Andy Nagahara ❖ Video ❖ Audio  Rejoice! Emmanuel is born for you! – From the Christian hymn”O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:10-14, Matthew 1:21-23) (Isaiah 7:10-14) Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child…

Mari Ikeda ❖ Video ❖ Audio  Warnings To The Church (Mark 3:20-35)   A. Supernatural powers cannot be a decisive evidence for our faith (20-22) 20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”   B. The mistake of behaving as if we are…

Andy Nagahara ❖ Video ❖ Audio  O God! O LORD! (A prototype for worship)  (Psalm 54) 0 For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A <maskil> [1] of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?” 1 Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth. 3 Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life– men without regard for God. <Selah> 4 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. 5 Let evil recoil on those who slander…

Mari Ikeda ❖ Video ❖ Audio  The Beginning And The Purposes Of The Church (Mark 3:7-19) A. The reality of this world (7-12) 7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11…

Andy Nagahara ❖ Video ❖ Audio  Do You Really Know God? (Psalm 53, 14) 0 For the director of music. According to <mahalath.> A <maskil> of David. 1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. 2 God (14: The LORD) looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. 4 Will the evildoers never learn– those who devour my…

Mari Ikeda ❖ Video ❖ Audio  Let’s Not Mistake A Means For The Purpose (Mark 2:23-3:6) <A side story> The limit of the Bible seen in Abiathar? Ahimelek?   <Main story> 1. The purpose of the Sabbath   2. We mistake a means for the purpose a. Focusing on unimportant things (23-28) 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry…

Andy Nagahara ❖ Video ❖ Audio  Trusting in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever (Psalm 52) Preface: David, God’s beloved (0) 0 For the director of music. A <maskil> [1] of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”   A. The great evil in our world (1-4) 1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? 2 Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit. 3 You love evil rather than…

Mari Ikeda ❖ Video ❖ Audio The New Life We Live By Being United With Jesus (Mark 2:18-22) 18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” 19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. 21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old…

Andy Nagahara ❖ Video ❖ Audio Create in me a clean heart, oh God (Psalm 51) A.This is who we are (0-5) 0 For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that…

Mari Ikeda ❖ Video ❖ Audio  Peter Carl Geissler [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons The Friend of Sinners (Mark 2:13-17) A. Jesus’ calling (13-15) 1. His one-way invitation (13-14) 13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.  2. He becomes a friend of us (15) 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for…