Sunday – January 27, 2013

January 27, 2013 – Read the Word on Worship

Who Does Jesus Think Is? from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

The world of wicked tenants described in the parable given from Jesus is very much like the world we live in. The tenants will stop at nothing to get what they way. They do not care that they have made obligations of themselves for the fruit of their labor, in the end they want what they want and will take it by any means necessary. They have not forgotten who owns the land, but their covetousness knows no bounds and leads them to say “mine is the power, the kingdom and the glory”. Do humans think that by erasing God from their lives that they can control their earthly and eternal destinies?
Join us Sunday as we continue in our study of the Gospel of Mark as we look at “Who Does Jesus Think He is?” as we study Mark 11 verse 27 through chapter 12 verse 12.


Word On Worship – January 27, 2013 Download / Print

Mark 12:6-10
He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’  “But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.”

The world of wicked tenants described in the parable given by Jesus is very much like the world we live in. The tenants will stop at nothing to get what they want. They do not care that they have made obligations of themselves for the fruit of their labor; in the end they want what they want and will take it by any means necessary. They have not forgotten who owns the land, but their covetousness knows no bounds and leads them to say “mine is the power, the kingdom and the glory.” Do humans think that by erasing God from their lives that they can control their earthly and eternal destinies? Even when they have killed the son, they still have God to contend with.

To many, God seems to be the absentee landlord and a foolish one at that. They want to establish themselves as the lords of their little world rejecting the reality that they are creations of God and live in God’s vineyard. People think they will get away with it, but God’s judgment will inevitably come. The parable assures us that God will win even when it seems He has lost. Those who reject God’s claims on their lives and God’s call to repentance will always be losers, even when it seems they have won. They sow the seeds of their own destruction.

This parable particularly applies to the church today. Israel was chosen by to fulfill God’s gracious purpose for the whole world. God equipped them for the task, but they mistook that assignment as a special privilege and wanted to be accountable only to themselves, not God. If you ask what fruit God requires from us today, the answer comes from what immediately precedes and follows the parable. God requires that our place of worship be a house of prayer for all people and that our community be a forgiving one. We are to render to God what belongs to God and to love God with all of our heart, strength and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In other words, God expects the vineyard –  God’s people – to be an accepting, prayerful, forgiving, devoted and loving fellowship of people built around His Son, Jesus Christ. Whenever we fall short of this standard, we invite God’s judgment.

Sunday – January 20, 2012

January 20, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Jesus & The Original Occupy Jerusalem Movement from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

Sadly most readers, and many commentary writers, are shocked to read that Jesus could be so spiteful to curse a poor fruit tree. Instead of seeing the guilt of an unproductive tree in full leaf, many people instead think Jesus is being irrational and petulant as He curses the tree. Yet would they wring their hands in disbelief when a chicken farmer assigns a chicken that no longer produces eggs to the stew? What we fail to see is both the fig tree and the activities of the temple failed to produce the very thing they created to produce. The tree was created to produce figs and the temple was created to be a house of prayer for all nations. What should the Master do when the when the proverbial chicken does not produce what it was created to produce?
Join us tomorrow as we continue in our study of the Gospel of Mark as we look at “Jesus and the Original Occupy Jerusalem Movement” from Mark 11 verses 12 to 26.


Word On Worship – January 20, 2012 Download / Print

Mark 11:12-14
On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.”

The last miracle of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark is the most unusual. For the first time, a miracle of Jesus brings about death, not life. Needless to say, this raises many questions. How is it that Jesus can tell the disciples where to find a colt tied up from outside the city and yet He can’t see from a distance whether a tree has edible fruit? How is Jesus able to feed five thousand people with five fish and two loaves but one fig tree frustrates Him to the point of cursing it?

Sadly, most readers and many commentary writers are shocked to read that Jesus could be so spiteful as to curse a poor fruit tree. Instead of seeing the guilt of an unproductive tree in full leaf, many people think Jesus is being irrational and petulant as He curses the tree. Yet would they wring their hands in disbelief when a chicken farmer assigns a chicken that no longer produces eggs to the stew? What we fail to see is that both the fig tree and the activities of the temple failed to produce the very thing they were created to produce. The tree was created to produce figs and the temple was created to be a house of prayer for all nations. What should the Master do when the proverbial chicken does not produce what it was created to produce?

Jesus has taken the place of the temple during His ministry. Jesus announced in John 2 that He is the Temple. From there, Jesus proclaims throughout the gospels the forgiveness of sin, healing for the sick, and the restoration of people to society. He has replaced the tables of the money changers, where worshippers had to pay for atonement, with the Lord’s Table, were He presents the free offering of His life on the cross as payment for the forgiveness of sins to all who come to the Father through Him.

And that leaves one last question for you and me. What were we created for? Were we merely created to make sure we make arrangements with God to get our fire insurance in order? Or should we have learned from the parable of the soils in Mark 4 that the desired end is for our lives is to be people of the fourth soil producing fruit? The Lord is very serious about His people growing in maturity so that we produce good fruit. Do not miss the lesson of the fig tree. Realize how God deals with things that do not produce ­– especially when they outwardly profess to be fruit bearing.