MAC KIRK

  Sun, Apr 6, 2025 The 5th Sunday in Lent--- Isaiah43:16-21 ;Philippians 3:4b-14;John 12:1-8; Psalm 126 "True Christian Devotion-The Supper at Bethany" Is this a story of rejection?  Or is it a story of reception and deep love for another?  It is all of the mentioned.  It is almost a week before the Passover , Palm Sunday as well. The scene is set for Holy Week, the week when Jesus did the Passover meal with His disciples . We know it as Holy Communion.  Good Friday is also that week . In the light of all of this, we are at a supper with Lazarus, Mary, Martha and the ever unfaithful Judas. Mary is at the heart of this event.  Remember Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11.  Here she annoints the feet of Jesus and prepares him for burial vs. 7 " for the day of my burying". In Luke 10:38-42 she sat at His feet.   1. What does it mean to have true Christian devotion?  I would say it starts with an understanding of who J...

  Sun, Mar 30, 2025 The Fourth Sunday in Lent Josh (4:19-24) 5:1(2-8)9-12 Ps 34 or 34:1-8 2 Cor 5:17-21 Luke 15:11-32 " The two parables are written to heal our wounds, for they represent the Divine remedy that comes from the Trinity, the father representing God the Father, the shepherd Christ, and the woman the church - Ambrose"  in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture-Luke " But you, Lord, are good and merciful, and your right hand plumbed the depths of my death, draining the cesspit of corruption in my heart, so that I ceased to will all that I had been wont to will, and now willed what you willed." St. Augustine of Hippo "In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and writer, toured St. Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the famous Hermitage where he saw, among other things, Rembrandt's painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and received the natural light of a nearby window. Nouwen stood for two ...

  Sun, Mar 23, 2025 The Third Sunday in Lent Ex 3:1-15 Ps 103 or 103:1-12 1 Cor 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9(10-17)  " YBH-Yes But How?..." "A man borrowed a book from an acquaintance. As he read through it, he was intrigued to find parts of the book underlined with the letters YBH written in the margin. When he returned the book to the owner, he asked what the YBH meant. The owner replied that the underlined paragraphs were sections of the book that he basically agreed with. They gave him hints on how to improve himself and pointed out truths that he wished to incorporate into his life. However, the letters YBH stood for "Yes, but how?" Those three letters could be writ on the margins of ours souls: "I ought to know how to take better care of myself, but how?" "I know I ought to spend more time in scripture reading and prayer, but how?" "I know I ought to be more sensitive to others, more loving of my spouse, more understanding of the weakn...

  Deut 26:(1-4)5-11 Ps 91 or 91:9-16 Rom 10:4-13 Luke 4:1-13; The First Sunday in Lent Too Tempting The story is told of four high school boys who couldn't resist the temptation to skip morning classes. Each had been smitten with a bad case of spring fever. After lunch they showed up at school and reported to the teacher that their car had a flat tire. Much to their relief, she smiled and said, "Well, you missed a quiz this morning, so take your seats and get out a pencil and paper." Still smiling, she waited as they settled down and got ready for her questions. Then she said, "First question--which tire was flat?" from sermons@sermons.com King James Bible "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" The Hymn says it all so well for the Season by George Hunt Smyttan, 1856 " Forty Days and Forty Nights -Thou Wast Fasting in the Wild Forty ...

  A Meditation on the Transfiguration---Sunday before the 40 days to Easter   This week we are led up to a mountain , secluded, snowy ---  probably Mount Hermon with Jesus and His disciples to pray.  He had just spoken words of suffering and death ." Luke :23--- "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away."   The Disciples had been called, and had seen the miracle of feeding the many people about 5, 000.  What was happening now on the Mountain?  He shows Himself to them, white and glistering .  His face was changed. They saw His glory.     We too have mountains in our lives where we stop and rest and pray.  It can be a place that we know, or a place we imagine in o...

  That Love Thing -Luke 6:27-38  "How am I to ascertain whether or not a company of professing Christians, whether in a church, a Bible Institute or anywhere else, will truly help or hinder me? In this way: Does their teaching and influence make my conscience more tender or more callous? Does it emphasize the loftiness of the holy standard God has set before me and make me realize how far, far short I come of it, or does it make me pleased with myself? Does it foster pride or humiliation?" ~ Arthur Pink, "Letter to Lowell Green, June 3 1934" This quote is very helpful to our Christian growth I believe.  Where we go to Church, if we go, and we should if possible is important. Today's Sermon is more of a meditation, than a sermon with points....  Today's reading is from the Sermon on the Plain again, and it hits home for a lot of us of course who listen.  Luke 6 : "27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Ble...

  The Sixth Sunday of Epiphany Jer 17:5-10 Ps 1 1 Cor 15:12-20 Luke 6:17-26 ( and the 70 Days before Easter- Septuagesima) " Count Your Blessings"   ---Why is it that disasters and bad things seem to highlight the news and our lives?  We pay attention !  But the good things are not so important it seems at least .  The hymn " Count Your Blessings"  Rev. Oatman Johnson wrote over 3000 hymns. This one is well -known.  It says so much.  Today's Gospel has many positive and blessed thoughts from our Lord. It is a Beatitude on the plain .  Matthew has it on the mount.◄ Luke 6:17 ► "And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases" He had just called the  12 Disciples/ Apostles . He spent the night praying before He did it.  He heals the...

  The Fifth Sunday of Epiphany Judg 6:11-24 Ps 85 1 Cor 15:1-11 Luke 5:1-11  "The Call" "Little Transmitters In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe "Pioneer 10." Its main mission was to reach Jupiter and send back information about that planet. It was a bold plan because at that time no satellite had gone beyond Mars. Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and so much more. It swung past Jupiter in November, 1973, then passed Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. By 1997, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun. Despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to earth. The most remarkable thing was that those signals were powered by an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light. Not even the most optimistic scientist could have ever imagined what that little 8-watt transmitter could do. So it is when you and I offer ourselves to God in faithful obedience. It’s just incr...

  Candlemas, Presention of the Lord in the Temple. Luke 2:22-40     Some things are defining.  " Men declare themselves by their attitude to Him ( Jesus).  They cannot ultimately be neutral.  When men see Christ suffer , their reaction shows on which side they stand."  The Gospel According to St. Luke by Leon Morris  I want to focus on Luke 2: 34 "And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." 1. Simeon blessed them.  He had been waiting to see the infant Christ child, and here 40 days after His birth He does. He utters words that are famous in many traditional Services at Evening Prayer since the 4th century.  We call it the"   Nunc Dimittis" literally now let depart... The Salvation He was w...

  3rd Sunday after Epiphany: Neh 8:1-12 Ps 113 1 Cor 12:12-27 Luke 4:14-21  "Jesus is the Pattern for our Ethics ( as was His custom-ethos or ethics)" WORDS OF WISDOM “Feeling good about ourselves is essential in our being able to love others.” FRED ROGERS  ( he was a Presbyterian minister , and we could learn from how he applied his faith to apply ours in some good way) The I Corinthian ch . 12 reading talks about this in a very graphic way, " the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." We may want to say it this way.  Jesus is the pattern for our ethics.  In Luke the word custom, " as was His custom" is the greek word ethos.  "The Greek verb "ethó" primarily means to be accustomed to or to be in the habit of doing something. It implies a repeat...

  2nd Sunday after Epiphany.  Lessons: Isa 62:1-5 Ps 96; 1 Cor 12:1-11 ;John 2:1-11; Message- " Jesus Manifested His Glory" "The Jews attached great importance to the high moments of life. Thus a wedding was not just a brief ceremony, but an experience shared by the entire community. The typical wedding feast could last up to seven days. That sounds strange to our modern way of thinking, but this offered a bright interlude in an otherwise dreary existence. The ceremony would begin on Tuesday at midnight. After the wedding the father of the bride would take his daughter to every house so that everyone might congratulate her. It was a community experience. Weddings were a time of joy. Years ago, when Johnny Carson was the host of The Tonight Show, he interviewed an eight year old boy. The young man was asked to appear because he had rescued two friends in a coalmine outside his hometown in West Virginia. As Johnny questioned the boy, it became apparent to him and the audie...

  1st Sunday after Epiphany. Isa 42:1-9 Ps 89:1-29 or 89:20-29 Acts 10:34-38 Luke 3:15-22  ; " Epiphany Living"   The first thing I do in preparing the message for the Sunday is to look at the season, and the lessons.  The hymn we will sing at the end of the service is a seasonal hymn in that it talks about this in one of the stanzas left out in the hymnal. "Oh, lead me, Lord, that I may lead The wand’ring and the wav’ring feet; Oh, feed me, Lord, that I may feed Thy hung’ring ones with manna sweet."   That is the point of Epiphany.  The Gospel is for all, not just for us here. Another vs left out " Oh, give Thine own sweet rest to me, That I may speak with soothing pow’r A word in season, as from Thee, To weary ones in needful hour."  Epiphany is manifesting and showing God's power and love to others , so that they too would be fed with God's manna. This is the example of the Wise men in Matthew 2 that we read last week..."there came wise men...

  A Beginning to the New Year Message. Second Sunday after Christmas Day:Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ps 84; Eph 1:3-14 ;Luke 2:22-40 or Matt 2:1-12 "Living without Christ Fred Craddock once told a parable about a man who moved into a cottage equipped with a stove and simple furnishings. As the sharp edge of winter cut across the landscape, the cottage grew cold as did its occupant. He went out back and pulled a few boards off the house to kindle the fire. The fire was warm, but the house seemed as cold as before. More boards came off for a larger fire to warm the now even colder house, which in return required an even larger fire, demanding more boards. In a few days the man cursed the weather, cursed the house, cursed the stove, and moved away. The futility that man felt is the futility of those who try to live the Christian life without Christ. He is the Word that was in the beginning with God and was God. And he is alive today. To those of us who are drowning he is someone we can hold on...