Feeding the Four Thousand - Mark 8:1-10 - June 14, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for June 14, 2020. We are now meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Mark 8:1-10 Feeding the Four Thousand

Welcome back! We are returning to our study of the Gospel of Mark with chapter 8, verses 1-10, page 843 in the pew Bibles.

I am tempted to entitle this sermon, “What a Bunch of Idiots.”

We are going to look at Mark’s account of the feeding of the four thousand, otherwise known as the Assistant Pastor’s crowd feeding sermon text, Senior pastor’s get to preach on the feeding of the FIVE thousand…

In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

Let’s pray.

So does this account sound familiar to you? Didn’t we go through this just a few weeks ago?

In fact, we did. Mark chapter six details the account of Jesus feeding five thousand men, and here we are again in chapter eight with a very similar account. Some scholars believe that they are the same but both Matthew and Mark make it clear in their Gospels that they were in fact separate instances. The feeding of the five thousand took place near Bethsaida in Galilee and the people were predominately Jewish where this account takes place near the Decapolis and involved mostly Gentiles. Instead of five loaves and two fish, here Jesus started with seven loaves and a few small fish. In the earlier account the disciples picked up twelve small baskets (kophinus) full of leftovers, where in this account they picked up seven hamper sized baskets (spuris) full of leftovers.

Later in this same chapter, chapter eight, Jesus also refers to both events as separate instances.

As we talked about in the last instance of Jesus feeding such a large crowd the frail humanity and powerlessness of the disciples is put on full display. At the feeding of the five thousand the disciples were pretty high on themselves after coming back from a very successful ministry trip where they had proclaimed that people should repent, and cast out demons and healed a lot of sick people. When they returned from their trip and were faced with a shortage of food Jesus challenged the disciples to feed the people since they were so powerful, but of course, they couldn’t.

Here at the feeding of the four thousand Jesus doesn’t ask them to feed the people He just simply points out that the people who had been with Him for three days in the wilderness had nothing to eat and if He sent them away with no food that they would faint on the way.

So how do the disciples respond? “Hey Jesus, you’ve fed more people than this before!”

This is why I want to title this sermon, “What a Bunch of Idiots.” 

The disciples don’t mention the feeding of the five thousand at all, they just said, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”

How quickly they forgot. 

They were the living embodiment of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29…

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

And we should be thankful for that because that’s us too, we are no different. How quickly we forget when the Father answers our prayers, how quickly we forget when He miraculously provides for our needs.

How quickly they forgot – but so do we. The truth is, there is one major difference between believers today and the disciples here in Mark 8. The only reason any of us who have faith in Jesus have a clue at all, unlike the disciples here, is because we have the Holy Spirit living in us. So don’t get too down on these idiots, we are all in the same boat without the Holy Spirit.

So we can learn from the disciples here, pay attention to what the Lord has done and look for Him to do it again. But also be mindful of asking for more before being thankful for what we have been given.

We can also learn from the Lord Himself here: a lesson in compassion.

Jesus had compassion on the hungry crowd, they had been with Him listening to His teaching and witnessing His healing for three days and now had nothing to eat when the time came for Jesus to move on. He was concerned that they’d faint on the way home.

He also had compassion on the disciples, He didn’t expose their arrogance like last time by insisting that they feed the crowd since they were so powerful.

Jesus paid attention to the needs of the people. He had love and sympathy for the distress of each one. He trusted in the Father for provision and translated physical care into spiritual care.

Here is the example set for each of us. 

We are all surrounded by needy people, we ourselves are needy people, we need to pay attention to the needs of the people around us, we need to have love and sympathy for the distress of each one, we need to trust the Father to provide for those needs even if it’s through us, and translate that physical care for spiritual care.

This is what ministry looks like for all Christians, this is the framework, this is the pattern. Compassion for people that translates from physical care to spiritual care.

The disciples remind us to be mindful and thankful, Jesus reminds us to be compassionate, and the people remind us, that like them, we will have our bellies fed by the Lord.

I don’t mean necessarily that Jesus is going to buy your lunch today, though it’s not out of the question. What I do mean is that when we feed on the Lord He will fill us up.

Jesus said in John 6:53-58,

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

What Jesus meant is that if we take Him in through faith, He will abide in us by His Spirit. Those four thousand plus people were fed physically, their bellies were full. Our bellies will be filled, we will be spiritually fed if it’s Jesus that we’re hungry for.

Is it Jesus that you are hungry for? Feed on Him, feed on His Word, feed on Him through prayer. He is all sufficient, He will provide everything that we need. Though we starve to death in this life, if we feed on the Living Bread, that is Jesus, we will live forever in his eternal kingdom.

So our lessons for today:

From the disciples, look to what the Lord has done and be thankful not forgetful.

From Jesus, look with compassion to the needs of those around us, every person and every need holds an opportunity to serve and glorify the Lord.

From the four thousand plus, Jesus has and will supply all of our needs, we can trust Him.

So what has the Lord done in and through you? What are the needs around you, who do you know that needs your help? And, do you trust the Lord Jesus, with your life, with your sin, with your eternity?

Let’s pray.

The Basis of Our Unity - Ephesians 4:1-6 - June 7, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for June 7, 2020. We are now meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Ephesians 4:1-6 The Basis of Our Unity

Good morning! Welcome back! 

I’d like very much to continue in our study of the Gospel of Mark this morning but the Lord wouldn’t allow it. In my time of prayer in preparation for this morning’s message my mind kept going to the phrase, “unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

In considering what is happening in our church family and in the rest of the country right now that is an important idea to wrestle with. 

Let’s pray

We are going to look at Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1-6, that’s on page 977 in the pew Bibles.

The main topic of this text this morning is UNITY, unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There are two main factors why this is an important topic for us to consider this morning and they are fairly obvious, our forced separation for the last three months or so because of the Corona Virus, and the protests and riots that have gripped our country over the murder of George Floyd. 

In my view the physical separation that we have endured pales in comparison to the deep divisions that exist due to racism.

As Americans we certainly seem a lot more divided than united when it comes to these things, but nevertheless, as a nation we have the privilege of speaking up and expressing our opinion.

In fact, the undying need to express our opinion may be the only thing that still unites our country…

But praise God we are not here to discuss politics! In fact, it’s just the opposite.

Let’s look at Ephesians 4:1-6 together…

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

In verse one, the calling to which you have been called is the calling of the church to be Christ’s witnesses and testify to His person and work to the world.

We testify to the character of God by living according to His Word, giving a moral example before a corrupt world, and demonstrating in our own lives the character of the God who lives within us.

Hatred based on race, or differences of political opinion, or position, or privilege does NOT demonstrate the character of God our Father who lives in us by His Spirit. It demonstrates the character of our enemy, Satan.

We tell of the glory of God by demonstrating the character of God and telling the story of the hope that He has given us through faith in Jesus.

And we display the manifold, unifying wisdom of God to this realm and the realm beyond by becoming one new unified family no matter who we are or where we are from.

And it’s that idea that brings us to HOW to walk in a manner worthy of that calling to which we have been called.

Now if we go back to the old idea that Paul was talking about the calling of individuals into professional ministry, obviously we would have to focus on the individual’s character and personal holiness, but then the rest of this passage wouldn’t really make any sense, because it is all about the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace and how to accomplish that unity and what it is that should unite us.

Fortunately we are not left wondering! Since we know that Paul was addressing the church and not just individuals we can see exactly how to walk worthy of the calling that the church has been called to, to walk in unity.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you [plural] to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Here we have the building blocks of maintaining unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance in love, character qualities that should define us as the Father’s adopted children. Let’s look at those one at a time.

First is humility, humility is the first step towards maintaining unity. 

Humility is the laying aside of pride, placing others before ourselves. In humility we lay aside our pride and our desire to please ourselves and become meek and gentle towards others.

CS Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.”

In other words, humility really isn’t about the attitude you have about yourself, self-deprecation is just pride in disguise, humility has a great deal more to do with how you view others. 

Ask yourself, who’s needs come first?

In order to embrace unity within the family, you must first embrace humility because humility embraces others first.

Getting back to verse 2, humility produces gentleness, also translated “meekness.” This has to do with how we treat one another, not treating each other harshly but gently. This is a fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5 and it involves others and our attitudes and actions towards them. Gentleness or meekness is, “strength under control,” sometimes this means holding our tongues instead of lashing out with verbal elbow drops from the top rope.

Humility and gentleness are a product of patience, a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation, being slow to anger. Again this is an attitude that we can have towards one another, it’s not merely a character trait but a moment by moment exercise!

Humility produces gentleness, and both are grounded in patience, or if you prefer: longsuffering. Patience also produces forbearance, or as verse 2 puts it, “bearing with one another in love.”

Patience is a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation and that leads to enduring the difficulties that come with being anywhere near other people! That’s what forbearance is, enduring difficulty, and in our text, bearing with one another in love, simply points to the necessity of enduring relational hardship or difficulty that people create for one another.

This is life in a family!

This all sounds very much like Rule #1: don’t be a jerk.

But is this all that makes a church a church? After all, lots of groups treat their members like this, lots of groups are eager to maintain this kind of unity and do so.

The charge to the church is not: just don’t be a bunch of jerks, but rather, maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

John Calvin called this unity of the Spirit, “a harmony of views.” 

We can’t stop with verse 3, if we did, we could settle for just being nice, and just being a decent human.

But the unity of the Spirit is not found in just how we treat each other, we need to have a harmony of views on the things in verses 4 through 6, not just verses 1 through 3, or else we will be just a social club, a bunch of nice people who want to get together and hang out and love one another and when this life is over we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be condemned to eternal destruction. 

So let’s make sure that the unity that we enjoy is not based on niceness but based on the truth.

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

There is one body – this is the church, there is only one church, the Church of Jesus Christ. Paul uses this metaphor several times when referring to the church. You can read 1 Corinthians 12 for more on this idea. 

We are one body with many different parts in many different places and many different colors and many different backgrounds over many different ages but we are still one body, we are still an extension of one original, mutually shared life – that’s Jesus Christ, our Head. 

And though we become part of this great universal body when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are not excused from joining with a local expression of that body, a local church, so that we can serve and grow and love and be loved. And we have certainly learned lately what a wonderful privilege and blessing it is to gather together!

There is one body and there is one Spirit – the Holy Spirit that indwells each believer, He is perhaps the most unifying element of the body since He Himself is not divided and yet lives in each believer. It is the Holy Spirit who, by His grace, gifts and empowers and governs the church, His body. If we belong to Christ, we are indwelt and empowered by His One Spirit and therefore we should be one.

One body, one Spirit, and one hope that belongs to our call… 

What is our one hope? 

Is it that this life will get better, that the pandemic will stop, that the violence will stop, that racism will stop, or that politicians will fix everything that is wrong in our country?

NO! 

Our hope is the return of Christ and eternal life in Him! 

Our hope is the resurrection from the dead, that the end of this life is not the end but just the beginning! 

Through faith in Jesus our sins are forgiven so that when this life is over, whether by our natural death or the return of Christ, we get to see God our Father face to face and be with Him in His eternal kingdom forever!

Paul wrote about this hope back in Ephesians chapter one and he called it the glorious inheritance in the saints and again in 1 Corinthians 15:19 he said, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

The one hope of the church for all time and in all places, through faith in Christ, the hope which belongs to our call is our glorious, heavenly inheritance in God’s eternal kingdom, not in this life but in the one to come. 

If this is our hope, if this is what we are looking forward to with confidence, what place does hatred have, what place does fear have? There is no room, there is no place for those things when our focus is on this hope.

One body, one Spirit, one hope, and one Lord – The Lord Jesus Christ to whose administration we are subject. 

The title “Lord” is not just a throw away term. When we confess that Jesus is Lord, we submit to Him as the one supreme ruler of all! And we cannot confess that Jesus is the one Lord without the one Spirit. 

Jesus the Christ is the one Lord that we are united under, we cannot claim to follow the one Lord and not walk in unity. Christ cannot be divided.

One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, and one faith – there is only one truth of God by which people are saved. 

All religions do not lead to God, all faiths do not save, only faith in Jesus Christ. We may disagree on style, or fashion, or other minor doctrinal differences but the true church cannot be divided over the saving power of faith in Jesus Christ.

One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, and one baptism – This is our common experience of initiation into the church, our universal declaration of our repentance and commitment to Christ. 

Whether it’s the tradition of sprinkling or dipping or dunking it is still an outward expression of a completed inner work of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, the symbolic death and burial of the old way of life and the resurrection of the new creation in Jesus.

One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and finally, the greatest unifier: One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

As Calvin put it, “This is the main argument, from which all the rest flow. How is it that we are united by faith, by baptism, or even by the government of Christ, but because God the Father, extending to each of us his gracious presence, employs these means for gathering us to himself?”

God is Father of all the church His children, He governs over all the church His subjects, He is through all the church his agents, and He is in all the church, His body, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in Him we live and move and have our being.

These facts are the basis of our unity. 

Beneath all our many differences is a unity that already exists that we don’t create, we are charged to eagerly maintain this unity not create it.

The unity that already exists is a unity of the Spirit not a unity of the flesh. It is a supernatural unity that takes the work of a supernatural God through supernatural means in His people.

The church crosses all the lines and boundaries of differences that exist in the world: racial, ethnic, social standing, we are not all the same but we are all on equal footing in Christ.

Differences exist, I get that. It’s a constant and won’t change. But we cannot forget the sound doctrine of Scripture or compromise the gospel for the sake of unity. The church does not have the right to chart its own course apart from Scripture.

We cannot forget that the church is one body, that there is one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all. A church that forgets those core truths will no longer be the church.

So I urge you then: 

to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

This is how we tell of the glory of God by demonstrating the character of God and telling the story of the hope that He has given us through faith in Jesus.

This is how we display the manifold, unifying wisdom of God to this realm and the realm beyond by becoming one new unified family no matter who we are or where we are from.

This is how we show this hurting world what our loving Heavenly Father is like. So let’s do it.

Amen.

A Blip on the Radar - Mark 7:31-37 - May 31, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for May 31, 2020. Watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Mark 7:31-37 A Blip on the Radar

We are returning this morning to our study in the Gospel of Mark with chapter seven, verses 31-37. This account is only recorded in the Gospel of Mark, the other Gospel writers opted to leave it out. 

Let’s pray and then look at it together.

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

You’ll remember from last week that Jesus and His disciples were in the region of Tyre and Sidon which were Gentile territories on the Northwestern border of Galilee. Now, in verse 31, we read that Jesus returned to the region of the Decapolis. This was on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus had cast out the legion of demons from the guy chained up and living among the tombs. 

This was not a quick trip, this was a long walk! Some scholars believe that verse 31 took eight months!

At first glance this account of the healing of a man who was deaf and had a severe speech impediment as a result is kind of innocuous, kind of just a blip on the radar and then we move on. 

I admit, when I sat down to study in preparation for today, I thought to myself, “What could be here worth preaching on? What’s in here that could possibly be of use?”

But the Lord impressed this on me: “Think this account is no big deal? Imagine you were the deaf man!”

In truth, I have to imagine what it would be like to be deaf, it’s beyond my understanding what it’s like to live in that condition. I can, however, relate to the speech impediment part! But there is actually a lot more going on here besides any emotional response to this man’s sad condition. There’s a lot of layers to this onion!

If you recall from Easter Sunday we talked about how the Bible is not just a collection of random stories about God and Jesus and a bunch of other people, it is all on story, all one meta-narrative, the narrative of God’s reign and work of redemption in His creation. And this account here is part of that grand narrative.

Isaiah 35:4-6 recorded hundreds of years before this man was brought to Jesus:

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. 

He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

This brief but important account is the partial fulfillment of that prophecy, Isaiah was writing about Jesus unstopping the ears of the deaf and causing the tongue of the mute to sing for joy!

So the top layer of the onion, the meta-narrative layer, is a proof of Jesus as the promised Messiah that would eventually bring about the redemption of God’s creation.

So if we peel back that layer we can see how the gospel works, really we see an example of the Holy Spirit’s work in the gospel.

 Look at verse 32, 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.

And THEY brought to HIM a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they BEGGED Him to lay His hands on him.

So who all is involved here? 

Jesus, the deaf man, and the nameless “they” who begged Jesus to help their friend. 

This is the prominent way that the Holy Spirit affects the gospel in the world. The work of the gospel is brought on by people with a passion for their needy friends. We can share that same passion, we can bring our needy friends and family and coworkers and neighbors to Jesus, maybe not physically but certainly in prayer. We can display the love of Christ in how we love them, we can introduce them to Him by telling them who Jesus is and what He did for them, we can invite them to join us each week as we gather around God’s Word for study and worship. Even just sharing this video is a small step we can take to get our friends to Jesus.

The work of the gospel is brought on by people with a passion for their needy friends.

And how does Jesus respond to their impassioned request to help their friend?

First, Jesus takes him aside privately. He doesn’t make a spectacle of Himself or the man, Jesus wasn’t seeking glory for Himself by meeting his great need.

Matthew Henry wrote, “Let us learn of Christ to be humble, and to do good where no eye sees but His.”

33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

Now we come to the place where we cannot ignore the question, “What’s with the fingers in the ears and the spitting and tongue touching? There must be some hidden meaning there, right?”

To this I can only respond by quoting John Calvin:

“By touching his tongue with spittle, [Jesus] intended to point out that the faculty of speech was communicated by Himself alone; and by putting His fingers into the ears, He showed that it belonged to His office to pierce the ears of the deaf. There is no necessity for having recourse to allegories; and we find that those who have amused themselves with ingenious discussions on the subject are so far from bringing forward anything of real value that they tend rather to hold up the Scripture to ridicule. Readers of sobriety and judgment will be satisfied with this single instruction: that we obtain from Christ, in answer to our prayers both speech and hearing; for He pours His energy into our tongues and pierces our ears with His fingers.”

Instead of some secret meaning behind Jesus’ actions we can clearly see that Jesus was simply communicating with this man in a way that he could understand.

Put yourself in this man’s shoes. You couldn’t hear Jesus’ instructions, but you could certainly see His intentions.

33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

This man could see what Jesus was doing, he could feel it, he could observe Jesus’ deep sigh of compassion with His face toward heaven. He could even read His lips when He said the word, “ephphatha!”

“Ephphatha,” [an Aramaic word that means], “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

These passionate friends could not help but tell people what Jesus had done for their friend no matter how adamant Jesus was that they keep it to themselves.

Jesus charged them to tell no one so that He could still move about the countryside freely without throngs of people seeking miracles and signs and wonders, but they zealously proclaimed what He had done all the more.

There is a lot we can learn from this account.

First and foremost is that Jesus is the promised Messiah, he is the One who was to come into the world and make peace between God and Man, the only source of salvation, the only way to God the Father.

We can learn that we should passionately and persistently bring our needy friends to Jesus, earnestly pleading with Him in prayer to save them and help them.

We can learn to do our work humbly, to do good where no eye sees but God’s. And to communicate the gospel in language that people can see and understand.

I’ll close with the words of Isaiah 35…

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. 

3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf [EPHPHATHA] unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. 

For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 

10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Amen.