Longest sermon?

On the first day of the week, as we gathered together for a meal, Paul was holding a discussion with them. Since he was leaving the next day, he continued talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we had gathered. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window. He was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third floor and died. Paul went down, fell on him and embraced him, then said, “Don’t be alarmed. He’s alive!” Then Paul went back upstairs and ate. He talked for a long time—right up until daybreak—then he left. They took the young man away alive, and they were greatly comforted. (Acts 20:7-12, CEB)

I always chuckle at this passage. Paul preached for so long, someone fell asleep and fell out a window and died. I have always heard the joke there is a fine line between a long sermon and a hostage situation!

And my wonder about this passage is why did the writer think out of all the stories they could include this is one that needed to be known? Well, it does show us that Paul was able to raise a man from the dead. And that is the work of the Holy Spirit or heavenly power in him. And we all have that same power.

So maybe we read this to know that we have the heavenly power to raise people to life. Do you believe you have the power to raise people to life?

God moving in and through you will do greater things than Jesus according to Jesus.

So know you have the power.

Loving People. Loving God.

Why did he weep?

A certain man, Lazarus, was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This was the Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was ill.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This illness isn’t fatal. It’s for the glory of God so that God’s Son can be glorified through it.” Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. When he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was. After two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s return to Judea again.” The disciples replied, “Rabbi, the Jewish opposition wants to stone you, but you want to go back?” Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours in the day? Whoever walks in the day doesn’t stumble because they see the light of the world. But whoever walks in the night does stumble because the light isn’t in them.” He continued, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I am going in order to wake him up.” The disciples said, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he will get well.” They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was in a deep sleep, but Jesus had spoken about Lazarus’ death. Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. For your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there so that you can believe. Let’s go to him.” Then Thomas (the one called Didymus) said to the other disciples, “Let us go too so that we may die with Jesus.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was a little less than two miles from Jerusalem. Many Jews had come to comfort Martha and Mary after their brother’s death. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary remained in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, the one who is coming into the world.” After she said this, she went and spoke privately to her sister Mary, “The teacher is here and he’s calling for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. He hadn’t entered the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave, they followed her. They assumed she was going to mourn at the tomb. When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to cry. The Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” But some of them said, “He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days.” Jesus replied, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?” So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.” Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Therefore, many of the Jews who came with Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him. (John 11:1-45, CEB)

People say the shortest verse in the Bible is Jesus wept. Well in some versions, as the above one, it is Jesus began to cry, so that’s not short and to know which verse is shortest you really have to ask what language and version you are talking about. The Greel version of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 actually has fewer letters than Jesus Wept, so then technically it would be the shortest verse, but I digress…

Why did Jesus weep?

Did he weep because Lazarus was dead? He was/is God so knowing what he was about to do, maybe, or maybe not.

Did Jesus weep because people didn’t get it? He was deeply disturbed and troubled because of all the people there that were crying that thought Lazarus was dead. He had been dead for four days in the tomb. Now you have to understand that at that time a person could get up within the first 3 days of being dead. Weird yes, but if you wonder about this look up the term dead ringer and see where it comes from. So at 4 days, Lazarus is dead. And the people were sad, and Jesus explained to Martha about the resurrection of the dead, and even she didn’t get what he was saying.

And I wonder, do we? If we had been there and Jesus said what he said to Martha, would we have gotten it and known that Lazarus really wasn’t dead but sleeping as Jesus said to the disciples?

Jesus weeps because we think we get it and we twist it to fit what we want. Not just death and resurrection but everything about our faith. Once we think we know it, Jesus weeps.

Are we making Jesus weep?

Loving People. Loving God.

heavenly power

Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Look, I’m sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power.” He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. And they were continuously in the temple praising God. (Luke 24:44-53, CEB)

You are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power!

Heavenly Power! God came to live with us as one of us, and when God returned to where God was, God gave us heavenly power!

We are always with God and God is always with us. The power to continue in life is always with us. Sometimes, we lose sight of that. Sometimes, we wonder why God has forsaken us. Sometimes our darkness gets in our way of remembering we are never alone.

Know you have heavenly power and always have God with you.

Loving People. Loving God.

Party?!?

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, and he will rule forever and always.” Then the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God. They said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and was, for you have taken your great power and enforced your rule. The nations were enraged, but your wrath came. The time came for the dead to be judged. The time came to reward your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the chest containing his covenant appeared in his temple. There were lightning, voices, thunder, an earthquake, and large hail. (Revelation 11:15-19, CEB)

The seventh seal was opened and the time came for the temple in heaven to be opened and the chest with the covenant was opened. It is time for the party of all eternity!

Doesn’t sound like the description of a really good party in my opinion, but it is only the beginning.

We will all be with God for all of eternity and the beginning of that has already happened so this is merely a step in the plan for us to continue to be with God.

Eternity started a long time ago and isn’t something we wait for, it is happening now.

So let us show love in everything we do to help others know they are loved.

Loving People. Loving God.

Eat the scroll…

Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven. He was robed with a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet were like fiery pillars. He held an open scroll in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. He called out with a loud voice like a lion roaring, and when he called out, the seven thunders raised their voices. When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and don’t write it down.” Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. He swore by the one who lives forever and always, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, and said, “The time is up. In the days when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious purpose will be accomplished, fulfilling the good news he gave to his servants the prophets.” Then the voice I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the opened scroll from the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and told him to give me the scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will make you sick to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth.” So I took the scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. And it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it made my stomach churn. I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.” (Revelation 10:1-11, CEB)

Honestly, what does this mean? And when we take it out of context it can be taken a bunch of different ways.

But the person here is told to go and take the scroll from the angel (which means messenger in Greek) and to eat it. It will be sweet and tasty in your mouth but will turn your stomach. And after eating it you are told to prophesy again.

We need to keep telling our story, even when people don’t want to hear it, when people won’t hear it. We need to tell what God has done for all of us.

God’s love for the world needs to be told, even when we don’t want to, even when we can’t, we still need to.

Know you are never alone and even when your stomach turns, God is there.

Loving People. Loving God.

do you believe?

As Jesus departed, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Show us mercy, Son of David.” When he came into the house, the blind men approached him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “It will happen for you just as you have believed.” Their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “Make sure nobody knows about this.” But they went out and spread the word about him throughout that whole region. As they were leaving, people brought to him a man who was demon-possessed and unable to speak. When Jesus had thrown out the demon, the man who couldn’t speak began to talk. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.” (Matthew 9:27-34, CEB)

What would have happened if the people would have said, “No I don’t think you can.” Does Jesus’ ability to heal depend on our belief? Please tell me it doesn’t, because I like the man in Mark am always saying I believe help my unbelief!

I think more to the point if they would have said no would Jesus still have healed them? I think God heals people all the time that don’t believe in God or that God has any power over this life.

What it really comes down to is despite all the things that could make you not believe, do you still believe? And I will always say yes. There are so many things that could make me question and wonder but I will never not believe all the promises I have seen fulfilled and know that God is with and for me.

Loving People. Loving God.

stopped…

Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God; by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience; and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. He made it so you could take part in the inheritance, in light granted to God’s holy people. He rescued us from the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. He set us free through the Son and forgave our sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, CEB)

How often do you pray?

In the opening of this letter to the Colossians, the author states that they and their travel companions have not stopped praying for the members of the gathering there.

Paul told us we should pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). But what does this mean? That we pray all the time?

Yes, that is what Paul means. We are to always be in prayer. Prayer is not something we do with our hands folded and eyes closed, it can be, but it is ultimately conversation with God. We should always be talking to God.

Never stop praying for those around you. That is how we love God and love People.

Loving People. Loving God.

Story

Meanwhile, Saul was still spewing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest, seeking letters to the synagogues in Damascus. If he found persons who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, these letters would authorize him to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. During the journey, as he approached Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven encircled him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice asking him, “Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?” Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are harassing,” came the reply. “Now get up and enter the city. You will be told what you must do.” Those traveling with him stood there speechless; they heard the voice but saw no one. After they picked Saul up from the ground, he opened his eyes but he couldn’t see. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind and neither ate nor drank anything. In Damascus there was a certain disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!” He answered, “Yes, Lord.” The Lord instructed him, “Go to Judas’ house on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias enter and put his hands on him to restore his sight.” Ananias countered, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man. People say he has done horrible things to your holy people in Jerusalem. He’s here with authority from the chief priests to arrest everyone who calls on your name.” The Lord replied, “Go! This man is the agent I have chosen to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Ananias went to the house. He placed his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord sent me—Jesus, who appeared to you on the way as you were coming here. He sent me so that you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly, flakes fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. After eating, he regained his strength. He stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days. Right away, he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues. “He is God’s Son,” he declared. (Acts 9:1-20, CEB)

Ananias had heard stories…

Stories about Saul who was arresting followers of the way and doing things to those who believed in Jesus. He didn’t want to go to Straight Street and find him.

Stories are all around us and shape our lives. Sometimes, we know all the details, and other times we know what we have heard or want to know.

Sometimes God wants us to do something that doesn’t jive with the stories we know. I guarantee you, you can trust God. Don’t doubt it, follow where God is sending, for something wonderful will come of it.

Stories help us, but don’t let them get in the way of God working God’s plan.

Loving People. Loving God.

Story

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who was blind from birth. Jesus’ disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned so that he was born blind, this man or his parents?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents. This happened so that God’s mighty works might be displayed in him. While it’s daytime, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After he said this, he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and smeared the mud on the man’s eyes. Jesus said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (this word means sent). So the man went away and washed. When he returned, he could see. The man’s neighbors and those who used to see him when he was a beggar said, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is,” and others said, “No, it’s someone who looks like him.” But the man said, “Yes, it’s me!” So they asked him, “How are you now able to see?” He answered, “The man they call Jesus made mud, smeared it on my eyes, and said, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and then I could see.” They asked, “Where is this man?” He replied, “I don’t know.” Then they led the man who had been born blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus made the mud and smeared it on the man’s eyes on a Sabbath day. So Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. The man told them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and now I see.” Some Pharisees said, “This man isn’t from God, because he breaks the Sabbath law.” Others said, “How can a sinner do miraculous signs like these?” So they were divided. Some of the Pharisees questioned the man who had been born blind again: “What do you have to say about him, since he healed your eyes?” He replied, “He’s a prophet.” The Jewish leaders didn’t believe the man had been blind and received his sight until they called for his parents. The Jewish leaders asked them, “Is this your son? Are you saying he was born blind? How can he now see?” His parents answered, “We know he is our son. We know he was born blind. But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who healed his eyes. Ask him. He’s old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they feared the Jewish authorities. This is because the Jewish authorities had already decided that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why his parents said, “He’s old enough. Ask him.” Therefore, they called a second time for the man who had been born blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know this man is a sinner.” The man answered, “I don’t know whether he’s a sinner. Here’s what I do know: I was blind and now I see.” They questioned him: “What did he do to you? How did he heal your eyes?” He replied, “I already told you, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” They insulted him: “You are his disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don’t know where this man is from.” The man answered, “This is incredible! You don’t know where he is from, yet he healed my eyes! We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners. God listens to anyone who is devout and does God’s will. No one has ever heard of a healing of the eyes of someone born blind. If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do this.” They responded, “You were born completely in sin! How is it that you dare to teach us?” Then they expelled him. Jesus heard they had expelled the man born blind. Finding him, Jesus said, “Do you believe in the Human One?” He answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you.” The man said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshipped Jesus. Jesus said, “I have come into the world to exercise judgment so that those who don’t see can see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard what he said and asked, “Surely we aren’t blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t have any sin, but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. (John 9:1-41, CEB)

3 times here this man tells the story of how he was made to see…

And each time it seems he gets closer to God, calling Jesus my man, then prophet, and not a sinner. He “sees” not only with his eyes but with his life.

We all have a story. We tell it to people and they listen to how God has interacted with our lives and does it cause a change in someone else? Maybe. But I guarantee every time you tell your story it changes you.

Just like this blind man, the details from your story resonate in your soul and bring you closer to the God that loves you as the child they created.

So tell your story, even when people won’t be changed, because you are reminding yourself, how much God loves you.

Loving People. Loving God.

a witness

In the beginning was the Word
    and the Word was with God
    and the Word was God.
The Word was with God in the beginning.
Everything came into being through the Word,
    and without the Word
    nothing came into being.
What came into being
    through the Word was life,
    and the life was the light for all people.
The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.

A man named John was sent from God. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him everyone would believe in the light. He himself wasn’t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light.

The true light that shines on all people
    was coming into the world. ( John 1:1-9, CEB)

Jesus was the word and was God and was with God in the beginning and that word came to dwell among humans. And John was a witness.

John was not the word, but John heard about and knew the word. So John shared what John knew about the word.

We are like John.

We have a story that includes the word.

We need to tell what we know about the word.

So all can see the light.

Be like John.

Share what you know.

Loving People. Loving God.