Last Sunday, this word was given to our church. How kind of the Lord to speak to us in such a powerful and loving way.
A man was wandering in the desert, his clothes were full of dirt and sand, his mouth was parched and he was in desperate need of water. Right as he reached the point of not being able to continue, he came upon an oasis and drank and bathed. His thirst was quenched and he was made clean. He then went and gathered his friends and family and brought them to the spring. They also bathed and drank to satisfy their thirst. Soon word 
began to spread and people from all around came to drink and enjoy this source of water in the desert. This man welcomed those who came and invited them to drink and bath for he was constantly aware of his own need and the ability of the spring to fulfill it.
Now another man, who came to the spring regularly, began to look around with disdain at some of the others who came. He gathered up his friends and said “we need to build barriers and control access to this spring. We need to establish rules to ensure order and prevent chaos. We must do something so that those of us who are clean are not soiled by those who are filthy entering the spring.” Soon after, they constructed barriers, but a storm came and the flood waters destroyed them. They rebuilt the barriers, and then additional springs appeared outside the barriers. The man gathered some of his friends and began to chase off those who were at the springs outside their barriers. As he lifted one man away from a spring and prepared to run him off, he froze and his face became pale. There hunched before him was his own son. He was dirty and parched like so many around him and in desperate need of water. The man lifted his son again, but this time he carried him into the spring and gently lowered him into the water. He scooped water into his own hands and lifted them to the mouth of his son so he could drink. He then ordered all those he had persuasion over to tear down the barriers and invite the dirty and parched to partake of the water. I noticed an interesting thing, the water flowing away from the man and his son was as crystal clear as the water bubbling up from the spring.
I believe the Lord would say to us today that the spring represents His gospel. It will not be contained! It is available for both the weary and the strong. It is living water that does not soil with those that enter it to be cleaned. It never runs dry and will quench the unquenchable thirsts. God so loved us that he sent his son, Christ, to come to earth and die in our place that our sins would be forgiven and his righteousness would be
ours. God would ask us today – who do you most identify with? Are you acutely aware of God’s saving grace and mercy in your life? Do you pursue others and share your
experience with them and welcome them to know Jesus themselves? Are you afraid that the lost will negatively influence you or your family? Do you long for a fresh experience of God’s love and mercy in your life? Have you never known the love of God? Do you think you are too dirty to come to God? Regardless of whom it is, the Lord invites you to jump into the spring of his gospel today. Experience anew its cleansing power, its ability to refresh and renew, and then cup your hands and fill them and put them up to the mouth of others here at church today and invite them to drink. Put your hands to the mouth of your
neighbors, fellow workers, others in this community, this nation, and the world and invite them to drink of the only water that will satisfy. Seek out those who are dirty and stumbling, crawling for lack of strength and pick them up and carry them to this water. Invite them to enter the spring, bath, drink and be satisfied.
Yesterday morning our guest, Chris Deloglos, preached to us from Mark 2:13-17. Jesus picked a most unlikely sinner to follow Him and join His closest group of disciples. Levi followed and threw a party, which included many tax collectors and sinners, Jesus and His disciples and the scribes and Pharisees. When Jesus was questioned about eating with sinners, He made the announcement that He didn’t come for the well but for the sick. Chris showed us from the text how the heart of Christ was on full display. Jesus is not repelled by sinners, but came to call and save sinners. It’s His mercy that leads undeserving sinners to faith and repentance. 
SGC along with Jim and Pat Giddens as your hosts for the evening, are happy to host the first ever, Family Missionary Movie Night!
We want to invite everyone to come and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ with us tomorrow morning at SGC! What a celebration we will have because Jesus is alive! We meet at 10:00 a.m. and will begin with a time of singing accompanied by a string ensemble, a horn quartet and a choir. We will spend time hearing the preaching of God’s word and there will be a coffee reception for the entire church after the sermon. We look forward to being together on this day of days!
Last Sunday we looked at the second part of Mark’s account of Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees and scribes in chapter 7. In this second part, Jesus explains to the disciples what really defiles a person. It’s not what comes from without and goes within. It’s what comes from within – from the heart. In this brief teaching, Jesus locates the true source of defilement before God as the sin that exists in and comes from every man and woman’s heart. While the Pharisees thought they were “clean” according to the traditions of the elders, Jesus shows that no one is clean! We learned that the only way to be clean before God is to trust in Jesus who came to make us clean. 
On Sunday we studied another interaction between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees. On this occasion, they accuse Jesus of dishonoring God by ignoring the traditions of the elders because His disciples fail to wash their hands before eating. Jesus proceeds to expose, confront and condemn them as hypocrites because of the kind of religion they practiced, which was ultimately worthless (honoring God with their lips when their hearts were far from Him and obeying the commandment of man – applications of the law -instead of the commandment of God.) 
