“Divorce and Marriage” (Mark 10:1-12)

↓Audio link to the sermon: (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Today’s passage in the Gospel of Mark deals with a tough and controversial subject: divorce. Christians hold different views about divorce. Regardless, from reading the Bible we can see that it elevates the status of women in times when they were often considered the property of men. Before reading from Mark, let’s pray. [Read Mark 10:1-12] The Pharisees’ debate on divorce Back then, the Pharisees were caught in a debate about when divorce was permissible. The Law of Moses had only one reference to divorce, in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. It’s quite long, so I’ll summarize

“From Useless to Useful” (Philemon 8-22)

↓Audio link to the sermon:(Sunday worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) The Epistle to Philemon is a personal letter. So, Philemon does not teach about the faith. It doesn’t teach the doctrine of Christianity, either. In the early church, believers wrote short letters like Philemon. But, these letters are not included in the canon. So why did people include this short letter in the canon? Aren’t you curious? Letters in the 1st century were usually very short. Interestingly enough, Philemon is longer than the letters of that time. Most of the letters in the New Testament are longer than the letters of that

“What does the Lord require of you?” (Micah 6:8)

↓Audio link to the sermon:(Sunday worship recording) (If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS) Beginning today, we will read from the book of Micah. Micah was a prophet in the same time as prophet Isaiah. The name Micah is a short version of the phrase “Who is like Yahweh (the Lord)?” It’s a beautiful name. Recently I have gone to a few concerts of Bach’s church cantatas, and I heard a reference to the book of Micah in cantata number 45. So let me begin by quoting the verse from Micah that I heard in the song, Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what