Welcome to The Atheist Church...

...giving atheists something to do on Sundays.

Today's Sermon is from Luke 4:

"And he said to them, You will surely say to me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your country. And he said, Truly I say to you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But to none of them was Elias sent, save to Sarepta, a city of Sidon, to a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way" (Luke 4:23-30).

What was it that turned these religious Jews from wondering about the gracious words that came out of the mouth of Jesus, to a point of trying to murder Him? It was because He referred them to the Scriptures to make a point that they didn't want to hear. They had obviously heard about some sort of healing miracle that Jesus did in Capernaum, and He was saying that the reason they wouldn’t accept Him as a prophet was because He was from their home town of Nazareth.

Then He made the point that went straight to the heart of their religious prejudice. He said that Elias (the Greek form of the Hebrew word "Elijah") was a prophet, and he was sent by God to a Gentile, and that Elisha was sent to Naaman, another Gentile. When they heard that "they were filled with wrath" because they considered themselves to be chosen by God as His own holy people, and the Gentile world was cursed. They believed that they were pure and the Gentiles were unclean.

Jesus said contra wise, and He backed it up with Scripture. He had a habit of doing that, and that’s why religious people tried to kill Him ten times before He went to the cross. Despite the fact that they took Him to the edge of a cliff to throw Him off, He walked through their midst. This is because it wasn’t yet His time to die. He had three years of teaching and miracles to do, and His death could only happen in God’s timing. God always has His way. Always. So make sure you are on His side.

For the Piranha Bowl:
http://www.youtube.com/user/thewayofthemaster?blend=3&ob=4#p/u/166/G9P5S00PENs