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One Thing Thou Lackest

2/28/2021

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​         The story of the rich young ruler is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  At the beginning of Mark (Mark 10), Jesus is in Judea on the farther side of Jordan.  It was a busy day.  People are following him, and he is stopping to teach them.  The Pharisees approach him and want to know if it’s lawful for a man to put away his wife. He answers their question and then goes into a house where the disciples ask   him the same question.  After answering them, people were bringing children to him to touch.  It’s a busy day.  However, Jesus takes time to be with the children.
          By the time we get to verse 17, it looks like Jesus is back outside and headed somewhere when the rich young ruler chases him down and kneels at his feet.  He says, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”  Jesus says that only God is good so why does he call him, Jesus, good?  It’s puzzling.  We, on this side of the cross, know that God is good, and that Jesus is God.  Obviously, the young ruler thought highly of Jesus because he called him Good Master.  But that’s as far as it went.
          Like Pastor Josh said, “This is the line in the sand.  God is the only one who is good all the time, God is the only one to worship, and the only one to serve.  It’s not about all the things the ruler has done—it’s about the one good God.”  After all, the first three commandments deal with how God is to be treated.
          The next part that Jesus addresses is the commandments.  Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother.  Of these, the young ruler states unequivocally, “Master, all these have I observed from my youth.”  Then Jesus was moved by him.  Could it be that he suddenly saw that the young man was in earnest?  Or, was he moved with love for the young man?
          “One thing you lack…” Jesus said.  It was more than the young man could bear.  Jesus told him to sell what he has, give it to the poor and follow me (Jesus).  His ticket to eternity was not gained by adhering to the commandments.  It was gained by following Jesus.  John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed on him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
          God is eternal life.  He manifested it in Jesus (I John 1:2) Once a person believes in eternal life through Jesus, he/she is a member of God’s family (Romans 8:17).  The Holy Spirit is the down payment on eternal life (Ephesians 1:13,14).  God will not walk away from believers.  But believers can.  They did in the wilderness and did not reach the promised land.  God has demonstrated in the Bible stories that continuously ignoring God or refusing to obey him will cause one to disqualify himself for eternal life.  It’s called free will.  Use it wisely.
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One Thing I Desire

2/21/2021

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         King David’s life was a series of triumphs and tragedies.  God anoints him king of Israel as a boy, he whips Goliath and King Saul tries to destroy David.  David flees for his life.  Saul dies and David becomes king.  Good things and bad things happen, some of which is David’s own making.  Then a son of his rapes his only daughter and that son is killed by another son in retaliation.  That son tries to usurp the throne from David and David flees once again.  That son is killed and David returns to the throne.  It’s no wonder he felt surrounded by enemies, he was.
          In the midst of this life of turmoil David never lost sight of his God.  Acts 13:22 states that God raised up David to be king and said, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart which shall fulfil all my will.”  A man ‘after my own heart’, God’s heart.  Think about that.  God saw in David something that we can only read about and try to understand.
          Psalm 27 was written by David and the very first words are “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”  The rest of the first verse is timely, too.  As the Psalm progresses David speaks of his enemies and how trapped he must have felt during difficult times. 
          Then, David makes a declaration.  Verse 4, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.”  All the days of my life; he’s speaking of the here and now, in the middle of all the mess and challenges of his life.
           He says “that will I seek after.”  Even David realizes that he can be so easily distracted from the light and salvation of the Lord.  Focus is important.  It’s easy to be distracted.  There’s the news, politics, the pandemic, weather, nuclear holocaust, artificial intelligence, health care, religious freedom, and the list goes on.  It takes faith to keep your focus on God.  Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17).  Part of a verse that stresses the importance of listening, listening to other believers and their testimonies, listening for what God has to say.  Not just his Word but by the power of God in our lives and others’.
          The conclusion of verse 4 is to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.  Look for God’s beauty.  Nature has an abundance of it, but think of  what beauty has been created in relationships, the beauty of Scripture, the inner beauty of the saints around us, and the beauty of goodness.  Inquire in his temple—modern translation, go to church.  Beauty is there.  God is there.
          “One thing have I desired” says David.  And he’s willing to do what it takes to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” ​
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Jesus or Barabbas

2/14/2021

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          Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, who walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (I Peter 5:8)  The devil is just as hard at work today as he was when he tempted Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11.  “A smooth-talking, especially a smooth-talking religious leader can convince people of a lot of crazy stuff.  The leader of Heavens’ Gate cult convinced his followers to commit mass suicide in 1997.  Why?  They were going to get on the Hale-Bopp comet.  And in 1978 Jim Jones of the Peoples’ Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, convinced his followers to commit mass murder and suicide.” said Pastor Josh.
          “Can I tell you the devil goes around seeking whom he may devour.  The Bible says a thief comes to steal, kill, and devour (John 10:10).  That’s what the devil’s about.” continued Pastor Josh. 
          The sermon was taken from Mark 15:6-15.  It’s the passage where Jesus is before Pilate.  Pilate has found no real cause for Jesus to be crucified.  It’s obvious the chief priest hated Jesus.  Perhaps he was envious and jealous, too.  After all, Jesus had quite a following.  The chief priest, an evil man, had done his homework.  He wanted to make sure that Jesus was going to hang on that cross.
          Pilate had chosen the worst of the bad, Barabbas who was a known insurrectionist, murderer, and robber.  This is the man that Pilate presented to the people and asked which one to free—Barabbas or Jesus.  Evil is as evil does.   Satan was not slack in his work.  It says in verse 11 that the chief priest moved the people to release Barabbas.
          And so it was.  Jesus died in the place of Barabbas.  Satan spent the entire ministry of Jesus hoping to thwart his mission.  Did he succeed?  Where Satan is at work, God is at work too.  “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

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In the Name of Jesus

2/8/2021

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         A month ago a prayer was given for the opening of the 117th Congress in Washington D.C.  Typically, these prayers go unnoticed but this one caught the attention of the news media.  The congressman, a former Methodist minister, chose to close the prayer with “Amen and Awoman”.  That by itself is a little disconcerting but not a real cause for attention.  Be that it may, the focus on the closing caused others to look at the rest of the prayer.
          Knowing that someone is bold enough to stand up in front of a large group and close a prayer with “Amen and Awoman” would merit a look at the prayer in its entirety.  Luke 11 teaches Christians to open prayers to “Our Father”  which, over time, becomes personalized.  “Dear Father”, “Heavenly Father”, and “Father, God” are just a few examples.  The congressional prayer opened with “Eternal God”.  Then the prayer continues with requests for blessings and guidance.   
It’s the closing that causes concern.  “We ask it in the name of the monotheistic God, Brahma, and the God known by many names and faiths.”  Clearly, the speaker was being inclusive.  Many would be okay with that.  But, there’s a problem.  John 16:23 says to “ask the Father in my name.”  Jesus is the speaker.  John 14:13,14 is Jesus speaking about the same thing. 
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 4)  Quite a verse indeed.  As our pastor put it politely, “A few days ago a congressman got up in front of Congress and prayed a ridiculous prayer.”  Is it really possible that, in this day of progressive knowledge, such an event can take place?  It seems so.
It’s important when these kinds of things take place in our culture that you have some perspective on what is occurring—your eternal destiny depends on it.  It is not a decision to be made lightly.  One either believes the Bible or one doesn’t.  You decide.  God gave you that choice.
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    Linda Johnson

    Linda Johnson moved to Douglas County with her husband Tom 12 years ago after retiring from teaching. Following Tom's death in 2016, Linda began facilitating a grief support group called GriefShare through Sweden Church.​ She serves as the Sunday School teacher for our High School class. Her "Layman's Pen" articles are also published in the local paper, The Douglas County Herald. 

    Andrea Strong

    Andrea is Pastor Joshua Strong's wife. She also serves Sweden Church as Church Secretary, website administrator, and Sunday School teacher to the Intermediate Class.

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