Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

The third person of the Trinity and the work of G*d in this world – it is the Holy Spirit that builds faith

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 28, 2015
Tags: Anxiety, Holy Spirit,   

The Gospel Will Address Anxiety in Surprising Ways — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

image                August 28, 2015

“When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.” Mark 9:14-29

“It may well go without saying, and perhaps it should, that what the gospel always has in mind is “to comfort the distressed”. What may not go so well without saying is that it never undertakes that role prematurely. It is equally concerned “to distress the comfortable.”
Jesus never occupied himself with the way out. One might think that he was intolerably cavalier about that. To him it was the way through that mattered. It was not with him as with us the problems of living that loomed so large; as Bonhoeffer somewhere points out, it was the problem of life. It is…this ultimate anxiety that the gospel addresses; and the gospel addresses it by increasing it!”
Paul Scherer (1892 – 1969) Love Is A Spendthrift “For All The Saints” volume II (p. 441-442)

“It is…this ultimate anxiety that the gospel addresses; and the gospel addresses it by increasing it!” This should be unsettling to you — I know it is unsettling to me. I do not want more anxiety in my life, especially when it comes to my relationship with G*d. I want some assurances, not more anxieties. But then I must remember that living through life involves reaching the end — and once I reach the end of a long tunnel of distress and anxiousness, I once again look at my situation and ask the question “What have I learned?” You see, I will never learn anything about my life and my faith if I am not led to and presented with a threshold of decisions — which way do I go, left or right? And no matter which way I go, I cannot end that journey prematurely — unless my life is taken from me. Living out my life will lead me to journey, after journey, after journey — threshold, after threshold…..and it will be what I learn about myself in the process of making each decision, and how the Holy Spirit guides me throughout as I persevere to the end that will help me for the future. There are no easy outs in the journey of life and faith, just journeys through with the help of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 25, 2015
Tags: Holy Spirit, , ,   

Choose Your Words Carefully — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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August 25, 2015

“From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.” Mark 7:24 – 30

“The word dog was in fact sometimes a Jewish term of contempt for the Gentiles. No matter how you look at it, the term dog is an insult. How, then, are we to explain Jesus’ use of it here? He did not use the usual word; He used a diminutive word which described, not the wild dogs of the streets, but the little pet lap-dogs of the house. In Greek diminutives are characteristically affectionate. Jesus took the sting out of the word. Without a doubt his tone of voice makes all the difference. We can call a man “an old rascal” in a voice of contempt or a voice of affection. Jesus’ tone took all the poison out of the word.” William Barclay (1907 – 1978) The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark, “For All The Saints” volume II (p. 402-403)

How often we come to realize that we have used a word that has offended someone, when we did not intend it to be understood in that way. I think this happens more and more in our society where people have become “hyper-sensitive” to the use of words. Not that long ago President Obama used the “N” word in an interview — this is a word that is highly offensive to most people, yet he chose to use it for its impact in that situation and that interview. Jesus did the same when he called the woman (who was a Gentile) a “dog”. The word could have been offensive to the woman, but she understood the context and the purpose of Jesus’ word choice. Her quick comeback and persistence in the face of the situation showed Jesus that the word did not matter — what mattered was her need for Jesus to heal her daughter.

Just recently, Donald Trump, a republican presidential front-runner (for the time being) has received a lot of attention because he stated that he did not believe that Senator John McCain was a war hero. What ever the reason for his remarks, Donald Trump understands how words can get the attention of people, voters, and the media. As Christians we need to seek ways that we can use words that bring healing to relationships, that bridge social and racial chasms, and that build up the body of Christ.

Pastor Dave