Mark Chapter 4
THE OTHER SIDE
“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples,
“Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd
behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.”
Today, we are going ‘off-grid’, or at least off lectionary, as we set
sail for ‘The Other Side’. Please read through Mark four and five
and imagine just how confronting it was for Good Jewish Boys to
leave behind all the known and comfortable things about being
with Jesus on the Galilee shore – to cross over to the other side.
It’s a bit like, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!”
On the other side were people who did not believe the same
things, whose politics were different, whose language was weird
and whose morals were questionable….
And Jesus says to His disciples,
“Let us go over to the other side.”
We’ll talk about the storm, but it’s important to ask,
Who is in the boat?
“The crowd” is left behind. “His disciples” go with Him.
Are we the crowd, or His disciples?
Thank you Nambour, for your kind invitation to preach today.
Grace and blessings, Pastor Phil Smith
Pentecost 2
Collect: Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we
pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in
mind and body, may accomplish with free hearts those things which
belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever, Amen.
From the desk of the minister: Faith brings life
We have three faith stories in our Gospel reading for this week.
The first one was about this tax collector Matthew. Jesus called him from his
office, and he followed Jesus immediately. Matthew prepared a dinner and other
tax collectors and outcasts were there together with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat
with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t
need a doctor – sick people do.” “I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners.” The faith of Matthew makes him respond to the call of Jesus. He knew
that he has done lot of wrongs; he needs to change his life. Faith brings life.
Second story, about this synagogue leader who came and knelt before Jesus
and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her,
and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
Jesus entered the house and said to the people, “Go away. The girl is not dead
but asleep.” They laughed at him. He went in and took the girl by the hand,
and she got up. By the faith in Jesus, she was brought back to life.
The third story happened when a woman who had bleeding for 12 years came up
behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only
touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart,
daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”
And the woman was healed at that moment through her faith.
Faith is acting in what we believe. We are all reminded that faith in Jesus Christ
will bring life, but we have to response to his call and all these people were
healed because they believed through their faith in the power of God through
Jesus Christ.
Grace & Peace, Rev Maile
Pentecost Sunday
Collect: Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life
to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy
Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the
preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever, Amen.
From the desk of the minister: Pentecost and Prayer
Today is a very significant day in our Christian Calendar. On this special day of
Pentecost, there was a sudden gush of wind, and tongues of fire appeared and
rested on the disciples, and they were able to speak in other languages as it says
in Acts 2:4 – All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. The people from different
countries were amazed when they heard their own languages spoken by the
disciples. In a way, Pentecost is a miracle of hearing and speaking. How come
these people were enabled to hear their own languages? It was only through the
Holy Spirit that can perform transformation in the lives of people. Jesus had
promised the disciples he would send the Holy Spirit to be with them and to help
them. We were told that the disciples and others went back to the Upper Room
and prayed together. They were with one heart, and no wonder, the Holy Spirit
came upon them. Prayer is an important part of who we are as followers of
Christ. We won’t be able to grow and be stronger in our faith unless we
communicate consistently with God in our prayers. The Assembly has organised
a praying-partners with our Church. 1. Indonesian Maroubra, 2. Griffith MultiCentred Congregation. The Uniting Church has called upon members to stand
together in prayer for 26 days. Starting today on Pentecost and finish on the
22nd June, the 46th birthday of the Uniting Church. I would like to encourage
our Pastoral Groups to work out ways of how to engage with this prayer chain.
Let us open our hearts to listen and pray for one another.
Grace & Peace, Rev Maile