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First Love

7/22/2018

The term first love has as many connotations as there are people. For some it could relate to the love that kids feel for their parents, that first car, or some other prized possession from days gone by. For most of us though, it refers to that first special someone who caught our eye and we could not stop thinking about them. This phrase takes on a much deeper meaning when we see it used in the passage in Revelation 2:1-7 as John relates instructions to the church in Ephesus. The Lord is admonishing the church that they have lost their first love and their need of repentance.

When we start to read this passage, it seems that this church has it together, they are doing some noteworthy labor. They are accurately testing and exposing false prophets, and are exhibiting admirable endurance. This all gets tripped up at verse four where they get reprimanded for abandoning their first love. And while the Apostle John does not specify who or what their first love is, we can surmise it is God and the love He showered on them first before they even loved Him (1 John 4:19). As they are called to repent and to do the works they did at first, (which sounds astonishing, considering the caliber of efforts for which the Lord just commended them) they are being reminded that their good works are not meant to EARN God’s love, but rather their good works are to emanate FROM God’s love.

But I have this against you: You have departed from your first love! - Rev 2:4

We love because he loved us first‭‭. - 1 John 4:19

We especially have the same problem today amongst those who are considered mature Christians. Doing good works is admirable, but we tend to lose sight of the grace and love of God for us from which those good works emanate. We turn it around to where we think that the more works we do, the more God is pleased with us. We have a proclivity to assert our independence from God like we do when we are ready to leave home. But while In the physical realm it is a good sign of maturity when we grow less dependent upon our parents and become more self-reliant, in the spiritual realm we never outgrow our dependence on God. When we abandon our dependence on God, we do not initially see how desperately we need His love and grace. I believe one of the greatest works we can do is to understand and relentlessly depend on God and His love for us for everything we could possibly imagine.

The love that God demonstrated to us though the death and resurrection of Jesus is never outdated. No matter how far or often we fall, His love and forgiveness for us is everlasting and a refuge. We may not comprehend it or even feel it at times, but because He said His love is eternal we can be assured that His graceful love will never ever fail.

John Clark

John Clark is a husband to Julie, a father of one son living in Valrico, Florida. He has an Associate Degree of Theology from Life Christian University, and serves at Life Center of Brandon where he is a teacher and writer.

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The Woman Jesus Called a Dog

5/23/2018

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Unless you have been a recluse since you were old enough to talk, everyone of us have been insulted or have perpetrated an insult. Some people seem to nonchalantly brush it off, while others immediately take offense and either flare up in anger or painfully withdraw from everyone into their own private little world. It is in the fallen nature of mankind to flaunt the faults of others or point out differences in others which are in reality irrelevant, except in the twisted perception of the ones who are doing the comparisons and pointing the accusing fingers. When Jesus came along to show us how much God loves us, one would expect Him to be the epitome of compassion and loving grace to all He came in contact with.

But as Pastor Ellery directed us to the fifteenth chapter of Matthew starting in verse 21, we see an occasion where God Himself in the flesh actually used an insulting racial slur when addressing someone who came to Him for help.This is the account of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus for help for her daughter who was vexed by a demon. After our initial gasp of incredulous dismay, the pastor went on to show how this was actually used to minister to the woman and bring restoration to the daughter.

But she came, knelt before Him, and said, “Lord, help me!”
He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.” - Matthew 15:25-26

In the previous portion of the chapter, we see Jesus debating with the Jewish religious leaders about washing and what defiles a man. He then travels to the area of Tyre and Sidon, a prominently Gentile region where He and the disciples are confronted by a desperate Canaanite woman begging for help on behalf of her daughter. Isn’t it interesting that the people who knew Jesus the longest only saw Him as Joseph’s son, or “that” teacher that stirs up trouble and hangs around sinners; yet this woman who was not educated in the scriptures and not even part of the covenant addressed Jesus as Lord, Son of David. Despite being ignored and shunned - probably, she must have thought, due to her ethnicity - her persistence gets initially rewarded with being called a dog. This is not intended to draw forth cute images of cuddly puppies or playful doggies eager to please their master’s every whim with a wagging tail and cheerful disposition. In the eyes of the Jewish people, dogs were unclean, savage scavengers; roaming around in packs bringing fear and disease where ever they go. This was an insulting ethnic slur, and it was Jesus who said it. Now, I do not believe He was trying to be mean, I believe He called her this to bring her perception of herself to the forefront so He could deal with the stigma she had to endure from the Jewish people around her. The amazing thing is, not only did she seem not to get offended and turn away, she actually owns up to it and still declared Jesus as Lord, her master; and that she - as a dog - can partake of the crumbs of blessing that fall from the table of provision holding the master’s bounty. Even in the face of an insult, she was determined to get help from the only one who could provide it. In the following phrase that Jesus proclaims over this woman, He dispels her perception of worthlessness by saying her faith was great while granting her petition. He demonstrated to her God’s love for all, regardless of what others thought of her and what she thought about herself.

“Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table!”
Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was cured. - Matthew 15:27-28

We still have the same deep-seated issues today. Not because of race, social classifications, sexual orientation, or anything else we could fill in the blank with, but because of sin. Because everyone of us has fallen short of the glory of God, we all feel unworthy or the need to do more or the need to be loved by the right person, and the list goes on. We have the dubious tendency to point out differences and shortcomings of others in desperate attempts to make us feel better, important, and worthy of acceptance. Just like a pack of prowling wild dogs, we bite, scratch and fight to get what we want, even if it is in our own pack as each one of us tries to display his own perceived dominance, fighting for the alpha position. The problem with this is that it is all a facade. Nothing we can do or be or try will remedy the dire consequences of our sin, which is wrath and judgment. The issue is compounded because we tend to believe the relentless derogatory comments and beliefs towards us from our own selves or others. This can make it hard to see that there is Someone who unconditionally loves us and has provided the solution to our dilemma. Like He did with the Canaanite woman, Jesus brings to light the perceptions we have of ourselves and others; not to berate us or condemn us, but to let us know that He loves us even in our sinful condition. The Spirit directs us to scriptures such as John 3:16 and Romans 5:8. He says to us - “I know what you think of yourself, what you think of others, and I know the sin in your heart. That does not change the truth that the Father loves you, gave Christ to die for you and raised Him from the dead to pay the debt you owed. You need to simply believe that Christ did all of it for you, and you can be free from sin and the condemnation and judgment that accompanies it.” God loves us and paid the high price of sin for us, so we would not have to fight and claw our way through life like unworthy dogs that sin told us we were. Because of the cross and the empty tomb of our Lord, we are now the cleansed, forgiven and righteous sons and daughters of the King of kings He made us to be.

John Clark

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Battlefield of the Mind

5/6/2018

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If the question was proposed to us inquiring if we had or followed a list of some sort, I am reasonably confident that all of us would have at least one. There are grocery lists, to do lists, project supply lists, lists or notifications of appointments, after school activities and practices, and on and on. And even though this could become overwhelming,lists are not necessarily a bad thing as they they help us keep track of things and manage our time wisely. Even in the Book of Philippians we see the Apostle Paul giving the church of Philippi a list. This list however is not one of things to do, but rather things to think. And when we see

the troubles that this church was experiencing and how similar our circumstances can be today, we can get a better grasp of why Paul was led to give this list as an encouragement and source of strengthen for them and us.
Looking back through this book gives us a glimpse of the trials that undoubtedly weighed heavily upon the hearts of the Philippian Christians. Paul writes in chapter 1 that he was in prison for preaching the gospel. In chapter 2 we read that Epaphroditus a beloved coworker of both Paul and the Philippians had been severely ill and near the point of death. In chapter 3 Paul addresses the nefarious work of false teachers trying to re-establish the works of the flesh as a necessary part of salvation; something he had to contend with in other places. Finally in chapter 4 Paul was led by the Spirit of God to specifically call the members of the church to help two women that were at odds and causing some sort of schism in the body. In the midst of persecution, heresy from without, and strife from within, Paul gives these people some encouraging instructions and specific things to focus their minds on instead. (Phil. 4:1-9)

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. - Phil 4:8-9

These circumstances can sound very familiar to some of us today. Loved ones with failing health, strife and contention in the family or the church, and other daily pressures of life can cause mental anguish and torment. We can even begin to think that we are afflicted with judgment from God. We also often fall into the devil’s snare of measuring and comparing. We tend to dwell on how poorly we follow the Lord’s directions or how quick we are to outright disobey. Even when we are reminded to keep our thoughts focused on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and admirable, we run into the problem of lacking the necessary mental prowess to consistently dwell of these things. This commendable list can also become nothing more than a rote new rule or law to dispassionately follow. What we need is the power of the gospel to think on the things Paul prescribed.
When we abide in the graceful knowledge of the truth that Jesus completely removed our condemnation and guilt by His death for us on the cross, we see there is no reason to lament or obsess on our negative circumstances as though they were judgments from God. This does not definitively change our circumstances, but we can rejoice in the midst of dire situations because Jesus died for us all, setting us free to be able to think on the excellent attributes Paul penned. We do this not by focusing on our situations or how we measure up to others and ourselves, but by abiding in the grace that Jesus measured up for all of us

John Clark

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The God Who Bends Down to Look at the Sky

5/2/2018

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Have you ever tried to contemplate the enormity of God? It can make your head swim when you take a moment to think about just how big our God really is. Throughout the bible (particularly the Psalms) we can find instances where the majesty of God has been attempted to be described as best as could be done for us to understand. One of these places is Psalm 113 where Pastor Ellery expounded upon the necessity for praising God because of His majesty and glory; not only for the obvious reason that He is God, but also for what He has done for us. So let us take a look at this passage and catch a glimpse of the glorious, incomparable grace of our Lord.

This Psalm starts out with a call for His servants to praise Him forever. Even when we are going about our daily activities we are to continuously praise His name. In verses 4 through 6 we see that God’s glory is exalted above nations, above the heavens, and that He stoops or bends down to look at the heavens and earth. I want us to pause and think about that for a moment. There is no telescope or any other scientific instrument that can see or measure the edges of the universe that I am currently aware of. We always have to look up and out into the heavens. Yet our God is big enough that He has to bend down to look at the immensity of His creation. One would have a tendency to ponder that if God is that big, why would He bother with a seemingly insignificant planet full of apparently infinitesimal humans? And why should we praise and exalt a God who may seem disproportionately out of reach to us?

The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.
Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?
He bends down to look
at the sky and the earth. - Psalm 113:4-6

The psalmist answers this in verses 7 though 9 where he writes that God raises the poor from the dust, lifts the needy from the garbage pile, and gives the barren woman a family.

He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,
that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He makes the barren woman of the family
a happy mother of children.
Praise the Lord! - Psalm 113:7-9

The only way to get someone out of the dust or the landfill is to go in and get them. That is precisely what God did for us. Because of His great love for us, He came down to the sinful filth of this world and took on the form of sinful man, yet He was without sin. (Phil. 2:6,7; 2 Cor. 5:21) The holy comes down to the unholy. Our unholiness does not alter or contaminate the holy, rather it is His holiness that alters and cleanses us so we can be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16, 1 Cor 1:30) .
He took the payment of death for our sin and rose again so we could receive His righteous perfection. Only God does this, as no other being in all of creation forsook their exalted position in order to save the rejected and discarded. When we begin to question or doubt that God is worthy of praise and exaltation, we can always look to the cross to recall the extravagant length He went to in order to demonstrate His great love for us.

John Clark

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The God Who Makes Breakfast for Sinners & Failures

4/10/2018

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Have you ever wondered what Jesus could have done after the resurrection? If He thought like we do, there are some possibilities that come to mind. He could have appeared before the Pharisees and proclaimed “I told you so!”, or “Well, you killed me but here I am, what are you going to do now?” He could have miraculously appeared before Pilate, Herod or even the Emperor, Caesar and said ”Hey, you’re in my seat!” But as Pastor Ellery shared from the scriptures Sunday, the things He did seemed almost mundane and anti-climatic compared to the miracles He accomplished beforehand.

Yet there was a particular method to His mediocrity as we see in the passage from the gospel of John 21:1-19.
While they may not seem as spectacular as walking on water or disrupting funerals, what He did in this account was no less important, particularly in reference to one particular disciple, namely Simon Peter. What He did and how He acted toward this one person is the same way He responds to us in our times of sin, need and failure.

The relational interactions recorded in the bible between Peter and Jesus from the start seemed tumultuous; filled with extremes of great faith coupled with great failures. Peter walked on the water, pledged his allegiance to Jesus unto death, and proclaimed by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Yet this same Peter who walked on water by faith only to succumb to doubt and sink into the waves, was also harshly rebuked by Jesus when he contradicted the purpose Jesus came to fulfill, and vehemently denied even knowing Jesus at all during the initial interrogation of Jesus after His arrest.

But let's not be too hard on Peter. We all have done a similar thing at one time or another. I am sure that you can think of a time (I know I can), when you made a bold declaration to the Lord only to crash and burn, trip up, or end up on a different path headed in the opposite direction from your intentions with no idea how you got there. We promise to do such and such, or to be better at this or that for His honor and glory, only to be brokenhearted and disillusioned when we are standing in the midst of the ashes and smoke of our latest failure. What the pastor wanted us to see from the text is that we don’t need to keep wallowing in the carnage of those failures.

“Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them... "Come and have breakfast." - John 21:11, 12

The pastor pointed out that this latest interaction between Jesus and Peter on the beach was reminiscent of some of their previous encounters:

• Reminiscent of first time he met Peter, when Jesus instructed them to cast their net again after a full night of
fishing with no result, and a full catch was brought in. (Luke 5:1-11)

• Reminiscent of the account of the feeding of the 5,000 when Jesus provided fish and bread for the crowd.
(Mark 6:30-44)

• Reminiscent of the last supper, when Jesus took the bread, broke it and gave it to them. (Matthew 26:26)

• Reminiscent of the charcoal fire in the courtyard where Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus also cooked on a
charcoal fire. (John 18:18)

• Reminiscent of Peter denying Him three times, Jesus asked him three times if he loved Him. (John 18:15-27)

In all of these situations Jesus offered restoration to Peter by giving him the opportunity to remember that through any circumstance Jesus was there to provide; giving him a hand of rescue through the waves, and extending forgiveness in the face of his rebellious denial.

Jesus does the same for us today. He comes to where we are. When we don’t know what to do, and we keep going back to our same old failures, He comes to rescue us from the dismal drudgery of our guilt & shame. He reminds us of how He miraculously moved on our behalf by dying for our sins and rising on the third day.
He does not gloss over our ignore our sin, but He does come to us with loving restoration and forgiveness. So let us remember that when we are out over our heads trying to cast our nets in the empty waters of regret, Jesus comes to us with provision, grace, and a love we don’t deserve but need more than we could ever imagine.

John Clark

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The God Who Rides a Donkey to Save the World

4/2/2018

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There are many times in our lives when we seek a Hollywood-style intervention. When we are in some particularly dire set of circumstances, we are desperate for a hero to dash in, thrash the bad guy, and rescue us from the dismal confines of our enemy’s nefarious plans. As our special guest speaker Edwin Jimenez elaborated from the scriptures in John 12:12-28, the people of Israel were expecting just that when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt. Even though this action did fulfill a particular Messianic prophecy (see Zechariah 9:9 where the daughters of Zion and Jerusalem rejoicing when their king comes riding in on the colt of a donkey), God had a completely different plan on how this donkey riding king would establish His kingdom.
The people of Israel were seeking a military savior that would come in or rise up and vanquish their Roman oppressors once and for all.

So when Jesus came on the scene working miracles, preaching with compassionate authority, and standing up against the prideful arrogance of the “religious” leaders, they speculated that this could be the one to lead them to freedom. But while Jesus did come to set them and all of us free, he did so in a way no one could have possibly comprehended.

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written: Fear no more, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt. - John 12:14-15

One would expect a person that is planning a governmental coup would come riding high in the saddle of a valiant stallion ready to organize the troops and charge the castle as it were. This is what Brother Edwin called the “Hulk” effect. This is where someone big, green, and mean comes smashing through to pummel the evil doer with superior strength or authority. Brother Edwin mentioned that this type of demanding power and authority is what Robert F Capon described as “right handed” power (see Kingdom, Grace, Judgment:Paradox, Outrage and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus by Robert F. Capon). The Law is an example of this type of power. The Law is the absolute standard of authority by which all of us are to live up to without fail. The problem is that because of our sin, we constantly fail the standard set before us. (This however is the 2nd use of the Law, which reveals us as sinners in need of mercy). And no amount of physical or verbal coercion - right handed power - can get us to consistently do the right thing with the right motive. We deserve further the right handed power of condemnation and judgment as the rightful consequence of our sin.

Left-handed power is precisely paradoxical power: power that looks for all the world like weakness, intervention that seems indistinguishable from nonintervention. - Robert F Capon

But Jesus rode into town humbly on the colt of a donkey to do things differently. He chose to exercise what is referred to in the fore-mentioned book as “left handed” power. Instead of galloping into town with guns a blazing, He demonstrated the left handed power of mercy and compassion to the people.
Jesus did not come to abolish or nullify the Law, He actually fulfilled it. He came and lived the perfect life without sin that no one before or since could accomplish. The whole purpose of His coming was to endure the betrayal, the condemnation, the abandonment, the persecution, and even the death that all of us deserved. The left handed power of His love and mercy cleansed us from the guilt of our sin, reconciled us to God, granted us eternal life and gave us the righteousness we all so desperately need. The cross and the tomb that seemed to be an insurmountable defeat was miraculously the greatest victory in history.
The Apostle John saw Jesus on white, noble stallion. Perhaps we will one day see Him as such as well. But until then, He knew we needed to experience His humble donkey ride to the cross first.

John Clark

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Compassion Takes Over

3/1/2018

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God has a way of getting His message to us especially if it takes unexpected turns. What started out as a normal Sunday service quickly turned into an extraordinary move of the Spirit of God centering on the theme of compassion. This was a particularly special moment for me, considering I had been asked to deliver the message this morning. The Lord had directed me to speak on His compassion for us, how it relates to us and even works through us. I did not share the complete message this week as the Spirit took over and directed us in a time of prayer, reading scripture (Isaiah 53), thoughts, observations and testimonies about the compassion of God.

It all started as Pastor Ellery shared about a fellow pastor who posted on Facebook about his struggles with cancer and some of his fellow ministers - “friends” - abandoned him because of his apparent “lack of faith”.
“You should have prayed this way” or “you didn’t stand on this or that scripture” they would say. On and on it went with the whole “works” spiel about not doing enough of this or doing enough of that and blah, and blah and blah. Apparently these "faith" ministers did not offer simple compassion, an earnest prayer, a non-judging word of encouragement, or even a brotherly shoulder to lean on. Because we had no real way of physically reaching out to him, we simply yet heartily prayed for this person, his family, and his congregation.
After the prayer the Spirit of God enveloped the place with a special presence. People started to share about their recent difficulties with physical pain and back injuries. They went from doctor to chiropractor as they prayed for relief from the pain. But during those trying times, they found the Lord had given them a sense of compassion for others who cannot function without medication because of their physical pain. At one time, they did not comprehend the agony and sometimes dependence on meds that happens when someone has chronic, unrelenting pain. Now these same people that did not believe a person needed that much or that strong of a prescription to get out of bed, now sympathize and express concern for them in a way they never could before. Now, I am not saying that God puts us through pain or injury just so we can empathize with someone in their trials, but I am not going to say that He doesn’t do it either.
Then, in a spontaneous demonstration of compassion, all of us with physical pain - including myself - were called up to the front to pray for each other. It was a very moving experience as we held or placed our hands on the shoulder of the one next to us, lifting them up to the Lord in prayer.

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. - 2 Cor 1:3-5

Regardless of how we try to interpret what we go though and why, as Christians we can show compassion to those around us not just because of the compassion Jesus had toward others when He walked this earth but because of the compassion He has toward us today. He never condemns or berates the hurting and destitute. He heals them. He loves them. And He is never unattainable to those who seek Him out with a sincere, humble heart.
The main thing I believe we all can learn from a special anointing or moves of God like today is not to be so caught up in our own needs and issues that we miss those whom God brings across our path who need a loving hand, a listening ear, and a compassionate heart. Just remember that before you or I may know it, we will be the ones in need of a kind word, a hug, or someone to tell us that God loves us, that they know what we are going though, and that God always - without fail - has us in His arms.

John Clark

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The Transforming Power of Grace, Love & Kindness

2/16/2018

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“If you want to be a successful Christian, you just need to do this more, do that less, and try harder to be a better person, like me.” This is the modern day “gospel” message you may find in many churches, online and on television with little effort. But is this the actual message that God put forth in His word? As the pastor showed us from Romans 2:1-11, the real gospel is not how hard we work, how we judge our brothers and sisters, or how we even judge ourselves, but it is what God say about us, what He did for us, and the change brought about as we respond to His grace, love, and kindness.

God’s laws and rules in His word may inform us, but they have no power to transform us. They can only point out the standard of perfection that God requires, and in turn show us all how far off the mark we all are. The modern day “holiness” messages that are so prevalent in our culture tell us how bad we are and what we need to do to fix it, but they do not empower us to make the changes they demand. Unfortunately, this just compounds the problem of our feelings of unworthiness. Our proclivity to point fingers at the behaviors and words of others really does not do anything to help the guilt and condemnation we are burdened with because we are doing and saying the very same things we are quick to call out in our family and friends.

...do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? - Romans 2:4

God does not change us this way. Instead of heaping more accusations against us, He chooses to love us. He loves us for who we are, not because of what we did or did not do, not what we say or wear or anything else we could accomplish in our power. Scriptures like Romans 5:8, John 3:16, 1 John 4:19, Ephesians 2:5, and many other all show us that He loves us as we are, faults and all, and demonstrated His love in a most unorthodox yet spectacular fashion. He came to earth in a flesh and blood body to live the perfect, sinless life the law required but we could not accomplish. He paid the price for our sin which was death, and rose from the dead making His gift of righteousness available for us to receive.
When the Spirit of God draws us through the reading of His word or through someone that shows us His love without any conditions, that is the moment our hearts are touched and our lives are transformed. When Pastor Ellery was elaborating on this thought it was revealed to me in this way - we do not change from the accusing fingers pointed at us, we change because of the open arms of God's love.
The pastor further illustrated this by recalling Fred Rogers, an exemplary example of someone who displayed the love of God to countless people on television. He did this by simply telling children they were valuable, special, and were loved for who they were, not for what they could do or say. He was a clear reflection of his Lord, who proved to be the ultimate neighbor by the love He demonstrated on the cross. So I pray that we let His love flow through us to those around us, because people are in need of a good neighbor, not a harsh judge.

John Clark

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Thoughts on Prayer

2/6/2018

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It is a special occasion indeed when the Spirit of the Lord moves and touches people that directly correlates with the message of the day; especially when the message has not yet been given. Today was one of those divinely momentous occurrences.
Before Pastor Ellery came up to speak on prayer from Matthew 6:5-8, Pastor Loraine shared about how the gifts of the Spirit can frequently be misconstrued as “our” personal gifts given to us by God in response to our spiritually maturity. But In reality, they have been and always will be His gifts that He distributes and uses by grace to whom and when He wills. These gifts cannot be conjured up and performed of our own volition.
As an example, Pastor Loraine told us how she once randomly picked a person from a small group she was teaching and began to encourage them about some hypothetical problems on their job in order to demonstrate how a simple word of encouragement can minister to someone.

What she did not know that the very person she picked out as a “for instance” case was actually in the middle of some turmoil on their job back then. What she did not know today that the very same person was sitting at church today going through the same kind of work problems. But God knew it and used a previous instance of divine encouragement to bring a fresh word of hope to a distressed soul.

Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. - Matthew 6:5-8

But what does any of this have to do with prayer from the passage in Matthew?
We are shown the good news that God knows our needs before we even bring them to Him in prayer. It also contains an admonition to not pray like hypocrites and idolaters. Before we get too judgmental about others, we need to remember that we can fall into the temptations of these behaviors. We need to look at ourselves and ask: do we pray louder around certain people? Do we recite sanctimonious dissertations with rehearsed eloquence to impress the leaders? Do we pray differently when we are alone than we do if we are with others? Prayer is communication with God, it is not delivering a wish list nor is it an opportunity to practice our public speaking skills. Honest and effective praying occurs when we share our true heartfelt desires and thoughts with Him. We can know He hears us because He loves us, not because we are needy or worthy or because of our succinctly eloquent speech.
God has already met our deepest need, mankind’s need for redemption of our sin. Before any of us were born, God knew mankind would rebel against Him, yet He created us anyway. Because of His love for us, He paid the price for our sin with the death of His Son Jesus. If our God went that far to redeem us from sin we can be assured He will always be there in our times of need with an answered prayer, an inner peace, a comforting word from a friend, or a scripture that reminds us of His love for us.

John Clark

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The Little Miracle of Calming the Storm

1/17/2018

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As we peruse the gospel accounts of Jesus, some of our favorite portions are the miraculous transactions of Jesus during His ministry. We read these accounts rapt with wonder as Jesus time and again demonstrates His authority over the forces of nature, sick and damaged bodies, tormenting demonic forces and even death. Yet as we focused this Sunday on Mark 4:35-41 (the account of Jesus commanding a storm to cease as He and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee) Pastor Ellery showed us how these spectacular events were not the main thrust of Jesus’ plan.

While His calming the storm understandably amazed the disciples in the boat, as it does us, when we read this narrative today, this miracle pales in comparison to the pivotal task that Jesus came all the way to earth to perform.
The miracles Jesus performed while He was here were merely signs to confirm to us that He was in fact God in the flesh. Sometimes we get it backwards and focus on the signs and wonders, as we lose sight of the One who makes the miracles. In Sunday’s text we see that Jesus had a simple, matter-of-fact attitude as he spoke to the storm. It did not seem to be a big deal to Him to cause a tumultuous storm to instantly disappear.
Now, I am not here to discount or play down this or any of the wonderful deeds Jesus orchestrated. Healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, feeding multitudes with a small boy’s sack lunch are divinely inspiring and we get to see glimpses of the heart of God through them. Yet all of these signs combined do not begin to compare with the one main event in Jesus life, the culmination of His purpose, which was His death and resurrection. The apparent tragedy of the cross was actually the biggest miraculous intervention in all of history.

He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still! ” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. - ‭Mark‬ ‭4:39‬ ‭HCSB‬

When we look back at the account of Jesus, this seems - in the natural - rather anti-climatic when compared to His miraculous birth heralded by an angelic host, or to the start of His public ministry at the Jordan river when he was audibly approved by God the Father Himself. Then there are the other miracles that captured the attention and admiration of the masses. Three years into His very successful ministry, it takes an unusual turn. He goes from being adored by the multitudes to being arrested; from being lovingly touched and even anointed with perfume and tears to receiving severe beatings and scourging from toughened Roman soldiers; from being heralded as a prophet, the son of David, the Deliverer of Israel, to being a falsely accused blasphemer and trouble maker; from being surrounded by throngs of worshipers to angry mobs screaming for His death.

What seems to be a tragic end to His life changing-miracles and captivating, frequently difficult teachings, was the very reason He came to us in the first place. The biggest miracle is that He endured the act of being arrested for our crimes as He was beaten and punished for our iniquity. He was put to death because that was the price for the sin everyone - except Him - committed. And He was raised from the dead so His righteousness could be freely given to us in exchange for the sin He so dearly paid for.

Looking through Mark and the other three gospel accounts in the Bible at the miracles of our Lord Jesus, we can be encouraged by the loving compassion that He demonstrated to those in need around Him. But we must not let the “little” miracles cloud our focus on the one big miracle that Jesus did for all of us. I can think of no bigger miracle than the fact that the Lord of all creation loved me enough to take on flesh, die for the sin that I committed and rose from the dead so that I could receive His righteousness and have eternal life. He did this for all of mankind, not just me. That is the biggest miracle anybody could possibly imagine.

John Clark

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