Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

When people say to me "don't worry", sometimes I want to say, " Well that is easy for you to say ".  Telling someone not to worry doesn't usually help too much.  But today Jesus says to his disciples, "Do not worry".  But rather than just saying this, he gives them an explanation as to why worry makes no sense. Do Not Worry 22  Then Jesus said to his disciples:  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.   23  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.   24  Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them.  And how much more valuable you are than birds!   25  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?   26  Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27  “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. ...

I have often heard people say something to the effect of, " God has a lot of more important matters to worry about than my insignicant problems. "  They assume because what they are asking for isn't of epic proportions that it is not as important to God.  Luke 11 begins with by Jesus teaching the disciples the Lord's Prayer.  Then he offers more teaching about the nature of prayer.  We start in verse 5 when Jesus says,  " Then Jesus said to them,  “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;   6  a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’   7  And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’   8  I tell you, even though the will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shamel...

As we continue to journey this coronavirus pandemic, it has radically altered the way we meet with each other.  Those who are not going to work, restaurants, sporting event, or even church are needing to redefine what community looks like.  In some ways we are going back fifty years where a lot of connecting with others happened right in our neighborhood especially on our own blocks. If you are like me, here in Irvine my neighborhood is very diverse.  We have neighbors that have been here for many years and those who moved to our block recently.  Young couples with young kids, couples like us with teenagers, older couples whose kids have grown up and either stayed at home or moved out of state.  One of the things we are all learning is "who is my neighbor?".  This is exactly what Jesus is teaching in the parable he teaches today.   The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25  On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ...

In times of uncertainty like we are facing, there is often a mindset of what we call the "scarcity" mentality.  It is a mentality of frantic worry that there will not be enough to take care of our needs.  Do you think that describes our current reality?  I think so.  Today's parable teaches us about an abundance mentality, which is so necessary for the times we are living in right now.  Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand 10  When the apostles  returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,   11  but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God,  and healed those who needed healing.  12  Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a rem...

In high school, I worked in the landscaping business. We did a lot of planting of flowers, bushes, and laying down fresh sod.  We never just planted sod or plants without preparing the ground first.  The bottom line is we tried to create the best possible conditions so that what we planted would survive and thrive. In Luke 8 Jesus uses the metaphor of sowing seed to illustrate how people grow and produce fruit spiritually. The Parable of the Sower While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:   5  “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.   6  Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.   7  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.   8  Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up ...

We see all kinds of definitions of faith in our world. " You just gotta have faith " and " I'm keeping the faith " were the lyrics of two popular songs in the 80's.  Some people talk about " blind faith ". What does that mean?  The bible talks about " faith like a mustard seed " and says the " righteous shall live by faith ". What does those verses mean?  Today Jesus commends an unlikely person by saying, " I have not seen such great faith in all of Israel. "  Today we are looking at what does Jesus define as great faith?  The Faith of the Centurion   When Jesus had finished saying all this  to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.   2  There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.   3  The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.   4  When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with...