SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 | PASTOR ROGER MELSON | FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD | GENESIS 18:1-33

 

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SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 | PASTOR ROGER MELSON | FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD | GENESIS 18:1-33

FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD 

GENESIS 18:1-33

In endeavoring to find a theme that runs throughout the chapter, I settled on the theme of friendship. The chapter is divided into four easily recognizable parts. Verses 1-8 comprise the first section; verses 9-15, the second; verses 16-21, the third; and verses 22-33, the fourth.

Verses 1-8 give expression to the friendship Abraham had with the Lord and the communion he most certainly had with the Lord. This whole chapter finds significance in these first verses. They are foundational for all that follows.

The second section reveals one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, for the Lord visiting Abraham’s tent dwelling at the Oak of Mamre. The Lord addresses Sarah through Abraham that her faith might be fortified.

Thirdly, there is the announcement of what God is about to do concerning the inhabitants of Sodom. Along with this announcement is a great responsibility that Abraham will undertake. That responsibility is one that extends to Christian parents today.

Finally, there is the intercession of Abraham. We will consider the main intent of Abraham’s prayer and the concept of substitution.

May today’s message be an encouragement to your life in Christ.

                                                    Roger and Marsha Melson

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: TRAPPING THE TRAPPERS | MARK 12:1-12

 

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SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: TRAPPING THE TRAPPERS | MARK 12:1-12

September 19, 2021
The Passion: Trapping the Trappers
Mark 12:13-17

In this text we find Jesus being confronted again by the Pharisees and this time also the Herdonians. What we will discover is that this account is not about taxation as we might too quickly conclude. Their question is indeed couched in a long-standing and hated subject of the Roman tax system imposed upon the nation of Israel. However, the real intent of the Pharisees and Herodians is to try and trap Jesus into saying something with which they can accuse him of violating the Law. They have picked a subject that they believe will draw the negative attention of the Jewish leaders, the Roman element, the crowds and even Jesus’s disciples. Eventually, their scheme is to kill Jesus, which of course is precisely what will take place at the end of this long and busy passion week. They seem to delight at the possibilities their confrontation will bring. But, Jesus' death will not be on their terms. Their great problem will prove to be that they are asking their questions of Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: THE PARABLE OF THE WICKED TENANTS | MARK 12:1-12

 

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SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: THE PARABLE OF THE WICKED TENANTS | MARK 12:1-12

The Passion: The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Mark 12:1-12

The parable we will study today, is the only one which Mark includes in his Gospel outside those presented in chapter four. As we have discussed already, Mark is highlighting a specific theme in his Gospel which aims at the nation of Israel, Judiasim and in particular the classic Jewish religion centering in the temple in Jerusalem. We saw earlier in chapter eleven, Mark used a three-pronged emphasis of first: Jesus cursing the fig tree; second: clearing the temple and third: commenting on the destruction of the fig tree. Mark is again magnifying the message of Jesus using this same theme. Judaism, representing the Old Age, is coming to an end. As the Old Age recedes, the New Age, the kingdom of God is appearing in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

 Mark brings the whole scope of Jesus' mission into clear view. As a result, the Jewish leaders became acutely aware that He “was speaking about them.” They were the wicked tenants. However, they had no idea of the extent to which this parable revealed their role in God's plan for the ages. Nor did they realize how, through their hardened hearts, they would play such a major role in bringing about this eschatological change. They would become the very instrument of Jesus' death on the cross. This atoning sacrifice would catapult the end of the Old Age and the rise of the New Age. The world was changing and Jesus was the cartalyst and force bringing that change. The Old Age was coming to an end and the New Age was appearing.

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: A QUESTION OF AUTHORITY | MARK 11:27-33

 

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SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: A QUESTION OF AUTHORITY |  MARK 11:27-33

AUGUST 29, 2021 | PASTOR ROGER MELSON | THE TRUE CIRCUMCISION | GENESIS 17:9-27

 

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AUGUST 29, 2021 | PASTOR ROGER MELSON | THE TRUE CIRCUMCISION | GENESIS 17:9-27

                                                  

                                                    Roger and Marsha Melson

AUGUST 22, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: KINGDOMS RAISING AND FALLING | MARK 11:12-26

 

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AUGUST 22, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: KINGDOMS RAISING AND FALLING | MARK 11:12-26

THE PASSION:
KINGDOMS RAISING AND FALLING

MARK 11:12-26

AUGUST 15, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: JESUS STANDS ALONE | MARK 11:1-11

 

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AUGUST 15, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | THE PASSION: JESUS STANDS ALONE | MARK 11:1-11

The Passion: Jesus Stands Alone
Mark 11:1-11

Today we will see Mark turn his attention to the last days before the suffering, trial, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This time frame is commonly known as Passion Week, or the Passion of Christ. Passion is a word which comes from the Latin root word, “patior,” meaning, to suffer. Perhaps the greatest suffering that Jesus will experience will come from having to experience these last days of His life alone. As we have seen throughout our study of Mark, Jesus alone understood the true nature of His message and mission. His disciples did not understand much of what He told them even when He broke down his teaching privately with them. He shared with them repeatedly with great detail what lay before Him in Jerusalem, yet they did not understand or embrace his message. His own family did not understand Who He was or had the slightest hint of the purpose of His calling. The crowds followed Him primarily for what He could do for them: heal them, deliver them and feed them. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law, those who were trained in the teaching of the Scriptures, did not understand that He was the subject of its fulfillment. Jesus entered Jerusalem alone, save for His Father Who sent Him and the Word, who shared His body. In the end of His life, even His awareness of these relationships would become dim. His entire life was one of loneliness and isolation. The prophet Isaiah described His condition clearly: “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem.” (Isa.53:1-3). Truly Jesus had walked through the years of His life alone – now He would walk alone through His Passion and die alone on the cross.

AUGUST 8, 2021 | PASTOR ROGER MELSON | THE ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE | GENESIS 1:1-14, 22-27

 

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AUGUST 8, 2021 | PASTOR ROGER MELSON | THE ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE | GENESIS 1:1-14, 22-27

The Eternal Perspective
Genesis 17:1-14, 22-27

As we come to Chapter 17 of Genesis, Abram's household, though it has experienced a redemptive touch from the Lord at the close of Chapter 16, is left dealing with the consequences of sin. Since Hagar's return to Abram's household until present, 13 years have passed. During that time, there has been no communication from the Lord. Over this period of time, Abram has managed a split family situation while having a son in Ishmael, who is now 13 years old. Certainly this period of time offered Abram an opportunity to reflect upon the events that resulted in his circumstances being what they were. Throughout this 13-year period, the silence of the Lord has not meant God has abandoned Abram or His covenant promises (Genesis Chapter 15) and Abram, on the other hand, has been kept in the faith by the grace of God.

Chapter 17 presents to us the greatest of covenantal chapters in the Bible. Foundational and representative to all of the covenants God would establish, the Lord renews His covenant with Abram. In that renewal He reaffirms promises already made and expands upon the details of the covenant itself.

In today's message, we will consider the call of God upon Abram "to walk before (the Lord) and be blameless." Further, we shall consider the temporal promises of God - what they were and what they signify.

                                                  

                                                    Roger and Marsha Melson

AUGUST 1, 2021 | PASTOR ROGER MELSON | THE GOD WHO SEES ME | GENESIS 16:1-16

 

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AUGUST 1, 2021 | PASTOR ROGER MELSON | THE GOD WHO SEES ME | GENESIS 16:1-16

The God Who Sees (Me)
Genesis 16:1-16

Genesis 16 follows on the heels of significant events in Abram's life. In Chapter 14 he experienced a great military conquest by the Lord's hand, and in Chapter 15 he has received a vision from God concerning the promise of a son and offspring. He also has experienced the reality of God making a covenant with Him; a unilateral covenant of grace. He is indeed a man confirmed in His faith by the Lord; however, in Chapter 16 Abram, and Sarai with him, experience a significant low point in their lives. They experience the failure of trusting in the Lord, subjecting themselves to behavior unbecoming to people of God. We wonder, "How could this be?" However, such is the experience of the imperfect people of God. As we work our way through the text, we will explore their failure and also see how the Lord works His redemptive purposes even in the midst of their darkest hours. Though the consequences of their actions are not erased, the redemptive purposes of the Lord stand fast. I pray that this portion of Scripture will serve as encouragement to your heart in your pursuit of your faith in Christ.

                                                    Roger and Marsha Melson

JULY 25, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | A BEGGAR'S FAITH | MARK 10:46-52

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JULY 25, 2021 | PASTOR JOHN BAYLES | A BEGGAR'S FAITH | MARK 10:46-52

A Beggar’s Faith
Mark 10:46-52

Today we will continue to walk with Jesus toward Jerusalem. The scene opens as Jesus is entering the metropolitan city of Jericho. Jesus is accompanied by His disciples, the small contingency of women who traveled with them (Luke 8:2) and a growing number of people (the crowds) who began to attach themselves to the group as they entered the region of Jericho. Some clarification must be made about the City of Jericho. Two cities stood in Jesus day, both identified as Jericho. The first was the ruins of the ancity that continues to be the oldest inhabited city in the world (7,000-8,000 years). The second city of Jericho was built as a winter palace to the southeast, toward Jerusalem by Herod the Great in 4 BC. This distinction is important as we think of the slight change of location for the present text. Very likely, Matthew’s statement that Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho held over against Mark and Luke’s statement that they were coming into the city is resolved by this historical context. Mark is stating that they had gone through the ancient city and were entering the modern Herodian city. Luke, who gathered all the accounts, follows Mark with the historical context in mind. Most importantly, was the incident and miracle which took place between the two places as a beggar pleaded to Jesus for a wish to be fulfilled.