Who do you say I am?

Posted on Jun 8, 2014 by M Emlyn Humphries

Mark 8:22-31

…he asked his disciples,“Who do people say that I am?” 28 …“But who do you say that I am?”

And Peter confesses Jesus as Christ! What did he mean by this? Jesus had already warned about thinking like the authorities and the Pharisees; strict religionists. Jesus had healed a blind man who gradually saw. Were the disciples being renewed? Were they gradually seeing?

Well no. Despite his confession, Peter could not conceive of a suffering servant! This wasn’t the Christ he expected. He rebuked Jesus for his assertions and Jesus rebukes him in turn, “..you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Jesus asks us each in turn, Who do you say that I am? He listens. He wants to hear. Each of us has an answer.

Being the Church is knowing the voice of Jesus asking us this question and having our eyes opened. As we set our mind on the things of God things become clearer. So together we become the church as each one of us diligently seeks God in Jesus who says of himself will “…suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

This is the Way, the Truth and the Life we profess in Refresh that even in his suffering as the perfect man in a world marred by futility, the rejection of his message of peace and his death at the hands of humanity, Jesus has victory. His rising from the dead is the foundation of the life Jesus calls us to. His life is our life.

Posted in News, Teaching | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Loser

Posted on May 11, 2014 by M Emlyn Humphries


Refresh continued to go from strength to strength.

Please feel free to drop in. Each Sunday at 6:30pm top 7:30pm we get together and have coffee and a chat about the important things in life.

This week we listened to a song on video called Jesus is for Losers (http://music.calamateur.com/track/jesus-is-for-losers) and we discussed the words of the song and the effect of it on us. We also looked at the play on the word “for” and read the following from the Bible,

Matthew 5:3(NKJV)

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,     For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

or

Felizes os que reconhecem que precisam de Deus, pois o reino do céu é deles.

as Refresh continues to welcome our Portuguese friends.

Come to Refresh and be a Loser.

Posted in News, Teaching | Tagged | Leave a comment

Utterly Astounded

Posted on Apr 7, 2014 by M Emlyn Humphries

Mark 6:12–56

In this next section we see the urgency and danger of the disciples’ mission. Jesus had been warning the that they would face times where his teachings would threaten their lives and that the depth to which they had pursued his truth would yield its reward, defining them as true disciples and protecting them from falling away. We hear of the terrible death of John the Baptist and the frightening interest of King Herod in the work of Jesus. The name Elijah comes up who, with his successor Elisha, is renowned for calling down judgement on evil Kings and multiplying meagre provisions.

In the story that follows, of the multiplying of the loaves and fishes, Jesus echoes the miracle of Elisha in multiplying bread (2 Kings 4:42-44), even down to directing his disciples to feed the multitude and in the gathering of what’s left. Some may say Jesus is the reincarnation of John, Elijah come back or the Prophet, but in Jesus’ act of feeding the great crowd on the green grass of the wilderness, Jesus shows himself to be greater than these.

This is confirmed by his walking on the water. Echoing Job 9, Jesus tramples on the waves of chaos, walking across the water. In a demonstration of his deity he means to pass them by, an act which signifies the presence of God. But just as he had compassion on the people who needed feeding, he has compassion on the disciples, calming their terror at seeing him, and he enters the boat. And they were, “…utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened.” The writer, reflecting on this with Jesus, is well acquainted with the feelings of those on the boat and adds the authentic retrospective detail that they were utterly astounded and their hearts were hardened to the truth of God’s revelation of himself.

The miracles now seem to redouble and the touching of Jesus’ garment by the crowd builds the tension. This act of faith, first shown by the woman in chapter  5 shows the crowd’s growing conviction that this is the Messiah!

Posted in Teaching | Tagged | Leave a comment

Twelve

Posted on Mar 9, 2014 by M Emlyn Humphries

What a glorious day today. The sun shone and all across Takeley could be heard the sound of mowers. It was also a delight to see exotic Brimstone butterflies making their spring flights.

Mark 5:21-5:23

Last week we looked at the story sandwich of Jairus’s daughter being healed, and the lady who was healed by reaching out and touching Jesus’ clothes. The lady had been bleeding and therefore unclean for twelve years. There was an expectation around Jesus that he would heal, so much so that Jairus, a leader in the synagogue, broke ranks and approached Jesus to come to his sick daughter.

As he walked to Jairus’s house, the women who was separated because of her uncleanness audaciously entered the crowd and touched Jesus. Again Jesus was not made unclean but made clean and she was healed of the bleeding. Jesus turns to her and commends her faith then sends her away in peace and commands the healing of her disease. Once more Jesus looks beyond the outward bleeding and restores the woman to whole health.

But the little girl has died in the mean time. There is a lot of noise as the mourners bewail her death and Jesus tells them to be quiet. They laugh at his naivety and he leaves them, taking his close friends, friends who trusted him. And the little girl was brought back to life and given some food. She was twelve years old.

Her whole life had spanned the uncleanness of the lady.

In Mark 5:19-20 we see how the man delivered of daemons was to proclaim the work the Lord had done for him. His Gospel to the gentiles was the good work Jesus had done for him. Jesus is the Lord is the plain message here.

In grasping Jesus’ garments the lady was proclaiming her faith that Jesus was the Lord. Her faith was that even Jesus’ garment would heal those who touched it. This was no idle idea, she risked her life going in to the crowd, who would have turned on her had they realised. But she recognised the coming of the day of the Lord in Jesus, pictured as the rising sun with healing wings…

Malachi 4
4 [a] “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

In bringing the girl to life Jesus showed that her faith was well placed.

Posted in Teaching | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Chaos

Posted on Feb 18, 2014 by M Emlyn Humphries

Mark 4:35 to 5:20

Jesus himself embodies the kingdom of God: he is the revolution, the restoration and the revelation of God’s Kingdom. Jesus himself is the source of life in all creation. The disciples have heard how this Kingdom is to be revealed and how it will grow. They have heard that in its very nature it cannot be hidden. Jesus has alerted them to the possibilities in resurrection. In him and his word are the form and fruit of the kingdom, just as in a seed.

Who indeed is Jesus? The life within him commands the waves of the sea; he brings order to the chaos embodied in the monster of the storm. Yet he is a man who needs to rest and sleep. In the rage of the storm and the vulnerability of his resting, Jesus calls his disciples not to be afraid… ‘Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear…’ Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching | Tagged , , | Leave a comment