Vergennes Church Podcast

Guest Preacher: Cara Fifer

Message Series: Jesus' Greatest Hits

Series: Jesus' Greatest Hits

In the very last book of the Old Testament, God brings a case against the people...not because he wants to tear them down, but because he wants to bring the best out of them. The question the prophet Malachi asks the people is the question we're considering in this message: Are we giving God our best?

They're called the "Minor" prophets, but God gave them some pretty Major messages to share with the people! The last 12 books of the Old Testament, the Minor Prophets are only called minor because they are smaller books than the "Major" prophets (Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel). We don't hear about the minor prophets all too often, which is really a shame, because there are some really good things in them...including some are-you-sure-this-is-the-bible parts!God comes to the prophet Hosea and says, "I want you to marry a prostitute." I'm sorry...WHAT?!? God wanted to use Hosea to help the people understand his love for the Israelite people who often strayed. Even when we've been unfaithful, God continues to pursue us with his love, drawing us back to him. There is always a road to come back to God. Hosea is a story of repentance and redemption; it is, in a word, the Gospel. Here a link to the scene from Les Miserables that I used in the middle of the me

TOUGH LOVE...but perhaps not how you're thinking. The love we are called to give to others, even when it's tough on us. How do we continue to give love to the people in the relationships where the other person seems to take more than they give? How do we continue to give love when we're tired of giving? 

Scripture references: John 20:19, 21Luke 24:50-53Acts 1:4-11Matthew 28:19-20

Happy Easter!Have you ever found that you can't find the things that are right in front of your nose? Hear a story about how two followers of Jesus walked down the road with the resurrected Jesus, and didn't even realize it. We often miss what Jesus is up to, right in front of us. When we do finally notice him, we often hear him saying the same words he shared with the disciples as he appeared to them in the upper room: "Peace be with you." For the pictures/videos used in the message:PictureVideo 

John and Luke have two different accounts of Jesus' final words before he died. And yet, we hold onto both of them in our bibles, because they both have something to teach us. In John, Jesus proclaims, "It is finished", reminding us that the work from the cross is enough to remove any separation between God and us. In Luke, we see Jesus' prayer of surrender, "Into your hands I commit my spirit," where Jesus shows us what full and complete surrender looks like. When his life was required of him, Jesus was ready. None of us know when our lives will come to an end, but we can be ready, no matter what. 

Some of the most hauntingly beautiful (or perhaps beautifully haunting) words that Jesus said from the cross were the words he quoted from Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Many of us have felt abandoned by God at different times of our lives. Even while hanging from the cross, Jesus was still a teacher, showing us how to pray in the midst of our darkest moments of doubt. And yet, the deeper we look at these words, the more we find a deep, rich, abiding faith that sustained Jesus, and can sustain you and me. 

As Jesus was hanging on the cross, he saw his mother, Mary, and his disciple, John, and he said to them, "Behold, your son...Behold, your mother." This was truly a touching moment between these three; however, these words challenge us today in how we think about what it means to be a church family, what it means to stand for Jesus, and how we are to care for our own families. These three verses in John 19 are rich with meaning for us today!

While hanging from the cross, Jesus turns to one of the men also being crucified with him and tells him, "Today, you will be with me in paradise." What a powerful statement! But what did he mean when he said it? What does it mean for us, for our understanding of eternal life? Perhaps more importantly...what do we make of the fact that Jesus said this statement to a common criminal? Jesus, the friend of sinners...even to the end. 

Among Jesus' last words from the cross was the perplexing yet powerful prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." When Jesus prayed this, whom did he have in mind? What can we learn from this prayer of Jesus? How might we learn to forgive like Jesus forgives? If we're honest with ourselves...do we want to? 

If Jesus prayed for us to be one even with all of our diversity, how do we stay together when we're all so different in so many ways? Could we learn how to disagree in a way that doesn't dance around tough issues, but doesn't lead to separation?