14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
Nazareth (inland); Tyre, Syria (top) to the N.; Capernaum (Sea of Galilee) to E.; Jerusalem to S.
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.
Elijah worked miracles for the widow of Zarephath, who welcomed the Prophet and gave him a room.
27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction…
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
IF anyone will not listen.. Shake off the dust of your feet when you leave that house.. It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah. + “Jesus – Matthew 10:14-15
14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Not Peace, but a Sword
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to set a man against his…
… a man against his nearest and most beloved family members. Rejection! Rejection by loved ones for taking up your cross… when your loved ones will not.
36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Rewards
40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.
41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.
The Christian community is built with fellowship, the Christian heart with prayer.
Let’s consider the community of believers we call ‘church’ for a moment. Paul addresses some of the ‘issues’ of worship style in his letter to the Corinthians [ch.14] and his first direction of guidance instructs: “Pursue love… agapē.”
1 Corinthians 14:20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
John writes to the churches in Asia a similar caution:
1 John 1: 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 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.
Peter in his first letter addresses Christians of churches in an even larger area:
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
The King James Version states: Finally,be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
be of one mind
have compassion one of another – sympathēs
love as brothers – philadelphos
Do these words of the Apostles instruct any to be a lone chrisitian? Certainly not. The instruction to Christians is for fellowship.
The Apostles teach the nurturing of a loving community, believers who spend time with one another, who worship together, and believers who truly love each other as Christ Jesus loves us.
The Christian community is built with fellowship…
How is it that most of our busy 21st century churches don’t get this?
Does it take just a little more than an hour on a Sunday to build a relationship? to build a community? to establish a church in the love and fellowship of our Lord, Christ Jesus?
“christians” we call ourselves. Is your relationship and community with your fellow brothers in the Lord (your fellow sisters in the Lord) a loving commitment such as this?
The Christian community is built with fellowship, the Christian heart with prayer.
So let us repent of the busyness of our public lives and sacrifice a little more Christ-like love to embrace His love through the relationships of our church.
Which brings us now to our private lives:
How is your prayer life?
I must confess that I have never been one to think of prayer sufficiently. It was not until recently (by measure of years) that I finally engaged God in conversation through prayer every morning and throughout my day.
Do you suppose the mention of “prayer” 114 times plus “pray” 96 times in the ESV suggests its importance? Of course.
IF Jesus is our Lord and Master, we being His servants: certainly we must be obedient to His command:
Mathew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Jesus said: “when you pray,” not ‘IF you pray.”
Jesus said: “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” – Luke 6:28 I have a hard time with that one.
Jesus encourages us in Luke 18: And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Do you “loose heart” in your daily life? I do. Consider that in losing heart you have likely neglected prayer.
Our failing flesh is one thing, but our heart is quite another. Jesus points out that the flesh is weak, but for the heart He directs us to prayer. Our heart (Hebrew) is: the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding and much more – kardia in the Greek.
How will our spirit dwell with the Holy Spirit if not through prayer?
… the Christian heart is built with prayer.
And oh, so tender, our torn-up hearts.
How broken our Christian lives. How broken our Christian families. How broken our Christian homes.
How broken our Christian husbands and how broken our Christian wives. How broken our Christian children and how broken our Christian youth.
What, then, must Christians do? (For in fact, our brokenness looks no different than the brokenness of so many who do not even know the love of Christ Jesus.)
The unturned pages of our Bibles tell an answer we claim as our ‘Good News.’ (Gospel.)
Have you been too busy to get the answers from God through prayer?
Have you been too busy to share your love with other Christians?
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
26 Dear friends,
if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.
27 There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies.
Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
19 My brothers,
if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do?
Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
Could you hear the Voice of our Good Shepherd?
Would you come back to His church, dearly beloved?
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”
