Podcasts about every jew

Every Jew Has a Unique and Special Tafkid (Bamidbar 5785)

Pentagon Formally Accepts Jet From Qatar for Trump, Big Beautiful Bill passes the house, JMV talks about Jim Irsay's legacy, Hot dog cart business for sale, Democrats in Indiana should never win state-wide office, Every Jew in America must buy guns, buy ammo and get trainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Death of Jim Irsay, Trump confronting the South African president was an incredible moment, Pacers take game 1 in Madison Square Garden, Penske fires top 3, Jim Irsay's impact on Indianapolis. Pentagon Formally Accepts Jet From Qatar for Trump, Big Beautiful Bill passes the house, JMV talks about Jim Irsay's legacy, Hot dog cart business for sale, Democrats in Indiana should never win state-wide office, Every Jew in America must buy guns, buy ammo and get trained. Diego Morales under fire AGAIN. Tony challenges Diego to a one-hour interview, Doug Boles talks Irsay, Indy 500, and dealing with Penske controversy, Pacers and Racers: Lots to celebrate, Big Beautiful Bill passes the House, but is this a good thing? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this profound opening to Likutei Moharan Torah 27, we explore the sweeping vision of Rabbi Nachman: a world unified in service of Hashem. Drawing on the Athenian sages' question about the chick in the shell, this shiur reframes individual avodah as inherently cosmic. How does Shalom become the vessel for Giluy Shechinah? What is the deeper meaning of Ha'aras Panim, and how is it rooted in the Torah and the Tzura Adam?We delve into:The global mission of every Jew and how each neshamah is a microcosm of creation.Why true unity (Shalom) isn't just about avoiding conflict but about mutual bitul toward a higher goal.How Yaakov Avinu, Ha'aras Panim, and the Shemos of Hashem reveal divine structure in the world.The role of Torah as blueprint and how each of the 600,000 souls uniquely expresses one facet of that truth.What it means to bring the world to serve Hashem b'shem echad, not through conformity but harmony.-----Quotables: "You can't achieve shalom by being separate. True shalom (peace/completion/perfection) is when each soul fulfills its unique role within a single divine symphony.""Every Jew contains all the worlds within themselves—our personal refinement reshapes creation itself."

A new MP3 sermon from Frontline Fellowship is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: What Every Jew Needs to Know About JESUS Subtitle: Devotions 2025 Speaker: Peter Hammond Broadcaster: Frontline Fellowship Event: Devotional Date: 4/16/2025 Length: 18 min.

Amitai

התוכן הרמב"ם במשנה תורה ואדה"ז בשו"ע כותבים "בכל דור ודור חייב אדם להראות את עצמו כאילו הוא עתה יוצא משעבוד מצרים", וב"נוסח ההגדה" (וכן אדה"ז בתניא) כותבים "לראות כו'". כי החיוב בליל הפסח, שאודותיו מדובר ברמב"ם ובשו"ע, הוא שסיפור יצי"מ צ"ל באופן ד"והגדת לבנך" – לא רק "לראות את עצמו" (כבכל יום) אלא גם "להראות" לאחרים. אבל בשעה שמקיים ה"להראות" ע"י אמירת ההגדה אומר "חייב לראות", כי החיוב שנשאר לאח"ז (בכל יום) הוא רק "לראות". וזה שבשאר הפוסקים כתוב [נוגע לחיוב בליל הפסח] "לראות" הוא – כי לדעתם ה"והגדת לבנך" ("להראות") שבליל הפסח הוא דין בפ"ע ורק "לכתחילה", ואין לכללו בעיקר החיוב המעכב – "לראות" מה ש"עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים". ויה"ר שכל א' יקיים בעצמו בימים שלפני הפסח הענין ד"לראות את עצמו וכו'", והעיקר – שכל אחד מישראל יצא מהגלות [שאפילו "פושעי ישראל" הם "ישראל", משא"כ אפי' "חסידי אוה"ע" הם "אומות העולם", ויש לבטל את הענין ד"עמלק בגימטריא ספק" שבזה וכו'].א' השיחות דהתוועדות יום א' פ' שמיני, י"א ניסן ה'תשל"ה ל"הנחה פרטית" או התרגום ללה"ק של השיחה: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=15-04-2025 Synopsis The Rambam writes in Mishneh Torah, and the Alter Rebbe writes in his Shulchan Aruch, that, “In every generation, a person is obligated to show himself as if he is now leaving the slavery of Egypt.” However, the Rambam's wording in the text of the Haggadah (and likewise, the Alter Rebbe's wording in Tanya) is “to see himself….” The reason is because the halachos in Rambam and the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch are discussing the obligation on Pesach night, where one must tell the story of leaving Egypt by “telling your son” – not just “seeing oneself” (which is a mitzvah every day), but also telling someone else, “to show.” But during the Seder itself, when one is actually reciting the Haggadah (in fulfillment of the obligation “to show”), he says, “A person is obligated to see,” because from that point on, the obligation remaining afterward (every day) is only “to see.” The reason that other Poskim write “to see” (even in the context of describing the obligation of Pesach night) is because they hold that the mitzvah to “tell your son” (“showing”) on Pesach night is a separate law in its own right, that should be done lechatchilah, but isn't strictly necessary for, and shouldn't be included in, the main obligation, which is “to see” what “Hashem has done for me when I came out of Egypt.” May it be Hashem's will that in the days leading up to Pesach, everyone merit to “see himself leaving Egypt” etc., and the main thing – that every Jew leave exile. (Every Jew, even the “sinners of the Jewish people, are still “Jewish people,” whereas even the “pious of the nations of the world” are still “nations of the world”; any doubts (“Amalek”) and confusion concerning the distinction between the two (regarding the “Who is a Jew?” issue) should be nullified etc.)Sichah from farbrengen of Sunday, Parashas Shemini, 11 Nissan 5735 For a transcript in English of the Sicha: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=15-04-2025

Hi, I'm John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you're listening to Share Life Today. What a meaningful week we've just started! And walking through Easter with your family, friends, and even strangers can be a wonderful way to share the Gospel with them. Because truly, the Good News of the Gospel happened that very first Easter week and started with Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. At first glance, that may not seem like much…but truly, this was an amazing and powerful act. Jesus' entry on a donkey claimed His rightful place as their Messiah—the One who came to save His people from their sins. Every Jew there would have known Zechariah's prophecy of the King and the Messiah coming—triumphant and victorious!—on a donkey colt. And that's why they shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” King Jesus came to be the sacrifice for sinful humans. And all who place their trust in Him alone, “He gives the right to become children of God.” For more, visit our website at sharelife.today.

The Passover story was never ancient history. October 7th proved it, once again.

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This week we welcome returning guest and the youngest person we know, Blake Flayton, to talk about his new book: 10 Things Every Jew Should Know Before They Go to College. We talk to Blake about how to win over Gen Z (with social justice!), whether or not we should we be gatekeeping the the antisemitism discourse, and why we don't want to see anymore Holocaust movies….for now.You can follow Blake on Substack, X and Instagram, check him out calling out campus antisemitism in The NY Times before it was cool, and of course buy the book - everyone should read it, not just the kids! Also listen to his excellent podcast with Einat Wilf, We Should All Be Zionists.Also:* AI Therapy* Finally the world is waking up! oh wait nvm* What Birthrigtht gets wrong* You say Dual Loyalty like it's a bad thing* Fighting Antisemitism from the left - Blake's latest essay on Substack:* Keep your friends?* Enough with the Holocaust movies* I'd rather be 9 people's favorite thing than 100 people's 9th favorite thing* Are we all just talking to ourselves on Instagram? The problem with social media Zionism.* The Insta-fada!* Woke Anne Frank* Stop what you're doing and learn Hebrew This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe

Intro to Perek 1 Part 2 - Love Every Jew by Rabbi Avi Zakutinsky

Rabbi Eli Mansour's NEW Book - Maayan Eliyahu on Pesah is here!! (Derashot in English for the upcoming Sedarim) CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO ORDER YOUR COPY https://itorahbooks.com/produc ts/maayan-eliyahu-pesach- hardcover?mc_cid=08f9dc045e& mc_eid=f5807e4c64 Every Jew has a neshama that is literally a part of Hashem. No matter how distant a person may seem from religion, he will always have an inner connection to Hashem—because that is his essence. Deep down, every Jew has emunah ; sometimes, it just needs to be brought out. A man once shared that he was at a hotel for Pesach , and early one Chol HaMoed morning, he went to the breakfast room to prepare a bottle for his daughter. A waiter approached him and asked for a d'var Torah . It seemed like an unusual request, as the waiter did not look Jewish. After sharing a Torah thought, the man was shocked when the waiter revealed that his mother was Jewish—but he was about to marry a non-Jewish woman. Recognizing the significance of the moment, the man introduced him to the rabbi at the hotel, who spoke to him at length, trying to convince him to reconsider. Amazingly, four years later, this man is now fully religious and engaged to a bat Yisrael . The neshama of a Jew yearns for a relationship with Hashem, even if it may not seem that way on the surface. A rabbi from Arachim , a well-known outreach organization, shared a similar story: Many years ago, he was on a flight from New York to Israel. Sitting next to him was a man named David, who took a sleeping pill the moment the flight began. Something about David seemed familiar, but the rabbi couldn't place where he knew him from. Five hours later, David woke up, and the rabbi tried to start a conversation. David immediately shut him down. " I'm not interested in religion. I don't want to discuss it. " He mentioned that he had gone to yeshiva as a child but had since left religion entirely. It was then that the rabbi realized—David had attended the same yeshivah as he had! Curious, the rabbi asked him why he had abandoned Judaism. David explained, "At first, I felt lonely in yeshivah and realized I wasn't going to become anything special there. Slowly, I started becoming angry—first with the people, then with the religion. And now, I don't even believe in Hashem anymore." The rabbi asked if he could share just one story. David agreed. The rabbi told him about an event that had been recorded by Simcha Raz, the author of Ish Tzadik Hayah , about Rabbi Aryeh Levine. Simcha Raz was once invited to a gathering of dignitaries, where some of Israel's top military officials were present. He was the only one in the room wearing a kippah , and some people began challenging him about his belief in Hashem. He asked them, "When you go into battle, do you have a plan, or do you just wing it?" A general replied, "Of course, we have a plan! We also have a Plan B in case Plan A doesn't work. And we even have a Plan C in case Plan B fails." Simcha Raz then said, "I see that you don't believe in Hashem. But what if you're wrong? What if, after 120 years, you are banished from Olam Haba? Shouldn't you at least have a Plan B—just in case?" The general responded, " You only need a Plan B when there is a doubt about Plan A. But I have no doubt that religion is false. In fact, to prove it, I'll even write you a contract right now, signing over my Olam Haba to you." And so they did. The general wrote up a contract, signed it, and handed it over to Simcha Raz. Two days later, the general's son showed up at Simcha Raz's house, pleading for the contract back. At first, Simcha refused. He told the boy to come back in a few days. Then, he asked his rabbi what to do. His rabbi advised him to return the contract. When the son came back two days later, begging once more, Simcha gave it to him. The boy then revealed, "My father doesn't want to take the risk. He decided to follow your advice and have a Plan B." The rabbi then told David, "You see every Jew deep down feels the truth. Maybe you should second guess your decision about leaving Hashem." David remained silent, and that was the last they spoke on the plane. But recently, the rabbi attended an Arachim seminar—and saw David there, wearing a kippah . David told him, "When I saw all the hostages who weren't religious before saying that what kept them going was their tefillot, their Tehillim, and their connection to Hashem, I realized—I don't want to take the risk. Maybe it's real." Every Jew has a spark inside of him, yearning to be close to Hashem. If we ever have the opportunity to help someone who has strayed, we must remember—deep down, they want it. They just need the right words to bring it out.

The fundamental idea of the Leshem.Source Sheet: https://res.cloudinary.com/ouinternal/image/upload/outorah%20pdf/eox5acpz0vs7eomkjiws.pdf

Welcome to our humility series. Today we are going to explore the contrast of arrogance and the proper outlook. We know we should not be arrogant, showy, boastful people who take credit for our accomplishments and feel that we're special. That is Gaava , which should not be confused with something called the Rommemut HaNefesh/an uplifted soul, a feeling of how special I am. I come from good stock. I have Tzelem Elokim, I'm not an animal. I'm a human being. I have a certain royalty to me. That's not a feeling of Ga'ava . What's the difference? Ga'ava is I'm better than somebody else. Like it says of Hashem, Ki Ga'oh Ga'ah /He is arrogant bove the arrogant. His kiseh kavod is above the most arrogant of the wild beasts- the lion, the domesticated cow, the eagle. They're the most arrogant and Hashem is above them all. That's the term of Ga'avah . But there's another term used of Hashem, הַמֶּלֶךְ הַמְּרוֹמָם לְבַדּוֹ מֵאָז. /Hashem is the King that was uplifted alone from way back when. What does that mean? The Maharit, Rav Yosef of Trani and the Bet Aharon explain that this means that even before there was a world, where there was no one compare oneself to, Hashem was Ram . That's what we also have to be. I'm not great if I look at myself, where I come from and what my sources are and see that I'm royal. I'm not comparing myself to you. That's an inherent greatness and that is a prerequisite to having good Middot . Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein says that when a person has that feeling of Rommemut , he doesn't need to start looking down on others. He has an inherent greatness. He doesn't need to become great by pushing others down. The Elder of Kelm says that the force against the Jewish people is Amalek . What did Amalek do? We left Mitzrayim b'Yad Rama/with an outstretched hand, with Rommemut They were like a bubbling bath. They were on the top of the world. But along came Amalek, and like a person that jumps into the bubbling bath, cooled them down, didn't let them feel their Rommemut , or feel how special they were. Amalek wanted to take away the feeling of Beni Bechori Yisrael. That's what Amalek came to do. So how do we fight off Amalek? Says the Elder of Kelm, וכאשר ירים משה ידו, :Moshe Rabbenu lifted up his hands and כשישראל נושאים לבם לאביהם שבשמים, the Jewish people lifted up their hearts. He says this means שהתחזקו ברוממות נפשם they strengthened themselves in the exaltedness of their souls. And they looked and had they honor then V'gavar Yisrael. He adds that later Amalek was Haman, who also tried to break the Jewish people, להכניע רוממות הנפש מישראל, to break that exaltedness. But it didn't work. How did we fight back? לא יכרע ולא ישתחוה, Mordechai would not bend, he would not bow. We have to realize that this is not just about Amalek the person or Haman the person. Bereshit 6, 5 says וְכָל יֵצֶר מַחְשְׁבֹת לִבּוֹ רַק רַע כָּל הַיּוֹם: / The Yetzer of his heart said only bad all day . So simply it means that all day the Yetzer Hara is giving you bad ideas of what to do. The Nefesh HaChaim, in Shaar 3,Perek 8 says this means that the Yetzer Hara's trick is to say all day to you, You are no good. He wants to break you. He wants to make you feel shafal . And once he breaks you, you'll do anything. You need to have Rommemut HaNefesh. But part of his ploy is to make you think that being shafal/ being lowly is how you're supposed to feel. The Imrei Emet says something unbelievable about the words רק רע כל היום The last letter of רק is ק The last letter of רע is an ע . The last letter of כל is ל . The last letter of היום is מ , which spells עמלק Amalek. We all have an Amalek inside of us that wants to tell us all day, " You're no good. " But don't think that's Anava . It's Shiflut . And the Nefesh HaChaim in Shaar א perek ד וזאת תורת האדם כל איש ישראל אל יאמר בלבו ח"ו This is the Torah of the human being, to ant Jewish person, Don't say in your heart, Who am I? What's my strength? What's my power? What can I do? Who am I? " No, you have to realize, he says, and put steadfast in your heart. Every deed, every speech, every thought that you do every second of the day has impact. ומה רבו מעשיו ומאד גדלו ורמו. How great are your deeds! How powerful they are! Rabbi Ades once said, Imagine a man sitting in front of the control tower with all kind of buttons and levers, and that's the place where they hit the button to launch a nuclear attack. Will he sit there and they'll say, " Who am I? What am I? What can I do? " It's not about you, it's about what you connected to, where you're positioned. You're a Jewish person! Your soul came from beneath the Kiseh Hakavod. You're powerful. And this is throughout all our writings. Mesilat Yesharim chapter 19, when talking about praying for the Bet Hamikdash to be built, says, "if a person says, מִי אֲנִי וּמָה אֲנִי סָפוּן שֶׁאֶתְפַּלֵּל עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם What am I? What's my value? I'm going to pray for Yerushalayim? My prayers are going to cause the Galut to come and the Yeshua to happen? And he says, Yes. The answer is Man was created alone, because everyone has to say, בִּשְׁבִילִי נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם" I am the only one to pray for the churban. I am important. I'm the only person in the world. We have to walk around with these feelings of Rommemut HaNefesh . The Sefer Kol Mevaser on Parashat Yitro quotes Rav Bunim of Peshishcha who said, Every Jew has to have two pockets . In one pocket, it should say, " בשבילי נברא העולם / For me the world was created And in the other pocket should say אנכי עפר ואפר , /I am but dust and ashes If you're getting a little too carried away, remind yourself I am but dust and ashes And if you're getting a little down, you have to take out the בשבילי נברא העולם / For me the world was created. It's a balance. You have to have both. So much so that Rav Hutner brings down in that in the Gemara in Masechet Rosh Hashana 26 B, there's a discussion of How the shofar of Rosh Hashanah is supposed to be. Should it be bent or should it be straight? One opinion says, כמה דכייף איניש דעתיה / the more you bend yourself in humility, the better it is And another opinion says, No כמה דפשיט It's better to be straight. What are these two approaches? Rav Hutner, in his sefer on Rosh Hashanah, Maamar 15 says that, yes, there's a concept of bending yourself. That's important. It's Rosh Hashanah. There's Kabalat Ohl Malchut Shamayim. accepting the yoke of God's kingdom. I am going to humble myself and bend myself. But that could be dangerous. We don't want you to feel like you're a piece of dirt. So the other side is, you have to stand up straight, stand with your head high and say, I belong to the army of Hashem. I'm a proud card-carrying Jew. That's not a contradiction to Anava . You can know who you are, know your family, know your roots, know your greatness. And at the same time, after all that, you say, but did I do it? It's a gift that Hashem gave me. It's the car that God gave me to drive. It's not my car, its all His gifts. It's the talents that God gave me. Anava doesn't mean walking around lowly. That's the Yetzer Hara talking to you. When you walk around feeling down and low and it's not allowing you to produce, then you know it's coming from that Rak Rah Kol HaYom. You have to see what it's producing, what it's causing. He wants to break us. And that's why we sometimes think that it's the Yetzer HaTov saying, " You have to be humble. You have to be xyz.." No. You are great. And there's nothing wrong with saying you're great. And there's nothing wrong with saying Bishvilli Nivrah Olam . There's nothing wrong with saying Banim Atem Hashem Elokechem I once asked one of the gedolim, Rav Berel Povarsky, what a healthy person that's feeling depressed should do. And he said, " What should you do? You say the Beracha Ohev Amo Yisrael- God loves you. You're part of the Jewish people. The Creator loves you." Those are the thoughts that a Jewish person has to have. Rav Haskel Levenstein says, the more Rommemut you have, the better your Middot will be, the less you'll be brought down, the less you'll be stuck over pettiness and silliness. Rav Ades says he was once on a plane, looking out the window at all the cars in the parking lot getting smaller and smaller and smaller. What happened? Who was shrinking all the cars? Of course, he was saying that in jest. The cars didn't get smaller, he said. I got higher. And when you lift yourself up, you see that all the things that are seemingly important, that people get busy with, are really small. You lift yourself up and the challenges disappear. Rav Yerucham Levovitz once said, " How many people have to go for therapy to get out the sandbox and stop playing in the sand? How many people have to go therapy to stop playing with their dolls? How'd you stop?" The answer is, You matured. You grew up, you became uplifted. It says in HaAzinu Devarim 32,2 thar the Torah is compared to a wind that blows through the grass, and just like the wind strengthens the grass and makes it grow, it lifts you up, it makes you greater, it makes you above. Now, someone might say, and again, the Yetzer Hara talking, "what do you mean? Ma Anu, We say every morning, what are we? Ma Hayinu/What's our life? Ma Hasdenu/What's our kindness? Ma Sidkatenu/What's our righteousness? Ma Yeshuatenu/What's our salvation? Ma Kohenu/What's our strength? And we go on..: and we say, רוֹב מַעֲשֵֹיהֶם תֹּהוּ וִימֵי חַיֵּיהֶם הֶבֶל לְפָנֶיךָ It's hot air, man is nothing more than an animal… it sounds horrible, But you have to continue. Now we go into a whole different story לְבַד הַנְּשָׁמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה שֶׁהִיא עֲתִידָה לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֶךָ: We're Your nation the the children of Your convenant, of Avraham Yitzhak and Yaakov, that You love them and You're happy with them. And we're called the Yisrael Yeshurun, and therefore we have to be thankful and praise You and bless You, אַשְׁרֵינוּ מַה טּוֹב חֶלְקֵנוּ וּמַה נָּעִים גּוֹרָלֵנוּ וּמַה יָּפָה יְרֻשָּׁתֵנוּ: How lucky we are, how fortunate we are, We come to shul in the morning and we stay late at night and we say, Shema Yisrael.. what a positive switch. You can't get stuck in the What are we?Of course there is truth to that. What is our strength? And what is our abilities? But we have a Neshama, and that gives us Rommemut. These are the thoughts that we have to have. And they're not contrary to Anava.

The proper way to Daven. Source Sheet: https://res.cloudinary.com/ouinternal/image/upload/outorah%20pdf/pxwu0oefvaub9knzfodt.pdf

There is a lot of confusion about this horrible ceasefire deal. Understand this, ceasefire or not, this war is far from over.  Every Jew or Israel supporter should hold their heads up high! We are victors! Join me to better understand what is going on.

Mia is a student at Wilfrid Laurier University and as part of a recent course, she asked to interview me. The conversation that was had flowed so smoothly that I thought it would make an interesting, albeit unusual, podcast episode. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think of this format.

3 Cheshvan | Day 340 | Leap Year The Simple Faith of Every Jew: Is G-d really EVERYWHERE?--Can you spare four minutes a day to gain deeper insight into yourself, your soul, your spiritual make-up, your personal purpose, and how to enjoy a meaningful relationship with G-d?If yes, Let's Talk Tanya. Tanya, the seminal work of Chabad Chasidism, is the personal owner's manual for the Jew who seeks to serve G-d and live a life suffused with holiness, purpose, and joy. Let's Talk Tanya is a daily series that attempts to translate the Tanya into resonant and relevant languageTanya is divided into daily portions. Following this regimen, one concludes the Tanya every year. Let's Talk Tanya, in 4 minutes on average, briefly reviews the day's segment, conveys its basic ideas, and zooms in on one large idea. To watch, listen, or subscribe to Let's Talk Tanya:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkTanya Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3uFNrie Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3BqG9TmGoogle Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3FMnvrsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/letstalktanya/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LetsTalkTanyawww.letstalktanya.comTo donate or for dedication opportunities, please visit letstalktanya.com/donate or reach us at contact@letstalktanya.com Have Tanya questions?Submit questions for possible inclusion in a future Tanya Q&A Segment: letstalktanya@gmail.com__The full text of the daily Tanya is available at: www.Chabad.org/DailyTanya

התוכן א) ספר יד החזקה להרמב"ם קשור עם הגאולה העתידה שכן סיומו וחותמו הוא בהלכות הקשורות עם מלך המשיח. ב) בשיעור רמב"ם היומי נאמר: "מזבח שנפגם נפסלו כל הקדשים שהיו שם שחוטין במקדש שעדיין לא נזרק דמם שהרי אין שם מזבח לזרוק עליו וכו'" (דכשם שקרבנות, והכהנים המקריבים אותן, צ"ל באופן של תמימות, כמו"כ צריך גם המזבח להיות שלם, וכאשר נפגם המזבח נפסלו הקרבנות), אבל "קדשים חיים שהיו שם.. לא נפסלו.. שאין בעלי חיים נדחין". ההוראה הנפלאה: כאו"א מישראל הוא בבחי' "בעלי חיים" כיון שקשור עם ה' מקור החיים, וזה מתבטא בפועל ע"י קיום התורה "תורת חיים" וקיום המצוות עליהם נאמר "וחי בהם" - וכין שכן הרי בכל מצב, גם כאשר המזבח פגום וכו', "אינו נדחה"!משיחת צום גדלי' ה'תשמ"ו ל"הנחה פרטית" או התרגום ללה"ק של השיחה: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=11-09-2024 Synopsis (1) The connection between the coming of Moshiach and the Rambam's Yad Hachazakah – which concludes with the halachos pertaining to Moshiach. (2) Today's Rambam states: “When a mizbeach became damaged, all of the kodashim in the Sanctuary that had been slaughtered, but whose blood had not been cast on the mizbeach, are disqualified, for there is no mizbeach on which to cast the blood” (i.e., just as the korbanos and the kohanim must be without blemish, so must the mizbeach be without blemish). However, “kodashim that were alive…are not disqualified…for living animals are not disqualified.” This teaches us a wondrous lesson: Every Jew is “alive” by virtue of his connection to Hashem, the Source of Life – and this is expressed practically by his keeping the Torah of life and the mitzvos, of which it says, “and live by them.” And because he is alive, in every situation, even if the mizbeach is damaged, “he is not disqualified.”Excerpt from sichah of Tzom Gedalia 5746 For a transcript in English of the Sicha: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=11-09-2024 לע”נ ר' נח ב"ר יעקב דוד הכהן ע"ה ליום היארצייט שלו ח' אלול. ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.נדבת בנו ר' אברהם דוד הכהן שי' טייטלבויםלע”נ הרה"ת ר' יוסף צבי ב"ר חיים ע"ה וואלאוויק ליום היארצייט שלו ח' אלול. ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.נדבת בתו מרת חנה ובעלה ר' דוד שיחיו יוניק

This Week's learning was sponsored in honor of the yahrtzeit on Beis Elul of Tzvi ben Shmuel. May his neshama have an aliyah and may his family be reunited all together with the coming of Moshiach! To sponsor a sicha, reach out to Etty 6197570486! Topic: The unique (and shocking) mitzvah of “Egla Arufa” - (“decapitated calf”), performed when a murdered person was found out in the field and the killer was unknown. The details of how this mitzvah is performed highlights the tragedy of what happened with this person. There are different opinions on which part of this tragedy to focus on, the murdered, the murder, or the murderer. Rashi focuses on the ONE who was murdered. We are all responsible for this person. We dont get to “dump” or “excuse away” the situation thinking “maybe somehow this person brought this on himself - not even using Torah sources for this” NO! We must RUN to look out for each other. Where do I put my energy? We all have to be shaken up. A, I ensuring that when ppl go on their way - they will be safe, right food, right clothing, right protection of yiddishkeit and torah and mitzvos? In this month of Elul especially, Hashem is ready for EVERY Jew. I must go out of my way to care for every Jew, not just in the city, but in the field! With the tragedy of the 6 yidden murdered this week, please take the time to listen to this sicha, and take on an active resolution to reach out to someone else. (Parshas Shoftim, Chelek Chof Daled p.121.)

התוכן בתניא באגה"ק סי' ז' מדובר ע"ד הענין ד"מצוה דהוי זהיר בי' טפי". דאע"פ שכל יהודי מחוייב לקיים את כל מצוות התורה, וכמ"ש "אנכי ה' אלקיך וגו'", שהקב"ה פנה כביכול לכאו"א בפ"ע ואומר לו "אנכי ה' אלקיך וגו'", ועד"ז כל המצוות, מ"מ, יש לכאו"א מצוה מיוחדת שבה "זהיר טפי". ובלשונו של אדה"ז: "ואף שכל נפש מישראל צריכה לבוא בגלגול לקיים כל תרי"ג מצוות מ"מ לא נצרכה אלא להעדפה וזהירות וזריזות יתירה ביתר שאת ויתר עז כפולה ומכופלת למעלה מעלה מזהירות שאר המצוות". לדוגמא: החיוב לדאוג שגם הזולת יעסוק בתומ"צ הוא על כאו"א, אבל בנוגע להמרא דאתרא ה"ז "מצוה דהוי זהיר בי' טפי". בהגהות אאמו"ר על גליון ספר התניא שלו, מבאר ג' הלשונות "להעדפה וזהירות וזריזות" עפ"י קבלה. ובאותיות פשוטות: העדפה: שהאדם מתמסר בעשיית המצוה בלב ונפש, תנועת האהבה והחסד – קו הימין. זהירות: זהירות בקיום מל"ת, תנועת הגבורה והדין – קו השמאל. זריזות: ההחלטה שיש לקיים מ"ע או להזהר במל"ת באה מיד כמו שהיא לידי פועל – קו האמצעי, שלא משתנה בין קצה העליון לקצה התחתון.משיחת כ"ף מנחם אב ה'תשכ"ד ל"הנחה פרטית" או התרגום ללה"ק של השיחה: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=30-08-2024 Synopsis Siman 7 of Iggeres Hakodesh discusses the idea of “the mitzvah in which one is especially vigilant.” Meaning, although Every Jew is obligated to keep all the mitzvos, nevertheless, everyone has a special mitzvah in which he is especially vigilant. As the Alter Rebbe writes, “And although every Jewish soul needs to be reincarnated in order to fulfill all 613 mitzvos, nevertheless this [heightened attention focused on a particular mitzvah] is necessary only for the sake of an additional increase, vigilance and zeal, with greater magnitude and greater vigor, doubled and redoubled above and beyond his vigilance in other mitzvos.” For example, while everyone is obligated to see to it that others engage in Torah and mitzvos, for a Rav, it's a “mitzvah in which he must be especially vigilant.” In my father's notes on the margins of his Tanya, he explains these three expressions, “increase, vigilance and zeal” according to Kabalah. In simple terms: “Increase” means one devotes himself to doing the mitzvah with his heart and soul; this comes from the attribute of love and kindness, the “right line.” “Vigilance” means fulfilling the negative mitzvos by refraining from what is forbidden; this comes from the attribute of severity and judgment, the “left line”. And “zeal” means that as soon as one decides to do a mitzvah, he incorporates it immediately into practice; this comes from the attribute of the “middle line,” which runs directly and unchanged from top to bottom.Excerpt from sichah of 20 Menachem-Av 5724 For a transcript in English of the Sicha: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=30-08-2024

A remarkable hymn to Jerusalem! - Yes - the city of God; but also, every Jew finds his or her roots in Jerusalem and can feel that it is the city in which they belong.

Every Jew has an automatic love for G-d. How?

KORACH You Are The Story Jealousy at its core stems from one's misalignment with their own value and worth. It is the fundamental misunderstanding of one's role in the world The Rebbe, a Jewish leader who dedicated his life to reaching every single Jew. There have been righteous individuals who opened their doors to those who knocked on them, The Rebbe devoted all his resources to caring for a small community on the other side of the world – one that had not heard of him and did not belong to his sect, followers, or students. This was not just Ahavas Yisroel, but it stemmed from a profound appreciation of Jews. Every Jew is an entire world. Each one possesses an intrinsic value that makes them an only child to Hashem. Everyone also has their own beauty, quality, and unique purpose that is part of a mission upon which the world depends. If you're jealous of someone else, you simply haven't quite understood who you are and why you matter. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mendy-goldberg/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mendy-goldberg/support

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One of the great ploys of the evil inclination is to get a person to believe that Hashem is not interested in his service, especially when things aren't going the way the person wants, and he tries harder to do more mitzvot, but things still don't improve. Then the evil inclination tells him, why bother? Hashem is not accepting what you're doing anyway. If the person would only know how much Hashem values everything he has done already and continues to do, he would do it even better. If things don't improve when we improve, that just means the worth of our avodah becomes infinitely greater. When the evil inclination works overtime to get us to try and turn away from Hashem, that's when Hashem wants us the most. No matter what a person has done, Hashem always wants his avodah . So long as there's life, there's a way to improve. Hashem yearns even for the people who are completely estranged from Him. Every Jew is His precious child, and He can't wait to be close to us. Rabbi Elkarif from Israel told a story that was related by a tour guide in Italy, which recently took place. There was a group of Chasidim, traveling by bus on a highway in Italy that rarely has traffic. They intended to pray Mincha when they returned to their hotel, but unexpectedly, there was a big traffic jam on the highway. When they realized they wouldn't make it back in time for Mincha, they told the tour guide they wanted to pull over to a gas station so that they could pray there. The tour guide encouraged them to pray on the bus, being that in Italy there was a lot of anti-Semitism, and if people would see a large group of Jews all standing together at a gas station, who knows what would happen. The Chasidim were not worried. They insisted on pulling over so they could pray the right way. The guide directed the driver off the highway, and they all got off the bus, washed up, and were getting ready to start Mincha. All of a sudden, a huge motorcycle making loud, obnoxious noises pulled up right next to them, with a large man sporting a ponytail on it. He looked very scary. He lifted off his dark helmet, took one look at the Chasidic group, and then said, “Mincha?” They were shocked by his request, and they proceeded to pray together as a group. At the conclusion of Mincha, this biker said Kaddish, and then got back on his bike and was ready to go. One of the Chasidim approached him and asked him what his story was. The biker said he grew up in Jerusalem in a religious family, but he moved away and declined rapidly in his Torah and mitzvot. His father passed away a few years ago, and on his deathbed, he asked him to please say Kaddish for him. He mentioned that he always begged him to put on tefillin and keep Shabbat, but he never listened. Now he was imploring him to say Kaddish on his behalf. The biker told his father, “I eat non-kosher, and I use my mouth to speak inappropriately. This mouth will not be able to lift your soul with its Kaddish.” His father said, “No, the Kaddish will help,” and once again reiterated the importance of him saying it. The biker finally agreed. Every year, he made it a point to say Kaddish on the yahrtzeit . Then he said, “Today, I planned on traveling from my city in Italy where I live to Merce, 700 kilometers away. In the middle of the journey, I remembered it was my father's yahrtzeit , and it was not going to be possible to find any shuls in the small towns on the way. I turned to Hashem and said, “If my Kaddish has any value, and You want me to say it, please help me find a minyan.” I kept riding my bike, and as the sun was setting, I saw your group gathering at the gas station out of nowhere. My heart jumped. Hashem made it possible for me to say Kaddish today. He showed me that even my Kaddish is worth something.`` Hashem adores everything we do. There is never a time that He does not desire our avodah

Every Jew that you encounter today will say that the mother must be Jewish in order for her child to be Jewish, yet there is no scriptural validation for this doctrine. Furthermore, the Biblical genealogies show that God focused on the father, not the mother.  So, why is this error of matrilineal descent held by so many Jews today? And what makes a Jew a Jew? VF-2420 Watch, Listen and Learn 24x7 at PastorMelissaScott.com Pastor Melissa Scott teaches from Faith Center in Glendale. Call 1-800-338-3030 24x7 to leave a message for Pastor Scott. You may make reservations to attend a live service, leave a prayer request or make a commitment. Pastor Scott appreciates messages and reads them often during live broadcasts. Follow @Pastor_Scott on Twitter and visit her official Facebook page @Pastor.M.Scott. Download Pastor Scott's "Understand the Bible" app for iPhone, iPad and iPod at the Apple App Store and for Android devices in the Google Store. Pastor Scott can also be seen 24x7 on Roku and Amazon Fire on the "Understand the Bible?" channel. ©2024 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved

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Hi, I'm John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you're listening to Share Life Today. What a meaningful week we've just started! And walking through Easter with your family, friends, and even strangers can be a wonderful way to share the Gospel with them. Because truly, the Good News of the Gospel happened that very first Easter week and started with Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. At first glance, that may not seem like much…but truly, this was an amazing and powerful act. Jesus' entry on a donkey claimed His rightful place as their Messiah—the One who came to save His people from their sins. Every Jew there would have known Zechariah's prophecy of the King and the Messiah coming—triumphant and victorious!—on a donkey colt. And that's why they shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” King Jesus came to be the sacrifice for sinful humans. And all who place their trust in Him alone, “He gives the right to become children of God.” For more, visit our website at www.sharelife.today.

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Dedicated in memory of Zelda Silberberg, Zelda bas R' Moshe Halevi a”h, on the occasion of her eighteenth yahrtzeit. 23 Adar I | Day 94 | Leap Year Loving Every Jew: The second outcome of living soulfully -- Can you spare four minutes a day to gain deeper insight into yourself, your soul, your spiritual make-up, your personal purpose, and how to enjoy a meaningful relationship with G-d? If yes, Let's Talk Tanya. Tanya, the seminal work of Chabad Chasidism, is the personal owner's manual for the Jew who seeks to serve G-d and live a life suffused with holiness, purpose, and joy. Let's Talk Tanya is a daily series that attempts to translate the Tanya into resonant and relevant language Tanya is divided into daily portions. Following this regimen, one concludes the Tanya every year. Let's Talk Tanya, in 4 minutes on average, briefly reviews the day's segment, conveys its basic ideas, and zooms in on one large idea. To watch, listen, or subscribe to Let's Talk Tanya: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkTanya Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3uFNrie Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3BqG9Tm Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3FMnvrs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letstalktanya/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LetsTalkTanya www.letstalktanya.com To donate or for dedication opportunities, please visit letstalktanya.com/donate or reach us at contact@letstalktanya.com Have Tanya questions? Submit questions for possible inclusion in a future Tanya Q&A Segment: letstalktanya@gmail.com __ The full text of the daily Tanya is available at: www.Chabad.org/DailyTanya

In this shiur, delivered in Ba'er Miriam, Rav Burg explains (based on a piece from Rav Shaul Alter shlit"a) the inner connection between the three times it says the word V'nishma in the Torah. We must know that: 1. We have inside of ourselves the capacity to be totally devoted to Hashem. 2. No matter how far we stray from the path, Hashem always us a relationship with us. 3. Every Jew is a Kohen Gadol, worthy of wearing the robes of nobility.

Given 2/7/2024 by Rabbi Mendel Kessin Weekly Shiur 149

Given 1/24/2024 by Rabbi Mendel Kessin

Speaker 1:This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Speaker 2:Heavenly Father, we thank You that, in this Christmas season, we can meditate upon what it means that God is with us, that Jesus is Emmanuel. That Jesus, You, the great I am, Yahweh of the Hebrew scriptures, You came to be with us. We thank You, Lord Jesus, that You call us to be Your disciples, Your followers. And that doesn't mean that You call us to an easy life, often it means that You do call us to seasons of trials and testing and I pray, Lord, fill our hearts with joy when we encounter the trials, when we encounter the tests. As James tells us, count in all joy, my brothers and, when you meet trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect so that you may be complete and perfect, lacking in nothing. Lord, You do test us in order to equip us, in order to empower us, in order to use us and You do it in order to deepen our revelation of You and deepen our faith in You.And Lord, I pray from the holy scriptures today, encourage us, show us that, when Jesus Christ became man, when God took on flesh, You came into our struggles, You came into our trials in the same way that You came to the disciples walking on the water, You came into the boat and You saved them from the storm, You welcome that same salvation and You offer it to each one of us. I pray, if there's anyone here today who's not sure where they stand before the God of the universe, I pray that they meet Jesus Christ, I pray that You give them the gift of repentance so they do repent of their sins and leave them and I pray that You save them from their sin and give them power over sin to walk in ways of righteousness. Holy Spirit, we love You and we pray that You come and minister to us, encourage us, edify us and continue to work out Your will in our lives. We pray this, in Jesus Christ's name, amen.We're continuing our sermon series through the Gospel of Mark called Kingdom Come and the idea is that Jesus has come to inaugurate the Lord's kingdom. He said the kingdom of God is at hand, therefore, repent and believe and then He calls us, as His followers, to establish His kingdom and that starts with praying. And in the Lord's prayer, He teaches us to pray, Lord, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. The title of the sermon today is Take Heart, I am with You. A famous phrase in combat sports is there's levels to this and the idea can be applied to just about any sphere of life but it's made famous in combat sports because, whenever the winner at the end of the match, when he's interviewed, the microphone, post-victory, is put in front of his face or her face and they say, "How did you win?"And usually, the answer is something like, "There's levels to this," meaning I reached a level that my opponent has not. And there's levels in striking, footwork, defense, strength, speed, conditioning but the level that must be reached if victory is to be tasted on a regular basis is can you remain calm in the face of adversity. As the great philosopher, Mike Tyson, famously put it, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. And often, in following Jesus Christ, we get punched in the mouth and it's the punch that you don't see coming that knocks you out. Therefore, we, as followers of Christ, we should be ready, we should be ready for whatever the life throws at us.Can you calm your nerves when the pressure is the highest? Well, same goes for faith. Can we keep trusting in the Lord, trusting in His sovereignty when it feels like we're in the middle of a storm rowing in place because the winds are so strong and our strength is so minuscule in comparison? And then can we remain sensitive to the Lord? Can we remain tender-hearted when frustration begins to creep in? Lord, this is not what I signed up for. Lord, this is not what I've been asking for. The text before us today seems so similar to the episode where Jesus was in the boat with the disciples, they're caught in the storm and Jesus was sleeping in the stern, His head on a cushion. And in that text, it's similar to our text, there is a storm and it almost seems like the text is redundant but, in this episode, Jesus is not physically in the boat with the disciples.He isn't in the boat in our lives physically, He's not here physically but His physical presence isn't necessary for His sovereign rule to continue reigning because He is the great I am. That's His name, Jesus says, "I am," unchangeable, unflappable, immutable. He's as much with His disciples overseeing their struggles and suffering, superintending their pain from a distant mountain in our text as if He were in the boat with them. The context is the disciples had returned from a short-term missionary trip where they were preaching the word of the kingdom, they were exorcizing demons, they were healing many in the name of Christ and they were accepted by many, rejected by more. And then they come back and Jesus sees that they're absolutely exhausted and He says, "Let's go to a desolate place so that you can rest."As they're going to their vacation destination, so to speak, 5,000 men find out that they're coming and then Jesus and the disciples end up teaching for another full day and then the crowds are hungry. The disciples say, "Jesus, send them away so they can get some food," and Jesus tells them, "You feed them." And then Jesus takes the five loaves and the two fish and multiplies them exponentially, feeds the thousands and the disciples spend hours more, they were already exhausted, hours more carrying food back and forth to the groups of 50s and a hundred. So, the disciples are bone tired and now Jesus, in our text, commands them to get into the boat and, unbeknownst to them, He's sending them into another storm, this time by themselves.They spend hours in the storm rowing in the darkness against the thick of the stormy winds. And the question is how will they respond this time? Will they level up their faith? Will they take the lessons they've learned and apply them in the new test or will they remain hardened and frustrated by the pain that Jesus has allowed? In Mark 6:45 through 56, that's where we find ourselves. Would you please look at the text with me?Immediately, He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd and, after He had taken leave of them, He went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea and He was alone on the land and He saw that they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them and, about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them but, when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out for they all saw Him and were terrified but immediately He spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid."And He got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded for they did not understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore and, when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized Him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard He was. And wherever He came, in villages, cities or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment and, as many as touched, it were made.Well, this is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, fallible, authoritative word, may He write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Three points to frame up our time. First, when life gets overwhelming, keep praying. Second, when life gets overwhelming, keep rowing. And third, when life gets overwhelming, keep believing. First, when life gets overwhelming, keep praying. Jesus had just ministered to thousands, preaching God's word to them and we see in this text that Jesus just needs to pause. You see this often in the Gospel of Mark where He serves, serves, serves, serves and then, all of a sudden, He's just out. He's like, "Okay, I'm going to a mountain. I need to pray." Jesus as God did not need to pray but Jesus the man certainly did.And Jesus is the divine Son without beginning of life or end of days who was dwelt in the glory and the blessedness of the Trinity in perfect fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever but here, in our text, we see that Christ is human. He is a man and, as a man, Mark highlights for us Christ need to pray. As God, He doesn't need to pray but, as man, He could not neglect to pray so He sends His disciples off to give them a breather from the crowd, leaves the crowd with a last sermon, a benediction, if you will, and now Jesus needs to go and restore the ammunition, so to speak, the spiritual resources that He needs to continue. He understands that what He's doing is waging spiritual warfare and, in warfare, you need ammunition and where does Jesus get the resources, where do we get the resources, the power to and the strength? We get it from prayer.And it seems that the disciples didn't want to leave, they saw Jesus perform this incredible miracle and perhaps they wanted to go and pray to the Lord with Jesus but the text tells us in verse 45 that Jesus makes them get into the boat. Immediately, He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. We're not sure why Jesus does this but He abruptly sends them out and He Himself goes to pray. The parallel passage in the Gospel of John gives us a hint as to why, abruptly, He goes to pray to the Father. Perhaps He is wrestling with the same temptation that Satan came to Him with in Matthew 4.But in John 6, the parallel passage, it says, "When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said, 'This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world,' perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king. Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself." Jesus had just spent all day teaching them what His kingdom is like, that His kingdom is an inside-out kingdom, that He has come to save people from their sins, give them new hearts so they want to submit to God from the inside out, it's an inside out kingdom but that's not what they wanted. They didn't want this talk of repentance, of submission to God, of submission to His word and His law. No, they wanted an outside in kingdom, a king that would force people into submission, force the enemies of Israel into submission.A change of heart? No, they wanted a change in politics. They didn't care about a new heart, all they cared about was that their stomachs were filled. And who wouldn't want a king who can provide an endless supply of food? Forget Herod, forget Pontius Pilate, forget Caesar, we have someone who can always feed us. Philippians 3:18, Saint Paul writes for many of whom I've often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven and, from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to himself.Jesus knew that these crowds were not followers, they were just fans. They were consumers and seekers, not subjects and servants. These are the same people who will turn on Jesus in just a couple of years when He fails to give them what they want. They demand a political king, they demand someone who can meet their physical needs. Spirituality, the kingdom of heaven, repenting, believing the word of God meant nothing to them and that's why, when they were given the choice, "Do you want Barabbas or do you want Jesus? Which one do you want free?" They said, "Give us Barabbas the thief. Jesus, crucify Him." Their sin, which is the root cause of all their suffering, blinded them to see what they needed most which is forgiveness from the Lord and a new heart.The heavenly Father sent Jesus to conquer humanity's greatest enemy. Our greatest enemy is sin, not the Roman Empire, not big religious establishment. He came as Israel's messianic king but not just Israel's and we have all sinned and we are all under condemnation and we all desperately need the Lord to fill our souls with His presence. Also, becoming an earthly king the first time around must have been a temptation for Jesus. Jesus, in the human form, was tempted as we are. He was tempted with taking the crown without enduring the cross and that's what Satan tempted Jesus with in the desert when Christ was fasting in Matthew 4:8.Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to Him, "All these I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." Jesus said, "I've come to make people worshipers of God, the Father seek those who worship Him in spirit and in truth." So, Jesus dismisses the crowds, dismisses the disciples and He goes to pray. He goes to spend time with the Heavenly Father, this is how He fought temptation, this is how He gained perspective, this is how He was reminded of his mission. That's verse 46. After He had taken leave of them, He went up on the mountain to pray.The Lord taught us in the Sermon on the Mount how to pray. In Matthew 6:5, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward but, when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to the Father who is in secret and Your father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them for your father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray then like this, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil."He says, "Your heavenly Father knows what you need even before you ask. And sometimes the Lord provides even before we ask, He loves to meet our needs." But what needs does Jesus have? He multiplied five loaves and two fishes and feed thousands, His need wasn't for bread, His need was for the presence of God the Father. He wanted proximity to the Father, He wanted a visitation with the Father, that's why He prays. And this is also how Jesus waged spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6 tells us that there is a spiritual war happening all around us, therefore, we are to stand firm in the Lord in the strength of his might. And in the text later it says praying at all times in the spirit, with all prayer and supplication to the end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.And that's what Jesus was doing, He's praying in the spirit and who's He praying for? He's praying for the saints, He's praying for the disciples. He went to the mountain, not just to rest, not just to sleep, but to wage spiritual war in prayer. He was interceding for the disciples as He currently is interceding for us. He is the one mediator, as 1 Timothy 2:5, for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for all which is the testimony given at the proper time. Satan wants to destroy every single human being, he wants to destroy every single soul and he even wanted to destroy the disciples. Scripture says that he wants to deceive even the elect, if he could.Jesus, in one time, in Luke 22 says this to Peter, He says, "Simon, Simon, behold Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." This is Jesus praying for His disciples, He's praying for their faith so it does not fail as they are in a great storm. This kind of prayer is work, it's labor, it's struggle. You should pray so hard sometimes that you break a sweat and you're even surprised by it. At community group recently, we have community group at my place and, at the end, we break up, the sisters stay in the living room and the brothers go into the kitchen and I always say, "Men in the kitchen, where they belong," and everyone laughs and they belong eating the snacks.And we were praying and there were just immediate needs and we felt the heaviness of the Holy Spirit and we're praying, we're praying and we're praying, we're done praying. And I look at the brother's foreheads, they're all drenched, I needed a change of shirt, I just sweat a lot. Sometimes, prayer is work, it's labor. We have to pray fervently, fiery prayers, zealous prayers. In Colossians 4:12, St. Paul says, "Epaphras, who was one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God." Do you emulate Christ with your prayer? Do you pray for the saints as He did? Do you pray for the conversion of the lost? Do you pray for revival? Have you ever spent hours in prayer? Have you continued all night in prayer even once?And if you want more power to get through the storms of life when life gets overwhelming, pray. If you want more power to see the power of God in your life doing the impossible, pray. And if you want to be used mightily by God, pray even as our Lord did. So, Jesus up on the mountain praying for His disciples so, when life gets overwhelming, pray and, second, when life gets overwhelming, keep rowing. This is verse 47. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea and He was alone on the land and He saw that they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them. So, Jesus is up on the mountain, I love this image, perhaps He sees by moonlight, He sees them struggling, He sees them striving but His eye is upon Him. And this is assuring that, even when we're going through trials of life, the Lord, His eye is upon us.Psalm 32:8, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding which must be curbed with bit and brittle or it will not stay near you. It seems like, whenever Jesus leaves the disciples alone, they're in trouble but Jesus' eye is upon them, He's watching over them. They're experiencing the contrary wind, there's darkness, perhaps the boat is filling up as in the previous story and it says that they were making headway painfully, making tortuous progress. So, the wind is against them, the sails are down, you can't use the sails when the wind is against you. So, the oars are out, they're rowing, they're being tormented in their rowing as one translation says. They were not making any progress, rowing was a struggle.Verse 48 says, "About the fourth watch of the night, He came to them walking on the sea, He meant to pass by them." So, if they left that dusk, I don't know, 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and now Jesus comes to them walking in the water in the fourth watch of the night, that's between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. So, you're talking about they're rowing against the wind six to eight to nine hours and the storm wasn't just a sudden squall as in the previous text, this is a continuous headwind necessitating heavy back-breaking rowing. Have you ever rowed? Is there a rowing machine in your gym? Five minutes on that thing, you're like, "I'm done. I got my workout for the week."I rowed for a season in college on the crew team and there's a reason why I did it for a season, it is awful, it was so bad. But the workouts were an hour on this erg, an hour, you're going at heavy pace and painful, painful. You're exhausted by the end and famished. And this is why I wonder, Jesus fed the 5,000 and how many baskets were left over? Twelve baskets. Remember that? One basket for each disciple. He's like, "Here you go, gentlemen. Here's some bread and carbs for the storm that I'm sending you into." And even in that, we see the Lord's incredible provision that He provided for them, provided energies for them, food for them as they're rowing. And this whole episode is a tremendous illustration of the life of a disciple, the life of following Jesus Christ. It really is a life of testing and then deliverance.The Lord allows a test in your life, gets you to the point where you're out of energy and that's when you ask for the Lord's deliverance and that's when He shows up. And I do want to point out that the storm here isn't them deviating from God's plan, the Lord didn't send the storm as punishment for their disobedience, no, they did exactly what Jesus said. They end up in the boat because Jesus made them get in the boat and, at this point, they could have become frustrated. Jesus, why'd You allow this again? We would much rather be on the mountain with You praying and snacking on our bread and fish. But now, we're in this boat rowing nine hours into the wind. And what's the lesson here?Well, if you're doing the Lord's work, if you're in the middle of the Lord's will and it feels like everyone and everything is against you, you just keep going, you keep rowing. He will supply you with strength even as He supplied the disciples with food. And then, at the darkest hour of the night, in their time, their moment of greatest need, in a totally unexpected way, Jesus comes to the rescue. In both of the storms at sea, it must have seemed to the disciples that Jesus doesn't care and that's what they said the first time, "Jesus, don't you care? We're perishing." And here, it seems like Jesus doesn't care, allowed us to go into the storm and He's up on the mountain but, in both occasions, the Lord strengthened them with deeper revelations of who He is.There He showed that He is God over creation and here He's going to show that He is the God of the Old Testament, He is Yahweh. And the Lord often allows hardships in our life of all kinds, loneliness, persecution, afflictions of the body, disappointments and frustrations of life and then death itself. But how many of the Lord's choice saints would say, "Even when I'm battered in the storms of life, that's when the Lord was closest, that's when the Lord came to the rescue."? Here, Jesus meets them by walking on the sea, this shows His divinity but it's also reminiscent of Israel. Israel fled Egypt and they walked across the sea, the sea was parted. Jesus is using these themes from the Old Testament as He's creating a new Israel.And Israel, if you remember, they didn't enter the promised land because of their bickering and complaining against God. God had them, for 40 years, walk around in circles in the wilderness because they didn't trust God, they didn't believe Him and they complained about the circumstances they found themselves in. And this is what's happening here, Jesus is testing the new Israel. Are you going to complain? Are you going to grumble or are you going to learn the lessons that would have you to learn to do all things without grumbling and complaining? It says He meant to pass by them, what does this mean? Well, perhaps it was to test their faith. Just as He was sleeping in the stern of the boat on the previous occasion, if they had sufficient faith, they would be content even without His presence with them. Smallness of faith is a failure to remember God's work in the past and apply that knowledge to present problems.But I think this phrase to pass by is an allusion to the Old Testament and on two occasions where God revealed himself to Moses and God revealed himself to Elijah, the preeminent prophets of the Old Testament. It says, at both times, when they asked for theophany, asked for the glory of God, asked to see Him, it says He passed by them. Meaning He's like, "I want to give you a deeper revelation but, if I show you all of myself, you're going to die because of your sin." So, even these great, great preeminent prophets, they're only given a glimpse of the Lord and the glimpse of His glory because Christ had not yet come.For example, in Exodus 33:17, and the Lord said to Moses, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do for you have found favor in my sight and I know you by name." Moses said, "Please show me your glory," and He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you My name, the Lord," and here the Lord is Yahweh, I am that I am, "And I will be gracious to whom I'll be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." But he said, "You cannot see My face for man shall not see me and live." And the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by Me where you shall stand on the rock and, while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and I'll cover you with My hand until I've passed by. And then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back but My face shall not be seen."So, in this text where God says, "Here's My name, I am, I am Yahweh," that's what Yahweh means, I am that I am, "I'm going to reveal to you My name, I'm going to reveal to you My glory. But only just a glimpse, I have to pass by," because of the sin nature of each one of us even Moses. Same thing happened with Elijah, 1 Kings 19:9. And there he came to a cave and lodged in it and behold the word of the Lord came to him and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword and, I, even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away."And He said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by and the great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was a not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. When God reveals Himself in a whisper to Elijah as He passed by, the Lord passed by in order to reveal Himself on a deeper level but, before Christ had come, they weren't ready for the full revelation, the full effulgence of His glory.And that's what's happening here and that's what Jesus is doing, He's revealing to His disciples, He's trying to take them to the next level of their faith, show them that He is the God of the Hebrew scriptures, He is Yahweh, He is the great I am. Point three is, when life gets overwhelming, keep believing. Verse 49, and when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid." The disciples, all they could see was the wind, the storm, all they could see was the oars, all they could feel was the exhaustion, they weren't expecting the Lord, therefore, they're shocked. They were perhaps crying out in their heart of hearts but they didn't ... How could you even imagine something like this, Jesus walking on the water?And it says that they were terrified and who can blame them? They're exhausted, cold from the rain and the spray and then, all of a sudden, Jesus is here and He says, "Take heart," be encouraged, "It is I." And it is I in the Greek, it's ego eimi, it's I am. Not just I, it's I am. And He uses the same exact name as God of the Hebrew scriptures uses to define Himself. You see this all throughout the Hebrew scriptures, all throughout the Old Testament but in particular in Exodus 3:13 through 15 when God reveals Himself to Moses at the burning bush and Moses asks God for His name. Verse 13 of Exodus 3, then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they ask me what is his name, what shall I say to them?"And God said to Moses, "I am who I am." And He said, "Say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent Me to you." God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, "The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is My name forever and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations." Every Jew knew from memory these famous words in Exodus 3:14 that Yahweh spoke to Moses in the burning bush I am that I am. And these are the words that Jesus applied to Himself in John chapter 8 and His religious audience, the Pharisees, knew exactly what He was saying that's why, immediately after He says I am, they picked up stones to execute Him for blasphemy because, if He wasn't God, if He wasn't the great I am, then He deserved to be executed.This is John 8:56. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day, he saw it and was glad. So, the Jews said to him, "You are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was I am." So, they picked up stones to throw at Him but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. And these texts are all based on Exodus 3:14 in which God reveals His name is ego eimi, I am the one who is. It denotes that He is everlasting presence. There was never a moment that God was not, there will never be a moment that God will not be. Same thing with Christ, there was never a moment that Christ did not exist. Yes, he took on human form, yes, He was born but he preceded that with His existence.In John 18 where Jesus is being arrested, betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples, in the garden of Gethsemane, there's a little detail that ... It's never included in any of the Jesus movies. It's a detail where Jesus says I am and, all of the soldiers, they fall. I love that because Jesus is saying I could kill all of you, I choose not to. This is a John 18. When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the brook Kidron where there was a garden which He and His disciples entered. Now, Judas who betrayed Him also knew the place where Jesus often met there with His disciples. So, Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am He." Judas who betrayed Him was standing with them and Jesus said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. Jesus' self-identification here as I am He connects to the Hebrew scriptures. I am was also part of the 10 Commandments that He gave Moses and, all throughout the Hebrew scriptures, I am was the name of God that Jesus attributes to Himself. Deion Sanders, the formerly glorious, in human terms, football player, he started coaching college football in Colorado and his son was a quarterback and they won the first game and it was apparently a big deal and then that's where they lost their momentum.Right after, he was being interviewed and they said, "Tell us about your son. Why is he so good?" And he said, Deion Sanders said, "He is him." And as soon as he said that, I'm like, "No, he's not." That only applies to Jesus. Jesus, He is Him because He is the great I am. And they're season tanked after that, God doesn't like blasphemy. So, Jesus is calling Himself the great I am, He's calling Himself that's who He is. In verse 51, He got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded for they did not understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened. And how is this the punchline? How is this the end of this text? You see the miraculous Jesus walking on the water saving His disciples and the text ends with a rebuke. Rebuke that's incomprehensible. It's incomprehensible that the disciples do not comprehend who Jesus is.This is the most astonishing part of the text especially if you realize where we are in the Gospel of Mark and what they have witnessed. They have been privileged to see miracle upon miracle. Simon Peter's mother-in-law gets healed, a leper is cleansed, the paralytic is given the power to walk, a man with a withered hand is restored to wholeness, Jesus casts out a legion of demons, a woman with the flow of blood is healed in a moment and then Jesus raises Jairus' daughter from the dead. He calms the sea, he feeds the 5,000 and they still, it says, they did not get what was happening, their hearts were hardened. And here you got to pause and say where have we seen this phrase of hard hearts?We saw that phrase in the Old Testament with Pharaoh, Pharaoh hardened his heart. We saw that phrase with the people of Israel. When things would get difficult, they hardened their hearts against the Lord. Even to the point where they said, "Lord, we want to go back to Egypt. We'd rather be in chains eating meat than here out in freedom eating manna." Meaning that, the times of suffering, that's when our faith is tested, will we remain tender-hearted recognizing that God has sovereignly orchestrated this trial in our life, it's going to test us, it's going to produce steadfastness that's going to lead to completion and perfection or are we going to say I'm not counting this as joy, this is not joy to me.And here are the disciples, they saw the miracle of the loaves and the fish but their hearts were hardened even back then. Perhaps it's because they were exhausted, they wanted rest, Jesus promised them rest and then, all of a sudden, there's more ministry and it's like they're saying, "It's not worth the sacrifice, Lord." And here I just want to pause and say that, in this text, there is a warning for us, there's a warning for those who profess to be disciples of Jesus Christ and it's a warning that we ought not to pass over. It is possible to be a true believer in Jesus Christ, a disciple in reality, not just in profession, and still experience a hard heart for a season. Why do they experience the hard heart? Perhaps it was the frustration, perhaps the suffering, we're not told, but it's probably because they forgot what Jesus called them to, a life of faith.He said, "Repent and believe." And those two commandments, we never grow past them. On a daily basis, we need to repent and believe. Maybe they were so focused on their obedience, so focused on their works for the Lord, so focused on their sacrifice for the Lord that they forgot to trust in the Lord, that they forgot that the one who commands them to do this is also the one who loves them so, if He commands them, it's always for their good. And what do we need in moments of hardheartedness? Well, we need a fresh encounter with Jesus Christ. We need Jesus to bring us back to tenderness of heart, receptivity to His word, we need further revelation. That's what He gives them, I am, this is who I am. The disciples had every privilege imaginable, they saw the son of God himself and still their hearts were hardened.So, be careful, watch your own heart, see that your own heart does not get hardened toward the Lord, that's what the enemy wants. Along with the rebuke, we see a word of rescue, we see the marvelous grace of Jesus Christ in this story. He saw their hardheartedness and He meant to pass by and He should have passed by. They did not deserve Him getting in the boat and calming the storm, they did not deserve that at all. They were bickering, they were grumbling, they were hardened toward Him and still the Lord gets in the boat. They believed in Him but not enough to keep trusting Him and He got into the boat with them, it shows His incredible grace toward us. Sometimes we need a word of rebuke from the Lord and sometimes we need more grace to melt our hearts and grace is the great thawing agent of our hard cold hearts.Is a sacrifice worth it, friends? Is the sacrifice of following Jesus Christ worth it? For the disciples, they had their questions, they had their doubts. Lord, is it worth it? It's too painful, it seems, to follow You. Yes, You seem to be God, yes, You teach but it seems like taking up my cross daily is a lot of work. And so, where do we get the power to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus Christ? We get it by looking to the cross on a daily basis. Jesus Christ endured the most excruciating physical and spiritual torment of any human being that has ever lived as He bore the penalty for our sins, He bore the wrath of God for us. By taking our sins upon Himself, He even became our sin and said He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.He experienced the full gamut of suffering on the cross and why was he willing to do it? Hebrews tells us, for the joy that was set before Him. He knew that the joy was coming, the joy of saving, the joy of sanctifying, the joy of redeeming Christians, saints, His church. And so, we look to the cross and we see Him enduring these trials, enduring that suffering for us and you say, "Jesus, was that worth it?" And He said, "Yes, it was worth it. That sacrifice was worth it," and whatever sacrifice He calls us to is definitely worth it. So, now, with softened hearts, Jesus is in the boat and the disciples are back to serving people. Did they get the rest that they were promised? They got a deeper rest, they got the rest of the presence of Jesus Christ. It's a rest that's promised to us when we trust in Him.In Mark 6:53, when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized Him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard He was. And wherever He came, in villages, cities or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored Him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment and, as many as touched it, were made well. I don't know where you are in your faith journey but, if you're not sure where you stand before God today, we had a bomb threat, I found out. Whenever I see people moving around briskly around the room and then talking to each other, I'm like, "Oh, what's going on?"The Brookline Police here with a big German shepherd and there's a bomb threat in synagogues nationwide and I was thinking, "You know what? Any moment, it could be our moment. Any moment." And by the way, this is a tremendous way to go because we go as a church together to heaven, no one's left behind and ... You got to be ready, you got to be ready and the way that you know that you are ready to meet your maker, to meet God is if you trust in Jesus Christ. And like these people, they believed, You have the power to heal me, I just need to reach out and touch.Just reach out with faith in prayer to Jesus Christ and say, "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me as a sinner. And Lord, I repent of my sin. Lord, it breaks my heart that I broke Your commandment and my commandment breaking broke your Son and, Jesus, you were willing to do that for me. So, of course, if You forgive me, when You forgive me, I'm going to follow You the rest of my days." And then the Lord saves you and all your sins are forgiven and you're indwelled with the power of the Holy Spirit and the Lord will encourage you no matter the tests that He throws at us.I'll close at Hebrews 4:1-11 which promises this rest that is beyond works, beyond self-righteousness, beyond works, righteousness, a rest that God offers each one of us. Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest as He has said, as I swore My wrath, they shall not enter My rest. Although His works were finished from the foundation of the world for He has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way and God rested on the seventh day from all His works and, again, in this passage He said, "They shall not enter My rest."Since, therefore, it remains for some to enter it and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience. Again, He appoints a certain day, today, saying, through David so long afterward in the words already quoted, today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So, then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from His works as God did from His. Let us, therefore, strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. When life gets overwhelming, keep praying, keep rowing, keep believing and keep striving to enter that rest. Let us pray.Lord God, we thank You for the rest that You offer us in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Jesus, we thank You that You did all of the heavy lifting, You did all of the work by living a perfect life on our behalf. And instead of us, You took our penalty for our law-breaking upon Yourself. And Lord Jesus, we thank You that You offer us rest, You offer us rest for our souls and, Lord, You offer us the presence of God. And Jesus, in the same way that You went and You sought the Father's face, Lord, we seek the Father's face. And Lord, we thank You that You provided a way even for Moses and even for Elijah to see the face of God and they saw the face of God in your face in the mountain of transfiguration, You revealed your glory to them.And why is that text there? It's to show us, that apart from Jesus Christ, we can't experience the presence of God because of our sin. It's Jesus, the new Moses, the new Elijah, it's Jesus who came to save us from our sin, to save us from the very presence of it, from the penalty of it, from the power of it and, Jesus, You did that in order to offer us the presence of God. And Lord, I pray that You continue to empower us as a church to go out and proclaim the gospel. And we do pray for the lost all around us, we pray for those who are still in darkness, for those who still have not seen the light and I pray, Lord, use us powerfully to get that message across. Prepare hearts and give us opportunities to preach Your word, to proclaim Your gospel and we pray this, in Jesus' name, amen.

Speaker 1:This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Speaker 2:Heavenly Father, we thank You that, in this Christmas season, we can meditate upon what it means that God is with us, that Jesus is Emmanuel. That Jesus, You, the great I am, Yahweh of the Hebrew scriptures, You came to be with us. We thank You, Lord Jesus, that You call us to be Your disciples, Your followers. And that doesn't mean that You call us to an easy life, often it means that You do call us to seasons of trials and testing and I pray, Lord, fill our hearts with joy when we encounter the trials, when we encounter the tests. As James tells us, count in all joy, my brothers and, when you meet trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect so that you may be complete and perfect, lacking in nothing. Lord, You do test us in order to equip us, in order to empower us, in order to use us and You do it in order to deepen our revelation of You and deepen our faith in You.And Lord, I pray from the holy scriptures today, encourage us, show us that, when Jesus Christ became man, when God took on flesh, You came into our struggles, You came into our trials in the same way that You came to the disciples walking on the water, You came into the boat and You saved them from the storm, You welcome that same salvation and You offer it to each one of us. I pray, if there's anyone here today who's not sure where they stand before the God of the universe, I pray that they meet Jesus Christ, I pray that You give them the gift of repentance so they do repent of their sins and leave them and I pray that You save them from their sin and give them power over sin to walk in ways of righteousness. Holy Spirit, we love You and we pray that You come and minister to us, encourage us, edify us and continue to work out Your will in our lives. We pray this, in Jesus Christ's name, amen.We're continuing our sermon series through the Gospel of Mark called Kingdom Come and the idea is that Jesus has come to inaugurate the Lord's kingdom. He said the kingdom of God is at hand, therefore, repent and believe and then He calls us, as His followers, to establish His kingdom and that starts with praying. And in the Lord's prayer, He teaches us to pray, Lord, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. The title of the sermon today is Take Heart, I am with You. A famous phrase in combat sports is there's levels to this and the idea can be applied to just about any sphere of life but it's made famous in combat sports because, whenever the winner at the end of the match, when he's interviewed, the microphone, post-victory, is put in front of his face or her face and they say, "How did you win?"And usually, the answer is something like, "There's levels to this," meaning I reached a level that my opponent has not. And there's levels in striking, footwork, defense, strength, speed, conditioning but the level that must be reached if victory is to be tasted on a regular basis is can you remain calm in the face of adversity. As the great philosopher, Mike Tyson, famously put it, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. And often, in following Jesus Christ, we get punched in the mouth and it's the punch that you don't see coming that knocks you out. Therefore, we, as followers of Christ, we should be ready, we should be ready for whatever the life throws at us.Can you calm your nerves when the pressure is the highest? Well, same goes for faith. Can we keep trusting in the Lord, trusting in His sovereignty when it feels like we're in the middle of a storm rowing in place because the winds are so strong and our strength is so minuscule in comparison? And then can we remain sensitive to the Lord? Can we remain tender-hearted when frustration begins to creep in? Lord, this is not what I signed up for. Lord, this is not what I've been asking for. The text before us today seems so similar to the episode where Jesus was in the boat with the disciples, they're caught in the storm and Jesus was sleeping in the stern, His head on a cushion. And in that text, it's similar to our text, there is a storm and it almost seems like the text is redundant but, in this episode, Jesus is not physically in the boat with the disciples.He isn't in the boat in our lives physically, He's not here physically but His physical presence isn't necessary for His sovereign rule to continue reigning because He is the great I am. That's His name, Jesus says, "I am," unchangeable, unflappable, immutable. He's as much with His disciples overseeing their struggles and suffering, superintending their pain from a distant mountain in our text as if He were in the boat with them. The context is the disciples had returned from a short-term missionary trip where they were preaching the word of the kingdom, they were exorcizing demons, they were healing many in the name of Christ and they were accepted by many, rejected by more. And then they come back and Jesus sees that they're absolutely exhausted and He says, "Let's go to a desolate place so that you can rest."As they're going to their vacation destination, so to speak, 5,000 men find out that they're coming and then Jesus and the disciples end up teaching for another full day and then the crowds are hungry. The disciples say, "Jesus, send them away so they can get some food," and Jesus tells them, "You feed them." And then Jesus takes the five loaves and the two fish and multiplies them exponentially, feeds the thousands and the disciples spend hours more, they were already exhausted, hours more carrying food back and forth to the groups of 50s and a hundred. So, the disciples are bone tired and now Jesus, in our text, commands them to get into the boat and, unbeknownst to them, He's sending them into another storm, this time by themselves.They spend hours in the storm rowing in the darkness against the thick of the stormy winds. And the question is how will they respond this time? Will they level up their faith? Will they take the lessons they've learned and apply them in the new test or will they remain hardened and frustrated by the pain that Jesus has allowed? In Mark 6:45 through 56, that's where we find ourselves. Would you please look at the text with me?Immediately, He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd and, after He had taken leave of them, He went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea and He was alone on the land and He saw that they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them and, about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them but, when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out for they all saw Him and were terrified but immediately He spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid."And He got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded for they did not understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore and, when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized Him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard He was. And wherever He came, in villages, cities or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment and, as many as touched, it were made.Well, this is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, fallible, authoritative word, may He write these eternal truths upon our hearts. Three points to frame up our time. First, when life gets overwhelming, keep praying. Second, when life gets overwhelming, keep rowing. And third, when life gets overwhelming, keep believing. First, when life gets overwhelming, keep praying. Jesus had just ministered to thousands, preaching God's word to them and we see in this text that Jesus just needs to pause. You see this often in the Gospel of Mark where He serves, serves, serves, serves and then, all of a sudden, He's just out. He's like, "Okay, I'm going to a mountain. I need to pray." Jesus as God did not need to pray but Jesus the man certainly did.And Jesus is the divine Son without beginning of life or end of days who was dwelt in the glory and the blessedness of the Trinity in perfect fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever but here, in our text, we see that Christ is human. He is a man and, as a man, Mark highlights for us Christ need to pray. As God, He doesn't need to pray but, as man, He could not neglect to pray so He sends His disciples off to give them a breather from the crowd, leaves the crowd with a last sermon, a benediction, if you will, and now Jesus needs to go and restore the ammunition, so to speak, the spiritual resources that He needs to continue. He understands that what He's doing is waging spiritual warfare and, in warfare, you need ammunition and where does Jesus get the resources, where do we get the resources, the power to and the strength? We get it from prayer.And it seems that the disciples didn't want to leave, they saw Jesus perform this incredible miracle and perhaps they wanted to go and pray to the Lord with Jesus but the text tells us in verse 45 that Jesus makes them get into the boat. Immediately, He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. We're not sure why Jesus does this but He abruptly sends them out and He Himself goes to pray. The parallel passage in the Gospel of John gives us a hint as to why, abruptly, He goes to pray to the Father. Perhaps He is wrestling with the same temptation that Satan came to Him with in Matthew 4.But in John 6, the parallel passage, it says, "When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said, 'This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world,' perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king. Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself." Jesus had just spent all day teaching them what His kingdom is like, that His kingdom is an inside-out kingdom, that He has come to save people from their sins, give them new hearts so they want to submit to God from the inside out, it's an inside out kingdom but that's not what they wanted. They didn't want this talk of repentance, of submission to God, of submission to His word and His law. No, they wanted an outside in kingdom, a king that would force people into submission, force the enemies of Israel into submission.A change of heart? No, they wanted a change in politics. They didn't care about a new heart, all they cared about was that their stomachs were filled. And who wouldn't want a king who can provide an endless supply of food? Forget Herod, forget Pontius Pilate, forget Caesar, we have someone who can always feed us. Philippians 3:18, Saint Paul writes for many of whom I've often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven and, from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to himself.Jesus knew that these crowds were not followers, they were just fans. They were consumers and seekers, not subjects and servants. These are the same people who will turn on Jesus in just a couple of years when He fails to give them what they want. They demand a political king, they demand someone who can meet their physical needs. Spirituality, the kingdom of heaven, repenting, believing the word of God meant nothing to them and that's why, when they were given the choice, "Do you want Barabbas or do you want Jesus? Which one do you want free?" They said, "Give us Barabbas the thief. Jesus, crucify Him." Their sin, which is the root cause of all their suffering, blinded them to see what they needed most which is forgiveness from the Lord and a new heart.The heavenly Father sent Jesus to conquer humanity's greatest enemy. Our greatest enemy is sin, not the Roman Empire, not big religious establishment. He came as Israel's messianic king but not just Israel's and we have all sinned and we are all under condemnation and we all desperately need the Lord to fill our souls with His presence. Also, becoming an earthly king the first time around must have been a temptation for Jesus. Jesus, in the human form, was tempted as we are. He was tempted with taking the crown without enduring the cross and that's what Satan tempted Jesus with in the desert when Christ was fasting in Matthew 4:8.Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to Him, "All these I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." Jesus said, "I've come to make people worshipers of God, the Father seek those who worship Him in spirit and in truth." So, Jesus dismisses the crowds, dismisses the disciples and He goes to pray. He goes to spend time with the Heavenly Father, this is how He fought temptation, this is how He gained perspective, this is how He was reminded of his mission. That's verse 46. After He had taken leave of them, He went up on the mountain to pray.The Lord taught us in the Sermon on the Mount how to pray. In Matthew 6:5, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward but, when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to the Father who is in secret and Your father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them for your father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray then like this, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil."He says, "Your heavenly Father knows what you need even before you ask. And sometimes the Lord provides even before we ask, He loves to meet our needs." But what needs does Jesus have? He multiplied five loaves and two fishes and feed thousands, His need wasn't for bread, His need was for the presence of God the Father. He wanted proximity to the Father, He wanted a visitation with the Father, that's why He prays. And this is also how Jesus waged spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6 tells us that there is a spiritual war happening all around us, therefore, we are to stand firm in the Lord in the strength of his might. And in the text later it says praying at all times in the spirit, with all prayer and supplication to the end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.And that's what Jesus was doing, He's praying in the spirit and who's He praying for? He's praying for the saints, He's praying for the disciples. He went to the mountain, not just to rest, not just to sleep, but to wage spiritual war in prayer. He was interceding for the disciples as He currently is interceding for us. He is the one mediator, as 1 Timothy 2:5, for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for all which is the testimony given at the proper time. Satan wants to destroy every single human being, he wants to destroy every single soul and he even wanted to destroy the disciples. Scripture says that he wants to deceive even the elect, if he could.Jesus, in one time, in Luke 22 says this to Peter, He says, "Simon, Simon, behold Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." This is Jesus praying for His disciples, He's praying for their faith so it does not fail as they are in a great storm. This kind of prayer is work, it's labor, it's struggle. You should pray so hard sometimes that you break a sweat and you're even surprised by it. At community group recently, we have community group at my place and, at the end, we break up, the sisters stay in the living room and the brothers go into the kitchen and I always say, "Men in the kitchen, where they belong," and everyone laughs and they belong eating the snacks.And we were praying and there were just immediate needs and we felt the heaviness of the Holy Spirit and we're praying, we're praying and we're praying, we're done praying. And I look at the brother's foreheads, they're all drenched, I needed a change of shirt, I just sweat a lot. Sometimes, prayer is work, it's labor. We have to pray fervently, fiery prayers, zealous prayers. In Colossians 4:12, St. Paul says, "Epaphras, who was one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God." Do you emulate Christ with your prayer? Do you pray for the saints as He did? Do you pray for the conversion of the lost? Do you pray for revival? Have you ever spent hours in prayer? Have you continued all night in prayer even once?And if you want more power to get through the storms of life when life gets overwhelming, pray. If you want more power to see the power of God in your life doing the impossible, pray. And if you want to be used mightily by God, pray even as our Lord did. So, Jesus up on the mountain praying for His disciples so, when life gets overwhelming, pray and, second, when life gets overwhelming, keep rowing. This is verse 47. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea and He was alone on the land and He saw that they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them. So, Jesus is up on the mountain, I love this image, perhaps He sees by moonlight, He sees them struggling, He sees them striving but His eye is upon Him. And this is assuring that, even when we're going through trials of life, the Lord, His eye is upon us.Psalm 32:8, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding which must be curbed with bit and brittle or it will not stay near you. It seems like, whenever Jesus leaves the disciples alone, they're in trouble but Jesus' eye is upon them, He's watching over them. They're experiencing the contrary wind, there's darkness, perhaps the boat is filling up as in the previous story and it says that they were making headway painfully, making tortuous progress. So, the wind is against them, the sails are down, you can't use the sails when the wind is against you. So, the oars are out, they're rowing, they're being tormented in their rowing as one translation says. They were not making any progress, rowing was a struggle.Verse 48 says, "About the fourth watch of the night, He came to them walking on the sea, He meant to pass by them." So, if they left that dusk, I don't know, 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and now Jesus comes to them walking in the water in the fourth watch of the night, that's between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. So, you're talking about they're rowing against the wind six to eight to nine hours and the storm wasn't just a sudden squall as in the previous text, this is a continuous headwind necessitating heavy back-breaking rowing. Have you ever rowed? Is there a rowing machine in your gym? Five minutes on that thing, you're like, "I'm done. I got my workout for the week."I rowed for a season in college on the crew team and there's a reason why I did it for a season, it is awful, it was so bad. But the workouts were an hour on this erg, an hour, you're going at heavy pace and painful, painful. You're exhausted by the end and famished. And this is why I wonder, Jesus fed the 5,000 and how many baskets were left over? Twelve baskets. Remember that? One basket for each disciple. He's like, "Here you go, gentlemen. Here's some bread and carbs for the storm that I'm sending you into." And even in that, we see the Lord's incredible provision that He provided for them, provided energies for them, food for them as they're rowing. And this whole episode is a tremendous illustration of the life of a disciple, the life of following Jesus Christ. It really is a life of testing and then deliverance.The Lord allows a test in your life, gets you to the point where you're out of energy and that's when you ask for the Lord's deliverance and that's when He shows up. And I do want to point out that the storm here isn't them deviating from God's plan, the Lord didn't send the storm as punishment for their disobedience, no, they did exactly what Jesus said. They end up in the boat because Jesus made them get in the boat and, at this point, they could have become frustrated. Jesus, why'd You allow this again? We would much rather be on the mountain with You praying and snacking on our bread and fish. But now, we're in this boat rowing nine hours into the wind. And what's the lesson here?Well, if you're doing the Lord's work, if you're in the middle of the Lord's will and it feels like everyone and everything is against you, you just keep going, you keep rowing. He will supply you with strength even as He supplied the disciples with food. And then, at the darkest hour of the night, in their time, their moment of greatest need, in a totally unexpected way, Jesus comes to the rescue. In both of the storms at sea, it must have seemed to the disciples that Jesus doesn't care and that's what they said the first time, "Jesus, don't you care? We're perishing." And here, it seems like Jesus doesn't care, allowed us to go into the storm and He's up on the mountain but, in both occasions, the Lord strengthened them with deeper revelations of who He is.There He showed that He is God over creation and here He's going to show that He is the God of the Old Testament, He is Yahweh. And the Lord often allows hardships in our life of all kinds, loneliness, persecution, afflictions of the body, disappointments and frustrations of life and then death itself. But how many of the Lord's choice saints would say, "Even when I'm battered in the storms of life, that's when the Lord was closest, that's when the Lord came to the rescue."? Here, Jesus meets them by walking on the sea, this shows His divinity but it's also reminiscent of Israel. Israel fled Egypt and they walked across the sea, the sea was parted. Jesus is using these themes from the Old Testament as He's creating a new Israel.And Israel, if you remember, they didn't enter the promised land because of their bickering and complaining against God. God had them, for 40 years, walk around in circles in the wilderness because they didn't trust God, they didn't believe Him and they complained about the circumstances they found themselves in. And this is what's happening here, Jesus is testing the new Israel. Are you going to complain? Are you going to grumble or are you going to learn the lessons that would have you to learn to do all things without grumbling and complaining? It says He meant to pass by them, what does this mean? Well, perhaps it was to test their faith. Just as He was sleeping in the stern of the boat on the previous occasion, if they had sufficient faith, they would be content even without His presence with them. Smallness of faith is a failure to remember God's work in the past and apply that knowledge to present problems.But I think this phrase to pass by is an allusion to the Old Testament and on two occasions where God revealed himself to Moses and God revealed himself to Elijah, the preeminent prophets of the Old Testament. It says, at both times, when they asked for theophany, asked for the glory of God, asked to see Him, it says He passed by them. Meaning He's like, "I want to give you a deeper revelation but, if I show you all of myself, you're going to die because of your sin." So, even these great, great preeminent prophets, they're only given a glimpse of the Lord and the glimpse of His glory because Christ had not yet come.For example, in Exodus 33:17, and the Lord said to Moses, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do for you have found favor in my sight and I know you by name." Moses said, "Please show me your glory," and He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you My name, the Lord," and here the Lord is Yahweh, I am that I am, "And I will be gracious to whom I'll be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." But he said, "You cannot see My face for man shall not see me and live." And the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by Me where you shall stand on the rock and, while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and I'll cover you with My hand until I've passed by. And then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back but My face shall not be seen."So, in this text where God says, "Here's My name, I am, I am Yahweh," that's what Yahweh means, I am that I am, "I'm going to reveal to you My name, I'm going to reveal to you My glory. But only just a glimpse, I have to pass by," because of the sin nature of each one of us even Moses. Same thing happened with Elijah, 1 Kings 19:9. And there he came to a cave and lodged in it and behold the word of the Lord came to him and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword and, I, even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away."And He said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by and the great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was a not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. When God reveals Himself in a whisper to Elijah as He passed by, the Lord passed by in order to reveal Himself on a deeper level but, before Christ had come, they weren't ready for the full revelation, the full effulgence of His glory.And that's what's happening here and that's what Jesus is doing, He's revealing to His disciples, He's trying to take them to the next level of their faith, show them that He is the God of the Hebrew scriptures, He is Yahweh, He is the great I am. Point three is, when life gets overwhelming, keep believing. Verse 49, and when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid." The disciples, all they could see was the wind, the storm, all they could see was the oars, all they could feel was the exhaustion, they weren't expecting the Lord, therefore, they're shocked. They were perhaps crying out in their heart of hearts but they didn't ... How could you even imagine something like this, Jesus walking on the water?And it says that they were terrified and who can blame them? They're exhausted, cold from the rain and the spray and then, all of a sudden, Jesus is here and He says, "Take heart," be encouraged, "It is I." And it is I in the Greek, it's ego eimi, it's I am. Not just I, it's I am. And He uses the same exact name as God of the Hebrew scriptures uses to define Himself. You see this all throughout the Hebrew scriptures, all throughout the Old Testament but in particular in Exodus 3:13 through 15 when God reveals Himself to Moses at the burning bush and Moses asks God for His name. Verse 13 of Exodus 3, then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they ask me what is his name, what shall I say to them?"And God said to Moses, "I am who I am." And He said, "Say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent Me to you." God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, "The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is My name forever and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations." Every Jew knew from memory these famous words in Exodus 3:14 that Yahweh spoke to Moses in the burning bush I am that I am. And these are the words that Jesus applied to Himself in John chapter 8 and His religious audience, the Pharisees, knew exactly what He was saying that's why, immediately after He says I am, they picked up stones to execute Him for blasphemy because, if He wasn't God, if He wasn't the great I am, then He deserved to be executed.This is John 8:56. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day, he saw it and was glad. So, the Jews said to him, "You are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was I am." So, they picked up stones to throw at Him but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. And these texts are all based on Exodus 3:14 in which God reveals His name is ego eimi, I am the one who is. It denotes that He is everlasting presence. There was never a moment that God was not, there will never be a moment that God will not be. Same thing with Christ, there was never a moment that Christ did not exist. Yes, he took on human form, yes, He was born but he preceded that with His existence.In John 18 where Jesus is being arrested, betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples, in the garden of Gethsemane, there's a little detail that ... It's never included in any of the Jesus movies. It's a detail where Jesus says I am and, all of the soldiers, they fall. I love that because Jesus is saying I could kill all of you, I choose not to. This is a John 18. When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the brook Kidron where there was a garden which He and His disciples entered. Now, Judas who betrayed Him also knew the place where Jesus often met there with His disciples. So, Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am He." Judas who betrayed Him was standing with them and Jesus said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. Jesus' self-identification here as I am He connects to the Hebrew scriptures. I am was also part of the 10 Commandments that He gave Moses and, all throughout the Hebrew scriptures, I am was the name of God that Jesus attributes to Himself. Deion Sanders, the formerly glorious, in human terms, football player, he started coaching college football in Colorado and his son was a quarterback and they won the first game and it was apparently a big deal and then that's where they lost their momentum.Right after, he was being interviewed and they said, "Tell us about your son. Why is he so good?" And he said, Deion Sanders said, "He is him." And as soon as he said that, I'm like, "No, he's not." That only applies to Jesus. Jesus, He is Him because He is the great I am. And they're season tanked after that, God doesn't like blasphemy. So, Jesus is calling Himself the great I am, He's calling Himself that's who He is. In verse 51, He got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded for they did not understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened. And how is this the punchline? How is this the end of this text? You see the miraculous Jesus walking on the water saving His disciples and the text ends with a rebuke. Rebuke that's incomprehensible. It's incomprehensible that the disciples do not comprehend who Jesus is.This is the most astonishing part of the text especially if you realize where we are in the Gospel of Mark and what they have witnessed. They have been privileged to see miracle upon miracle. Simon Peter's mother-in-law gets healed, a leper is cleansed, the paralytic is given the power to walk, a man with a withered hand is restored to wholeness, Jesus casts out a legion of demons, a woman with the flow of blood is healed in a moment and then Jesus raises Jairus' daughter from the dead. He calms the sea, he feeds the 5,000 and they still, it says, they did not get what was happening, their hearts were hardened. And here you got to pause and say where have we seen this phrase of hard hearts?We saw that phrase in the Old Testament with Pharaoh, Pharaoh hardened his heart. We saw that phrase with the people of Israel. When things would get difficult, they hardened their hearts against the Lord. Even to the point where they said, "Lord, we want to go back to Egypt. We'd rather be in chains eating meat than here out in freedom eating manna." Meaning that, the times of suffering, that's when our faith is tested, will we remain tender-hearted recognizing that God has sovereignly orchestrated this trial in our life, it's going to test us, it's going to produce steadfastness that's going to lead to completion and perfection or are we going to say I'm not counting this as joy, this is not joy to me.And here are the disciples, they saw the miracle of the loaves and the fish but their hearts were hardened even back then. Perhaps it's because they were exhausted, they wanted rest, Jesus promised them rest and then, all of a sudden, there's more ministry and it's like they're saying, "It's not worth the sacrifice, Lord." And here I just want to pause and say that, in this text, there is a warning for us, there's a warning for those who profess to be disciples of Jesus Christ and it's a warning that we ought not to pass over. It is possible to be a true believer in Jesus Christ, a disciple in reality, not just in profession, and still experience a hard heart for a season. Why do they experience the hard heart? Perhaps it was the frustration, perhaps the suffering, we're not told, but it's probably because they forgot what Jesus called them to, a life of faith.He said, "Repent and believe." And those two commandments, we never grow past them. On a daily basis, we need to repent and believe. Maybe they were so focused on their obedience, so focused on their works for the Lord, so focused on their sacrifice for the Lord that they forgot to trust in the Lord, that they forgot that the one who commands them to do this is also the one who loves them so, if He commands them, it's always for their good. And what do we need in moments of hardheartedness? Well, we need a fresh encounter with Jesus Christ. We need Jesus to bring us back to tenderness of heart, receptivity to His word, we need further revelation. That's what He gives them, I am, this is who I am. The disciples had every privilege imaginable, they saw the son of God himself and still their hearts were hardened.So, be careful, watch your own heart, see that your own heart does not get hardened toward the Lord, that's what the enemy wants. Along with the rebuke, we see a word of rescue, we see the marvelous grace of Jesus Christ in this story. He saw their hardheartedness and He meant to pass by and He should have passed by. They did not deserve Him getting in the boat and calming the storm, they did not deserve that at all. They were bickering, they were grumbling, they were hardened toward Him and still the Lord gets in the boat. They believed in Him but not enough to keep trusting Him and He got into the boat with them, it shows His incredible grace toward us. Sometimes we need a word of rebuke from the Lord and sometimes we need more grace to melt our hearts and grace is the great thawing agent of our hard cold hearts.Is a sacrifice worth it, friends? Is the sacrifice of following Jesus Christ worth it? For the disciples, they had their questions, they had their doubts. Lord, is it worth it? It's too painful, it seems, to follow You. Yes, You seem to be God, yes, You teach but it seems like taking up my cross daily is a lot of work. And so, where do we get the power to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus Christ? We get it by looking to the cross on a daily basis. Jesus Christ endured the most excruciating physical and spiritual torment of any human being that has ever lived as He bore the penalty for our sins, He bore the wrath of God for us. By taking our sins upon Himself, He even became our sin and said He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.He experienced the full gamut of suffering on the cross and why was he willing to do it? Hebrews tells us, for the joy that was set before Him. He knew that the joy was coming, the joy of saving, the joy of sanctifying, the joy of redeeming Christians, saints, His church. And so, we look to the cross and we see Him enduring these trials, enduring that suffering for us and you say, "Jesus, was that worth it?" And He said, "Yes, it was worth it. That sacrifice was worth it," and whatever sacrifice He calls us to is definitely worth it. So, now, with softened hearts, Jesus is in the boat and the disciples are back to serving people. Did they get the rest that they were promised? They got a deeper rest, they got the rest of the presence of Jesus Christ. It's a rest that's promised to us when we trust in Him.In Mark 6:53, when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized Him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard He was. And wherever He came, in villages, cities or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored Him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment and, as many as touched it, were made well. I don't know where you are in your faith journey but, if you're not sure where you stand before God today, we had a bomb threat, I found out. Whenever I see people moving around briskly around the room and then talking to each other, I'm like, "Oh, what's going on?"The Brookline Police here with a big German shepherd and there's a bomb threat in synagogues nationwide and I was thinking, "You know what? Any moment, it could be our moment. Any moment." And by the way, this is a tremendous way to go because we go as a church together to heaven, no one's left behind and ... You got to be ready, you got to be ready and the way that you know that you are ready to meet your maker, to meet God is if you trust in Jesus Christ. And like these people, they believed, You have the power to heal me, I just need to reach out and touch.Just reach out with faith in prayer to Jesus Christ and say, "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me as a sinner. And Lord, I repent of my sin. Lord, it breaks my heart that I broke Your commandment and my commandment breaking broke your Son and, Jesus, you were willing to do that for me. So, of course, if You forgive me, when You forgive me, I'm going to follow You the rest of my days." And then the Lord saves you and all your sins are forgiven and you're indwelled with the power of the Holy Spirit and the Lord will encourage you no matter the tests that He throws at us.I'll close at Hebrews 4:1-11 which promises this rest that is beyond works, beyond self-righteousness, beyond works, righteousness, a rest that God offers each one of us. Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest as He has said, as I swore My wrath, they shall not enter My rest. Although His works were finished from the foundation of the world for He has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way and God rested on the seventh day from all His works and, again, in this passage He said, "They shall not enter My rest."Since, therefore, it remains for some to enter it and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience. Again, He appoints a certain day, today, saying, through David so long afterward in the words already quoted, today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So, then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from His works as God did from His. Let us, therefore, strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. When life gets overwhelming, keep praying, keep rowing, keep believing and keep striving to enter that rest. Let us pray.Lord God, we thank You for the rest that You offer us in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Jesus, we thank You that You did all of the heavy lifting, You did all of the work by living a perfect life on our behalf. And instead of us, You took our penalty for our law-breaking upon Yourself. And Lord Jesus, we thank You that You offer us rest, You offer us rest for our souls and, Lord, You offer us the presence of God. And Jesus, in the same way that You went and You sought the Father's face, Lord, we seek the Father's face. And Lord, we thank You that You provided a way even for Moses and even for Elijah to see the face of God and they saw the face of God in your face in the mountain of transfiguration, You revealed your glory to them.And why is that text there? It's to show us, that apart from Jesus Christ, we can't experience the presence of God because of our sin. It's Jesus, the new Moses, the new Elijah, it's Jesus who came to save us from our sin, to save us from the very presence of it, from the penalty of it, from the power of it and, Jesus, You did that in order to offer us the presence of God. And Lord, I pray that You continue to empower us as a church to go out and proclaim the gospel. And we do pray for the lost all around us, we pray for those who are still in darkness, for those who still have not seen the light and I pray, Lord, use us powerfully to get that message across. Prepare hearts and give us opportunities to preach Your word, to proclaim Your gospel and we pray this, in Jesus' name, amen.

There are times during the year that we get extra siyata d'Shamaya in certain areas. On Hanukkah, we are able to access a special spiritual energy to help us get closer to Hashem. At the time of the Hanukkah miracle, the Jewish People risked their lives to fight the Greeks. What were they fighting for? Their lives were not at risk. They were fighting to be able to follow Torah and mitzvot and serve Hashem properly. When Hashem saw how much His People yearned for His Torah, that is when He performed great miracles for them, enabling them to defeat the Greek army. He continued performing more miracles for them, enabling them to light the Menorah for eight days with pure olive oil. Today when we light our Hanukkah candles, they radiate kedusha . Just looking at the flames can purify a person's eyes. While the candles are burning, it's an עת רצון to pray, especially for help with Torah and mitzvot. I read a story of a representative from a yeshiva in Yerushalayim , whom we'll call Yehuda, who traveled abroad to collect much needed funds for that yeshiva. In one particular city he didn't know anybody and didn't even know where to go. He stopped and made a tefila to Hashem, asking Him to help. A few minutes later, a horse and buggy passed by him with a distinguished gentleman inside. It was a religious man and he asked Yehuda if he needed something. Yehuda told him he was there from Israel collecting and he explained how dire the situation was. The distinguished gentleman invited Yehuda to his luxurious home and gave him a nice sum of money. While he was there, Yehuda noticed amongst very expensive gold and silver vessels on display, a broken jug that used to contain oil. He asked the man why a broken jug would be on display there. The man told him the story behind it. He said when he was younger he veered off the path of Torah and mitzvot and completely abandoned the religion. He looked and acted no different than a goy . One day, he was walking in the street and he saw a little boy crying. He asked the boy what was wrong, and the boy replied that his father gave him money to buy a jug of oil to light the menorah but it fell out of his hands and broke. They were very poor and he wouldn't have enough money to get another one. The man said he felt bad for that boy. He took out money, gave it to him and said, “Go get more.” After he parted ways with that boy, he said to himself, “A little boy cried because he was going to miss out on oil for Hanukkah and I, who have so much, don't even care that I don't do any mitzvot?” He went back and he picked up that broken jug. He took this lesson to heart and started coming back to Torah and mitzvot from it. He then said, “Baruch Hashem, today I am fully shomer Torah and mitzvot and I keep that broken jug of oil on display to remind myself of how Hashem inspired me to come back to Him.” Every Jew has a neshama that desires Torah and mitzvot and all it takes is a little spark to ignite it. A man told me, 30 years ago he had no connection to Torah and mitzvot. Aish HaTorah opened a small branch in his city and they put an ad in a newspaper saying they were offering a Lunch and Learn – a whole spread of deli and a class from a rabbi. The man said he really did not have any interest in the class, but he loved deli. And so, he left work on his lunch break to go there. The rabbi's words at the class made so much sense to him and he was excited to be invited back the following week for another Lunch and Learn. He kept going every week until he became fully observant. Today, this man has religious children and grandchildren and spends his days trying to bring other Jews closer to Hashem. Every Jew wants to be close to Hashem, even the most distant ones. We just need to bring it out of them properly. On Hanukkah, there is an extra siyata d'Shamaya to accomplish it.

Chanukah 5784 -- a Video a Day: Day #2: