A Famine Not of Bread

"The Disciples Eat Wheat on the Sabbath" by James Tissot Click here to listen to this sermon. One Sabbath [Jesus] was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, His disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” ( Mark 2:23–28). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Well, they finally got Him! This time, He’s going to pay for His law-breaking. He won’t weasel out of it with smooth ...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, ‘When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?’ The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: ‘Surely I will never forget any of their deeds’” (Amos 8:4-7). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! It is a time of prosperity in Israel, but God’s people completely misunderstand His blessings. The people are greedy, and rather than seeing this prosperity as an opportunity to serve the neighbor, the people see their wealth as proof of God’s approval. Like today’s “prosperity Gospel” preachers, they reckon that riches are a mark of God’s favor, and poverty is proof of God’s...

To listen to this sermon click here. Or here. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! It was New Year’s Eve 1995. We had just moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana so I could begin my studies to enter the seminary. While Aimee and I were shopping for groceries, I suggested we choose a bottle of wine to celebrate her birthday the next day. We picked out a bottle that looked like it might fit our (at least at that point) totally unrefined tastes and lim...

Click here for a link to an audio version of this sermon. Jesus Rebukes the Unclean Spirit in the Synagogue by James Tissot The text for today is our Gospel, Luke 4:31-44, which has already been read. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the Sabbath in Capernaum, and where do we find Jesus?   He’s in the synagogue—the synagogue was the “congregating place” for God’s people.   That’s what the word “synagogue” means—“a place to gather.”   We say “congregation.”     This was nothing new.   Take a look at the gospels.   Every Sabbath that is mentioned (except for the one between Good Friday and Easter where He was fulfilling the Sabbath in Himself), we see Jesus going to the congregation.   If He’s in Jerusalem for the festivals, He goes to the temple—to the house of the Lord—for prayers and sacrifices and the hearing of God’s Word.   Every other Sabbath we find Him in the synagogue with the bel...