MAC KIRK

Moving on up and on! Forward . Hebrews 5:11-6:12 Chuck Swindoll , the radio preacher, and author of many good Christian devotional books said it this way, " Three steps forward, two steps back: Persevering through Pressure." This is the case of those the writer to the Hebrews is dealing with, and many times it is ours as well. Our society and churches have been inflicted with the virus of this world and are not being transformed by the renewing of their minds. Hebrews 5---"you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. " ch 6---"Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God" And an even greater possibility, an extreme circumstance for some, " For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enl...

Meditation on Hebrews 4:12-16 " It is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written...." Article XX How do we know about God except He has given us His Word? We know about Him through His Word ? " For the word of God is living and active & sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 But as I thought about this and agree with it that the Word is written, is not the Word Christ Himself? John 1:1 reminds us that the Word was with God and is God....and this is talking about Jesus for He became flesh and dwelt among us. 1:14 The Word , Jesus, is a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, the Son of God. We have a structure and strong deliverer , not sand, but a House built upon the Rock, and as ST Paul said, " and the rock was Christ" I Corinthians 10...

Hebrews 3-4:11 Verbs! "How many people would like to be good, if only they might be good without taking trouble about it! They do not like goodness well enough to hunger and thirst after it, or to sell all that they may buy it; they will not batter at the gate of the kingdom of heaven; but they look with pleasure on this or that aerial castle of righteousness, and think it would be rather nice to live in it." Source: as quoted in The Gospel in George MacDonald The last few Sundays we have looked at the ministry of the angels, last week, the greatness of Christ & now as we enter into ch 3 and 4 we have a wonderful gift that we must act on. The gift is given to us , the gift of the Son, who " made purification of sins 1:3 " , " crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God, he should taste death for every man." 1:9 Today we are to "consider" Usage: I take note of, perceive, consider carefully, discern, detect, make account of. ...

Hebrews 2 Drifting or Anchored? Is it possible to drift away from our faith and religion? We call it apostasy, a " falling away from the living God" ( Erdman) Hebrews thinks so. Hebrews 2: 1 tells us to think about not "drifting away " from the things that we have heard. Watching sailing boats does not make us a sailor for example. We may need encouragement to persevere. All of us do. Last week we spoke of angels. Today the message from Hebrews contrasts angels with Jesus Christ, our Lord. He made " purfication of sins" being much better than the angels. Christ, the eternal Son, was born in human flesh so that we could be redeemed. Let me ask it this way. If you have ever gone through a difficulty or stress, who is helpful? Yes, the one who has also gone through it too , and can be an encourager for they know the pitfalls, the problems and the difficulties. We read in 2:18. " For in that He himself has suffered being tempted, H...

Mark 9/ James 3 What does a servant look like? Someone just like you or me that tries to do God's will, and in the power of the Spirit imitate Jesus, the Divine Son? Could we make theological statements ( Jesus said to them, " Who do you say that I am? "They replied, " You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kergyma of which we find the ultimate meaning in our inter-personal relationships" And Jesus said, " What?" or would it be just better to go what our Lord , the writers of the Epistles say to us? ---that is the actual words of the Bible. That would be better, than guessing in words of ? Interesting the word servant is actually diakonos...dia- thorougly , konis-dust...in other words, raise up dust , they are moving to serve and minister. They had been talking about who would be the greatest while He had just told them about His Cross, death, and His resurrection. "Then He took a child and set him i...

James 2 Henri J. M. Nouwen "When we honestly ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." Sometimes too preaching can be empty if it is not without Christ and His Spirit, and I too can id with that one as the preacher now and then. Source: Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life " If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find him in the chalice." ST John Chrysostom James was writing to the Jews who had become Christians. 1:1 " to the twelve tribes of the Di...

Reflections on faith and good deeds for others James I introduce this by quoting Charles Erdman, " One may be most scrupulous in observing all the prescribed forms of religion, he may give alms and pray and fast as the Pharisees did: he may attend church and sing hymns and observe sacraments; but his religion may still be an empty and vain delusion...." Before we think about some of things which please God, note that the gift of God is faith itself as James says, " every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights...Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." 1:17 This is James' way of saying what we already know, that our faith and birth in the new life is brought forth by God, and not our own efforts. Born of the Spirit is how John says it. 3:5 " except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." ...