A Famine Not of Bread

  Click here to listen to this sermon. “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).   “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). Each of these passages, often used in funeral services, speaks of God’s love and compassion. God loves the world. He loves you and me. He shows that love by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world as one of us. Jesus lived the perfect life that you and I could not live. He loves His Father above all things and loves His neighbor as Himself. He demonstrates the depth of that love by laying do...

"Jesus Wept" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25). A smart man. A thirsty woman. A blind man. A grieving sister. Four different people in four different situations. Four people changed by an encounter with Jesus. They lived in places and times far from ours, but we have much in common with them. We are smart, but not nearly as smart as we think. So, as He did with Nicodemus, Jesus teaches us. We are thirsty, longing for something that will satisfy us. And Jesus, as He did with the Samaritan woman, gives us Living Water. We have blind spots which keep us from fully seeing God, ourselves, and others. As He did with the man born blind, Jesus opens our eyes. This week’s text invites us to walk alongside a grieving sister. There are many causes of grief. One of them is broken relationships. We w...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this” (John 11:25–26)? Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! There is a story in the Bible of one man who never died (Genesis 5:24). His name was Enoch. Scripture says that God translated him directly from life on earth to the presence of God in heaven (Hebrews 11:5). A little girl was once asked to tell the story of Enoch. She said, “Well, Enoch and God were good friends. And they used to take long walks in Enoch’s garden. One day God said, ‘Enoch, you look tired. Why don’t you come to My place and stay and rest awhile?’” And so he did. It’s not hard to image the Lord saying something similar to Faye last week: “Faye, you look tired. Why don’t you come to My place and rest awhile?” That poetic way of looking at Faye’s depar...

"The Resurrection of Lazarus" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. “ Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the Last Day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die’” (John 11:21-26). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Due to “social distancing” a lot of people have been binge watching shows on streaming services like Netflix, Disney +, and Amazon Prime. One of the video features of Amazon Prime that I’ve found useful is X-ray. X-ray allows you to pause a film and find out more information. When you press pause, a menu pops up that allow you to move ...

"The Resurrection of Jesus" by James I Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The sisters were frantic when their brother Lazarus took ill. They realized that unless something was done soon, he would not live much longer. The prospect of losing their brother was painful and frightening. In fear and frustration, Martha and Mary did the right thing. They brought their need to Jesus. That is something for us to think about carefully. We, too, have urgent and frightening needs. It may be sickness and the threat of death, such as this family faced. It may be the loss of a job or a troubled marriage … a wayward child … loneliness … a pet sin or addiction that is controlling our lives. Wh...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! “God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).   “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentation 3:22-23). “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). Each of these passages often used in a funeral service speaks of God’s love and compassion. God loves the world. He loves you and me. He shows that love by sending His Son Jesus Christ into the world as one of us. Jesus lives the perfect life that you and I could not live. He loves His Father above all things and loves His neighbor as Himself. He demonstrates the depth of that love by laying down H...