Luke 12: 1-12; Warnings and Encouragements

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Pharisees spread their heresy around a lot in the time of Jesus. They spent most of their day leading people down the wrong path; so much so, that the faith of the Israelites was in the Law rather than the God of Israel. But it wasn't just the Pharisees. There were all kinds of false prophets running around spreading all kinds of backwards beliefs. There is heresy in the world today, too. There are false prophets spreading lies and making trouble for those of us who are truly faithful. Remember the Bible. That is the Word of God, the only true source for understanding who God is, what He has done for us, and what He wants from us. Jesus has given us a warning to be careful of false prophets and heresy; that warning still has meaning today. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for March 2, 2008

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Old Testament lesson for this Sunday is I Samuel 16: 1-13, in which Samuel anoints David, the youngest son of Jesse. The New Testament lesson is John 9: 1-12, in which Jesus heals a blind man. My sermon title is 'Anyone,' and will focus on how God can, and does, use anyone to bring about his work. Hope to see you Sunday. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 37-54; The Six Woes

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

It really is what is inside our hearts that truly matters. The Pharisees were notorious for only paying lip-service to God; they lived the law, perfectly, but their hearts were hardened and they did not love God or their fellow human beings. Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees and fasting; that they always made a show about it and showed their suffering. Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees and praying; that they prayed loudly in the streets so everyone could see. What we learn from this, and the six woes, is that it's not just what we do it is what we feel in our hearts. Faith is not just doing the deeds, faith is also love. We have to love God, and we have to love our neighbor as ourself. Let faith, and acts of faith, come from your heart. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 33-36; The Lamp of the Body

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithfulness is not just worship on Sunday morning, it is worship ever other day of the week. Faithfulness is not just speaking, it is how we live our lives every day. People pay attention to what we do as Christians, and they react according to how we live. If we are faithful to what God would have us do; if we worship, care for the sick, and live a holy life, other people will see that and come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Our entire lives should shine as a light to all those who may not know Jesus. People who see us living faithful lives will see the light of Jesus shining through us and they will come to a life of faith. Do not hide your life, but let your life, your light, shine to all those around you. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I wanted to remind everyone that I will not be in worship on Sunday. Rev. Norm Hunt will be preaching in my place. I will be back in worship on March 2, 2008. I wish you all a blessed Lord's Day. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 29-32; The Sign of Jonah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are several times in the gospels when we see Jesus being very frustrated. This is a human emotion for all of us, but I think part of Jesus' frustration comes from his divinity. Jesus, as the only Son of God, is perfect and holy in every way. Not only that, but he, and God his Father, have given very clear and concise commands to the people on how to live. And they are still not doing it. The people are completely ignoring how God told them to live, which causes Jesus to be a little angry. I don't think we should read this story and be worried about being smote. But I do think we should read this story and ask ourselves, seeing Jesus frustrated with how the people are living, what we can do to make Jesus happy. It pleases Jesus when we live a holy life, for in living a holy life we bring glory and honor to God. Let us all remember to please Jesus and honor God by living a holy life. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 14-28; Jesus and Beelzebub

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is drawing a line here. According to Jesus there are only two paths: the one that follows him, and the one that does not. This is an important thing to remember. Jesus is the only way to get to heaven; Jesus is the only true revelation of God; Jesus is the only one we should be following. On the journey of faith there are distractions, and there are temptations. It is sometimes easy for us to vier away from Jesus. But we need to remember these words of Jesus that say very clearly, 'He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.' No matter what comes your way in your journey of faith, make sure you stay with Jesus. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 1-13; Jesus' Teaching On Prayer

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

If I had to pick a word to sum up this passage it would be trust. To use a modern term, God is a mind-reader. He knows what is on our hearts and minds before we even ask. Those silent prayers that we do not lift up to God; he hears them. We, as the children of God, have the comfort of knowing that God hears our prayers, even the silent prayers we don't say out loud. We can also trust that God will give us what we need. As Jesus says, look at the birds. They manage to find all they need. Does not God love us more than the birds. We, as the children of God, have the comfort of knowing God will take care of our every need. Sometimes our needs are great; sometimes we feel like we're missing something. But we can trust and know that God will hear our prayers, and that he will provide for our every need. Trust in God. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 10: 38-42; At the Home of Martha and Mary

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are a busy culture. There is always something going on, someone to entertain, food to make, places to go, etc. We are always on the move, always doing something. In other words, we are like Martha. We get so busy doing things, preparing things, that we sometimes forget that Jesus is in our midst. We sometimes forget one of the greatest blessings of all, that Jesus is with us right now. We should all drop what we're doing and revel in the fact that Jesus is with us; let us celebrate the good news that we have Christ's presence in our lives. No matter how busy you are, do not forget that Jesus is in our midst. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 10: 25-37; The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We all know this parable, and we know it quite well, which means we cannot plead ignorance when somoeone is in trouble. We should not turn blind eyes to anyone who is need, as did the first couple people who walked past the man who was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. There is suffering in the world right now. Many people go without food, water, shelter, clothes, etc. These are all 'the man who was going from Jerusalem to Jericho.' We are called by Jesus to care for those who are in need. According to Jesus, this is the greatest of all the commandments. Let us all now go forth in the name of Jesus and do the work he has called us to do. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 10: 1-24; Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here we have another commission from Jesus. He sends out the seventy-two disciples to preach, to teach, to cast out demons, etc. This is not a story, though there is some narrative in it. No, this is a call for us as well. We are Christ's disciples, and not just because that is the name of our denomination. We are disciples of Christ in that we follow Christ. And anyone who follows Christ is given the commission by Christ to go out and do Christ's work. These seventy-two disciples returned to Jesus rejoicing because they had been successful at their work. We, too, should be rejoicing; for it is a blessing to serve in the name of Christ. Let us all go out and serve the Lord, and let us all rejoice and be glad for being able to serve the Lord. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for February 17, 2008

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Old Testament passage for this week is Genesis 12: 1-4, in which Abraham is called to leave his family and go where God sends him. The New Testament passage is John 3: 16, which we all already know. The sermon is entitled 'Reaching In,' and will focus on the ways in God has, and will continue to, reach into humanity and bring us back to him. See you Sunday. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 57-62; The Cost of Following Jesus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This isn't always good news for us to hear; Jesus telling people to let the dead bury their own dead. We don't like to hear this because it sounds kind of heartless and we are not comfortable with a heartless Jesus. This passage does not show us a heartless Jesus. This passage shows us a committed Jesus; a Jesus who lets nothing, absolutely nothing, get in the way of his service to God; a Jesus who will allow no one else to allow anything to get in the way of service to God. We all have things standing in the way. For this man it is his dead father, for others it is something else. What is standing in your way? Whatever it is jump over it, knock it over, go around it; whatever it is make sure it's gone so that you can focus everything you have on the ministry of Christ. We are all called to go out and do the work of Christ, and we must let nothing stand in our way. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 51-56; Samaritan Opposition

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Did you notice the reason the Samaritans did not welcome Jesus into their midst? The Samaritans did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem (folks from Jerusalem and Samaria hated each other). And when asked by the disciples if Jesus wanted them to be fire-bombed, Jesus said no. Social barriers have been around since the beginning of time, and still are today, even in America. One of the things Jesus came to do was to break down those social barriers. Jesus wanted the people to know that with God everyone is acceptable; with God everyone is loved. The message of Jesus is for everyone; the salvation Jesus offers is for everyone. Jesus doesn't care where we come from, what we look like, how much money we have, or anything like that. Jesus only cares about us caring about him; believing in him and following wherever he leads. Always remember that Jesus came for everyone, everyone who would believe in him. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 46-50; Who Will Be the Greatest

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I can imagine Jesus being very frustrated at this point. If there was ever a group of people that should not have been concerned with who was going to get the most stuff it should have been the disciples. To be fair, Jesus does talk a lot about having rewards in heaven. However, I think Jesus would have the disciples worry more about being holy and doing God's work. We, as Christians, have the comfort in knowing that someday we will be rewarded for our faithfulness and our work. But we also have the command of Jesus to do the work. What that means, then, is that we are not supposed to be like the disciples here. They, at least in some cases, were doing the work of Christ to make sure they were taken care of. Jesus wants us to leave that attitude at the door. Jesus calls us to do his work, not to make sure we're sitting at his right and left in heaven. In your faith and love of Jesus go forth and do the work he has called you to do. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 37-45; The Healing of a Boy With an Evil Spirit

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells us that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can move a mountain. Even though that saying of Jesus is not anywhere around this passage, we are still to be reminded of mustard-seed faith when we read this passage. Jesus is frustrated with his disciples because they were unable to heal the boy of his evil spirit. The disciples lacked faith, which means they were not able to do what the Lord wanted them to do. We can do great things with our faith. But if our faith is lacking we will not be able to go forth and be good disciples by doing Christ's work. Some things get in the way of our faith, but we can never let them stop us from believing in Christ and going out and doing the work of Christ. Believe in Jesus and go forth and do his work. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 28-36; The Transfiguration

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Is it not interesting that the next passage, following Jesus' question to Peter, is the passage in which Jesus is glorified and confessed by God? I don't think we really need anymore evidence to who Jesus is, but we do have it just in case. God's word on the subject should be enough for us. God is very wise, we can take him at his word. This is not exclusive to God's pronouncement concerning Jesus. This is true in everything God says. We can trust God to put us on the right path and to keep us there. What a blessing it is for us to know we have a God we can trust; a God whose word we can count on. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 18-27; Peter's Confession of Christ

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who do you say Jesus is? There are those who look at Jesus as only a moral example; Jesus is only someone who shows us the ideal for how to live, but other than that there isn't much to him. There are those that Jesus was only a great prophet; Jesus was called by God to correct the people in their living and worship of God. And there are those who say Jesus was only a lunatic; he was crazy for thinking he was God's son. But who do we say that Jesus is. We should say what Peter said, Jesus is the Christ of God. Jesus is the one and only Son of God; he is the only path to salvation; he is the only true revelation of who God is and what God wants for us in our lives. To many people Jesus is many things. But to us, the disciples of Christ, Jesus is is the Christ, the Son of the living God. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for February 10, 2008

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This Sunday the scripture texts are Genesis 3: 1-7, in which Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent and cast out of the Garden of Eden, and Matthew 4: 1-11, in which Jesus is tempted by Satan. The sermon title is 'I Know How You Feel,' and will focus on God knowing what we're going through. God lived the life of a man in, through, and as Jesus Christ. As such, he knows how we feel, no matter what we may be going through. See you Sunday. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 10-17; Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

They all ate and were satisfied. It sometimes seems like such a basic thing to say, but Jesus takes care of our every need. These five thusand people had been following Jesus for a while; a couple of days at least. They had been listening to Jesus' sermons and other teachings, watching him heal people and cast out demons, and seeing the other miracles he perfromed. Now they were hungry. It may have been a while before anyone had thought of food, but they were so caught up with what Jesus was saying and doing they didn't mind. But now it hits them; now they are hungry. So Jesus feeds them. This story is not about Jesus showing off. Jesus isn't saying 'look what I can do.' Jesus is taking care of the needs of the people who have been following him. It adds extra meaning to this story that it follows Jesus' sending out of the twelve. Jesus gives a commission: do my work, he says. Now he says, in short, that if you do my work and are faithful I will take care of you. Jesus fulfills our needs. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 1-9; Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

And he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. This call of Jesus is not just for the twelve disciples. All who follow Christ are called disciples, and all disciples are called to go forth and proclaim the good news to the people, as well as to heal the sick. As an extension of healing the sick I would think Jesus would add onto that for all of us to take care of all those in need. Not all of us are called to write sermons and deliver them on Sunday morning. And not all of us are called to be doctors and nurses. But we are all called by Christ to go out and preach the good news of Jesus Christ, as well as to care for those who are in need. Jesus is speaking, even today in Mt. Lebanon Christian Church. Listen to the words of Jesus and discern what he is calling you to do. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 40-55; A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eternal life is something we don't talk about all that much. Salvation is, and should be, preached all the time, but we don't spend that much time talking about the eternal life we have through Jesus. This little girl being raised from the dead shows us that Jesus has power over death; it shows us that we will never die. Now, as does happen with all humans, our earthly bodies will expire someday. But we will be raised to a new life in Christ. When, and I stress when, we are raised we will go and live with Christ for all eternity in the kingdom he was prepared for us. As those who belong to Christ we need not fear death, for through Christ we will live forever in the glorious kingdom of Heaven. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 26-39; The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is some historical context that helps a lot with what this passage means for us. The man who is possessed by a demon calls himself Legion. A 'legion' is a Roman military unit which usually had about 3000 to 6000 soldiers. The presence of pigs, and the demon's request to be thrown into the pigs, is also significant because the 'mascot' of the Roman Tenth Legion was the swine, or a pig. It is very likely that this man was member of the Roman Tenth Legion and that he witnessed many horrible things. This man is most likely suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder. What does this mean for us? It means that Jesus heals even the hurts that we have on the inside. We all have emotional pain and sorrow. Jesus takes that away. The healings of Jesus are not specific to physical injuries; they also include how we feel inside. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 22-25; Jesus Calms a Storm

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I've never been sailing myself, but the television shows and movies that depict a boat in a storm have been enough to keep me off of the water. I can think of a lot of other places I would rather be than out on the water in the middle of a storm. I can imagine the disciples were thinking the same thing. This would have been a terrifying event, and I can certainly understand their fear. Jesus kind of gives the disciples a hard time here, but he also calms the storm. We may not be out in a boat right now, out in the middle of the sea. But in one way or another we all face storms in our lives. The waves come up, and the rains pour down, and the boat rocks back and forth. There are times when we all shout 'Master, Master, we are going to drown!' And Jesus always reaches in and calms the storm. Whatever kind of difficult time we may be going through we can rest easy in knowing that Jesus is going to calm the storm. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 19-21; Jesus' Mother and Brothers

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is God's will for you today. Paul writes that God calls some to be preachers, some to be teachers, etc. We are all called by God to do something; God has a will for each of us. This is more than a passing fancy, or a simple desire. God's will for us is a call, a divine appointment to do his work in this world. Part of our job, on our journey of faith, is to discern what God is calling us to do. As you go throughout your life and faith journey, I invite and encourage you to take time to listen to God and hear what he is calling you to do. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 16-18; A Lamp on a Stand

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

In today's world we are sometimes told to hide our faith. Political correctness dictates that we cannot always tell pepole about Jesus to make sure we don't offend anyone. I certainly wouldn't want to make anyone terribly upset, but I would want to do everything I can to make sure the name of Jesus is preached, and that everyone accepts Jesus as their personal Lord and savior. We have seen the great light, the light of Jesus, and we should share that light with everyone. In Matthew Jesus talks about a city on a hill, which is how we should be. We should let our shine to all those around us, sharing the light with people that they may come to a new life in Jesus. Share your light with those around you. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 1-15; The Parable of the Sower

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This parable of the sower is very straightforward, even without Jesus' explanation in verses 11-15. And since we pretty well know what it means one of the questions we can ask ourselves is 'what kind of seed are we sowing?' When we share our faith with others, when we witness to them the good news of Jesus Christ, are we giving them words that will get washed away, blown away, or otherwise destroyed? Or are we giving them the words that will stay with them all of their days; words that will bring them to a life of faith; words that will encourage them to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and savior? The next time you reach out and share with someone the good news of Jesus Christ, be sure to give them words that will take root and yield a good crop; words what will sink in and lead them to Jesus Christ. God bless,

Pastor Josh
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