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| Rev. Brian Wilkie |
Pastor of St. Andrew's Christian Community
Rockland, Ontario
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PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, July 23rd, 2017:
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Broadcast Notes:
Good Morning! I'm your host
today, Brian Wilkie of St. Andrew's Christian Church in Rockland. As we begin today, my prayer is that The Good
News of the Lord Jesus Christ would encourage and strengthen you today!
I do want to acknowledge our Sponsor for today’s show; Verna McClellan has been a Board Member
of Good News Christian Ministries for a number of years, has stepped back from
that, but we’re so thankful for her continued support to the sponsorship of
these programs.
You, too, can be a Sponsor by checking out our website (gncm.ca), and contacting us about your desire to offer financial
support.
Again, thank you to Verna, for today!
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'Taking up the Mantle'
Reading from 2
Kings 2 (ESV)
Elijah Taken to Heaven
2 Now when the Lord
was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on
their way from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please
stay here, for the Lord has sent
me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord
lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to
Bethel. 3 And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came
out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from
over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
4 Elijah said to him,
“Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord
has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord
lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to
Jericho. 5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew
near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from
over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
6 Then Elijah said to
him, “Please stay here, for the Lord
has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men of the sons of the
prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were
standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled
it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the
other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
9 When they had
crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken
from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your
spirit on me.” 10 And he said, “You have asked a hard thing;
yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if
you do not see me, it shall not be so.” 11 And as they still
went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the
two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And
Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and
its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two
pieces. 13 And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen
from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then
he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying,
“Where is the Lord, the God of
Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side
and to the other, and Elisha went over.
Elisha Succeeds Elijah
15 Now when the sons of
the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit
of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground
before him. 16 And they said to him, “Behold now, there are
with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master.
It may be that the Spirit of the Lord
has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he
said, “You shall not send.” 17 But when they urged him till he
was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days
they sought him but did not find him. 18 And they came back to
him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to
you, ‘Do not go’?”
19 Now the men of the
city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my
lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” 20 He
said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then
he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now
on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22 So the
water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.
23 He went up from there
to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of
the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them
in the name of the Lord. And two
she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25 From
there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
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PRAYER:
Almighty God, thank
you for your calling to all your people to imitate those who have shown Christ
to us and have served you in their day.
We know that our
calling is, first and foremost, to follow you with all our strength. We can't
change the world not in our power and we can't even determine that that's our
goal. Our goal is to draw near to you, but, you draw us into discipleship and following.
And so, we pray that the power of your Spirit would work in us to enable us to
follow you closely and to do your works and it be a bear witness to your grace
and your love.
Through Jesus Christ
Our Lord we pray, AMEN.
Rev. Brian Wilkie
St. Andrew's
Christian Community, Rockland,
Ontario
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To listen to the above
broadcast, click on the following link:
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