Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living of The Global Church of the Nazarene in Lenexa, Kansas, United States "Staking It All on the Truth" Scripture" Mark 8:27 Yeshua and his talmidim went on to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he asked his talmidim, “Who are people saying I am?” 28 “Some say you are Yochanan the Immerser,” they told him, “others say Eliyahu, and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But you,” he asked, “who do you say I am?” Kefa answered, “You are the Mashiach.” 30 Then Yeshua warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He began teaching them that the Son of Man had to endure much suffering and be rejected by the elders, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers; and that he had to be put to death; but that after three days, he had to rise again. 32 He spoke very plainly about it. Kefa took him aside and began rebuking him. 33 But, turning around and looking at his talmidim, he rebuked Kefa. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said, “For your thinking is from a human perspective, not from God’s perspective!”
34 Then Yeshua called the crowd and his talmidim to him and told them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep following me. 35 For whoever wants to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will save it. 36 Indeed, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? 37 What could a person give in exchange for his life? 38 For if someone is ashamed of me and of what I say in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. 9:1 Yes!” he went on, “I tell you that there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Kingdom of God come in a powerful way!”
RG AUDIO 022315"Staking It All on the Truth" by Author: Duane C. Brush
Justin was what we might call a seeker. He was raised by pagan Roman parents in the early second century AD near ancient Shechem in Samaria. He searched for the meaning of life in study of the leading philosophies of the day: the discipline of Stoicism, the scientific approach of Pythagorean thought, and pursuit of the ideal in Platonism. None of these satisfied his longing for truth.
One day Justin met an old man who told him about Jesus Christ. “A fire was suddenly kindled in my soul,” Justin later wrote. “I fell in love with the prophets and these men who had loved Christ; I reflected on all their words and found that this philosophy alone was true and profitable. . . .And I wish that everyone felt the same way that I do,”*
Some years later in Rome Justin was arrested for teaching about Jesus Christ. When he was given the opportunity to renounce his faith Justin replied, “No one who is rightly minded turns from true belief to false.” For that commitment Justin was beheaded, a faithful witness to the truth of God revealed through His Son, our Savior.[* Mark Galli and Ted Olson, 131 Christians Everyone Should Know, (Broadman & Holman, Nashville: 2000), 49-51.]
Hymn for Today: "Seeking the lost, yes, kindly entreating" by Author: William A. Ogden
1. Seeking the lost, yes, kindly entreating
Wanderers on the mountain astray;
“Come unto Me,” His message repeating,
Words of the Master speaking today.
Chorus:
Going afar upon the mountain,
Bringing the wand'rer back again, back again,
Into the fold of my Redeemer,
Jesus, the Lamb for sinners slain, for sinners slain.
2. Seeking the lost and pointing to Jesus
Souls that are weak and hearts that are sore,
Leading them forth in ways of salvation,
Showing the path to life evermore.
Chorus:
Going afar upon the mountain,
Bringing the wand'rer back again, back again,
Into the fold of my Redeemer,
Jesus, the Lamb for sinners slain, for sinners slain.
3. Thus would I go on missions of mercy,
Following Christ from day unto day,
Cheering the faint and raising the fallen,
Pointing the lost to Jesus, the Way.
Chorus:
Going afar upon the mountain,
Bringing the wand'rer back again, back again,
Into the fold of my Redeemer,
Jesus, the Lamb for sinners slain, for sinners slain.
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