A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As we journey through the Pentecost season, the lessons for today resonate with our current spiritual state. Just like the early Christians after Pentecost, we, too, believe in the resurrection of Christ, even though we cannot see Him. Our faith is not based on what we see but on our trust in Jesus as our Savior. Our Old Testament lesson gives us one example: Job. At the start of the book, Job is a wealthy man with everything going for him. That is quickly stripped away as he loses his goods, home, family, and health. He’s surrounded by friends who say, “We know what we see, and we see clearly that your life has become a trainwreck. The evidence is irrefutable: clearly, you’ve done something to turn God against you. Your life is evidence that the Lord is out to get you.” In our Ol...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Mark’s Gospel is full of short episodes with many significant events. This is especially true as it begins. In Mark, chapters 1 and 2, we read about how Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and then tempted in the desert. We then hear how He preached, healed, and cast out demons. We read about the great crowds that began following Him. We also learn about how He called the twelve disciples. Then, in Mark 3, Jesus returns home to Capernaum, but things have changed. Now, after all that He has been doing, crowds follow Him. Yet, the path was not without its thorns. In this segment of Mark, the conflict between Christ and His family, as well as the religious authorities, reaches a boiling point. His response is marked by some of the most direct warnings from the Son of Man during His earthly journey. It’s a moment that calls for introspection and understanding. After a long preaching jour...

"Jesus Heals a Mute-Possessed Man" by James I. Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. “ But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house” ( Mark 3:27). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! There are only two religions in the world. While such a statement may seem naïve to some, it should not sound so strange to you. For when the facade of this world is torn away, all that remains are two spiritual kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the evil one—Satan. The kingdom of God is founded on Jesus, the Way and the Truth and the Life. The kingdom of the devil is founded on a lie. His is a fallen and condemned kingdom without any hope of return to its splendor. [i] But that does not mean the devil is no longer dangerous and deadly. Satan is the father of lies and can become whatever we desire him to be. He represents himself as an a...