Friday April 6, 2012 – Friday April 6, 2012
225 Oxmoor Circle, Suite 801
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Join us on the evening of Friday, April 6th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm as we gather together for our third annual Passover Seder Meal. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the Jewish roots of Christianity, experience a festival that’s been celebrated for over 4000 years, enjoy some awesome worship music and learn about our Lord Jesus as the Passover Lamb … all this AND enjoy an incredible meal.
Mark 8:23-25 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.
Why did Jesus spit on him? I mean, it’s kind of strange. And why did it only seem to partially work? I think Jesus was communicating something … something that we need to pay attention to.
Some people today want to separate what is miraculous from what is science, but God is Creator of all. God heals miraculously and mysteriously and He heals through the hands of doctors and surgeons. So, let’s not try to limit God because we have an opinion of how God works.
Isaiah 55:8–9 (NLT) “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Now, to us it sounds really odd that Jesus would spit in this man’s eyes … (Can you imagine going to the doctor and having him suggest that he spit on you?) … but in those days, it was thought that there was healing power in saliva, and you know what? It has been found recently that they may have been right. Recent medical reports state that saliva contains something called Histatin, which aids in the healing process. Perhaps this is why animals instinctively lick their wounds.
But back to our text, why would Jesus do this, I mean He healed people miraculously … not medicinally, right? Back to my previous point … let’s not limit God because we have opinions about how He does things. Of course, it’s rather obvious that a little spit isn’t going to cure blindness … so there must be something more going on here.
Well, let’s map the events of Mark 8:23-25 out so we can better understand what’s happening.
So, when the man looked out to other people, his sight was incomplete … it was only when the man was looking up to Jesus that the man could see clearly.
You see, this is the message to us today. We live in an age where people had problems that did not exist in the time of Jesus. Online pornography is a good example. Sexual promiscuity back then took a lot more work than it does not, when all you have to do is open up the laptop. But the solution is the same now as it was then … God. Don’t fix your eyes on people, but on God because He is the answer.
Koinonia is a Greek word for participation on an intimate level. Our koinonia with one another is based on our common koinonia with Jesus and it is from our love of Jesus that our agreement in service springs forth. Each one of us have different issues … some of us are angry, perhaps we hide it well. Some of us are frustrated, and we hide it. Some of us are bitter, and we hide it. Still others are joyful, cheerful, enthusiastic about life. Some of us hide that, too. Some of us are on a spiritual mountaintop and we feel like God is speaking to us every day. Others of us feel as though we are in a dark valley and God is no longer speaking to us. We remember the green pastures that Jesus once led us to. But now the grass has been replaced with rocks and the fields are gone. Yet the Bible says that Jesus takes us to both places … He is our Shepherd in the valley of the shadow of death just as He is in the green pastures. His plans for us are good everywhere that He leads us. There is purpose in both places. We are blessed in both places. We grow in God in both places. And it’s in the valley that we have the opportunity to minister to the multitudes.
But it’s also a difficult place … I know that because I’m so often there, yet I rarely talk about it. The point is that we are all here, today, together in fellowship and yet we may not even know what one another is going through. Someone once said, “One can endure sorrow alone, but it takes two to be glad.”
We share a common bond through faith in Christ … the koinonia, the oneness of the Body of Christ. We must commit ourselves to those things that God tells us go along with koinonia. What are those things? First, we have a responsibility to consider one another … how our actions or words might affect one another. Are we inspiring one another to temptation or to love and good works? Secondly, we have a responsibility to forgive one another. I don’t know about you, but I can make mistakes and sometimes I make mistakes that hurt others. When we hurt one another, we must be willing to ask forgiveness, give forgiveness and receive forgiveness. Finally, we have a responsibility to serve one another. Fellowship is not just hanging out having witty conversations. Fellowship happens when leaders serve and servants lead. All of these things are well wrapped up in Romans 12:
Romans 12:9-13 (NLT) Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
Exodus 10:3-4 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.
Have you wondered, like me, how it was that two Hebrews would be able to bring demands before the ruler of Egypt, time after time? Especially when every visit brought with it a new judgement against the Pharaoh? I mean, at some point, Pharaoh must have connected the dots, hired new guards and declared that there would be no more meetings with Moses. Jewish tradition states that the Pharaoh couldn’t keep Moses and Aaron out … God always made the way open for them to gain access to the Pharaoh … They were somehow able to get to the Pharaoh and he was unable to do anything about it.
Time and again, Moses and Aaron came before the king of Egypt to declare a new plague and yet God says that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. I think we need to remember that God can and wants to reach even the hardest of hearts. Which is good news because we all have friends much like this Pharaoh … with the hardest of hearts and no matter how God shows Himself to them, they push Him away all the harder.
Don’t give up on them.
God has many reasons for doing what He does and He operates on many different levels that we don’t even understand. We try to define circumstances and results as being either a success or a failure, but we need to realize that those are terms that we created. Those are terms that we force ourselves to operate within … goals that operate as boundaries. God operates on a whole other level, outside of what we have defined as being successful or not. Which is good, because God sees the whole picture … not just one part.
Did you know that the original Mardi Gras celebration was in Mobile, Alabama? They still celebrate it, but it is overshadowed by what goes on in the nearby city of New Orleans, Louisiana. I remember watching the Mardi Gras parade one time when I was a child. The floats were passing by and people on the floats were throwing candy from the tops. Standing on the street I could see each individual float as it passed by, but that was the limit to my vision. Others, who observed the parade from the tops of nearby sky scrapers could see the whole thing from beginning to end.
Our view of life is limited, but God sees everything from beginning to end and so He is at work in many more levels than we could every understand. He’s got the whole thing in sight and under control.
God could have taken all of Israel out of Egypt without contending with the Pharaoh and the people of Egypt by skipping to the very last plague, where all the firstborn of Egypt perished. In fact, He could have just destroyed all of Egypt … a very idolatrous place. He certainly would have been justified in doing it. But then some would say that certainly wasn’t fair to Pharaoh or the people of Egypt … after all, they didn’t have the opportunity to repent, right? A merciful God would have given them an opportunity to be saved. That is what God has been doing … opportunity after opportunity.
Psalm 86:15 (NKJV) But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
But I mentioned that God was working on multiple levels here. While He is contending with Pharaoh and the people of Egypt, God is also demonstrating to the people of Israel that He will care for them. This will be good for them to know when they embark on their journey out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Finally, on a level we may not yet have considered, God is contending with us and reinforcing our faith in Him through these scriptures. Perhaps there are some of us that have pushed God away, maybe we’ve allowed other things to hold our gaze or perhaps we’ve embarked on a journey that looks frightening. God is telling you tonight that He is in control, that He loves you and cares for you.
Matthew 10:29–30 (NKJV) Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
If you have wandered from Him, then this is your opportunity to place your eyes back on Him. If you are embarking on a wilderness journey, know that God is going before you and He will make the path. Are you committed to following God’s calling for you even when the road is filled with obstacles? When the chips seem down and when the promises of God seem far off, remember that God is in control and He will bring to fruition all that He has promised.
God is able. He has always been able. He will always be able.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
On the first Sunday of each month we share communion together before service. This morning we are going to do something extra special. You are invited to join us for a morning of worship on Sunday, March 4th at 10AM. Enjoy familiar worship songs from The Calvary Chapel Birmingham Praise Team as well as some original worship music from Rose Nakao. Our children’s ministry, Kid’s Jam, will share a short skit with us and, of course, Pastor Shawn will share a short teaching while we will enjoy communion together. This is going to be an incredible morning … don’t miss it!
Sunday, March 4th at 10AM
Mark 8:1-4 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.” Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”
This is the second time this has happened. How remarkable is it that once again a multitude is with Jesus, but nobody has brought food … and how much more remarkable the reaction of the disciples? How could they have not learned from the first time when Jesus fed the thousands with a few loaves of bread and a few fish? Were they just that dense? Or could it be that they thought they had it all figured out? It was probably a combination of those things. And we should be honest with ourselves. We cannot point fingers at the disciples without a few pointing back at us. Each of us has moments where we choose to rely on what we can understand and our understanding of a situation is usually based on our own abilities.
My wife handed me a jar of pickles that she wanted open. I wanted to prove my manhood by cracking that jar open with one quick twist of the lid. It didn’t happen that way. In fact, after a few minutes of red-faced straining, I gave up and declared, “This jar will never open. It’s impossible.” Was that true? Of course not. Someone bigger and buffer, could have opened that jar.
Maybe an illustration using a jar of pickles falls short, but the point is this … those life situations where you feel it would take a miracle? It’s a good thing our God is bigger … right on?
Philippians 4:13 (NLT) For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
It’s so hard for us to, as the saying goes, “Let go and let God.” But the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Faith is like a muscle that becomes stronger the more you exercise it. The first time you take a step of faith, you might look over your shoulder and expect it all to crash. But God proves Himself strong. The next time you take a step of faith your not as tentative about it. Finally, after many times, it’s second nature.
I think of Moses and the first time he threw down his rod and it became a serpent. I’m sure he was thinking, okay God, I’m going to look pretty stupid here if You don’t make this happen. Then over and over he went before the Pharaoh talking about – not plagues that God had sent – but plagues that God would send. Those steps of faith finally culminated with Israel trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army.
That’s when Moses said to the congregation of Israel:
Exodus 14:13 (NKJV) “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
And God divided that sea so that Israel crossed on dry ground, but when Pharaoh and his armies pursued them, the sea fell in and destroyed them.
Over and over God had proven Himself faithful and so Moses had the faith to claim that God would do the impossible. But what if Moses had given in to his own understanding of how things work? Everyone knows that seas don’t divide themselves. Yet God works outside of what we consider possible and impossible … He’s not contained or constrained by the boundaries we set. Had Moses allowed his own understanding of how things work to trump what God told Him would happen, things would have turned out much differently. In our current study of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has been doing a lot with the faith of people.
The thing is that if we think we have it all figured out, then when Jesus wants to stretch our faith … we’ll probably shrug it off and walk away. Remain teachable.
In the latter days of his life, Michelangelo scribbled this phrase into the margin of one of his drawings … Ancora Imparo, which means “I am still learning.” As creative and skillful as this man was, his art was so masterful because he remained open to learning.
There are Christians out there who have convinced themselves that they know how everything works, and they are not growing because their faith in what they understand and not what God can do. The inability to be taught or refusal to learn will become a weight that will drag you down and frustrate your Christian walk.
Remain teachable.
Exodus 10:4-6 Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
Over and over again, we are told that the plagues were not only in the land but were also in their homes. What happens when we turn away from God over and over again? Our houses become filled with plagues.
We are responsible for what comes in and out of our homes. Sometimes we might make some compromises. Maybe the kids are persistent and it’s just easier to give in to them. I know how it is … sometimes we like to give in to the desires of our kids … spoil them a little. Kids can be persistent …
The world is persistent, too. So is Satan. The lives of our kids are at stake and we must show ourselves strong as leaders within the home. Because whatever we allow into our homes is effecting the destination of our children. I remember reading a story about an old man that died in the Massachusetts State Prison. He was 76 years old when he died, and had spent the last 8 years of his life in a gloomy cell. His wife had also been a prisoner there for years, and so had his daughter, and his seven sons.
We have a choice about what we fill our homes with … Frogs, lice, locusts … idolatry and the love of the world. Or God. When we value the things of the world above the things of the Lord our homes will be filled with plagues.
The world is already filled with plagues. Don’t open your house to those things.
Matthew 15:22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” NKJV
What did this Lady mean by calling Jesus, “Lord, Son of David?” Well, she was declaring that He was the Messiah. Many teachers protest that because she was not Jewish, she had no right to approach Jesus based on His being the Messiah. It’s said that’s the reason Jesus didn’t initially respond to her cry. But wait, Jesus has come all the way from the Sea of Galilee to Phoenicia not for some time alone, but, I believe, because of this syro-phonecian woman. That would mean that He’s already responded to her cry. So, why does Jesus seemingly ignore her and push against her request? He’s stretching her faith. Faith is a lot like taffy … the more you stretch it, the more you get.
This is the second time in the book of Matthew that someone called Jesus the Son of David, but only the first time that it was used as a declaration of faith. The first time was in chapter 12 when the crowd questioned whether He could be the Messiah. They were reacting to His healing of a demon possessed man …
Matthew 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” NKJV
Let me point something out to you. In chapter 12, the Jewish crowd questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah after seeing the healing. Here, in the middle of chapter 15, a Gentile woman proclaims Jesus as the Messiah … but she does so before the healing.
Does faith come before or after the miracle? I guess it can come on either side, but I would say that faith that comes before the miracle is much more stable than faith that comes after the miracle. The danger is that we begin to chase miracles. Israel would do that, becoming hungry for the miracles but missing the Messiah.
Today, people do the same thing. From a picture of Mary on their post toasties to Jesus in the potato chip to weeping statues it all becomes a very weak bridge to the next big thing … chasing after stuff … seeking out the spectacle. Some people witness a miracle and then spend their whole life chasing the miracles but missing Jesus and as soon as the spectacle is over, so is their faith.
Please join us for an evening of music with the amazingly talented recording artist Rose Nakao this Saturday evening (February 11). Doors open at 6:30 and admission is free. Concert will start at 7:00. This will be an evening of music you don’t want to miss, so clear your calendar and come on out!
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
The religious leaders of Jesus’ time had set aside their love of God for love of traditions. They were offended that Jesus would not regard their traditions to be as important as God’s commandments. Today, we can get awfully offended when other Christians don’t do the same things we do or adhere to the same traditions we do. Oh, yeah, we’ve all got our share of traditions … even at Calvary Chapel … The church that pioneered expositional (verse by verse) teaching as well as casual dress and contemporary worship. Calvary Chapel is not the answer. Jesus is the answer. I want to make sure we don’t get confused because we can start worshipping the church rather than worshipping God.
John 11:25 (NKJV) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Teaching the Bible verse by verse, line upon line is very important to me. Calvary Chapel is very important to me. But Jesus, is most important to me and I want to make sure He is most important to you, too.
That’s why I teach verse by verse.
