Epiphany: Tuesday, Febuary 14, 2007, aka St. Valentines' Day

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Old Testament Lesson

Isaiah 63:15-64:9

Notice even in this passage of confession, Isaiah never believes that God has left him. Now, he may leave God and leave God's presence, but God is always there, always willing to repent, if we will confess. Phillip Yancey once wrote that there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more; there is nothing we can do to make God love us any less. He simply loves us.

Now, we can get ourselves into trouble, we can wander, we can backslide. But, God will allow us to return, if we will confess and repent. The problem with sin is that it will harden the heart, and make us not want to return, not want to confess, not want to repent.

Today, is there sin in your life that you simply don't care about? That simply doesn't bother you at all? Maybe you need to look around, look in your own heart, and make sure you still know where you are. You may have wandered to far. And, today, it may be the day for you to come home.

New Testament Lesson

1 Timothy 3:1-16

We see with this passage about leaders in the church that it is not just enough that they come to church and are faithful to church, but they must be faithful in all their lives. They must be faithful in their actions with others; they must be faithful in their resistance of sin. They must be faithful in the management of their family.

It is not just enough for us to come to church. We must be faithful in our lives. Our faith must not be just a Sunday thing, it must be an everyday thing. We must not allow church to be the only time when our faith shines through; it must shine through and effect every part of our life and every part of who we are.

Gospel Lesson

Mark 11:27-12:12

We see in this parable of the wicked tenants that even after the King sent His Son to them, they still would not respect the King or do His wishes. In fact they killed the Son, mistakenly thinking that would allow them to receive the inheritance. All the King had wanted was what was rightly His, but they refused to give it,and were destroyed.

The Lord has sent us His Spirit, His Word, His Church, His Son, His everything. Have we responded? Have we given Him what is rightfully His? He has sent of example after example and message after message. Will we respond?