MAC KIRK

Laetare Sunday John 6:1-15     This is mid-Lent.  Time for a spiritual breather/ time to look at where we have come, what we have done through God’s strength, and how to ask ourselves how we can be better Christians through this Lenten season.  In England this Sunday is called “mothering Sunday”---this is the Sunday when everyone returns to their home Churches and bring gifts to mother.  Sons and daughters bring mother flowers, rich plum cake and do all the housework for her.     This Sunday’s gospel is an enduring one from my childhood.  Who does not fondly remember the “lad” who had five barley loaves and two small fish, and how Jesus mulitiplied them for the 5,000?  As we review this “sign”/ miracle of Jesus today in our own minds, I note two things: 1.      Jesus took what the lad had, and multiplied it. Vs. 11 “ and Jesus took the loaves..” These were the loaves of the lad.  Whatever pr...

“Love in Lent” Ephesians 5:1-14     “ the fruit of the Spirit is all righteousness, goodness and truth” “ Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” “ For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord”     We would not think perhaps to list love as one of the things we should put on during Lent, but that is what the Epistle focuses in on for today.  What a place the world and the church would be if we applied this now.  We would want to be doing things that are” well pleasing to the Lord” 5:10a now so that our lives would reflect His light in the world.  “ Walk as children of light” and have “ no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness”     Be followers or the word in the original is imitators ( from the greek word where we get our word mimic)of God.  We mimic from an early age as young people we need an example to follow....

Matthew 15:21-28       In Mark 7 where this account is too we have this, “ He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon .   And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hid.” Vs 24   .   Dr. Morgan said the “then” was important….” Perhaps we may summarize the whole matter by saying that He withdrew from the infidelity of traditional religion to the faith which lives outside the covenant”   The Pharisees and scribes were “hypocrites” according to Jesus because their “heart is far from me.” Matthew 15:8   “ And a woman of Canaan came out …crying,’ Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil” 15:21        Who was this woman?   She was not an Israelite. She was a Greek woman and a worshipper perhaps of her god Asherah or even nature itself.   She came to Jesus because she heard of His healing power.   1. ...

Testing and Temptation   Matthew 4:1-11       “ There is no conquest without a combat”   Matthew Henry on this passage of Scripture.   As Christians we are tempted, but if we do not yield to the temptation we have conquered yielding to that temptation and do not sin.   Interesting how we rename things that are really sinful….get drunk=get bombed for example or a lie is a white lie and therefore not that bad.   Or here is one, “ an affair” = adultery.   Ok. You get my point. How should we approach temptation and testing? Jesus had to do that and we can learn something about how we should do it as well in this passage of Scripture.       Point 1.   The trick of the devil is to get us to doubt our identity as His Children , Christians.   “ If you are the Son of God….”   This is repeated by the devil again in vs 6 ( as well as vs 3).   Who are we really?   In times of self doubt we...

Quinquagesima   I Corinthians 13   A More Excellent Way       This chapter of Scripture hardly needs any introduction.   Its uses are practical right now in our lives.   We need to be exhorted and encouraged to follow this way of doing things for in the end we will feel better about ourselves and God will be pleased.      Luther summed it up well when he said on this passage, “ Justification of necessity precedes love.   One does not love until he has become godly and righteous. Love does not make us godly, but when one has become godly love is the result.”      We learn first that “ nothing beats love.”   Vs 1-3   The Apostle starts out with a series of hypothetical impossibilities.   “ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass , or a tinkling cymbal.”   And having the tongues things will not impress God either…th...

Just found this on the Church of England web site and I like what it is saying. The formal forgiveness of sins.   In the  Book of Common Prayer , Cranmer made it abundantly clear that it was God alone who forgives sins, in explicit contradiction of the Roman catholic theological position which made it necessary for a priest to act as an intermediary.   Thus in the absolution in the 1662 prayer book, the minister says that God has “given power and commandment to his Ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their sins: He (sc. God) pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel”.   Thus the minister proclaims the truth and actuality of what God is doing.   Liturgical revision has weakened this stance.   The Alternative Service Book 1930 has an absolution in which the minister simply prays for the forgiveness of the congregation (for...

Septuagesima   I Corinthians 9:24-27 “ And this I do for the glad tidings ( for the gospel’s sake)”  9:23       The weeks before Lent we have an opportunity to do a bit of accounting.  I am not talking about doing our taxes.  That can be an accounting as well but we are not talking about that kind of accounting today.  (Although our Lord does want us to honestly pay our taxes and obey the government if it does not go against the commandments)  I would like for us to lay back spiritually and ask ourselves, “ Just what kind of Christian example am I setting for others anyway?”       The Apostle Paul realized in this chapter “ woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” 9:16  But how often do we preach something other than the good news with our lives?  Our words do matter.  Our actions are a reflection of our words and our belief system.  If everything were taken from us, what...