Giving Honor

Pastor Ron Musch, Lighthouse Regional Church (Concord)

This passage sheds some interesting light on the power of honor. Jesus was being harassed for healing a man on the Sabbath. In response, Jesus said His ability and authority to heal the man did not come from Himself, but it flowed through Him because He honored the Father! How did Jesus honor the Father? He lived out the Father’s will on earth. How did Jesus discern the will of the Father? Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to be with the Father in prayer. There He spent time in the Father’s presence, waiting to hear and discern what was on the Father’s heart and mind.

Week 3 // Invitation & Challenge

Truth won’t change you until you put it into practice.

“We are educated far beyond our obedience. Our goal is for each one to have one relationship with one person who seems far from God.”

Mark Batterson

SENT

Artist: Lori Butler

As disciples of Christ we are sent to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit .” (Matthew 28:19). Our church is SENT to care for others in need, in our city and in our world. The Hawaiian shirt is an allegory for the typical modern Christian.

I Rode My Bike This Morning

I rode my bike this morning for
the exercise and healthy air;
for longer life I took a ride.

Since I Laid My Burden Down

Classic

Traditional Negro Spiritual
performed in 1964 by Mississippi Fred McDowell

Leper

CURRENT

Terry Clark 1993

Time to Think Outside the Box

Floyd Roseberry, Retired Pastor

In this text we find two incidents of Jesus’ breaking the Sabbath rules of the religious leaders. In the first, he and his disciples picked some heads of grain to eat, and in the second he healed a man with a shriveled hand during a Sabbath service. The first thought that came to me was, “Think outside the box.” Over a period of some 200 years the Pharisees had created many rules that boxed people in on what they could do on the Sabbath. For example, you were not to look in a mirror on the Sabbath. You might see a gray hair and be tempted to pull it out, and that would be “work” on the Sabbath. Jesus lived outside the box and threatened the whole religious system.

Follow Me

Pastor Sean Blomquist, Shelter Covenant Church (Concord)

If you could boil down the story of scripture into its simplest form, it could be summed up in two words: FOLLOW ME. This is the primary theme of scripture. It is Jesus’ invitation to Levi to be in relationship with him. At first glance, I love the simplicity of this invitation. Levi jumps at the chance because a powerful rabbi has invited him to his way of life. Any Jewish man would jump at the chance.

Desperate

Kurt Holm, Pastor, The Creek Covenant Church (Walnut Creek)

Desperate. It’s not a place I like to be. It conveys a sense of weakness and helplessness. It’s a feeling of emptiness, which I guess is the prerequisite for desperation. Desperation is an overwhelming need in my life that is beyond my ability to meet. Our world would define desperation as something to be avoided at all costs. Who wants to appear so needy and out of control? Not me. However, contrary to the way we think, desperation is not a bad thing. From a spiritual perspective, there are promises of God that cannot be experienced apart from a sense of desperation. Desperate people show extreme urgency, intensity and courage.

By Action and Example

Rev. M. Sylvia O. Vásquez, Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Walnut Creek)

What a joy to know we have a God that is so concerned for our lives that healing us from a mere fever and healing us from a catastrophic illness like leprosy are equally compelling in God’s eyes!