DAILY, WEEKEND, AND HOLIDAY INTERNET EVANGELIZE TO THE WORLD MINISTRY

Lesson for July 31, 2016 From Death to Life Romans 6:1–4, 12–14, 17–23 Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson . Scott teaches  preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri . This lesson treatment is published in the July 24 issue of  The Lookout  magazine, and is also available online at  www.lookoutmag.com . ______ By Mark Scott  Jesus specializes in bringing life out of death. To the widow’s son at Nain Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ( Luke 7:14 ). To Jairus’s daughter Jesus said, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ( Mark 5:41 ). In front of Mary, Martha, and others, Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out!” ( John 11:43 ). Life out of death—that is the gospel message and also Paul’s reminder to the Christ ians in Rome. Die to Self in Baptism |  Romans 6:1-4 Baptism is death before death. Paul reminded the Chris tians of this truth so that they would ...

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 | PENTECOST ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST YEAR C               Old Testament       Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:18–26              Psalm       Psalm 34              New Testament       Colossians 3:1–11              New Testament       James 5:1–11 ( Supplemental )              Gospel       Luke 12:13–21 Christian Worship Three Year Lectionary (with Supplemental Lectionary). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009. Print.

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 | AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 13 YEAR C               Old Testament       Hosea 11:1–11              Psalm       Psalm 107:1–9, 43 (UMH 830)               New Testament       Colossians 3:1–11               Gospel       Luke 12:13–21 Vanderbilt Divinity Library. United Methodist Revised Common Lectionary. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009. Print.

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 | ORDINARY TIME EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C | ROMAN MISSAL               First Reading       Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21–23               Response       Psalm 95:8               Psalm       Psalm 90:3–6, 12–13               Second Reading       Colossians 3:1–5, 9–11               Gospel Acclamation       Matthew 5:3               Gospel       Luke 12:13–21 Catholic Lectionary. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009. Print.

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 | PENTECOST PROPER 13 YEAR C On the same date: Joseph of Arimathea               Old Testament       Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12–14, 2:18–26              Psalm       Psalm 100              Epistle       Colossians 3:1–11               Gospel       Luke 12:13–21 Lutheran Service Book Three Year Lectionary. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009. Print.

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 | AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 13 YEAR C               Psalm       Psalm 49 or Psalm 49:1–12               First Reading       Ecclesiastes 1:12–14 (2:1–7, 11) 18–23              Second Reading       (Colossians 3:5–11) 12–17              Gospel       Luke 12:13–21 Index of Readings PSALM Option A Psalm 49 The Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer (1979) Sunday Lectionary. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010. Print.

July 31 Lesson 9 FROM DEATH TO LIFE DEVOTIONAL READING: 2 Corinthians 5:17–21 BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE : Romans 6 ROMANS 6:1–4, 12–14, 17–23 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law but under grace. 17 B...

July 30: Destructive People 2 Samuel 22:1–51; Jude 1:1–16; Psalm 147:1–20 Some destructive people don’t realize the carnage they leave in their wake. Others intentionally cause rifts and pain, driven by selfish motives. Jude’s letter, which contains succinct prose, startling imagery, and a swift warning, is unlike anything we read in Scripture . The letter equipped early Christians to deal wisely with false teachers who had entered the church community. Today, it can provide us with wisdom to respond to some of the most difficult people and situations we encounter. The community that Jude addressed contained destructive false teachers “who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” ( Jude 4 ). They did not respect authority, but acted out of instinct rather than conviction: “But these persons blaspheme all that they do not understand, and all that they understand by instinct like the irrational animals, by these things they...

Morning, July 30                                        Go To Evening Reading          “And when he thought thereon, he wept.”           —Mark 14:72 It has been thought by some that as long as Peter lived, the fountain of his tears began to flow whenever he remembered his denying his Lord. It is not unlikely that it was so, for his sin was very great, and grace in him had afterwards a perfect work. This same experience is common to all the redeemed family according to the degree in which the Spirit of God has removed the natural heart of stone. We, like Peter, remember our boastful promise: “Though all men shall forsake thee, yet will not I.” We eat our own words with the bitter herbs of repentance. When we think of what we vowed we would be, and of what we have been, we may weep whole showers of grief. He thought on his de...

July 30th The discipline of disillusionment Jesus did not commit Himself unto them … for He knew what was in man. John 2:24–25 . Disillusionment means that there are no more false judgments in life. To be undeceived by disillusionment may leave us cynical and unkindly severe in our judgment of others, but the disillusionment which comes from God brings us to the place where we see men and women as they really are, and yet there is no cynicism, we have no stinging, bitter things to say. Many of the cruel things in life spring from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts; we are true only to our ideas of one another. Everything is either delightful and fine, or mean and dastardly, according to our idea. The refusal to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering in human life. It works in this way—if we love a human being and do not love God, we demand of him every perfection and every rectitude, and when we do not ge...

July 30   The mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it         John 2:3, 4, 5 In asking for temporal blessings, true wisdom lies in putting the matter into the Lord’s hand and leaving it there. He knows our sorrows, and if He sees it is good for us that the water should be turned into wine, He will do it. It is not for us to dictate: He sees what is best for us. When we ask for prosperity, perhaps the thing which we should have is a trial. When we want to be relieved of a “thorn in the flesh,” He knows what we should have is an apprehension of the fact that His grace is sufficient for us. So we are put into His school, and have to learn the lessons He has to teach us. W. Hay Aitken Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA...

Petra Siq with view of Kazneh

The Red Sea with boat

Coin of Augustus

A Relief of a Plowing Scene from the Roman Period A Relief of a Plowing Scene from the Roman Period

Jericho Excerpt With a great crowd following Him, Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for that final Passover. There were two cities named Jericho: the ruined old city and the new city about a mile away, built by Herod. This helps to explain how He could depart from Jericho ( Matt. 20:29 ), draw near to Jericho ( Luke18:35 ), and come and go out of Jericho all at the same time and still meet the two blind beggars ( Matt. 20:30 ). Mark describes the healing of Bartimaeus, the more vocal of the two, just as he did the healing of one of the Gadarene demoniacs ( 5:2 ). Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament . Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992. Print.

Ark of the Covenant ‎The Ark of the Covenant is a rectangular prism 2.5 cubits long, 1.5 cubits wide, and 1.5 cubits tall.

Dear Readers,  Pray for peace in CA where two police officers were shot; one died, and one is in surgery. Pray for all police officers that serve to protect and serve their communities even if they will have to pay the ultimate with their life. Let us pray for peace but without LOVE for each other, there can not be peace. In Jesus' name. Amen. - Rev. Lynwood F. Mundy

July 29: When It’s Really Urgent 2 Samuel 20:1–21:22; 2 Peter 3:14–18; Psalm 146:1–10 The urgency of God’s work is easily lost on us. But to the early church, Jesus’ return seemed imminent. We get a sense of this urgency in Peter’s second letter, where he writes that every moment between now and when Jesus returns is a moment of grace; therefore, believers must work harder than ever to bring others to Christ and grow in their relationship with Him. Peter remarks, “Therefore, dear friends, because you are waiting for [Christ to return], make every effort to be found in peace, spotless and unblemished in him. And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation” ( 2 Pet 3:14–15 ). God wants to see more people come to Him—that is why He has not returned. When we feel like Peter’s audience does, wondering why Jesus hasn’t returned, Peter’s explanation can help us refocus and remember that it’s not really about us; it’s about others. The Christian life is marked by a focus on God a...

Morning, July 29      Go To Evening Reading          “Nevertheless, I am continually with thee.”          —Psalm 73:23 “Nevertheless,”—As if, notwithstanding all the foolishness and ignorance which David had just been confessing to God, not one atom the less was it genuine and true that David was saved and accepted, and that the blessing of being constantly in God’s presence was undoubtedly his. Fully conscious of his lost estate, and of the deceitfulness and vileness of his nature, yet, by a glorious outburst of faith, he sings “Nevertheless I am continually with thee.” Believer, you are forced to enter into Asaph’s confession and acknowledgment, an endeavour in like spirit to say “nevertheless, since I belong to Christ I am continually   with God!” By this is meant continually upon his mind, he is always thinking of me for my good. Regularly before his eye;—the eye of the Lord never sleepeth, but i...

July 29th What do you see in your clouds? Behold, He cometh with clouds. Rev. 1:7 . In the Bible, clouds are always connected with God. Clouds are those sorrows or sufferings or providences, within or without our personal lives, which seem to dispute the rule of God. It is by those very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were no clouds, we should have no faith. ‘The clouds are but the dust of our Father’s feet.’ The clouds are a sign that He is there. What a revelation it is to know that sorrow and bereavement and suffering are the clouds that come along with God! God cannot come near without clouds. He does not come in bright shining. It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials; through every cloud He brings, He wants us to unlearn something. God’s purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child—God and my soul, other people are shadows. Un...

July 29   Ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God         Col. 3:3 It is neither talent, nor power, nor gifts that do the work of God, but it is that which lies within the power of the humblest; it is the simple, earnest life hid with Christ in God. F. W. Robertson Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.

Bethsaida ‎ In this picture we look toward the north and directly away from the Sea of Galilee. One of our muleteers stands in a perfect wilderness of flowers. The view obtained on the 9th of May, 1894, at ten o’clock a. m. It is on the edge of the plain of Gennesaret; the flowers are in full bloom; the birds are singing on the edge of the lake; the sun is bright and glorious; the morning is cool and delightful; no sweeter day could be imagined than the one on which we stood in the presence of this traditional ruin, where possibly stood one of the cities where our Lord performed so many of His works. The same kind of weeds and thistles are found at Bethsaida (Tâbighah) as are found at Capernaum or Tell Hum. Both places are nearly on a level. The woe of extinction pronounced upon Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida has been fulfilled, as the “stones of emptiness” that mark the sites of those ancient cities bear witness. They live only as their names are enshrined in t...

Patmos, the Place of Exile Revelation 1:9 Excerpt In Revelation 1:9 John says that he was on the island of Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” He also indicates that he is a fellow participant in their “tribulations.” The Roman historian Tacitus informs us that the Romans used some of the Aegean islands as places of banishment and exile during the 1st century ( Annals, 3:68; 4:30; 15:71 ). Thus the language of the author and the evidence of Tacitus, joined to Christian traditions from the 2nd and 3rd centuries about John’s banishment, support the likelihood that Patmos was a place of exile or political confinement. Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. Baker encyclopedia of the Bible 1988 : 1620. Print.

Mourning for Userhet ‎In this Egyptian tomb painting, women mourn for Userhet. A nobleman contemporaneous with Thutmose IV (reigned c. 1397–1388 B.C.), Userhet’s titles included “Overseer of Amun’s Fields.” His prestigious burial place, in the Valley of the Kings across the Nile from Thebes, underscores his high rank. In Bible times, mourners often placed their hands on their head, tore their clothing, wore garments of coarse cloth, wailed, and sat or lay on dust and ashes or applied them to their heads. Female mourners often left their hair uncombed and unbraided. ‎Gen 37:34, 2 Sam 13:19, Esther 4:1, Job 42:5–6, Jer 6:26, Amos 8:10, Matt 11:21, Rev 18:7 ‎Image by the Yorck Project, from Wikimedia Commons. License: Public Domain

Threshing ‎In order to separate the edible part of the cereal grain from the stalks and the ears, one either drew a threshing sledge pulled by an ox for days over the grain, or the sheaves were beaten with a wooden flail to loosen the grain. ‎Judg 6:11; 2 Kings 13:7; Josh 10:11; Amos 1:3; Micah 4:13; 1 Cor 9:10

St. Paul’s Gate ‎Bab esh Sherki, the eastern gate of Damascus, is sometimes called St. Paul’s Gate, as it is supposed that through it St. Paul, then called Saul, entered the street called Straight, and was led to the house of Judas. It is an ancient Roman portal, with three arches. The central and southern arches are now built up. The northern arch now in use is concealed by the Saracenic gate, at right angles to it. Immediately outside the gate, we see a large tower which is said to have been erected in the early ages of Mohammedan rule. These battlements are surmounted by a tapering minaret. This picture was taken by our artist from outside of the wall, and the ground we see is said to have been the site of furnaces for the manufacture of those finely glazed and richly colored tiles and finished vessels for which Damascus was once celebrated. If one has courage enough to ascend the dilapidated stairway of the tower in sight, a fine view of the city and its surroundings may...

Genesis 6 and the Sons of God Excerpt ‎Several views exist regarding the identity of the sons of God in  Gen 6 . These interpretations also affect how we should understand biblical references to supernatural beings including angels and foreign gods. ‎ Sons of God as Divine Beings ‎The sons of God may be divine beings ( e.g. , angels). If so, the sin in question was a transgression of the human realm by these heavenly beings. Their involvement with human women led to a widespread breakdown in morality and an increase in wickedness and corruption. The offspring of these unions, then Ephraim ( Gen 6:4 ), were considered quasi-divine and possessed unusual height ( “giants” ). ‎This was the dominant view among Jewish and Christian thinkers until after the fourth-century ad when Augustine championed an alternative (see below). It was also the exclusive view until the mid-second century ad. … Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible . Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Pr...

Acrocorinth Wall ‎The remaining wall of the Acrocorinth, Corinth’s Acropolis, from midway up the hill.

July 28: I Will Laud Your Deeds 2 Samuel 19:1–43; 2 Peter 3:1–13; Psalm 145:1–21 I grew up in a family of stoics. Through example, my siblings and I were taught to keep our emotions to ourselves. Displays of excessive affection or sorrow were regarded with some suspicion, and this played out in our expressions of faith. Psalm 145 directly challenges such a mindset. The psalmist expresses why confessing God’s faithfulness is so important, especially to those we influence: “One generation will laud your works to another, and will declare your mighty deeds” ( Psa 145:4 ). God’s mighty deeds were His redemptive acts—especially the exodus from Egypt. His greatness (Psa 145:6), His righteousness ( Psa 145:7 ), His glory, and His power ( Psa 145:11, 12 ) were expressed. Our praise should be centered on God’s ultimate restorative work through His Son—an act that has brought us back into intimate communion with Him. We can bring our sorrows and failures to Him: “Yahweh upholds all...

Morning, July 28                                         Go To Evening Reading           “So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee.”          —Psalm 73:22 Remember this is the confession of the man after God’s own heart; and in telling us his inner life, he writes, “So foolish was I, and ignorant.” The word “foolish,” here, means more than it signifies in ordinary language. David, in a former verse of the Psalm, writes, “I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked,” which shows that the folly he intended had sin in it. He puts himself down as being thus “foolish,” and adds a word which is to give intensity to it; “so foolish was I.” How foolish he could not tell. It was a sinful folly, a folly which was not to be excused by frailty, but to be condemned because of its perversenes...

July 28th After obedience—what? And straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side.… Mark 6:45–52 . We are apt to imagine that if Jesus Christ constrains us, and we obey Him, He will lead us to great success. We must never put our dreams of success as God’s purpose for us; His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, the desired goal; He is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end. What is my dream of God’s purpose? His purpose is that I depend on Him and His power now. If I can stay in the middle of the turmoil calm and unperplexed, that is the end of the purpose of God. God is not working towards a particular finish; His end is the process—that I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on t...

July 28   Your heavenly Father knoweth         Matt. 6:32 The Master judges by the result, but our Father judges by the effort. Failure does not always mean fault. He knows how much things cost, and weighs them where others only measure. Your Father! Think how great store His love sets by the poor beginnings of the little ones, clumsy and unmeaning as they may be to others. All this lies in this blessed relationship, and infinitely more. Do not fear to take it all as your own. Mark Guy Pearse Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.

Golden Gate

He Whom God has  The Apostle John referred to Jesus as the One whom God has sent. Thirty-nine times the Gospel of John refers to Jesus being sent from God ( vv. 17, 34; 4:34; 5:23–24, 30, 36–38; 6:29, 38–39, 44, 57; 7:16, 28–29; 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42; 9:4; 10:36; 11:42; 12:44–45, 49; 13:16, 20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3, 18, 21, 23, 25; 20:21 ). This affirms Jesus’ deity and heavenly origin, as well as God’s sovereignty and love in initiating the Son’s Incarnation ( cf . Gal. 4:4; 1 John 4:9–10, 14 ). 3:35 . The relationship between the Son and the Father is one of loving intimacy and complete confidence. The Son is endowed with all authority to accomplish the Father’s purposes (5:22; Matt. 28:18) . Blum, Edwin A. “ John .” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures . Ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Vol. 2. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985. 283–284. Print.

Baruch Writes for Jeremiah ‎During those ten years of turmoil which intervened between the first and the second capture of Jerusalem, Jeremiah found himself in constant opposition to the leaders of his countrymen. Many of the priesthood, both at home and among the captives in Babylon, kept insisting that the exile of the latter would be brief. In a year or two they would return and resume the government. Jeremiah, denying this, declared positively and repeatedly that the exile was to last for seventy years. Was the Lord’s doom so small a thing that it should pass with a single change of seasons? Jeremiah wrote a letter to Babylon bidding the Jews there, “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.” ‎Moreover, that his prophesies might be remembered and not confused with those of the false prophets, who encouraged men with lies, Jeremiah summoned his disciple. Baruch, and dictated to Baruch all the words which had come to him from God. ...

Two Men, One Painting Images from Illustrations of the Bible from the Monuments of Egypt ‎ Most Egyptian picture painters were scribes who had specialized in painting in the distinctive “profile style” familiar to all students of Egyptian art. To avoid errors, they traced the picture in chalk on the surface to be painted and then effaced all trace of the chalk from the finished picture. Moses, instructed in all Egyptian wisdom, would have known at least the basics of painting. ‎ Acts 7:22

Rest Hebrews 3:7–11 Excerpt Rest is not synonymous with inactivity. What God rested from was the work of Creation. He continues constantly to be active, however, in providentially sustaining all that he has created and in the work both of righteous judgment and gracious salvation. Jesus Christ, indeed, in his incarnation, life, death, rising, and glorification, is precisely God in action ( 2 Cor 5:19 ). Hence the assertion of Jesus: “My Father is working still, and I am working” ( Jn 5:17 , RSV ). What the Christian will rest from is the struggle against the forces of evil and the afflictions by which this present life is marred. The rest into which the Christian will enter will not be a state of uneventful boredom. God himself is dynamic, not static, and so also is his rest. Consequently, all that a Christian rests from simply sets him free to be active ceaselessly and joyfully in the service of God, the Creator and Redeemer. In perfect harmony with all God’s works, and in complete...

The World in the Gospel of John John 3:16–17 , 19 Excerpt In the Gospel of John , the world is the object of God’s salvation in Christ ( 3:16 ; 12:47 ). Moreover, it is his creation through Christ ( 1:3 , 10 ). Yet the world apart from Christ stands under judgment ( 16:8-11 ), hating Jesus’ followers, who have been separated from the world and are not of the world ( 17:16 ). The dualism between God, Christ, and the disciples, on the one hand, and the world, on the other, is described in terms of a sharp antinomy. Disciples are urged to have nothing to do with the world, especially not to love it ( 1 John 2:15-17 ). At the same time, Jesus has explicitly not prayed for disciples to be taken out of the world (John 17:15 ). Even in the Fourth Gospel , the world continues to be God’s, in creation and salvation. It is the same world that Matthew has in view as he portrays the risen Jesus sending his disciples to make disciples of all nations ( 28:19 ) or Luke as Jesus informs the discipl...