Associate Pastor Joel Irvin continues his series in the Gospel of Mark.----Outline-----1- Not Enough Bread, Again- Disciples' Failure to Understand Christ's Compassion Results in Sign----2- Not Enough Evidence- Pharisees' Willful Misunderstanding Results in No Sign----3- Not Enough Bread, Again- Disciples' Failure to Understand Leaven Results in Riddle---- a. The Arithmetic of Grace - Our Continuing Education

-Sung Psalm- 84-----Pastor Joel continues his series in Mark.----Outline-----1- How a Dog Can Have Her Day -vv. 24-30--- a. Patience-- b. Humility-- c. Accepting God's Plan is Best----2- Deaf - Tongue-Tied, but Made to Praise -vv. 31-37--- a. Sign Language-- b. Healed by the Word--- c. Can't Keep the Secret- -JESUS DOES ALL THINGS WELL--

-Sung Psalm- 118-----When our Lord Jesus came to his own city at the Triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, he found the temple corrupt once again. nad so our Lord did something very much like what Nehemiah had done-----The Venerable Bede says that -we ought to compare this zeal of Nehemiah to that of the Lord Saviour when, finding vendors and buyers in the temple, he made a whip from cords and drove them all outside. Nehemiah, in this as in his other undertakings, aptly conveyed a type of the true Consoler and Cleanser.-

-Sung Psalm- 126-----The passage tells us that the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem - but now they need to repopulate the rest of the city.----The first thing to see is that the leaders are taking the lead- Yes, there would be long-term benefits to living in Jerusalem- But short-term- You are starting all over. Just think about what is going on- Let's start a city from scratch- Who wants to go and create this brand-new community-- You are looking around - wondering, -who all is going to be involved in this project-- What if we don't get along- Well, more like, -What happens when we don't get along-------But the leaders took the lead - they set the example - and now the rest of the people have to decide who will join them.----And they do by casting lots, leaving the final decision in the hand of God. But also notice that they blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. Does that mean that some people lived there willingly, while others were forced to live there by -casting lots------Almost assuredly not. Just imagine the picture- you have fifty families gathered in a village to cast lots. The lot falls to five men.----Everyone is looking at you. What will you do- Will you accept the decision of the community- Will you accept the providence of God in how the lot was cast-----One man says, -No, I can't leave my land. My father died last year - and if I move to Jerusalem I will lose everything that he worked so hard to build.-----You think about your own father and all his hard work. You know that your cousin will take over the family land - but he's kind of an idiot. The lot falls to you.----Will you go to Jerusalem-

-Sung Psalm- 119-105-112-----Sometimes we don't read all the names in a list. But sometimes we need to make sure to read them. After all, this is the Word of God- And all scripture is inspired by God, -as 2 Tim 3-16 says- -and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.-----So hear now the Word of the Lord...

-Sung Psalm- 106-----Our fathers really messed up - and we're suffering because of it-----In our day, it's really tempting to read this in an individualistic way- -My parents really screwed up me------And certainly that can happen- Parents can ruin their kids lives-----But that isn't what the prayer of Nehemiah 9 is saying. When it says that -our fathers- sinned - it's not making a genetic connection to my particular parents. -Our fathers- refers to the whole of the people of Israel- whether my particular parents sinned is beside the point. By virtue of my participation in Israel now that means that I am the heir of Israel then - and so whether my particular parents sinned doesn't matter. As a part of this community, I have inherited the good, the bad, and the ugly that goes along with it.----Scripture regularly affirms the idea of corporate guilt - and particularly the idea that corporate misery is the result of corporate guilt...

-Sung Psalm- 42-----Do you notice the emphasis placed on the -Water Gate-- The Water Gate is mentioned three times in the chapter. Verse 1 - -the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate-. Verse 3 - -And he read from the Law facing the square before the Water Gate-. Verse 16 - -they made booths...in the square at the Water Gate.-----Why do they meet at the Water Gate-----In Ezekiel's vision, he saw a trickle of water flowing from the temple out toward the nations, and as the stream flowed, it grew deeper and wider until it was a great river that no one could swim across. Ezekiel's vision was rooted in the rivers of paradise. In Genesis 2-9-10 we are told that a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.----The temple had been designed as a picture of Eden - with cherubim still guarding the way back into the Most Holy Place. And outside the temple there was a great basin of water called -the sea.- And Solomon had built ten -water chariots- that spread out from sea, as reminders of how the living water of the temple was to flow out to the nations.----So when Ezekiel saw a vision of a trickle of water issuing from the temple - on the east side - flowing out of the gate that faces toward the east - Ezekiel would have recognized that the living water from the temple is now flowing out to the nations- The water chariots are on the move-----And now, 150 years after Ezekiel's vision, Ezra gathers the people at the Water Gate - on the east side of Jerusalem, near the temple.----Beginning at Jerusalem, the water of life will begin to flow-

Have you ever dealt with someone who uses words as weapons- Someone who uses verbal snares to trap you- Someone whose poisoned words are designed to fester and destroy-----Their nets become a maze - with no way out - a labyrinth that traps you in its bewildering passages and leaves you wondering where on earth you are-----How do I deal with this mess------Psalm 140 draws us out of the trap and shows us the One who protects us, guards us, and delivers us from the snares of evil men...

-Sung Psalm- 48-----The wall is finished - but the city is not. After all, without a holy people you cannot have a holy city-----The census of the returned exiles is designed to connect Nehemiah wall-building with Zerubbabel's temple-building - and connect both of these to the overarching theme of the restoration of the city of God-----Our Psalm of response is Psalm 48 - a song that celebrates the presence of God in his holy city.----This is something we need to remember - in our own lives- God's presence - and his power - is what makes all the difference.----Psalm 48 speaks of how the kings of the earth assembled against Jerusalem -think of Sanballat and Tobiah - not kings, but rulers-. But God's presence with his people - in his city - in his holy temple - this is what enables us to rest secure.

Any Sesame Street fans out there- Tonight's sermon is brought to you by the number four, and by the Hebrew letter yod.----I thought about preaching only on chapter 1 - but chapter 2 completes chapter 1. The promise of the measuring line in chapter 1, verse 16, is fulfilled in chapter 2, verse 1. And the judgment against the nations in chapter 1 ends in the salvation of the nations in chapter 2.----And what holds these two chapters together is the number 4.----The key number in these opening chapters is the number 4---- There are four horses -1-8-.--- There are four horns -1-18-.--- There are four craftsmen -1-20-.--- There are the four winds of the heavens -2-6-.----In other words, these opening visions are all about the whole world.--- The four horseman -patrol the earth.---- The four horns are all the nations that scattered God's people.--- The four craftsmen are those who cast down the nations that scattered God's people. --- And the four winds of the heavens describe the extent of the scattering.----And the Hebrew letter yod does something interesting to the story at the end of chapter 2 - which made me realize that the whole passage needed to go together...