Brothers and sisters,
Happy Monday to all and “Happy birthday” to my big brother Jack! It was wonderful to worship our great God together yesterday. I want to thank Nathan Pokrandt for stepping in to lead us in worship while others were out of town. He did an excellent job! From Mark 14, we looked at one trial of Jesus and contrasted that with the informal trial of Peter. We learned that Jesus in our world is often on trial because men and women must decide what they believe about Him. However, really Jesus is not on trial at all. Those who are deciding about Jesus are on trial. What will we decide about Jesus? What we decide about Jesus determines our eternal destiny. Also, as believers in Jesus, you and I live in the world and we are often on trial to see if we will confess Jesus when it is easy and when it is hard, or whether we will deny Jesus. Jesus was silent and let His Father be His defender when falsely accused. When confronted with truth Jesus embraced it. When the time came to speak, Jesus spoke truth boldly and without fear of His enemies. In contrast to Jesus, when confronted with truth, Peter denied it. Believers, like Peter, who trust in their own strength fail the Lord with cowardice and denial. Believers can, in the power of the Holy Spirit alone, courageously stand for Jesus in face of corruption, anger, hatred, and injustice.
Remember to keep praying continually for each other. None of us know fully the burdens our brothers and sisters in Christ might be carrying.
Love being your pastor!
Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church