I've had an Epiphany!

Numbers 21:4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea , to go around Edom . But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. Complaining, whining, grumbling, impatience – these were the constant refrains of God’s chosen ...

The Voice from on High James Tissot 1836-1902 Worship Theme: Before Jesus was born, believers had to regularly offer up sacrifices for sin. Only the High Priest could go before God with the blood and prayers of the people. These sacrifices would go on and on for the entire life of the Old Testament believer as a vivid reminder that God would send a Savior who would be sacrificed on the behalf of all people. Today the Word of God shows that Jesus, our High Priest, would sacrifice himself and bring a new covenant of life that would last forever. Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt , because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33 "This is the covenant I will make wi...

Luke 22:60-62 Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. Peter is one of the most fascinating and complex people in the Gospels. He’s loud and brash. He speaks his mind. He often leaps before he looks. He’s capable of tremendous insight and yet two seconds later can put both feet in his mouth. One moment he proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; the next he tries to keep Jesus from going to the cross. One moment he says he doesn’t want Jesus to wash his feet; the next he’s wanting a complete bath. That’s Peter—wonderful heights of insight and intellect or falling flat on his face in front of everyone. Nowhere are Peter’s contradictions more obviou...

Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel , but he still didn’t understand the basics of salvation. Timidly, secretly he came to Jesus at night, because he wanted to know.  For all the Scripture readings he’d heard, the sacrifices he’d watched – even the lessons he himself had taught others – he wasn’t confident that he knew what he needed to know.  So Jesus gave him a lesson on salvation that seems so basic to us: For God so loved the world… I’d be tempted to look down on Nicodemus, if I didn’t sometimes feel the same way.  I can’t remember not being able to remember John 3:16.  I can confess and know that God’s love for me is sure and certain because God gave his one and only Son.  I’ve never had to sneak out to meet with Jesus in the middle of the night, but sometimes I wish I could. ·          I know what it’s like to fall into a sin that’s so base and shameful that I wonder: How could God love me, when there seems...

Lenten Midweek 2   2015      Sounds of the Passion: Crying Tears    John 11:32-37 People cry all the time. Sometime in life, we all shed tears. We cry because we hurt. Oh, we talk about shedding tears of joy, but that’s rare...mostly we cry because something’s wrong. Maybe it’s a death, maybe it’s leaving a friend, maybe it’s the end of a relationship. Sometime in life, we all cry tears of pain and sadness. The same was true of Jesus...Jesus cried – real tears of pain and sadness. As we read, Jesus cried as he saw the pain that sin and death brought into the world. He also cried when he considered and when he felt the full weight and price that sin and death would cost him. Tonight we hear the sound of crying. Listen carefully: IN THE SOUND OF JESUS’ TEARS, CAN YOU HEAR HOW HE LOVES YOU? The first time we encounter Jesus crying is at the death of his friend Lazarus. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. You reme...

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt , out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your m...

Moses and the brazen serpent Sebastien Bourdon 1653-54 Worship Theme: Traditionally this Sunday was called Laetare , Rejoice Sunday. We rejoice in the middle of Lent that God has so fully and so perfectly taken to heart our only real need as sinners, and satisfied it in Christ. Old Testament: Numbers 21:4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it ...