MMC Podcast Episode 65 The Birth of Jesus With Jean Geerthsen.

MMC Podcast Episode 64 with Rev. Jim Ramage.

ARE YOU READY.

Judges 16:15-22

Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[a] And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

What is most important?

Past. Juan Carlos Ortiz

Matthew 22:34-40 - Common English Bible

34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they met together. 35 One of them, a legal expert, tested him. 36 “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”  

Love God with every fibre of your being (heart, mind, being)

AND

Love people the same way you love yourself.

Where would you think you do this the best??

Where would you think you struggle the most with this???

Matthew 22:34-40 - Common English Bible

37 He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”  

To Whom Do We Belong

Reminder about past weeks Sermons

Jim:

Nike reference – what we do when God doesn’t just do it?

-Who actually does what God Wants?

Alex:

-Check yourself before you wreck yourself

God’s plans about us doesn’t change, our actions of greed, are the ones that drift us away from God.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself

When the Outsiders get IN …

Matthew 21 - New International Reader's Version

28 “What do you think about this?

A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

29 “ ‘I will not,’ the son answered. But later he changed his mind and went.

30 “Then the father went to the other son. He said the same thing. The son answered, ‘I will, sir.’ But he did not go.

31 “Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “What I’m about to tell you is true. Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 John came to show you the right way to live. And you did not believe him.

But the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. You saw this. But even then you did not turn away from your sins and believe him.

When the Outsiders get IN …

Jesus asks - “Who are IN?”

Those who DO what God wants

Matthew 7 - New International Reader's Version

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do what my Father in heaven wants will enter. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord! Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we drive out demons in your name? Didn’t we do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will tell them clearly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who do evil!’

24 “So then, everyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like a wise man. He builds his house on the rock. 25 The rain comes down. The water rises. The winds blow and beat against that house. But it does not fall. It is built on the rock. 

26 But everyone who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man. He builds his house on sand. 27 The rain comes down. The water rises. The winds blow and beat against that house. And it falls with a loud crash.”

28 Jesus finished saying all these things. The crowds were amazed at his teaching. 29 That’s because he taught like one who had authority. He did not speak like their teachers of the law.

Jesus says that those who DO what God wants are …

… like people who build their lives on a rock

God’s plan is to get Outsider IN

Will you help people who are in-between?

When things don’t go our way …

Jonah 3 - New International Reader's Version

10 God saw what they did. He saw that they stopped doing what was evil. So he took pity on them. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.

Jonah 4 - New International Reader's Version

1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong. He became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord. Here is what Jonah said to him. “Lord, isn’t this exactly what I thought would happen when I was still at home? That is what I tried to prevent by running away to Tarshish.

I knew that you are gracious. You are tender and kind. You are slow to get angry. You are full of love. You are a God who takes pity on people. You don’t want to destroy them. 3 Lord, take away my life. I’d rather die than live.”

4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5 Jonah had left the city. He had sat down at a place east of it. There he put some branches over his head. He sat in their shade. He waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God sent a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah. It gave him more shade for his head. It made him more comfortable.

Jonah was very happy he had the leafy plant. 7 But before sunrise the next day, God sent a worm. It chewed the plant so much that it dried up. 8 When the sun rose, God sent a burning east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head. It made him very weak. He wanted to die. So he said, “I’d rather die than live.”

9 But God spoke to Jonah. God said, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” Jonah said. “In fact, I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant. But you did not take care of it. You did not make it grow. It grew up in one night and died the next. 11 And shouldn’t I show concern for the great city of Nineveh? It has more than 120,000 people. They can’t tell right from wrong. Nineveh also has a lot of animals.”

When things don’t go our way … will we …

keep trusting God?

do what He says?

go where He wants?