Things I've learned about God in the past couple weeks

Sermon from church 9/26 Pastor Chris Martin
Mark 12:13-17

• It's the 3rd day of Passion Week (the wk of the crucifixion). In a few days, Jesus will die. The day before Jesus cleared out the temple (Mark 11:12-19).
• If the pharisees could get the Romans mad at Jesus, they'd get rid of Him. This way, the Romans wouldn't be mad at the pharisees. The nationalists, a political party, refused to pay taxes because only God was their King.
• A Revolutionary Question: The pharisees asked Jesus if it was right to pay taxes. They expected Him to say no. If He did, He'd be trapped.
• A Remarkable Answer: Jesus answer reflected the political tension.
  
• Political Simplicity: verse 14 Don't vote by political party, alone. Don't get so wrapped up in political parties that you let go of your political values.
• Political Complacency: Give Caesar some of what he wants, but not all of it.
  
• Political Primacy: People, in general, voted for Obama because he promised that the government would do so much (more than it's suppose to). Regardless of political party, we need to vote for a limited government.
  
• verse 15 a denarius was the day's pay for a blue-collar job. Jesus didn't even have that! He didn't own anything! Would you rather a poor man or a rich man rule?
• Luke 6:20-26 Jesus promotes what the world doesn't want & condemns what the world wants. Luke 6:27 We have so much love from God, that we're able to do this. That's not of the world.

Something I learned from a friend: My friend Sheri, wrote a note on facebook about something she'd learned while reading the Bible. I'm going to summarize it here. To read the note, I posted a link on my facebook profile page. This is from Genesis 3. Before Adam & Eve sinned, they had perfect fellowship w/God. When they sinned, God was so disappointed because He knew that He would no longer have that perfect fellowship with them. He clothed them in leather before sending them out into the world. They had no idea what the world was like. They only knew the perfect world that they'd lived in. God knew what they were going to experience. He didn't want to send them out. It's kind of like when parents send their kids off to school for the 1st time. God would've been very sad that He'd lost that perfect fellowship w/Adam & Eve. How far would He go to get them back? Read John 3:16 for the answer.

Notes from church 10/3 Pastor Mike Faler

• Mark 3:7-19
• Jesus prayed before every major decision. He spent all night praying before appointing the apostles.
• (tangent) John 10:17-18 Jesus willingly died.
• Jesus chose the 12 out of others who followed Him because they sacrificed everything for Him. Those are the ones He gave His authorities to. Matt 10:1
• When we sacrifice for God, we get it back 100x. They may not be in the same way or on earth. Mark 10:30
• Mark 1:35-37, Luke 5:15-16 Jesus was very busy & in demand. Huge crowds w/diseases waited for Him. Most of us don't have dying people waiting for us to heal them. Why do we find it so hard to find time to spend w/God when we're so busy?
  
• My dad has a new job that he works 4 nights/wk. It's really different & hard on all of us. I value my time w/him more now. I'm sacrificing small things to spend time w/him. Why isn't my attitude the same w/God? I pray it will be.
  
• We sang "Arms Open Wide." Some of the lyrics are I am yours. You are mine. It reminds me of how some of us are our daddy's or momma's girl/boy. We're also God's girl/boy.