One more thing about Pastor Jessica's message:
To Be Jesus’ BFF
There are Bible scholars who have come to believe that Lazarus was probably the best friend Jesus had—outside his family and disciples. He is often in the home of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. When there, it feels like Jesus is in a place where he can let his hair down among friends.
Those With Eyes to See, Let Them See
There are a lot of people who struggle with traveling if they aren’t in the front seat of the car. But them in the back seat or in the third row at your own peril, because there’s a good chance they’re going to get car sick. Some folks just have a predisposition to motion sickness. Other folks were just too slow in calling “shotgun” and use this excuse to bump someone else out of the coveted passenger seat.
Synecdoche - Defining the Whole with a Single Part.
After first service, someone who supports Donald Trump came up to me and told me that they didn’t like me using Mr. Trump’s use of nicknames in the 2016 campaign—despite being spot on as an illustration of synecdoche. They thought it put him in a negative light. They pointed out that I rarely mention President Biden. I get it.
It’s Not What You Know, But Who You Know…
We ran out of time Sunday, during the reception of new members. I wanted to ask them a series of questions of which they had to get three of the four right in order to be welcomed into our fellowship. Here are the questions I proposed:
Archived Posts
The Clothes You Wear
Sunday I talked about Joshua the High Priest having his filthy clothing replaced by a cleaned and beautiful garments. I also used the illustration of a boy becomes a dragon—who ‘wears’ dragon scales—and is stripped of those scales in order to be restored to a boy. In fact, I could have done the whole sermon around all the clothing imagery in scripture.
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more