Words of Welcome

John 6:58-69 Has a preacher ever said something that offended you so much that you never went back to that church?  I hope that none of you will take offense at what I say today, or if you do, I hope you’ll come back next week!   And what about Jesus, is there anything that he said that offends you?   I’d be surprised if you said no.  After all, Jesus did have a tendency to say things that got him into trouble.  Remember how his sermon back at his hometown synagogue went?  He was just coming off being baptized by John and had begun to gain a following.  But as they say – you can’t always go home.  On that evening, after Jesus read the text from Isaiah, he began to preach and before too long, the people were getting restless and just a bit angry with what he had to say.  So, instead of celebrating a triumphant homecoming, the hometown crowd tried to throw him a cliff.  Fortunately, Jesus escaped this fate and headed off to a friendlier venue (Luke 4:16-30). Of c

John 6:24-35 We live in an entertainment age, where it’s often  difficult to tell what is real and what’s an illusion.  We can be mesmerized by glitz and glamor, and find ourselves listening intently as celebrities tell us what we should wear, eat, how we should vote and what we should believe.  In such an atmosphere, it shouldn’t surprise us that we sometimes mix entertainment with faith.  But, this isn’t new.  Anglican revivalist George Whitefield supposedly made  people weep simply by pronouncing the word “Mesopotamia.”   In the 19th century revivalists drew great crowds to hear them preach, while hundreds  gathered to hear Alexander Campbell debate his religious rivals on topics that ranged from socialism to baptism.  More recently Aimee Semple McPherson rivaled her Hollywood neighbors with her spectacles, while Robert Schuller’s grand productions – at least until the Crystal Cathedral fell into bankruptcy -- drew thousands.   But is the gospel simply another spectacle?