The Harvest

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The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

²⁷ Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
²⁸ Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” ³⁰ They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
³¹ Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
³³ Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵ Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶ Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷ Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹ And because of his words many more became believers.
⁴² They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”                                   John 4:27-42
 
In verse 27 we get a glimpse of the social status of women of the time.  The disciples were not surprised to find Him talking to someone.  They were surprised to find Him talking to a woman.   This shows us just how Jesus was breaking down all social barriers.  Something we should try to do today.  I’m not talking about taking money from the rich and giving to the poor.  If you are rich, that is great.  God has blessed you.  We should see everyone as a brother or sister in Christ before we see anything else about them.
 
Well, after they got over the fact that He was talking to a woman, they tried to get Him to eat.  Jesus said that He had food which they knew nothing about.  This confused the disciples.  Jesus explained that His food was to do His Fathers will.  You know, all the times in my life when I didn’t think that I had enough and went ahead and did what God wanted me to do, I found that I had more than enough.  That is what Jesus was talking about here.  If we will do Gods work and not worry about will we have enough, God will provide.  He is sufficient.  Do what God has called you to do and you will reap a reward.  God has called all of us.  Jesus is calling us in this passage.  He isn’t just talking to His disciples, He is talking to us all. 
 
In verses 28-30 we see the once sinful woman rushing to tell everyone about what Jesus had told her, and many believed just because of what she had said.  She was in such a hurry that she forgot what she had come there for.  She left her water jar, she was that excited.  In that respect I wish we were all like the woman.  So excited to tell others about what we have found in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  We are all just as sinful.  Why can’t we all get just as excited about our salvation?

I guess it because we think that since everybody knows us as sinful creatures that they won’t believe us.  Don’t you think that everyone in that little town knew her?  Everybody knew who she was and that she slept around.  They believed her!  They believe her because she spoke the truth about Christ.  Don’t get me wrong.  There are those will turn their backs on you because they are not ready to hear the Truth, but they will believe.  Deep down, we all know our makers voice.
 
If this is your first time hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you want to follow Him, you too can know his joy. The peace that passes all understanding. All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins. He stands at the door, ready to come in. If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer or one like it. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pray with/for you.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Jesus talks with a Samaritan Woman

 
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Today's Thirsty Thursday is taken from John chapter 4 Verses 1 through 23.

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John — ² although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³ So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.  ⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.  ⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)  ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)  ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  ¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”  ¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  ¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”  ¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.  Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”  ¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”  ²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  ²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  ²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

 

Jesus had just come off the road.  He was tired, hungry , hot and thirsty.  It was noon, the hottest part of the day.  Hot, hungry and thirsty, and what does he do?  He ask for a drink of water.  In doing so He broke down racist and sexist barriers.  Usually not something you want to try on an empty stomach.  The racism and the sexism is why she replied, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”  She was more than a little annoyed by the request.  It was kind of like a black man asking a white woman for a drink in the deep south in the 1940’s or 50’s.  The Jews and Samaritans thought they were better than the other.  Jesus replies by telling her of the living water.  She must have thought he was crazy.  She was confused, she thought he was talking about water that you drink.  He was talking about the peace that comes with salvation through Christ.  Jesus knew that she did not believe Him.  So He told her to go and get her husband, knowing that she did not have a husband and that she was promiscuous.  Which is probably why she was at the well at noon.  She was trying to avoid the wives of the men she was sleeping with.  When she told Him that she had no husband Jesus replied, “You’re right.  You don’t have A husband, you have five.”  He told her something that a mere man could not have known.  She said',”Ok, ok, I know you are a prophet, but you Jews got the worship thing all wrong.  Jesus told her that a time is coming when it won’t matter where you worship, but how you worship.  And race and sex won’t matter.  God wants true worshippers who worship in the Spirit and in truth.  Wow!  Makes you look at how you worship doesn’t it?  When we go to church, are we worshipping so that everyone there will so us?  Or, are we worshipping God because He is worthy of our praise?   Back to the passage.  The woman tries to brush him off.  She says, “Well, when Christ gets here He will explain it all.”  Then Jesus makes the boldest statement ever made.   He declared, “I AM HE!”  He told her that He is The Christ. 

Do you believe Him when He says, ”I am He.”  Your very soul depends on it.  Do you believe that He died for your sins and rose again from the dead?  Do you long for the living water?
If this is your first time hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you want to follow Him, you too can know his joy. The peace that passes all understanding. All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins. He stands at the door, ready to come in. If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer or one like it. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pray with/for you.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

John Testifies Again About Jesus

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John Testifies Again About Jesus

²² After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. ²³ Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ (This was before John was put in prison.) ²⁵ An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. ²⁶ They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
²⁷ To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰ He must become greater; I must become less.”
³¹ The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. ³³ Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴ For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. 
                                                                                             John 3:22-36
 
In this passage, John The Baptist is called upon to settle a dispute, a debate over ceremonial washing.  They were probably arguing about which is right, sprinkling or dunking.  John disciples were jealous because all the people were going to Jesus instead of John.  John compares it to a wedding.  Placing himself as the best man and Jesus as the Bridegroom.  Sure the best man gives the toast and stands up at the front of the church in his tux, but the reason he is there is to get everything ready for the bridegroom.  The best man is more than happy to play second fiddle to the bridegroom.  After all, the wedding day is all about the happy couple.
 
In verses 31-36 John tell his disciples that Christ greater than he is.  He says, ‘Hey, this guy is from heaven,  and I am just a man.’  John could tell the people what he had learned about heaven, Jesus told what He remembers about heaven.  Just like a pastor can tell you about heaven from the books he has read and the classes he took, but Christ can tell about it because He is from there.  I can tell you about Hickory, NC because that is where I was born and raised.  Well, heaven is where Jesus was born and raised.  His Dad runs the place!  Jesus was tell everybody about heaven and His Father, but nobody was believing Him.  John tells us that if when accept what Christ says as the truth we will have eternal life, but if we don’t God’s wrath will remain on us. 
 
If this is your first time hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you want to follow Him, you too can know his joy. The peace that passes all understanding. All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins. He stands at the door, ready to come in. If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer or one like it. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pray with/for you.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Born Again

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Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
⁹ “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven —the Son of Man. ¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.    John 3:1-21
To me this passage sums up what Jesus’ ministry was all about.  Nicodemus was a member on the ruling class, a Pharisee.  These are the same people who wanted Jesus put to death.  It’s kind of like if J. Edgar Hoover had a secret meeting with Al Capone.  If the rest of the Pharisees had found out about it they would have at the very least had him thrown in prison.
Why did Nicodemus meet with Jesus?  What did he want to talk with him about?  He wanted to find out about the Kingdom of God.  Notice that Jesus didn’t have to wait for Nicodemus to ask a question.  He knows the hearts of men.  He knew what the real question was before it was even asked.  Jesus answered him by saying that NO ONE can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born again.  Nicodemus was confused.  Being reborn was not a new concept to Nicodemus.  Gentiles who converted to Judaism had to go through a process of rebirth.  What confused Nicodemus was that Christ had said, “no one,” meaning both Jew and Gentile had to be reborn.  Christ basically replied, “Man gives birth to man, but spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should know this!  The effect of the spirit on a man is like the wind.  You can hear it, but you can’t see it.  You can feel it, but you don’t know where it came from.”  Nic was still confused.  Jesus said, “Look man, you’re a teacher of the law and you don’t know this?! John the Baptist and I tell you what we know, everything we have seen and you don’t believe us.  If you can’t believe those things, how are you ever gonna believe me about heaven?  Look, Moses raised up that snake in the desert to save the people of Israel. Right?  Well, the Son of Man is gonna have to be lifted up too so that anybody who believes will have life everlasting.”
Next we come to the most famous verse in all the bible, John 3:16.  16-18 is kind of like Christ mission statement.  It pretty cut and dry.  It is one of the few times in the gospel that Jesus talks plainly.  He is very matter of fact about why He has come into the world.  He came to save us.
Verses 19-21 are an indictment of mankind.  We are evil.  We hate the light because it will expose the evil that we do. But if we live by the truth, everything we have done will be brought into the light.
Have you been reborn?  Would you like to be?  
If this is your first time hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you want to follow Him, you too can know his joy. The peace that passes all understanding. All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins. He stands at the door, ready to come in. If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer or one like it. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pray with/for you.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

How to be a Christian when you are tired

  Photo Credit: dprevite

You probably clicked here thinking I was going to give some useful steps about being a Christian when you are tired.

Sorry about that!

The post title is more of a question than a self help post.  You see this week has been exhausting.  I have stayed up later than normal a couple times.  We have had car trouble a couple times.  Errands, chores, and some work stuff took longer than expected or didn't get done.  And there is going to be a big change coming for me at work.  So I am exhausted both mentally and physically.

I am stressed out and worried about various things that are happening and some that aren't happening.  I know God is in control and I genuinely believe that he is looking out for what is best.  That doesn't negate the fact that I have been more cynical this week.  I have had mean thoughts creep in often.  I have snapped at my husband and son more than once.  All I really want to do is curl up in a ball under my covers and go to sleep.

However, I decided to be an adult and go to work even though I really didn't want to do that.  I have tried to stop the negative thoughts and focus on positive things, like smiles and laughter.  Blessings like a full belly and a warm bed.  Maybe that is what growing in your faith is all about.  Maybe it is looking for the blessings more than you do the negatives.  Maybe it is believing God is going to come through even when things look tough.

What do you think?  How are you a Christian when you are tired?

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. ²⁴ But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.                                                            John 2:13-25
I have read this many times, and it never really seemed that impressive to me.  It never really impressed me much because I always thought of the temple as a church.  Our churches to today are just one of the buildings that make up the block.  The temple in Jerusalem was about four city blocks!  And it wasn’t just a handful of people that he drove out.  The temple was a busy place.  Especially with all the people coming into town for the up coming Passover Festival.  One man with a whip cannot drive hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people out of a structure that takes up four city blocks.  Jesus must have put on a massive display of power to make that many people run from an area that large.  It took them forty-six years to build it.  It must have been massive!  It is estimated that it took an average of 30 years to build a pyramid. 

Why did He do it?  Jesus did it because they were using the Lords house for something other than what it was intended.  They were using it to make a buck.  That meant that Gods house was not being treated as holy.  Think of it this way.  Lets say your neighbor decides to have a yard sale.  Nothing wrong with that. Right?  Now lets say you wake up Saturday morning and he is having it in your garage.  Now that’s a problem.  I would react much the same way Jesus did.  Now I’m not trying to say churches shouldn’t have yard sales.  What God was saying is that His house should be kept holy, not used to make people rich.  I wonder what Christ would do if He came into some of our churches today? 

If this is your first time hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you want to follow Him, you too can know his joy, instead of his wrath. You can have the peace that passes all understanding. All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins. He stands at the door, ready to come in. If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer or one like it. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pray with/for you.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

John 2:1-12 Water to Wine

Water to WIne I, a photo by airguy1988 on Flickr.

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

 ⁴ “Woman,   why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
 ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
 ⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
 ⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
 ⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
 ¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
 ¹² After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

                                                                                                                                                      John 2:1-12

Why did Jesus turn the water into wine?  Several reasons.  One reason is that his mother asked him to.  The fifth commandment tells us to "Honor your father and mother."  Another reason was help the groom save face.  Running out of wine was a serious offense.  Yet another reason was to show his glory so that his new disciples would believe.

Jesus was setting an example for us to follow.  When his mother asked him to do it he asked her, "Woman, why do you involve me?  My time has not yet come."  As a child my mother would often ask me to do something I didn't want to do.  I would like to say I followed Jesus' example and did what I was asked, but that would be a lie.  I have broken the fifth commandment more times than I can count. Jesus sets a perfect example of how we are to honor our parents request. 

God loves us and wants the best for us.  Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has "plans to prosper you and not to harm you."  Running out of wine would have hurt the grooms reputation.  This could possibly meant lost wages, missing out on the promotion at work.  The fact that Jesus cares about the reputation of one man tells me that he cares for me on a very personal level.

The most important reason is that He revealed his glory for all to see.  In this miracle Jesus shows us that he came to bring joy not sadness.  It was a foreshadowing of another "third day" when He would reveal His glory by rising from the grave.   A time when He gave us his blood as our wine to take away our sins. 

If this is the first time hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you want to follow Him, you too can know his joy. The peace that passes all understanding. All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins. He stands at the door, ready to come in. If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pray with you.


Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

John 1:35-51 First Disciples

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote —Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶ “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹ He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man." 

                                                                                         John 1:35-51

In this passage Jesus calls his first disciples, and right off the bat they are bringing others to Christ.  They are so excited to have found the light of the world that they want to tell all their friends and family about Him.  The first two, Andrew and John, went after John the baptist proclaimed Christ to be the Lamb of God.  Andrew was so excited he went and got his brother Simon first thing.  The next day Phillip joined them.  The first thing he did was to go find his friend Nathanael and tell him the good news.  Many Christians today keep the good new to themselves.  We take it for granted that the entire world has heard the message.  Not everyone has heard it.  Even if they have, maybe hearing it from a friend will make the difference. 

If you have heard the Gospel I urge you to be like Andrew and Phillip, and go tell your friends and family the good news.

If this is the first time hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you want to follow Him, you too can know this joy. The peace that passes all understanding. All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins. He stands at the door, ready to come in. If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pray with you.

Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

The Lamb of God

John Testifies About Jesus

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³ And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”  John 1:29-34
Last week read about John the Baptist denying that he himself was the Christ.  The passage this week john tells us who is the Christ.  Other than Jesus, John was the only person who knew what was going on at this point.  I don't think even Joseph and Mary fully understood.  John is saying, "Hey! Everybody listen!  This is the guy I've been telling you about!  He takes away your sin, not me!  I didn't know him until God showed me that this is the Messiah!  He is the reason I have been baptizing you guys!"  It would be like Billy Graham getting on TV with some stranger and saying this is him.  What joy John must have felt, to look up and see Christ coming toward him and know that redemption was at hand. 
You too can know this joy.  The peace that passes all understanding.  All you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and ask him to forgive your sins.  He stands at the door, ready to come in.   If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer. Or, you can contact me at jeremylail@gmail.com  and I will more than happy to pray with you.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

The Tyranny of Possessions

  Photo Credit: the bridge

Pastor Charles spoke to us Sunday morning about Jesus and the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-22), which is one of the saddest pieces of dialogue in the Bible. Although the young man had lived an honest and upright life, he still lacked one thing to have perfection. We know our world's definition of perfection well, but in this case Jesus was talking about perfection in Him - which means completeness, not being without flaws or blemishes. Jesus knew this young man's motives and he knew his heart. Jesus was also well aware of this man's weakness, which was exposed upon his response to Jesus' instructions to sell all he had, give to the poor, and follow him.

Although this young man proudly proclaimed he had followed the six commandments Jesus listed, by his response he violated the first and greatest commandment - which was to not have any gods before the Almighty God we serve. Turns out this man's wealth was his god, his idol, and he would not give it up.

Should all believers who are well to do sell everything they own? Certainly not. The message for us here is to be willing to give up anything if God asks us to. Perhaps it is not in the form of wealth at all. It could very well be that something we need to "sell" is something such as spending less of our free time in things that are pleasing to our flesh and spend more of our free time devoted to the things of God, in prayer, and in his Word.

Just as God can bring light out of darkness, people and things God has blessed us with can keep us far from him if we cling to them too tightly. Let us recognize our blessings for the blessings from God that they are. Let us also keep them in their proper temporal perspective and not let them be our gods, or we may stand to miss further blessings from the one God in the future.

Most importantly, allow me to challenge us all to keep God in his rightful, supernatural perspective. It's my prayer that we all can be ready to put aside whatever he may ask when (not if) he calls us to a better way.

John Denies Being The Christ

^"19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders   in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
²² Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
²⁶ “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing." John 1:19-28

To really understand the gravity of what is going on here, there is one thing you must understand.  When the priests and the Levites came to question him, it wasn't like your pastor coming to have a chat with you after church.  It was more like the police stopping by to ask you a few questions.  John knew he was in serious trouble.  If he had told them what they wanted to hear they would have had him thrown in prison or worse.  Notice they asked, "Are you THE Prophet?" not, "Are you A prophet?"  What they are asking about is the prophet referred to in Deuteronomy 18:18

 "¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him."

  The Jews were looking for three people foretold in the Old Testament: The Messiah, the return on Elijah, and The Prophet.  John the Baptist was a prophet, but not The Prophet.  John said that he was not any of these.  So they wanted to know who he was if he was not any of these.  I love his answer to that one.  He told them who he was, worked in his message, and showed them that he knew the scriptures too, all at the same time.
 
Then they asked him about his baptisms.  He basically said, "Look, I only use water, but the Christ has come and you, the people who have spent your whole lives looking for him, the people who should know, have no clue about who He is.  I know who He is and I am not worthy to even untie His shoes."  Wow!  Bet that really made them mad.  John the Baptist was really putting his life in danger for Christ.  What are willing to do for Him?

Do you know Christ? Do you know who you are in Christ?  If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer. Or, you can contact me and I will be more than happy to pray with you.  You can email me at jeremylail@gmail.com.

Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe the Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Changing your legacy

After hearing the sermon on Sunday, one thought has obsessed my thoughts.



How do you change your legacy?


What if you legacy is addiction?  What if your legacy is neglect?  What if your legacy is ignorance?  What if it is something more subtle?  What if your legacy is stubborn pride?


How do you change your legacy?


In the sermon, we learned that we need to say what God wants us to say, to do what God wants us to do, to live as God wants us to live.  Honestly where I am right now with God, that's fine with me.  I will say that I often hesitate to the point of reticence, so God has to shove me into something.  Once I get that first shove, I'm all in and ready to go.  So I am not too worried about the legacy I am leaving.  I know if I keep following God, facing my weaknesses, and searching for Him above others I know my legacy will be fine.  I don't mean to downplay the difficulty of all that.  It has taken me years of struggle with God to get to this point.  It hasn't been easy.  If you are going through this, I would love to pray with you and for you.  I know myself and several other church members would love to answer any questions that you have and give encouragement.  Email us at srwcprayers@gmail.com.


The legacy that has been consuming my thoughts is the legacy given to me.  How do I change the legacy given to me?  How do I change the legacy that pervades my family?  If I am being really honest, I'm going to say that I don't think I can.  I don't feel powerful enough to change what has been given to me.  I am relatively comfortable changing what I am giving to the future generations.  I am not comfortable changing what has been given to me.  I suppose that the same advice applies.  We need to say what God wants us to say, to do what God wants us to do, to live as God wants us to live.  Saying what needs to be said might break a heart.  Can I do that?  Doing what needs to be done could break a belief in who they think you are? Can I do that?  Living as God wants me to live can make them uncomfortable with who I am?  Can I do that?


















In my strength, I can not.  With God's strength, I can.  And that is the key to it all.  Not me, but God.  

John 1:6-18 John The Baptist

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John 1:6-18

The John that is mentioned here is not the author, but someone else. This John is John the Baptist. He was sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. He lived in the desert and made his clothing out of camels hair. Doesn't sound like someone you would give the time of day, does it? Let alone go out of your way to hear speak, but people would show up by the thousands. They would come out to hear him speak about the coming Messiah. I guess you could say he was the Billy Graham of his day. So when he pointed to Christ and said, "This is the guy!" you would think most people would have been falling over themselves to meet Christ. Just the opposite. People looked at Jesus and said, "This guy? The carpenters boy? He is no savior. No King of Kings. I am sure some of the people followed him, but verse 11 says, "the world did not recognize him." But verse 12 tells us that to all who believe He gave the right to become children of God. Verses 16 tells us that out of his fullness we receive blessing on top of blessing. Wow. What a loving Father we have!

Do you have the Light of the world in your life, or is your world dark? If you would like to know Jesus and God the father, please pray the following prayer. Or, you can contact me and I will more than happy to pray with you.

Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe the Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Where's Our Treasure?

                                                   Photo Credit: Alex Setzer

Matthew 6:19-21 has always proved to be a challenging few passages for me personally, and I imagine most people as well. So not surprisingly, I also found this portion of Pastor Scott's sermon challenging and a bit convicting. This is challenging for us on many levels. First of all, being that we are born into sin, that also comes with it an innately natural self-centered nature. Quite simply, we are born selfish. It's not until we are taught/parented differently that we learn differently. Much the same way, it isn't until we put our faith and complete trust in Jesus Christ that we begin to see the "big picture" and begin to think with a heavenly perspective. This also presents another set of challenges to those who may not be "big picture" type of thinkers.

Our relationships with our peers, neighbors, family, co-workers, friends, and so forth prove vital in how we often measure value. When we see another person with a better job, better car, bigger house, and whatnot, it is natural to covet these things. Just as if we were fortunate enough to be that person on the perch who may be "better off," it would be natural to think less of someone not as fortunate. These feelings may be natural, but don't mistake that for approval. This is precisely why we need God to look at these situations with the eyes and heart of Jesus. Through Him, we can train ourselves to respond naturally with a Christ-like attitude.

So when we have thankful hearts for what we do have rather than focusing on what someone else may have, we are storing up our treasures in heaven. When we look at someone not as well off as equal or even greater than us in certain areas, we are storing up our treasures in heaven. When we respond to harsh words, hurtful accusations, rumors, etc. with a loving response and prompt forgiveness, we are storing up our treasures in heaven.

So how do we respond to what we have read and heard about this week? In what areas can we die to ourselves and shift our focus from the temporary and wordly to the eternal and heavenly? In what ways can we give more of our time, talents and devotion to the Lord?

Being ALL in

                                                        Photo Credit: Alex Setzer

On Wednesday in the sermon notes, we found out God's assignment for us.  Wherever you are, be ALL there.  The great commission obviously tells us what Jesus wants us to do.  In order to do that, we have to be aware of where we are and with whom we are visiting.  In today's society, it is much easier to be in two places.  I can physically be in my house, but via the Internet I can also be hanging out with a few friends.  I can physically be at a restaurant with family, but via Twitter I can be in a stadium watching a game.  I can physically be at work, but via text message I can be gossiping with a friend.

Those examples and so many more scratch the surface of this fast paced constantly connected society in which we live.  We work more hours often doing more than our job description says.  We have a phone, type writer, and computer in our pockets all the time.  We can communicate with someone sitting beside us or someone across the world.  There are certainly many advantages to that, but one big disadvantage is that we are always connected.  How can we possibly be all there in one place when we are on our computer, or our laptop, or our cellphone, or our tablet computer?  How can we possibly be all there in a conversation if we are watching TV?

Those questions cut me pretty deep because I am an offender.  I hear my phone ding and I want to go check it, instead of leaving it alone and staying with the group.  I am waiting in a lobby or waiting room and I check Twitter or Facebook, instead of talking to the person next to me and looking for teachable moment given to me by God.  At home, I turn the TV on before I get in the floor to play with my son.  With so many distractions, it is not easy to focus and stay right where we are.  When we focus where we are at, it is much easier to do something instead of just thinking about it.  We can turn our intentions into actions when we focus on where we are.  Let's make sure that we are doing what God wants us to be doing and not distracting ourselves with unnecessary things.

Gospel of John: The Word

Someone once told me that the best place to start ready reading the Bible was the Gospel of John. The opening of the book is like something straight out of Dickens. John 3:16 is probably the most quoted verse in the entire bible. The book is also an eyewitness account of the ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ. So I figure if you are thirsting for the good news, John is the best place to start. John 1:1-5

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Wow! So beautiful. The Word that John talks about here is Jesus Christ. Christ has been around since before time began. Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. Through Christ all things were made. Everything. There is not one thing in this universe that God did not create. Verse 4 is one of the most profound statements about who Christ is. Christ is life! Our bodies will die, but through Christ we will not taste the second death of being thrown into the lake of fire. He is also the light of all mankind shining in the darkness. So when things are at their worst and darkness is closing in, turn to Christ and He will light your way. To paraphrase and old REO Speed Wagon Song, He’s a candle in the window on a cold dark winters night. In the last half of verse 5 John is proclaiming Christ victory over darkness. A victory that was gained when He rose from the dead. To sum up what John is saying, Christ was here in the beginning. Christ is God. God made EVERYTHING and without Him NOTHING was made. Most importantly, Christ is the life and the light of the world who defeated darkness.

If you don't have the light of Christ in your life, and you want it, please pray this prayer.

Jesus, my world is so dark. Everywhere I turn there is nothing but darkness. Lord, please shine your light into my life and show me the way. I want the life that is inside you. Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless. I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus for give me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend. I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.