Podcasts about Naaman

Sabbath School panel discussion and insight by 3ABN pastors and teachers. This podcast episode follows 2023 quarter 4, lesson 9 of the adult Bible study guide book. This quarter's book topic is “God's Mission, My Mission” and this week's Sabbath School lesson is titled “Mission to the Powerful” Join us every week for a fresh and relevant study of the word of God. Reading: Daniel 4 | 2 Kings 5:1–19 | John 3:1–12 | John 7:43–52 | Matt. 19:16–22 | John 19:38–42. Memory Text: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26, NKJV). (November 25 – December 1) Sunday (John Lomacang) - “Nebuchadnezzar”Monday (Daniel Perrin) - “Naaman”Tuesday (Shelley Quinn) - “Witnessing to the Learned: Nicodemus”Wednesday (Ryan Day) - “Mission to the Rich”Thursday (James Rafferty) - “Mission to the Powerful” Sabbath School Website: www.3ABNSabbathSchoolPanel.com Questions or Comments? Email us at mail@3abn.org Donate: https://3abn.org/donate-quick.html

- Your Daily Portion Sabbath School Lesson with LD “The Anomaly” Harris- Please sign up for the Your Daily Portion Community here: https://yourdailyportion.com

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.Today is exciting as is every day that we open up God's Word. We are continuing in our series Kingdom Come, the Gospel of Mark and the secrets of God's Kingdom. And today we're landing in more of the secrets of how God functions in saving people and how God matures His servants. And in fact, He shows us through the model of the way that he constructed Christ's life. And so without further ado, I'm going to start reading our passage from today. It is from Mark Chapter Six verses one through six. Mark Chapter Six, verses one through six. And this is a good Thanksgiving passage. We're talking about a homecoming. We're talking about the ordinariness of Christ, something that we sing praises about at Christmastime, the simplicity of his life and the Lord will use it as a good segue to our Christmas season. Would you please hear the preaching of God's Word."He went away from there and came to His hometown and His disciples followed him. And on Sabbath He began to teach in the synagogue. And many who heard him were astonished saying, "Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to Him? How are such mighty works done by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household." And He could do no mighty work there except that he laid His hands on a few people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. And He went about among the village's teaching." This is the word of our Lord. Let me pray.Heavenly Father, we praise you this day for your word. We thank you for assembling your saints here today. We thank you Lord for giving us your word so that we are not people who are clamoring about, walking in darkness. We thank you for your revelation of yourself to us in the life of Jesus Christ. And now in just the opening of His word, we ask, Lord that you prime our hearts to receive what you would have us hear today and let us receive with belief. We pray that our hearts would be good soil to hear your word so that we would believe it and be faithful servants in your kingdom as we go forth from this week, this day. In Jesus name I pray, amen.Well, I've learned over the years about myself that I like to learn by learning on the positive side of things. I like to be told what to do and to believe a little bit more than being told what not to do and what not to believe. But as I've gotten older, hopefully as a mark of wisdom, I've learned that those lessons that talk just as much about what not to do, what not to believe are just as valuable as those positive lessons, the positive wisdom. And today is a lesson from scripture, a text that teaches us in the negative manner. Last week, the last couple of weeks, we've talked about profound miracles and faith. And chapter five of Mark where we were the past couple of weeks might be labeled as the triumph of faith. So we talked last week a lot about the triumph of faith. Jesus healed a man and who was possessed by a legion of demons. And what does Jesus do when he sees who Jesus is properly, he sees him as the Christ, the Messiah. The Lord tells him to go and spread his faith, tell others about what the Lord has done for him and how he has saved him. Furthermore, Jesus learns of the faith of a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years and He heals her and he says, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease." Furthermore, in chapter five, when Jairus, a father with a sick dying daughter comes to him and pleads with him to go and heal her, Jesus says, "Do not fear. Only believe." And he does, and he saves Jairus's daughter. He actually raises her from the dead.And so Jesus in Chapter Five, encounters faith in people. He encourages them to have it. And today, as I said, we're learning more in the negative. What do we encounter in chapter six of Mark? We encounter unbelief and in profound ways. In verse 6:6, we come across Jesus doing something that the scriptures do not capture Him doing often. Verse six says, "He marveled. The man who cast out a legion of demons, who healed a woman who was bleeding for 12 years, who raised the life of a dead child, marveled." This is only one of two areas in all the scriptures where Jesus marveled, He was amazed, He was awestruck. Here and in Matthew 8:10. In Matthew 8:10, He marvels at the extraordinary faith of the centurion who asks him to only say the word so that his servant lying at home away from him would be healed. And Jesus does. He marvels over the man's faith, the centurion's faith. But here in chapter six, Jesus marvels at the unbelief of the people of Nazareth. Verse six says, "And He marveled because of their unbelief."Furthermore, in chapter six, not in our scripture today, but later on, we encounter a profound example of unbelief in the life of Herod. Verse 14 of chapter 6 mentions that Jesus' name had spread to the courts of King Herod. King Herod heard of it, heard of Jesus and his teaching and his proclamation that the Kingdom of God was at hand for Jesus' name had become known, the ruler of the land of Israel knew about Jesus. But verse 20, he tells us, "For Herod feared John knowing that he was a righteous." John is John the Baptist, baptizer. "Knowing that he was a holy and righteous man and he kept him safe. When he heard him," heard John preach. "He was greatly perplexed and yet he heard him gladly." But what we learned is that though Herod liked to hear John preach, it stimulated his intellect. In Acts 12:20 to 23, we hear of his gruesome death and he stands as an example of what unbelief can lead to for all of us.And so today it is a sermon with a lot of gravity. We're not celebrating a happy homecoming. Jesus didn't go home and have a joyful Thanksgiving. This is a sad story. The people closest to Jesus, the people he spent his adolescence and young adulthood with reject him. But as I said, there's much to learn in this negative teaching, this text told us to not be like the people of Nazareth. And in many ways, our job is to make sure as Christians that we don't repeat the same mistakes and practice such unbelief.So I'm going to break the sermon up into two sections, the ordinariness of Nazareth's unbelief and the second one, the extraordinariness of Christ's ordinariness, the ordinariness of Nazareth's unbelief. As I meditate upon our texts here in the first section, I'm going to bring out the characteristics of unbelief. Unbelief is a topic that we typically avoid, but it's really good to understand it, to be able to identify it. And when I speak about this, I don't want you to be thinking about all the people out there, all the people sitting around you, maybe a brother, sister in the church who you know is struggling. First and foremost, I want you to check your own heart to be listening, to hear if you have any signs of unbelief, if you are showing the tendencies of unbelief. And so as we discover unbelief, we'll talk about the fact of it, the tendencies of it, the nature of it, the consequences of it as we discuss the ordinariness of Nazareth's belief.So firstly, I emphasize the fact of unbelief. Nazareth's unbelief is something that Christ disciples will encounter regularly in their ministry. And as I said, this is not your average homecoming for Jesus and his disciples. We read in verse one, "He went away from there and came to his hometown and His disciples followed Him." And so what we find out today is that Jesus, He goes to His hometown, He's bringing his disciples, and this is a business trip. He's been back to Nazareth before a year or so ago, and He goes back to Nazareth. That time He was by himself. This time it's with His disciples and what's he doing? Last time He was at Nazareth, this was the start of His ministry. And Luke Four chronicles this and he basically goes to the synagogue and He reads a passage from Isaiah that talks about the arrival of the Messiah, the arrival of the Kingdom of God. And he says, "On this day the scripture has been fulfilled."And what do the people do? His hometown, they rejected Him then and then they take him up to the highest point in town and threaten to push Him off the cliff for his blasphemy. But now He comes back a year later after gathering a group of disciples and he comes back after developing this reputation in the land. And so first and foremost, this is a lesson, what Jesus is going through with His disciples through this experience is a lesson about discipleship. It's a lesson for them that He's preparing them for the time when He's not with them. He's given them a dose of reality for what they're going to experience as they serve Him after his death, resurrection and ascension. And I emphasize this first point, the ordinariness of Nazareth's unbelief. I emphasize that with the subpoint of the fact of unbelief because Jesus shows his disciples that a clear and authoritative proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ will not always be met with acceptance and joyful welcome in the hearts of an audience.In fact, we should be more liable to expect that we will encounter more unbelief than we do belief. In the Book of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53:1 the prophet writes, "Who has believed what He has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" And these are written as rhetorical questions with the implication that not many. When the arm of the Lord, when Jesus walks the earth, not many hear Him. Not many people heard God's Word and believed it and obeyed in Isaiah's day and not many when Jesus walked the earth. And so Jesus is, by talking about the fact of unbelief, He's trying to get them ready. You are going to encounter this and you need to be prepared. And I lead with this point because if you read the Gospel of Mark up to this point, it's almost as if you're reading a Marvel comic book.Jesus is this superhero where town after town, He's preaching the truth. He's destroying his enemies in debates, He's healing, He's showing limitless extent of his authority and power. And now this is just an oddity, this point in Mark Six where he goes to His hometown of all places and it says, "He could do no mighty work there." And why? Because of their unbelief. So we as disciples today need to expect that unbelief is something that we are going to encounter often. A lot of churches don't really prep people in their body for this. They tell people, evangelize, evangelize, evangelize, share the gospel.But they don't really prepare them for the challenges of unbelief. They don't prepare them for the tendencies of it, the way it expresses themself and talk about the seriousness of it. And so a lot of Christians, when they are saved, they're excited. They want to tell people, "God has saved me, he has forgiven me of my sin in Jesus Christ." And they cannot help but speak and share it and tell other people in their life, in their circles on the street of the great grace and mercy that God has shown them. But they have one or two experiences where this doesn't go as planned. They're rejected or met with coldness, hardheartedness attack, attack of them, and they go into being incognito Christians like Secret Service Christians hiding from the world and never or rarely sharing the gospel again.And so today, I just emphasize this first point, we can't be surprised by unbelief. We're going to face it over and over again in this life. And in fact, we need to see that when we face it. It's not just ... Of course it's sad, we want everybody to believe the gospel, but it's a confirmation that we're doing something right. Christ himself came and he preached the word mightily and clearly and yes praised God, some believed Him, but He also was rejected. It's an affirmation that we're doing something right. If we tell people about God and we're always getting people believing, then that's an indicator that there might be something that isn't faithful with the message that we're sharing and we really need to assess if that's real fruit coming in through our ministry.But we need to expect that the ordinariness of Nazareth's unbelief, it's extraordinary at this point in the course of Mark, but Jesus for his disciples has shown this is a reality you're going to face regularly going forward. And going forward, I want to talk about the tendency of unbelief. We need to realize the fact of unbelief, but we need to see the common tendencies of it. One of the things, the primary thing that unbelief does is it has a tendency to disguise itself by transferring its object of attention to something else away from the real stumbling block of Jesus Christ.And so we see here in verses two and three, the people of Nazareth, they practice this. Verse two says, "And on the Sabbath." And just little side note in other towns in Capernaum where Jesus was prior to this, before His disciples, he couldn't go anywhere without crowds gathering in His way, just stopping him in His path and forcing him to preach and perform miracles. He couldn't get a break, but now He enters into his hometown and nobody's welcomed him. He has to wait for the Sabbath to preach. "And on the Sabbath, He began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were astonished."So the people who we know will show extreme unbelief, they actually are amazed at Jesus's teaching. He opens up the word like nobody else they ever heard. Every time Jesus preaches, it's a home run. Imagine a preacher having that kind of preacher show up, but how do they respond? They say, "where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us?" This is a deflection. It's a deflection from the central message that Jesus brought to them. The people respond to Jesus teaching by directing their attention to his ordinariness, the ordinariness of the speaker. They do this in order to hide the fact that it's the message of the gospel that their hearts were hardened against.And anyone here, anybody who's been Christian for a while and has faithfully shared the gospel, know the tendency of people to do this. People will talk about anything and go for hours and avoid the central message of the gospel. They'll avoid the elements of it that offend them, the elements of it that call them to belief, call them to repentance, and we need to be ready for it. Again, we can't be surprised by this. When we share the gospel, we should expect to face this sort of dodging. And furthermore, we should expect to face that they will attack us. One of the greatest ways they just look at Jesus, "Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this the son of Mary? Aren't his brothers and sisters here in town? Who is this guy? Who is he to call us to repentance before Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? He's just an average guy, an ordinary Joe. He's cheese pizza. We shouldn't listen to him." And they poke. They poke at Jesus. They start pointing at his deficiencies according to earthly standards.And we as Christians, we should expect this. How far did Jesus's opponents go in His life to doing this? They sent Him, they attacked the person to the point of sending him to the cross, leading to His crucifixion and for His servants, we are no greater than our master. We are going to get the same treatment. But one thing, just when this happens, when there's this tendency for people to start questioning our character, questioning our delivery of the gospel, our maybe not so refined delivery of it, though it is full of the truth, we just have to remember the gospel ourselves in that moment.We can have security to stand before people in our weakness while proclaiming the gospel because what does the gospel say? Our identity is not built upon any good works that we've done. Our identity is not built on the sin that we've committed, the rebellion against God, the guilt and shame that marks our lives. The gospel is that when a person turns in faith, turns from their sin and turns in faith to Jesus, God applies Christ's perfect and righteous record to your account and He applies your sinful, imperfect, prideful record to Jesus. And that's what the transaction that happened on the cross and it's applied to us by faith. And when we are attacked by the world, we can't take those attacks by heart. They're predictable and we have an identity that is rooted in the rock of Jesus Christ.So we need to be steadfast in these moments when we face these tendencies and we need to redirect people lovingly, kindly, gently to the central question of belief and that is the message of the scriptures of the gospel, God's rescue plan for man and his sin that marks the whole book after Genesis Three, the fall of man. And so we need to anticipate this tendency. Unbelief is always distracting from the heart of the gospel and distract them from the fact that it's really the gospel that is offensive to a person. And so as we discuss the ordinariness Nazareth's belief, next I want to talk about the nature of unbelief. This is something that really needs to be made clear. The reason Jesus marvels at unbelief here in these verses is because it's one of the evidences of the power of sin in man's life. That's the great reason behind marveling at it.Here in the world upon God's creation, Jesus, the begotten Son of God who took on flesh is seeing firsthand the outworking of the fruit of sin in the lives of men and women that He knows and loves. Men and women who should have known the story of his mom's birth. And we get the understand it's not this Mary's son. In that day you would've never appealed to someone by their mom's name. It would be their father's and they're appealing. They have knowledge that he was born into a unique situation, whether maybe they're implying promiscuous or it was actually a miraculous birth. These people who would've known the story of his birth, who would've thought deeply about Him and His childhood. Have you ever seen a perfect child? If Jesus was in this community for 28, 29 years, a perfect child would really stand out in a community of 500 people and they would've seen him when they engaged with him as a carpenter, an honest tradesman who doesn't raise the prices. This guy would've had a righteous standing before Him.And these people who would've known Him better than anybody else who walked the earth, they hear His teaching, they hear of testimonies of his miracles in the nearby lens and He does actually heal a few people upon this visit. These people reject him and it shakes Him. And this is why He shudders an agony at unbelief when He faces death later on with his friend Lazareth, He faces the reality of sin and its impact and He marvels, He shudders, He weeps at it. And so unbelief is not something that Jesus engaged casually. It's not something that we should engage casually. What I'm trying to get us to is unbelief. It's really important in a city like ours with lots of just bright people, driven people, motivated people, unbelief it's not just a weakness of one of our friends who's really intelligent. The ultimate key to unbelief doesn't lie in the mind. It lies in the realm of the moral nature of the will of man. That's where unbelief finds its home.In our text today, the people in their response, they try to deflect from their unbelief. They try to show themselves as not gullible. "Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of men and women that we know? We're not going to be tricked by Him. Jesus, you were just one of us. You didn't get the proper education that a rabbi should get. This message sounds too good to be true. We're not going to believe you Jesus. You're not just one of us." And so unbelief in the Bible, it arises from first and foremost a hard, evil heart of unbelief, not a lack of truthfulness or sufficient appeal to the intellect. We need to understand that.And that's a lot of conversations, apologetic conversations, sharing the gospel conversations, they devolve into these long conversations about minutia, details of scripture away from the heart of the gospel that calls people to repentance and faith in Christ. And we need to treat it seriously, not let people trivialize it. Well, unbelief is one of the ways, it's described in scripture is in essence it's calling God a liar. Where every find our hearts are still an unbelief. We're calling God a liar.First John 1:5 to 10 says, "This is the message we've heard from Him and proclaimed to you. That God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar. And His word is not in us."Anybody who denies that they were created by God and His image and have rebelled against Him and do not have right standing before Him is saying, "God is a liar for telling me this, for proclaiming this, for sending His son into the world to proclaim this and be the means of reconciliation between me and Him." We need to be honest with ourselves as we process this. We need to be honest with the people with whom we share the gospel about the nature of unbelief. Unbelief, it's of a moral nature. It is rebellion against Christ's rule and reign of creation of our hearts. And so this isn't to say that they're not intellectual problems, they're not hard questions to take up with scripture, but what I want to say is that the heart of unbelief lies not in the mind but in the moral nature and the will of man. And we need to keep people to think in that area when we engage unbelief.Jesus further elaborates on this in John 16: 8 to 9. He says that, "When the Holy Spirit comes, when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin because they do not believe in me." It's a moral unbelief, it's a moral problem, not an intellectual problem. And we see this further in Mark 6 as we'll talk a little bit more about Herod next week. Herod's a perfect example of this. He loved to hear John the Baptist teach. This guy who was a prisoner in his castle or fort or property. He wants him to come up and preach to him.So he heard the good news of Jesus' coming, of the King's arrival, about how John said, "He must increase, I must decrease." But Herod had all the facts. He knew everything and he did not believe the message and so therefore ... And why? What's behind that? Herod didn't want to change his behavior. He knew that the message that Jesus Christ was the Lord, that he had a call on his life, that to believe in Him and to obey Him would mean that he has to change, he has to repent and submit to Christ and His ways. And that's behind a lot of unbelief. The nature, it's moral rebellion. We just don't want to honor God with our lives. We want to do what we want to do when we want to do it. And how many of you know that? I know that that was me before I was Christian.When I grew up in the church, in eighth grade, I wrote at the end of confirmation class, it was a 100 word essay, which is like that was frighteningly intimidating at that point. And I wrote it. I was like, "I think I'm saved because God offers me a great deal here. I sin and Jesus takes the punishment. I get eternal life. I get the power of his spirit in me and it's just a good deal. I'll take it." I intellectually understood that in eighth grade and I was amazed that the pastor of 15 kids was quoting my 100 word essay for a sermon. But I was not saved until I was 23. I was not born again until I really saw that I needed to repent of my sin and give Christ the lordship over my life. I didn't have freedom from the guilt and shame of sin until I did that. I did not walk in the Lord's power and the power of the Holy Spirit until that point. And the nature of unbelief is that we need to repent of that mindset. And this goes for Christians too.We hesitate to give Christ lordship in specific areas of our lives. A lot of people talk about anxiety as if it's like a friend in their life, as if Jesus doesn't have anything to say about anxiety. He has a whole lot to say. Jesus, we've struggled to give Jesus our finances to steward them for His glory, for His kingdom. We've struggle to give Jesus over our plans for our singleness, plans for our marriage plans, for our career, and the Lord calls us to and we just go on justifying sin, justifying unrepentance. And it isn't just neutral intellectual protest,. It's a rebellious act in which we dethrone in Jesus as Lord of our lives and we call God a liar. So we need to constantly ask ourselves if we're struggling with unbelief to identify that we ask how do we respond to the Word of God? Do we hear with gladness and let it and I just hear it and say, "Well, good talk, good speech. That's clever?"Or do we hear with gladness, let it take root in our hearts and lives as the powerful of the sower discussed earlier in Mark? Do we have good soil or are we resisting it? Are we holding onto it until we have a problem believing it and applying it into our own life? To close out our discussion of the ordinariness of Nazareth's unbelief, I lastly want to discuss the consequences of unbelief. And this is building off of the last point. When we don't believe, there are great consequences. This is covered in verse five, and the scripture says, "And He could do no mighty work there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them." The emphasis here isn't on Jesus's inability. We've seen the extent of his power and authority over nature, over sickness, over death itself. He can function in any way that He wants that is consistent with His holy character.But the focus here is not on Jesus's inability but on Nazareth's foolishness, on the way that the city robbed itself of receiving more grace and power of the work of Jesus among them. This shows us that there is no greater enemy than to the work of God than unbelief. It causes God to turn away without revealing himself with further grace and power. And when you really take this in, there's something really scary about it. And if you're feeling like this is heavy, there's a lot of weight to the sermon so far, you should. I was feeling it all week as I was meditating on this.It's scary to think about what happens when God turns away from a place, turns away from a people, turns away from you. Mark 6:11 helps us understand this a little bit more. Jesus gives counsel to his disciples for how they should respond when He sends them out and they are not received with belief. Verse 11 says, "And if any place will not receive you, and they'll not listen to you when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." So Jesus in this situation, what we see after Mark Six is that Nazareth does not believe Him, His hometown, and He turns His back on them. They know they know His Word, they know who He is, they know how they should respond to it, and he walks on them.Further, Mark 6:11, He tells his disciples that when they're not received with belief to shake the dust off their feet and leave a land. This is a reference to what Jews would've done when they left a gentile, pagan, non-believing land to go back to Israel to the Holy Land. This act would symbolize the shaking off of the defilement that could have got on them in the non-believing land and more importantly, serve as a called to the judgment of God upon that land end. So we need to see there's grave consequences to unbelief. We need to see that the Lord, the gospel not only has a saving effect where it meets true faith, but that it has a judging effect where it meets unbelief. It is the proclamation of the gospel that both exposes and judges unbelief.And I love this passage in scripture that talks about for someone, the life of Christ you are called. You're not just saved. You're not just given the power of the spirit. You're called into God's profound work to spread His rule and reign on the earth, to go back to the initial mission of being fruitful and multiplying for His glory. And you are given a power and your life is a triumphant possession. You are the victor and God has given you power as a steward of the gospel. And in that power, people are going to receive you with joy and gladness when they hear the gospel and they receive it and repent and obey God. And to others, you're going to have a stench. That power goes out and being a means of judgment to those who hear the gospel and do not receive it.And this is pretty intense, but this is what the scripture says. When we share the gospel, we have to understand the responsibility that we are given. We need to stay faithful to it and we have to just keep people at the center, keep people at the central focus. We need to try to get people to honestly assess, do they believe God's Word? Do they believe He has a call in their life? He is creator, they're created. The greatest position of experience of peace, love, joy is to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ. We need to keep people there given the consequences.So now after this solemn discussion of unbelief, one can only wonder how to respond to unbelief when we face it and to get the right answer, we look at how Jesus reacted to it. Look at verse six. It says, "And He marveled because of their unbelief and He went about among the villages teaching." That last part. "And He went about among the villages teaching." How do we respond to unbelief? We keep going. We keep sharing the gospel and leading a life worthy of a child of God. This is what Jesus did and we have to revel over the fact that Jesus kept going when it was really difficult.Verse four says, "And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household." Jesus's marveling would have been filled with grievous pain. Of all the people in the world who should have believed in Him, those in His hometown, his own relatives, His own household should have believed Him, but they don't. Do you know what it's like to be rejected in your own household? My wife, when she does not joyfully receive me for five minutes, I'm a broken man and that's two become one. You do become one another and there's something good about feeling that pain, but we have to make sure we don't make idols out of our spouses and their adoration.But Jesus was rejected by His household and He did nothing. I sin, I say foolish things to my wife, to my family members. Jesus never did that. They had no reason to reject him. Can you imagine the pain He felt when people who He lived with for almost 30 years rejected him, a town of 500 residents? I'm from a town of 17,000 people and you kind of know everybody 5 years above you, 5 years below you who went and did something significant in the world. Jesus is from a town of 500 people. He should have been their poster boy, they should have been seeing how lucky they were to have Him be known as Jesus of Nazareth, put their town on the map, but they reject Him. Imagine that pain.But how does Jesus respond? He keeps going. He knew that in his walk facing unbelief would be a fact. It would be an ordinary thing. And he says, and what does he do? He continues his primary task. He went about the villages teaching, trying to save others. He's preaching the word for His first task, telling them that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and we need to do the same, and we do it because Jesus did. But we also as we talk about this, it should remind you already about the nature of the Kingdom of God. In Mark 3:26 to 29, we read and he said, "The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not hell. The earth produces by itself first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe at once he puts in the sickle because of the harvest that's come."And this is saying that to a degree God has ordained that His kingdom functions this way. What are his servants to do? They're to continue to scatter seed by preaching the gospel whether they are received with gladness and belief or whether they're rejected. And that's the call of all Christians. Regardless of the reception we have, we're called the faithfulness to this task and we submit to the Lord's way of building His kingdom. And this, when you share the gospel, sometimes you feel really foolish. When you are humbled by the grace of God and know your weakness more and more you say, who am I to send this? But it's maintaining that proper heart and keeping to the task that the Lord uses to save people and we keep going whether He lets us live in the day of profound harvest, of salvation of many souls or not, and we're just following the path of Christ himself.So I've spoken a lot about this topic of unbelief. I hope that you do understand the fact of it, the tendencies, the nature, the consequences, but this passage does offer a whole lot more. One of the reasons Jesus was able to face such unbelief and keep going was because he knew the fact that He would face it. However, Jesus could face such unbelief and stay faithful in ministry because of His faith in his father's chosen plan to develop Him and grow Him as a disciple. And this is a discussion of the extraordinariness of Christ's ordinariness. In our passage today, we see that one of the reasons the people of Nazareth showed such unbelief is because they rejected Jesus for His loneliness and poverty. They say, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of these men and women that we know." They're saying, "His ministry is presumptuous. Who is he to preach to us in this way? Tell us what to do. What did you do? Go and hide in a cave and learn all these teachings."What are they saying here? They're wrestling with tension of there's a tension between what they hear and learn from him and in all of its magnificence and glory, and what they see when they look at Him, they see an ordinary guy. You see in the minds of the minds people of Nazareth, a person in order to be listened to and heeded as a prophet of God must have gone to school to study and obtain a degree. They should have studied under the best rabbis of the day, God and formal teaching. But Jesus though, astonishing, He does not have that background and they reject him for that. They were offended at him. They're scandalized, they are revolted and they want nothing to do with Him for disobeying these manmade rules, these prejudices that they have over how their faith tradition should be stewarded regardless of what it says, how it weighs against the scripture, they disqualify his ministry. They're offended that such a man with such a background could teach them with such wisdom and power.And even though the facts say that, wow, this guy's teaching is like no other. This guy performs miracles like no other. If they studied the scriptures, they should have been inclined with all the knowledge they had of Him to say maybe this is the Christ the Messiah, but instead they're revolted by Him. And so the world, it revolts against Christ's ordinariness and the people of Nazareth do that and people still do that today. Christianity is too simple. The gospel's too simple. Christians themselves are too simple. It's been the case throughout all of history.One a great story from the Old Testament is about Syrian general called Naaman. He is essentially, Syria is the powerhouse, the force, the nation, strongest nation of the day, but he has leprosy and he's their strongest general and he wants to be healed. He hears about this prophet, this power in Israel who has his power in Israel. And he goes, where does he go first? He goes to the king's courts to find his healing. The world always thinks that the extraordinary must do extraordinary, be extraordinary by their sins and he goes to the King, the King says, "Why are you here? I don't have any authority to help you here. I can't heal you."Then he says, go to Elisha, the prophet, and he takes his horses, he takes his royal chariot and he goes to Elisha and Elisha sends out his servant. Elisha doesn't even greet him and Naaman is offended. The servant tells him, "Go to the water, jump in the Jordan and you'll be healed." And Naaman's revolted at that. He says, "Why didn't I go just jump in the mighty waters in Assyria to get healing if this is what you are offering me?" The world is revolted at the ordinary of Jesus and Christianity, but we need to actually see the extraordinariness of Christ's ordinariness. Our Lord doesn't look at life in the same way as us. What's important to man is not important to God. How could Jesus face such unbelief in his ministry? How did he have the character to not lash out when crowds willfully dishonored Him? The answer is that our Heavenly Father believed that it was the best possible education, occupation for his begotten son before His public ministry to be a carpenter.Jesus was 30 when his ministry started, but all the time from His early teenage years until the point of the start of ministry, He did the lowly work of a carpenter and He probably did some stone mason rework. That's what the text gets us to see here. That's why the crowd was offended at him. God has his ways of raising up His disciples to do the work of the ministry often against the standards of the world. And we need to be able to appreciate that. God's ways are different than what you and I would ever conceive. And if they were limited to what you and I conceive, would He really be a God that we can worship? And when we project expectations onto God and we say scripture doesn't align with them, we're really just forming a God in our own image. We're breaking the first commandment of practicing idolatry, but God is different.Isaiah 55:8 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways," declares the Lord." We should revel in the fact that God's ways are greater than ours. When I know my prejudices, my biases, my preferences, my tendencies, I praise God that I'm not God because I know that I would just destroy people who are different than me. How many times have we seen people of power do that? Just rid the world, cancel the world, be revolted like the people of Nazareth are at those who are not like them and do not meet their standards. But you see, God is different. The object of Christian life when you're saved, it's to be more like Jesus, to grow in the character of Jesus and to tell other people about salvation they can have in Jesus. And so once saved, God starts to do new and good work on you. The object is no longer to impress people with our own strengths and wisdom, but to become like Jesus and pray that He would use us as much as He wills, use us profoundly in our weakness for His glory.And God to prepare Jesus for such work, what did He do? He didn't want His son to go to the Jewish seminaries of the day. He had another school in mind and that was being a carpenter. Philippians 2:5 to 8 describes the way that God trained up Christ for the task ahead of Him. Have this mind in 5 through 11. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of a God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."I know a lot of you have read this, we return to this passage a lot because it is gold, but what I want you to take away today is have this mind among yourselves. We're supposed to have the mindset of Christ, the humble, the lowly mindset, the faith to believe that God the Father, can use the most trying and challenge of circumstances to save us and to raise us up, to grow our character, to prepare us for greater ministry.Verse seven, like Christ, we're to empty ourselves, make ourselves some translators say, "Make ourselves of no reputation." Jesus deliberately excluded himself from positioning himself to be of any reputable status before the world. Even going as far as being willing to take on death on the cross to fulfill his calling. Jesus didn't position himself to be great in the eyes of men with His life. He was great by humbling himself and becoming obedient to the point of death on the cross. While the world shames and rejects Him for this, and Jesus was the cornerstone that the Jews stumbled over. They could not believe in a God man, a messiah whose primary mark on this earth was going to the cross, the world rejection for this. We need to praise Him for this.God the Father knew that the best way for Jesus to have the mindset to carry out His task was to be a carpenter in a place of obscurity, a place of humility in a family without reputation or money. Jesus obeyed the Father. He deliberately chose obscurity in the eyes of men. And throughout His ministry, we see him especially multiple times in Mark to this point, even as ministry is launching, He intentionally tells people not to tell of His mighty works so that He doesn't get popular in the eyes of men according to the standards of men. He doesn't want to draw a following around those things. He wants to draw a following around people who worship Him as Lord and Savior.And so if we follow Christ, we need to have this mindset. We need to see that all the pain of being the carpenter and Nazareth and facing this rejection from a tiny town. It was preliminary training for Jesus's crucifixion on the wood of the cross as well as rejection from his brothers, the Jews in Jerusalem. Jesus worked with wood, but one day he would be worked upon wood and he had the strength of character and the spirit of God to carry out and endure His task because of His training, God's training program in Nazareth. In His human nature, Christ faced experience that gave him a growing obedience to the Father. And as I talk about the way God, the extraordinariness of Christ's ordinariness, how God used it all to form Jesus, to shape Him for the work that he had for Him. We need to see that this isn't something that seminary offers. This isn't something that's sitting in holy huddles and small circles doing Bible study, filling yourselves with knowledge can accomplish, can teach you.Seminary and Bible study, of course, we love scripture. I'm taking you to a really hard scripture today, the day after Thanksgiving because that's what the Lord brought us to. That's what the Bible says. We love scripture. But you can fill your head with knowledge through seminary, through bible study, through formalized discipleship programs, but it can leave you lacking in the ability to obey your heavenly Father in the face of hardship. That takes discipline, that takes hard work. It involves the development of pain tolerance, and you see, when you face hardship and the ordinary of things of life, when you're dealing with a stubborn roommate or spouse or boss, facing crazy and rebellious children, being put to the test in the face of unbelief and persecution, you can't just get the good book out and pause every time in the moment. You have to have the ability to fellowship with your heavenly Father in the moment, abide in the moment, rely upon His spirit to give you the wisdom, give you the power to handle that moment faithfully.This is what Jesus learned in his upbringing and of course he knew a lot of scripture and was quoting a lot of scripture. We want to have our hearts and words saturated with it, but we need to know how to act out our faith as he did in the moment. Jesus learned how to wisely while facing challenges as a carpenter in a household with many unbelieving family members. He learned how to not proudly put himself forward in religious debates. He learned how to respond to rejection, disappointment with grace. He learned how to do good work, careful work, wise work for the glory of God and not himself. He lived for the glory of God in all situations as all of us are called to.And these lessons are just being able to see the extraordinary in the ordinary in our day-to-day lives. This is some of the most important wisdom that any Christian can have. I mean, it just unlocks life. We read of God. He is sovereign. Jesus Christ, He has ascended to the throne of God and at his right hand of the Father, He is in control of all things. And so all circumstances we face, He has ordained them by his providence and we need to trust and His goodness. That doesn't mean we don't stand up for righteousness's sake in the face of sin and injustice. It doesn't mean that we become doormats in this life. We stand on the truth. We speak the truth in love, but we as Christians, we need to trust in His plan in every moment. And we need to see that oftentimes Christianity is lived out and worked out in the ordinary.This is important for all Christians, all people, but especially young people in Boston because so many people come to the city and they take up Christianity like any other field or trade or profession, thinking that it's something to be studied, something to be mastered through work, through effort, you reap greater benefits, through study, you ascend to higher levels of knowledge and enlightenment. It's not the same.When I became a Christian, I associated Christianity with adrenaline that I got while doing things that I was good at. You hear the word flow, the experience of flow. You feel like you're in the zone and you can go for hours and you feel unstoppable and your whole system is working in coordination with your mind. And no. Much of Christianity is going forward while your body and flesh is resisting because Jesus Christ hasn't come back to give us a new regenerated perfect body. You are called to walk forward in faithfulness and it's hard. Your body resists, your mind resists while the soul keeps going forward. And we as Bostonites, we need to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. The goal of Christianity is not to do something, step into a community and master it and get adoration from peers around us, smugly show ourselves to be more capable than others.The goal of Christianity is different. Our calling is to show ourselves approved unto God. Two Timothy 2:15 says, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." You're saved by God's grace. He gives you a new identity and He is calling you to be faithful in day-to-day life with every task before you. And we need to see that we're workmen, we're carpenters, we're people who don't need to be ashamed, fearful of what people think of them as we pursue this faithfulness and we need to continue to rightly handle the truth. This is for pastors, but every Christian needs to be able to give a reason for the hope within them in a coherent manner.As Christians like Christ, as we reflect on this pastor, we're to view the world as God's workshop and see that through whatever circumstances that we face in faith, we need to be humble and obedient to His plans, even to the point that obedience brings suffering and even physical pain or death. I know some of you're thinking that this is radical and it is. It's completely radical to the message of the world that tells you to live for yourself, your comfort, your glory, but it's what Christ himself did and told us to do. Matthew 16:24. "Then Jesus told his disciples that anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."Unless a person takes up this mindset, unless they're aiming for this, they can't be a disciple of Christ and their life is going to be marked by the void of God's power. All disciples of Christ should ask regularly, am I losing my life that I might find it? If that's the case, we'll find that the people around us don't approve of us, but God does. And that is what really should please our heart, that our Father accepts us. Even in our stumblings and imperfections, He's willing to give us, clothe us with more and more grace. The world may laugh and reject and despise us for our ordinariness, but we can be okay with that because they did that to Jesus. We're in good company. Isaiah 53 says, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed Him not." The world rejects Him, but when we trust Him in faith and follow Him, we're going to face these same trials.The world might laugh at us as we try to stay humble, keep a servant's mindset in the face of adversity and persecution, but we know that we take heart knowing that the Lord proves us in Christ. Are you denying yourself to follow Jesus? The travesty of this passage, the tragedy of unbelief, is that the people of God often do not do this. They often do not deny themselves to follow Christ. That's what happened in the synagogue of Nazareth. The people of God were not denying their preferences, were not submitting their view, their religious views, their tradition, their faith to the teachings of the scriptures and the Christ himself. They weren't willing to change their preferences, their actions for Him.Furthermore, Philippians 2:20 to 22 shows us that even Christians, even in this age of the church, a lot of Christians do not deny themselves the follow of Jesus. He says, "For I have no one like Him." This is Paul writing about Timothy. "For I have no one like Him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, for they all seek their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ." So what church communities can be marked by people who are all seeking their own preferences and the way they go about things and the way that the ministry is operating and who speaks and how traditions are upheld.And Paul says that what Mark shows us in this passage is that this is a tragedy and it leads to just the power of God being put out among the people. And so we each as individuals need to check our hearts to make sure that we are dying daily to follow Christ. We need to trust that God can save us and that he can use the ordinary in extraordinary ways to grow us further into the image of Jesus, and to use us for his mighty works in this life. Jesus marveled in this passage that all of these people were seeking their own good, not the things of God, not Christ himself, not faithfulness to His plan for them. Let's make sure that we don't make the same mistake ourselves. Let's pray.Heavenly Father, we praise you for your steadfast love, your loving kindness, your long-suffering love toward your children, for we are prone to wander. We are prone to favor our preferences, our desires, our ways over yours. But praise be to God that you are patient toward us in Jesus, in the same way that you sent Jesus to Nazareth multiple times in the same way that Christ just continued to minister despite facing rejection. Lord, you just offer us forgiveness in Jesus, in our folly, in our stubbornness, in our hardheartedness, and we can have peace with you because of Christ.And Lord, we pray, grow our belief. If any of our lives are marked by unbelief, we pray, help us in our unbelief. Lord, help us to identify those areas of our lives where we are not submitting to your lordship. Show us how we can be more faithful servants of your kingdom. Help us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Help us to see your word and your power going forward in our lives while the world might say otherwise and try to quench such power. We ask, give us greater faith to trust you and honor you. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Pastor Mike Kai has a word for everyone when telling an intriguing story from 2 Kings 5 about a powerful, decorated commander in the Aramean army named Naaman, who was afflicted with leprosy. The journey to get healed wasn't easy and was met with tribulation and an inhospitable reception by Elisha. However, because he learned to exhibit humble obedience, he experienced the most miraculous moment in his life and was completely healed. Are you believing an incredible God-led miracle is waiting for you? Pastor DJ provides valuable life lessons on “Clearing the Path to Our Miracle with Humility,” and how to recognize and remove the “Obstacles Holding You Back.” We may not be covered with leprosy, but we do have sin we cannot wash away on our own. Get ready for a transformation from the inside out and don't miss the opportunity to be obedient. It takes commitment and remember faith that doesn't lead to obedience isn't faith at all. If you made a decision to follow Jesus, we'd love to take the journey with you! Click to Connect with our team at: http://www.Inspirechurch.live/online   To partner with us in bringing the word of God around the world, click here: http://www.InspireChurch.live/give Get Pastor Mike's latest book "That Doesn't Just Happen" at: https://www.MikeKai.Tv   ------ We would love to connect with you------ To find out more about Inspire Church, visit us at: http://www.InspireChurch.Live   Facebook: Inspire Church Instagram: @inspirechurchtv Twitter: @inspirechurchtv Twitch: InspireChurch

With family: 1 Chronicles 15; James 2 1 Chronicles 15 (Listen) The Ark Brought to Jerusalem 15 David1 built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever. 3 And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4 And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: 5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; 6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers; 7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers; 8 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers; 9 of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers; 10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers. 11 Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, 12 and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” 14 So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. 15 And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD. 16 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; 18 and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19 The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; 21 but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. 22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 25 So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. 26 And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres. 29 And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart. Footnotes [1] 15:1 Hebrew He (ESV) James 2 (Listen) The Sin of Partiality 2 My brothers,1 show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Faith Without Works Is Dead 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good2 is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. Footnotes [1] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 14 [2] 2:16 Or benefit (ESV) In private: Amos 9; Luke 4 Amos 9 (Listen) The Destruction of Israel 9 I saw the Lord standing beside1 the altar, and he said:   “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,    and shatter them on the heads of all the people;2  and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;    not one of them shall flee away;    not one of them shall escape. 2   “If they dig into Sheol,    from there shall my hand take them;  if they climb up to heaven,    from there I will bring them down.3   If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,    from there I will search them out and take them;  and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,    there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.4   And if they go into captivity before their enemies,    there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;  and I will fix my eyes upon them    for evil and not for good.” 5   The Lord GOD of hosts,  he who touches the earth and it melts,    and all who dwell in it mourn,  and all of it rises like the Nile,    and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;6   who builds his upper chambers in the heavens    and founds his vault upon the earth;  who calls for the waters of the sea    and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—  the LORD is his name. 7   “Are you not like the Cushites to me,    O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.  “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,    and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?8   Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom,    and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,    except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”      declares the LORD. 9   “For behold, I will command,    and shake the house of Israel among all the nations  as one shakes with a sieve,    but no pebble shall fall to the earth.10   All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,    who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.' The Restoration of Israel 11   “In that day I will raise up    the booth of David that is fallen  and repair its breaches,    and raise up its ruins    and rebuild it as in the days of old,12   that they may possess the remnant of Edom    and all the nations who are called by my name,”3    declares the LORD who does this. 13   “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,    “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper    and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;  the mountains shall drip sweet wine,    and all the hills shall flow with it.14   I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,    and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;  they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.15   I will plant them on their land,    and they shall never again be uprooted    out of the land that I have given them,”      says the LORD your God. Footnotes [1] 9:1 Or on [2] 9:1 Hebrew all of them [3] 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint (compare Acts 15:17) that the remnant of mankind and all the nations who are called by my name may seek the Lord (ESV) Luke 4 (Listen) The Temptation of Jesus 4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.'” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,   “‘You shall worship the Lord your God,    and him only shall you serve.'” 9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,   “‘He will command his angels concerning you,    to guard you,' 11 and   “‘On their hands they will bear you up,    lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Jesus Begins His Ministry 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18   “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,    because he has anointed me    to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives    and recovering of sight to the blind,    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,19   to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers1 in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away. Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon 31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha!2 What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Jesus Heals Many 38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. Jesus Preaches in Synagogues 42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.3 Footnotes [1] 4:27 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 [2] 4:34 Or Leave us alone [3] 4:44 Some manuscripts Galilee (ESV)

Sunday School: November 19, 2023 Teacher: Pastor Nathan Ruble

My Story - Week 3: Naaman // Eugene Lombard by Doxa Deo Bloemfontein

With family: 1 Chronicles 7–8; Hebrews 11 1 Chronicles 7–8 (Listen) Descendants of Issachar 7 The sons1 of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. 2 The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers' houses, namely of Tola, mighty warriors of their generations, their number in the days of David being 22,600. 3 The son2 of Uzzi: Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, all five of them were chief men. 4 And along with them, by their generations, according to their fathers' houses, were units of the army for war, 36,000, for they had many wives and sons. 5 Their kinsmen belonging to all the clans of Issachar were in all 87,000 mighty warriors, enrolled by genealogy. Descendants of Benjamin 6 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael, three. 7 The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five, heads of fathers' houses, mighty warriors. And their enrollment by genealogies was 22,034. 8 The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. 9 And their enrollment by genealogies, according to their generations, as heads of their fathers' houses, mighty warriors, was 20,200. 10 The son of Jediael: Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. 11 All these were the sons of Jediael according to the heads of their fathers' houses, mighty warriors, 17,200, able to go to war. 12 And Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir, Hushim the son of Aher. Descendants of Naphtali 13 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shallum, the descendants of Bilhah. Descendants of Manasseh 14 The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore; she bore Machir the father of Gilead. 15 And Machir took a wife for Huppim and for Shuppim. The name of his sister was Maacah. And the name of the second was Zelophehad, and Zelophehad had daughters. 16 And Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. 17 The son of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh. 18 And his sister Hammolecheth bore Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah. 19 The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam. Descendants of Ephraim 20 The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, 21 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to raid their livestock. 22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. 23 And Ephraim went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because disaster had befallen his house.3 24 His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah. 25 Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son, 26 Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, 27 Nun4 his son, Joshua his son. 28 Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer and its towns, Shechem and its towns, and Ayyah and its towns; 29 also in possession of the Manassites, Beth-shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, Dor and its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel. Descendants of Asher 30 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. 31 The sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel, who fathered Birzaith. 32 Heber fathered Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and their sister Shua. 33 The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the sons of Japhlet. 34 The sons of Shemer his brother: Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram. 35 The sons of Helem his brother: Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal. 36 The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah. 37 Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera. 38 The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara. 39 The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia. 40 All of these were men of Asher, heads of fathers' houses, approved, mighty warriors, chiefs of the princes. Their number enrolled by genealogies, for service in war, was 26,000 men. A Genealogy of Saul 8 Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, 2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. 3 And Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud, 4 Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, 5 Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram. 6 These are the sons of Ehud (they were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and they were carried into exile to Manahath): 7 Naaman,5 Ahijah, and Gera, that is, Heglam, who fathered6 Uzza and Ahihud. 8 And Shaharaim fathered sons in the country of Moab after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives. 9 He fathered sons by Hodesh his wife: Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, 10 Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers' houses. 11 He also fathered sons by Hushim: Abitub and Elpaal. 12 The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns, 13 and Beriah and Shema (they were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who caused the inhabitants of Gath to flee); 14 and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth. 15 Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, 16 Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were sons of Beriah. 17 Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, 18 Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal. 19 Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, 20 Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, 21 Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei. 22 Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, 23 Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, 24 Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, 25 Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak. 26 Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, 27 Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham. 28 These were the heads of fathers' houses, according to their generations, chief men. These lived in Jerusalem. 29 Jeiel7 the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and the name of his wife was Maacah. 30 His firstborn son: Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, 31 Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, 32 and Mikloth (he fathered Shimeah). Now these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. 33 Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal; 34 and the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah. 35 The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz. 36 Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri fathered Moza. 37 Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. 38 Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. 39 The sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. 40 The sons of Ulam were men who were mighty warriors, bowmen, having many sons and grandsons, 150. All these were Benjaminites. Footnotes [1] 7:1 Syriac (compare Vulgate); Hebrew And to the sons [2] 7:3 Hebrew sons; also verses 10, 12, 17 [3] 7:23 Beriah sounds like the Hebrew for disaster [4] 7:27 Hebrew Non [5] 8:7 Hebrew and Naaman [6] 8:7 Or Gera; he carried them into exile and fathered [7] 8:29 Compare 9:35; Hebrew lacks Jeiel (ESV) Hebrews 11 (Listen) By Faith 11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,1 they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Footnotes [1] 11:37 Some manuscripts add they were tempted (ESV) In private: Amos 5; Luke 1:1–38 Amos 5 (Listen) Seek the Lord and Live 5 Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel: 2   “Fallen, no more to rise,    is the virgin Israel;  forsaken on her land,    with none to raise her up.” 3 For thus says the Lord GOD:   “The city that went out a thousand    shall have a hundred left,  and that which went out a hundred    shall have ten left    to the house of Israel.” 4 For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:   “Seek me and live;5     but do not seek Bethel,  and do not enter into Gilgal    or cross over to Beersheba;  for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,    and Bethel shall come to nothing.” 6   Seek the LORD and live,    lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,    and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,7   O you who turn justice to wormwood1    and cast down righteousness to the earth! 8   He who made the Pleiades and Orion,    and turns deep darkness into the morning    and darkens the day into night,  who calls for the waters of the sea    and pours them out on the surface of the earth,  the LORD is his name;9   who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,    so that destruction comes upon the fortress. 10   They hate him who reproves in the gate,    and they abhor him who speaks the truth.11   Therefore because you trample on2 the poor    and you exact taxes of grain from him,  you have built houses of hewn stone,    but you shall not dwell in them;  you have planted pleasant vineyards,    but you shall not drink their wine.12   For I know how many are your transgressions    and how great are your sins—  you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,    and turn aside the needy in the gate.13   Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,    for it is an evil time. 14   Seek good, and not evil,    that you may live;  and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,    as you have said.15   Hate evil, and love good,    and establish justice in the gate;  it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord:   “In all the squares there shall be wailing,    and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!'  They shall call the farmers to mourning    and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,17   and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,    for I will pass through your midst,”      says the LORD. Let Justice Roll Down 18   Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!    Why would you have the day of the LORD?  It is darkness, and not light,19     as if a man fled from a lion,    and a bear met him,  or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,    and a serpent bit him.20   Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light,    and gloom with no brightness in it? 21   “I hate, I despise your feasts,    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.22   Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,    I will not accept them;  and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,    I will not look upon them.23   Take away from me the noise of your songs;    to the melody of your harps I will not listen.24   But let justice roll down like waters,    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 25 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27 and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts. Footnotes [1] 5:7 Or to bitter fruit [2] 5:11 Or you tax (ESV) Luke 1:1–38 (Listen) Dedication to Theophilus 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Birth of John the Baptist Foretold 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,1 of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. 8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” 18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Birth of Jesus Foretold 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed2 to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 

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Heart To Heart: My Decaying Heart - Pastor Julia DamazioPastor Julia continues our series called Heart To Heart. Using the story of Naaman's healing from leprosy in 2 Kings, Pastor Julia underscores the paradox that the very places where we experience decay, brokenness and pain may hold the key to restoration for those around us.Want to connect more with Rose Church? Find more information at https://www.rosechurch.org and give at - https://www.rosechurch.org/give Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss more incredible sermons like this one or previous series like “RUNAWAYS” or “The Creed” from Pastor Andrew Damazio, Dr. AJ Swoboda, Pastor Julia Damazio and many other incredible pastors!Thanks for listening!

This Sunday we will be continuing our sermon series, 'Defining Moments,' as we consider Naaman. Naaman had specific expectations that were not met that exposed his pride and sense of privilege. God healed his body but in the process also taught him an important lesson. We will be reminded that defining moments are created when we push our pride aside and humbly respond in obedience to what God is asking of us.

Sunday School: November 12, 2023 Teacher: Pastor Nathan Ruble

2 Kings 5:1-15

My Story - Week 2: Naaman (Afr) // Danie Roodt by Doxa Deo Bloemfontein

Pr. Tom Baker of Law and Gospel Enduring Faith Law and Gospel with Tom Baker The post 3133. Teaching a Sunday School Lesson: Elijah Heals Naaman the Leper – Pr. Tom Baker, 11/9/23 first appeared on Issues, Etc..

In this Bible Story, God heals a foreign warrior plagued with leprosy, and who turns down by the King of Israel. Elisha sees this as a perfect opportunity to show all the nations that the Lord is a Lord of healing and power. Naaman is refreshed in the cool water of the Jordan River. As he bathes himself in the river, his sick and dying flesh is replaced with new life. This story is inspired by 2 Kings 5:1-14. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.Today's Bible verse is 2 Kings 5:14 from the King James Version.Episode 133: Naaman, now joyfully and powerfully aware of God, rushed to Elisha to proclaim his allegiance to the God of Israel and to give gifts to Elisha. But Elisha would take no gifts for this was a generous act of God. So Naaman departed with dirt from Israel so that he may worship The God of Israel, in his home country. But even in such a moment of joy, evil was at work. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, gave in to his greed and pursued Naaman for gifts of his own. Little did he know that God saw this and made it known to his master. Gehazi and his descendants would be forced to carry the consequences of his actions forever.Hear the Bible come to life as Pastor Jack Graham leads you through the official BibleinaYear.com podcast. This Biblical Audio Experience will help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In each episode, you will learn to apply Biblical principles to everyday life. Now understanding the Bible is easier than ever before; enjoy a cinematic audio experience full of inspirational storytelling, orchestral music, and profound commentary from world-renowned Pastor Jack Graham.Also, you can download the Pray.com app for more Christian content, including, Daily Prayers, Inspirational Testimonies, and Bedtime Bible Stories.Visit JackGraham.org for more resources on how to tap into God's power for successful Christian living.This episode is sponsored by Medi-Share, an innovative health care solution for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.Pray.com is the digital destination of faith. With over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible, the Pray.com app has everything you need to keep your focus on the Lord. Make Prayer a priority and download the #1 App for Prayer and Sleep today in the Apple app store or Google Play store.Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max BardProducer: Ben GammonHosted by: Pastor Jack GrahamMusic by: Andrew Morgan SmithBible Story narration by: Todd HaberkornSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Bible Story, we learn of Naaman's new found love for God and desire to bless the people of God. However, Elisha's servant Gehazi's heart changes for the worse, as he descends into a cycle of greed and treachery. This story is inspired by 2 Kings 5:15-27. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.Today's Bible verse is 2 Kings 5:27 from the King James Version.Episode 134: Israel was at war once again, this time against the King of Aram. However, the God of Israel, who knows all, would inform Elisha of what the King of Aram was planning and Elisha would, in turn, inform his King. This constant outmaneuvering irritated the King of Aram and he sent soldiers to hunt for Elisha. When the army of Aram arrived at Dothan they surrounded Elisha and his servant. But Elisha was unafraid because He could see the armies of heaven surrounding the armies of Aram. So he prayed and God delivered the men of Aram into Samaria, the land of their enemy. But instead of bloodshed, they were given a feast, and God's mercy was revealed to the nations.Hear the Bible come to life as Pastor Jack Graham leads you through the official BibleinaYear.com podcast. This Biblical Audio Experience will help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In each episode, you will learn to apply Biblical principles to everyday life. Now understanding the Bible is easier than ever before; enjoy a cinematic audio experience full of inspirational storytelling, orchestral music, and profound commentary from world-renowned Pastor Jack Graham.Also, you can download the Pray.com app for more Christian content, including, Daily Prayers, Inspirational Testimonies, and Bedtime Bible Stories.Visit JackGraham.org for more resources on how to tap into God's power for successful Christian living.This episode is sponsored by Medi-Share, an innovative health care solution for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.Pray.com is the digital destination of faith. With over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible, the Pray.com app has everything you need to keep your focus on the Lord. Make Prayer a priority and download the #1 App for Prayer and Sleep today in the Apple app store or Google Play store.Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max BardProducer: Ben GammonHosted by: Pastor Jack GrahamMusic by: Andrew Morgan SmithBible Story narration by: Todd HaberkornSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Bible Story, God promises a child to a childless woman to reward her generous spirit. However, when the boy's life was abruptly taken, all hope seems to disappear. Elisha lays over the child's body, and by the grace of God his life was restored. This story is inspired by 2 Kings 4:8-37. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.Today's Bible verse is 2 Kings 4:35 from the King James Version.Episode 132: Naaman, a mighty warrior for Syria and beloved by his King, developed leprosy and his days in battle started becoming fewer. When an Israelite slave in Naaman's house heard of his condition, she told of the prophet Elisha and how he could heal her master. At once Naaman requested permission from his king to visit this prophet in Israel. But when Elisha sent word for what he had to do to be clean, Naaman was outraged. However, his servant talked to him gently and he softened his heart to obey. And as he dipped into the waters of the Jordan; his heart and his body were made new.Hear the Bible come to life as Pastor Jack Graham leads you through the official BibleinaYear.com podcast. This Biblical Audio Experience will help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In each episode, you will learn to apply Biblical principles to everyday life. Now understanding the Bible is easier than ever before; enjoy a cinematic audio experience full of inspirational storytelling, orchestral music, and profound commentary from world-renowned Pastor Jack Graham.Also, you can download the Pray.com app for more Christian content, including, Daily Prayers, Inspirational Testimonies, and Bedtime Bible Stories.Visit JackGraham.org for more resources on how to tap into God's power for successful Christian living.This episode is sponsored by Medi-Share, an innovative health care solution for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.Pray.com is the digital destination of faith. With over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible, the Pray.com app has everything you need to keep your focus on the Lord. Make Prayer a priority and download the #1 App for Prayer and Sleep today in the Apple app store or Google Play store.Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max BardProducer: Ben GammonHosted by: Pastor Jack GrahamMusic by: Andrew Morgan SmithBible Story narration by: Todd HaberkornSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rick Bonfim - 2 Kings 5 Naaman Part 4

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 96 Psalm 96 (Listen) Worship in the Splendor of Holiness 96   Oh sing to the LORD a new song;    sing to the LORD, all the earth!2   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;    tell of his salvation from day to day.3   Declare his glory among the nations,    his marvelous works among all the peoples!4   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;    he is to be feared above all gods.5   For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,    but the LORD made the heavens.6   Splendor and majesty are before him;    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!8   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;    bring an offering, and come into his courts!9   Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;1    tremble before him, all the earth! 10   Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;    he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12     let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13     before the LORD, for he comes,    for he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness,    and the peoples in his faithfulness. Footnotes [1] 96:9 Or in holy attire (ESV) Pentateuch and History: 2 Kings 5 2 Kings 5 (Listen) Naaman Healed of Leprosy 5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.1 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5 And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels2 of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” 8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana3 and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean'?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Gehazi's Greed and Punishment 15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD. 18 In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.” 19 He said to him, “Go in peace.” But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” 22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.'” 23 And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25 He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 26 But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow. Footnotes [1] 5:1 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 [2] 5:5 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [3] 5:12 Or Amana (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Zechariah 9 Zechariah 9 (Listen) Judgment on Israel's Enemies 9   The oracle of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach    and Damascus is its resting place.  For the LORD has an eye on mankind    and on all the tribes of Israel,12   and on Hamath also, which borders on it,    Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.3   Tyre has built herself a rampart    and heaped up silver like dust,    and fine gold like the mud of the streets.4   But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions    and strike down her power on the sea,    and she shall be devoured by fire. 5   Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid;    Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;    Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.  The king shall perish from Gaza;    Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;6   a mixed people2 shall dwell in Ashdod,    and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.7   I will take away its blood from its mouth,    and its abominations from between its teeth;  it too shall be a remnant for our God;    it shall be like a clan in Judah,    and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.8   Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,    so that none shall march to and fro;  no oppressor shall again march over them,    for now I see with my own eyes. The Coming King of Zion 9   Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you;    righteous and having salvation is he,  humble and mounted on a donkey,    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.10   I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim    and the war horse from Jerusalem;  and the battle bow shall be cut off,    and he shall speak peace to the nations;  his rule shall be from sea to sea,    and from the River3 to the ends of the earth.11   As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.12   Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;    today I declare that I will restore to you double.13   For I have bent Judah as my bow;    I have made Ephraim its arrow.  I will stir up your sons, O Zion,    against your sons, O Greece,    and wield you like a warrior's sword. The Lord Will Save His People 14   Then the LORD will appear over them,    and his arrow will go forth like lightning;  the Lord GOD will sound the trumpet    and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.15   The LORD of hosts will protect them,    and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,  and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,    and be full like a bowl,    drenched like the corners of the altar. 16   On that day the LORD their God will save them,    as the flock of his people;  for like the jewels of a crown    they shall shine on his land.17   For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!    Grain shall make the young men flourish,    and new wine the young women. Footnotes [1] 9:1 Or For the eye of mankind, especially of all the tribes of Israel, is toward the Lord [2] 9:6 Or a foreign people; Hebrew a bastard [3] 9:10 That is, the Euphrates (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: John 2 John 2 (Listen) The Wedding at Cana 2 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.1 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers2 and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. Jesus Cleanses the Temple 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,3 and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. Jesus Knows What Is in Man 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Footnotes [1] 2:6 Greek two or three measures (metrētas); a metrētēs was about 10 gallons or 35 liters [2] 2:12 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters [3] 2:20 Or This temple was built forty-six years ago (ESV)

Evan Burns

May the God of Wonders Bless You!

Luke 4–5 Luke 4–5 (Listen) The Temptation of Jesus 4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.'” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,   “‘You shall worship the Lord your God,    and him only shall you serve.'” 9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,   “‘He will command his angels concerning you,    to guard you,' 11 and   “‘On their hands they will bear you up,    lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Jesus Begins His Ministry 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18   “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,    because he has anointed me    to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives    and recovering of sight to the blind,    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,19   to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers1 in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away. Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon 31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha!2 What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Jesus Heals Many 38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. Jesus Preaches in Synagogues 42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.3 Jesus Calls the First Disciples 5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”4 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Jesus Cleanses a Leper 12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy.5 And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13 And Jesus6 stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. Jesus Heals a Paralytic 17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.7 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, ‘Rise and walk'? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” Jesus Calls Levi 27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” A Question About Fasting 33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.'”8 Footnotes [1] 4:27 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 [2] 4:34 Or Leave us alone [3] 4:44 Some manuscripts Galilee [4] 5:10 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women [5] 5:12 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 [6] 5:13 Greek he [7] 5:17 Some manuscripts was present to heal them [8] 5:39 Some manuscripts better (ESV)

Kencan Dengan Tuhan - Jumat, 3 November 2023 Bacaan: "Bukankah Abana dan Parpar, sungai-sungai Damsyik, lebih baik dari segala sungai di Israel? Bukankah aku dapat mandi di sana dan menjadi tahir?" Kemudian berpalinglah ia dan pergi dengan panas hati." (2 Raja-raja 5:12) Renungan: Panglima Raja Aram bernama Naaman menderita sakit kusta, kemudian pergilah ia mendatangi Elisa. Namun, Elisa hanya berkata, "Pergilah mandi tujuh kali dalam sungai Yordan, maka tubuhmu akan pulih kembali, sehingga engkau menjadi tahir." Naaman menjadi gusar karena ia berpikir Elisa akan melakukan ritual penyembuhan dengan menggerakkan tangannya di tubuhnya yang sakit sambil memanggil nama Tuhan. Lalu ia berkata, "Bukankah Abana dan Parpar, sungai-sungai Damsyik, lebih baik dari segala sungai di Israel? Bukankah aku dapat mandi di sana dan menjadi tahir?" Dua kesalahan Naaman akan kita pelajari di sini yang menjadi penyebab kekecewaan dan kemarahannya. Pertama, Naaman memiliki pola pikir sendiri tentang bagaimana seharusnya proses kesembuhan yang akan dilakukan oleh Elisa. Demikian pula, kita sering melakukan kesalahan yang sama ketika kita mendikte Tuhan tentang bagaimana seharusnya Tuhan menjawab doa kita, dan ketika apa yang terjadi tidak sesuai dengan apa yang kita pikirkan, maka kita pun kecewa dan marah. Beruntungnya Naaman mengikuti nasihat pegawainya untuk berhenti marah dan mengikuti saja jalan Tuhan, dan ia pun disembuhkan. Kita juga harus belajar untuk memiliki ketajaman mata rohani supaya dapat melihat bahwa Tuhan mampu menyatakan mujizatnya dengan cara-cara yang tidak dapat kita mengerti. Kedua, Naaman salah mengerti akan maksud Tuhan. Ketika Elisa memerintahkannya untuk mandi tujuh kali di Sungai Yordan, sebenarnya ia sedang menekankan tentang ketaatan yang total kepada perkataan Tuhan. Namun, Naaman salah fokus yang hanya menekankan pada perkara "mandi". Naaman tidak menangkap maksud Tuhan yang mengajarkannya tentang ketaatan. Bandingkan dengan ketaatan total orang buta di dalam Yoh 9. Yesus mengaduk ludah-Nya dengan tanah dan mengoleskannya pada mata orang buta tersebut. Lalu, Yesus memerintahkanya untuk membasuhnya di Kolam Siloam. Orang buta tersebut melakukan tepat seperti perkataan Yesus. la tidak komplain dengan cara Tuhan yang aneh dalam menyembuhkannya. Dia tidak tawar-menawar tentang kolam yang akan ditujunya. Orang buta ini datang kepada Tuhan dengan satu konsep iman yang benar dan sejati bahwa Tuhan dapat melakukan apa saja dan dengan cara apa saja untuk menjawab doanya. Jika saat ini kita sedang berada di status rohani seperti Panglima Naaman yang gusar dan marah karena situasi yang terjadi tidak sesuai dengan apa yang kita doakan, belajarlah untuk tidak membatasi kuasa Tuhan dalam pikiran kita. Demikian pula, kita yang sulit mengerti akan maksud Tuhan melalui berbagai kondisi sulit yang la izinkan terjadi, milikilah ketaatan orang buta ini. Jika Naaman menyelaraskan imannya dengan logika, orang buta menyelaraskan imannya dengan ketaatan total. Inilah "Duet Maut", yaitu iman dan ketaatan total yang mendatangkan kuasa Tuhan. Tuhan Yesus memberkati. Doa: Tuhan Yesus, mampukan aku untuk mengerti kehendak-Mu dan ajarilah aku untuk setia dan taat pada-Mu. Amin. (Dod).

Rick Bonfim - II Kings 5 Naaman Part 3

Rick Bonfim - II Kings 5 Naaman Part 2

Rick Bonfim - 2 Kings 5 Naaman

Thank you for listening to this episode. We pray it blesses you in Jesus name.

Alan Giles looks at the story of Naaman and what his leprosy and healing teaches us about the leprosy of our souls and the cleansing we have in Christ alone.

Only God can heal miraculously. He has performed all kinds of healings throughout the Bible and then some. Sometimes He did so on His own initiative. Sometimes He waited to do so on the request of people. In this week's message we find that Naaman's healing was dependent on his obedience, but his obedience was not dependent on his understanding. Just as God has shown He can heal bodies, His desire is to heal sinful, broken hearts. Only God can truly heal bodies. Only God can heal sin.Do you have prayer requests? Get in touch directly with the team at WACC using thislink: https://wacconline.org/prayer-requestWe look forward to hearing from you! Want to take the next step in getting involved atWashington Avenue Christian Church? Fill out this connect card and someone willreach out to you! https://www.wacconline.org/connectcard Stay in touch by signing up for our weekly newsletter!https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/RHyLGXQ Find messages from WACC here: https://wacconline.org/media If you would like to find out more about our church,visit us at our website: https://www.wacconline.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wacc.atx/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wacc.atx/Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/c/WashingtonAvenueChristianChurchPodcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/washington-avenue-christian-church/id1502459358 Everything WACC: linktr.ee/wacc.atx Used with Permission through our CCLI Copyright License Number 1046610 and Streaming License Number CSPL109160

Pastor Anthony Hall | Sin in Naaman | 2 Kings 5:1-19 The post Sin in Naaman – #severnonline appeared first on Severn Covenant Church.

Healed from leprosy, Naaman rejoiced and vowed loyalty to Yahweh, stating, “There is no God in all the earth but in Israel.” With the prophet Elisha's blessing of peace, he began his journey back home as a changed man. Sadly, this magnificent display of God's power to heal and save was muddied by the ungodly actions of a man who believed a price needed to be paid for God's kindness. This study will focus on the ungodly attitudes of Elisha's servant Gehazi which illustrate dangerous attitudes that can still be present today. A sermon given by Greg Chandler on October 22, 2023.

“Naaman almost missed healing because he had a different idea of what healing would look like.” Today Emma Dotter is joined by The Porch staff member, Kendall Kaigler to talk about how God's definition of "good" is better than ours and how He answers prayers differently than we expect sometimes.  Feel free to leave a review and let us know what you are learning on the podcast!  Grab a Join The Journey Journal that coincides with this part of the Join The Journey Reading Plan: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7TCKPR1/ref=sr_1_14crid=3MDHUUF0FW85G&keywords=join+the+journey+volume+2&qid=1686688452&sprefix=join+the+journ%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-14  Join the Journey Jr. https://www.jointhejourney.com/jr/5781-do-you-remember-god-s-promises-to-abraham

Luke 4–5 Luke 4–5 (Listen) The Temptation of Jesus 4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.'” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,   “‘You shall worship the Lord your God,    and him only shall you serve.'” 9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,   “‘He will command his angels concerning you,    to guard you,' 11 and   “‘On their hands they will bear you up,    lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Jesus Begins His Ministry 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18   “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,    because he has anointed me    to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives    and recovering of sight to the blind,    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,19   to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers1 in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away. Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon 31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha!2 What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Jesus Heals Many 38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. Jesus Preaches in Synagogues 42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.3 Jesus Calls the First Disciples 5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”4 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Jesus Cleanses a Leper 12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy.5 And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13 And Jesus6 stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. Jesus Heals a Paralytic 17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.7 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, ‘Rise and walk'? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” Jesus Calls Levi 27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” A Question About Fasting 33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.'”8 Footnotes [1] 4:27 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 [2] 4:34 Or Leave us alone [3] 4:44 Some manuscripts Galilee [4] 5:10 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women [5] 5:12 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 [6] 5:13 Greek he [7] 5:17 Some manuscripts was present to heal them [8] 5:39 Some manuscripts better (ESV)

With family: 2 Kings 5; 1 Timothy 2 2 Kings 5 (Listen) Naaman Healed of Leprosy 5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.1 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5 And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels2 of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” 8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana3 and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean'?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Gehazi's Greed and Punishment 15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD. 18 In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.” 19 He said to him, “Go in peace.” But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” 22 And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.'” 23 And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25 He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 26 But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow. Footnotes [1] 5:1 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 [2] 5:5 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [3] 5:12 Or Amana (ESV) 1 Timothy 2 (Listen) Pray for All People 2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man1 Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. Footnotes [1] 2:5 men and man render the same Greek word that is translated people in verses 1 and 4 (ESV) In private: Psalms 117–118; Daniel 9 Psalms 117–118 (Listen) The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever 117   Praise the LORD, all nations!    Extol him, all peoples!2   For great is his steadfast love toward us,    and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.  Praise the LORD! His Steadfast Love Endures Forever 118   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;    for his steadfast love endures forever! 2   Let Israel say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.”3   Let the house of Aaron say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.”4   Let those who fear the LORD say,    “His steadfast love endures forever.” 5   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;    the LORD answered me and set me free.6   The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.    What can man do to me?7   The LORD is on my side as my helper;    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 8   It is better to take refuge in the LORD    than to trust in man.9   It is better to take refuge in the LORD    than to trust in princes. 10   All nations surrounded me;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!11   They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!12   They surrounded me like bees;    they went out like a fire among thorns;    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!13   I was pushed hard,1 so that I was falling,    but the LORD helped me. 14   The LORD is my strength and my song;    he has become my salvation.15   Glad songs of salvation    are in the tents of the righteous:  “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,16     the right hand of the LORD exalts,    the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!” 17   I shall not die, but I shall live,    and recount the deeds of the LORD.18   The LORD has disciplined me severely,    but he has not given me over to death. 19   Open to me the gates of righteousness,    that I may enter through them    and give thanks to the LORD.20   This is the gate of the LORD;    the righteous shall enter through it.21   I thank you that you have answered me    and have become my salvation.22   The stone that the builders rejected    has become the cornerstone.223   This is the LORD's doing;    it is marvelous in our eyes.24   This is the day that the LORD has made;    let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25   Save us, we pray, O LORD!    O LORD, we pray, give us success! 26   Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!    We bless you from the house of the LORD.27   The LORD is God,    and he has made his light to shine upon us.  Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,    up to the horns of the altar! 28   You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;    you are my God; I will extol you.29   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;    for his steadfast love endures forever! Footnotes [1] 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard [2] 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner (ESV) Daniel 9 (Listen) Daniel's Prayer for His People 9 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. 3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us,1 by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,2 make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” Gabriel Brings an Answer 20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision. The Seventy Weeks 24 “Seventy weeks3 are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.4 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again5 with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its6 end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,7 and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” Footnotes [1] 9:12 Or our judges who judged us [2] 9:17 Hebrew for the Lord's sake [3] 9:24 Or sevens; also twice in verse 25 and once in verse 26 [4] 9:24 Or thing, or one [5] 9:25 Or there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again [6] 9:26 Or His [7] 9:27 Or seven; twice in this verse (ESV)

In this Bible Story, David and Jonathan make promises to one another. Jonathan would protect David from Saul, and David would show favor and love to Jonathan and his family for all his days. Jonathan learned that Saul's hatred for David still burned hot, so he warned David and he fled to the wilderness. This story is inspired by 1 Samuel 20. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.Today's Bible verse is 1 Samuel 20:38 from the King James Version.Episode 88: David and Jonathan met together outside of the city, for David was afraid to enter it anymore lest Saul find him and make another attempt on his life. Though Jonathan could hardly believe that his dad still meant to kill him, he agreed to cover for David. Jonathan also agreed to investigate his father's heart and report what he found back to David, all he asked was that David would show kindness to his descendants, even after God had made him king.Hear the Bible come to life as Pastor Jack Graham leads you through the official BibleinaYear.com podcast. This Biblical Audio Experience will help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In each episode, you will learn to apply Biblical principles to everyday life. Now understanding the Bible is easier than ever before; enjoy a cinematic audio experience full of inspirational storytelling, orchestral music, and profound commentary from world-renowned Pastor Jack Graham.Also, you can download the Pray.com app for more Christian content, including, Daily Prayers, Inspirational Testimonies, and Bedtime Bible Stories.Visit JackGraham.org for more resources on how to tap into God's power for successful Christian living.This episode is sponsored by Medi-Share, an innovative health care solution for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.Pray.com is the digital destination of faith. With over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible, the Pray.com app has everything you need to keep your focus on the Lord. Make Prayer a priority and download the #1 App for Prayer and Sleep today in the Apple app store or Google Play store.Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max BardProducer: Ben GammonHosted by: Pastor Jack GrahamMusic by: Andrew Morgan SmithBible Story narration by: Todd HaberkornSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.