Happy Victoria Day Weekend!

“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations.” Psalm 22:27-28

Wendy
wendy.carter@kainos.org
This blog is a summary of our 9:00 Sunday morning services held at 7777 Churchville Rd., Brampton, ON L6Y 0H3, 905-230-8116. It can always be found at www.blog.heartlandfellowship.ca.

The End of the World by Gary Carter: According to I Thessalonians 5:2, we learn that “…the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” Unlike Harold Camping who wants to feel like he is in the “know”, we must be ready at all times. At least his prediction, along with predictions of others or world crises, causes people to think a little bit about eternity (e.g. Y2K at the turn of the century, 9/11 catastrophe and even the skirmishes in Syria and Egypt today). Many remember terrible suffering during World War II because of the powerful men – Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito – who wanted to dominate the world. God is in charge of all these events and commissioned His Son, Jesus, “…as the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21). Even though we are happy to see William go we are sad to see him leave. We are sending him back to his country to fix it under God’s hand. We are all part of the “sent ones.” Gary is preaching again at High Park Baptist in Toronto where some people sit at the back and others sit near the front with the “wood” family in between. The old sit with the old and the young with their young friends. He will ask the people in the back to move up one row and others to sit with someone they don’t know. These small changes will allow newcomers to feel accepted. We are to be His ambassadors until that great “day of the Lord.”

Crescens by Steve Macdonald: Unlike Demas who deserted Paul as we learned last week Paul mentions that Crescens “has gone to Galatia” (2 Timothy 4:9-10). Little is known about this man. The meaning of his Latin name is “increasing; growing.” Eusebius, Epiphanius and others believe he preached in Gaul, (Galatia, reads Gallia, or France) and may have founded the church in Vienne in Dauphiny. Some churches hold that Crescens was part of a large popular group, (the 70). It is also commonly believed in many churches that Crescens was the Bishop of Churches in Galatia, Bishop of Vienne in Gaul and Mainz on the Rhine.

Can we determine why Crescens is in Galatia? Is this a mission to help the church in Galatia get back on the right path? Or has Crescens deserted Paul? With many churches honouring him with special days being listed as Bishop of various regions we can assume that he did not desert; he continued to spread the gospel. History may have distorted his existence and his positions, but when others fell away, he continued. His life may not be well documented in many books, but his faithfulness to the Gospel has him in the book of life.

Conversations with Jesus (Part 12) – Luke 7:11-17 by Chris Burton: “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” This conversation with a widow took place when Jesus and His disciples approached the town of Nain and saw her dead son being carried out of the town near the gate to be buried. The gate might not have been in the sense of a walled town but a marker signifying the town. At this point of His ministry Jesus is travelling from town to town and drawing larger crowds with him. The village of Nain, was southwest of Capernaum about 25 miles - a good day’s journey if they had come all the way from Capernaum. If that is the case it would be nearly dusk, a common time for Jewish funerals.
Women would usually lead a funeral procession, accompanied by great weeping. The whole town seemed to have turned out to support her in her time of grief. Accompanying the body to its burial place was considered a “good work” that any believing Jew could not neglect. The body was carried upon a bier and would have been wrapped in a burial shroud with the face exposed. The men would take turns sharing the honor of pall bearer. They were on their way to the burial grounds in some caves a few miles outside of town where all their dead were buried. Likely the widow’s husband was also buried there. Life as a widow was hard enough but in this instance there was only one child to help take care of her and earn a living. Dying as a “young man” (somewhere between 24 & 40) would leave the woman alone to fend for herself (there were no jobs for widows, however, in most situations).

Why did Jesus respond? Is he moved to help because he can see the future that awaits his own mother? Was the “young man” near Jesus’ own age making the connection even stronger? This is a “huge” miracle by comparison to the others so far. Was it just his time to ramp things up? It doesn’t say anything about why Jesus did what he did. There is no event that precedes it as in other situations where people approach with great faith or He is challenged. In fact this time there is no follow up words of wisdom - just the act itself.

This is the first person Jesus raises from the dead. The people were all filled with awe and praised God saying, “A great prophet has appeared among us.” and “God has come to help his people.” The verb is episkeptomai. In secular Greek the word has several senses: to look upon, consider, have regard to, to reflect on, examine, investigate something and to visit, e.g., the sick. The people feel that perhaps God has not abandoned them but does still care - a reflection of just how far they had fallen. This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. This is also the first time Jesus is referred to as Lord by Luke and after this point it becomes more common.

A Lesson from Jonah’s Life by William: The city of Nineveh was founded by King Nimroth who was the leader of those who built the tower of Babel (Genesis 10:8-12; 11:1-2). The word Jonah means “dove”; therefore he was a “humble man” even though he was stubborn. We are sinners, unclean and stubborn people; however God still calls us “my beloved sons and daughters.” The Bible doesn’t mention about Jonah’s past life but it does record Jonah’s life after the Lord called him. God doesn’t record our past life and sins before we receive Jesus Christ in our hearts. He erases all our sins and doesn’t remember them anymore. Nobody can do God’s work without receiving the command of God which has full of authority. We are to take the command of God from our inmost being - not just start doing by our own thoughts or skills.

Jonah ran from the Lord and headed to Tarshish by ship. There is no way for a man to flee from God’s sight when he is called to do something. We cannot hide ourselves from the Lord. During the storm even though they threw away all their precious goods, it was still too heavy for the ship to carry them. They didn’t throw away what they should have thrown away. Sometimes, we don’t remember to throw away our Jonah (sins inside us). We wouldrather complain to our friends, spouses, parents or people around us. Sometimes, we are angry when the meeting decision is not our desire. Actually, the one who makes mistakes or who is in the wrong position is not others, but ourselves. There are many sleeping believers who are called by God; while others are struggling for the rescuer of their lives (Ephesians 5:14). Some believers dare not say they are believers of Christ.

Jonah told the men to throw him into the sea to make it calm. When they threw him away, what they really should have done, the ship became completely lighter so that the lives of others were saved. Please understand what you should throw away. Because of Jonah many people confronted hardness and difficulties. Likewise many others were saved because of him alone. This predicted the salvation of Christ (I Corinthians 15:22). The Lord then provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah became a big snack to be swallowed. It is not God’s pleasure that His children become Satan’s slaves. Fish is the sign of early Christian believers. It symbolized their salvation through Christ. Christians have used the fish symbol — also known as the ichthys (ixthus, icthus) symbol — since the first century. The meaning of the word and symbol is very clever. The word ichthys means fish in Greek, but the letters are also the initials of five Greek words that mean “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior” (Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter) (Matthew 4:19). As the early Christians followed Christ’s command to follow Him and lead others to the Lord, the fish symbol became a natural extension of Christ’s command and also a way to recognize and identify others who knew the symbol’s meaning. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God - chapter 2 records Jonah’s prayer of confession and repentance. When God cooked Jonah with His cooker, Jonah’s words and heart became soft and humble. He repented. God locked him up. If we don’t listen to God, He will teach us lessons until we learn to listen to Him. He can use sickness, losing our loved ones or our jobs. God will never give up teaching His children (Jeremiah 23:33-34). Jonah alone was more heavier than all the other people and their goods. Are we the burdens of God? If so, God will punish us and throw us away.
God told Jonah to go to Ninevah. He forewarned these people and they repented of their sins. We don’t need to be perfect in speech or highly qualified in a worldly point of view. God’s Word that we have in us is perfect enough. It is the word of God that changes and changes and transforms the life of people. But then Jonah became angry. He wanted to see the fire from heaven falling down and burning the city of Nineveh. We preach the truth, love and the Word of God but we don’t practice it in our lives. Unforgiveness and bitterness still take place in our hearts. We must overcome these sins in us by the power of the cross every time. Unlike other prophets, Jonah dared to be angry and complain to God (Psalm 19:12-14).

Funny Questions by Steve Macdonald:
If someone only works part-time at a funeral home do they work mournings?
Is the fear of being asked ”who goes there?” called friendorphobia?
If the police arrest a man for stealing human hearts is that a cardiac arrest?
Do kleptomaniacs help themselves because they can’t help themselves?
Is it wrong for a vegetarian to eat animal crackers?
Why do sleeping pills warning labels state “Caution – May Cause Drowsiness?”
Why do dollar stores advertise their prices?
Is a criminal’s best asset his lie ability?