A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:14). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Herod is in a tough spot. He’s just put John the Baptist in prison. He’s not happy about it, though. He’s afraid of John, who has attracted quite an enthusiastic following. But Herod can’t have John running around preaching that Herod’s new marriage is a sinful one. What John is saying is all true, mind you—and he’s not preaching it to stir up trouble or cause rebellion but to call Herod to repentance. But a king can’t have his critics speaking inconvenient truths, so he’s imprisoned the famous prophet. How will the people react? This is a tense moment for Herod, and you can bet he’s got his spies working overtime to see if the people will rise up or just accept John’s arrest. An

Click here to listen to this sermon. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). Elaine, Randy, Rick, Shari, and other family and friends of Ronnie: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Perhaps you’re sensing a theme. Yes, it is peace. When we finish this service today, I would like you to take with you peace, the perfect peace of God. The hymn that we just sang, “When Peace Like a River,” counsels contentment at all times, even in the face of trials, suffering, and death! The hymn explains why: Jesus has borne the soul’s sin on the cross and will return to be with His own. The first stanza reminds the soul that God has taught it to say, “It is well” in all circumstances, using an image from Isaiah’s description of the Messiah’s blessing of Zion (Isaiah 66:12), with peace overflowing “like a river.” Shalom , translated as “peace” here, is more than just a lack of conflict; it is health,

"Joseph Dwelleth in Egypt" by James Tissot   Click here to listen to this sermon.  When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died, ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them ( Genesis 50:15

Click here to listen to this sermon. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over” (Matthew 18:15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Let’s have a show of hands. How many of you enjoy confrontation? No hands. That’s what I was expecting to see. Most people, unless they’re a sociopath, do not like to confront others. People who enjoy confrontation should be disqualified from doing so. They will never do it in the right spirit of love. Nevertheless, somewhere along the line it may become necessary to talk to others about their shortcomings. Although we should be willing to overlook minor offenses, there are some problems that will only grow worse if they are not dealt with properly in a straightforward way as Jesus urges us to do in our text. The following story illustrates this truth in a more personal way. Larry irritated almost every person in

Click here to listen to this sermon. "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:3–6). Cindy, Erica, Chris, Craig, Nick, other family members and friends of Bart: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Well, it appears that death has kept its perfect record intact. God had warned the first man and woman to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for in the day that you eat of it,

"John the Baptist Points to the Christ" by Bartolome Esteban Murillo Click here to listen to this sermon. The next day [John] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because He was before me.’ I myself did not know Him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that He might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him. I myself did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:29-34). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Well-versed in Scripture, the disciples of John the Baptist knew all about the lambs. There were stories of one-time