As You Are Going

July 17, 2022

Scripture referenced 12 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Matthew 9 Primary passage for the sermon, covering the healing of two blind men and a mute demon-possessed man

1 He entered into a boat, and crossed over, and came into his own city.
2 Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.”
3 Behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes.”
4 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk?’
6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins-” (then he said to the paralytic), “Get up, and take up your mat, and go to your house.”
7 He arose and departed to his house.
8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
9 As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him.
10 As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.
11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do.
13 But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
14 Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”
15 Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made.
17 Neither do people put new wine into old wine skins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved.”
18 While he told these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
19 Jesus got up and followed him, as did his disciples.
20 Behold, a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years came behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment;
21 for she said within herself, “If I just touch his garment, I will be made well.”
22 But Jesus, turning around and seeing her, said, “Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.
23 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd in noisy disorder,
24 he said to them, “Make room, because the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” They were ridiculing him.
25 But when the crowd was put out, he entered in, took her by the hand, and the girl arose.
26 The report of this went out into all that land.
27 As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, “Have mercy on us, son of David!”
28 When he had come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They told him, “Yes, Lord.”
29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”
30 Their eyes were opened. Jesus strictly commanded them, saying, “See that no one knows about this.”
31 But they went out and spread abroad his fame in all that land.
32 As they went out, behold, a mute man who was demon possessed was brought to him.
33 When the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke. The multitudes marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”
34 But the Pharisees said, “By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons.”
35 Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.
36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd.
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
38 Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.”

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Mark 6

Jesus returning to his hometown Nazareth and being amazed at their unbelief, then going through villages teaching

1 He went out from there. He came into his own country, and his disciples followed him.

2 When the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things?” and, “What is the wisdom that is given to this man, that such mighty works come about by his hands?

3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judah, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” They were offended at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house.”

5 He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people, and healed them.

6 He marveled because of their unbelief. He went around the villages teaching.

7 He called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

8 He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse,

9 but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics.

10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from there.

11 Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

12 They went out and preached that people should repent.

13 They cast out many demons, and anointed many with oil who were sick, and healed them.

14 King Herod heard this, for his name had become known, and he said, “John the Baptizer has risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.”

15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” Others said, “He is a prophet, or like one of the prophets.”

16 But Herod, when he heard this, said, “This is John, whom I beheaded. He has risen from the dead.”

17 For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for he had married her.

18 For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

19 Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him, but she couldn’t,

20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he did many things, and he heard him gladly.

21 Then a convenient day came, that Herod on his birthday made a supper for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.

22 When the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those sitting with him. The king said to the young lady, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.”

23 He swore to her, “Whatever you shall ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”

24 She went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” She said, “The head of John the Baptizer.”

25 She came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.”

26 The king was exceedingly sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and of his dinner guests, he didn’t wish to refuse her.

27 Immediately the king sent out a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring John’s head, and he went and beheaded him in the prison,

28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the young lady; and the young lady gave it to her mother.

29 When his disciples heard this, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

30 The apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and they told him all things, whatever they had done, and whatever they had taught.

31 He said to them, “You come apart into a deserted place, and rest awhile.” For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

32 They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.

33 They saw them going, and many recognized him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to him.

34 Jesus came out, saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.

35 When it was late in the day, his disciples came to him, and said, “This place is deserted, and it is late in the day.

36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages, and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat.”

37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give them something to eat?”

38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go see.” When they knew, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

39 He commanded them that everyone should sit down in groups on the green grass.

40 They sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.

41 He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves, and he gave to his disciples to set before them, and he divided the two fish among them all.

42 They all ate, and were filled.

43 They took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and also of the fish.

44 Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat, and to go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the multitude away.

46 After he had taken leave of them, he went up the mountain to pray.

47 When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land.

48 Seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary to them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea, and he would have passed by them,

49 but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;

50 for they all saw him, and were troubled. But he immediately spoke with them, and said to them, “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid.”…

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Matthew 13

Mentioned as a passage to be covered alongside Matthew 9 and Mark 6

1 On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside.

2 Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach.

3 He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow.

4 As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.

5 Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.

6 When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.

7 Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them.

8 Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.

9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10 The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.

12 For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.

13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.

14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:

15 for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them.’

16 “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

17 For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.

18 “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.

19 When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.

20 What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;

21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

22 What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

23 What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”

24 He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

25 but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away.

26 But when the blade sprang up and produced fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also.

27 The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did these darnel weeds come from?’

28 “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’

29 “But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

31 He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field;

32 which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”

33 He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.”

34 Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them,

35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”

36 Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.”

37 He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

38 the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one.

39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

40 As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age.

41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity,

42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

44 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls,

46 who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

47 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind,

48 which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw…

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Isaiah 61

Jesus read this scroll in Nazareth about healing the blind, deaf, lame and setting captives free and proclaiming the favorable time of the Lord

1 The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;

2 to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.

4 They will rebuild the old ruins. They will raise up the places long devastated. They will repair the ruined cities, that have been devastated for many generations.

5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will work your fields and your vineyards.

6 But you will be called Yahweh’s priests. Men will call you the servants of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their glory.

7 Instead of your shame you will have double. Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land, they will possess double. Everlasting joy will be to them.

8 “For I, Yahweh, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. I will give them their reward in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their offspring will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which Yahweh has blessed.”

10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

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Genesis 12

Referenced alongside Deuteronomy as forecasting the concept of a coming Messiah to bless every tribe, tongue and nation

1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.

2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treates you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

4 So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan.

6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, Canaanites were in the land.

7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.

8 He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and called on Yahweh’s name.

9 Abram traveled, still going on toward the South.

10 There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land.

11 When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.

12 It will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive.

13 Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.”

14 When Abram had come into Egypt, Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

15 The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

16 He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17 Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

18 Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife?

19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”

20 Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had.

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Deuteronomy

Referenced as part of the law forecasting the coming Messiah

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Matthew 12:22-45

The Beelzebub controversy where Jesus responds to accusations that he casts out demons by the ruler of demons

22 Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

23 All the multitudes were amazed, and said, “Can this be the son of David?”

24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”

25 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

27 If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

28 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come upon you.

29 Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? Then he will plunder his house.

30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters.

31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come.

33 “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit.

34 You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

35 The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things.

36 I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

38 Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.

40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

41 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here.

42 The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, someone greater than Solomon is here.

43 When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.

44 Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came out,’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.

45 Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”

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Mark 3:20-30

Parallel passage to the Beelzebub controversy in Matthew 12

20 The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

21 When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him: for they said, “He is insane.”

22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons.”

23 He summoned them, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?

24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

26 If Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he can’t stand, but has an end.

27 But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder, unless he first binds the strong man; and then he will plunder his house.

28 Most certainly I tell you, all sins of the descendants of man will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme;

29 but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”

30 —because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

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Luke 11

Another parallel passage to the Beelzebub controversy

1 When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

5 He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’

7 and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’?

8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.

9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he?

13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

14 He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled.

15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”

16 Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven.

17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.

18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

19 But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore will they be your judges.

20 But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you.

21 “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe.

22 But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder.

23 “He that is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters.

24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’

25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.

26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

27 It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!”

28 But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”

29 When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.

30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation.

31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.

32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.

33 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light.

34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness.

35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness.

36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.”

37 Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table.

38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.

39 The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.

40 You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also?

41 But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.

42 But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces.

44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”

45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”

46 He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.

47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build…

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Matthew 8:10

Jesus amazed at the Roman centurion's faith, saying he had not found such great faith in all of Israel

10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, “Most certainly I tell you, I haven’t found so great a faith, not even in Israel.

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1 Corinthians 14:33

Quoted by Erin Anderson regarding prophecy and tongues: for God is not a God of confusion but of peace

33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints.

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John 10:27

Used as benediction: my sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Pastor Ray walked through three connected Gospel passages to show that Jesus ministers "as He is going," and that He calls His followers into the same kind of ready, on-the-move faith. The sermon fell between two larger sections of Matthew, and Pastor Ray noted that from this point in the narrative the tension with the religious leaders begins building steadily toward the cross.

What was said

The thread that tied everything together was the phrase "as you are going." Pastor Ray pointed out that the familiar Great Commission imperative, "Go ye therefore," is actually a participle in the Greek, meaning "as you are going." That reframing mattered because it means the commission is not limited to missionaries or pastors. Every believer, in every ordinary moment, is already being sent. Erin Anderson's mission-trip testimony had just shown exactly that: a delayed flight and a solo van ride became a moment of ministry because she was prepared and paying attention.

When two blind men cry out to Jesus, calling Him "Son of David," they are using a plainly messianic title. They know who He is even though they cannot see Him. Before He heals them, Jesus asks a pointed question: "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Pastor Ray sat with that question for a moment, because he said it is an important question for everyone, not just two first-century men. Praying to a God you do not genuinely believe can act is a real problem, and Jesus surfaces it directly.

Jesus heals differently each time, Pastor Ray observed. Mud and clay once, a direct touch here, a word from a distance elsewhere. He said he thinks Jesus did this on purpose, because people naturally reach for a formula or a step-by-step method. What Jesus insists on instead is faith directed at a person. He tells the newly sighted men that it was done "according to your faith," which ties his earlier question directly to the outcome.

The Pharisees watch the same events and call it the work of the ruler of demons. Pastor Ray connected this to the Beelzebub controversy the congregation had studied earlier in the year. He defined blasphemy carefully: abusive or scurrilous language, the latter meaning claims made to damage a reputation. What the Pharisees were doing was switching right for wrong, calling something genuinely good the work of evil, and exchanging the truth of God for a lie. Jesus does not answer them here; that response is recorded elsewhere.

Back in Nazareth, the hometown crowd is astonished by Jesus but then takes offense at Him. They know His family. They know the circumstances around His birth. Familiarity, Pastor Ray said, breeds contempt, and it closed them off. He noted what he called one of the boldest statements in the Gospels: that Jesus could not do many miracles there. Not because His power was limited, but because He recognized the unbelief in the room and responded to it. What amazed Jesus, Pastor Ray said, was not the miracles, it was the unbelief. In Matthew the only other thing said to amaze Jesus is a Roman centurion's extraordinary faith, which is almost the exact opposite situation.

The passage closes with Jesus moving through all the cities and villages, and seeing the crowds He is moved with compassion. They are distressed, downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. Pastor Ray asked plainly whether anyone in the room felt that way, and suggested that looking toward Jesus rather than toward the news was a practical starting point. From that compassion Jesus tells His disciples to plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers, and Pastor Ray made the point that praying that prayer sincerely is already an act of willingness. To ask God to send workers is to say, in effect, I am available to go.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

Erin described her canceled flights and solo layover in Dallas as a moment God used to put her in the path of the shuttle driver. Can you think of a time when a frustrating change of plans turned out to be an opportunity to minister to someone? What made you recognize it as that?
Pastor Ray pointed out that the Greek behind 'Go ye therefore' is actually a participle meaning 'as you are going.' How does that shift in understanding change the way you think about who is responsible for sharing the gospel, and what it looks like day to day?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Read the full transcript 8,900 words

Find in this transcript

Speaker 1Amen. Can y'all hear me? Is this thing on? Yeah, it's on. How are you this morning?

Looking around. Maybe we'll sing a few more folks in here. Would you stand up with us and we're going to sing. We have a story to tell to the nations. We have a story at my seminary, the the graduating class when we walked in.

We didn't walk in the pump and circumstance. We walked into this song. So, it kind of takes me back to May 12 of whatever year that was. Can you cancel the queue right there, Marcus?

Speaker 3We've a story to tell to the nations that shall turn their hearts to the right. A story of truth and mercy. A story of peace and light. A story of peace and light.

Speaker 1Love lifted me. Let's sing that one next. I'm gonna put the bass up. Hold on just a second, Judy. I don't wanna trip over it.

It'd be kinda hard not to notice it, but Alright. I I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a few announcements.

One of em I don't think is in the slides. Andres and Emily. Is today your anniversary? Hey, happy anniversary. I heard that from somebody.

It would have been a real going out on a limb if you had said no. Happy anniversary. I love marriage. I think it's God's greatest gift to society. One of his greatest gifts.

Not the greatest, but one of the greatest. It's a good good way to transmit the gospel. Right? Monday nights at first b. What's happening, Carl?

Speaker 3Yep. And I think it'll

Speaker 2be fried chicken

Speaker 1then. Fried chicken. Meal music and a message. The message is from Colossians three. The music is going to be the band playing as many of us as show up to play.

Just the two of us maybe. We might play an Everly Brothers song. Who knows? Probably not. But hey, that's what I feel like when there are just two of you.

Monday nights at first B happens 06:00. Meal, music, and a message every Monday night. Fried chicken tomorrow night. We've got an FCA. That's the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is having a power camp for kids.

That is happening the nineteenth and twentieth. So, that's like Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. It'll be at the Classical Academy Gym, I think and if you need to know more information about that, you can contact the church office or go directly to Drea Largie, Andrea Largie and she'll let you know more about it. We have a prayer group that meets on Wednesdays at seven: 3zero am in the first office down the hall on the left, the church office. That's a great group of people who are just getting together to pray for missionaries and whatever else comes up within the group.

So if you wanna be there and you want to know that other people are praying with you and for you and your concerns. You're casting all your cares on God. There are people who would be praying with you for that. 07:30AM, Wednesday mornings. Sunday school is on a break right now during July just for the kids.

Children's church is on a break. The middle school and high school gals and the middle school and high school guys are still meeting but that's throughout the rest of July. There's one that's not up here. Actually, while I'm on this slide. July 31, that's two weeks from today, right?

We are doing church at the fair. The fair board called and asked if we would do church under the big top. So, that Sunday, there's no announcement up here for it. Next week, I'll try to cover it thoroughly. Under the big top, 10AM.

I think it's 10AM. That's what they said. 10AM. It's just going be one service though. So it'll be right after the Lions Club breakfast.

And honestly, every year it's slightly different. Sometimes the Lions Club still serving breakfast. So we will see how it goes. I'll try to be in contact, but it should be 10:00. So right in between service times, not nine, not eleven, ten, and we will be doing church under the big top at the fair.

There's also between No. After that, there is a church camping trip. For this is for everybody. Everybody who wants to be a part of this can attend and be there. We have a lot of spaces up at the group camp site at Coulter Bay.

Contact Brain McCooey. Yes, it does say brain. I see several of you reading it. Brain McCooey is the brain behind this operation and he has reserved a big spot up at the group camp. Fifth, sixth, and seventh.

That's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And we'll probably, several people will bring guitars and we'll be up there in the evenings playing around a campfire and having food together. So there'll be lots of people spending the night. If you have an RV, let Brian Brain know and he will find you a spot. Also, immediately preceding that, the day before, the men's rafting trip on August 3, that's a Wednesday.

If that's a Wednesday, never mind. The dates are right. Whatever I say might not be right. But Wednesday, it's four in the afternoon. The men are gonna take various rafts down the snake and then have barbecue afterwards on the other end.

Four to six they said plan on for that Wednesday. And then I guess that's a Yeah, it is. It's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday after that. We had a young lady here this morning named Bethany Donnelly. She works with International Justice Mission and she was here between the services and hanging out.

She probably will be back and she'll present to the whole church. We just had a whole 10 pounds of sugar to put in a five pound bag this morning. We couldn't get to everybody so she met with people during the connect hour. Also, so tomorrow and Tuesday, we're going to have the parking lot resealed. So it'll be blocked off.

Try not to park. If you're coming to Monday night, park somewhere on the street and we will get that handled. I hate to say before the snow flies. Whoo. That'd be awful.

I said it anyway. Would y'all stand up? We're going to look into the holiness of God. When I look into your holiness, And welcome and we're glad you're here this morning.

Speaker 3You. I worship

Speaker 1you. Let's sing that again. Thank you, Judy, for picking out these songs. But now I belong to Jesus, is that what we're singing? Y'all can have a seat.

I am going to invite the ushers come forward and it's the operatory time right now and would you just pray with me? God, we thank you for a beautiful Sunday. We thank you for a beautiful day. Or we woke up with breath in our lungs and I pray lord that we would be conscious that what is to come out is praise to you, gratitude. Lord, it's your will in Christ Jesus for each of us to live in thankfulness, lord.

I thank you for all that you've given. We, Lord, wanna be faithful to give back a portion of that, Lord, so that others may come to know who you are. Lord, that faith could be placed in you. In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray that we would be accurate reflectors of your love and your truth. In Jesus' name, Lord, we ask your blessing on this offering.

Would you multiply it and do your kingdom's work? Lord, I pray in light of this song that we're about to go through that there is room at the cross. There is. Lord, I pray that people would realize that. That this is not something that is dead or old, but living and active.

Your word, Lord, there is room at the cross. May we be living that out in Jesus' name. Amen.

Speaker 3For one. Yes. There's room at the cross for you. Though millions have found him a friend Yes. There's room at the cross for you.

The hand of my savior is strong, and the love of my savior is long. Through sunshine or rain, through the soul and gain, for one. Yes, there's room at the cross for you.

Speaker 1Amen. Thank you, Judy. Thank you. She was planning on doing a more ornate version of that but it's hard not to sing it, honestly. So, thank you for doing that.

I'm going to invite Erin Anderson up to the front. Erin just has been back a couple of weeks from a mission trip. It's still pretty fresh. So I'm thankful for you and glad that you're sharing.

Speaker 2Hello. Oh, I'm on. Okay. I brought tissues this time because last service I didn't have tissues. Okay.

So, yeah, most of you, I don't think I know. My name is Erin Anderson. I typically go to the first service, and, I help with the youth and young adults here at the church. But, yeah, I was given an opportunity to go to Belize with a church in Wisconsin, and this is kind of a testimony of that and just what God did through it. And before I start, I'm gonna cry or pray, not cry, but I probably will cry.

Okay. Lord God, I just thank you so much for this opportunity to to share what you've done in my life and even in the midst of a crazy spiritual battle, God, you were still there. And Lord, I just ask that you use my testimony to speak into people's lives and just to, encourage people and show people that you are real and that you love them and they are valuable. In Jesus' name, amen. So to say this trip was nothing that I anticipated being, that's probably an understatement.

I knew it would be hard and different than anything I've experienced, but I definitely wasn't prepared for what God had in store. In trips past, I worked for several hours and visited multiple schools in one day, and I've also stayed with one school for six to eight hours and would oftentimes do ministry in the evenings. On this trip, we worked for a few hours in the morning and had a lot of free time in the afternoon where we usually went swimming or went to get ice cream to cool down. We also had challenges of rain limiting our work and schools not being opened due to COVID. While that part was disappointing and discouraging, I think God had me on the trip for a completely different reason that I did not anticipate at all.

The church I was with is very charismatic, and on the Sunday night we were there, we had an evening chapel with just our team, and they had what they called an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which is an off branch of, like, the Toronto blessing, if you guys know what that is. The pastors would pray for people on our team, and they would fall over and have these experiences. I got prayed over and didn't experience a thing. After the meeting, I discovered that at least four of the kids didn't have an experience either and were confused, hurt, and ultimately questioning God Christianity. I don't think this one event brought them to that point, but I absolutely believe it was one of the last draws.

Imagine struggling with severe depression and anxiety and thoughts of suicide or insert any other struggles you may have, and you're told that this is the night God is going to heal you, touch you, and deliver you. You go up to get prayed for, and nothing happens. Not only that, but the majority of the people had some sort of experience, and you were one of the few who didn't. How disappointing and confusing is that? These kids felt like God hates them for their choices and they didn't do enough, to deserve his present.

That's not how God works. When Jesus was on this earth, his ministry was to the hurt and the broken and the demon possessed and the prostitutes and the lowest of the low, and these kids felt like they were worse than that, which broke my heart. As a result of this event, personally, I did a ton of searching and Bible research on my own and nowhere in the Bible do I see specific examples of people being slain in the spirit or the falling over and dramatic experiences. And the only big event in the Bible that I'm aware of with a group of people all having a major experience with the Holy Spirit is at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and was poured out on the disciples after Jesus was gone. Fast forward until Thursday night when we were supposed to do the same service with the local youth group.

I was praying and praying and praying for God to truly reveal himself at the event. I wasn't planning on going and was forced to go anyways. I was pretty upset to say the least, but God had me go for a very specific reason. During the service, I was sitting outside praying and reading the Bible. Those same kids who were hurt Sunday night came out and were all talking about how they didn't feel like that was real and the struggles it was causing them, but I was able to sit and talk to them and pray with them for quite a while afterwards.

Fast forward to Friday and flying home. Coming back from the trip, our flight was delayed three hours, causing us all to miss our flights. I got separated from the group because they were trying to make their flight back to Wisconsin, and I wasn't flying back with them. The airline couldn't book hotels for me, and so they just told me to, like, book a room and to, ask for a refund later. And so I just googled, like, airports near Dallas Fort Worth with shuttles to the like, from to and from.

And, being a single female and being young, it's very nerve wracking for me to leave the airport and just to, like, go do things just because I don't know what's gonna happen. And when I got in the van, the guy was playing Christian music, and that just brought me so much peace and comfort. And so when we arrived at the hotel, I got out and I said, are you a Christian? And he said, well, I'm kind of a Christian, which I don't exactly know what that means. But I said, well, God bless you, and I walked inside the hotel.

And when I was sitting standing in the lobby waiting, to check-in for my hotel room, he walked back in with a piece of paper and two names written on it. And he said, will you be please be praying for these two people? They're my sisters. And he didn't give me any details or anything, and I didn't end up getting his name. But I know that God worked through all of the chaos and canceled flights and everything just so I could minister to that driver that night.

While I do have stories about the kids who stole my heart, in times I was able to talk to some of the locals and about building a house, I wanted to share with you guys a different side of missions, one that I hadn't experienced before. Mission trips aren't always smiling kids and happy endings, but nitty gritty, extremely hard, and they can bring a lot of spiritual growth. I think the reasons God wanted me on this trip were to grow my relationship relationship with with him, him, to solidify my beliefs and understandings of what the Bible says, and to be there for those kids who were somewhat outcasts and are struggling with their faith. Let me tell you, that was probably the hardest spiritual battle of my life, but God was right there with me. I couldn't have done it without the prayer and encouragement, especially from my family as well as from pastor Ray and everyone else who was praying.

At one point, I knew God was with me, but I was the only one there who didn't believe like everyone else and who was standing up for truth and for what I did believe. And so I felt alone in the battle, but I knew that people back home were praying. So I just, like, imagined myself in this battle, and I looked behind me. And there's just thousands of people all standing there ready to fight and praying, and I was so encouraged by that. Please join me in continuing to pray.

Whoops. Sorry. Hold on. For the individuals, who are hurt and broken by a church that they will find truth in who God truly is, that they will seek to live for him and share the gospel with those around them, not to throw it all away because they didn't feel God's presence at a planned event. I pray that God will meet them in their everyday lives and wrap them with his love.

Please join me in also praying for the shuttle driver from Dallas, Texas and for his sisters, whatever they may be facing. My my desire is for everyone I come in contact with to know they are loved and valuable in a world where love and value are mostly a thing of the past. People are so hurt and broken, and it breaks my heart. I wish I could fix everyone, Jesus wouldn't have had to die on the cross if people could fix people. Thank you all for your financial and prayer support for the trips and opportunities that God has given me.

We did we were able to bless a family with a new home and several kids at a school accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Praise God. To finish up, I'd like to encourage each and every one of you to not focus on the stress and inconveniences of each and every day, but instead to see how God is using a delayed trip or canceled plans as an opportunity to share the gospel and God's love to those around you. I'm not gonna lie, I definitely I'm definitely not a fan of having to make six plus phone calls to cancel flights and rebook new ones and deal with the runaround of no one no one knowing how to help me. It was stressful and super frustrating, but if I didn't miss that flight, then I wouldn't have had the opportunity to be a light to the shuttle driver in Dallas, Texas.

God wants to use you and sometimes he allows our plans to change so we have the time in our busy day, week, month, or even our life to take our mind off of ourselves and see the hurt and broken people around us. First Corinthians fourteen thirty three says in regards to prophecy and speaking in tongues, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace as in all the churches of all the saints.

Speaker 1Amen. Thank you, Aaron. Thank you, Aaron. Would you all pray with me? God, for that anonymous shuttle driver that serves every day people in all kinds of situations rushing about.

I pray, Lord, that you'd reveal who you are to him directly. I consider it directly even when you use an agent, lord, because your spirit is what fills us in our daily lives, in our incidental appointments, our divine appointments, lord. I pray that you would we don't know even what his sisters had going on. We don't know, Lord, the story. But you do.

You know the story absolutely and completely. And we ask that you would intervene in this situation, Lord, in a way that whatever miracle is necessary would authenticate the message that is essential, that absolutely essential for knowing you. That his answer would not be kind of a Christian, but it would be absolutely a 100%. In Jesus' name, Lord, we ask a blessing on that driver, on his sisters, and on Aaron and her family, and every member of that team. In Jesus' name, Lord.

It is a big tent. Christianity is a big tent. But Lord, we pray that we would be concentrating on you and your word, and that you would show us, Lord, who you are individually. We would be accurate and articulate reflectors of your love and your truth. In Jesus name, amen.

Amen. So here we are. I I was looking at this as sort of a transitional sermon today. There are just a three quick passages. They're related and I'll try to relate them to you.

But it's Matthew nine and then later on, we'll turn to Matthew 13 and Mark six between those two. It's transitional in that he's been in ministry already in Galilee but now things are starting to heat up and it is from this point forward, it's heading to the cross kinda with an approaching intensity. So I had a professor who was fond of saying that the gospels are all passion narratives with long introductions. The introductions are drawing shorter at this time. And you'll start to see an increased period of conflict with Pharisees in particular, but with other groups too.

So we're going to start Matthew nine. We'll go through, Mark six and then get back to Matthew 13. And then we'll go into a time of communion. As Jesus went on from there, this is something that I want to point out because of what Aaron just had to say. As Jesus went on from there, the as you are going situation that she was in down there is in the moment she's prepared as a believer.

She has her Bible. She has faith in Christ and she trusts the Holy Spirit to direct her toward the ministry that he would. That's an as you are going type of faith. I want to point out quickly at the beginning and it probably will come up several other times that the imperative we usually broadcast as, Go ye therefore into all the world, baptizing and teaching, teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you. That's the great commission, right?

It's a commission. It's an imperative. Well, it's it's a participle which means as you are going. As you are going, be doing this. So I think sometimes we say go ye therefore.

It's just for missionaries, just for pastors, just for people who are specifically sent out. But Jesus is sending all of us out every day, all the time saying, as you are going, be doing these things. Does that make sense? Alright. As he was going, on from there, two men who were blind followed him crying out, have mercy on us, son of David.

Now, this might just hearing blind man calling out son of David, you might think, oh, blind Bartimaeus in a different gospel. Well, I think this is a different story. It's two guys. I think there are enough differences in the details that I'm not harmonizing and putting them together. Two guys, two blind guys and they are crying out, have mercy on us, son of David, which is a messianic term.

They are recognizing the messiahship of Jesus and stating it out loud, blind as they are. Have mercy on us, son of David. And after he had entered into the house, the men who were blind came up to him. They're pursuing him. Now, last week, we had seen Jesus as he was going.

He comes back from across the sea in Gadara, Gessara. He comes back to Capernaum and on the seashore meets up with people. Jairus comes to him in faith, asking him if he'll come back and heal his daughter. On the way, we see a lady who reaches out in faith who has had an issue of blood for twelve years and I want to clarify something. I had a slide last week that confused at least one person, maybe more than that.

It said, about the woman reaching out to touch the hem of his garment, they said, I said, is this biblical? And then I had a big no. Well, it is now because she's in the Bible. Yes, it is now. But Jesus very specifically and I think that I very specifically but I'm going back.

I'm double up, doubling up right here. She reached out in faith. She believed that she could kind of sneak in and not even be noticed and touch the hem of his garment and be healed. But it says specifically that Jesus turned and said to her, it is your faith which has saved you. It's not superstition.

It's not something else. It is your faith that has made you whole. Amen. That's good. It is biblical now.

Yes. But in the Old Testament, we don't see anything about items or inanimate objects being imbued with power. That's what I meant by the superstition. She reached out in faith and I think that Jesus turns and speaks to her and makes it explicit. Your faith is what made you whole, not because of the clothes.

Don't go cutting these things up and spreading them out. Right? Okay. These guys, two blind guys. And have mercy on us, son of David.

Messianic title. No doubt about it. He is to be a son of David and he is to be able to heal the blind and the deaf and the mute and the lame. And they have heard that this was so and they believed it. After he entered the house, the men who were blind came up to Jesus and Jesus says to them, do you believe that I am able to do this?

Now this is an important question. It immediately takes me to another guy but I'm gonna wait for us to hit that one in scripture. He asked him exactly the same thing. Do you believe? And the guy says, do believe but help me with my belief.

It's a really honest prayer. Do you believe that I am able to do this? This is about faith. Do you have faith that I am able, I can do this? Not just that I have the authority but I actually have the way of making it happen.

Do you believe that I'm able to do this? And I think that was important to them. Must have been because Jesus asked them. But I think it's important today too. Do you believe that I am able to do this?

We all grow up with, I think, some errant views of who God is and what he's able to do. And I think that faith overcomes those obstacles that can. Do you have faith that I am able to do this? It's an important question for them, but it's also an important question for you. If you are praying to a God that you don't really believe in, there's a problem there.

Do you believe that I'm able to do this? Now, when we go on, it says, they say to him, yes, lord. They say to him, yes, lord, which every time I see this phrase, I think, you can either say, yes, lord or you can say, no, but you can't say no, lord. Because the Lord is the one who says what we are to be doing. And if he says, as you are going, be ministering, you can say either, yes, lord, I will do that or you can say, no.

But you can't say no, Lord. I defy that order. They say to him, yes Lord, we do believe that you are able to do this. And then he touched their eyes. Oh, just stop right there for a moment.

Now, we've seen him make spittle and clay together and make a little, you know, balm, medicine, just mud, put it on somebody's eyes. We've seen that but this time, he just touches their eyes directly. At another time, he just says it out loud. Sometimes, he says it from a distance. I feel like Jesus went out of his way to do things differently each time because we are people of formula.

We want to say how to. There's a seven step plan for this or a three step plan for that or a five step plan. Jesus is doing it differently each time. Individually, he deals with people. Then he touched their eyes and saying, it shall be done for you according to your faith.

So now, his question, do you believe that I'm able to do this? He just said that it's going to be done to you as you have the faith. It shall be done for you according to your faith. And their eyes were opened. So they were right.

Yes, Lord. I do believe you. They're at your Abel and their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them. I hear a groan from sternly.

I I did the same thing. Jesus sternly warned them. I feel like that's Jesus making miles sternly warning someone? I think. Jesus sternly warned them saying, see that no one knows about this.

Okay. We've seen him do this before. We've seen him tell people he healed the little girl just last week, right? He healed the little girl. This is right from one leaving Jairus' house going and he sternly warned them.

See, these are two blind guys. Isn't that funny? He sternly warned them with a dad joke. Horao is the Greek word. It means to see, to perceive, to get this and they did see, perceive, and get this.

They did understand it. But he sternly warned them, see that no one knows about this. Now how are you going to keep that secret? If you've been blind your whole life and everybody that knows you knows you, you're blind. And then you go out from there.

It says they went out and they spread the news about him throughout the land. How would they not? Anybody that knew them knew they were blind. What would they say? Were you

Speaker 3faking all those years? It's been

Speaker 1a setup all along. No. They can't help but express it. I I just I like that Jesus said, see that no one knows about this. It's the two blind guys who were formerly blind.

I once was blind but now I see and that's their testimony. And as they were going out, as they were going out, there's another as they're going. As they're going or as you are going, be teaching them to obey all that I command you. Jesus says in the great commission, As they were going out, Jesus and his disciples, behold, a demon possessed man was unable to speak, mute, and was brought to him. So this is not even the man bringing himself.

It's somebody else bringing him. As they were going out, behold a demon possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to him and after the demon was cast out because that's what Messiah does. Messiah has just shown that he can and he did heal the blind. This is between Capernaum and where we believe he went next is Natharus. We'll see that in just a minute.

But somewhere along that line, he is as he is going, he's casting out a demon. Another messianic deal. After the demon was cast out, the man who was previously unable to speak, talked. Can I stop right there for a second? He gave a man who had no voice a voice.

He gave someone who had no voice a voice. And the crowds were amazed. And they were saying so the man now has a voice and he can say what has happened to him. He's we've all been called to be witnesses, right? You will be my witnesses, Jesus says.

This guy did not have a voice and now he does and that amazed the crowds because they knew him and they knew what he was like. He wasn't able to speak. We served at a school for the deaf for seven years in Mexico. And if one of those kids suddenly were able to just speak clearly. I mean, taught sign language and they learned sign language and they could communicate.

But for one of them just all of a sudden have a voice, that's what I would do too. I would be amazed beside myself. The crowds were amazed and they were saying, nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel. This points to Messiah too. So they had the whole law to tell them where they lacked and to be forecasting all the way back from Deuteronomy at least in Genesis twelve fifteen also.

But we had this concept of a Messiah that is coming and when he comes, he will heal the blind and the deaf and the mute and the lame and he will do these things and those miracles will authenticate his message and they are seeing that nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel but it's here now. It's here now. Now, what does that do for the religious folk? The crowds are saying, wow. He looks like the Messiah but the religious power structure, the Pharisees were saying, he cast out demons by the ruler of the demons.

That's what they always say. Have we seen this line of pharisaic thinking before? Well, yes, we have. The Beelzebub controversy was a while back. We actually covered it in March, March 13 of this year.

If you want to go back and listen to how Jesus responds to the accusations because he lets them sit this time. He doesn't he doesn't clap back at all on this one this time. But in Matthew twelve twenty two through 45, Mark three twenty thirty, and Luke 11, we see Jesus responding to those accusations and it is similar. It's the Beelzebub controversy again. I want to mention something that we got on March 13 that's blasphemy.

Blasphemy is abusive or scurrilous language. So think about what Jesus had just done. He just healed two blind guys and cast demons out a demon out of a mute man and gave a man a voice. So they can see and he can speak. And then the pharisees answer, some sort of a trick.

He just does it by the demons. That is abusive or scurrilous language. That's the definition of blasphemy. Actually, scurrilous. We don't use it very much anymore.

So let's define that too. Making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging the reputation. That is exactly what the pharisees were doing. It looks like a good thing but it's not. It's a scurrilous attack on his integrity.

That was in the dictionary as the as the example of usage and I'm just going to change that to a capital h. This was a scurrilous attack on Jesus' integrity. It's abusive or scurrilous language that literally is slow or sluggish to call something good that really is good. Jesus really is that good. He really is that awesome.

But they were saying he's doing it by the power of the devil. So that is a failure to recognize something that is good and slow to identify what is truly bad, something that really is evil. Blasphemy switches right for wrong, wrong for right, calls God what God disapproves right, and it exchanges the truth of God for a lie. So that's the Beelzebub controversy. We've seen it before.

We actually will see it again. But at this point right here, Jesus does not respond further. We're going to go to Mark. So, starting in Mark, Jesus went out from there right away. He went out from there and he comes into his hometown.

His hometown was Nazareth. That's what, you know, he's born in Bethlehem and in his ministry, he was mostly in Capernaum and Capernaum was a favorable place there. We see even the synagogue ruler Jairus knowing who he was and coming to him for help and being helped. So, Capernaum was a place where Jesus did lots and lots of miracles. Nazareth,

Speaker 3on the

Speaker 1other hand, in Luke, we see Jesus going to Nazareth and it was his first sermon we have recorded and he stood up or he read the Isaiah scroll 61 about healing the blind and the deaf and the lame and setting the captives free and proclaiming the favorable time of the Lord. Now, he stopped shy of including the vengeance of our God, the day of the vengeance of our God and it made the crowd that was gathered so mad in their Sabbath service. It made them so mad that they wanted to throw him off of the ridge. That was his the last experience we know about Jesus in Nazareth was they wanted to kill him. But he circles back around and he's gonna go through Nazareth.

We see in a few minutes that he's going through all the cities and villages. He's covering the area pretty good. But he goes back to a place where the last time he was there, they tried to kill him. Jesus went out from there and he comes into his hometown and his disciples follow him and when the Sabbath came, he went to church. Same place where they wanted to throw him off the ridge last time and he began to teach in the synagogue.

Now, for us, that might seem unusual because growing up in The US, typically, the pulpit is a very sacred space for just one guy gets to preach from there on Sunday, right? If you go just about anywhere else in the world and you claim Christ, as a visitor, you would be given the chance to present something from God's word. That sounds like, oh, I wouldn't want to be there. How long would that service go to an American? But everywhere that I've been for the last twenty two years, I've been given an opportunity in Mexico, Nepal, just South Africa, just about every service that I've attended.

It's like, oh brother, you stand out a little bit. Would you have something for us? You know? That's scary at first, but as you are going, be ready as a part of this. As they were going, when the Sabbath came, he did what you do.

He began to teach in the synagogue. And the many listeners, Full House that day, were astonished beside themselves, astonished and amazed. Similar words right here. Saying, where did this man learn these things? I know this guy.

I watched him play high school basketball. No, probably not. I do know him though. He where did he learn this stuff? He's from here.

Where did this man learn these things? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? Come on. He's just from Nazareth for crying out loud. And such miracles as these performed by his hands.

I mean, we hear about this stuff but really? Is this not the carpenter? The son of Mary. Now, just to say, the son of Mary nowadays, we have we have lots of Christmas songs about this and for us it's like, oh, beautiful. May it be to me just as you have said Mary.

That's a great thing but to them, to call him not Joseph's son but to say, the son of Mary. You know the story. You know what happened. We never did get the full story on that one. Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?

Come on. Illegitimate son of Mary? And brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon. And are his sisters not still right here with us? We know this family.

We know where he came from. What kind of uppity guy is this? Where did he get all this stuff? And I say that in that tone because the next sentence says, they took offense at him. They took offense at him.

Isn't that terrible? They've been exposed to the same truth. Jesus, the way, the truth, the life. Been exposed to the same truth as those two blind guys who recognize his messiahship and were healed. Same one as the mute, demon possessed man who was set free and could say so.

And these folks see what's going on and take offense at them. And isn't that just a terrible thing? But it is the way that it is. Either you'll accept it and be mercifully forgiven, set free, or you'll see the same exact set of circumstances and reject it and you'll be justly condemned. Isn't that terrible?

Jesus said to them, a prophet's never dishonored except in his hometown, just the way it is, and among his own relatives, and even in his own household. That actually is a saying in Greek without the word prophet, and in Hebrew with the word prophet. It's a saying in English. We say familiarity breeds contempt. He's just a hometown boy.

Nothing. He couldn't be. No way he could be the Messiah. That's ridiculous. I know this guy.

No. And he could not do any miracle there. Oh, that's so sad. Well, the expositor's Bible commentary says this. It says, verse five opens with one of the boldest statements in the gospels since it mentions something that Jesus could not do.

Well, when you start the sentence, that's what it says. He could not do any miracle there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. So he could do it. He just recognized the mood in the room. He recognized that they had taken offense at it and were not believing.

Actually, it goes on to say, and he was amazed at their unbelief. Amazed at their unbelief. So what is it that amazes Jesus? We've seen the crowds amazed. We've seen people around those blind guys that were healed amazed.

We saw them healed and amazed. And now we're seeing Jesus amazed. What amazes Jesus is unbelief. Oh, a lack of faith. No faith, literally.

Unbelief. He was surprised at their lack of faith. And is there anything else in the New Testament? So in Mark, the only thing that's mentioned in the whole gospel of Mark that amazed Jesus is their unbelief in his hometown. In Matthew, we have a Roman centurion that is amazing to Jesus and he was amazed by that man's faith.

There's one other episode and it's also faith. I'll give you the example from eight ten. It says, now when Jesus heard this, he says, you don't even have to come to the house. You just say it. I know how authority works.

You just say the word and he'll be healed. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who are fallen, truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. So Israel, part of their issue and I think part of the church's issue today is we feel like we're God's chosen people and it's just for us. But he is seeking to bless every peoples.

Right? He's seeking to bless every tribe, tongue, and nation. And there are people among every tribe, tongue, and nation who have the faith and they need to know where to place it. As you're going, be telling them. As you're going, be ministering to them.

Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. Mark six six ends this way. And he was going around in the villages teaching. Now Matthew expands this. This is just that's half a sentence in Mark.

And he was going around the villages and teaching. Matthew says the same thing and goes on to expand a little bit more. It's just this one slide filled in and we'll go to a time of communion. Jesus was going throughout all of their cities and villages, even his hometown where he just was, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. Now he had given parables of the kingdom.

A few weeks back we studied it together. But think about the time frame. This is just a few days apart. Parables of the kingdom, cross the sea, set the Gadarene demoniac free, send him on his mission trip, come back Jairus, woman of great faith, reaching out to Jesus. And then today, what we've covered today, Jesus is going through all the cities and all the villages, teaching their synagogues, he's proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.

He's already given parables. He's given them the good news of the king that it is for every tribe, tongue, and nation. And he's healing every disease and every kind of sickness and seeing the crowds. He felt compassion for them. Jesus was deeply moved with compassion.

He had sympathy for what they were going through because they were distressed and downcast. And maybe I should just ask, are any of you distressed and downcast? If so, quit watching the news and look towards Jesus. Okay? It is it is hard.

This life is hard and there are things that are distressing and upsetting and it's easy to get down. Seeing the crowds, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and they were downcast and they were like sheep without a shepherd. Ain't that the truth? Just wandering, seeking greener pastures, looking for where they might be fed. Seeing the crowds, he felt compassion for them because they were stressed and they were downcast and they were like sheep without a shepherd.

And then he says to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful. All of those agricultural analogies that he'd used in the parables of the kingdom just a couple of days before, three or four days before probably at this point. He says, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Therefore, he says to his disciples, then and now. Therefore, he says, plead with the Lord.

Go to him in prayer. Beseech him as the King James version there. Beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. And I might just say right here that if you are earnestly praying for God to send workers into the field, what you are de facto saying is I'm willing to go. I'm willing to be going as I am going, Lord.

Show me the opportunities to have. Lord, I long to do your will. I spend more time by myself than I do out in the world. But Lord, show me where you would have me serve and give me the strength to do it. Let me recognize the opportunity.

I want to do your will, oh Lord. Plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. We pray for missionaries every Wednesday morning and many of us pray for him every day but would you pray that you'd be seeing the opportunities to be as you are going ministering to him. In Jesus name, I thank you lord for your word. I thank you that it's good and it's profitable for teaching and for for proof and lord for even rebuke at times.

If we're not living in accordance with this but we're living more in accordance with how the pharisees with folded arms and an inflated self reliance and self righteousness, Lord. I pray that we would be soft in our compassion for the people around us that are living with like sheep without a shepherd, who are distressed and discouraged. Lord, may we carry the hope that you did. May we be there, Lord. The resources are in the harvest to get the job done of this message that we have to tell to the nations to spread it to the very ends of the earth.

In Jesus name, we ask your blessing. On your word proclaimed here this morning and lord, on this communion, I'm going to invite the ushers to come forward. Amen. Now, we're going to go into a time of communion right now and I know you don't like the little plastic cups. Let me just say so.

I know it. I don't like em either. Alright? We ordered half a million of em. As soon as we finish em, we will be done with em.

Okay? They have a little aggravating cellophane top over the wafer and they have a little aggravating tinfoil thing over the juice. But it is what we have for right now and anything that we use as representative would be fine. It is a representative symbol. Jesus said so.

I'll give you time, okay? Take the little cellophane, start working it out but would you, as I pray, lord, would you, would you just bless every heart that's going to receive this today, lord? Whether they have been a believer in you for sixty five years or seventy years. They've always feel like they've known you since childhood, lord. I pray that they would take communion and it would be new and fresh and deeper than ever before.

Lord, if there's someone in here who came because somebody else made them come and when they got here, lord, they felt, I don't believe any of this stuff but you're working in their hearts, lord and they just realized that actually I do believe this stuff. Lord, this is an open table. I pray that you would share Lord with us a very real experience of your grace, Lord, through this little representative sample. In Jesus name, I ask you to bless both the bread and the cup as we distribute them here this morning. Amen.

Thank you, Judy. On the same night that Jesus was betrayed and gathered with his disciples there in that upper room, he said to them, after he had given thanks and blessed the bread, he said to them, This is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, I thank you for the life that you lived out, submitted to the power of spirit and the will of the father. You walked it out in a body fully human, fully divine, with a perfect record, Lord, and that you alone were able to sacrifice your innocent blood.

Amen. Just as he had taken the bread, he also took the cup. Now for them, would have been a common cup after supper full of wine and passed it around the table and we don't do that anymore. And I know that your tradition makes a big difference on how you see this, but it is an open table. This little plastic cup of grape juice his representative, he lifted up that common cup and said that this is a new covenant in my blood.

They could not have possibly understood and known all that was going to come to pass in the next few days. But they accurately carried it forward and we get to hear the message too that this is the new covenant, not the old covenant where it's all on you, but the new covenant where Jesus is willingly dying on your behalf for you. I stand in. In Jesus' blood, he sealed the new covenant. He said, this is the new covenant in my blood.

Take this and drink and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Paul says that as often as we do that, we are proclaiming the Lord's death and an end to sin. An end to the punishment of sin. As often as we do that.

Are we going to sing where he leads me? How appropriate? Would you stand? We're going to sing a song that's as we are going. Where he leads me, I will follow.

Amen. And as a benediction this morning, I just thinking about the compassion he had on the crowds who live like sheep without a shepherd, I I think that John ten twenty seven would be inappropriate. Jesus says that my sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. Would you listen to the voice of the savior today and say, yes, lord.

Where you lead me, I'll follow. Keep on feeding me what you want to feed me and keep on giving to me what you want from me to share with others. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

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Compassion For Others Faith Healing Following Jesus Mission Trips Unbelief

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