Sunday, January 19, 2014

App....

I'm about to make an assumption that a majority of the people reading this post have a smart phone, right? Well if you don't, we're going to play pretend. A thing that smart phones offer is "Apps." App is short for application, so in other words... Apps apply a function to your smart phone. Whew... now that we have that explanation out of the way, I can tell you of this amazing discovery that I made during church today!
 

As I said last week, we are studying the gospel of Mark in church. This week we continued on chapter one which included the temptation, Jesus driving out a demon and Jesus praying alone before moving on in His ministry. During the sermon, there are graphics that appear on the screen summarized points that Bro. Jim was saying. The three words that were most evident were: Authority, Power and Purpose. 

Those three words alone describe the ministry of Jesus from every aspect!

Authority- There are two examples in the first chapter of Mark. The first one in when Jesus calls his first disciples. "One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, 'Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!' And they left their nets at once and followed him." (Mark 1:16-18)
Would you follow him? I don't know about you, but my mom told me not to talk to strangers. There must have been some sort of authority in him that Simon and Andrew knew it was okay to follow him.

Power- There is a difference between authority and power, but the example of Jesus' power can also show his authority. "Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit began shouting, “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.
Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. “What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!” The news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee." (Mark1:23-28)
The power of Jesus is so incredible that even our deepest evils can be taken away from him! When we go to Jesus and ask for it to be taken away, he will command and the spirit will listen. The evils that we have know the power of Jesus. How can you see that through this passage? The evil spirit knew his name! Talk about power and authority?

Purpose- Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons." (Mark 1:35-39)
Just as the tempter told him in the desert, Jesus could have all the fame as the people lined up to see him perform the miracles, but he knew that wasn't his purpose. His purpose was to show people the power that his heavenly father gave him. He was a carrier of God's will! 

What does this have to do with Apps?
A- Authority
P- Power
P- Purpose
If the apps on our smart phone are meant to apply changes to our better our device, shouldn't that be the same mission with Jesus? If we apply his authority, power and purpose to our lives we will be one step closer to God's will for our life! 

How will you apply God to your life?
Becca
 

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