Pastor's Pen

  Pastor’s Pen, This Sunday: Loving the Lord                                                                                           Mark 14:1-25 How much do you love the Lord? For that matter, how can you tell if you love the Lord enough? And how can you tell if others really love the Lord?  There is no question about how much the Lord loves us. In fact that's the point of this section of Mark's Gospel. (Mark 10:45) But at this point in our Savior's journey toward the cross,  we are brought face to face with the question of loving Him, as we consider contrasting lines of hatred and love, of devotion and conspiracy, and ultimately of the sacrifice of the Savior Himself.  *****  We appreciate those who help sanitize our facilities...

Pastor’s Pen, This Sunday: Spiritual Alertness                                                                                          Mark 13:1-37 The final week in the Savior's life was packed with many significant events. One of those we call the Olivet Discourse. One of four extensive discourses recorded in the Gospels, it focuses on the prosthetic panorama of events yet future to the disciples-- and to us! Yet the primary purpose of this discourse is not to provide a prophetic chronology, but to alert followers of Jesus to the need for spiritual alertness! The key word:  WATCH! . *****  We appreciate those who help sanitize our facilities for services each Saturday morning in preparation for Sunday worship as well as those who make it possible for us...

Pastor’s Pen, This Sunday: Grilling the Master                                                                                   Mark 12: 13-44 As we celebrate the Fourth of July, we commemorate the birth of our country, and recognize that the grilling season is in full swing. In fact, we will enjoy benefits of ‘grilling season’ following our Sunday morning service.  We also use the word grilling in a different way-- to describe what happens when politicians are grilled by the media at a press conference, or what occurs when individuals are subpoenaed to appear before a Senate or House committee. That’s where we see the kind of grilling we’ll be talking about today.  In this section of Mark's Gospel Jesus’ authority is being questioned, as we saw last week. (11:27, 28) But as...