Family Ministry

In the book of the Bible, we call, "Hebrews," there is a theme that courses through the message: Listen up!

Hebrews 1:1-3: Listen up, because God has been speaking to us in a lot of different ways over time but now He is speaking to us through his very own Son. This Son, Jesus is the "exact representation of His being." ("His," referring to God the Father).

Hebrews 2:1, Pay careful attention to what you've heard so that you won't drift away

Hebrews 3:7-11, Remember the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years? Don't be like them. What did they do? They heard God's voice and didn't listen.

Hebrews 4 expounds on the Old Testament references from chapter 3 to point out that each day is a new opportunity to hear God but our hearing is not just about words and ears, it is about believing and obeying.

Hebrews…

This week we looked at the parables of Matthew 24 & 25. The point that Jesus is stressing in these stories is that of vigilance. He is going to be leaving the disciples and then, at some point, He will return. Knowing how men's hearts work, Jesus warns them that they will be tempted to be lazy and wicked in His absence. People rationalize this kind of behavior and think that they can clean up their mess in time and everything will be OK. Inevitably something goes wrong and mom and dad pull into the driveway an hour earlier than you'd expected.

Somewhere in that last paragraph, my analogies shifted, but you get the idea right?

In a Jesus sense, we too are looking forward to another coming of Christ. We are hopeful and we too should heed the message of the parables to be ready.

A general lesson pertains…

Photo by Jose Ramirez on Unsplash

The text that Vern preached on this past Sunday is Luke 16:19-31. It is known as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. You should read it and hear for yourself Jesus' storytelling mastery.

The gist is this: Lazarus is a beggar who sits at the gates of the rich man's estate. They both die. Lazarus goes to Abraham's bosom while the rich man goes to a place of torment. The rich man can see Lazarus and Abraham and begs for help. First, he begs for himself, that he would be comforted. Then he asks that someone would be sent to warn his brothers, so they would not endure the same fate as he. Both requests are denied and Abraham's quote at the end is, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone…

"That's not fair!"

It is an unavoidable phrase that must be uttered in every home at some point in time. As selfish creatures, we tend to get upset when someone gets to stay up later or get less severe of a punishment. Our Godly sense of justice is ignited and we cannot help but speak up!

Several of Jesus' parables contain elements of this universal feeling. The unmerciful servant is one that we can relate to. He is forgiven a large debt but then cannot perpetuate that forgiveness and extent mercy to someone who owes him a little.

This is such an important lesson for all of us because it really gives us a glimpse into God's heart. What pleases the Lord? What makes Him angry? This is it - if He forgives you and yet you hold the grudge or let bitterness grow - the good Lord does not…