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The next day, again, John had been standing [along with] two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus walking around, he said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God!’ And the two disciples heard him speaking, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What do you seek?’ And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’, which means Teacher, ‘Where do you stay?’ [Jesus] said to them, ‘Come and you will see.’ Therefore they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard from John and followed [Jesus]. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus (vv 35-42a).   [Introduction] If I were to ask you to name the first apostle that comes to mind, who would you pick?  I imagine some of you would first think of Paul, who wrote half the New Testament. But I think I would choose Peter. Afte...

Of all the diseases you could be afflicted with during the first century, I’m not sure there could have been one worse than leprosy. Not only was Hansen’s disease, as we call it today, disabling ... disfiguring. It slowly destroys your skin, the nerves, the eyes. It cripples your hands and feet. It destroys the cartilage in your nose. It left you completely isolated and ostracized from your community, your church, your family, your spouse, your children. Ultimately, paralysis and blindness set in, and finally death.  In the first century ... save for a miracle of Jesus ... there was no cure. Now ask yourselves, just how thankful was the one man ... a Samaritan, no less ... who not only realized that he had been cleansed of this hideous disease, but that Jesus had healed him ... that Jesus brought him back into unity with God and neighbor, making him whole ... saving him.  Just how thankful will you be when you realize that Jesus has done the same for you? 1. Our Gospel readi...

[Introduction] Forgiveness doesn’t count. It never counts. Now don’t misunderstand what I just said ... I don’t mean that forgiveness doesn’t matter. Forgiveness DEFINITELY matters. It actually is the most IMPORTANT thing in our lives.  We always need forgiveness. We need it from God. We need it from each other. We need it daily. We need to receive it. We need to give it. We need to share it. We’d be lost without it. That’s what Jesus teaches us today.  Matthew writes: When Peter came up to [Jesus], he said, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I release him [from the consequences]. Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you, not up to seven times, but up to seventy-times seven’ (vv 21-22). In other words, forgiveness doesn’t count. By telling us to forgive ‘seventy-times’ ... seven, Jesus was not giving us a math problem to solve. He was not saying it is okay to draw a new line at 491. He was describing what perfect and complete forgiveness really loo...

[Prayer] O Lord, we praise thee that you are the Creator, Giver, and Sustainer of all. Grant us your good gifts of peace ... the peace of Sabbath rest, the peace that has no end. In your eternal rest, enliven us to do all you have prepared for us to do, receiving and giving, in Jesus’ name. [Introduction] As we close in on the end of the church year ... (there are only two Sundays left) ... It seems only fitting that we return to the beginning. So today, the Word for our meditation is from the beginning. In Genesis, we’re afforded the opportunity to behold all that God has done and is still doing ... to behold the repetition ... to behold the order ... to behold, how exceedingly good it is.  Moses writes, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light, and there was light (vv 1-3). So it began, ...