Mark 11:24-25

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 21^st & 22^nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Perhaps it would be tempting for the disciples to read into Jesus' symbolic actions and prophetic words false notions about their own triumph over the wicked. Cursing fig trees, overturning the tables of merchants in the Temple, and…

…casting mountains into the sea are dramatically decisive actions which might imply the ongoing use of violence against the enemies of God by the disciples. But Jesus does not want to be misunderstood by them or by later generations of his followers. It is one thing to announce the judgment of God on sin and on failed religious institutions. It's quite another to condemn sinners wholesale in the process. This was, of course, the abysmal failure of the Zealots. They pursued a righteous of their own making and dished out justice on their own terms against the "infidels" in Israel. "Rome and Romans be damned" was their motto. "The only good Roman is a dead one,” was their mantra. [BN,6]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am, 5:30pm