Teacher devotions: No Man - Psalm 49

Psalm 49:7      No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him.

For most of his life, my father was an agnostic. He wasn’t sure if God existed and part of his stumbling block to faith was in accepting that Jesus was actually the Son of God. He was willing to concede that Christ was a deeply spiritual person and a great moral teacher. He just couldn’t grapple intellectually that Jesus was more than a mere man. In the end, however, when he was dying from cancer, he let go of this struggle and allowed Christ into his heart.

Lots of people wrestle with Christ’s divinity. Like my Dad, they’re willing to picture Christ as a religious and philosophical leader, but they doubt Christian claims that He was, is, and always will be the Holy Son of God. They believe that His crucifixion and death were final, proving that Jesus was only human after all.

But the Cross actualizes Christ’s divinity for me through the prophecy that is proclaimed in today’s verse. Hundreds of years before the Crucifixion, the sons of Korah prophetically sang: “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him”

No man, no mere human being could redeem the life of another; but Jesus, who is both human and divine, could bring about this redemption and give the ransom for the whole world!

If anybody else had gone to the Cross at Calvary, redemption would never have occurred. Only Christ’s sacrifice could completely save humanity. Anyone else’s death would have been insignificant; any other sacrifice would have been merely superficial.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, without Your miraculous entrance into the world, we could never have truly known God. Without Your sacrificial exit on the Cross, we could never know the joy of redemption. We praise You for being fully human and fully divine. You are the Holy Son of God, the Lord of all Creation, and Only Savior of the World. Amen!

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Teacher Devotions: Watching Balloons - Acts 1 v 10

Acts 1: 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

Have you ever released a helium filled balloon and watched it float up into the sky? I have done this several times in my life and have been captivated by the balloon’s flight. As it climbs skyward up into the clouds, the balloon gets smaller and smaller. Eventually it is just a mere dot and then it disappears entirely. You end up with sore eyes because you try to see the balloon as long as you can without blinking. One final blink and the balloon is gone forever.

I think that’s how the disciples experienced Christ’s Ascension. They kept looking intently up into the sky because they didn’t want Him to go. So long as they could see Jesus, they knew that they weren’t alone. As He disappeared into the clouds, they must have felt anxious and isolated, fearful and alone.

Suddenly, two angels appeared beside them and gave them words of comfort. “Jesus will comeback in the same way.” In other words, Christ would return to them one day. That restored hope to the disciples. And as if that wasn’t enough, they were also given the promise of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They didn’t know what this would involve, but Jesus had spoken of this before, so the disciples must have felt that this repeated promise confirmed the truth about what the two angels were telling them: Jesus would come back.

Almost two thousand years later, we are still waiting for that promise to be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit has come and established the Church on Earth, but we still await that glorious day when Jesus will arrive from the sky and be among us again – this time forever.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we await Your Arrival on Earth and yearn for that Day when You will restore all things to God and Time will be no more. We pray that we will be ready to receive You and be willing to do Your Holy Bidding as Your everlasting servants in God’s Kingdom. In Your Sacred Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s digital glass drawings called “Balloon Fest.” You can view a larger version of this online at the following link: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1161/1454659083_7548f6c333_b.jpg

Teachers Devotions: Patiently Building - Mark 15:29-30

Mark 15:29-30            Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!"  

A massive digger has just been parked outside of my church study window. The contractors are getting the equipment in place in order to begin digging up the back yard of the church, so that we can lay the foundations of a new extension. A lot of the brush and some of the smaller trees at the back will, unfortunately, have to be dug up and destroyed in the process. This time next year, I’m going to have a completely different view from my office window.

I’m not very good with changes like this and the subsequent upheaval is going to command a lot of my patience. I know that the end results will be worthwhile; it’s just the current painstaking process that causes me problems. In order to build, something has to change. In order to grow, something has to be lost.

When the passers-by hurled their insults at Christ, they had no idea that God was beginning a new creation and that a new faith was being born. The people scorned Christ because it appeared as though He had let them down. They thought He was the Messiah who had come to rid them of the Romans and its Empire. In fact, Christ did do that but it took about 400 years to achieve. The passers-by wanted Christ to do it immediately. They weren’t prepared to wait and obviously thought that when Jesus died on the Cross, His mission and ministry were over.

But in the midst of the painstaking process of death by crucifixion, Jesus was saving the world and establishing His Church. God works in mysterious ways and there’s nothing more mysterious than creating new life in the midst of death. The old ways were being destroyed forever. The rites of sacrifice were over. Jesus laid down His life to the destruction of death in order to bring about pardon and forgiveness, resurrection and restoration to all who were willing to accept His sacrificial death and believe in His power to save them from their sins. He was patiently building salvation.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You destroyed the old ways of religion and gave birth to a new faith on the Cross. We are heirs to that blessing and we praise You for completing the painful process of salvation, so that we may be given the glorious opportunity of being restored to God forever. In Your Holy Name, we thankfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s drawing is John’s latest lighthouse print of the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine, USA. You can view a larger version of the drawing here: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1006/4597010807_503a3fe91d_b.jpg

Teacher Devotions: Simon Said - Mark 15 v 21

Mark 15:21     A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.

When John Mark wrote his Gospel, it was about 40 years after Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection. He was writing it for a new generation of believers who had no first hand experience with Jesus. These new followers needed to have the stories of Christ written down, so that they could spread the Gospel through preaching from the dictated text.

Sometimes in Mark’s Gospel, we come across important one-liners that would have meant something special to his readers. Today’s verse is such an example. Simon of Cyrene is identified as being the Cross Carrier for Christ. At the same time, John Mark mentions Simon’s two sons Alexander and Rufus, which leaves us with a question: why did Mark think it was important to include their names?

We don’t know exactly, but most scholars agree that Alexander and Rufus must have been minor celebrities in the Young Christian Church. This could also mean that Simon of Cyrene had been profoundly changed by the whole enforced Cross carrying incident. He must have seen something special in Jesus, which made him become a follower too. And he passed this faith on to his two sons, Alexander and Rufus, who were widely known to Mark’s readers of the Gospel.

I take heart in this because it reminds me of how sacred the story of Christ actually is, and that we are each called to pass on what we know to the next generation. When the Roman soldiers forced Simon to carry Christ’s Cross, they didn’t know that they were setting in motion a new wave of faith for the next generation. The challenge that faces us today is this: how are we expressing the Gospel and Christ’s presence in our lives in order to generate real faith to the next generation?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, our faith in You is not private or personal, nor is meant to be confined to ourselves. You call upon us to take up Your Cross and share the Good News with others. In particular, You need us to effectively express and communicate our faith to the following generations. Grant us opportunities and give us the words to do that great work in our congregations, churches, and communities. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, pleas send me an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s drawing is John’s latest lighthouse print of the picturesque Carantec Lighthouse in Bretagne, France. A larger version can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/traqair57/4588350454/sizes/l/

Teacher Devotions: National Day of Prayer - In Christ's Name

Mark 14:72     Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept.

Today, all around the nation, many prayer services will be held in churches and temples, government buildings and arenas. People of faith will gather together to specifically ask God to heal, bless, and prosper our country. In cities and towns across the States, people will listen to the prayers of church and political leaders, as well as praising God for all that He has done throughout our nations’ history.

Some of the prayer services will be controlled by the clergy, while others will be presented according to government guidelines. Jesus may or may not be mentioned, depending upon who structures the services and who is invited to lead them.

For me, this is a day when Christian pastors, who publicly pray, have a straightforward choice: to invoke the Name of Jesus and honorably make their prayers in His Sacred Name, or to give in to the secularists by setting aside Christ and making all prayers to God alone. In other words, pastors can choose to uplift the Name of Jesus and be associated with Him, or they can placate the crowd and deny Him, just like Peter.

I’ll be participating in a service at a Baptist church tonight, so I really cannot imagine that Christ’s Name won’t be invoked throughout the whole evening.

Praise the Lord!

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we want to honor You with our lips and our lives. Your Name is above all others in the Universe and Your Presence in more important than anything else on this day. Hear the prayers of Your followers for this nation today. May we be blessed by Your guidance, embraced by Your love, and enthused by the message of the Gospel and the ways of God’s Kingdom here on Earth. In Your Precious and Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Teacher Devotions: A Godly Nation - Psalm 40

Psalm 40:4      Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.  

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer and in the evening I will be participating in an ecumenical prayer gathering at a West Knoxville Baptist Church. At this time in our nation’s history, I feel it is important that Christians gather together for prayer and ask God to give our leaders and people the spiritual guidance that we need to overcome domestic disasters and to lead our country back to God.

I have always believed in national prayer, even when I was a pastor in Scotland. I was deeply influenced by the life and teaching of John Knox. He once prayed to God, “Give me Scotland or I’ll die!” Mary Queen of Scots also stated that she was more afraid of the prayers of John Knox than an army of ten thousand. Knox’s zeal for the people of Scotland, and his uncompromising prayer for the nation’s conversion to the Reformation is an important part of the foundation of Presbyterianism. Without it, Presbyterianism would probably have never been established.

Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, has endured a lot of criticism for his uncompromising views on Islam. He has called it an evil religion and because of this, he has been ‘disinvited’ from the National Day of Prayer service at the Pentagon. Franklin is the founder of Samaritan’s Purse which has helped hundreds of thousands of people across the Islamic world, who have suffered because of fierce Sharia laws that subjugate and oppress women and children. I happen to agree with Franklin about Islam.

So tomorrow, wherever you are and in whatever country you live, pray for the leaders and people of your nation. There’s nothing wrong with asking God to bless, guide, and protect your people.

Prayer:                        Lord God, wherever we are, and to which ever nation we belong, we humbly ask Your blessing upon our leaders and people. In the midst of economic crises and domestic disasters, we pray for the resilience to recover, the resources to support one another, and the vision to sustain a future for the common good of people everywhere. In Christ’s Almighty and Victorious Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest drawing called “Lupins.” It’s an impressionistic depiction of a field of lupins in the Mid West. You can view a larger version online at the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4580550342_c5ed9226e7_b.jpg

Teachers Devotions: Breaking the Silence - Psalm 39 v 2

Psalm 39:2      But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.

There are days when I worry about the state of the Church. I don’t mean the congregation that I serve (although I do have worrying days about it, too); I’m writing about the Presbyterian Church in general.

We seem to have lost our sense of direction because less people are becoming Presbyterians across the world. It’s almost as if we’ve reached the end of the line and that the Spirit of God has no current or future use for Presbyterians. We seem to be more driven by the culture than Christ. We appear to be shaped by what’s fashionable instead of being faithful.

I’ve tried to be quiet about this and not be overcome by zeal or emotions. But being impassive about the current church crisis doesn’t get us anywhere, and more and more Presbyterians seem to be going nowhere fast. In the past, I’ve blamed it on seminary training or generational culture, but in my heart I feel as though it’s something more: it’s about preaching, teaching, and living the truth. It all comes down to accepting Christ in our hearts and applying His words to our ways.

I don’t want to come across as being self-righteous or fiercely zealous. I am far from perfect and a terrible sinner. But I love being a Presbyterian Christian and my hearts bleeds for Presbyterians everywhere. I want to be part of a movement that can positively turn the tide and help Presbyterians become effective and influential again. I honestly believe that Presbyterians have the capacity to win the hearts and minds of post-modern people for Christ. If only we would stop shooting ourselves in the foot!

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, thank You for the rich history of Presbyterianism throughout the world. We pray that You will allow an outpouring of Your Holy Spirit to be experienced by all of us, so that we can effectively and powerfully represent Your Message, Gospel, and Kingdom. Grant us the courage to speak out against what is wrong and stand up for what is right. In Your Holy Name, we faithfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest drawing called Summer Pond. You can view a larger version online at the following link: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/4567015382_9a7de36909_b.jpg