It was one single seed, and that seed a very small one; so very, very small that the Jews were accustomed to say, “As small as mustard seed.”

Yes, the Gospel seems a very simple thing: Believe and live! Look to Jesus lying in the sinner’s stead! Look to Jesus crucified, even as Israel looked to the brazen serpent lifted up upon a pole. It is simplicity itself; in fact, the Gospel is so plain a matter that our superior people are weary of it and look out for something more difficult of comprehension.

Sowing seed is work too ordinary for the moderns; they demand new methods. But, beloved, we must not run after vain inventions; our one business is to sow the Word of God in the minds of children. It is yours and mine to teach everybody the simple truth that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. We know nothing else among adults or among children. This one seed, apparently so little, so insignificant, we continue to sow.

They sneeringly say, “What can be the moral result of preaching such a Gospel? Surely it would be better to discourse upon morals, social economics, and the sciences?”

Ah, friends! If you can do any good in those ways, we will not hinder you, but our belief is that a hundred times more can be done with the Gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes. The Gospel is not the enemy of any good thing; say, rather, it is the force by which good things are to be carried out. Whatsoever things are pure and honest and of good repute are all nurtured by that spirit which is begotten by the simple Gospel of Christ. Yet conversions do not come by essays upon morals but by the teaching of salvation by Christ. The cleansing and raising of our race will not be effected by politics or science, but by the Word of the Lord, which lives and abides forever. To bring the greatest blessings upon our rising youth we must labour to implant in their minds faith in the Lord Jesus. Oh, for divine power in this work!

This is a belief that Jesus was quick to set His seal to by comparing the host of wicked angels under Satan to an organised house. The devil and his forces are real, exercise a real power, and are united in evil against good! We need to resist the comic figure of mythology (red, horns and tail). And we should never minimise his power. Jesus reminds of this by describing Satan under the image of a “strong man”.

As the Orbus Community Centre for Orphan Care moves toward completion we
continue to familiarize ourselves with the local community and try to
ascertain the orphan situation and the needs of these children. We came
across a family of 4 orphaned children living with their grandmother Stella
in a very basic little mud brick hut about 500 metres from the Orbus site in
Kameza village. We enquired as to their situation from neighbours and found
that they were in need of assistance with pre-school fees for the 5 year old
boy and clothing and blankets. There are 4 children: Florence is almost 2,
Archangel is 5, Stephano 10 and Musolini (an unfortunate name) is 13. Their
parents both died of HIV related illnesses almost two years ago, both in the
same year. The mother died during child-birth giving birth to Florence.

Orbus is in a very blessed situation of having an abundance of lovingly
chosen and packed clothes, toys, blankets, towels, toiletries and Christian
childrens books to distribute to orphans here. These goods were donated by
incredibly generous and caring Christians from throughout mostly the
Presbyterian Church of Victoria and sent in the two sea containers received
recently from Australia.

Having obtained the ages of the children we put together a package for each child including clothes, towels, blankets, books, soap and toys and some gifts for the grandmother (including money for Archangels pre-school fees) and had the joy of giving these goods to the family this morning (14-7-10) on behalf of the donors from Australia. They were extremely grateful, stunned even, and Stella requested that we pass on their sincere thanks to the Australian donors. There are some photos attached showing the family surrounded by neighbours looking on.

Additionally, the recent Orbus backpack project in Australia resulted in approx 40 backpacks generously and thoughtfully filled with all sorts of goodies for school-aged children. We distributed the first of these today to Stephano and Musolini. We were able to give Florence and Archangel a trolley case each too which were sent in the containers filled with childrens clothes. We took most of the clothes out and filled them with clothes, toys, jumpers and teddy bears hand-made by caring Christians in Victoria and books.

We have recently also been distributing some of these goods to orphans in
various other villages further away from Ngumbe and will continue to do this
over the coming weeks. We have lots of photos of this distribution work and
if anyone is interested they can email me. Eventually I will hopefully get
some of them on the Orbus website.

The local Ngumbe area Chief, Daniel, and his wife (from Daniel Village in
which our Ngumbe project is located), are coming to the Orbus site this
Saturday and are bringing 10 local orphaned children and their guardians
with them so we can distribute some of these goods to them.

These children are not accustomed to such demonstrations of kindness and
generosity. To be able to do this for them on behalf of the Australians who
have given these goods is a real privilege for us. On behalf of Orbus I
offer sincere thanks for your generosity.

In Christ
Craig

Why was it so important?

We need to understand how much the Jews hated tax collectors. Put simply the tax collectors worked for the enemy, sucking their nation dry for the benefit of the enemy. And if collaborating with the enemy wasn’t enough, Rome didn’t care if they charged more than was required – so they did, and many got rich by it.

Get this picture in your mind. Jesus was walking with a huge crowd of people in Capernaum. As he walked with all these people, they approached Levi’s booth. All the people were watching to see what Jesus would do to this man who got rich sucking them dry of their money for Rome. Jesus was walking with the very people Matthew Levi exploited all those years. They were thinking, “Go get him Jesus! Rebuke him!”

Well Jesus went and got him, but in a totally different way. Jesus called him to follow Him. He called him into fellowship. Levi, also known as Matthew (see Matt 9:9) left all behind and followed Jesus. All the people must have been stunned.

And if that was not enough, Jesus is then seen eating with this man and a whole stack of his friends. Well that was enough for the blood of the religious experts to boil.

But notice how Jesus turns around their criticism to expose both their real need as well as establish the heart of His mission: to bring spiritual healing and health to sinners.

They didn’t see they had a sin problem, nor did they recognise Jesus’ authority and ability to effectively and permanently deal with it, so they didn’t go to the Doctor’s surgery for help.

Jesus today is still ready to heal those who come to Him under an awareness of their spiritual sickness of sin. He is the only One who can. The question is whether we see our need and His remedy.

In 2:2 we read that Jesus was preaching “the word” to a crowd gathered in a house – -that is the good news of the gospel (1:14-15), that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, for the forgiveness of sin.

No doubt he crowd gathered to receive or observe healings. But Jesus stuck to His focus on gospel preaching (1:38-39). While caring for all the details of our lives, Jesus is also aware of our deepest need and sees this as the underlying priority. And so should we.

Suddenly one came into the picture, literally into the house through the roof, who became an embodiment of the gospel priority and blessing, for Jesus declared to this man who was paralysed, “Son, your sins are forgiven”.

Was this man and his friends disappointed? Is this really what he expected to hear, or saw that he needed above all else, that this was more important for life than being able to move freely?

What about us – do we set a priority on forgiveness, do we cherish this even if the rest of our life is ‘crippled’ in some way? Is this what we look for through the Ministry of the Word today?

We know the religious leaders presented were shocked and alarmed, and deeply offended for they immediately whispered accusations of blasphemy to each other.

Is this what we believe about Jesus – that He was merely a man, who falsely takes God’s right to Himself? Or do we believe that He is God and has authority to forgive sin? Do we rejoice over His having forgiven us our sin?

Do we even know His forgiveness? If not, ask Him today. It is found in Him and only through Him. Be encouraged by His tenderness as heard in His declaration “Son…”

What difference will forgiveness make to your getting up and leaving church this morning? What impact will it have on your life?

In our passage from Mark this morning we see Jesus continuing to be involved in people’s lives and see yet again His compassion for those in great need.

But in this case it is with a man whose condition we have little connection with – leprosy (though sadly it is apparently on the rise in some aboriginal communities).  Leprosy involved being both a medical and social outcast.

In fact, the attitude to leprosy then was almost exactly that to AIDS today, a mixture of fear and disgust. Some years ago Princess Diana caused a great stir because she hugged an AIDS sufferer. By that act the Princess was said to have shown compassion, and reached out to people who were considered leprous almost, in the modern day context.

But you can’t contract AIDS just by touching a patient; however, you could contract leprosy by contact with a leper, and so the act of Jesus in touching this man would be deemed high risk. He would also be declared ceremonially unclean.

And yet He touched him, and also healed him – but more importantly made the man “clean”. Notice how this was the real nature of the request. Leprosy, because it was a specific OT picture of sin and its effects, left one ceremonially unclean – cut off from the religious life and fellowship of God’s people. This is what he above all sought to have restored to him. And he saw in Jesus an ability to deal with not only the issue in his flesh but also the issue in his heart which was the greater issue and of more far-reaching consequence.

So he came to Jesus in humble, believing, yet submissive faith – “If you will”. And Jesus did not disappoint, but sent him on his way “clean”.

The tragedy is that he left Jesus and acted according to ‘As I will’, doing what seemed good in his own eyes, and as a result hindering Jesus’ work.

What do we learn from that about the condition of our soul? Of the compassion of Christ? Of being His people? Of the Gospel?

I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,

who was born of the promise to a virgin named Mary.

I believe in the love Mary gave her Son,

that caused her to follow Him in His ministry

and stand by His cross as He died.

I believe in the love of all mothers,

and its importance in the lives of the children they bear.

It is stronger than steel, softer than down, and
more resilient than a green sapling on the hillside.

It closes wounds, melts disappointments,

and enables the weakest child to stand tall

and straight in the fields of adversity.

I believe that this love, even at its best,

is only the shadow love of God,

a dark reflection of all that we expect of Him

in this life and the next.

And I believe that one of the most beautiful sights in the world

is a mother who lets this greater love flow through her to her child,

blessing the world with the tenderness of her touch

and the tears of her joy.

Thank God for mothers, and thank mothers for helping
us understand God!

(Author Unknown)

Did we, do we need such proof? Isn’t very reality of our spiritual life enough to encourage us to seek the face of the Lord in prayer, to know how much we need to spend time communing with our God?
Yet if we are honest with ourselves, regardless of our level of godliness and maturity of our Christian life, that we know we do not spend enough time communing with the Lord in prayer and the Word.
Is it because we think we only need God for the difficult bits of life? Then we have too high a view of ourselves and our abilities.
Is it because we are just so busy in life that it is hard to squeeze in time for God? Then we are busier than God wants us to be!
Spurgeon used to talk about the Prayer Meeting of the church as its powerhouse. We can say the same for the spiritual life of the individual Christian. Is the powerlessness in the face of temptation, in maintaining not only enthusiasm and passion but also steadfastness in serving God with our lives not ultimately traced back here: no or little prayer? And likewise the absence of peace and joy in the midst of life, as well as perception and wisdom in face of life’s challenges and opportunities?
If Jesus needed to pray, how much more so should we! If Jesus cherished times of communion, intimate fellowship with His heavenly Father, in which His thoughts, desires, perspectives and passions were harmonised to His Father’s, how much more so is this true of us!
Her is the essence of prayer: it is not bring our will to God but asking that His will be done on earth. It is not directing but embracing God and His love and will.
Let’s pray! No, I mean it – let’s really begin to pray.

In the face of sickness do we not reflect in same way upon our mortality and vulnerability? It may take the form of something like ‘I can’t afford to get sick now!’ Or perhaps like ‘When will I ever be free from this…’
Are we not also to reflect on the present love and mercy of God? It may be a remembrance of Psalm 103:13-14, “As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” It may be thinking of Christ’s words to Paul in his continued illness, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor 12:9). So we also remember in faith the Lord’s compassion, love and sufficiency of grace even in such times of weakness – and are comforted and encouraged.

Yet should we not also be filled with hope and the joy of expectation brought about by the promise of the gospel encapsulated in Rev 21:4, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
It is no surprise then to see Jesus coming into this world exercising authority over sickness and disease, as He healed them, both validating and demonstrating His ministry to crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15).
In the New Creation that is coming because of Christ where there will be no sickness and death, for the curse is reversed in Christ.

Yet, even as we await that day we will all know the pangs, pains, perplexities, and perniciousness of disease in this life. We are headed for death. But we also know the presence of the Lord, and His comfort, interventions, moderations, and over-ruling of sickness as all other effects of the curse, such that we look for the good in and through disease, and beyond death to life. And so even in the most severest suffering we are able to give thanks (Phil 4:6).To God be the glory!

Chrysostom replied, “Thou canst not banish me for this world is my father’s
house.” “But I will slay thee,” said the Emperor. “Nay, thou canst not,”
said the noble champion of the faith, “for my life is hid with Christ in
God.” “I will take away thy treasures.” “Nay, but thou canst not for my
treasure is in heaven and my heart is there.” “But I will drive thee away
from man and thou shalt have no friend left.” “Nay, thou canst not, for I
have a friend in heaven from whom thou canst not separate me. I defy thee;
for there is nothing that thou canst do to hurt me.”
How is it that we can say this? Is it because of personal stature, strength,
etc? Is it because of the church’s heritage, finances, numbers or political
influence?

No says Paul, it is “through Him who loved us” (v.37); it is a love “that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v.39).
Our resource, refuge and security is in God. Jesus is, and always will be,
the key to our perseverance and to our safety. In our weakness He reveals
His strength. In our poverty His riches. In our sorrow His comfort. In our
death His life. And He said “Behold I am with you always” (Matt 28:20)
We are more than conquerors!