Scripture referenced 17 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Psalm 103 read aloud to open worship: 'praise the Lord, my soul, and all my inmost being, praise his holy name'
1 Praise Yahweh, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy name!
2 Praise Yahweh, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits;
3 who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases;
4 who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies;
5 who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 Yahweh executes righteous acts, and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the children of Israel.
8 Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.
9 He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone. Its place remembers it no more.
17 But Yahweh’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children’s children;
18 to those who keep his covenant, to those who remember to obey his precepts.
19 Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens. His kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, obeying the voice of his word.
21 Praise Yahweh, all you armies of his, you servants of his, who do his pleasure.
22 Praise Yahweh, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion. Praise Yahweh, my soul!
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1 Corinthians 2:9
quoted as a favorite verse: 'no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him'
9 But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”
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John 5
quoted in prayer: 'my father is always at work to this very day, and I too am working'
1 After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches.
3 In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water;
4 for an angel went down at certain times into the pool, and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.
5 A certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”
9 Immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.
10 So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.”
11 He answered them, “He who made me well, the same said to me, ‘Take up your mat, and walk.’”
12 Then they asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your mat, and walk’?”
13 But he who was healed didn’t know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place.
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
16 For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”
18 For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise.
20 For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.
22 For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
23 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.
24 “Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
25 Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.
26 For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself.
27 He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
28 Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice,
29 and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
30 I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
31 “If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid.
32 It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true.
33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
34 But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved.
35 He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
36 But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me.
37 The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.
38 You don’t have his word living in you; because you don’t believe him whom he sent.
39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.
40 Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.
41 I don’t receive glory from men.
42 But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves.
43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?
45 “Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me.
47 But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
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Philippians 4
mentioned as the Monday night study topic: 'fix your eyes... truth, honorable, right, pure, lovely'
1 Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
2 I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same way in the Lord.
3 Yes, I beg you also, true partner, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.
9 The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
10 But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity.
11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it.
12 I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.
13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
14 However you did well that you shared in my affliction.
15 You yourselves also know, you Philippians, that in the beginning of the Good News, when I departed from Macedonia, no assembly shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only.
16 For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my need.
17 Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.
18 But I have all things, and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
19 My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
20 Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you.
22 All the saints greet you, especially those who are of Caesar’s household.
23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
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Luke 9:37-50
the main passage of the sermon covering the healing of the demon-possessed boy and the disciples' arguments
37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great multitude met him.
38 Behold, a man from the crowd called out, saying, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
39 Behold, a spirit takes him, he suddenly cries out, and it convulses him so that he foams, and it hardly departs from him, bruising him severely.
40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they couldn’t.”
41 Jesus answered, “Faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”
42 While he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him violently. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
43 They were all astonished at the majesty of God. But while all were marveling at all the things which Jesus did, he said to his disciples,
44 “Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man will be delivered up into the hands of men.”
45 But they didn’t understand this saying. It was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
46 There arose an argument among them about which of them was the greatest.
47 Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their hearts, took a little child, and set him by his side,
48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For whoever is least among you all, this one will be great.”
49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he doesn’t follow with us.”
50 Jesus said to him, “Don’t forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us.”
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Luke 9:51
Jesus resolutely setting his face toward Jerusalem, the turning point from volume one to volume two of the gospel
51 It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem,
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Mark 9:14
fills in detail about scribes arguing with the disciples when Jesus came down from the mountain
14 Coming to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, and scribes questioning them.
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John 3:16
the word monogenes connected to 'only son' used of the father's child brought to Jesus
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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Matthew 18
mentioned as containing didactic teaching Jesus does, including the church discipline principle
1 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,
3 and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
5 Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me,
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.
7 “Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes!
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.
9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire.
10 See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
11 For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost.
12 “What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.
18 Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
19 Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”
21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants.
24 When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’
27 The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’
30 He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due.
31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord called him in, and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me.
33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’
34 His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him.
35 So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”
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Isaiah 46
alluded to as background for 'let these words sink into your ears'
1 Bel bows down. Nebo stoops. Their idols are carried by animals, and on the livestock. The things that you carried around are heavy loads, a burden for the weary.
2 They stoop and they bow down together. They could not deliver the burden, but they have gone into captivity.
3 “Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried from the womb.
4 Even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear. Yes, I will carry, and will deliver.
5 “To whom will you compare me, and consider my equal, and compare me, as if we were the same?
6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down— yes, they worship.
7 They bear it on their shoulder. They carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands there. It cannot move from its place. Yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer. It cannot save him out of his trouble.
8 “Remember this, and show yourselves men. Bring it to mind again, you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please.
11 I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it.
12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness!
13 I bring my righteousness near. It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel.
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Numbers 11
alluded to as background for 'let these words sink into your ears'
1 The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
2 The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated.
3 The name of that place was called Taberah, because Yahweh’s fire burned among them.
4 The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?
5 We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
6 but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.”
7 The manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium.
8 The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil.
9 When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased.
11 Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?
12 Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers?’
13 Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
16 Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.
18 “Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat.
19 You will not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days,
20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
21 Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’
22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”
23 Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”
24 Moses went out, and told the people Yahweh’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent.
25 Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.
26 But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested on them; and they were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.
27 A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”
28 Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!”
29 Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!”
30 Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 A wind from Yahweh went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth.
32 The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp.
33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very great plague.
34 The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.
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Isaiah 50
read directly as a suffering servant passage applied to Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem
1 Yahweh says, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? or to which of my creditors have I sold you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was put away for your transgressions.
2 Why, when I came, was there no one? when I called, why was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.”
4 The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary. He wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
5 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious. I have not turned back.
6 I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord Yahweh will help me. Therefore I have not been confounded. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.
8 He who justifies me is near. Who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me! Who is he who will condemn me? Behold, they will all grow old like a garment. The moths will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears Yahweh, and obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in Yahweh’s name, and rely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who adorn yourselves with torches around yourselves; walk in the flame of your fire, and among the torches that you have kindled. You will have this from my hand: You will lie down in sorrow.
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Isaiah 42
named as the first of the suffering servant passages
1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights— I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street.
3 He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law.”
5 Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.
6 “I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;
7 to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.
8 “I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images.
9 Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up.”
10 Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, with the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains!
12 Let them give glory to Yahweh, and declare his praise in the islands.
13 Yahweh will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies.
14 “I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
15 I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.
16 I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.
17 “Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, ‘You are our gods’ will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
18 “Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind, but my servant? Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and as blind as Yahweh’s servant?
20 You see many things, but don’t observe. His ears are open, but he doesn’t listen.
21 It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
22 But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become captives, and no one delivers; and a plunder, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’
23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Didn’t Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways, and they disobeyed his law.
25 Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know; and it burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”
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Isaiah 53
named as one of the suffering servant passages fulfilled by Jesus
1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him.
4 Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth.
8 He was taken away by oppression and judgment; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people?
9 They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days, and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I give him a portion with the great, and he will divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
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Isaiah 61
named as one of the suffering servant passages the preacher includes in his count
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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Philippians 2
noted as sounding similar to Isaiah 50 on Jesus humbling himself and receiving instruction from God
1 If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,
2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;
3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;
4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputes,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,
16 holding up the word of life; that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.
17 Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.
18 In the same way, you also rejoice, and rejoice with me.
19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing.
20 For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you.
21 For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
22 But you know the proof of him, that, as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News.
23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.
25 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need;
26 since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.
27 For indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.
28 I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor,
30 because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.
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Psalm 51
closing verse quoted: 'restore to me the joy of your salvation, Lord, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me,' identified as David acknowledging his mistake
1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.
4 Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.
5 Behold, I was born in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips. My mouth shall declare your praise.
16 For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This sermon covered the final section of Luke's "long introduction" before Jesus turns toward Jerusalem, working through Luke 9:37-50 and drawing on parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark. Pastor Mike traced a series of moments where the disciples misunderstood, argued, or fell short, and set those failures alongside the picture of Jesus who always understood and always acted. The passage ends with Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem, which Pastor Mike connected to the suffering servant of Isaiah 50.
What was said
The morning opened with a visual aid: Daryl Bock's two-volume commentary on the Gospel of Luke. The break between the volumes falls at Luke 9:51, and that division made the structural point plainly. Everything before that verse is the long introduction, the Galilean ministry in which Jesus has been training the disciples. Everything after it is the journey to the cross. Pastor Mike read Luke 9:51 in several translations, lingering on the phrases "steadfastly set his face" and "fixed his face," because the language captures something the plainer versions lose. Jesus is not drifting toward Jerusalem. He is turning deliberately toward it.
Before getting to verse 51, Pastor Mike stepped back to verse 37 and the scene at the bottom of the mountain after the transfiguration. While Jesus was on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, the other nine disciples had been left with a desperate father whose only son was tormented by a spirit. They could not cast it out. Mark's account adds that the scribes were arguing with them when Jesus came down, which meant the disciples were arguing back while the boy suffered. Pastor Mike noted that it takes two to tango.
Jesus' response was sharp. "You unbelieving and perverse generation" and "how long shall I be with you and put up with you?" are among the harshest words he speaks in the Gospels. He called the boy to him, the demon threw the child into a convulsion on the way, and Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and gave the boy back to his father. Luke closes the scene with a summary line: "They were all amazed at the greatness of God." Pastor Mike said he finds himself in the same place, especially given everything he had witnessed that week across the full range of human experience.
In the middle of that astonishment, Jesus told the disciples to let his next words sink into their ears: the Son of Man was going to be handed over to men. Luke notes that they did not understand it and were afraid to ask. Rather than pressing Jesus for an explanation, they started arguing among themselves about which of them was the greatest. Pastor Mike found it both funny and honest. He said we are tempted to do exactly the same thing: ignore what we don't understand and focus instead on how we look.
Jesus answered the argument without being told what it was about. He placed a child in the middle of the group and said that whoever receives this child in his name receives him, and the one who is least among them is the one who is great. Pastor Mike pointed out that children had no social standing in that world, among Romans or Jews. The point was direct: the way you treat the people who don't matter is the way you receive Jesus.
John then tried to change the subject, reporting that they had seen someone casting out demons in Jesus' name and had tried to stop him because he did not follow with them. Pastor Mike said there is a divisive instinct in human nature that keeps pushing us toward our own teams. Jesus told them not to hinder the man. The one who is not against you is for you. That is the last thing Jesus says in volume one, as Pastor Mike put it, and it ends with the disciples persisting in error and Jesus continuously correcting them.
Pastor Mike then read from Isaiah 50, one of the suffering servant passages, and held it alongside Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem. The servant in Isaiah gave his back to those who struck him and his cheeks to those who plucked out the beard, and did not hide his face from shame or spitting, because the Lord God would help him. "Therefore I have set my face like flint." Jesus was not walking away from what was ahead. He knew the job and he walked toward it, looking past the cross to the joy set before him. The invitation to the congregation was to follow the same suffering servant, open-eared and not rebellious, trusting that God will provide what is needed for the path.
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.
- The father in the story cried out, 'I do believe, but help me with my unbelief.' When have you found yourself in that same tension, trusting God while also struggling with doubt, and what did that look like for you?
- Pastor Mike pointed out that the disciples were arguing with the scribes while a desperate father and his suffering son were standing right there. Where in your own life have you seen an argument or a point of pride get in the way of actually helping someone who needed it?
and 3 more questions in the guide
