Jesus gave the 12 authority and power to deal with the demons and cure diseases, to preach the Good News and heal the sick. Travel lightly. You are the equipment. Traveled from town to town. Wonder how long the time period was. Tend to think a day, but was more likely weeks or more, especially if they were traveling from town to town. Jesus took the disciples away when they returned, but they didn't get rest.
"You feed them." (I've given you power; you used it before; use it again?). What DO you have? God will make it more than adequate.
Who am I?
9:23-27 Strong counsel and direction from Jesus about this new way of following.
Self-sacrificing is the way of Christ. The cross. Execution. New meaning. Confrontation of the world of sin, hate and indifference with the God of love, forgiveness, and power. "Meaning of cross changed from torture and execution to incredible love and victory. The cross means a crisis--the meaning of existence becomes open, revealed. God's love confronts a person's sin, and God's love wins." EP
Transfiguration. Moses' exodus vs. Jesus' coming exodus. Disciples were sleeping. Surprise, surprise! "When they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God."
Repetition of the proclamation from the sky made at Jesus' baptism. Is this like confirmation?
When they couldn't understand what Jesus was saying about his coming betrayal, they turned the conversation back to themselves, arguing about who was greatest.
Don't stop him because if he's not an enemy, he's an ally.
Do you want us to destroy these (Samaraitans) who won't receive us? What's that say to Uganda and their desire for the death penalty for homosexuals...in Jesus' name, by the way? Or for any historical action by followers of Jesus who seek (and many times succeeded) to destroy folks who wouldn't subscribe/conscribe to what we(xians) proclaimed. Forgive us, Lord! We've killed in body and in speech. Thinking of the recent UMNS story about the act of reconciliation for the Methodist pastor who slew an Indian village in the 19th century. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.
"Follow me." No procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day!
Ephesians 1-3
Paul seeks to knit belief and behavior together. In and for us, and we are to participate in the work. Our lives contribute as God's plan is worked out by Christ.
I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.
Abundantly free. We already have everything we need for living the Christian life. God raised Christ from the dead. We don't have to wait for anything else to happen. The gift has been given. We can receive it, right now.
The church is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.
EP: "'Works' in religious people is like the steady diet of candy to a child-it ensures that people will never be hungry for a real meal. Yet the absence of hunger is no proof of health. ...'Works' are those religious and moral acts in which we engage in defiance or as a substitute for grace. As harmless as they appear-and as beneficial as they appear-they are the saboteurs of the world of grace."
2:14/15-"The Messiah repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody....Christ treated us as equals."
"Kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone."
Paul is writing from jail. Jailed because he took up the cause of the outsiders. Hello...are you listening (I'm talking to me and my inner prophet). Got in trouble because of sharing God's plan for including everybody. Help us, Jesus!
"The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of God all their lives (what I've been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board."
God handles all the details. It's way over my head.
Ask God to strengthen you by his spirit, a glorious inner strength, that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. With both feet firmly planted in love you'll be able to take in the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. God doesn't do by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
We can experience everything eternally good and true and beautiful in the universe. Now.
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