“THE FEELING OF BEING IN HIS PRESENCE WAS ENCOUNTERED AGAIN. Not merely a picture on the wall or a celebrity in a train station, it was feeling familiar when they encountered Jesus again.”
Tag: grace
Where Would We Go?
“‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ I once heard a preacher put it this way: ‘WHEN YOU SPEAK, WE COME ALIVE INSIDE.’ Peter knew there was nowhere else to go and no one else to go to. When Jesus speaks, we come alive inside. Peter then made his confession like he did in the other gospels in Caesarea Philippi, ‘You are the Holy One of God (the Christ, the Son of the living God).'”
That We Might Be Saved
“It is in grace, divine unmerited favor, that Jesus was lifted up to draw all the world to himself. It is in grace God so loved the world that he gave his son, and it is in grace that his light has come. When light exposes what is hidden, secrets no longer need to be covered because JESUS DID NOT COME TO CONDEMN THE SECRETS HIDDEN, THE EVIL DEEDS COVERED, BUT THAT WE MIGHT BE SAVED THROUGH HIM.”
Obvious Parallels
The message to our world, our community, our friends, family and neighbors IS NOT GOD’S REGRET AND GOD’S JUDGMENT. God already went through that.
The Lord Is with You
Two boys were walking home from church and talking about their Sunday school lesson. They were studying the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Little Peter said to his friend John, “Do you believe that stuff about the Devil? Do you really think there is a Devil?” John looked at him and said, “Naah, it’s…
Departure From the Norm
John 9: 1-17, 28-41 A traveler was found by a U.S. Customs official to be carrying a half-gallon bottle from Mexico. The official asked the man what it contained. The traveler replied, “It’s just holy water. I took it from the shrine I visited. They say it causes miracles.” The inspector was suspicious and opened…
That He Might Be Revealed
John 1: 29-42 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 In Minnesota three pastors got together for coffee one day and found all their churches had bat-infestation problems. “I got so mad,” said Pastor Johnson, “I took a shotgun and fired at them. It made holes in the ceiling, but it did nothing to the bats.” Pastor Brown…
When We Learn to Pray
Luke 11: 1-13 Jesus prayed and that prompted his disciples to ask him to teach them to pray. They asked him to teach them. A retired minister made it a practice to visit the parish school one day each week. The fourth graders were learning about the states, so when he dropped in on the…
Plenty Left Over
John 2: 1-11 When we lived in Albertville and Eli was in college and Anna was in high school, we cooked supper one night for Anna’s friends. They all gathered in our house to study together and watch movies after supper. April had already planned to make spaghetti. Anna wasn’t sure how many of the friends were coming. She…
No Regret This Time
Genesis 9: 8-17; Mark 1: 9-15 Talking to a suntanned resident of New Mexico about the weather in Albuquerque, the tourist asked, “Doesn’t it ever rain here?” The native replied, “Mister, do you remember the story of Noah and the Ark, and how it rained forty days and forty nights?” “Of course, I do,” the…
Psalm 102 in The Message 