Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

You may have heard the story about the little boy in Sunday School who was given some crayons and paper.  The chlidren were told to draw a picture of whatever they wanted.  The teacher saw a little boy named Michael drawing in different colors with a zeal she had never seen before.  " So what are you working on ", she asked Michael. "I am drawing a picture of God." , he said never looking up from the paper.  She smiled broadly and said to the boy somewhat pejoratively, " But no one knows what God looks like! " Without missing a beat the boy said, " Well they will now !"  As we begin in John 1, the writer of the Gospel begins by telling us about the "Word of God" who became flesh and dwelt among us.  This Word of God becoming flesh is Jesus. Jesus will show the world what God looks like! 14  The Word became flesh  and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,  the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Fat

As we reach the last chapter of Luke, the gospel writer tells us the story of the two disciples who met the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus.  Luke's gospel is the only gospel who records this story in its entirety.  N.T. Wright reknowned New Testament scholar says this scene in Luke is, " One of best sketches of a biblical scene in the gospels."    On the Road to Emmaus 13  Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.   14  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.   15  As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;   16  but they were kept from recognizing him.  17  He asked them,  “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”  They stood still, their faces downcast.   18  One of them, named Cleopas,  asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happe

On the day that Jesus was crucified we see three unlikely characters play a part in the scene.  The Jewish leaders wanted get rid of Jesus for fear of losing their power.  Pontius Pilate wanted to keep the Jews from rioting, though he wanted nothing to do with killing Jesus.  The disciples were gone and had deserted Jesus. And the people were ironically crying out, "Crucify him".  But these three men reacted differently.   Simon of Cyrene 26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus Simon was from Cyrene, a small town in Northern Africa, near Libya. He was probably a Jewish pilgrim visiting Jerusalem for the Passover.  Jesus was already exhausted and had been whipped and beaten so apparently he couldn't physically carry the cross anymore.  Since the Jews wanted to get this done before the sundown on the Sabbath, they wanted to speed up t

A lot of times we recognize big givers by listing their names' on buildings, or give them other types of recognition. While there is nothing wrong with this per se, in today's reading Jesus gives a different kind of recognition to a poor widow who gave everything she had.     The Widow’s Offering 21  As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.   2  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.   3  “Truly I tell you,”  he said,  “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.   4  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Jesus teaches us today how he looks at our giving.  This example is specifically tied to money, but could be applied to all kinds of giving like one's time or talents.  Here are three themes we notice.   1. Jesus SAW both the rich and the poor widow putting their gifts into the temple .  God sees what w

In my years of being a pastor a lot of people have asked me will I be married to my husband or wife in heaven?  Most of them ask this sentimentally, especially if they have lost their spouse and want to be with them in heaven like they were here on earth. Totally understandable.  This is the very question the religious leaders ask try to try and trap Jesus.  Let's see how Jesus responds.  The Resurrection and Marriage 27  Some of the Sadducees,  who say there is no resurrection,  came to Jesus with a question.   28  “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.   29  Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless.   30  The second   31  and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children.   32  Finally, the woman died too.   33  Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will

Sometimes you hear people say that Christians are "hypocritical" or "judgmental".  And, in some cases this is true.  But Jesus shows us how God really looks at people today.  The story of Jesus interacting with Zaccheus, the tax collector, is one of the great stories in the bible.  In it we see Jesus' love for all people. Zacchaeus the Tax Collector 19  Jesus entered Jericho  and was passing through.   2  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.   3  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.   4  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig  tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  5  When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him,  “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”   6  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.  7  All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner

One of the most important tools we have right now during this pandemic is prayer.  We are praying for a cure to this virus.  We are praying for protection from the virus for our famiies and friends. We are praying for healing for those who have the virus and peace and comfort for those who have lost loved ones.  Finally, we pray for doctors, nurses, hospital employees, pharmacy and grocery store workers who are putting themselves in harm's way to provide us with the essentials we need.  Today's parable is an interesting one.  We learn about prayer in this story of the persistent widow and the insensitive judge.   The Parable of the Persistent Widow 18  Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.   2  He said:  “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.   3  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice  against my advers

17  Jesus said to his disciples:  “Things that cause people to stumble  are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.   2  It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones  to stumble.   3  So watch yourselves.  “If your brother or sister [ a ]  sins against you, rebuke them;  and if they repent, forgive them.   4  Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”  5  The apostles  said to the Lord,  “Increase our faith!” We all know how important Christian community is in our lives, as we seek to become better followers of Christ.  We need each other.  The Proverbs says, " As iron sharpens iron so one believer sharpens another ."  27:17   Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, " Therefore encourage one another  and build each other up,  just as in fact you are doing. " We all need enc