2022 March

The Unseen Servant, Part 2

The Unseen Servant, Part 2

Last week, we featured a handful of very popular logos and asked you to find their “hidden” messages. Here’s a logo. It may not have great brand recognition to you; but once you see it, it jumps off the page. Take a look. What do you see? (It’s protected with a trademark, so look, but don’t steal.) If you see three letters, good for you! If you see a person with waving arms, even better! If you see a conductor for the LSO—the London Symphony Orchestra—you win! Seeing what the designer intended you to see, even though it may not be perfectly clear, is what the art of interpretation is all about. Case in point, the identity of the servant in Isaiah 53. Last week, we listened as Levine and Brettler wrestled to identify the Servant in Isaiah 53. I found it interesting that they never tried to put

First Mission: To Use Our Wealth Compassionately

First Mission: To Use Our Wealth Compassionately

This sermon is based on James 4:13- 5:11. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Imagine it’s 50 AD, and you are riding your camel. You’re headed up to Jerusalem from Galilee, and you’ve lost all your favorite Galilean radio stations. It’s a long ride without tunes, and so you flip the dial to see what you can find. Suddenly, a station comes in loud and clear. . . . “It’s 10 o’clock, and you’re listening to FM 108, ‘all James all the time—all wisdom all the time—all Messiah all the time.’ You might even say, ‘all Sermon on the Mount—all the time.’ And you’re not just listening to some Johnny-come-lately station either. We were the very first. On the air since the mid 40’s. We were there from the beginning to get you to where you want to go. So, sit

First Mission: Be Quick to Repent

First Mission: Be Quick to Repent

This sermon is based on James 4:4-12. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Imagine it’s 50 AD, and you are riding your camel. You’re headed up to Jerusalem from Galilee, and you’ve lost all your favorite Galilean radio stations. It’s a long ride without tunes, and so you flip the dial to see what you can find. Suddenly, a station comes in loud and clear. . . . “It’s 10 o’clock, and you’re listening to FM 108, ‘all James all the time—all wisdom all the time—all Messiah all the time.’ You might even say, ‘all Sermon on the Mount—all the time.’ And you’re not just listening to some Johnny-come-lately station either. We were the very first. On the air since the mid 40’s. We were there from the beginning to get you to where you want to go. So, sit back

The Unseen Servant

The Unseen Servant

Below are five logos. Take a good look at each of them. We have the Fed Ex logo, The Tostitos logo, The Toblerone Logo, The Goodwill logo, and the Tour de France logo (all protected and trademarked by their companies). Okay, now that you have seen each of these, what didn’t you see? Did you see the arrow in the FedEx logo? Once you see it, it’s obvious. Do you see the two people with the Tostito chip preparing to dip it into the salsa? Now, I can’t unsee it. Do you see the happy bear on the Toblerone mountain? Is it a chocolate bar or a chocolate bear? In either case, it is unbearable; and once you see it, it jumps off the mountain. Do you see that the “g” in goodwill is the same half-face smiling on the logo, but with a different background? I’ve seen their logo

Isaiah’s Version of the Virgin, Part 3

Isaiah’s Version of the Virgin, Part 3

How do you say something slightly nasty, nicely? Two stories, one about an actress that is nasty; and the other, well, it is also about an actress and, unfortunately, it too is nasty. Miriam Hopkins was more than an American actress. She was highly regarded for her intellectual prowess and for her friendships with many of the country’s intellectual elite. As a result, many actors felt it was their duty to upstage her at any opportunity. For instance, an anonymous starlet, whose prominence was more the result of her looks than her talent, once bragged, “You know, my dear, I insured my voice for fifty-thousand dollars.” Hopkins replied, “That's wonderful. And what did you do with the money?" That was nasty. Ilka Chase was also a celebrated actress, but she also was a fairly-successful author. Green with envy, many of her rivals disliked Ilka and believed she was a fraud.

First Mission: Embracing Wisdom and Peace

First Mission: Embracing Wisdom and Peace

This sermon is based on James 3:13-4:3. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Imagine it’s 50 AD, and you are riding your camel. You’re headed up to Jerusalem from Galilee, and you’ve lost all your favorite Galilean radio stations. It’s a long ride without tunes, and so you flip the dial to see what you can find. Suddenly, a station comes in loud and clear. . . . “It’s 10 o’clock, and you’re listening to FM 108, ‘all James all the time—all wisdom all the time—all Messiah all the time.’ You might even say, ‘all Sermon on the Mount—all the time.’ And you’re not just listening to some Johnny-come-lately station either. We were the very first. On the air since the mid 40’s. We were there from the beginning to get you to where you want to go. So, sit back

Isaiah’s Version of the Virgin, Part 2

Isaiah’s Version of the Virgin, Part 2

What’s in a name? Consider these twelve weird American town names (I’ll not mention any towns in Maryland or in Pennsylvania; Maryland, because no one here will laugh at a town named Accident, and Pennsylvania, because this blog is rated PG-13). Here are my top twelve strange town names. We have Boring, Oregon; No Name, Colorado; Why, Arizona; and Why Not, North Carolina. There’s a Yum Yum, Tennessee; a Ding Dong, Texas; a Zig Zag, Oregon; and a Good Grief, Idaho. And let us not forget, Bugtussle, Tennessee; Fink, Nebraska; Nothing, Arizona; and last, but not least, my favorite, Bitter End, Tennessee! Names are funny things. Our question today concerns the name, Immanuel. We are trying to figure out the identity of the Immanuel spoken of in Isaiah 7:14. I argued in the last post that it is Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Isa. 8:3). Matthew seems to say it is Jesus (Mt. 1:23).

First Mission: Keeping the Tongue in Check

First Mission: Keeping the Tongue in Check

This sermon is based on James 3:1-12. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Imagine it’s 50 AD, and you are riding your camel. You’re headed up to Jerusalem from Galilee, and you’ve lost all your favorite Galilean radio stations. It’s a long ride without tunes, and so you flip the dial to see what you can find. Suddenly, a station comes in loud and clear. . . . “It’s 10 o’clock, and you’re listening to FM 108, ‘all James all the time—all wisdom all the time—all Messiah all the time.’ You might even say, ‘all Sermon on the Mount—all the time.’ And you’re not just listening to some Johnny-come-lately station either. We were the very first. On the air since the mid 40’s. We were there from the beginning to get you to where you want to go. So, sit back

Isaiah’s Version of the Virgin, Part 1

Isaiah’s Version of the Virgin, Part 1

The famous American painter, Robert Rauschenberg once said, “An empty canvas is full.” I think he was crazy, but I am not a big fan of minimalism. But even though I am not now nor ever have been a member of the minimalist art movement, I am a huge fan of a minimalist experiment conducted by Bell Labs in the 1970’s. In 1971, Leon Harmon wanted to identify the least amount of visual information a picture may contain and still be recognizable. Harmon took a picture of Abraham Lincoln and divided it into 200 squares with each square shaded a different intensity of gray. The picture is very blurry, very gray with a few darker blobs and consists entirely of blocks; but as soon as you see it, you know that’s Lincoln. Honestly, it is shocking how little information one needs to identify someone in a picture. Here’s today’s question: