Mark 7

Clean and Unclean

 5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"

 6He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
   " 'These people honor me with their lips,
      but their hearts are far from me.
 7They worship me in vain;
      their teachings are but rules taught by men.'^[b] 8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

 9And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe^[c] your own traditions! 10For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,'^[d] and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'^[e] 11But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

 14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "^[f]

 17After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")

 20He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

Sunday Message February 10th -

I don’t really have a “title��? line or 8 sentences for a brief synopsis.  I would maybe say it would be Christ, your Deliverer. 

- Mark Stahl

Our father, Abraham, was a "sojourner," a migrant as we would say nowadays. 

He and his wife Sarah left their original home and travelled through places they had never been before. By faith, their hope was to receive a homeland that had no origin in human aspirations or construction. Rather, they looked ahead, not behind, to receive a homeland designed, conceived, and created by God.

By faith we, who have believed in Christ, are also migrants. Our home is not here, but rests in the heart of God. Therefore, though we live on this planet, though we have learned values based on the things of this world, we pursue those things no longer. Rather, we long for righteousness, mercy, and love, values grounded in the kingdom of God. We look ahead, not behind, for Abraham's real homeland, too.

Are you prepared to journey into joy?  Where will your current direction take you?  The gospel of Mark, when put into practice will take you to a fruitful place in your life that will give fullness of joy.  The first cry of the book of Mark is to prepare!!!  Examine your life and acknowledge your guilt.  That is step one.  Step two is to begin to follow Jesus in the little everyday opportunities.  We will examine as we go where they are and what to do.  God be with you in your journey to joy and the vision for the next step.  So start by sitting quietly and asking God for the help you need to be prepared.  Another daily practice, I will encourage since we are told to pray without ceasing, is as follows.  Pray the Lord's Prayer (Mt 6:9) in the prayer pattern of the apostle Peter in the book of Acts at 9am, noon and 3pm.  It only takes 25 seconds but in those 25 seconds you are bringing to your mind, seven key principles in following Jesus, you are praying the perfect prayer, you are building your faith by hearing the word of God spoken from your lips and you are a step closer to praying without ceasing.

The second half of this message vanished.  Here's the jist of it.

How far do we allow our minds to wander? 

The apostle Peter wants our minds too ponder the truth of our faith with every bit of concentrated effort. 

What is a specific way Peter urges us to make every effort?

A fight against thoughts we know are greedy or immoral, Peter says is critical.  We will at some point encounter teachers who will subtly encourage you to allow sinful, lustful thoughts to linger in your mind.  Jesus died for you so it is ok.  He'll forgive you.  It is easy to forget that we were cleansed completely from our old sins and now to not make any, none, no room at all. 

We are called to be holy in our thinking.  If we lose that battle in our mind, we will lose the battle in our hearts and once we lose our hearts, we could return to the vomit like a dog or the mud like a pig.  It would be better if we had never known the truth.  2 Peter 2

Thank Jesus for his salvation and fight, fight, fight for clean thinking.