I'm a Believer

Hi Everyone!

This past Sunday's sermon was like the faith boost's cousin. It emphasized how in order to have faith, we have to be believers. When we say we believe (in) God, we're also expressing a level of faith.

Mark 9:2-29

2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured [definition: transform into something more beautiful or elevated.] before them. 3 His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them [whirlpool has met its match; even the best washing machine couldn't get clothes as white as Jesus' at that moment]. 4 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— 6 because he did not know what to say [nervous talking. Sometimes it's okay to be quiet and just be present. Though their fear was understandable, I thought it was worth highlighting that silence can be uncomfortable for some, but sometimes it's appropriate], for they were greatly afraid.

7 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” [I thank God for revealing Himself and His glory in times when I'm afraid or I'm questioning what's happening before my eyes. He knows how to capture our attention. I think the issue sometimes is that we get distracted and forget what He has said or because of our distractions, we come back to the situation and begin to question whether it was really Him. Remembering the moment of the encounter and remembering the assurance we felt when the encounter happened should be what we hold on to so that when distractions try to deter us, we can come back to it in confidence knowing that God meant what He said when He intentionally came to us to share whatever He has shared with us. If you need to write it down, write it down, but we can't allow distractions, nor time, to make us forget and question the encounter we had with God where He revealed things to us.] 8 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.

9 Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant [this is an example of why we should write things down or find whatever works for us to remember what God said to us. This is pertinent information and as time goes by, this (the fact that Jesus revealed this before it happened) is not something that should be forgotten].

11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

12 Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”

14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”

17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

19 He answered him and said, “O faithless [footnote: unbelieving] generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I [c]bear [footnote: put up] with you? Bring him to Me.” [this sounds like Jesus was frustrated. Where he asks how long he has to be with them, I'm understanding Him to ask something along the lines of how long are they expecting Him to hold their hand through this. That's probably why they had to be left at the bottom of the mountain and couldn't join Him for the transfiguration. His attitude gives off, "when will you all learn?"] 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him [that's power! Jesus didn't even do anything but look at the son and the spirit flipped out, but then again, I believe spirits know spirits and the spirit in the son recognized the spirit that was in Jesus and had an idea of what was about to happen], and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” [The picture I see in my mind while reading this is the son is on the ground going through the effects of the convulsions while Jesus is looking at him (kind of like a fed-up parent watching their child throw a tantrum knowing their "no" will not change just because of the tantrum) and in an unbothered manner wonders how long this has been happening.]

And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything [implying, "if You're who they say You are..." or implying, "if You really have the capability to do the miraculous..."], have compassion on us and help us.”

23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” [Jesus flipped the "if you can..." phrase that the man used. He must not have really known or understood the power of Jesus. I'd imagine with a phrase like that, he might have heard what Jesus had done from other people and showed his skepticism through the "if you can...". So Jesus gave it back to him by saying, "if you can believe..." but then informed him that all things are possible to him who believes. Taking Jesus' response as a literal interpretation, He's basically telling the man that if you have the ability to believe, you qualify for the same possibilities as other believers.

However, my imagination interprets Jesus' response as:



Jesus: No, if YOU can believe..., for your information, all things are possible to him who believes.]

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” [This is where Pastor emphasized the semicolon. Here, the semicolon is okay because he's acknowledging his desire to fall into the category of believers, but "there is a war going on" (similar to what's expressed in Romans 12) where there is a part of me that's having a hard time believing. It's a contradicting statement, but it's very valid. There are times where we don't renounce Christianity, but we have a hard time believing that this situation can be fixed even though we've prayed for it. It's like still being a Christian and believing God exists, but having a lack of faith (even if you really want to have faith whatever it is). The semicolon can exist, but cannot remain forever. There has to be some point where we're able to say, "Lord, I believe. (period)" Replacing the semicolon with a period signifies that we have chosen to come into agreement with God's perspective.]

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” [They believed the exit of the spirit killed the son (what it looked like)] 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. [He wasn't dead (what it actually was)]

28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”

29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

Mark 6:1-9

Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” [Oh how people can try to invalidate you even when you have proven yourself to them. This is what happens when people become so common that they can't see beyond what they knew before. I think having a lack of belief can partially stem from seeing God as too common (check out Hebrews 10:29). We know His power and have seen Him do x,y,z, and when there is a time of waiting or something is a really heavy burden and we have to wait for it to be lifted, we "insult His strength" because it's not looking how we expected it to look and we become choosy with what we're going to have faith in. We sometimes see things that work out for us as just another coin in the jar but when things are "delayed" and we have to exercise some spiritual muscles, we feel a way because things aren't coming as "easy." I think when we get to that state, we have to evaluate ourselves to be sure we're not seeing God's work as so common that it's expected on a right now basis and when that doesn't happen, we throw an unbelieving tantrum. We can't lose reverence and honor for God when things aren't going exactly as we expected.] So they were offended at Him. [They were offended with Him, He had the right to be offended with them]

4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there ["God works in the environment of belief"], except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled [definition: be filled with wonder or astonishment] because of their unbelief. [Belief is a choice, a decision that must be made. Lacking belief can cause you to create a lack in your life. His people missed out on any potential mighty work because of their unbelief. It wasn't that they didn't know Jesus and what He could do. They chose to not see Him in that light because they saw Him more commonly than they should have] Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. 8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts— 9 but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics. [I added this verse because sometimes the key to not seeing God as being common and the key to believing requires taking nothing (past experiences, words from others, the world's expectations, the world, jealousy/envy, etc.) for the journey. It requires leaving some things behind and not considering anything except what God has said. Those other things can be distractions that dilute the concentration of severity of what God has told us. It's like having a very carbonated soda (the strength of what God has said) and putting ice in it and letting it sit (the waiting time) and when it's finally time to drink it, it has lost the strength of the carbonation and results in it being flat and/or watered down depending on how long it was sitting out; essentially, undesired.]

Belief Allows you to Maximize Faith

Facebook Live: Sunday, July 21, 2019

Til next time,

Upcoming Events:

• Bishop's Preaching Engagement
• July 26, 2019
• Sisters of Divine Purpose
• August 2, 2019 @ 7:30pm
• If you'd like to participate, please RSVP with Sis. Carla
• Roosevelt Rough Riders Sunday Takeover
• August 4, 2019 @ 9:30am
• WOPCC
• WOPCC's Annual Cookout
• August 11, 2019 after church
• Cosca Regional Park
• Mighty Men of WOPCC Game Night
• August 17, 2019 @ 6:00pm
• WOPCC's Fellowship Hall
• WOPCC's Men's Ministry: Baseball Game [All are Welcomed]
• August 24, 2019 @ 6:35pm
• Bowie Baysox Stadium
• School Daze Sunday
• August 25, 2019 @ 9:30am
• WOPCC