Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study on Nehemiah 1:5-11 (April 25, 2024)

Thursday Bible Study on the Old Testament book of Nehemiah 1:5-11

Once again, I say to you, Happy Easter! We have too much to be thankful for. This week the water to the Parish Hall kitchen was finally repaired. The new custom over-the-roof water line arrived, and everything seems to be working pretty well.  As we approach the end of April, the evaporative coolers in both the parish hall and the church worship area are now working. Thanks to Robert for all of his hard work to get this all done. Our Foodies of Faith group is headed out to Cheddar's tomorrow at 11:30AM. We have 10 folks coming out with us for a great time of food and fellowship in Christ's Name.

Nehemiah Old Testament bible study

Today we are in the 1st chapter of Nehemiah, verses 5-11. I know this seems like a quick transition from Ezra, but we at once see similarities between the two OT books. They are on the scene about 100 years after the first group of Judahite exiles left Persia to return to the promised land, specifically Jerusalem and the destroyed temple.  A return to a war-torn area is never easy, and quite frankly, it is dangerous, as the people who have settled the land since the exile are now well established. The issues of intermarriage and economic blending have already been addressed, and there must be the acknowledgement of the broken relationship that existed at the time of the exile, but the zeal of both Ezra and Nehemiah for moving the Judahites forward in their confession and progress in rebuilding are evident in Nehemiah's prayer which acknowledges both his own culpability and the culpability of the first exile settlers and the current ones.  But as we should with all prayer, this prayer begins with a proclamation of the One Great God of all things, who is the Creator, the Just One of Heaven and Earth, the only Worthy God whose Truth and Commitment can always be depended on,  the Rightful Judge, the One who Loves all of His Creation, and most especially, His Jewish children.  God is the One who has the right to forgive, who continues to support and encourage them. who will protect them from their enemies. The problem is that God's children have too often forsaken Him and chased after other god's, gods that they can manipulate as they wish. So now Nehemiah implores God to restore His relationship with His children who are now in Jerusalem to rebuild if they will enter into this relationship with solid commitment.

When we offer our confession to God on Sundays at worship, and we lay claim to God's Great Love for us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then we offer our confession which includes in it our desire to live as the forgiven ought to, with a willing heart to be wholly committed to Christ's Church, and to serving the Truth of Christ's Gospel news for the sake of the world.  Receiving Absolution through the merit of our Savior means that we too must respond. This two way relationship means that in forgiveness we are ready to make changes in our level of commitment to God's desires for our life, and though we fail from time to time, It is our whole hearted trying to do better, and sometimes succeeding, that moves us forward in our relationship with God.

In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 9:30-31 bible study (April 23, 2024)

Tuesday Morning Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 9:30-

31

In this season of Easter may Christ's Grace and Blessings surround you.

A found adult child in critical care recovery, a new baby born, a car accident whose driver was injured but is home in recovery, prayers answered, HS graduates celebrating a new time in their lives, finding summer jobs, a successful yard sale and fund raiser to assist our sisters in Christ (circa $2525 donated and made at the yard sale), successful recovery from knee replacement, all from the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the abundance of blessings from our Father in Heaven.  Thank you, God, we love Jesus, and His Spirit. so that we might know in our hearts of the in-breaking of Your Love.

New Testament Bible Study

OK, you have caught me. There are a few verses which I covered without naming them in my last Bible Study, so today we are on to Mark 9:30,31.  You and I have been busy celebrating Easter and the glory of the Lord's Resurrection, so it is a little hard for us to get back into Mark to speak about these two verses in which our Savior speaks directly to His disciples about what is now coming for Him and for them.  Typically, as we might expect in the Gospel of Mark, what seems to us to be perfectly clear about the Lord's death and Resurrection, are a confusing teaching for the disciples. After all, you and I have lived for nearly 2000 years with the knowledge of the Resurrection event, but for Christ's closest followers, this information is really new, amazing, and brings a broad lack of comprehension.  The amazing thing in this passage is that Jesus, unlike other times when He has explained His teaching in parables, now chooses to let this information He has offered sink in gradually, no direct explanation right now. Now we really see Jesus reach that turning point after his conversations with ancient prophets on the Mount of Transfiguration, and His purity which shows in the view of three disciples who have gone with Him and seen Him brighter than the sun in the sky. Yet another clue exists here. As He speaks about His coming death and rising from the dead, Jesus also says that He is being delivered into the hands of His enemies. The disciples may not have noticed this, and perhaps in a casual reading of these verses in Mark we have not picked up on it either.  There is no doubt that the disciples were prepared to go with Jesus to His death at the hands of those who should have known better, but what they don't get is that Jesus will do something that no one else has ever done.  He will rise from the dead on the third day! One commentator tells us that the disciples were like men who knew so much already that they were unable to understand this one more thing that was so crucial to coming into the fullness of God's Grace in Christ. And the life, forgiveness, and salvation which Christ's death and rising would bring for us and for all of God's creation. Did you ever not hear something which was so offensive to your senses that your mind closed it out? Perhaps this is what happened to Christ's disciples when he spoke to then of dying and rising on the third day.  This was something so new, so different, so much God's miracle for us, and for His Son, that at this time the disciples would have to wait until they actually watched it unfold before them before they could really understand it all. There are too many "Christians" today who only hear and accept what they like, and the rest of Christ's truth they set aside. God does not always, and maybe we can say never, gives us things the way we like them, (except for Christ's saving Grace, but even that takes allowing the Spirit to move our hearts and minds to believe in the Savior), but we don't always want to love our neighbors as ourselves!  Such a commandment is really hard for us to fulfill every moment of every day. You mean I have to love the ones who are willing to reject me and do me harm?!   After all, isn't that what Jesus did for the ones who moved to destroy Him?  Being fully immersed in our faith and belief in Christ is our aim. Succeeding at it some of the time is what we always need Christ's forgiveness for! Thank God for the Love of Christ for our lives.

In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim

Next Monday I will try to remember to talk about why Jesus was in the North and why that was so safe for Him.

Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 9:19-24 bible study (April 22, 2024)

Monday Morning Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 9:19-24

Easter Blessings and Peace be with you today and every day.

This weekend we have a free movie at 2pm on Saturday. This is a first run movie which is great for kids and adults. Bring a snack or use the ones which we provide. I hope to see you there. Please continue to pray for Katie who was lost in the desert for five days and is now in intensive care as doctors work to help her body to recover from extreme loss of fluids. I thank God for your prayers for her. As our children in high school prepare for Prom, pray for them to be wise in their choices, and that they may be brought safely home at the end of this big evening in their lives. And please continue to pray for cancer victims, Jeff and Kandice.  Their doctors, though 1000s of miles apart, have said that their treatments are at best, difficult.

Jesus heals a boy who is possessed

Today we have another recounting of what happened when Jesus came off the Mount of Transfiguration, and back into His daily life, which included the 24/7 teaching and healing, and the crowding that happened every time he was in public situations. This time when Christ arrives, He is confronted by the father of a child who suffered from a serious seizure disorder. According to Mark the cause was a spirit. What really bums Jesus out, is that His disciples have, in His absence, been unsuccessful in curing this child whose body is possessed. We know exactly what He is thinking too. Not only are the people lacking enough faith to allow for the power of healing to cure this boy, but the disciples themselves have failed in their attempt to bring healing to the boy, the faith of the boy's father has faltered too, and it failed, in all likelihood, due to the disappointment of the disciples, and the resulting loss of faith of the boy's father in that failure.  After His mountain top experience, Jesus, had chosen with determination that will now take Him to Jerusalem. His faith is humble and pure, but the people, these people, are in a wholly difference place in their faith, or lack of faith.  Christ is still not yet fully planted in their shaken hearts, they continue to look often for the affirmation for which the world looks for, proof. For these folks, faith alone will never be enough. We can hear the frustration, anger, and disappointment in Christ's Words. But now there is a young boy in front of him, and the wavering faith of his father, whose confidence in Christ has been shaken by the failure of the disciples. In this passage, Christ is called back into the world of people. This is no mountain top experience. It is here that Christ's compassion and power are restored. Though He is headed to His end on the cross, Christ now steps back to what He has done so well. He speaks His words of healing, and the power of illness that is in the boy is sent away. This is not only healing for the boy, but also healing and faith bringing for the boy's father, for the disciples, for those who have come running when Jesus has come down from the Mount, and dare I say it, for Jesus Himself.

With all of this taking place, Jesus offers His Truth for all of us. "All things are possible for the one who believes."  On the other end of the spectrum, "All things are possible with God, yet through lack of faith, we most often see them as impossible, and like the boy's father after the failure of the disciples, he is no longer certain of the healing that is possible, yet in the view of the world, impossible!  You and I often end up in the middle of this. Let's take our prayers for Katie to be found, but as the days passed, we grew more certain that God's answer would not be what we wanted, but what was likely from way we, and the world, experience this kind of getting lost in our desert.  And yet, the miracle of the answer to our prayers offered in faith for Katie's salvation and being found, was granted. It was in our faith that the impossible became the possible. Lord, we do believe, but help our unbelief. With God, all things are possible!

Pray Unceasingly every day for every situation. In Christ's love, Pastor Kim