2 Kings 10: 1-17; Ahab's Family Killed

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is an awful passage, and there is not much good to be found here. In some ways it is a reminder that there is a certain mysterious aspect to God and what he does in the world. We read this passage and we have absolutely no idea what is going on. All we can do is trust that God knows, and does, what is best. We may not understand, but that does not mean we cannot move forward. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 9: 30-37; Jezebel Killed

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Just last week we celebrated the good news that we will not face punishment for the sins we have committed. Jesus died on the cross so we would not have to. He was punished on our behalf. The story of Jezebel's death is troubling, but in it is a reminder that we do not have to worry about sharing her fate. She was killed for her sins. We will not be punished for our sins because Jesus was punished on our behalf. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for May 1, 2011

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Exodus 1: 8-22, in which we are told of Israel's captivity in Egypt. The sermon is titled 'Build Us Back' and will focus on the brokenness of the Israelite's and how God managed to build them back. I hope to see you all in worship on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 9: 14-29; Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Joram reaps what he has sown. He has done evil in the eyes of the Lord and now evil is being done to him. The lesson in a lot of these OT stories of violence and death is that we reap what we sow. If we do good, then good will be done to us. If we do evil, then evil will be done to us. Obviously, our thoughts should be with those around us, and how they feel, but sometimes it is helpful to think about things in terms of how we want our lives to go. Will your life go the way of good, or evil? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 9: 1-13; Jehu Anointed King of Israel

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

When it comes to faith and a relationship with God the only thing we can expect is to expect the unexpected. The last thing Jehu expected to have happen was to be anointed King of Israel. And yet, that is exactly what happened to him. God works the same way in our lives. He work and moves in ways that are mysterious to us. We need to be watchful for what God is doing in our lives. If we stop paying attention, even for a second, we might just miss something. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 8: 25-29; Ahaziah King of Judah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Someone needs to break the chain. Ahaziah continues down the sinful path set for him by Ahab. Someone is going to need to step up in faith and follow God's path. The same is true for us. At times we have all needed to stand up and say 'yes, Lord.' You may have been going through a rough time. You may be now. These rough times may have caused you to fall back a little. If so, then take this moment to say 'yes, Lord' and begin to turn things around. Break the chain. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 8: 16-24; Jehoram King of Judah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever." We have just finished going through Holy Week, when we celebrate Jesus. Matthew and Luke both give us genealogies of Jesus that tie Jesus to King David. God fulfilled his promise that he would continue to bless the line of David, and that he would continue to bless the world through that line. We see, then, that God did not send Jesus as a random act. God sent Jesus because he promised again and again that he would do so. God will always come through with the promises he has made. We can trust God, no matter what. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mark 16: 1-8; Jesus Has Risen

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The woman went to the tomb and they found it empty. That empty tomb filled their hearts with fear, which is why they ran away. When the dist settled the hearts of the women, and the hearts of the disciples, were filled with joy and peace. They knew Jesus had risen, which gave them hope beyond all hope. We can share in that hope. Jesus is risen, which means for us that we, too, will rise to new life. Jesus' resurrection foreshadows our own resurrection, when we will be brought to a new and glorious life in heaven. Christ is Risen! Believe the good news. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mark 15: 42-47; The Burial of Jesus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is dead. He has been buried in the tomb. He has been punished for the sins we have committed. On this day our hearts are filled with anger, guilt, and pain. We are unable to find any hope in the death of Jesus. We have lost our savior and our friend. For now it seems as though the darkness has overcome the light. In you time of sadness I want to leave you with these three words: Sunday is coming. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mark 15: 21-41; The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'My God, my God, why have yoy forsaken me.' A lot has been made of those words over the years. Did God really abandon Jesus in Jesus' final moments? Yes. God abandoned Jesus for one very important reason: Jesus took our sin. That was part of the punishment. We would have been forever forsaken by God due to our sin, but Jesus took that sin upon himself. He was abandoned, he was punished, for our sins. Jesus was forsaken by God so we would not have to be. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mark 14: 12-26; The Last Supper

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark presents for us a Jesus who is very human, which, for me, makes this scene one of the most heartbreaking of the entire passion narrative. Jesus, being human, is going to miss seeing his friends each and every day. Jesus, being human, has just a little bit of fear that his friends are not going to remember him, which is why he gives them this meal. Jesus instituted the Last Supper for many reasons, but one that we need to which we need to pay continual attention is that the Last Supper is an act of remembrance. We take the bread and drink from the cup to remember Jesus and the sacrifice he made for us. Remember Jesus. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mark 14: 10-11; Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark is not concerned with the 'why.' Matthew, Luke, and John all give us reasons for Judas' betrayal. Mark sets it up as part of the divine plan. Judas betrayed Jesus because that is what God needed to have happen. This is an important thought to keep in mind this week. Watching Jesus go to the cross is one of the most painful things to see. It breaks our hearts to see our Lord and Savior be treated in such a way. One of the bright spots, though, is the fact that this is what was supposed to happen. While it may upset us to see Jesus go through all of this we can rest easy knowing God is in control of it all; that this was all part of God's plan. This plan also included our salvation, which is also an important thought to keep in mind. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mark 14: 1-9; Jesus Anointed At Bethany

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you only had one day to spend with Jesus what would you do? This woman, who remains nameless, knows Jesus is going to die very soon. She could have taken this opportunity to ask Jesus for something. She could have taken this opportunity to have Jesus teach her about faith, God, etc. In the end, though, this woman performs an act of praise and worship. Rather than look after her own interests she anoints Jesus. I think we can learn from this woman. It is good for us to grow in faith by asking Jesus questions. But sometimes we need to just fall down on our knees and worship him. If you only had one day to spend with Jesus what would you do? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mark 12: 12-26; The Clearing of the Temple and Cursin of the Fig Tree

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

At church it is easy to get caught up in other things: issues with the building, issues with other people in the building. It is easy to get sidetracked: what do I need to do tomorrow, what am I making for dinner tonight. We are human, so it is sometimes hard to simply leave everything else behind. However, that is what we are supposed to do. God's house is for worship. Period. We need to conduct other business, and that is fine. But durig worship our minds, spirits, and every other part of us, should be centered on worshiping God. God's house is a house of prayer. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mark 11: 1-11; Jesus Comes to Jerusalem

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem the people are shouting 'Hosanna!' The literal meaning of that word is 'save us.' The great irony of Holy Week is that the people were asking Jesus to save them and by the end of the week he actually would, but none of them would know it. The people in Jerusalem were hoping Jesus would save them from Rome. Instead, though, he saved them, and us, from sin. We still shout Hosanna today, but for us it is a shout of praise. We shout Hosanna to Jesus knowing he has saved us. Take this Palm Sunday and think of the salvation Jesus has brought into your life. Hosanna! Save us! Jesus has done just that. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 8: 7-15; Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God does not make us do anything. However, he does know us well enough to know exactly what we are going to do. We have a relationship with God, and because of that we have the blessing of being known by God. This means God knows what we are going to do. This does not mean God makes us do things. It means God loves us enough to be invested enough to know our thoughts, feelings, etc. God knows Hazael well enough to know what Hazael is going to do. In the same way God knows us. This is not a bad thing. This is a blessing. God loves us. And because he loves us, he knows us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 8: 1-6; The Shunammite’s Land Restored

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord is able to do great things for those who believe. This woman has not only had her son raised to life, she has also received everything she lost. Why? Because she has great faith. She has believed in the power and the love of God and because of her faith she has received many blessings. The same can be true for us. God loves us, and he has great power. If we believe, wholeheartedly, in those things God will do great things for us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 7: 3-20; The Siege Lifted

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is always hope. These men who are suffering from leprosy have all but given up hope. They do not believe God is going to anything for them, and so they go to the enemy in hopes of finding new life. How often do encounter something in life only to give up thinking we will have no deliverance? Too often, I'm afraid. Times of sadness and difficulty come upon all of us. When that happens it is easy for us to give up and lose hope. But we must always cling to the hope we have in Jesus. We will always be there for us. He will always come to us in times of darkness and bring us light. No matter what you face in this life do not lose the hope we find in Jesus. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 6: 24- 7:2; Famine in Besieged Samaria

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Waiting is one of the most difficult thing to do. The King of Israel has had enough of waiting. His patience is wearing thin, which is why he seeks our Elisha. The King is going to force God to act one way or another. We face the same kinds of situations. God's timing is not always to our liking and when we are tired of waiting we go to God to try our best to make him acts. We need to trust in God's timing. His timing is what is best for us. We may not always see it, but it's true. We need to blieve in God's love. We need to know he loves us beyond all other things in this world. God is love. He is love for us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 6: 8-23; Elisha Traps Blinded Arameans

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

When dealing with people, especially people who may be considered our enemies, mercy is always the best choice. Elisha, and the King of Israel, have a chance here to harm the Arameans. However, the choose the path of forgiveness. We should do the same thing. There are those in the world who would harm us. There me a time in life when we find ourselves in a position of power over those who would harm us. If and when that happens we should follow Elisha's example and show mercy rather than anger. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 6: 1-7; An Axhead Floats

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

As God's servants we need to be willing to go places and do things for others. Elisha did not have to go with these men. He could have gone to his own home, or somewhere else. But Elisha knew these men needed him, and so he went with them. It takes hard work to create a desire to always be there for people, but that is the kind of effort God wants from all of us. God wants us to be the hands and feet of Christ. God wants us to help others in the same way he has helped us. On this day work hard to do the work God wants you to do. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 5: 1-27; Naaman Healed of Leprosy

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

If nothing else, God is a healer. We see it here in this story, and we see it countless times in the gospels as Jesus heals all those who were brought to him. When we read these stories we can be filled with hope for we have all been healed in some way, and we will be healed in the future if need be. Healing comes in many forms. We are broken in a variety of ways. With that in mind I want you to remember the ways in which God has healed you. I want you to remember a time in your life when you were broken. Remember, too, the healing God gave you in that time. Remember the peace he brought to your life. Remember the way in which God made that situation, whatever it may have been, better. God heals us when we are broken. Believe and celebrate the good news. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 4: 42-44; Feeding of a Hundred

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Give us this day our daily bread." Speaking of miracles God works in our lives every day to give us what we need. If we are open to the Holy Spirit and what the Spirit can do for us then we will have our bread, and everything else we need in our lives. We ask God for what we need, but we have believe that he can and will give us what we need. If we believe in God, in his love and power, then we will receive our bread, and so much more. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 4: 38-41; Death in the Pot

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Did you ever notice how just about all of the miracles performed in the whole Bible are done out of need. In other words, there are no miracles just for the sake of having a miracle. Here we see Elisha change some soup from poison to good. He does this because the people need to eat. Jesus performed many miracles. He did not do these things to show off, but to help people, and to reveal God's glory. This simply serves as a reminder that God is not a magician. He will not do something special in our lives to prove anything. But if there is a need in our lives, God will always be there. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for April 10, 2011

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Scripture passage for this Sunday is from John 11: 17-44, in which Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. The sermon is titled 'Because He Gave Life, and will focus on the life we have through Jesus and the blessings that come from that life. I hope and pray to see you all in worship on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 4: 8-37; The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Resurrection. This story is similar to some of the stories we find in the gospels, when Jesus raised someone from the dead. In those stories, as in this one, we are to be filled with hope knowing we will be raised from the dead as well. Our bodies will eventually die, but we will be raised to new life in Christ. Our spirits will live forever. No matter what happens in our lives we can be sure of one thing: We will always have life. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 4: 1-7; The Widow's Olive Oil

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord provides where there is faith. This poor widow has already lost her husband and is on the verge of losing her sons. Despite all of that, though, she has faith in the power and love of God. She believes that God, through Elisha, can help her. Because of her faith God gives this woman what we need. God will always be present in our lives. He will always give us what we need. The only catch is that we have to believe. We must not have any doubts about what God can and will do for us. If we believe God can help us, then he will, just as he did for the widow. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 3: 1-27; Moab Revolts

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The kingdoms of Israel and Judah decide to temporarily put aside their differences for a time to deal with the rebellious nation of Moab. The hurt feelings that exist between Israel and Judah are many and they are painful. However, the two nations realize they need to work together to bring about God's will. We do not always get along with another. Christians are the children of God, but we are human beings, too. And as human beings we have disagreements, and sometimes those disagreements evolve into something else. At times, though, we need to set aside our differences and work together to be the hands and feet of Christ. We may not always get along, but we can still work together to make God's will happen in the world. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 2: 23-25; Elisha is Jeered

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Even the prophet Elisha had his off days. While it is important for us to defend the faith, there are more faithful ways for us to do it, other than sicking a bear, or otherwise causing suffering, on those who mock us. I think we can all understand Elisha's anger, but I think Jesus' words are a little more appropriate: 'Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.' Let's not curse anyone today. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 2: 19-22; The Healing of the Water

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is able to do amazing things for those who believe in him. Water is one of the most basic human necessities, and here the people of Jericho are suffering due to the water going bad. Because they believe in God, in his love and power, Elisha 'heals' the water. The faith of the people led to their deliverance. We must believe in God. He loves us and has the ability to help us. Our part is to trust in his power and love that he might work in our lives. Have faith. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 2: 1-18; Elijah Taken Up To Heaven

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is never an easy thing to say goodbye to someone we love. Elisha does not want to leave Elijah's line of sight in this passage because he loves his master so much. In the end, though, God takes Elijah. Elisha may not understand why, but he knows he must continue on in the ministry to which God has called him. We have all lost loved ones, and that is a very hard thing for us to face. We may not understand, or condone, what God is doing, but we must simply do the best we can to carry on and continue on our journey of faith. And even though it may not always feel like it, God will be with us every step of the way. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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2 Kings 1: 1-18; The Lord’s Judgment on Ahaziah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes it is best to just not mess with God at all. Ahaziah continues to push the envelope and because of that many men die, and in the end Ahaziah himself died. We will not always enjoy what God brings into our lives. And at times it is our privelage and duty to ask God why that thing is happening. However, there are other times when we need to simply follow God and not push his buttons. As Ahaziah finds out, it is not wise to push God too much. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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1 Kings 22: 51-53; Ahaziah King of Israel

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The apple does not fall far from the tree. My Dad used to tell me that when I would make fun of him for being bald. Indeed he was right, for I have decidedly thinning hair. Ahaziah could have benefited from a similar warning. We know hoe evil Ahab had become. Ahaziah knew as well. His life may have been blessed had someone told him to be careful and not repeat his father's mistakes. Instead, though, the apple Ahab planted bonked Ahaziah right on the head. All those who have gone before us continue to teach us many things, if we listen. Let us heed their advice. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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