The Beginning of the Gospel

The best comment I heard today about the sermon was from a visitor. He identified himself as an evangelist and said that the sermon made him want to do more study in the Gospel According to Mark. I say that was the best comment I heard because that was exactly the effect I wanted today's sermon to have. I want us all to have such a desire to know Jesus better that we dig deeply into Mark's Gospel and let him teach us what it means to follow Jesus.

Several people told me that they would read the Gospel of of Mark but no one yet has accepted the challenge I gave this morning of reading the Gospel each week for the duration of the sermon series. I have done this in the past when preaching through Mark and look forward to doing it again. Won't you join me? Let me know if you want to do this and we can keep each other accountable.

Finally, I want to express my sorrow over losing David Layman as my co-minister. David has truly been God's gift to me for the past nine years and his leaving saddens my heart. However, I am confident that he made his decision prayerfully and am thankful that he will still be an active member of the congregation even if I don't get to work beside him every day. May God's blessing be on his family in this transition and may God give us eyes to see the direction and opportunities He has in store for our church in the future.

The Message in One Verse

This photo was taken during our sanctuary dedication service a few weeks back. I like how small it makes me look compared to the cross. What better way to preach than for the message of the cross to completely overshadow the giftedness (or lack thereof) of the preacher! That was what I attempted to do today - to tell the "old, old story" in such a way that the love of God was magnified.

I loved being able to interview Cimi, the native Albanian preacher. My hope was that by having him speak briefly God might stir our hearts (especially our children, teens, and young adults) of the need around the world for the message of Jesus. The Gospel really is good news! May we never forget how much our God loves us and how much he wants to work through us so that others might know his love.

Raising Your Ebenezer

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up . . . . He named it Ebenezer, saying 'Thus far the LORD has helped us.'" (1 Samuel 7:12) Preparing to speak on this passage this morning brought a flood of memories. How many times has God helped me and my family over my 50 years of life? In the sermon time I showed some of the objects I keep in my office that have special meaning. How important it is that we keep reminders around us of significant events in our lives.

In addition to this being a special Sunday for our High School graduates, it is also a special day for Liz and I as we celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary. I am thankful to have one day each year to recognize the treasure that God has given me in Liz. She is a living memorial, a constant reminder that God has shown me great favor.

Unlimited Forgiveness

I don't think it's a coincidence that when Peter asked if he should forgive seven times that Jesus responded, "not seven times, but seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:22). As I pointed out in the sermon those are the exact numbers that Lamech used in his vengeful boast (Genesis 4:23-24). It's as if Jesus is saying -- "We're going to change the world!" We've tired the revenge approach and as Ghandi said, if we keep requiring eye for eye "the whole world will go blind."

What does the new approach look like? Unfortunately, it has been so rarely practiced (even by God's people) that the world is still waiting to see. The remarkable thing about Debbie Morris' testimony in her book, Dead Man Walking, is not that she could forgive her rapists; rather it's remarkable that her story is remarkable. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Christians were known for their outrageous forgiveness? What if Debbie's story wasn't an isolated incident of remarkable faith, but simply another example of how God's people allow his forgiveness to flow through them, even in the worst of circumstances. That is our challenge.

On another note, I always approach using math or science in my sermons at Clear Lake Church of Christ with fear and trembling. It has reached the point that I no longer even wonder IF I will make a mistake, now I simply do not want to make a grievous error. Today I said that Lamech considered himself ten times better (or in the vernacular "badder") than God. It was gently pointed out to me after the sermon that actually 77 is 11 times the number seven. That means that Lamech considered himself 11 times better than God. I will grant the mathematical accuracy of that statement; but still think that "ten times" simply has a better verbal ring to it than "11 times".

And Melissa, (hopefully you've read this far), I will be looking forward to reading your blog comments.