Our faith is far too much like the toss of a coin. We are called to serve you, and we are often drawn away from you by the demands of the world. We sometimes flip a coin to decide what we shall do, rather than placing our whole trust in you to guide us. We collect the coins of the world, each coin bearing an image, a reminder of its owner. But you would have us understand that we are made in Your image. Our lives are the currency of your kingdom. We are cherished by you, called by you, sent by you. Forgive us when we worship our coins and turn our backs on serving you. Help us to remember whose people we are. AMEN.

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1st Reading Ecclesiastes 5:10-20
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who
loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods
increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their
owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer,
whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not
let him sleep. There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun:
riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost
in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his
hand. As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked
as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away
in his hand.

This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and
what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days
he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink
and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the
few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone
also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to
enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil--this is the gift
of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because
God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

2nd Lesson Hebrews 4:1-16
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us
fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good
news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not
benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who
listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
"As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest,'"
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And
God rested on the seventh day from all his works." And again in this
passage he said, "They shall not enter my rest."

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who
formerly received the good news failed to enter because of
disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, "Today," saying
through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of
another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the
people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested
from his works as God did from his.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by
the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and
active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of
soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts
and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight,
but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must
give account.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we
are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the
throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.

Gospel Lesson Mark 10:23-31
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How difficult it
will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And
the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again,
"Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to
enter the kingdom of God." And they were exceedingly astonished,
and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is impossible, but not
with God. For all things are possible with God."
Peter began to say to him, "See, we have left everything and
followed you."

Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house
or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my
sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this
time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and
lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many
who are first will be last, and the last first."


Message

Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and from our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

Let us pray. Dear Lord God, may the words of my mouth and the
meditations of our hearts, be acceptable to you. I pray this in the
strength and the name of our Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen.
In trying to prepare for today's message I found myself being
continually bombarded with distractions. Things that have drawn me
away from focusing on God, and I have to admit, Satan has had some
success this week in distracting me.

This past week has been one where the demands of the world have
had me tossing to and fro like the toss of a coin.

Yet amidst the turmoil of this week, there is one phrase out of the
readings that has remained with me this week, “For the word of God is
living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the
division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning
the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

A statement that puts a magnifying glass on my week and on my
life. In that statement, God's word, for me means only one thing,
Jesus Christ. He is alive and active. Jesus is not someone from the
past, whom we read about in history books. He is not like Moses and
David or the Apostle Paul, men who lived and died, someone whom
we read about, about their exploits and their actions, their lives. No,
Jesus is alive and active even to this day, almost two thousand years
after this statement was recorded. Jesus is alive and active in my life
and in yours too. And His words are as strong today as they were the
day He spoke them. They are sharper than any two edged sword.
In our Gospel Lesson today, we hear Jesus explain to his disciples,
his answer to a young rich man's question, “What must I do to inherit
eternal life?”

We all know the story, a young rich man bows before Jesus and
asks the question,“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” and Jesus
replies, follow the commandments of Moses. The young man
confirms he has done this since he was a young boy and then this is
where we see the sharp sword of Jesus, And Jesus, looking at him,
loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you
have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow me.”

Jesus, pierces to the heart of the young rich man, separating, his
desire for eternal life and his desire for worldly wealth and worldly
comforts; making the young man decide between the two. And the
key here is that Jesus allows the young rich man to decide, Jesus
does not force the young man to pick eternal life, Jesus allows the
young man to decide.

We also all know how the young man choose; the young rich man
walks away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. The young man
could not, would not, allow his spiritual desire for eternal life guide him
in his earthly life.

In today's Gospel Lesson Jesus wields that sword again, but this
time with the disciples. Separating their desires here on earth and
their desires of eternal life. Jesus brings to light that mankind cannot
come to eternal life on our own. The draw of the worldly desires is too
strong for any of us to resist.

Alone, we are too weak to fight off the temptations of Satan and the
ways of the world. Solomon when he wrote, “He who loves money
with not be satisfied with money” knew this. Almost a thousand years
before Jesus was born, the people of Israel, knew that seeking worldly
wealth and pleasures was not the answer. Yet they still struggled, for
some, for many, their physical earthly desires overpowered their
spiritual desires. And things have not changed much since that time.
For they knew as we know. That when we pass on from this world,
all that we have accumulated in this world, remains in this world. We
take nothing with us. As one theologian wrote, we came into this
world naked and we shall go out of this world naked.

The difference is we do not have to go out of this world alone. We
can leave this world with Jesus right beside us. We can live in and
leave this world, filled with the Spirit of God.

The sword that Jesus wields is one that separates our earthly nature
from our spiritual nature, and in doing so shows us that those two
distinct entities are alive and are continually fighting for control. The
question is which one will win the battle. Will the desires of the
physical world, the desires for wealth, recognition and pleasures of
this world win out and control our spiritual side. Or will with the help of
the Spirit of God will our spiritual, eternal side win out and control our
physical desires?

It is a battle, no actually it is a war that rages within us. I use the
term war because in a war, battles are won and lost and that is how it
is with us. Sometimes our earthly side fuelled by our earthly desires,
fuelled by Satan, win a battle over our spiritual side. And without
Jesus by our side, without being filled by the Spirit of God, our spiritual
eternal nature can not and will not win any of those battles.


And there is one thing we have that can help us tremendously in
these internal battles and that is prayer. Prayer is trumpet sound
calling for re-enforcements. Prayer is the one thing Satan can not
fight against, a prayer for help brings Jesus wielding that sword.
Prayer is the key that unlocks God's armoury. The key is to use it, and
to use it as often as necessary. You can not wear out prayer, you can
not be like the little boy who cried wolf once too often, being ignored
when his cries for help were real.

God will not be upset with you for praying too much. God always
hears prayer and he always answers the prayer to win the battle.
Yet there are times when we lose a battle with Satan and at times it
seems we lose more than we win.. It does happen here on Earth, we
allow our physical nature, to over power our spiritual nature and we
lose a battle. Notice I said allow. Here let me give you an example.
This past week during our Bible study our discussions led us down
a path where we talked about the pros and cons of multi-generational
families living together. Each time a con was discussed, it was
introduced by the word “I”. I couldn't get along, I couldn't do that, I
want my space. The I word is of the physical world. We allow the
physical world to over power the spiritual world.

We all choose whom we want to get along with, we all choose what
we want to do and what we do not want to do. We allow “I” to
overpower prayer. We ask for God's help and then sometimes we
ignore it, we turn our back on it.

In my physical world, when someone asks for my help and ignores
it, it drives me crazy. The thought that runs through my mind is, why
waste my time if you are going to ignore it. Fortunately I am not God.
God's mercy and love for us is so great that when we mess up,
when we ignore Him, and then realize it. When we come seeking
forgiveness, He gives it. He picks us up, dusts off the dirt from the
battle field, and helps us start all over again, time after time after time.
For like God, we know who wins the war, we each have read the
ending, we know who wins and who loses and the ending is not good
for Satan and for those who allow their earthly nature control their
spiritual nature.

The task for each of us is learn to recognize those battles we can
not win alone and to call upon Jesus to wield His mighty sword in our
defence. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “No temptation has
overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will
not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he
will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
(1 Corinthians 10:13) I encourage you to seek God in prayer, seek
those paths of escape in those battles you cannot win. Amen.

Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we are torn beings, pulled
between earthly desires and our spiritual nature. Fill us anew with the
Holy Spirit and strengthen us for the battles in our lives.
We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Now, may the peace of God and the Love of Christ, which passes
all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen
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Readings for October 25:
Revelations 14:6-7;
Romans 3:19-28;
John 8:31-36

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God of infinite patience and wisdom, we come to you with so many things that claim our time, our energy, our resources, our very lives. We are easily drawn away from serving you by the enticements of the world for wealth, ease, and comfort. Just like the young man in the scriptures, we are owned by our possessions, held captive by our treasures. You continue to offer to us healing and hope. You seek to transform our lives from captivity to freedom in witness and service. Help us to place our lives and our trust in you, knowing that with your help, many wonderful things can be accomplished which will provide hope and peace for others and ourselves. Give us courage and strength to truly be your disciples. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.











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