February 18, 2006 - Leviticus 23-24 and Mark 1:1-22
The evening before I read this passage we had gone visiting and witnessing in the neighborhoods around the church before the service. I had done this many times before, but this time was different. The people seemed so much more hardened by sin. There was so much immorality present. As the pastor's wife witnessed, the people were resistant to her witness. It was very difficult, and it broke my heart.
Therefore, as I read Leviticus 23 and 24 I thought about God's judgment on those who blaspheme and murder. God was so serious about these sins that He called for the death penalty. Why? He knew these sins would spread more and more if left unchecked. That is what has happened in most of the world. As believers, we must learn from this the power of sin to spread. We must not allow that to happen in our churches.
Mark 1 contains the message of Jesus when He first began to preach. He called for repentance. That is what I felt like shouting to the people around the church there in Santo Domingo. They needed to see the Lord's kingdom as being near, and they needed to repent. Unfortunately, most of them had been so blinded by sin that they could not see their need. They were lost in hopelessness, even as Jesus was reaching out to them through us.
Therefore, as I read Leviticus 23 and 24 I thought about God's judgment on those who blaspheme and murder. God was so serious about these sins that He called for the death penalty. Why? He knew these sins would spread more and more if left unchecked. That is what has happened in most of the world. As believers, we must learn from this the power of sin to spread. We must not allow that to happen in our churches.
Mark 1 contains the message of Jesus when He first began to preach. He called for repentance. That is what I felt like shouting to the people around the church there in Santo Domingo. They needed to see the Lord's kingdom as being near, and they needed to repent. Unfortunately, most of them had been so blinded by sin that they could not see their need. They were lost in hopelessness, even as Jesus was reaching out to them through us.