MAC KIRK

    John 16:16-22   …”   A Little While and You shall see Me” 16:22 is my text. " 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you."   Sorrow here is - lýpē – properly, distress, vexation; (figuratively) physical or emotional pain; heavy, heart-sorrow (grief) that brings a person down. Biblehub.com       As Christians we have the hope based on the certainty of the record of Holy Scripture that Easter is true.   But we do not live that way, do we?   We live more as the world where our lives seem empty, hopeless and bereft of the comfort of God.   We seek those things that can never give us what we need.   The things of this world are temporal but the things which are unseen are eternal. 2 Cor 4:18 .   Of course we have sorrow that our loved ones are no longer here with us.   And that is human and natural for us to have that ...

 Shepherd Talk John 10   Shepherd Talk     Not having been raised on a farm or in a rural setting I cannot say I know much about sheep, but I have been looking at the stories of people that are Shepherds and reading about sheep as well.  You Tube has a wonderful video of a Shepherd in the hills calling his sheep in what looks like fog and they respond after he calls them repeatedly.  I learned that herding sheep is not so easy.  They have to be led to the pens with care, and be protected from poisonous plants and wolves or other predators as well as get routine medicine and vaccinations.  Shepherds also have herding dogs much like the border collie or perhaps even like the dogs we have, “welsh corgies” to get the sheep and herd them from one place to another.  It seems that it can be a very messy business but very rewarding.     Sheep are able to see color but have poor depth perception and their peripheral vision is 320 degree...

  Peace of Easter Peace- John 20:19-23       All of us long for peace in our personal lives as well as in our world.  In this world we do not see it.  Instead we read of wars breaking out, conflicts that you and I can name as we pick up the papers.  Nearer to home , peace in our families seems difficult or uncommon.  Family abuse, violence, separation and divorce are all common, and none of us is unaffected by it.         On the Resurrection day, Jesus said it two times, v. 19 and v. 21 “ Peace be with you”  “ Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘ Peace be unto you.’  ( the original work is eirene which we get our word irenic which means peaceful)  This peace is given by the blood of the Cross....

  Easter   Witnesses to the Resurrection” On this Easter Day we are vividly reminded of the people who saw the empty tomb and the Lord Himself raised from the dead. The evidence of the resurrection is seen in the people who saw Jesus and told about it. If we can demonstrate this through the witnesses , then we are giving weighty evidence to those who are struggling with unbelief, doubt and despair. These are myths some say. They are not able to be proved. Today people want others to share with them what has happened and the reality of what Jesus did, is and who He proves to be is seen in the witnesses to the resurrection. We do not live in an age that enjoys the printed page so much…. People communicate thru phones, texts, and tweets , and movies, dvds and videos. People speaking to people is more powerful to our culture than a manuscript in today’s thinking at least…..  After 6 pm on Saturday, Mary Magdalene ( from Magdala—Luke tells us she ministered out of her ...

  Easter looking at it through the eyes of Mary Magdalene   Easter    John 20/Mark 16        “ Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, Not with old leaven , neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;   but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him…   Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” Morning Prayer BCP , 1928       “ The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.   The she runneth…”   Mary was the last to leave the tomb and the first to see Jesus on that Resurrection morning.   Her life was changed from the day Jesus met her according to Luke. 8:2   “ and certain women (were with him along with the 12) wh...

  Darkness and Light Together Darkness and Light Together Matthew 27 As I sat in a local restaurant the other day I wondered how many of the people there who were drinking, yes, even smoking, were actually aware in their own lives of the needs of others. What would have happened in their lives if that moment in time could have been frozen and they had to say, " this is what my life means and meant to others." In some ways the Gospel for today is a moment frozen in time, with its results that are eternal in the lives of all people. They were gathered at the Cross, the Soldiers, the women who had followed Jesus, yes, even His blessed mother, Mary, and it all came down to the Cross. It seems as though it is only a moment of darkness when Jesus was nailed to the Cross and He was dying, and then gave up the ghost. We too have very dark periods in our lives. They are moments when the light does not shine in any place we can see. Very depressed people know this trial. Unfortunately ...

 Hebrews tells us about an eternal priest and a better covenant Hebrews tells us about the way Christ went for our Salvation I do not know how one can read the New Testament and especially the Book of Hebrews without coming away with a deep sense of gratitude and awe and what Christ did for us. Some wish to write another Gospel than this, but if one is at all interested in what the Bible is saying , Hebrews is definitely a place to begin and stay for it mines the deep riches of the sacrifice of Jesus , His life and Blood for our eternal salvation. With some people this is not a very popular idea. In fact there is a whole theology that rejects it ,and especially the Book of Leviticus which is the background for Hebrews. ( much of the modern rationalist liberal theology does just that for example and some of us have heard messages that reflect this kind of thinking) If we are to be Biblically faithful , we must take it very seriously and understand the message of Hebrews for us . Fir...