Psalms 9:9-20, Mark 4:35-41 This psalm of David shows his great faith in God being a stronghold in times of trouble. He is assured that God does not forget the cry of the afflicted. So, he pours his heart out about his suffering and that God would lift him from the gates of death assured that in God’s deliverance he will again rejoice. Now this is the grown-up boy who once faced the giant Goliath and God delivered. So, he has faith that the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever. Having this faith he says, “Rise Up O Lord. Don’t let the mortals prevail.” In our Mark account the disciples are on a boat with Christ who is asleep. Jesus has had a long day of speaking to crowds that he is so tired he sleeps through the storm that comes. Now the disciples, however, are panicked and instead of having the faith of the Psalmist of a Psalm they could have possibly grown up with and sung, they wake up Jesus. Instead of saying, “Rise up and conquer,”...

  Psalms 20; II Corinthians 5:6-17 The Psalmist, David, in Psalms 20 is confident that the Lord will hear and answer prayer. This is a prayer for Israel’s king for victory on the battlefield. David knows that the Lord will help his anointed – the anointed king. He tells how many trust in weapons of warfare – chariots and horses –other kings boasting of their power in how many they have. Yet the Israelites and their king take pride in the name of the Lord our God. This trust in God leads him to pray that God grant him his heart’s desire and fulfill all his plans. Paul talks about his confidence in the Lord in II Corinthians 5. He too writes in many of his writings about boasting in the Lord. He talks to the Corinthians being able to boast about him and the apostles in able for them to answer those who boast in outward appearances but not in the heart. Paul and the apostles are not what the world would find fashionable or outwardly attractive. The Corinthians, however, will boast...

  Romans 8:12-17, II Corinthians 4:5-12   Romans 8 talks about how we are no longer slaves to the flesh – to sin since we are now children of God, joint heirs with Christ. Paul states that if we suffer with Christ we may also be glorified with him. In the Roman world the word “glory” might suggest success, prosperity, and freedom from weakness and suffering. This is not the character of Christian suffering in this life, however. In II Corinthians 4 Paul talks about how in their mission work they don’t proclaim – boast about how great they themselves are but they proclaim, brag about Jesus Christ as Lord. He tells how God has shone in their hearts to give knowledge of the glory of God. This was modeled for them in the face of Christ. He tells about this treasure using the metaphor of earthly jars for our earthly bodies. This makes it clear that the extraordinary power belongs to God not from us. How does one glorify Christ in our suffering? Paul talks about his own expe...

  John 16:4-15, Romans 8:22-27 In John 16, Jesus is comforting the disciples whom he knows will suffer sorrow when he leaves them. He comforts them telling of the advantage they will receive when he goes away – that of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus calls the Advocate. Further on in this passage he refers to the Spirit as the Spirit of Truth who will guide them into all truth. This advocate for them will glorify Christ by declaring this truth to them. This truth is that all the Father has is Christ’s and all this will be declared to you. In Romans 8, Paul talks about the rebirth Christ has brought through salvation. Creation is groaning the pains of labor as it is promised to be reborn into a new creation. We too are new creations receiving the first fruits of the Spirit – salvation. But we groan inwardly having our own labor pains as we wait for full adoption in the redemption of our bodies. By hope we have been saved and we hope that we will have resurrected bodies someday. We ...

  Luke 24:44-53, Acts 1:1-11 Today is the Sunday before we celebrate Pentecost. It is called Ascension Sunday since Jesus after giving the disciples parting words ascends to heaven. Jesus explains to them the scriptures he has fulfilled through his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. The most important part of his message is that he promises them that they will soon be clothed with power from on high. The book of Acts tells what this power will be. Here Jesus tells them they will receive power when the Holy Spirit will come upon them – clothe them. Next week we will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit which we have named Pentecost. This will give the disciples the ability to be witnesses to the end of the earth. The story of these empowered disciples/apostles will be continued throughout the book of Acts. The book of Acts shows how quickly Christianity spread throughout the world with the stories of Paul and Peter and other missionaries. But what are th...

  John 15: 9-17, I John 5:1-6   Jesus in John 15 talks about the love passed down from the Father to him and from him to the disciples. This love has been passed down to us spoken of in I John 5 as us being the children of God. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. God then is our loving parent who had love passed down to Christ the Son and passes this parental love to those who believe. Jesus is our example of carrying out this love by keeping the Father’s commandments. If we, like the disciples, keep Jesus commandments we will abide in Jesus’ love. Jesus found joy in this love and tells of it so that his joy maybe in them. That their joy may be complete. The Greek word translated “complete” here means to fill up and to cram like in a net. This joy from God is crammed into our souls – filling them up. God commanded Jesus to become human and die on the cross for our sins. He truly laid his life down for us. So, what is the commandment Jesus...

  John 15:1-8, I John 4:13-21 In John 15, Jesus says another “I am” metaphor statements. Here he says that he is the vine while God is the vine grower. We then are the branches growing out of Christ. By abiding in the vine – Christ, we can bear much fruit but apart from Christ we can do nothing. By abiding in him we glorify the Father and bear much fruit becoming Jesus’ disciples. One of these fruits is told of in I John 4. It is to love our brothers and sisters. We have another “I am” but this refers to God. It says God is Love. Abiding in love then is abiding in God. More powerful is that the God of love will abide in us. This is the only way to have love perfected in us. This love gives us boldness and casts out – drives out all fear. It says whoever fears has not reached this perfection in love. In this love we follow God’s commandment of loving our brothers and sister, bearing fruit on our branch. Unfortunately, so much religion has based itself on fear. Fear of Hell, fi...