Follow Me

13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mark 2:13-17 NIV

Discipleship Is Important

Discipleship - These Things Can Help Measure It

Aaaawwwww

God's Power

Never measure God’s unlimited power by your limited expectations.

ODB

Prayer - Life Changing Conversation

Conversation with God leads to an encounter with God. Prayer is not only the way we learn what Jesus has done for us but also is the way we “daily receive God’s benefits.” Prayer turns theology into experience. Through it we sense his presence and receive his joy, his love, his peace and confidence, and thereby we are changed in attitude, behavior, and character. 

Excerpt from PRAYER by Timothy Keller 
Reprinted by arrangement with DUTTON, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random 
House Company. Copyright © 

Together

COMMUNITY by Joshua Dubois

 

TOGETHER

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

                                                                                                                                                                Hebrews 10:24-24

The value and dignity of the individual…is threatened whenever it is assumed that individual desires, hopes and ideals can be fitted with frictionless harmony into the collective purposes of man. The individual is not discrete.  He cannot find his fulfillment outside the community; but he also cannot find fulfillment completely within society. In so far as he finds fulfillment within society he must abate his individual ambitions. He must “die to self” if he would truly live. In so far as he finds fulfillment beyond every historical community he lives his life in painful tension with even the best community, sometimes achieving standards of conduct which defy the standards of the community with a resolute “we must obey God rather than man.”                       -Reinhold Niebuhr, the Irony of American History

Lord, wrap me not only in your love but also in connection with other people. Show me the way toward brothers and sisters who will edify me, and I them. Place me within your community. Amen

 

Tyrone R. Lawton

"As iron sharpens iron ...so does one man sharpens another"

                                                                      Prov. 27:17

Today and Everyday

                              

Draw Near

Jesus is the mediator between us and God (1 Tim 2:5; cf. Heb 8:6; 12:24). All ancient lands and cultures had temples, because human beings once knew innately that there was a gap, a yawning chasm, between us and the divine. God is great and we are small—God is perfect and we are flawed. Temples were places where an effort was made to bridge that gap. Sacrifices and offerings were made and rituals observed by professional “mediators” (priests) who sought to bring the remote divinity near. All such efforts were understood to be partial and fragmentary. No religion claimed that the gap could be closed. 

Aristotle, for example, said that while it might be possible to venerate and appease the gods, actual intimate friendship with a god was impossible. The philosopher reasoned that friendship requires that both parties share much in common as equals. They must be alike. But since God is infinitely greater than human beings, “the possibility of friendship ceases.” 

Now, however, we have the ultimate mediator and priest to end all priests (Heb 4:14 –15). He eliminates the gap so that we can know God as friend (cf. Ex 33:11). It is because the Son of God was “made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest” (Heb 2:17). And because “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but . . . has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet without sin,” we are able to “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence” (Heb 4:15–16). 

Here, then, is a claim that Aristotle—indeed, all the other philosophers and religious teachers of the world—would find outrageous. How could God be our intimate friend? How could we approach him with complete confidence? It is because God became like us, equally mortal and subject to suffering and death. He did it so we could be forgiven and justified by faith apart from our efforts and merits. That is why we can draw near. 

Excerpt from PRAYER by Timothy Keller 
Reprinted by arrangement with DUTTON, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random 
House Company. Copyright © 2014 by Timothy Keller

Grand Opening

                           

Prayer Timothy Keller Thoughts

Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray, healed people with prayers, denounced the corruption of the temple worship (which, he said, should be a “house of prayer”), and insisted that some demons could be cast out only through prayer. He prayed often and regularly with fervent cries and tears (Heb 5:7), and sometimes all night. The Holy Spirit came upon him and anointed him as he was praying (Luke 3:21–22), and he was transfigured with the divine glory as he prayed (Luke 9:29). When he faced his greatest crisis, he did so with prayer. We hear him praying for his disciples and the church on the night before he died (John 17:1–26) and then petitioning God in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally, he died praying. 

Immediately after their Lord’s death, the disciples prepare for the future by being “constantly in prayer” together (Acts 1:14). All church gatherings are “devoted . . . to prayer” (Acts 2:42; 11:5; 12:5, 12). 

The power of the Spirit descends on the early Christians in response to powerful prayer, and leaders are selected and appointed only with prayer. All Christians are expected to have a regular, faithful, devoted, fervent prayer life. In the book of Acts, prayer is one of the main signs that the Spirit has come into the heart through faith in Christ. The Spirit gives us the confidence and desire to pray to God and enables us to pray even when we don’t know what to say. Christians are taught that prayer should pervade their whole day and whole life—they should “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). 

Prayer is so great that wherever you look in the Bible, it is there. Why? Everywhere God is, prayer is. Since God is everywhere and infinitely great, prayer must be all-pervasive in our lives. 

Excerpt from PRAYER by Timothy Keller  
Reprinted by arrangement with DUTTON, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © 2014 by Timothy Keller

The Sacrifice

John 20: 1-10 NIV - Easter

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

The Symbol For Christianity

The Resurrection

“Without the resurrection, the cross is meaningless.”
― Billy Graham

He Is Risen!

“The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don't worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry...He's risen!"  - Charles R. Swindoll

For Sale

Christ Is Alive

“A dead Christ I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything for me.” Andrew Murray, Jesus Himself

Fellow followers of the Way - The cross is not enough. Many religious founders died. Jesus died, rose from the dead and is alive. We are a people of the resurrection.o

Yes!

                              

Thinking About Easter

Nice Work God

An Irish Blessing

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night.

Antici-pray-tion

Easter - Hope - Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 Looking up, they *saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 And he *said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’”8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Smile

Slow Down

Pray - We Must

Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge. It is also the main way we experience deep change—the reordering of our loves. Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. We must learn to pray. We have to.

Timothy Keller, Prayer

In Him

The Symbol For Christianity

The Road To Recognition - Luke 24:13-35

13 On the same day, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village called Emmaus. It was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about everything that had happened.

15 While they were talking, Jesus approached them and began walking with them. 16 Although they saw him, they didn’t recognize him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing?”

They stopped and looked very sad. 18 One of them, Cleopas, replied, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has happened recently?”

19 “What happened?” he asked.

They said to him, “We were discussing what happened to Jesus from Nazareth. He was a powerful prophet in what he did and said in the sight of God and all the people. 20 Our chief priests and rulers had him condemned to death and crucified. 21 We were hoping that he was the one who would free Israel. What’s more, this is now the third day since everything happened. 22 Some of the women from our group startled us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 and didn’t find his body. They told us that they had seen angels who said that he’s alive. 24 Some of our men went to the tomb and found it empty, as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”

25 Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are! You’re so slow to believe everything the prophets said! 26 Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then he began with Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets to explain to them what was said about him throughout the Scriptures.

28 When they came near the village where they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 They urged him, “Stay with us! It’s getting late, and the day is almost over.” So he went to stay with them.

30 While he was at the table with them, he took bread and blessed it. He broke the bread and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he vanished from their sight.

32 They said to each other, “Weren’t we excited when he talked with us on the road and opened up the meaning of the Scriptures for us?”

33 That same hour they went back to Jerusalem. They found the eleven apostles and those who were with them gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has really come back to life and has appeared to Simon.”

35 Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road and how they had recognized Jesus when he broke the bread.

Decide

                             

Resurrection Quotes

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

“Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about.”  N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

“Optimism hopes for the best without any guarantee of its arriving and is often no more than whistling in the dark. Christian hope, by contrast, is faith looking ahead to the fulfillment of the promises of God, as when the Anglican burial service inters the corpse 'in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Optimism is a wish without warrant; Christian hope is a certainty, guaranteed by God himself. Optimism reflects ignorance as to whether good things will ever actually come. Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the basis of God's own commitment, that the best is yet to come.” 
J.I. Packer

“For me the most radical demand of Christian faith lies in summoning the courage to say yes to the present risenness of Jesus Christ.”  Brennan Manning, Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.” Charles W. Colson

“A dead Christ I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything for me.” Andrew Murray, Jesus Himself

 

Thinking About Easter

PWC

                         

GROW - LOL

Listen

I Peter I:3-5

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

Yep!

Easter Sunday is March the 27th. Easter Sunday is everyday for followers of the Way