MAC KIRK

Prayer for Advent.   I Thessalonians 3:9-13       The Apostle prays for the Christians at Thessalonica “ Now God Himself and our Father,   and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.   And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father , at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” 3:11-13      This is Advent.   In every chapter of this letter of Paul and especially at the end of each chapter the second coming of Christ is mentioned.   Note the Apostle begins with the Lord increasing them and helping them to abound in love one toward one another.   So Advent is about Christian love?   I think a while back I preached a sermon on process and the product.   The Christian life is a process and it is a journey.   What we produce is not as important I think we said as the process.   That sounds l

The Revelation of Jesus Christ- the unfolding of the Truth 1:4b-8       The title of John’s epistle is apocalypse in the original language and it means an uncovering of something that was hidden.   It is a revelation.   This is something made known to us that we could not know by ourselves alone. Romans 16:25 uses the same word “ Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery.”   This is really the core of our understanding of faith.   We could not know it except it be revealed to us.        This may be a crude illustration but it serves the purpose.   I was giving my dogs a piece of ham. I put it away .Then they went into the other room thinking there was some better treats.   At this point I decided to take out the ham and enjoy it again but there they were sitting in the other room waiting for food they were not going to get.   Is this not a picture of our ignorance?  

Time of Trouble---then what happens?   Daniel 12:1-3;   Mark 13:1-8;   Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25       Let me remind us of something you know.   Trouble is here.   Here it is in practical terms of everyday life that I got in an e mail the other day: I Believe... That just because two people argue, It doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, It doesn't mean they do love each other. I Believe.... That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you, every once in a while and you must forgive them for that. I Believe.... That it's taking me a long time To become the person I want to be. I Believe.... That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. Daniel says, “ there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was ..” 12:1b   Mark tells us this too:”   “ For nation shall rise against nation, ….

  All Saints 2012 -Meditation      Isaiah 25:6-9;Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44       Some things happen quietly.   There is a certain rhythm about the change of seasons that can verify that.   All of the sudden we were cold.   So we put the heat on.   The leaves have been dropping for a while and there are more and they are brown.   I liked it when they were green, yellow and brown.   I was talking to someone at the store the other day who said they had preached at their local church for the first time.   I said, “ pastors and preachers are the only ones who do not see the fruit of their labors”   What I meant by that is that change happens slowly and we are not always the witnesses of that.      Today we celebrate the Saints of God.   Who are they?   They are people. They are people that are called by God to serve Him and others and not themselves.   They are not usually normal for there is really no such thing.   Each of us is unique and we are individual