The Fellowship of Joy

Believing Is Seeing Mark 10:46-52 “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” - Erasmus     What is in a name? They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.   What did Bartimaeus see? When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"   What did the “many” miss seeing? Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"   Take heart – a three-point sermon in a three-part sentence. Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him,   "Take heart;   get up, he is calling you."   His last possession – Another three-parter So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.   A searching question and a simple ans...

Can You Drink the Cup? "And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:" - Mark 10:39   I do not know what I can do.   Nor do I really understand the price of the things I desire and require.   The disciples were posturing and negotiating. Who was most important among them? Who would be entitled to sit with Jesus in his throne room? They still assumed it would be like Herod’s throne.   It was a rather immature exercise. Yet, we still do it, even when we are more subtle about it.   We flash our credentials and flaunt our titles. We brag about our accomplishments and list our achievements as often as possible .  It may be insecurity; it may be self-doubt; or we may just be prideful.   We try to leverage our relationship with Jesus and our spiritual insights for material wealth, prestige, and power.   Jesus says direct...