Kent Hughes says, “We may be horrified by the fierceness of this passage, but beneath the terrifying imagery is a solemn fact: Jesus, coming into the world, forces every person to decide – and the decision is a matter of life and death.” The investment of the gospel is a matter of life and death.
Author: joemarino (Page 48 of 50)
In the opening line of the movie Goodfellas, the narrator Ray Liota, who plays the character of Henry Hill, says, “As far back as I can remember… I always wanted to be a gangster”! Every time I hear that line I think of Henry ’s little gangster buddy named Tommy who was played by Joe Pesci who makes a perfect gangster with his short little legs, his high pitched winey voice, his arrogant swagger and his hot headed temper. In many ways I think Joe Pesci would have played the part of Zacchaeus really well. I can just see him running along on his short little legs ahead of the crowd to climb a tree to see the world famous Jesus as he entered into town. I can see him hiding in the tree from the crowd that hated his guts because of all the years of stealing money from them. I can see his surprise when Jesus stops and turns his attention on him and calls him by name. I can see the little guy nearly falling out of the tree in his excitement to meet Jesus and I can see the crowd booing because Jesus invites himself over to his house.
Look at Luke 18:35 – 43…
35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Kent Hughes in his commentary on Luke 18:35 – 43 says, “There is only one thing worse than blindness, and that is not knowing that you are blind. Multitudes are blind to their darkness, blind to their sin, blind to their destiny, blind to their hopelessness, spiritually out of touch.”
Philip Ryken begins his commentary on Luke 18:28-34 by saying “There are times in life when even the strongest Christians wonder whether it’s really worth it to follow Jesus. Once you make a total life commitment to Christ, there are certain commands you are committed to obey, certain pleasures you choose to forgo, and certain sacrifices you are compelled to make. Sometimes it is so hard to follow Jesus that it is tempting to wonder whether it is really worth all the trouble. Maybe life is better with Jesus, but it doesn’t always seem that way”.
At The Well, Our Mission & Vision is to be a gospel centered church family of gospel communities that grow disciples who glorify God by following Jesus, leading families, making disciples, equipping missionaries and planting churches. – Matt. 28:18 – 20
What is the distinguishing mark of someone who is a Christian?
I think that we sometimes think that Christians are distinguished or set apart from other people who are not Christians by our learning… our friends… our religious practices… our knowledge… our experiences… or our accomplishments and as good as all those things are they really aren’t the defining factors of what it means to come to Christ and follow him. So what is the distinguishing mark of someone who is a Christian?
What kind of life do you live?
How would you describe your life to someone if they asked you how you live? Would you say that you live your life to the fullest or would you describe your life as careless? Would you describe your life as rough and full of dark seasons or would you describe it as light and full of open doors and opportunities? Would you describe your life as one that has been lived on the straight and narrow or would you describe it as one that has been lived on the path of brokenness and pain?
Are You A Person Of Faith Who Doesn’t Lose Heart In Prayer?
Have you ever found yourself getting discouraged in prayer? Wondering where God was when that person hurt you? Getting cold and cynical towards God and other people? Believing that God doesn’t act justly or doesn’t love you as much as everyone says he does or doesn’t listen to your cries for help? Or thinking that he doesn’t answer your prayers fast enough?
When Will The Hardship Of This Life Come To An End?
Do you ever catch yourself lamenting this question? When will it all be over? When will the difficulty and the pain and the hardship and the suffering come to an end? I think it’s easy enough for all of us to agree that this world that we live in and this life that we live is not without its difficulty and hardship. The political landscape across the globe is an absolute train wreck. Poverty is at an all time high across the world. Crime rates are climbing. New terror organizations seem to pop up on the horizon every day. One tragedy after the next floods our news feeds and TV screens. Everywhere you look marriages and relationships are on tilt. People are at war with one another. The world is at war with itself.
One of our values as a church is “Missional Community”.
We believe that the church is meant to be a missional community that gathers consistently to learn, live, pray, worship, care & proclaim the gospel among unreached people groups to the glory of God. (Acts 2:42-47)