Faith

Sunday Reflection – October 27, 2024

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I want to see

Mark 10 46 Jesus and his disciples went to Jericho. And as they were leaving, they were followed by a large crowd. A blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting beside the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus from Nazareth, he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” 48 Many people told the man to stop, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him over!”

They called out to the blind man and said, “Don’t be afraid! Come on! He is calling for you.” 50 The man threw off his coat as he jumped up and ran to Jesus.

51 Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man answered, “Master, I want to see!”

52 Jesus told him, “You may go. Your eyes are healed because of your faith.”

At once the man could see, and he went down the road with Jesus.

Kids Korner: Being important (October 27th)

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Read Mark 10:46-52 with your family.

Have you ever been at church or in a theatre or concert, and you wanted to see something so you demanded for people to move only to be told by adults to be quiet and sit still? That was what was going on with Bartimaeus in this story.

Bartimaeus knew Jesus was coming and could heal him, and he wanted to see Jesus, but everyone around him told him to be quiet. However, he wasn’t quiet, he called louder so Jesus would hear him.

Sometimes those around us don’t always understand how important it is that children and teenager see what is happening and what is around them, that things are not only for adults. This is especially true with faith. We want to experience God and not have the adults sush us. Kids need to be able to talk to God in our own way, just like Bartimaeus did. We develop it through talking and seeing God acting in the world all around us, not by adults telling us to be quiet or telling us what things we should believe.

Sunday Reflection – September 22, 2024

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First and last

Mark 9 30 Jesus left with his disciples and started through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know about it, 31 because he was teaching the disciples that the Son of Man would be handed over to people who would kill him. But three days later he would rise to life. 32 The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant, and they were afraid to ask.

33 Jesus and his disciples went to his home in Capernaum. After they were inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about along the way?” 34 They had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest, and so they did not answer.

35  After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, “If you want the place of honor, you must become a slave and serve others!”

36 Then Jesus asked a child to stand near him. He put his arm around the child and said, 37  “When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me.”

Kids Korner: Accepting children (September 22nd)

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Read Mark 9:30-37 with your family.

Adults don’t always understand children, but Jesus did. Jesus showed children being an important part of his community.

Children in Jesus’ day were almost always at home being taught how to read and write and do math by their mothers and the other people in the household. They were taught about God by people who loved them. And they were taught how to ask questions about God and other spiritual things.

Jesus wanted all of his followers, not just parents and grandparents, to see how special it was to see God through the eyes of a child. They understood far better than the adults often did, and Jesus told the adults that accepting a child and listening to a child was like accepting God into their lives.

Sunday Reflection – September 15, 2024

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Who do you say Jesus is?

Mark 8 27 Jesus and his disciples went to the villages near the town of Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “What do people say about me?”

28  The disciples answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijah.Others say you are one of the prophets.”

29  Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say I am?”

“You are the Messiah!” Peter replied.

30 Jesus warned the disciples not to tell anyone about him.

31 Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “The nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make the Son of Man suffer terribly. He will be rejected and killed, but three days later he will rise to life.” 32 Then Jesus explained clearly what he meant.

Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. 33 But when Jesus turned and saw the disciples, he corrected Peter. He said to him, “Satan, get away from me! You are thinking like everyone else and not like God.”

34  Jesus then told the crowd and the disciples to come closer, and he said: If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. 35  If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me and for the good news, you will save it. 36 What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? 37 What could you give to get back your soul?

38 Don’t be ashamed of me and my message among these unfaithful and sinful people! If you are, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.


Kids Korner: Following Jesus (September 15th)

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Read Mark 8:27-38 with your family.

Jesus had very good friends, but those friends did not always understand what Jesus was doing or why he had to challenge the religious authorities in the Temple in Jerusalem. They wanted Jesus to stay with them so they could continue enjoying his company as they travelled around meeting, teaching, and healing people.

However, Jesus had a job to do. A hard job. And Jesus wanted us to share a part of that hard job.

His disciples didn’t understand. Peter tried to tell him not to risk his life, but Jesus got upset and told Peter to get behind him and don’t be a temptation to an easier way of life (this was not about the character of Satan that we have in today’s movies and scary shows, all ‘satan’ meant was temptation to follow a different path than the one God wanted us to follow).

Then Jesus said “take up your cross”, but that didn’t mean real cross like the one on which Jesus would die, instead it meant take up your responsibility to make the world a better place, even when people get angry at you and say or do mean things.

Following Jesus is not easy, but if we do behave as Jesus asked us to behave, and treat everyone with love and kindness, we get to help change the world into what it was supposed to be. That’s what Jesus meant by asking us to make some harder choices. We might not get what we want right away, but we can experience the beauty of God’s world if we all work together to make things better.

Sunday Reflection – August 25, 2024

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Recorded August 2021

Where else could we go?

John 6 56 If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

57 The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me. 58 The bread that comes down from heaven isn’t like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

59 Jesus was teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum when he said these things.

60 Many of Jesus’ disciples heard him and said, “This is too hard for anyone to understand.”

61 Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling. So he asked, “Does this bother you? 62 What if you should see the Son of Man go up to heaven where he came from? 63  The Spirit is the one who gives life! Human strength can do nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are from that life-giving Spirit. 64 But some of you refuse to have faith in me.” Jesus said this, because from the beginning he knew who would have faith in him. He also knew which one would betray him.

65 Then Jesus said, “You cannot come to me, unless the Father makes you want to come. That is why I have told these things to all of you.”

66 Because of what Jesus said, many of his disciples turned their backs on him and stopped following him. 67 Jesus then asked his twelve disciples if they also were going to leave him. 68  Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life. 69 We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God’s Holy One.”

Kids Korner: Jesus’ lessons are hard to understand (August 25th)

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Read John 6:56-69 with your family.

Today we like to think that everyone loved Jesus back in the Bible times, and everyone believed what he had to say, and everyone understood, or mostly understood, what Jesus was teaching them. But that is not the case. Some people did not like what Jesus had to say at all.

We know that those who worked at the Temple had a problem with what Jesus was teaching, but regular people did too.

We teach children that Jesus’ message was to love everyone, and that is true. Love is easy to understand when you are young.

But for grown-ups, it is a little harder. They wanted more answers and didn’t always like what Jesus had to say about changing their own lifestyles to make the world better. They wanted easy answers and didn’t always realize that the easiest thing to think about could sometimes be the hardest thing to put into action.

In order for everyone to have enough, those who have too much have to give that up, and they didn’t want to.

Jesus understood this. That was why he let people go. If you want to follow Jesus, that is a choice we all have to make. And following Jesus is sometimes very hard.

Sunday Reflection – August 18, 2024

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Recorded 2021

My body, my blood

John 6 51 I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread I give to the people of this world.

52 They started arguing with each other and asked, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that you won’t live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. 54 But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day. 55 My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. 56 If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

57 The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me. 58 The bread that comes down from heaven isn’t like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

Kids Korner: “I live in you” (August 18th)

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Read John 6:51-58 with your family.

Jesus talking about ‘drinking blood’ and ‘eating the body’ was beyond gross to those who would have heard these words in the first century, just as they are often heard as gross outside of church today. What did he mean? He didn’t mean his actual blood and body, did he?

Different parts of the Christian church have been discussing this language for almost 2000 years, and there is still no agreement.

However, what we do agree on is that Jesus was trying to tell us that believing in Jesus, following Jesus, doing the things Jesus taught us to do, behaving the way Jesus asked us to behave, all mean that Jesus is still part of our daily lives and changes the way we treat each other.

Every single person who lived in Jesus’ time had bread to eat. It might not have been fancy, but that was the main food item than everyone had. Jesus telling them his body was like ‘bread’, was one way of helping the people understand that Jesus and his teachings were as important in their lives as having that regular food to eat. However, Jesus was something they could have and it would keep their hearts and souls filled forever.

And, if they did follow the teachings of Jesus and start to treat everyone as someone who deserved love and acceptance, they would find their community changed for the better.