Sacrifices and Offerings in the Bible. Martin Paquette at "Église Béthanie de Longueuil" Translation by Pierre Cadoret.
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The butterfly effect is a concept that states that "small causes can have larger effects".
This concept was initially used in theories about weather prediction but later the term became a popular metaphor in science writing.
According to this theory “Each path produces a different outcome”
The butterfly effect is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. The concept is imagined with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon. Translated into mass culture, the butterfly effect has become a metaphor for the existence of seemingly insignificant moments that alter history and shape destinies.
Actually the term “The Butterfly Effect”, was a phenomenon proposed in a doctoral thesis written in 1963 by Edward Lorenz. It states that a butterfly, by flapping its wings in one place and time is able to create a major weather event in another place and time, eventually having a far-reaching ripple effect on subsequent events.
Do not despise these small beginnings — Zechariah 4:10
What do you do when your Hope dies? Why should we have hope in Christ? Because he has plans for us for good, to give us a future and a hope for better things, either in this life or the next. Psalm 94:19 New Living Translation When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer
Job tells his friends that he will go to his nest and experience rebirth like the Phoenix. Learn the power of God to give you second chances.
Do you really know the God of the Bible, or do you just know about him? God sees you right where you are. He is using what you’re going through to prepare you for great things ahead.
Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Do you know who your God is?
You can quote Scripture, plaster inspirational quotes on your social media, fluently use God-talk, show up at church every time the door is open, and still demonstrate that you don’t really believe God is who He says He is.
Today most Christians expect the church to give them something that only God himself can give.
Jesus says in Matthew 20:28, that he “did not come expecting to be served by everyone, but to serve everyone…”
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Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.
One of the problems I keep seeing in Christians is that they act and make decisions without God. It is important to think about the consequences of not waiting on the Lord.
Luke 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
His promises will never fail us. We can, and should, have complete faith and confidence that we can rely on his Word. Why? Because all things are possible for God.
Zechariah 4:2 says, “And he said to me, What do you see? And I said, I see that there is a lamp-stand all of gold, with its bowl on top of it and its seven lamps upon it.” Chapter three says that “upon one stone are seven eyes” (v. 9). Chapter four says that upon the lamp-stand are seven lamps.
verse 10 of chapter four says, “For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven….”
The seven lamps in chapter four are, without a doubt, the seven eyes of God.
Matthew 12:22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.
The Man
We see Jesus healing and removing a demon from a person that was both blind and mute. This man’s inability to hear or communicate had put him in danger, as people use their hearing more than they realize to avoid harm
The infirmity was more than physical. The cause for this extreme disability was spiritual in its roots.
The reason for his condition appears to have been oppression by a demon. Demons, as shown in the New Testament, can sometimes cause disabilities in their victims.
Jesus immediately solves the man's problem by healing him, likely by casting the demon out. Suddenly the man can see and speak.
Isaiah 35:5 "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped."
The crowds
Matthew 12:23-24 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
Following this healing the crowd is amazed and impressed.
Satan has a way of making every life miserable he comes into contact with. In mercy, Jesus heals.
The viewers of the miraculous were overwhelmed – quite literally beside themselves with amazement and wonder. They knew healings like this had to be the handiwork of God.
the crowds began to question: "Could this be the Son of David?"
Reaction
This will lead to something more than a denial of a miracle. Rather than expressing doubt that this was a supernatural event, the Pharisees will accept that it's miraculous. However, they are so hardened against God that they'll insist the power comes from Satan (Matthew 12:24)
Jesus took the Pharisees nonsensical accusations and showed them for the foolishness that they truly were.
Proverbs 3:30 Do not accuse a man for no reason--when he has done you no harm
Do you need deliverance?
Jesus makes the obvious point that kingdoms cannot stand which are divided against themselves. The common end to divisions is desolation. If you need deliverance make up your mind about Christ!
There is no greater power that can heal completely but Jesus. Seek the Father’s Will for your life, embrace the Holy Spirit and become a child of God.
John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
When the healing becomes known, the people declare that He had done all things well (literally "beautifully")
1 Kings 18:12 As soon as I am gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry youto a place I do not know, and so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will execute me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord since my youth.
Being transported physically or translated in the spirit is when you are taken away to another place to deliver a message or prophetic word of God. God will speak to His people through being transported in the Spirit of God
Elijah was frequently transported by the Spirit of God from one location to another. He would just disappear from sight as he was carried by God to different places.
Philip was supernaturally teleported from the desert to Azotus (Acts 8:40).
As Christians we are carrying on the work of Jesus. This is a promise to all believers. This is astonishing. So there is no exclusion here if you are a Christian. We should move in this faith if we are true follower of Jesus!
The text says, “whoever believes in me.” This exact phrase is also mentioned other times by the Lord.
As the apostles established the early church after Christi's resurrection, they traveled preaching the gospel, healing diseases, raising the dead, and exorcising demonic spirits.
Everyone Who Came To Jesus Was Healed
When Jesus walked on earth, more than two-thirds of His ministry involved healing the sick. They brought them all to Jesus; the sick, demon possessed, afflicted, tormented, in severe pain, paralyzed, etc, and He healed delivered and set them all free.
Malchus, whose name means "king"
Malchus' story is found in all four Gospels. Though he is specifically named only in John 18:10-11, he is also found in Mark 14:45-49, Matthew 26:50-54, and in Luke 22:49-53 as the "servant of the high priest."
Jesus cleansed ten lepers - Luke 17:11-19 - Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten lepers cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
The land between Samaria and Galilee is a place where one might find oneself unsure of who belonged and who didn’t, where one might be uncertain, un-trusting, even a little fearful. It is a place where the costumed rules might not apply
The 10 lepers, are a group of people excluded from community life because of their medical condition, and one leper was considered to have been doubly excluded because of his ethnicity. He was a Samaritan.
The lepers, “keeping their distance,” call out to Jesus, not specifically to heal them but to “have mercy on us!”
When Jesus sees them, he sends them to the priests, who will determine according to the law of Moses, specifically Leviticus 14, whether they have been healed of leprosy. The lepers immediately demonstrate their faith by following Jesus’ instruction even though they still have their disease.
Only as they are on their way, do we find out that “they were made clean.”
The gospel says that only the Samaritan turns back to praise God and (literally translated) “fell before his feet” and thanks Jesus.
Jesus asks rhetorically, “Were not 10 made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?
Jesus then addresses the healed Samaritan: “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” But was not the Samaritan already well even before he came back praising God and giving thanks to Jesus?
The Samaritan’s return allows Jesus to demonstrate that no one, not a leper, nor a Samaritan, is beyond God’s mercy.
Why go to the ceremonial priests when the Great High Priest was right there?
Jesus didn’t have the robes and the air of self importance like most preachers have, He was cloaked in humility, yet He was authentic.
- Jesus is there when we cry out to Him for his mercy
- Jesus is not a respecter of persons
- It often takes a step of obedience before we see God’s miracles
- Our faith in Christ will cause us to fall at His feet in worship
WHO IS YOUR PRIEST?
Jesus cured a deaf and mute man.
Mark 7:31-37
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said.“He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Luke 23:26 (ESV) And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
Simon of Cyerene
Mark 15:21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
Cyrene is a city in North Africa, today’s Libya. We don’t know if he was Jewish or Gentile because the name Simon was common for Greeks and Jews
Luke is the only one of the Gospels that says Simon carried the cross behind Jesus. All the other Gospels that mention this just say he carried it.
Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Suffering with Jesus
Simon was chosen so suddenly and unexpectedly for the heavy task be Luke’s way of teaching us that we don’t always choose the moment of our cross bearing?
We don’t always choose the moment of our suffering. They come upon us in unexpected ways, frightening ways, heavy ways, painful ways, seemingly random ways.
The call to suffer for Jesus is often sudden and costly and seemingly random
Accidentally following Jesus
There is speculation, based on some church tradition, that Simon of Cyrene later became a Christian
There is also tradition that the Rufus mentioned in Mark 15:21 is the same Rufus mentioned in Romans 16:13. If this is the case, then it would lend credence to the idea that Simon and his family were prominent in the early church
Carrying the cross
The act of carrying the cross was forced upon Simon of Cyrene, symbolizing another important truth: Carrying our cross isn’t necessarily a choice
The cross is more than a place where Jesus died. It’s a place of transformation,
Luke 14:27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
In the Bible, the word leprosy is mentioned upwards of 40 times. Leprosy is a painful and infectious disease that is seen on the skin. The symptoms range from white patches on the skin to running sores to the loss of digits on the fingers and toes. Incurable by man, many believed God inflicted the curse of leprosy upon people for the sins they committed. A leper wasn’t allowed to come within six feet of any other human, including his own family. The disease was considered so revolting that the leper wasn’t permitted to come within 150 feet of anyone when the wind was blowing. Lepers lived in a community with other lepers until they either got better or died. This was the only way the people knew to contain the spread of the contagious forms of leprosy.
The Miracle
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Sunday Service at the Passion Centre with pastor Tony Silveira. This is the begining of the year and many people plan their season ahead. Learn to plan for greatness, in the Word of God.
Luc Gingras at the Passion Centre