MAC KIRK

Matthew 5:23    " The sin of anger.."    God is "slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy" Psalm 103:8; Micah 7:18 reminds us as well that " He retaineth not His anger forever, but delighteth in mercy.."  We too are commanded to be " slow to anger, slow to wrath.." James 1:19 .  We also are to " let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger.... and evil speaking be put away ..and be ye kind one to another,... forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32     In today's Gospel we are reminded that we should " first be reconciled to our brother/sister then come and offer our gift at the altar."  Matthew 5:24  Dr. Tasker, an anglican Greek teacher said it this way in his thoughts on this passage, " Conduct is more important than formal worship."     General McArthur said ,    a peace is more than a truce. " A truce just says you don't shoot for awhile. Peace comes w...

Luke 5:1-11     In our studies on Friday mornings we have been talking about evangelism.  What does the word mean?  It means good news.  ...the word of an angel to those who are walking in their own way and in darkness.  Here is what G. Campbell Morgan said " What shall I say to the men to whom I preach the evangel?  One thing only, Submit to the Lord Christ.  And if a man do what then?  Then the Lord Christ by the Holy Spirit will make over to him the virtue of His living, will pour into him the victory of the indwelling Spirit.  These three things are the necessary consequence of the submission of life to His Lordship.  Men will not be saved by understanding the atonement.  Men will not be saved by explaining the mystery of resurrection.  Men will not be saved by explanation of the mystery of how the Spirit comes.  They will be saved by yielding to the Lord Christ.  In the moment of yielding, He makes over to...

Luke 6:36 " By the quality of our inner lives I do not mean something characterized by ferocious intensity and strain. I mean rather such a humble and genial devotedness as we find in the most loving of the saints. I mean the quality which makes contagious Christians, makes people catch the love of God from you."  Evelyn Underhill , 1875-1941, " Concerning the Inner Life".    Underhill wrote 39 books on the spiritual life and 350 articles. " Be therefore compassionate, as also your Father is." One commentator says of this passage, " A man ( person) who is unkind in his criticisms and unconscious of his own faults cannot help his fellow man; he is like a blind man trying to lead the blind." Luke , Charles Erdman The greek word here for compassionate is " to have a feeling of distress of others "   Some times we do not know when or why we should be compassionate.  We should be compassionate with our own needs as well. Nouwen said it...

Giving God our Cares   I Peter 5 :7      When Peter writes his letter it was illegal to be a Christian, and therefore much persecution was prevalent.  1:6 " you are in heaviness through manifold temptations....the trial of your faith"  What are we to do with the cares we have ?        Peter lays out what we are to do ...." Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."    The word casting is the same word used when the disciples " cast their garments upon the colt" in the triumphal entry. Luke 19:35         I cannot help but note the verses around this command to cast our cares upon God.  Note the vs around it .  They talk about being subject to one another with humility.  " God sets Himself against the proud but to the humble He gives grace."  vs. 5  Are not all of God's gifts to us grace?  " Allow yourselves to be humbled" Selwyn translates it.  The example is...

Trinity II,  2014  " Luke 14:16-24"     In the middle of talking about inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to a feast or supper, someone hears our Lord talk about this, and feels the wonder of that kind of action.  In this life it is rare that one would invite those who cannot reply in kind to such a feast. " Now when one of those who sat at table with Him heard these things, he said to our Lord,' Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God' ".     Our Lord directs this story /parable to this individual to show the hope of heaven and that we also must claim that too without excuse.  " When the critical time came, would he really accept God's invitation?  Or would he be too busy about some activity affecting his more immediate interests?" The Gospel of Luke, Leon Morris.  Too busy.  I did not know that the Captain of the Titanic received six warnings about ice bergs on that night in April of 1912 ,...

1st Sunday after Trinity 2014 Eleanor Schmidt tells this story in " Reader's Digest": " My doctor had recommended surgery and referred me to a specialist.  Arriving early for my appointment, I found the door unlocked and the young surgeon deeply engrosed in reading, behind the receptionist's desk. When he didn't hear me come in, I cleared my throat. Startled, he closed the book, which I recognized as a Bible. " Does reading the Bible help you before or after the operation?" I asked.  My fears were dispelled by his soft one word answer," During." All of our lessons today seem to me to be about the Bible which is God's revelation to us.  Someone once asked , " Pastor, which translation of the Bible do you recommend?"  I think the best answer is , " the one we read."  Our nation is a nation founded on Liberty .  In fact when I lived in Philadelphia and worked at the American Bible Society in 1976 which happened to ...

Trinity Sunday 2014    There was an Irishman , monk and abbot who died in 597 who said something about journeys that goes like this, " Alone with none but thee, my God, I journey on my way.  What need I fear, when thou art near O King of night and day?  More safe am I within thy hand than if a host did round me stand."     We are going to take a short journey this morning and recover a perspective about God and ourselves and others that will help us on our journeys in life.  Perspective is an important word.  How we look at things that may seem difficult or hard will be key in our attempts to get through the problems in our lives.  Someone said when I asked them , " How are you today?" " I have some complaining to talk about, but it would not do any good."  I told them I would hear anything for a nickel.  I was writing an e mail the other day , and left out one letter and that one letter left out made the word completely wrong. O...