Cutlerville East Christian Reformed Church
Episodes
584 episodes
Persistent Prayer
As a child, what was your favorite strategy for getting your way with your parents? Did you butter them up or smooth talk them? Did you cry until you got what you wanted? Did you keep asking, nagging, bugging? Jesus tells a parable about prayer...
A Pleasing Faith
Mark 6-7 reports a number of “faith failures,” the failure of God’s people to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and God’s Son. The neighbors resented him, the crowds saw him as only a prophet, Herod superstitiously thought he was the ghost of John t...
If God Knows Our Needs, Why Pray?
As we go on the adventure of the Christian life with God, and especially when we talk about prayer, one of the things that greatly affects us and our prayers is God's attribute of omniscience, that God knows everything. Jesus says: "your Father...
The Anatomy of Healing
Jesus moves to the Decapolis in Gentile territory. According to Matthew's account, he healed many people there. But Mark picks out just one: a man deaf and almost completely mute (or dumb). This was a terrible handicap because, unlike mos...
Partners in Prayer
As we look at prayer, one of the questions we might ask is: what is prayer? One way to look at it is as our response to God’s initiative in speaking to us. We see that happening early on in Scripture, with God’s covenant partner, Abraham. God a...
A Bread without Yeast
This not a sermon re-run. Back in January, we looked at the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 from Mark 6:30-44 Now we come upon a very similar miracle story in Mark 8:1-21, which causes some biblical critics to say that Mark is explaining the sa...
Wrestling with God
Can you point to a key event in your life, a seminal moment in which the direction of your life changed for good? Perhaps it was a career decision, meeting your future spouse, coming into relationship with Jesus Christ. We are going to look at ...
The Eye-Opening Christ
In our previous passage, Jesus asked: “Do you have eyes but fail to see?” (Mark 8:18). After all Jesus had said and done (even repeating a feeding miracle!), the disciples are still blind to who Jesus really was: the bread of life. Obviously th...
Bold Intercession
In this passage we see Moses exercising prayer partnership with God in intercession for his idolatrous people. But it is easy to be drawn away from his prayers by seeing the Levites slashing their way through the cowering ranks of guilty ...
Power and Faith
It's the day after the transfiguration of Jesus, and the three disciples excitedly descend the mountain. They had seen Jesus' glory and heard the Father's voice. They are now engaged in a theological discussion about Elijah and the ...
Personal Prayer
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus starts with praising and honoring God first. The "A.C.T.S." plan for prayer begins with adoration. Some call this "prayer of a higher order." As we grow in maturity, we should be more concerned about God'...
The Man Who Covered His Mouth - Job 38-42
As we continue our prayer series, we ask the question: what about prayer that doesn’t seem to get answered? That leaves us stuck in a mystery? Job deals with just such a question. Now Job had four friends who spouted to him the company li...
The Christian and Marriage - Mark 10:1-12
Maybe you’ve heard someone speak of “a marriage made in heaven.” Then why are so many failing? Given the alarming statistics, not to mention our own personal experiences among our families and friends, it is important to be reminded of Je...
Dancing before the Throne
Prayer has deeper meaning than just talking with God; it covers a much wider range of divine-human interactions. In fact, it is hard to see where worship leaves off and prayer begins. This story is not so much about the form prayer takes as the...
A “Values” Adjustment
We live in a world that tries to impose its values on us. But Jesus preaches a different set of values for his followers, those who would truly be part of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ values are counter-values, “upside down” values, something already ...
Fellowship Restored
Sin is common to us all and, regardless of its seriousness, it’s always “against the Lord” and, therefore, must be confessed. But sometimes this leaves us with questions: Am I truly repentant? Will God hear me? Will He forgive? The beauty of Da...
The Way of a Servant
Jesus’ disciples are at a crossroads. Jesus has set his face toward the cross in Jerusalem—and he’s trying to help his disciples set their direction in life. They had earlier fought over which of them was the “greatest” and Jesus told them to b...
How to Have an Eye-Opening Experience
Mark 10:46-52 Jesus, a popular though controversial teacher, is traveling toward Jerusalem for Passover. A large crowd grew as he neared Jerusalem, all pilgrims heading to the Passover festivities. In Jericho, Jesus encounters more pil...
The Church’s Prayer
Peter and John have just healed a crippled beggar, preached the good news/bad news Gospel, been imprisoned, and confronted the Jewish Supreme Court. It was time to be recharged! They went back to the church for fellowship and they prayed togeth...