The Servant Revealed to the World (Mark 1:1-13)

Here are the PowerPoint slides from Sunday, January 13th. Enjoy!

Rev of servant to the world jan 13 2013 (1) (2) from John Smith

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pj

Jonah, the Great Fish, and Jesus!

Week 6, Day 5 Reading: Jonah 1:1-4:11

Jonah 1:17  And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah was the prophet who tried to run from God. The Lord told him to go to Nineveh to preach repentance to the Assyrians. Jonah did not think very much of the Assyrians and so he got on a ship that was headed in the opposite direction. When a storm threatened to sink the ship Jonah was on, the crew cast lots to determine just who was the cause of the storm (in their belief system, the god of the seas was upset with someone on board and so the anger of the seas!). The lot, of course, fell to Jonah (for the one true God can work through the superstition of pagans to work HIS plan!). God continued to work his plan by sending a great fish to swallow Jonah alive. Through that experience, Jonah had a change of heart and agreed to go to Nineveh ... which he did and the Assyrians repented (again, not to Jonah's liking). Make sure you read chapter four to see how it all ends.

Jesus pointed to Jonah's "great fish" experience as a sign of what was coming for him. In Matthew 12:38-41, Jesus said that "just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."  This was, of course, a reference to his coming burial ... which would end in the early morning hours of the third day following his crucifixion with his glorious resurrection from the dead.

Take a moment and praise God that we serve a living savior. One whom the shackles of death could not keep bound!

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pj

The Ark of the Covenant

Week 6, Day 4 Reading: 1 Kings 8:1-21

1 Kings 8:20-21  "Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

King Solomon makes reference to the ark of the covenant. The ark was a boxlike structure which contained the stone tablets of the law given to Moses. The lid of the box was called "the mercy seat." Above the seat were two cherubim (angels) with their wings spread over the box. Once each year (on the Day of Atonement) the high priest would enter the most holy place of the tabernacle/temple. Once there he would sprinkle the blood of a goat which had been sacrificed to cover the sins of the people of Israel. Don't miss the symbolism here! After this was done ... when God looked down at the tablets of the law within the ark ... he did not see the broken law ... instead he saw the blood of the sacrificial goat which had been sprinkled upon the mercy seat. So instead of meting out judgment ... God gave mercy!

All of this is symbolic, of course, of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. For as God looks down upon us from heaven ... he does not see us in our sin and rebellion and the law which we have broken. Rather he sees us washed in the blood of his Son! Praise God for Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. Because he died (and then rose from the dead) --- WE LIVE!

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pj

Jesus and the Bronze Serpent

Week 6, Day 3 Reading: Numbers 21:4-9

Numbers 21:8-9   And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

When God sent a horde of serpents among the people to judge them for their sin of unbelief, Moses was told to make a bronze replica of those snakes, place it on a pole and then raise it up for all to see. Any who would look to the serpent on the pole he would be healed. Now was there something magical about this bronze snake? Not at all. But it took faith to believe by merely looking at such a thing would bring healing.

Jesus makes reference to this bronze serpent in John 3:14-15, as he says, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."

My friend, have YOU believed in Jesus? Do you have the faith that will save you from the wrath of God that is clearly coming? It's never too soon nor too late to do so! If you need further assistance in taking this step of faith, take a moment and read through Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face. 

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pj

Jesus - The Bread of Life!

Week 6, Day 2 Reading: Exodus 16:1-35

Exodus 16:31-32   Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

In John's gospel, we find reference made to this manna that God gave to the children of Israel in the wilderness. Here is how the dialogue between the crowd and Jesus unfolded:

"Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."  (John 6:29-35)

Jesus makes it clear that just as God sent the people of Israel bread from heaven to fill their stomachs, so God has sent his Son from heaven as "the bread of life" to fill the empty hearts and souls of all men. Praise God for Jesus, the break of life!

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pj

Thankful for the Blood of the Lamb!

Week 6, Day 1 Reading: Exodus 12:1-30

Exodus 12:12-13   For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Consider the words above, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." The blood referenced here is the blood of an unblemished lamb which the Israelites were instructed to kill. They were then to smear that blood on the door posts of their houses. When the Lord was exercising judgment that night ... whenever he came to a home that had the blood of the lamb on the door posts, he promised to "pass over" that particular house. So the firstborn within was saved by the blood of the lamb.

What a beautiful picture of the blood of another lamb ... this one the Lamb of God (John 1:29). The sinless Son of God who shed his blood so that God would also "pass over" us when it comes time for judgment (1 Peter 1:18-20; Revelation 7:14). He will do so because the blood of his Son has washed away the guilt of our sins. Praise God for the sacrifice of the Lamb!

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pj

Intro to Gospel of Mark

Here is the PowerPoint from Sunday, January 6 message. Enjoy!

Intro to book jan 6 2013 from John Smith

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pj