Proverbs 11:24

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

Proverbs 11:12-13

Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense,
    but the one who has understanding holds their tongue.
A gossip betrays a confidence,
    but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.

Luke 2:28-32 NIV

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Luke 2:11-14

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:1, 4-5 NIV

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

Luke 1:76-78 NIV

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven.

Luke 1:68-70 NIV

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago).

Matthew 1:20-21 NIV

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Luke 1:46-47, 49 NIV

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.

Matthew 1:24-25

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

From Background Notes [BN] for December 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Hearing the words of the messenger, Joseph is now called upon to acknowledge his sins and to trust that Mary’s child will come to take them away.

Daniel 9:24

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

From Background Notes [BN] for December 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Three different Hebrew words for “sin” appear in successive phrases at the beginning of the passage. What must happen before God’s purpose for Israel and the world reach their climax? Sin must be dealt with.

Matthew 1:21

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

From Background Notes [BN] for December 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Joseph is not left wondering about the name, but hears its meaning: “For he will save his people from their sins.” The name Jesus is the Greek transliteration (“letter-for letter”) of the Hebrew word Yēšûa‘ or Yēšû‘.

Matthew 1:20

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

From Background Notes [BN] for December 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

In the opening chapters of Matthew is risky territory that catches one man off guard. He stumbles into the chaos of a messy life, and then meets a messenger with Good News of a Savior about to be born and placed into his care.

Matthew 1:18

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

From Background Notes [BN] for December 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

This week’s reading from Matthew 1 presents the astonishing idea that flawed human beings can actually contribute to the plan of salvation, and that fearful human beings can actually yield themselves to that plan when everything around them suggests otherwise.

Luke 1:42

In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!

From Background Notes [BN] for December 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Each line that begins with “blessed” focuses on a different person: In the first, Mary is blessed; in the second Jesus is blessed;

Luke 1:19-20

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

From Background Notes [BN] for December 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

“Be still and know that I am God,” wrote the psalmist (Psalm 46:10). God is saying to this man, “Give your fears a rest. Take Sabbath and reflect on the wondrous thing I am doing for you. Take time to be holy, Zechariah.

Luke 1:16-17

He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

From Background Notes [BN] for December 7^th& 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

If these hopeful evidences for John’s future weren’t enough, the angel reached into the closing verses of the prophetic canon to quote Malachi 4:5-6 in Luke 1:16-17. From there he finds a direct connection between Elijah and John such that John fulfills the role predicted for Elijah in the last days.

Luke 1:5

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.

From Background Notes [BN] for December 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Then Luke shows his literary skill by contrasting Herod the Great with Zechariah the Very Small. He was a mere priest, one among many assigned to perform ordinary Temple service. Herod the Great built the Temple; Zechariah the small served in the Temple.

John 4:18

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

From Background Notes [BN] for the weekend of November 30^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

By sending Jesus, God perfected His love among us and provided a way for us to become his children with forgiveness. On the day of judgment, we are able to stand boldly before God as His forgiven children not as His enemies in need of punishment.

Micah 5:4-5a

He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses.

From Background Notes [BN] for the weekend of November 30^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Moved by the promise of such deliverance, Micah breaks forth in a prophetic utterance that reaches far beyond the immediate, passing crisis of Hezekiah and Jerusalem in 701.

Isaiah 35:8

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.

From Background Notes [BN] for the weekend of November 30^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The language of 35:8-10 emphasizes the safety of this highway (no lion found there) and the purity of this way (no unclean will journey on it). How is such a perfect path possible? The answer lies in the statement, “Only the redeemed will walk there.”

Isaiah 35:3-4

Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

From Background Notes [BN] for the weekend of November 30^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

To all such persons, the prisoners of fear, the prophet offers this challenge: “Be strong, do not fear.”

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 23^rd & 24^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Or, as we have commented in these Notes: God loves us; fear not! Thanksgiving, as a celebration…

Psalm 69:30

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 23^rd & 24^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Thanksgiving becomes a form of authentic witness to the world around. What we desire from our worshipful thanksgiving and our thankful worship is that other people might embrace the name of Jesus, would offer loyal obedience to His Word, and open their hearts to His steadfast love.

Psalm 100:3

Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 23^rd & 24^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

We belong as “his people, the sheep of his pasture…” Ancient Israel was a distinctive people, a peculiar people, a holy people. Their identity was bound up with the God who called them and shaped them.

 

Genesis 15:1

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great".

From Background Notes [BN] for November 23^rd& 24^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

When God gave his promise to Abraham, he needed to receive, believe, and hope. In the dialog which follows, God’s covenant partner shared his deepest concerns — his fears, asking God, “What will you give me… You have given me no offspring … Make my slave my heir …” These disputatious words show us a man wrestling with his fears based on what was in front of him now.

Genesis 8:22

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 23^rd & 24^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

When our pilgrim ancestors settled on the North American continent, they soon experienced the challenges of first seedtime and first harvest in a land that held great promise for a generous food supply.

Philippians 3:7

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 16^th& 17^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

As growing Christians, there are good things and then there are better things. What happens, if we remain stuck in the past, is that the good things can start to go bad, especially when we cling to them as trophies of our past accomplishments.

Hebrews 11:10

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 16^th & 17^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

“He was looking forward.” The future was not closed off to Abraham, nor is it shut for us. One marker of the Jewish faith has been the idea that time is actually going somewhere and is not a monotonous cycle of unchangeable events.

Hebrews 11:8

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 16^th & 17^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

“He did not know where he was going.” Yet he knew who was going with him: the God whom he trusted. Because of his faith — his trust — (our first Core Value), he could make this risky decision.

Psalm 105:8-9

He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 16^th & 17^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Abraham’s life was a signpost that pointed well into the future! “A thousand generations” is the Hebrew way of saying “for a very, very long time.” The God who called Abraham would remain faithful to “his covenant” and to oath” he swore. To take this journey into the future means trusting God’s faithful past as the basis for His hopeful future.

Psalm 41:9

Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 9^th & 10^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

So, the offer of friendship by the church to newcomers can be risky for them. We don’t always know what experiences newcomers bring to their encounter with us, which would include incidents in previous churches or loss of confidence in a friend they once trusted.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 9^th & 10^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

We, the church, have been given the ministry of showing other people how God wants to make them His friends! That’s what Paul means by “the ministry of reconciliation.”

Job 19:21

Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!

From Background Notes [BN] for November 9^th & 10^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

So we come back to the Core Value of Friendship in the life of the church. People come through our doors all the time, and we don’t have the permission or the freedom to decide in advance what Job-like experiences they will bring with them.

Job 6:14-21

¹⁴ “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
    as the streams that overflow
¹⁶ when darkened by thawing ice
    and swollen with melting snow,
¹⁷ but that stop flowing in the dry season,
    and in the heat vanish from their channels.
¹⁸ Caravans turn aside from their routes;
    they go off into the wasteland and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look for water,
    the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
²⁰ They are distressed, because they had been confident;
    they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
²¹ Now you too have proved to be of no help;
    you see something dreadful and are afraid.

Malachi 4:4-6

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

From Background Notes [BN] for November 2^nd & 3^rd  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The audience that heard Malachi had become complacent and jaded about God and religion. Skimming through the chapters of his book, we discover the areas where the spiritual life of Israel had broken down after the return from exile.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 2^nd & 3^rd  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

By their own example of devotion to Yahweh, parents and grandparents began to shape their children’s lives.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

From Background Notes [BN] for November 2^nd & 3^rd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

“Teach them” involves the Hebrew verb yāda‘, which has to do with “making known” and “learn to know,” having to do with not only knowledge, but with experience, recognition, and skill.

Genesis 2:18

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

From Background Notes [BN] for November 2^nd & 3^rd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What is striking in this statement is the value judgment made by God about His own work thus far: “It is not good …” Did not each creation “day” end with a favorable evaluation, climaxing in the final judgment about the sixth day:

 

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 26^th & 27^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

From this we discern the importance of grounding every value in its core, which for C1 turns out to be expressed in four different, but related, ideas:

Faith

Family
Friendship
Father Along

John 15:5

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 26^th & 27^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Core values are the centers that hold together the unity of an organization, and as such, they in tension with forces that pull inward and those that push outward. Life in its raw form is generally lived on the edge of chaos where forces threaten to tear apart the fabric. Things like purpose, choice, and confidence require such a center.

Jeremiah 31:31

 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah

From Move the Stone [MtS] written by Pastor Brian Wangler:

Bad days are never permanent.  The sun will shine again!  Colin Powell says it well, “Things really are likely to look a little better in the morning and a whole lot better a year from now.”

Acts 27:7

We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

From Move the Stone [MtS] written by Pastor Brian Wangler:

The difficulty your leading through is NOT personal, pervasive, or permanent, but the love of God IS. 

Acts 27:7

We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

From Move the Stone [MtS] written by Pastor Brian Wangler:

The difficulty your leading through is NOT personal, pervasive, or permanent, but the love of God IS. 

Acts 27:7

We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

From Move the Stone [MtS] written by Pastor Brian Wangler:

The difficulty your leading through is NOT personal, pervasive, or permanent, but the love of God IS. 

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

From Move the Stone [MtS] written by Pastor Brian Wangler:

I wish this was unfamiliar territory to me, but it isn’t.  All too often over the years, in the hard places between “here” and “there” I have felt leadership ground give way, energy drain and my attitude sink.  Usually, as a leader there are plenty of spectators for the event making it a nasty place to be.

Joshua 1:16-18

Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

 

From Move the Stone [MtS] from October 8^th written by Pastor Brian Wangler:

 

“The question followers are asking about leaders in the midst of change is this; ‘Do you have the courage of your convictions?’  If your convictions don’t come with courage, you’re wasting my time. 

 

John 14:1-2

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

From Background Notes [BN] for October 12^th & 13^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

We are inclined to use this text at funerals and to relate Jesus’ promise to either heaven or his Second Coming. Those interpretations are certainly possible, but they are not at all exhaustive of Jesus’ intentions.

1 John 5:18

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 12^th & 13^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

By his coming, the Word authorizes a whole new human family which returns to its roots in the person of God Himself (“born of God”) and so is radical. By his coming, the Word authorizes the overthrow of the old order ruled by Satan and his human partners, thus making his new children rebels in the world.

John 1:12-13

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 12^th & 13^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Adoption, used in this sense, is more than a legal transaction. The writer, realizing that the poetry might be too ambiguous at this point, chooses a prose explanation in 1:12b-13.

John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 12^th & 13^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The Greek term for Word is logos, an expression laden with both religious and philosophical content. Greek thinkers, like Heraclitus (545-475 BCE), for example, used the term for the main principle of structure and reason operating in the world of nature and ideas, much like our concept of cosmic law.

John 14:1

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”

From Background Notes [BN] for October 12^th & 13^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Jesus doesn’t appear in the Bible as a shadowy figure whose feet scarcely touched the ground. He is unlike the pagan heroes, half-god and half-human, full of walking contradictions and fatal flaws. Rather, Jesus of Nazareth bursts on the scene with life-giving words and deeds, wholly unexpected by his contemporaries, and yet committed to finishing the work the Father sent him to do.

Malachi 2:15

Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.  So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 5^th & 6^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

A number of prominent biblical values appear in this passage which, if we read it correctly, governs the way we view divorce as a "first option." The opening part of the text (2:13) reminds us that our spiritual lives and our walk with God are both affected by what we do in our marriages.

Genesis 3:12

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

From Background Notes [BN] for October 5^th & 6^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

It is out of such alienation and blame-laying that marriages suffer damage and, in some case, divorce. But God is unwilling to allow such separation to become the final state of the relationship.

 

Matthew 19:9

I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

From Background Notes [BN] for October 5^th & 6^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Divorce for the cause of adultery, Jesus argued, was a legitimate cause. Divorce for any cause was not legitimate and that is why he goes on to explain that a person divorced for any cause grounds commits adultery if he remarries.

 

1 John 2:16

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 5^th & 6^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Lust, like the gnawing of the worm, eats away at human life, filling the eye and the heart with poison that ultimately ends in death.

 

Matthew 5:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 5^th & 6^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The first set of texts, from Matthew 5 (with parallels in Mark), strengthen the intentionality of marriage by reminding that adultery — the loss of marriage — is more than a physical act, but also involves matters of the heart.

Mark 10:45

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What Matthew and Mark both stress is the Son of Man as ransom for many, a phrase deserving a brief explanation. The term “ransom” translates the Greek word lutron which means “the price of release.”

 

2 Samuel 7:12-14a

When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Even the New Testament bears early witness to the idea that one day Yahweh would once more bring his King to David's throne, a Savior who would deliver Israel from her enemies and grant mercy to sinners in her midst.

Luke 21:5-6

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

At the head of this religious operation was the High Priest who, spiritually, ruled nation and religion. His power also extended to the…

Luke 21:5-6

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

At the head of this religious operation was the High Priest who, spiritually, ruled nation and religion. His power also extended to the…

Luke 21:5-6

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

At the head of this religious operation was the High Priest who, spiritually, ruled nation and religion. His power also extended to the…

Luke 22:24-26

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

By the time Jesus inaugurated his public ministry in the late 20's C.E., Israel seethed with revolution, with each of several groups advocating for this or that means of bringing justice back to God's chosen people. In each instance, the effective use of power played a key role, and they all wanted to be number one.

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…

Mark 11:12-14

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

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

Why the action of cursing the fig tree?

 

Matthew 21:13

“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

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

Worse than this, Jesus identifies the Temple as having become a "cave of lestes (in Greek).”Who are these lestes?

 

Jeremiah 7:11

Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

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

What would a visitor approaching the Temple courts immediately see? He would encounter crowds of people exchanging their currency for the Temple shekel, allowing them to purchase proper sacrifices, or, in the case of the poor, to buy pigeons instead.

 

Matthew 21:12

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

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

At every opportunity, Jesus created space for people to meet him. He would draw crowds through his miracles so that he could tell them about the coming kingdom of God. He would challenge Israel’s prominent leaders so that he could invite others to join the conversation.