Gracious Words

It was said of Jesus: “And all bare Him witness, and wondered at the Gracious Words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?  ~ Luke 4:22 

   

Our Message today touches the heart of each individual as we explore “Gracious Words.”  It was said of Jesus that all who heard Him that day in the Synagogue wondered at His Gracious Words! Gracious has a depth of meaning that is often overlooked.  For a few minutes we focus on its meaning: Merciful, Compassionate, polite to inferiors … In this Message today we will note that Jesus had been among the people routinely at the Synagogue, now all of sudden they notice Him in a different light. What brought about the changes in Jesus? He had gone through ‘preparation’ for His Ministry, He had passed the test of temptation, He had been faithful to honor His Father. How did He pass His temptations?  By speaking the Word of God. Jesus returned from His testings “in the power of the Spirit!” As He read from the Book of Isaiah, the Scripture revealed who He was: And what stopped them in their tracks and caused them to wonder at the Gracious Word, was when He said: “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears! Gracious Words should come forth from our mouth when we are filled with the Spirit of God. Words of Mercy, Compassion, and love for the less comely! We read in [Prov. 12:14] A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: We find instruction in the Book James, Jesus half brother: And this is the point of our Message today. [3:9-11]  “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” I believe God is speaking to His followers, the ones who are called by His name. Is our conversation “Gracious?”  Is it Christ-like? Does it magnify God? Does both blessings and cursing come from our lips?  “…be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” ~ 1 Tim. 4:12  Let us press for the prize of the high calling together!   Loving you, Pastor

The Mother Heart of God!

“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted …”  ~ Isaiah 66:13

Mother’s Day Blessings from Pastor: This Special Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia in 1908.  An unknown author penned this Precious Invocation:

“O God, who has built up Thy Church through the divers Gifts and Graces of they faithful servants; we give Thee humble thanks for the example of devoted women, and especially, this day,  for our Mothers; and we beseech Thee to maintain among us the shelter of a Mother’s Love and the protection of a Mother’s Prayer; in the name of Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!”

We welcome the Mothers to the Lord’s house today and we honor you! We pray that God will surround you with His precious Holy Spirit as you are honored in the midst of the Commerce family. As we celebrate this great day our heart turns toward the Word of God. There we see God remembers Mothers in Scripture:  No matter the Child, whether there were wise or foolish, righteous or evil – their Mother is remembered. I read perhaps a dozen time or more: “His Mother’s name was …” You will no doubt remember this: [Matt. 20:20-22] “Then came to Jesus the Mother of Zebedde’s children and when Jesus asked What wilt thou? She said unto Him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on they right hand, and the other on the left, in Thy Kingdom!” Who else but a Mother would be so passionate about their sons? When you think of what she requested of Jesus, we see the heart of a Mother, wanting the best for her children. Thank God for Mothers of unfeigned Faith such as the Grandmother Lois and the Mother Eunice had as they raised Timothy.  As Paul related this to Timothy He said; “I am persuaded that such Faith is also in you! To all the Mothers, we love and appreciate you! Blessed are the Mothers of today and tomorrow, for they have been summoned to a great heroic hour. Loving You, Pastor

After Death - Life

Jesus said: “I Am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I Am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”  ~ Revelation 1:18

We have followed Jesus in the preparation for His Ministry, we walked along the shores of Galilee with Him, we have seen His miracle working power. We have heard those powerful Words that He spoke to Martha in John 11:25-26 −“I Am the Resurrection and the Life!”  Perhaps we should meditate a moment upon the ladder part of that Scripture; “…He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.”  It is important to take a good look at Jesus after His death.  We often focus on the Resurrection and then after Resurrection Sunday move on to other subjects.  But it is good to focus on Jesus life after His death and after His Resurrection.  When we focus on this period of His life after everything we learn some powerful information. An encounter with Him after His Resurrection causes our hearts to burn within us! No burning, No manifestation of His presence! To experience this ‘burning’ that the disciples experienced came as they took time to walk with the Risen Lord!  Time to inhale His Words and remember the elements of who He is:  The Bread and the Fruit of the vine. The moment the Bread broke Bread!! Yes He is the Bread that came down from heaven and He is the one who broke bread with His followers. That minute He shared the emblems of Himself with them they knew it was Jesus!  As we take time to walk with the Lord Jesus, He will reveal Himself to us.  After His death in Resurrection He walked with His disciples, talked with them, ate Fish with them – and they handled the marks of His wounds. They knew Him as they had known Him and so it is with our loved ones that have preceded us in death.  We will know them, they will be youthful as Jesus is for we read …1 John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. Jesus ascended into heaven 33-34 and we shall be like HIM!    Always praying for you, and loving you, Pastor