Bad leg and picuture of Mom's stone

Hi Guys,

I went to the hospital last night and learned I have a blood clot in my left leg. I have to have shots for a few days and commidin for 20 days to desolve the clot and thin my blood.

I have to sit around a lot until things start to happen. Hopefully in a couple of days.

It was Mom's birthday on Thursday and they have her stone on her grave. I will try to put on a couple of pictures.

Pray for me.

Steve.

Sermon - 3/29

Jesus Watched the Offering Boxes
Mark 12.41-44

I am going to talk about money and giving this morning – that is a warning. We as a church do not talk about it a lot. There is one of the radio preachers, who uses the month of January each year as the time to talk about tithing, giving and offerings – every Sunday for a month. This is just one sermon, but I hope it is one that will help to see the importance that Jesus puts on giving. This teaching came near the end of the ministry and life of Jesus. He has been debating with the teachers of the law all day and this is the last of his teachings for the day.
Read Mark 12.41-44. The scene is the temple in Jerusalem in the court of the women where the offering boxes were set up – they were trumpet shaped boxes – 13 in all according to one source. We pass the offering plate, but they came be the boxes and put in their offering. I can imagine, since I know human nature, some people would just come by and slip in their offering. Others would make a lot of fanfare about their giving letting everyone know that they had given and how much. (Big bag of money or maybe stand there and count out the amount so all could see.
In this scene Jesus is watching all of the people, when a widow lady walked up and quietly put in two small copper coins – the smallest coin as far as value. (This woman is not named – I want to give her the name – Esther.) They were worth less than a penny. Others might have just laughed at what she gave or thought little of it, but Jesus called his disciples to himself and pointed out what she had done so they would notice it and so they would learn from her example. (Does the Lord watch what we put into the offering plate?)
This widow was a poor lady – widows were in those days. They had no Social Security. They had to beg sometimes or depend on their children for money. I think Esther had very little, but she was praised by Jesus because she gave out of her poverty, not out of her wealth. She put in all she had to live on. This is sacrificial giving, the kind of giving few people give. Why would she give like this? It certainly was not out of duty – the law did not require her to give like this. She did not give out of guilt – no one would check on her to see how much she gave.
I am not sure why she gave so much, but here are some possible reasons. 1) The giving was an expression of Esther’s love and trust in God. She would not have given what she did it she did not love God. She obviously loved God more than she loved money. In the verses just before the ones we are looking at is this statement – read Mark 12.38-40. The phrase I see is “they devour widow’s houses.” They thought the money they could get by stealing it from widows was more important than being honest, helping widows, and serving God with their money. These were the best of the Jewish religious men of the day. They probably taught the people that they should tithe and give as much as they could. But they were then stealing all that widows had. I can tell you, they received their reward from doing that, I think in this life and the life to come. Esther loved and trusted God to supply what she needed. Does he supply what we need? Have you seen that? This is the real issue for so many – if I give this amount, I will not have enough in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years. God supplies what we need today and he will give us what we need all of our lives.
2) Esther gave because she was also a thankful woman. Being thankful is one of the best reasons to give. God gives so much to us – so much. We show our thankfulness by giving to him and his work. I had printed a page from my prayer booklets – the one that encourages us to: Thank the God who is Generous. These are some of the things I thank God for every time I pray through this section of the booklet. Look at some of them with me.
A) I thank you God for eternal salvation because of the death of Christ. As Chrs we are saved by Christ. Our sins are forgiven completely and eternally. All of us are sinners, but through Jesus Christ, God forgives us of all our sins. B) I thank you God for purpose in life, reasons to live and serve. A few years ago we went though the book, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. As Chrs we all have a very definite purpose and reason to live for the Lord – a purpose that only we can accomplish. C) I thank you God for my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren. I could take a 100 sermons to tell you how thankful I am for my kids, their spouses and my 4 grandkids, soon to be 5. What a blessing God has given. D) I thank God for a husband or wife who is loving and faithful. I do not have a wife, but I have my friend Mary, who loves me and I can love. God has truly blessed me with her. E) I thank God for my parents, grandparents, and other relatives. Again, I do not have parents or grandparents any more, but I have relatives who love God and serve him. F) I am thankful God for my Chr friends who walk with me in the Chr life. That is all of you – you encourage me to live for the Lord as I encourage you to live for him. I am not going to go through the whole list but I challenge you to take this list home and slowly pray through it, thanking God for all he has given you.
Since I am thankful for all of these people and things God so generously gives me, I love to give to him and his causes.
3) I believe that we are motivated to give to God and his causes because the needs are so great. You know I am committed to missions of all kinds, especially foreign missions. I give because the need is so great. In our world today there are missions in every country in the world – even ones than tell Chr missionaries they can not come into their countries. There are billions – billions with a B – who still need to hear about our Lord Jesus Christ and the message of salvation that come only through him. There are millions of children who need food and clean water just to live. Missions are working to dig wells and plant crops and give food for them to eat. There are people who need to just the minimal amounts of medical care and do not get it unless we do something about it. There are AIDS victims and orphans of AIDS victims who need help. There are missionaries that need to be sent to replace ones that are retiring – young couples who want to give their lives to preach the gospel of the Lord. I could go on all day with this list too, but just to say, we need to give so the causes of God can be funded.
We have been blessed by God – Chrs and non-Chrs. I am talking about nearly all Americans – maybe blessed too much. With the blessing of God comes the responsibility to help others. We as a nation are extremely generous to others. As Chrs we need to give even sacrificially because of our love and trust in God, out of our thankfulness to God, and because we see the needs in our world that God wants fulfill.

Sermon - his eyes were on the Cross

His Eyes were on the cross
Mark 15.21 – 39

The last week of the life of Jesus Christ was a busy, dramatic week. It started with what we call Palm Sunday where Jesus came to Jerusalem riding on a donkey and was received with shouts of Hosanna and Praise God. The common people of Jerusalem received him like a king. As the week went on he cleansed the temple again, driving out the money changers. He celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples in the upper room – what we call the Last Supper. Then he went to the garden of Gethsemane where he prayed all night – struggling with what he would have to go through on the cross. At the end of the struggle, Jesus knew what he needed to do, and his eyes were on the cross. The conclusion of the night was Jesus declaring absolutely – not my will be your will, O God. I will do whatever it takes for your glory. Then Jesus went through the mockery of the Jewish trials and even the Roman trials where he was declared not guilty. He was denied by his close friend, Peter, three times.
After the trials, Jesus was taken and beaten terribly by the Romans. Finally he was lead away to Golgotha to be crucified. On the way he struggled carrying the cross and Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry his cross. Read Mark 15. 21-32. Lets look for a few minutes at what happened on the cross. (At the cross)
The condemned man probably carried the cross piece.
Laid on this cross piece – hands nailed and tied to the wood. Think about the pain of the nails.
The cross piece was attached to the upright piece, his feet nailed to the bottom of the cross and then the whole thing was raised up and put into a hole with a thud.
All of the weight of Jesus was on the nails through his hands and the nails in his feet. In order to breathe he had to push down on his feet which would lift up his body. There was a constant struggle for him to just breathe. (back from the cross)
While he was on the cross the people and the leaders mocked him – you saved others, save yourself. Come down form the cross and we will believe in you.
Even though Jesus was in terrible pain and torture, he spoke seven times according to the various gospels. In Gospel of John he told the Apostle John to take care of Mary his mother. John also recorded that he said, “I am thirsty.” In Luke it is recorded that Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. (Can you imagine forgiving others while they were in the process of killing him?) In that Gospel he told on of the other men being crucified that this day you will be with me in paradise. The Gospel of Matthew records the difficult saying, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani – My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”( I will never understand completely what that means.) Finally he said, “It is finished. Father into your hands, I commit my spirit.”
With this Jesus died on the cross. He gave up his life. He was dead. At that point a number of things happened. Read Mark 15.38-39. In the beautiful temple the heavy clothe which divided the holy of holies from the holy place was torn in two showing that the way to God was open to all.
Jesus died on the cross – that is the message of the morning. There are two questions we need to look at now. The first is what does his death on the cross mean? Why do we remember it all these centuries later? Millions of other men and women had died before Jesus. Hundreds and maybe thousands of Jews had been crucified by the Romans. Even on the day that Jesus was crucified, two others Jesus were crucified and died. What make the death of Jesus so important?
Jesus was and is the sinless Son Of God in human flesh. He came to the earth to teach us how to live for God completely. He also came to earth to die for us, so we can have forgiveness of sins. In Colossians 1.19-23 we read this. The fullness of God was in Jesus Christ the Lord. He was fully God. Jesus died on the cross and through the shedding of the blood of Jesus; God reconciled all things to himself. God is holy and demands payment for sin. On the cross, Jesus became the sacrificial lamb of God. When he died, the payment for all the sins ever done in the world, was made. I do not understand what happened. I do not understand why the payment had to be made and why it had to be made in this way, but the price was paid in full and forever.
According to this passage, God reconciled the world to himself by the death of Christ to present all people holy and acceptable to himself, without blemish and free from accusation. Preaching this is the good news, the Gospel, which is to be preached to all people. All of this was made possible because our Lord was obedient to God, was willing to endure the pain and suffering of the cross, and he died for us. Why did Jesus die on the cross? He died for the salvation of all people.
I said there were two questions we needed to ask. The first was what does the death of Christ mean? The second is what does the death of Jesus Christ mean to you and to me? There is no question that Jesus died for all, but every person needs to believe and accept the death of Christ for himself or herself. There is nothing automatic about it. You need to make a decision about Jesus Christ for yourself. I am asking all of you, do you believe that Jesus Christ died for you? Answer me by saying I believe. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is not just some ancient history. It is the event in the whole world that changed everything in the world forever for all people, at least potentially. By believing in the death of Christ, by accepting him as your Lord and savior, by being baptized into his death and raising to walk in the newness of life, you can have the hope of eternal life. I can have the hope of eternal life.

Isaac Watts – 1707 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of glory died,My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God!All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down!Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
His dying crimson, like a robe, Spreads o’er His body on the tree;Then I am dead to all the globe, And all the globe is dead to me.
Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small;Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
To Christ, who won for sinners grace By bitter grief and anguish sore,Be praise from all the ransomed race Forever and forevermore.