Jesus and faith

#earlwoodanglican #brendanmclaughlin #mark5 Mark 5: 21 - 43 Sermon Info The sermon this week is about 2 miracles Jesus performed that Mark links together. The question we need to ask is, we’ve already seen that Jesus can perform miracles. So why does Mark include these 2 miracle stories? The answer is because he has something more to teach us. The thing Jesus is teaching us here is how to behave when life gets out of control. We need to (i) trust in Jesus, (ii) trust in Jesus’ timing, and (iii) trust in Jesus’ plans, which are basically my 3 points. Perhaps a good Intro question could be ‘how do you cope when life is out of control?’, or perhaps ‘what do you do when God isn’t working according to your preferred timetable?’ We should then pray and close by reminding people that God’s plans and timing are infinitely better than ours, and that if we impose our absolutely right and infallible timing and plans onto God, then we will never feel loved by him, and it will be mostly our fault. Hope that helps. Heading What’s the most important thing we do each day, week or month? While keeping fit or spending time with loved ones is important, the most important thing a Christian does has to have something to do with God, right? So what might that be? O daily, I would be spending time with God. Just like we cannot maintain a marriage without spending time together, so too can we not maintain a relationship with God, without the same thing. Every week, church (and Bible Study) are the most important things for a Christian. The church is the biggest blessing God has given to his people, after himself and the cross. As such, spending time each week with our Christian family, worshipping and learning about our Lord, is the most important thing for the individual Christian can do it each week. But is church the most important thing we do communally? To answer this, we need to remember that there is nothing worthwhile we can do in life without God’s help. As Jehosophat prayed in 2 Chron 20:12, ‘we have no power’ ourselves. We need God’s help. As such, just as daily prayer is the most important thing we do individually, communal prayer is the most important thing we do communally. This is why I told those at the monthly prayer meeting last Monday that this prayer meeting is the most important thing our church will do this month. If we are to accomplish anything of consequence, we need God’s help. So I encourage you to be a part of the most important thing we will do next month, and come to the monthly prayer meeting. Brendan McLaughlin