Pastor Mac’s Table

6“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7“Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.      Luke 12:6-7 This is a comparative statement. Jesus is using it to let us know how valuable we are to God. Jesus is not saying God doesn't care about sparrows. He is saying God cares more about us. So, I want to focus a little bit on the value of a sparrow to God. First I will not assume everyone knows what a sparrow is. A sparrow is a small, common, dull bird. Five sparrows for two pennies is really cheap. Yet, Jesus is saying not one sparrow will fall to the ground without God knowing, without God counting. God will remember that sparrow. We don't care about the sparrow; we don't pay attention, but God does. He sees and he keeps track. He sorrows. We often lose sight of one fact, the earth is God's garden. Sometimes we forget that the earth and all of the livi...

 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.                           1 Peter 2:11 Last week I talked about the church as the assembly, those called together by Christ, called out of the world. Since we are called out of the world then we should be different. Peter, in the verse above describes us as sojourners and exiles. A sojourner is an old term. A sojourner is someone who is passing through, only in the current place temporarily. He does not belong so he only stays in hotels. He is only a temporary visitor. The other word Peter uses is exile. An exile, like a sojourner is from another place. Usually exiles want to get back home; they are reluctant visitor, forced from their land. These two words are used to describe us as Christians in this world. We are exiles from heaven, in this world but not of this world. We are passing throu...

  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.      Matthew 16:18 The Church was God's idea. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus is saying that he will build his church, while Paul tells us he gave himself for the church, Ephesians 5:25. But, what does this mean? What is this church Jesus built? In the coming weeks I hope we can gain a deeper understanding of the church so that we will know what to expect of ourselves and of our leaders in the church. We have not gotten together inside church for six months. Experts say it will probably take another year to a year and a half before we can gather together to worship and to fellowship like we did before. So, I hope that as we take a new look at who we are as a church, that we will find new and better ways to be God’s church. First, the church is the assembly, the gathered ones, the ones called together by God.  Christ called us. He called us out of ...

  Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—  yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. ”                                                                                                                                                              ...

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?                                                                                                                                                      Genesis 4:9 "Am I my brother's keeper?" This question has echoed through the ages and is one that come to us today. "Am I my brother's (or sister's) keeper?" Am I? When we consider the question literally, most of us understand that we are responsible to care for our family members. Our society loo...

15Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15 This means the coming the Kingdom of God is taking over the world. Yes, the kingdom has come but the final outcome of Rev. 11:15 is not here, yet. So, the Kingdom is coming. And it is a war fought by Christ and through his people, Christians.  Now this militant language may make some of us uncomfortable, but it is the language of the bible, take the Armor of God for example. But this is the most unusual war. It is not fought with weapons or with any physical force of man. Jesus already accomplished the winning battle as he died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the death to give us new life. In this Jesus broke the power of sin and death so that they no longer hold us in slavery. The good news that Jesus save is ground zero for the Kingdom of God. Ev...

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.                                                                                                                                   Romans 13:1-2 Good news, king Jesus brings the Kingdom of God. This impacts how we relate to our government. The verses above clearly say that governing authorities are appointed by God. So, we are not to resist th...