pet 1:8

Have I forgotten what it is then to fear the Lord?
do I really?

Have I passed this on to others?
Do I implore anyone!?!

My prayer

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:30:00 +0000

Father,
Thank you for the blessing of my family.
thank you for children who are growing so strong and beautiful
thank you that we love one another and enjoy our love
thank you that each of my children love you, walk with you, and want to walk with you

thank you for my wife who loves me, who loves you and loves our children
thank you that the beauty of my wife is made evident in the lives of our children
thank you for her strength of character and the grace of her heart
thank you that she helps me be a better man

thank you that you are good, kind and patient with me
thank you that you do not change, even when I want you to be different
thank you that you love me and have greater desires for me than I have for myself
thank you that in you I have a reason to be

Please, help me, my wife and each of my children want to walk with you today, and tomorrow
Please provide all we need to live and to love
Please help us to be honest and to live like truth matters
Please help us to put one another, and others, ahead of ourselves

Bless my wife with the deep desires of her heart
bless my children with rich and long marriages
bless my home with peace, hope, joy, love and much laughter
bless my life with wisdom and love that helps others see you

May you be honored in all that we do
May others see you in the ways that we live
May the evidence of your goodness, kindness and grace be in our lives
May you receive glory because you made and saved us

May your Word be on our lips
May your truth free our minds
May your Spirit be in our hearts
May your Son guide our hands and feet
May your love be our life, for your glory

Amen

Mark 8:11-21 -- Hearing From God

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:13:00 +0000

I was recently asked a good question, but it was puzzling at the same time. Over the last number of years Diana and I have been asked this question countless times, and each time we leave the conversation amazed. The question nearly always comes from Christians, involved in their churches, usually they have been Christians for many years, they would consider themselves 'mature'.

The question, most recently, came from a successful, professional man, who is very involved in his church and community. He is on many boards, called upon to help make many, significant decisions. People look to him for input and guidance. He is a leader in his community

This is the question: "How do you hear from God?"
A great question, but disheartening because it is an honest question that is coming from a person who should know how to hear from God.

The disciples should be learning how to hear from God; the Pharisees should know how to hear from God.

I find most people regard circumstances as the greatest indicator of when, how and what God has spoken about; and while that is one component - His will does show up in our physical world as a way for us to know He is at work - circumstances are an insatiable and really have little to do with actually changing our thinking and attitudes about Him and our life (that is why we often do the same thing over and over but are expecting different results 'this time'). We try to 'read the signs' of circumstance and look for another 'sign' to build a trend to determine what God is saying. I find that is how many Christians determine if God has spoken.

In this passage of Mark 8:11-21, Jesus is responding to religious people, 'important' people, in regards to knowing "how God has spoken". They want ANOTHER miraculous sign; good grief He had just fed 4000 people, they must have missed that message, so they want ANOTHER one!?! Jesus is not going to play that game.

The disciples are once again concerned for their own logistical situation and to them, when Jesus says something to them, they think he is responding to their logistical concern about their next meal. Jesus and the disciples are on two completely different frequencies.

yeast - Pharisees - Herod; watch out!
5000 people, five loaves, 12 basketfulls;
4000 people, seven loaves, 7 basketfulls;
Don't you get it

logically - there is little to build a system on here for those who would want to 'run the numbers' - what is He trying to say?

Hearing from God has much more to do with our attitude about Him than the circumstance itself. Hearing from God has more to do with our response than it does the results. There are ways to hear from God, and circumstances are but one piece of the hearing process, as the disciples are beginning to learn how to hear from God.

The Compassion of Jesus - Mark 8:1-3

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:50:00 +0000

Mark 8:1 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

Remarkable! A large crowd gathering around Jesus that eats nothing for 3 days, some of who have come a long distance. A crowd that is so mesmerized by His teaching that they loose sight of the rumbling in their tummies, they were more hungry for what He had to say than they were for their own bodies. A crowd so caught up in what He has to say that taking a break even to eat was unthinkable to them. There was something more important to them than their own sense of comfort. Sleep must have overcome them, but they would have made some very conscious choices to not eat.

When was the last time you or I were in a group of people who had not eaten for 3 days because we were so captivated by a worship time, or reading the words of Jesus...or anything? When was the last time i was so 'caught up' in what Jesus was teaching me that I lost track of the time, where everything else in my life went in a screeching halt?

Jesus had compassion for these people. He knew what they had been enduring. He didn't shorten his time with them to look after their needs, but instead he pushed them to the point that if they were to exert themselves any more they would reach a breaking point. And it is precisely at this point that He has compassion for them, and His compassion took on extraordinary dimension. When Jesus expresses His compassion, it goes far beyond mortal compassion. He meets their need in an extraordinary way, by feeding thousands on a few loaves of bread and a couple of small fish. A logistical impossibility but not for the Son of God. When Jesus meets a need, he completely satisfies.

I am challenged by these 2 verses; How serious am I about knowing Jesus, who He is and what He has to say. Is this more important to me than food? When was the last time you or I experienced the compassion of Jesus in an extraordinary way as a result of being with him?

Fully Engaged -- Mark 6:45-52

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:29:00 +0000

Sermon notes 10-12-08

Have you ever been in a situation when you were trying to do what you thought God had told you to do but every time you turn around it seems like nothing is working out the way you think it should? I have. You begin to wonder "God - where are you? Why isn't this working out? What am I supposed to do? Am I doing something wrong?" doubts begin to creep in. Maybe he has left you in a lurch, something else got his attention, but what am I supposed to do?

I remember when I was 37 yrs old. I believed God had told me to leave my career, move from our church, friends, family, sell our home and move to a different city to do what he had told me to do - go to seminary.

There had been a miraculous series of events occur to confirm and establish the direction it seemed he wanted us to go. God had spoken to me in a dramatic way, and events had occurred just as he said which opened up a miraculous opportunity for a job for me in this new city.

some time earlier, i had put together this whole schedule of things that needed to occur in order for us to make this move. by this time we had 3 young children, a home, job, responsibilities... it was not like when we were just married and we could pack everything up in a pick-up truck and turn our lives like we were rowing a canoe, we had become the titanic and it was going to take some time and space to move our lives and so I put together this Gantt chart schedule. One of the dates on my schedule was to turn in my resignation at Boeing, my employeer. I felt like I needed to give them at least 3 weeks notice because of some of the projects I was involved in that would need some transition, so I set the date to turn in my notice as July 3 by my schedule. That was going to leave us 3 weeks to move, get unpacked and set up before I and the kids would start school.

God had opened up an opportunity for a job for me, discussions were going very well, they liked me, I liked them, but no official offer had come yet. Was i going to turn in my resignation, leave my career of over 10 years without something certain in hand yet? what if they didnt offer me the job, what if something happens, someone else that I dont' know about they are talking to and decide to offer it to them, anything can happen at this stage.

I am getting very nervous, I am trying to do what God told me to do, but what is with all this drama? did he go to sleep, this this some sort of test, what am i supposed to do? I know the miracles God had just accomplished to bring me to this point but now what?
the resignation letter was typed, signed and sitting in my desk drawer, am I going to turn it in? Why hadnt God provided me the job yet?

Maybe you have gone through something where your not sure where God is at, has he forgotten you,

Jesus disciples had just experienced a most amazing miracle, He fed 5000 people with a few loaves of bread, not only that but when they were cleaning up the dinner, they picked up more food than they started with - after everyone had eaten all they wanted.

They just get everything picked up and then he makes them get in a boat to sail to Bethsaida, but he doesnt go with them, he stays and says he is going to pray, they wish they could have gotten a little rest, but no, they are heading out after a long day and to make matters worse a wind storm comes up and makes it a long and hard night.

We can get so caught up in our own circumstances that we loose sight of the fact that:

Jesus is always in control:
45- made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him
Jesus always seemed to know exactly what he was doing and what he wanted the disciples to do. He knew what others around him were thinking, saying, doing

Mark tells us that Jesus would know what the scribes and Pharasees were thinking
He knew when a person was dealing with a phsical illness or a demon
He raised the dead - he calmed storms - made lame to walk, blind to see
he was not influenced by the pressures of other people, but stayed focused on what the Father had sent him to do.

He knew he was separating himself from the disciples - evening was coming - they were going to be in the middle of the lake and he was on land alone

God's best does not necessarily equal our comfort - he will test us - he will put us and / or allow us to be in difficult and challenging circumstances, that does not mean a compromise of his love for us - but it does mean he wants us to experience what it is to be in a relationship with him in less than comforting circumstances.

he dismissed the crowd - people did what he told them to do
46 - he made time to pray

with Jesus things didn't 'just happen' but they happened just as he determined them to be - Jesus was and is always in control.

why is it that sometimes we are not as sure, could it be we still relate his contol to our comfort?

Jesus is fully aware of what is going on
48 -he saw the disciples straining at the oars
He knows the challenges you and I face - He knows what we are going through in our lives
He is not distant and out of touch, but sees and knows what is going on

he is willing to let you struggle, and watch you struggle through it
from evening to the fourth watch of the night -he watched them struggle. that is from evening to after 3am. the fourth watch was from 3am-6am.
Jesus watched them struggle all night, in the dark and cold of the night.

he was on the side of the mountain and watched them. He was up there to pray with the Father, no doubt perhaps he prayed for them as he kept a watchful eye on them.

Rom 8:34-35 ...is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

It is no small thing that Jesus is able to keep his eye on them. It is dark, they are getting further and further away, it is windy, likely cloudy weather - remember there was a tremendous storm only a couple of nights earlier - there is likely not much moon light out, but for Jesus it really doesnt matter - and that is the point, he sees what is happening in a small boat trying to make its way across a rough lake in the middle of the night.
He sees your life trying to make it across the rough waves of your circumstances. He sees your sleepless nights. He knows when your heart is cold and alone.

cant you imagine the discussion going on in that boat that night:
"Why in the world did Jesus make us get in this boat - so late in the day. He knew how long it would take for us to get across and besides he saw those clouds coming in,. That's what you get when you have a carpenter trying to use a boat.
Doesnt he know how tired we all are, doesnt he care?"
"Why is it so important that we make it across tonight, what are we going to do anyway when we get there, there is just going to be a bunch of people who want to see him and were going to have to clean up the mess again. With no sleep, after killing ourselves all night in this stupid wind"

Do you know how cranky tired people get in the middle of the night.
Ask a tired parent.

Ps 139
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them
we want things to 'just work out, without much struggle'
when things get hard, we may think 'where is Jesus now, when we can use him'

Jesus goes to where you are:
he went out to them, He took the initiative - walking on the lake
He meets you in the midst of your storm, your difficulty, your pain

Not only did he walk out to them - which by the way didn't appear to be nearly as difficult for him to manage the waves as it had been to the disciples., the waves didn't even phase him. They didn't slow him down in the least. as a matter of fact the scripture says "he was about to pass them by"
what do you mean he was going to pass them by... I thought he was going out to help them.

there have been a number of explainations of why Jesus was going to pass them by.
- he was going to 'playfully surprise them on the other side'
- he was on his way to the other side and saw their distress and decided to stop to help - not what the text says...
- perhaps it was the disciples mistaken impression that he was going to pass them by

more likely this was not a rescue plan at all but that Jesus had more in mind when he went out to them on the water. The disciples, while struggling, they were frustrated, but not in peril like the last time when they thought they were going to die.

Walking on the sea is something no ordinary mortal can do and to pass by is no mundane mistake. Jesus desire to pass by the disciples is similar to other Old Testament epiphanies. The greek verb 'parerchomai' (to pass by) when connected to a divinity, refers to an epiphany, when God would make a "striking and temporary appearance in the earthly realm to a specific person or group for the purpose of communicating a message to them." (Meier)
There is the story of Moses in Ex 33 when Moses asks God to show him his glory, and God responds by passing by him and proclaiming his identity. God held Moses in the cleft of a rock and covered him with his hand so he could only see God's back but not his face, as God proclaimed:
Ex 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.

in 1 Kings 19 the Lord tells Elijah to stand on the mountain "for the Lord is about to pass by."

When Jesus wants to pass by his disciples, he wants for them to see his transcendent majesty as a divine being and to give them reassurance. While mortals can not see the face of God, we can see the face of Jesus. The one who comes to the on the sea is not simply a successor to Moses, who fills baskets with bread in the desert. Only God can walk on the sea, and Jesus' greeting is not simply a cheery 'hello', but a divine self-revelation, "I am"

Is 43:1 “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
Is. 43:2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
Is. 43:3 For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

the disciples didn't recognize him - "who is this person...?"

we don't always recognize him

but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.

He wants you and I to see him - not physically, but His sovereignty - He is God -

He makes Himself known to you - he reveals himself
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

When Jesus gets into the boat, he demonstrates his divine power even further, his mere presence causes the wind to cease howling and enables the disciples to continue on in there journey.

He did not say "here i am, let me take over for you..."
He didn't get in and take an oar but enabled them to continue on their way in peace.

Where Jesus 'comes in' He brings peace
51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

he did not start rowing with them, he did not take over their work, but he calmed the waves. He made it possible for them to continue on and know that He was God, he was in control, he knew where they were and what was going on around them and that they were in a unique relationship with the divine living God.

He did not change their perspective, it says their hearts were hardened
Mark directly ties the earlier events of feeding thousands with their current experience of Jesus walking on water to them and calming the waves.

the disciples were completely caught up in the circumstances they missed the message of what Jesus was teaching them
Jesus is God - and he is concerned for people to the full glory of the revelation of God 'in the face of Christ"

when Jesus said "you give them something to eat" in Mark 6:37 - all the disciples could think of was the logistics and how it was going to impact them.
They didnt understand how so many had eaten on so little, but they were the servants and clean up crew and then Jesus made them leave.

when Jesus reveals himself as God, they don’t get it and while he brings peace to the waves they don’t experience that same peace in their hearts

That does not have to be you or I, Jesus says in

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

In my story, I didn’t know what to do, so I prayed.

I prayed with a friend and at the end of our prayer time I realized I could slide my schedule a week and God restored my peace. A week later I was prepared to turn in my resignation, but still hadn’t received an offer. After lunch that day, I decided to call Mike, the man I had been talking with at the new company to see where things were at. Mike said as soon as he heard my voice, “I am so glad you called, I just talked to personnel and they are sending you an offer, I don’t know exactly what it is, but if you are willing to work for us, we want you.”

That was enough for me to turn in my resignation and leave my career to make this step to follow God’s lead in my life. Jesus was fully engaged in my life and he was bringing a peace that passes understanding.

A week later I received the offer. It was very generous with a salary that was more than I was making at Boeing, all the normal benefits, plus a generous retirement, moving expenses, and an offer to cover our mortgage until our house in Wichita sold, which took a year. I discovered He longs to work in peoples lives in a way that will make Himself known.

Desparate Faith - Mark 5:25-34

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:30:00 +0000

25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
Mark 5:30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
Mark 5:31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask,‘Who touched me?’ ”
Mark 5:32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Have you ever felt like your very life is being sucked right out of you?
Your energy is being drained from more than just your body, but your very soul.
A heavy thought to start such a post, but this was exactly where this woman lived. I have lived there before, many have, many still do, and perhaps you know what I am talking about. It's a life where a happy smile on an aching disposition could no longer be tolerated. I didn't, and you may not have a physical condition as draining as this woman had, but the picture of her life somehow dramatically mirrors many others. Life is running out of you faster than it is being replenished and it is leaving you dry, cold and exhausted. Nothing seems to be enough, nothing satisfies, everything drains.

A woman who had suffered with bleeding for 12 years knew what it was to suffer.
Humanly, our blood is our life. Without warm blood in us and flowing through our bodies, we don't live. Every part of our body needs blood in order for us to live healthy, normal lives.
This woman felt the very cold anguish of her life leaving her empty, it bled out of her and left her soul empty and hopeless.

It wasnt so bad that she had spent every dime she had on doctors who couldn't help her - they can only do so much, right?
She did all she knew to do - she had been under the care of many doctors through her life. She may have started out with the best that money could buy, but eventually they were no better than the "any who would work for so little". But, the worst part was that her 'condition' stole life from her. Her life was consumed by 'the condition'. She was known in the community as the 'poor woman', what a way to live. Sustained pitty takes a bitter toll on the soul. She needed life again.

The woman was so tired, so empty she had hoped that just getting close to Jesus would be good enough for her, perhaps just a brush of his hem would give a poor soul like hers enough to keep going a little longer. She didn't have what it might take to get an audience with him, like Jarius, the synagogue ruler did. She couldn't hope to have a conversation with him, to ask him for anything, she's not important enough for that. But, she has got to have a little hope, that maybe something could rub off from him that would bring her life again. She had heard that he heals people, maybe this is her salvation, maybe her last hope, nothing else worked. She silently reached out.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?!" "I just barely touched his robe as he passed by" A shock wave ran from her finger tips through her body like a rush of life like she had never experienced before. She felt it, and she knew it was real. And more than that, she instantly knew she was healed, even without seeing any proof yet. It wasn't so much that the bleeding had stopped, but that life was pulsing through her again, her soul was coming back to life again, and yea, the bleeding was stopping.

In this extraordinary moment, Jesus too knew something had just happened. Many people had 'brushed him by', but few had such a small mustard seed of desparation to silently reach out to him in faith. One thing Jesus always seems to respond to, no matter how it comes, is the desparate longing of faith. Faith that He alone can...
heal, redeem, restore life, and more than the pulsing blood of life, but the beating life of a soul.

One thing I have found in my life is that trusting in Jesus builds trust in Jesus. Even a small sincere reach of desparate faith is met. Jesus never scoffs at faith but turns and responds in gracious love, and ultimately that is were we long to experience Him. He is the one who said "I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full", a nameless woman experienced it that day, I have experienced it on the days I reach out to him, He restores lives that have been sucked out, reach out to him today, in honest desparate faith, and He alone will bring you life.

Jesus is the one who says:
34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

(read also John 15: 5-8)

An Intentional Redemption - Mark 5:1-20

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:27:00 +0000

Sermon notes from 10/5/08

As you know, I enjoy movies. I particularly enjoy adventure, sports and super hero movies. Abby and I have been watching Smallville together.

In all these stories, good and evil are very clear, or at least you think they are.

In the last number of years, there has been a shift in many movies that are made to show how a normal human takes on supernatural powers and faces another supernatural enemy, whether it is the Hulk, Ironman, Spiderman, the Fantastic 4, Bruce Willlis. And the ‘super-human’ always wins, through their own use of power, intellect and shear determination they defeat the super enemy.

There are other movies where there is an outbreak of some deadly, incurable disease, or an asteroid about to hit the earth, or tidal wave, or volcano, that strikes fear throughout the region and threatens to devastate life. Others center on a murderous human monster that has nine lives and comes back in sequel after sequel to savage his victims. The villains are usually defeated through human ingenuity and grit determination with some violent means or scientific wizardry, which ends the movie but never completely solves the problem. These movies pit the forces of good against the forces of darkness and yet show no knowledge of God’s purposes or power to overcome evil and have no awareness of how God works to defeat it. They assume that humans have the power and ingenuity to expel evil from our midst.

Mark presents a different picture of the source of evil and how it is overcome. Evil comes from a demonic power that seizes human beings. It is not something we can defeat on our own. It takes a greater supernatural power to defeat it – the power of God.

Martin Luther wrote a song called A Mighty Fortress is Our God and the words in it say:

“Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing.”

Only in Jesus can we find “a shelter from the stormy blast” and the power to overcome the forces of evil that overcome not only individuals, but communities, nations and continents. Only in Christ are we delivered from the dominion of evil powers.

Jesus establishes his claim over all the earth in this story, he has sailed to the southern shore of the sea of Galilee to an area predominately occupied by Hellenist gentiles, who were obviously not constrained to the dietary regulations of the Jewish culture, for they had a large herd of swine. Jesus had just crossed a significant cultural boundary to carry his gospel of forgiveness. He hadn’t just ended up there but was very purposeful. He had just spent the night sailing through a terrific storm that he seasoned fishermen were sure they were all going to die in, but Jesus gets up and calms the storm.

Jesus lands on the other side and is met by a most notorious madman – a man who was consumed by evil spirits.

Jesus is known in the spiritual world. Seven sons of Sceva – trying to cast out demons by invoking the name of Jesus

Acts 19:15 [One day] the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"

Wherever he goes, his holy presence, like some chemical catalyst, triggers an immediate reaction from the unholy. Evil entities know they must regard and respond to the Son of God.

This demonic man was a problem for the area – they had banished him, no one had anything to do with him. He had a family, but they certainly didn’t know what to do with him. He had created so many problems for the area they had tried to shackle him, but he was extraordinarily strong and broke every chain or iron they put him in.

He lived naked among the dead, in the tombs – outside of the city. Everyone was afraid of him.

Can you imagine the questions of a child at night as he howls out while he cuts himself? “Mommy, what is that sound? It’s scary”, “I know honey, it is the man at the tombs again, he is a very sick man, but you will be fine here, try to go to sleep.” She says with a mix of pity, disgust, and concern for him and fear that he might really do something bad sometime.

No indication that Jesus went looking for the evil spirit, but it came out to him – it ran to him & fell before him

The evil spirit knew exactly who he was and what he was capable of and it’s obligation to pay homage to God

Mark 5:6-7

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me (what business do you have with me – NAS) , Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!"

While humans who can’t quite fathom the reality of the divine breaking into human history (4:41) and struggle to accept Jesus as the divine, that is never questioned in the spiritual world, they always recognize him and respond to him (1:24; 3:11; James 2:19). They always know that they are up against a vastly superior power.

This is a story of change and redemption – how Jesus intends to change a person’s life, - how the world responds to that change - and what Jesus wants of those who are changed.

Fear is something everyone deals with at some level.

It drives how we respond to people, develop attitudes about situations,

When i was in my late 20’s i really wasn’t afraid of much of anything – i was strong, determined and didn’t know much about life yet. I knew there were problems to be solved, but I didn’t know what there was to fear, I find as a person gets older and experiences more things in their life, fear becomes a greater concern.

We are generally afraid of the things we don’t know or understand, or things that are bigger and stronger than we are. There are things that we believe can hurt or significantly affect us,

Or the inevitable, things that haven’t happened yet

Jesus tells his disciples – when they are with him, they have nothing to fear...

Mark 4:40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

Jesus came to preach the gospel of forgiveness, redemption, restoring man’s rightful relationship with God, restoring mans dignity as a bearer of God’s image

Jesus Releases captive lives

Mark 5:8-13

8 For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"

9 Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13 He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Freed a man held by demons –

This man had been living life among the dead

A Self destructive lifestyle

Shameful life

Not trusted or welcomed by community

Not living God’s image he was created to bear but held captive to all that was evil

There is no power too strong that Jesus cannot bring freedom. It takes significant power to release evil’s hold on a person’s life.

When Jesus casts out the demons and released the man – he did it in a good and gracious way – not violent, or arrogantly but confident and graciously – he was not unkind to the demons, but very much in control over them.

This is an extraordinary exorcism – because here Jesus negotiates with the demons. He commands them to leave, they make a request and Jesus accommodates them. He is gracious – even to demons.

The purpose of demons is to discredit and destroy God’s creation, His highest creation being humans. Any person they inhabit they seek to dehumanized, discredit completely and when they are done with them, then destroy. They will used up every ounce of a person until there is nothing left – their destruction of a person is a living death. They also desire to draw attention to themselves and their destructiveness and invoke fear in others of God’s creation. Anything to draw attention away from God.

He Redeems destroyed souls

Mark 5:15

15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

He restores lives. He restores God’s image in the life of people.

a tormented soul is now at rest

the man’s shame of his exposure and nakedness is gone – he’s dressed

He is in his right mind – when God sets your mind right – he takes it back to the default settings, he sees things right now, he understands who he is and who Jesus is – he recognizes the extraordinary power of God and he is in complete submission to it. He is at peace.

Others feared what they did not understand

No else says and does the things Jesus does – he is God in flesh

The townspeople were not frightened by what has happened to the pigs, but by seeing this man now clothed and in his right mind. – they did not rejoice at his recovery but were afraid. What is so scary about seeing a person sitting at the feet of Jesus? The community had desparately tried to tame him with no avail, Now Jesus not just tames him but restores him, redeems him, with a word.

Jesus disciples had also expressed fear at Jesus great power – on the way across the lake, he had calmed the storm with just a word, and they were terrified and asked each other “who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him?” (4:41)

The townspeople don’t seem to care to find out why he is so powerful or why he has such power – they just want him gone. No key to the city – but the cold shoulder. The demons begged Jesus to stay in the area, now the townspeople want him out of the area.

They are more comfortable with strong, troublesome forces that take human beings captive and destroy animals than they are with the one who can expel them and restore dignity to people..

They could cope with the odd demon-possessed wild man who terrorizes the neighbourhood with random acts of violence. But they want to keep someone with Jesus power at a lakes length away – on the other side of the sea. “go ‘help’ someone else, but we don’t want you here.” They must have considered Jesus more dangerous and worrisome than the demons.

More comfortable to manage what they knew – even if it was dangerous

Rather than change it

Jesus is gracious. Just as he granted the demons request – he also grants the request of the community to leave them. He does not stay where he is not welcome.

And so this community becomes a graphic and living example of the outsiders who see but do not perceive, who hear but do not understand and therefore do not receive the benefits of the Kingdom (4:11-12).

They do not receive what Jesus can provide, they do not bring their sick or demonized to him. They chase off their source of deliverance and salvation. People can tolerate religion as long as it does not affect business profits.

Jesus changes people’s lives – he releases captive lives; he redeems destroyed souls

He Restores a person’s Purpose

Mark 5:18-20

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolisc how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

The man who has just encountered the most significant thing that has ever happened in his life is now seated at Jesus feet – he looks like another disciple, and begs to “go with him” - the only request in this story he does not grant.

Jesus restores the man’s relationships – to his family and community

This man’s purpose is to share what has happened to him with others – it was not for him alone. The townspeople may want Jesus to leave, but the effects of Jesus presence will carry on.

Isa 55:11

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Jesus sent the freed man out to proclaim what God had done for him

To the Decapolis – ten cities in close proximity – a metroplex

There is an important message in Jesus directions to the man that we must not overlook:

The man is not simply to tell people about the miracle that happened to him, but what that miracle signifies and how it impacted not only the circumstances of his life but the very essence of his life – his soul. the Lord has been at work and it has had a huge change on that mans life, he has received mercy. He had received something opposite of what he or others might think he deserved – Mercy.

He will live the rest of his life as a man who has been given another chance, another lease on life. His life was forever changed. He can now bear the image of God with integrity.

When he meets Jesus’ powerful mercy, he is restored to wholeness. His encounter with Jesus makes him fully human again, with a family, a home and a mission in life. He is no longer a wild animal that people around him thought needed to be tamed, but a human being called to proclaim the dynamic affects of Gods mercy in his life. How is it that Jesus can transform a berserk derelict of a man into a sane and well-balanced human with just a word?

C.S.Lewis used the imagery of this story in describing his own life before his conversion (Surprised by Joy) my life was a “zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears, a harem of fondled hatreds. My name was legion.”

This is every person.

Jesus goes to people who are not looking for him – He takes the initiative in reaching out and restoring people – not only restoring their relationship with God, but restoring them to the people they were intended to live as. Even if they are across a lake, possessed by demons, an managing okay on their own.

God searches out those who have never searched for or thought about turning to God.

Jesus releases captive lives

Redeems destroyed souls

Restores a person’s purpose

What keeps you from being the person God wants you to be?

Nothing is too strong or too far away

Jesus overcomes fears, incapabilities, strongholds

So you can share who he is and what he has done for you.

God’s chief desire is to make himself known to his creation. That we see that he is good, faithful and we can choose him

He wants to use you to do that, what is preventing that from happening.

Back again

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:14:00 +0000

I have not forgotten about this walk through Mark and I am back to these posts again finally. As many of you know, we have been moving our church office and it has taken a great toll on my time the last several weeks. More than I anticipated.

I have appreciated those who have responded asking about the posts, I am grateful for those who read them and enjoy those who respond to them.

So here we go again, I pray God uses his Word to propel us each to know His Son better, and know His longing for our lives to walk in relationship with Him.

Mark 3:17-19 - Intentionally Called

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:29:00 +0000

Interesting things happen between Jesus and his disciples in this passage. It begins with Jesus wanting to spend some time with them, withdrawing to the lake. However the crowds continued to follow him. He never seemed to discourage them from following him, he never seemed annoyed by them, but intent upon serving them. People were coming from all around now, word was getting out about him not only among people but in the spiritual world as well.

11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

When the evil spirits saw him, they knew exactly who he was and out of submission to His authority, reverence and obligation they bowed before their creator (yes - Jesus even created them too - see John 1:3; Col 1:15-16; Lk 10:18; Job 1:6-7; Phil 2:10-11). They had to acknowledge who Jesus was, and Jesus remained in authority as He ordered them what to do. Do you and I have even the reverence for Jesus that the evil spirits have? Does He have that kind of authority over your life?

When Jesus finally gets away for a few minutes and He called some of His followers to him, twelve of them. In those few minutes those 12 men's lives were dramatically changed for the rest of their lives. In those few minutes Jesus appointed them as apostles and commissioned them to their life's callings. Right there - they went from being disciples - ones who are learning the ways of the master, to apostles - ones carring a message, entrusted to carry on the work that Jesus had taught them and gave them.

It is no mistake that this occurs just after Jesus encounter with the evil spirits. What a dramatic contrast to the rest of the world. The new apostles had just witnessed the extraordinarly authority and power that their master possesses. They were to have that same authority over the spiritual powers of evil (v15), but not in their own authority. They were to be with Jesus and He would send them out to preach (v14). Jesus just uped the stakes for them, they were to be with him always, to learn, to serve, to grow in understanding, both intellectually and experientially. They were not going to miss anything with Jesus; what an extrordinarly relationship. They would also have to respond to Jesus' direction to go out and speak publically of His message of forgiveness and love. Those were the prerequisites to having authority over evil.

Jesus lived with the constant awareness that His departure was ahead of Him. His time on earth as a human was limited but the effects of His presence was to be ongoing for the rest of time. As a result, His followers and apostles were His succession plan, to continue His redemptive work after His departure. He called not only followers, of which he gained many, but He also appointed and designated some to be appostles, those who would carry on and carry out His work for the rest of history, in the power of having been with Him and in His authority.

He is still appointing apostles from His followers today, people who go out with His message and in His authority. Are you one of those?

Mark 3:1-6 -- Pursuing Good

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Psa. 36:1 An oracle is within my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself
too much to detect or hate his sin.
3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
he has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 Even on his bed he plots evil;
he commits himself to a sinful course
and does not reject what is wrong.

Jesus was "on trial" from the moment he stepped on to the world stage. His trail did not start when he was drug before Pilate about to be crucified, but he was on trial from the beginning of his ministry. He was not on trial because he did something wrong, but because he did everything that was good to do and he called everyone around him to do the good they saw to do.
Two of the most significant mentors that I have had, are men whose godliness shows up in goodness. They look for the good to do, their words are used to highlight and draw attention to the good in a situation. They are two men who know each other, but live hundreds of miles apart, yet both have discovered God is in the good. Neither of these men would be call "up-beat" or "positive thinking" for they both think very critically about people and situations, but their thoughts are disciplined to discover and draw out the good. They have often been in situations where they could have been critical in their attitudes or actions, but they did not respond as others around them might have, like the popular opinions of the people around them. Instead their attitudes, words and actions stepped above acceptable social norms and in the process drew me and others to pursue the higher road of the good - for the sake of and to be like - God.

Jesus constantly looked to bring about good wherever and whenever. The good always highlighted God and provided an opportunity for people to interact with him. The good he did either caused people to glorify God or despise him, and so he was on trial. Not everyone wants to do good, except what is good for them.

Do you focus your thoughts on what is good regardless of the implications it may have on you personally? Do you discipline your minds attention to discover and do the good you can do? It is not an easy road to get on and like Jesus you encounter critics who will put you on trial, but you will discover the strength of God's goodness in the process. I encourage you to memorize, meditate and activate Philippians 4:8-9 in your life to help you focus on doing the good that is around you to do.

Mark 2:23-38 -- Relationship or Duty?

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:10:00 +0000

also read 1 Sam 21

How quickly we can make rules. Rules make life more orderly. A parent who does not establish rules for their child has just established exhausting chaos. The rules are to support life, to help it be enjoyable, for everyone involved. When our children were young and we were going to a restaurant or shop, we would go over the rules before we went in, to remind everyone of how our time there was to go, so everyone could have a good time, us, those waiting on us, friends or family we might be with, and the strangers also in the same place, our rules were to help everyone have an enjoyable time, while we were there.

the rules were not to make life extraordinarily difficult, dull or discouraging, but to make the most of the time together. We did not establish the rules to be mean to our children, but because we loved them. The rules were not set in stone, but able to change as the children grew and situations demanded it. The children did not set or interpret the rules, we did. Whenever we let the kids set the rules we quickly found ourselves in negotiations with them and the focus was solely on what they wanted.

God longs for us to enjoy him in relationship. So much so that he created a day and set it a part solely for that purpose and called it the Sabbath, a time to be with Him. He established some boundaries for the relationship but over time His children had established a whole series of rules to define and organize what that meant, and soon the negotiations began to try to discover how to keep the rules, get what I want and, oh, by the way, I'll give God a little attention if I remember.

David went to God's house because he had a living relationship with God and knew he could find help from God. He wanted to be with God, to honor Him, to trust and rely on Him, and so God allowed the rules to be changed in that circumstance to provide David and his men with food.

When you God to God's house, do you go to be with Him or to fulfill some duty, to satisfy some expectation, some rule? He wants to be with you, that is what the Sabbath was made for, do you want to be with Him? God wants to make your time with Him enjoyable, to renew your sense of purpose and restore hope.

When David was in God's house, he received more than bread, God provided other things he needed as well. check it out, what was it / why?

Mark 2:18-22 -- Analog vs Digital

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Digital living - A completely new way of doing life.

What Jesus offers you and I is life on a completely different wave-length than what the rest of the world operates on. Jesus did not come to patch up the old system. His interest is not in reforming the existing but transform into something completely different with no obvious need or connection to the former. There can be no concessions, no accommodations and no compromises with the old.
It is like trying to pick up a digital signal on an analog piece of equipment, it doesnt work. I once owned an old cell phone and the provider was going to a completely new and different signal type and so I had to replace my phone with one that could operate on the new type of signal.

Jesus says "you used to operate on an analog spirituality and I am offering you a high-definition, digital spirituality" the two ways of living are not remotely compatible.

The old ways where sinners were condemned and excluded are not part of the new ways where they are received and transformed.
There is no fasting where piety is distinguished by withholding and imposing limitations is not a feature to be valued in Jesus presence.
Life with him is marked by an intimate relationship, and time is marked by celebration.
What Jesus brings into a persons life is incompatible with the former ways of living.

How often we attempt to modify and adapt the things Jesus said to make them more palatable and implementable into 'regular-analog' life. When indeed what he calls each of us to demands different systems and values of living, with no connection or resemblance to the former ways of living.

To live a life of giving, to the poor, to the needy, and giving not only financially, but of our attentions and affections. Reaching out to the sick, the spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally sick to bring healing and hope. A life of celebration instead of overwhelm and grief. A life that extends grace instead of judgment. Where love is marked by sacrifice rather than investment. Where 'digital' people have stepped into the eternal resources of life. It is those eternal resources we have to offer, and we can offer them generously, without efficiency.

It is easier I suppose, when the demands that life brings us would seem to fit more conveniently into the former wineskins; in the analog world, where we know better what to expect, what the limitations are, and the lowered expectations are not only acceptable but prudent. And so, we must trust that the changes that Jesus proposes will actually accommodate the demands and stresses that life will bring. We have to trust him with not only the new wine but the new wineskin too, that the new digital system and the new equipment will still allow me to relate to the world I walk and live in.

Are you trying to live a digital life with analog equipment? Are you trying to use old ways of living with a new lifestyle? Is it making a mess? Don't give up on the digital, let him replace your analog way of living, trust him...High definition is coming...

Mark 2:13-17 -- An Eye for the Ill

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:55:00 +0000

Out of a large crowd, Jesus picked one and called him to follow him. Levi would seem to be an unlikely pick of a follower. As a tax collector, he was despised by everyone Jesus might be trying to reach and yet Jesus saw something in the man we would eventually come to know as Matthew. Like the other new followers whom Jesus had called to be with him, Levi also got up from his booth and left a most likely profitable source of income to follow him.

Jesus had dinner at Levi's house. He entered Levi's world before Levi entered his, and Jesus brought all of his disciples with him too. Jesus became known here as the 'friend of sinners' as he ate and seemed to enjoy the company of people so very different from himself.

When challenged by the religious keepers of the law challenged him in his actions, Jesus responded with an insightful picture. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Jesus clearly makes a connection between a healthy life and a sinful life.

some observations:
Jesus saw and called the sick out of the crowd - Levi was sick, his friends were sick and Jesus knew they would respond to his offer of life.
Jesus led his followers to the spiritually sick. He taught them how to 'see' them and to 'see their illness' when they saw it.
Jesus went to the sick, he didn't wait for them to come to Him. How many times have I heard, or said, "have you gone to see the Dr. yet?" We know Dr.'s don't come looking for sick people, sick people have to go looking for the Dr. Jesus had an entirely different approach, he looked for people willing to take the prescription. He was surrounded by sick people - everywhere he went he saw their illness, but he seemed to look for people who would get up and take what he had to offer.
Jesus also stood up for the sick. It was clear to him that is why he was there. They were not a bother or inconvenience to him. He did not heal them to make his life better nor the world a better place, but he came to them to make their lives whole again; and he had no patience for anyone who was going to look down on them, especially considering that everyone who might look down on a sick person was also sick themselves, and yet not willing to admit their own illness.

Churches often have a way of taking a moral aspect of themselves. Agents to make the world a better (and cleaner) place, morally. Like a fine hotel where people enjoy the amenities of good friends, pleasant music and inspiring messages in a pleasant and comfortable environment. Surrounded by people like themselves and helping new ones become like them.

Jesus I wonder, might view the church more like a hospital than a hotel. Where the focus is on the sick and hurting and the smell of antiseptic assures one of the attempt to control the spread of germs. A place where healing is happening and people are re-gaining strength so they can re-enter a world to live a healthy life and with the strength to help other sick and hurt people.

I am confident Levi and his friends found life, like none other, in the presence of Jesus. More than merely being comfortable with Jesus around, they found comfort in him as their lives were being restored.

Do sinners (sick people) find comfort when they are around me as they regain a healthy life, or are they merely comfortable in their sickness around me.

Mark 2:1-12 -- The Healing Power of Forgiveness

jerry@bridgechurch.ca (jconner) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:27:00 +0000

When we have a friend who has a problem, we want to try to help that person as much as we can.

Friend help friends live well. Real friends will do all they can to help.

We have had some wonderful friends who are helping Sarah our daughter establish her life where she has moved to. They have been taking her out driving to help her get experience. They are helping her move into her new home, helping her get a vehicle. Without our friends we would have no way to help Sarah do what she wants to do with the next step in her life. Friends help friends live well.

We help our friends move, find jobs. But other times we see our friend hurting and we want to help.

We see our friend in great need and our hearts, and schedules, and pockets are moved to help.

Here we have a man who was paralyzed and he had four friends who cared deeply about him. They know their friend is paralyzed – unable to move. They hear about this new teacher, prophet, healer in town. They want to help their friend so they do all they know to do, they pick him up and take him to where Jesus is. Only, once they get there the place is packed, no way to get in.

Now they must have really loved their friend, perhaps something had happened to him to make him paralyzed, they knew him before the accident, when he was a different person, but they have seen the bitterness well up in him over the time since he was unable to move freely.

I have a friend who was paralyzed from an accident, though he doesn’t say it, and might actually deny it, you can see the anger in his heart because of what has happened to him.

Sometimes things happen in a persons life and they paralyze you. A physical action or a word, a lot of things can paralyze a person and keep them from living free.

Sometimes what you and I mostly see are the physical things that paralyze a person, a physical thing in their body, or a relational problem that paralyzes a person, or financial issue, or even emotional issue that seems to be a huge barrier to helping the person move forward in their life and to live freely.

Back to our passage – here we have four guys who in their refusing to give up hope for their friend, begin to think creatively, if we could just get him infront of Jesus I just know he could heal my friend. And so they cut a new door into the room from the roof. I just love creative people who think outside the box. The combination of love for their friend, a deep desire to help him and faith that Jesus could actually help him caused them to be a kind of living sermon of the text of

James 2:26

26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

When Jesus looked at a person – he saw their soul first and understood their deepest need

We see people’s physical problems, financial problems, relational problems,

but Jesus seemed to have a kind of ‘x-ray’ vision that looked beyond the obvious and honed in on the root of the mans problem, what was truly keeping him from responding to God.

1 Sam 16:7

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Jesus regarded spiritual blessings far more significant than material blessings; and claimed to posess “authority” – the right and power – to not only heal the body but heal the soul as well.

Jesus knew that what truly paralyzed this man was not the damage to his legs but the damage to his soul. He also knew that the only thing that would truly bring healing was forgiveness. Now we do not know what the man needed to be forgiven of, we do not know what sin he had committed, and the fact that scripture doesn’t reveal that to us is a blessing, because ALL sin brings death, not physical death but the paralyzing sting of ongoing death. The guilt of sin that limits life and keeps you and I from truly living, and living eternally

The World is looking for the antidote to guilt

ER Video

A Dutch poet has called man’s guilt “the root of all human problems”

A British psychologist has called mans sense of having been forgiven “the most healing force in the world”

How often have specialists informed us that many patients could be dismissed from mental institutions if the were only able to convince themselves that their guilt had been truly blotted out..

Jesus never took sin lightly – he never told people “do you have a sense of guilt? Forget about it, move on...”

Instead Jesus saw sin for what it is – an inexcusable departure from God’s holy law (Mk 12:29-30)

29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.e 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'f

Sin has a ‘soul-choking’ effect (mk 4:19)

Mark 4:19-20

19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 2

He knew that getting rid of guilty feelings by allowing a little cruelty, promiscuity, infidelity and saying that “a little is not so bad” ultimately creates more problems than it solves.

He also knew that it was entirely impossible for a person to rid his soul from a sense of guilt by offsetting his sins by good deeds, that philosophy only leads to tragic failure and despair

Instead Jesus knew that the only solution to healing the soul, absolving a person’s guilt – which he proclaimed and provided – was FORGIVENESS – and this on the basis of his own atonement (10:45,

Mark 10:45

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

14:22-23) so he says to the paralyetic “forgiven are you sins.”

The forgiveness Jesus offers does not stand alone – it is “pardon plus” In Christ, God dispels the invalids gloom and guilt and embraces him the arms of his protection and adopting love - “My son, your sins are forgiven” (Rom 5:1)

Now there were some scribes / teachers of the law who accused him of blasphemy

V7 “who can forgive sins but God alone?” a good question – and they are right. No one can forgive sin but God alone.

And even more – how do you know that the sin has been forgiven? How do you know the holy and divine God has been sufficiently appeased?

There are no outward sign of an inward reality of the forgiveness of sin that can be tested and verified – or is there?

9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?

You can see when someone has been physically healed = they are better

What is the sign that a person has been forgiven – how do you know

How do you know when you have been forgiven?

So often, Jesus took his enemies on their own terms and refuted their acquations and in v8 He acted in full knowledge of their thought process = he knew what was going on inside of them.

It was – in fact – a much easier thing to heal the body than to restore a soul. For even a prophet might heal – but no prophet could ever forgive sins. But Jesus did both before their very eyes, leaving them speechless.

10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ."

There are 2 ways to understand this verse – both of which are good and

A paraphrase “you say that only God can forgive sin, but i will show you that here is a human who has the same power” – that the “Son of Man” has authority =

Emphasising a human Jesus ‘Son of Man’ extraordinarily relating to the divine God

Understand ‘Son of Man’ as Jesus own self-chosen title for himself and would then paraphrase as ‘to show you that I – in person – have the power to forgive sin’.

Either way, the miracle becomes evidence to prove the divine authority of Jesus who able to forgive sin and free this man from every bondage.

Once again, the word of Jesus proves to be effectual, a word of power and authority. As in Genesis, God created from nothing by a word

Heb 11:3

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

So at a word, Jesus, God’s Son brings strength out of weakness, freedom from the bondage of paralysis, forgivenss from the bondage of sin.

Something that was impossible by nature became possible and a paralyzed man walks home with his mat under his arm.

The natural reaction of the crowd was to praise God. All that they saw with their physical eyes was a paralyzed man get up and walk and Jesus, the newest – and most entertaining prophet just stood up to the scribes who were constantly heaping guilt on them through their teachings. The crowd was mesmerized and amazed, but the man who walked home walked away in the freedom of his soul.

A feature of this passage is the faith that the paralyzed man had to exercise to live in the reality of his new gained freedom. It is one thing to be forgiven, another to stand up and walk out by faith – is what we might say because we look at everything backwards. And Jesus know that about us. – but from his point of view – it is one thing to heal a persons body, but another thing entirely to provide their forgivenss – he knows it is ultimately taking him to the cross to provide that forgiveness. We are often too satisfied to mearly be healed physically.

And so he says to the man

He said to the paralytic, 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Today, I often hear “I know Jesus has forgiven me, I just can’t forgive myself” and so the person continues to live in bondage to the sin that Jesus has provided the forgiveness for.

For some reason we still feel we must forgive ourselves, that we have some power or ability to forgive ourselves. And so, many of us stay paralyzed.

That is like a doctor giving you a prescription for an illness - and you deciding once you get home with the medication that you wont take it until you are able to reproduce the drug with what you have in your kitchen = and the truth is you cant make penicillin at home – even if it is made from bread mold.

You cant provide forgiveness on your own.

Also when we say “I just cant forgive myself” really says that you owe yourself a debt, that your sin was a sin against your own holiness – and that is a lie that we buy in to. In saying that, we have replaced the holy God with ourselves, that we are not ultimately accountable to him, but to ourselves and that is really matters.

It would be like that paralyzed man saying “as soon as I get over my paralysis in my own mind then i will get up and go to work” He could no more do that than you or i forgive our own sin.

The truth is – Jesus alone forgives sin, and we receive that forgiveness by faith. We believe the reality that he sets us free and we get our souls up off the mat and live free. We apply the prescription of His grace to our souls – and it is his grace that softens our hearts so they can beat again.

More than that, we apply his grace liberally and regularly to counteract the deadening strength of sin

As soon as we begin to think we don’t need it, we have come up with our own homecooked concoction of forgiveness and grace, we begin to move back onto the mat and become paralyzed again.

Then our friends, who care about us, are going to see that things are not right in our lives again, the paralysis is coming back,

Why? What are we going to do? Friends want to help friends live well,

They are going to look for the next solution – “I guess Jesus really wasn’t able to help our friend” when that is not true at all = we just replaced his forgivenss and his grace with our own, we stopped living free by faith.

Jesus offers you freedom – the ability to walk out of here free – truly free

You must receive it by faith – the only thing you do is get up and walk

Maybe you have been living paralized for a long time, something has held you down, You know the bitterness of guilt and you cant seem to get away from it. You can today, you can trust Jesus - that his death on a cross was sufficient to forgive you all your sins.

Maybe you have moved back on the mat and paralysis has crept back over your life. Jesus set you free and you tasted what it was to live free, but when that guilt comes back you try to tackle it yourself instead of saying “no” to that sin and “yes” to the forgiveness of Jesus. STOP trying to come up with your own homecooked concoction of forgiveness and begin to apply the grace of Jesus to your life again, receive his forgivenss again.