The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.15

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I enjoyed our time together last Sunday. I hope you did too. I only wish we all could have been there, but there will be other opportunities, Lord willing.

This Sunday, we’ll go back to our study of John with Chapter 9. This passage troubled me for many years. It’s the story of the blind man that Jesus healed by putting clay on his eyes and sending him to the Pool of Siloam to wash. The disciples wanted to know whose sin caused this man to be blind, his or his parents’. It was Jesus reply that troubled me, “this was so that the works of God might be manifested in him.”

It seemed so unfair. This man was blind all of his life so that Jesus could have a moment? My own resentment surfaced when I thought about it. I felt somehow wronged by God, too. But my perspective has changed over the years. As I draw closer to the Lord and see His work in my life, i grow to love Him more. Now I look at Jesus’ words and take them as if they were spoken of me, and I rejoice! In my case, those works of God may not include my own healing, but He can use me to heal others. It is the spiritual healing that we all need. The physical would be nice, but what happens to this cracked old clay jar is of no real importance. I have an eternity to look forward to. Can you see it? Has He opened your eyes?

This man became a testimony to the religious leaders of his time, illustrating the words that Jesus had been speaking to them all along. Just as He brought light to the eyes of this blind man, He has brought light to the world. We do not know his name, but he is still witnessing to the world of the power and purpose of our Lord through John’s record. Was not such an honor worth a few years of blindness? If you have seen the light, someday you may meet him. I am certain that he will tell you, “absolutely, yes!”

This passage used to make me angry, but now it brings me joy. I look forward to sharing it with you on Sunday. See you there! 🙂

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.14

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Hello loved ones. I hope you are getting a chance to enjoy the weekend. I am looking forward to a day off on Monday. I’m also looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow! We’ll be having a picnic style meal after the service. It’s a great time to bring a friend. The church is providing the hotdogs and asking that you bring a simple side item. Come and be all that and a bag of chips! 😉

Monday will be Memorial day. Many will have the day off. We often take the opportunity to get with friends and family and enjoy good food and the good weather. I think that’s great! When we share a meal, we are sharing more than just food. That was a regular practice in the early church. But we would do well to note what it is that we’re supposed to be remembering on this day. We enjoy it at the cost of human lives, given in sacrifice so that we remain free.

Many of us have experienced the sadness of seeing loved ones slipping away due to memory loss. Though we’ve all been through things we might like to forget, we know that forgetting is usually not a good thing. But we are a forgetful people. The hectic pace of modern life doesn’t help, but we’ve always been that way. It’s not just the little things either. Sometimes we forget the things that really matter.

That’s why God gave His people so many different ways to remember who they were and who He is. Yet even with all of that, they still forgot. We read about it and wonder, but we are no different. Tomorrow, we’ll look at just a few of the tools God gave to His people to help them remember, and we’ll consider how we can hold onto the things that are worth remembering.

Don’t forget to come tomorrow!

Love you all,

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.13

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Happy Mother’s Day! For all the moms out there and all you do, words are not enough to thank you. I pray that you will be honored today as you should be.

We’re at a good point to pause in our study of the book of John. So, in recognition of the day, I thought we’d take a look at one of the great women of the Bible. She is interesting both for what she did and for how little we know about her. We’re told the name of her husband, but given no information that would tie either of them to a particular family or tribe. We can only speculate. We are told only what is important, that she heard from God and she delivered His message. We are also told that she was a judge in Israel before the time of the kings. She is the only woman of the twelve judges who are recorded for us,. There is much for us to learn here. I hope you can join us as we consider the story of Deborah from Judges, Chapter Four.

Love y’all!

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.12

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Good, beautiful morning to you, loved ones. The sun is shining. A mockingbird has been singing away in the back yard, and there is joy in my heart as I reflect on the goodness of God and anticipate seeing you all this afternoon. I wish there had been more to enjoy our fellowship last week, but I’m thankful for everyone who did make it, and pray those who were not well are recovered.

You’ve heard people say, “The truth will set you free.” If you know your Bible, you know where that came from. Though often used out of its context, it’s a profound statement by itself. When we believe things that are not true, we become enslaved to a harsh master. Put the phrase in its context, and it becomes even more powerful. Spoken by Jesus as he continues teaching in the temple, it refers to the truth of His word, and the Truth that is Himself. I hope you can join us today as we continue our study of the book of John. We’ll finish out Chapter 8, with particular focus on verses 31-36.

Love y’all!

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.11

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Tomorrow is our 5th Sunday fellowship, and I hope you can come. It’s a great opportunity to bring a friend as we have more time to get to know each other. Bring something if you can, but the best thing you can bring is you!

We’ll continue our study of the Gospel of John with Chapter 8, verses 21-30. I read this as a separate conversation from the one that takes place in verses 12-20, but it’s all connected. John continues his revelation of who Jesus is using Jesus’ own words. He strengthens many of the themes we’ve already explored, but if I had to choose the strongest message from this passage, it would be this from verse 24, “unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” The word “he” here is added because in English the sentence would seem incomplete without it, but what Jesus really said here was “unless you believe that I am.” He is not only laying claim to the role of the promised messiah. He is taking the name of the Great I AM. Unless we will believe, we will die in our sin. The word in verse 21 where Jesus uses similar language is singular. The one sin that will most certainly lead to death is disbelief in the person, power, and true nature of Jesus.

One of the things I hope we gain as we study this gospel is a sense of urgency. Jesus is the only way. Those who do not find him face eternal damnation. We have the answer. Let us not be silent!

Love you all,

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.10

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This is the day that Yahweh has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! It’s cold and dreary outside, but it’ll be warm and bright inside as we gather to celebrate the Light of the World. I hope you can join us at 2:30 this afternoon.

It was good to have most everyone back together last wee. Our visitor came back and brought a friend. We took a detour from our ongoing study of the book of John and i shared some thoughts about our church and its future.

This week we’re back on track. Our text will be from John 8:12-20. Jesus is back in the temple, teaching. John’s narrative is chronological, so this likely occurred at some point shortly after the Feast of Tabernacles, where he spoke the words from Chapter Seven that we studied a few weeks back. John 7:37 says that those words were spoken on the last day of the feast. In John 8:12, we have another “I am” statement, “I am the light of the world.” The contrast of light and darkness occurs frequently in John’s writing. Jesus is the source of that light.

The Pharisee’s again challenge Jesus, this time trying to trap Him in his own words from Chapter 5, But He doubled down on what He has said and adds this, ““You know neither Me nor My Father.” v. 19. Jesus has already made it clear to them what He means by the Father, though they pretend ignorance in an effort to discredit Him. He has just told them in essence that they don’t know God.

We look at this passage and many like it and wonder at the hard-hearted Pharisees, but what about our own hearts? A common question asked in evangelism is, “do you know Jesus?” If we once prayed a prayer, were raised in church, or otherwise believe ourselves to be Christians, we might reflexively answer “yes”. But knowing Jesus is more than knowing about Jesus.

We use the word “know” rather loosely. We might say that we know someone if we recognize them or simply know their identity, but we understand that we don’t really know them if that’s all we have. We might say that we know someone if we’ve met them. That’s a little bit deeper, but not much. To really know someone, you have to spend time with them. You know their character, their likes and dislikes, their personality.

Can we ever say that we know Jesus that way? We’re extremely unlikely to meet Him in person until we go to Him or He comes to us. We can’t see Him. We can’t talk to Him face to face. How can we know Him? That’s part of why we have the Bible. It tells us everything we need to know about Him. When He spoke to the Pharisees, he chided them for not believing their own scriptures, which we know as the Old Testament.

But is reading a book about him enough, even if it’s a really good book? It provide us with the foundation, but it also offers us the key to knowing Him. This is the mystery of almighty God, three distinct persons and yet all one. They operate in complete harmony. When you give your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live within you. This is how you begin your journey to truly knowing Jesus.

It does not happen instantly. We don’t know much about someone we’ve only just met. As we spend time with them, we learn more and more. As we sped time with His word and prayer, we will learn more and more about Jesus. Prayer, if we will allow time to listen as well as speak, will open the door to greater revelation of His character, His desires, and His love for you. I pray that we all come to know Jesus; really know Him!

Love you all,

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.9

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He is risen!

I hope you can joy us tomorrow for our Resurrection Day celebration. It won’t be as big as we planned, since a number of our members will be absent. We have returned the fellowship dinner to it’s customary place on the 5th Sunday this month, April 30, but food for your spirit is always on offer.

I asked the Lord what I should speak about tomorrow in light of the special occasion. It would seem appropriate to take a detour from our present course of study to reflect on some detail concerning the cross or the resurrection of Jesus. We will indeed make a connection to these events that are central to our faith. However, we will do so while maintaining our present heading. Thus, we will continue our progress through the book of John with Chapter 8, verses 2-11. Wonder how? Come see!

Love y’all!

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.8

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Good morning, friends. I hear we have the chance of severe weather today, but we know the One who commands the storms. I hope you’ll come on out and join us this afternoon. Many churches will be celebrating what we call Palm Sunday, where we commemorate the “triumphal entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem. He rode in on a donkey. People were waiving palm branches in the air and proclaiming, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of The Lord!” How quickly things would change!

We do not have any special activities planned for today, but we do intend to worship Jesus. It’s always special when His people come together to honor Him.

We’ll pick up our study of John’s Gospel today with an overview of Chapter 7. John records Jesus saying many of the same things He has said all along, but in slightly different ways. We’ll hit the highlights, and spend a bit more time with verses 37-39. I pray that you will be refreshed today in rivers of living water.

Love y’all!

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.7

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What a beautiful morning! I’m looking forward to seeing you all again this afternoon. It has been a while since I posted an update. I was so excited after we had so many people in church a couple of weeks ago. It was good to see Edith. Keep her in prayer as she continues recovering from a bad fall that left her hospitalized for some time. We’ve also had a few visitors. Last week was back down, but I remain hopeful, knowing that God is at work among us.

We’re still in John, chapter 6. This week, we’ll cover verses 41-51. We pick up the dialog that began after the crowd found Jesus on the other side of the lake. The previous day, he fed 5,000 men along with the women and children, setting up for the lesson that we have been exploring over the last few weeks. At some point, this exchange moves from the lakeside to the local synagogue. The text does not make it clear at what point the transition happened, but it might have been here, as Jesus will now respond to the grumbling of the unbelieving Jews because he has said, “I am the bread that came down from Heaven.” He will conclude his response with an even more provocative statement in verse 51, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

I hope that you have been finding this study beneficial, and I hope you’ll join us today. John tells us that his gospel was written, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (20:31) Most likely I am writing to believers, but I pray that this strengthens your faith and gives you information that will help you as you share the good news of salvation through Jesus. If you have not made Him lord of your life, I pray that your time will be now.

Love y’all!

Larry

The Bartimaeus Blog 2023.6

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I have high hopes for tomorrow. Some days are easier than others, but we should always expect great things when we come together to worship our Lord. He is faithful even when we’re not, but when we are, we open the doors to blessing and a peace that is beyond understanding. That’s why I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

I hope that you are finding value in our exploration of the gospel of John. I wanted to pick up the pace a little this week, but this is too good to gulp down. We need to savor it. So, we’ll pick up our story with John 6:22-29. After feeding the 5,000, Jesus sens his disciples ahead. After dismissing the crowds he goes up on the mountain to pray. Seeing the disciples in distress as they struggle against the wind, He comes to them walking on the water.

The next day, the people come back to fund him missing. They saw the disciples leave in the only available boat, but Jesus is nowhere to be found, So, other boats having arrived, they get into them and head off in the same direction as the disciples went, looking for Jesus.

When they find him, they want to know when he got there. Doubtless they would also like to know how, but Jesus doesn’t oblige them. Instead, He continues the lesson that he started back when He fed all those people. I’m paraphrasing here, but He tells them, “You’re not following me. You’re following your stomachs. Don’t spend your effort on the temporal when I’m offering you the eternal.” When they ask Him what they need to do, he has a surprisingly simple answer, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (v. 29)

This is a small part of the overall lesson, but it is leading to the same place. Are we looking to Jesus for what He has, or who He is? Are we focused on the temporal or on the eternal? Are we looking for a path to salvation through the works that we do? We should be doing works, but there is only one that saves.

Join us tomorrow as we feed on His word.

Love y’all!

Larry