You can access the weekly sermons of Pastor Jeff Ponder-Twardy on this page. You can listen to the audio or read the manuscript. For access of more inspirational messages, visit his blog.
"This is 'genuine' love. This is 'active' love. This is what it looks like when we hear and obey Jesus' command to 'Let love come alive!'”
"Christ Jesus' works and deeds show all who would see that God had sent him by virtue of CHANGED LIVES."
"The issue was for the followers, disciples and apostles of Christ Jesus to carry on the mission, and this event at the lakeshore emphasized THE MINIMUM FOR THE CHURCH - find and gather in the new believers and care for them, evangelize and pastor."
"Death leads us all back into life. There was a death. There was a resurrection. Now there is new life in Jesus Christ. Again, death ends nothing."
"Our sisters and brothers are not the ones saying out loud that all that praise and shouting and exuberance needed to stop. Asked very simply, which group are we?"
"'We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here - given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time!"
"God's kindness and mercy are far ahead of our mere human, prejudicial understanding of who deserves what."
"Our lives will come to an end. We do not know when or where, but because of what we know of our Lord Jesus Christ, we know this will not be the end for us nor for all who believe."
"The gospel that we hear is that we are reconciled, conformed, harmonized, settled, brought to terms, patched up, fixed up, kiss and made up by Christ's death to present us holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation! Alleluia."
"In the context of what Jesus said, EVERYONE WILL BE GROWING SOMETHING in this life; you can't avoid it. And EVERYONE who hears the words of Jesus WILL BE BUILDING SOMETHING."
" We become more focused on our own salvation and self-righteousness rather than to openly struggle with some of these hard sayings of Jesus."
"Just as we are blessed in our current condition of difficulties now, woe to us who are content and full and thought well of now. Things. Will. Change. Honestly, which would you rather be?"
"We're not merely hearing about who he is, what he carries or what he can do. We hear today of the effect of him ON PEOPLE LIKE US."
"When he spoke, things would happen. In our story today, Jesus spoke, and things happened, as well. THEY WANTED TO THROW HIM OFF A CLIFF."
"HIS WORDS WOULD BRING GOOD NEWS to those who didn't know such news, who didn't know release or recovery or freedom."
"He also knew he had to tell the young man he had received mercy in times past, as well. HE KNEW OF HEALING, AND HE WANTED THE YOUNG MAN TO BE HEALED AS WELL."
"Light had come into the world in the form of Jesus, God's beloved Son, filled with the Holy Spirit. EXPECTATIONS, birthed from trust in God and our own needs, CHANGE, quite often, BY REVELATION."
"It was no longer a passion filled hope or a cry in the darkness. Everything he said they could trust!"
"John spoke of what would benefit everyone if everyone thought of themselves A BIT LESS and consider others A BIT MORE. By this, valleys will be filled and mountains and hills made low."
"Any channel or conduit or frequency or nation or family or race or person can be a way of God's word coming to God's world for God's loving, healing, redemptive purposes."
"'Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.'"
"IT IS OUR CALLING as citizens of the Lord's kingdom to rejoice and worship freely and passionately the glory of his name and bless this world he so loves by giving account and witness of all he has done to all who are hurting and lost in grief and pain. WE ARE HIS PRIESTS AND HIS CHILDREN AND HIS CITIZENS of his reign and order."
"When the Lord remembers, things happen."
" it was the widow who deserved more than the corrupted scribes and wealthy who gave but sacrificed nothing. She gave out of her poverty AND HAD COMPLETE TRUST IN GOD."
"'I believe in the sun - even when it does not shine; I believe in love - even when it is not shown; I believe in God - even when he does not speak.' Of what are we divinely persuaded?"
"As a disciple, a follower, YOU CAN'T JUSTIFY YOURSELF AS GREAT ON ANY LEVEL while you're learning to be like the One who humbled himself to the point of death to set free the world he so loved."
"Amidst all that WE ARE and all that we're not, all WE SHARE and all we keep to ourselves, all WE HAVE in common and all we have not in common, the consistent, common plead WE ALL EXPRESS is, 'Jesus, help us.'"
"We are given a true new birth by faith in Christ and an assurance and empowerment to do things beyond our limited ability to do."
"The Pharisees were more stubborn than righteous in confronting Jesus, and the disciples were prone to be more stubborn than righteous to defend Jesus from a waste of time in blessing children. WHAT ABOUT US? ARE WE MORE STUBBORN THAN RIGHTEOUS."
"Being in the inner circle with Jesus may make you egotistical and arrogant if you focus on the benefits of the relationship rather than sharing the good news of God in deed and word to everyone in your path."
"I was certain about pursuing a doctorate of ministry degree. That certainty transformed into and remained a certainty of what I was supposed to do, what I was to return to doing and being. For a particular reason? That's not the right question right now. All I'm certain of is that I'm where I am supposed to be, to do what I'm meant to do."
"Angrily, the speaker replied, 'How can I know whether it was sweet or sour when I never tasted it?' To this the converted drunkard retorted, 'And how can you know anything about Christ if you have not tried him?'"
"A pastor's small son was told by his mother that he should WASH HIS HANDS because there were germs living in all that dirt. He refused and complained, 'Germs and Jesus! Germs and Jesus! That's all I ever hear around here, and I've haven't seen either one!'"
"'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.' I once heard a preacher put it this way: 'WHEN YOU SPEAK, WE COME ALIVE INSIDE.' Peter knew there was nowhere else to go and no one else to go to. When Jesus speaks, we come alive inside. Peter then made his confession like he did in the other gospels in Caesarea Philippi, 'You are the Holy One of God (the Christ, the Son of the living God).'"
"If what he spoke had divine origin, were thoughts and revelation made of different stuff than what other human beings said, and provided life eternal, WHY NOT REMAIN AND LEARN? The only way we'll get understanding of what he's talking about is if we stay with him."
"God does not sit back in human history and wait for humanity to look to heaven or to look God's way. GOD COMES in the form of his son Jesus as living bread that satisfies our true hunger for grace, mercy, truth and love. God is active; GOD COMES."
"I believe the resurrected Christ steps through closed and locked doors and comes into this place when we share in this body and blood and remember what he did for us and for the whole world he so loves. When he arrives, he satisfies."
"When we want God to hear our pleas for our flesh and blood enemies to be destroyed by divine action, it ought to make sense for us now that God is not likely to answer such pleas."
"Congregations keeping to themselves because they might come in contact with people of a different class or a different race or a different orientation will not get the attention of folks who long for the grace and mercy those congregations know about. Herod began hearing about Jesus' name because lives were being changed. It's that simple."
"Things do happen in a series of moments, in a day and can be captured for posterity in a snapshot. Quite often, those snapshots don't end up in an album or the hard drive of your phone, but, rather in our hearts and memories. It is the will and way of God to impact us in a moment with eternal ramifications."
"They believed God was real like never before, they believed they could be used greatly by the God who had come to them, and they wanted God to step into their here and now to set them free. They believed, and they didn't know how to use their new found belief. They'd come to experience the faith of the suffering woman and Jairus."
"Ultimately, they were simply filled with awe and asked themselves who this man was that even the winds and the sea obey him. That's a good place to be, overwhelmed in awe, while their faith grows like a crop soon to be harvested, a faith that results in GREAT BIG THINGS."
"Maybe the heart of anything we've read or heard about Jesus today or any Sunday, any quiet time of devotions or study is found in our last verse today - "He explained everything in private to his disciples." You and I are still owed some explaining."
"He may not answer all your questions and ease all your concerns. My question then is why? Why is the answer he gives and the condition he leaves us not sufficient for us? He just wants us to be in relationship with him."
"The time we have together is meant to be a time of seeking the Lord together, only to find him together. The time we have together is meant to be time to be REVIVED, REFORMED, REFRESHED, RENEWED together."
"Peter preached for the residences of Jerusalem to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The cat was out of the bag. We can have what Jesus had."
"The physical and the spiritual were part of the story of Jesus. THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL are part of OUR story and OUR witness and OUR testimony."
" When we long for grace, mercy and truth because we've been in a season of harsh, painful experiences and deceptions and the breaking of trust, there is one we can seek and find who will bring to us what we need. He's not hard to find."
"I'm inclined to believe WE'RE SIMPLY NOT AWARE how connected we really are to Jesus."
"How often in this life have we thought IF WE JUST HAD SOMEONE TO FOLLOW and not be afraid of what might happen in the moments ahead?"
"All YOU can do is tell YOUR story, the story or stories of YOUR encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ, YOUR experiences of repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name. All YOU can do is tell YOUR story, and this must be sufficient."
"Like for the disciples, he comes to where we hide behind the doors we lock out of fear, or denial, or anger, or depression AND JESUS COMES TO US."
"Take my word for it - he was raised from the dead. Take my word for it - he answered my prayers. Take my word for it - he was among us amidst our difficulties. Take my word for it - our circumstances changed because only God could have done it."
"If he walked through the gates of Jerusalem with the rest of the pilgrims arriving for Passover week, there would not have been cheers and shouts of acclaim. He chose to come into Jerusalem this way. He chose to make a ruckus and to turn the heads of all authorities. NOW THEY KNEW HE WAS THERE."
"We so often live our spiritual lives as those who search for a path of access to the God of our salvation. Such a pursuit or struggle wears us out in the long run. We then find meager contentment in believing we're saved and heaven is our home when we die. Scripture, however, conveys to us WE HAVE ACCESS TO THE GOD OF OUR SALVATION."
"It's not the rattlesnakes that'll work. It’s the love of God that makes all the difference. It is the divine, unmerited favor of God in Christ Jesus that inspires belief and addresses condemnation. It is the grace of God that brings forth light to expose darkness and reveal what only the blood of Christ can cleanse."
"Belief in him yokes the believer with life eternal. Belief in him is the belief God sent his son out of love not to condemn the world but to save it."
"So, when I hear or read, 'If any want to become my followers,' I wince a bit. I know there's a cost. There's a cost in carrying a cross, in denying oneself, and it sounds like a follower follows alone. BUT WE DON'T FOLLOW ALONE. JESUS WASN'T ALONE ENTERING HIS PASSION. We wouldn't be either."
"The message to our world, our community, our friends, family and neighbors IS NOT GOD'S REGRET AND GOD'S JUDGMENT. God already went through that."
"He was rejected by his own and died on a Roman cross surrounded by the jeers and curses of those who cheered him when he arrived days before - trust what he says. He arose from the dead, walked through locked doors, showed his friends the nail holes and told them signs and wonders will follow those who believe - trust what he says. Alleluia."
"As their hope grew for relief and wholeness, our hope can grow too. He has promised to be with us as we worship and seek his face. He's promised we can find him. Isaiah told his community as they wait they'll grow strong. As we wait, we grow strong, strong in the One who has come to us."
"The miraculous didn't set everybody free. The teaching didn't astound everybody, but in combination, teaching with authority, everyone tasted of God, and the fame of Jesus was unleashed and spread."
“'Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.' FISH WERE NOT ENOUGH FOR THESE MEN. They wanted something more. Simon Peter and Andrew were casting their nets in hopes of catching something when he invited them to do something else. James and John left their father and the hired men and followed Jesus. FISH WERE NOT ENOUGH FOR THEM."
"Though the world shakes beneath our feet and a virus can take away our ability to breathe, we can believe God has greater things to come in and through us to our families and community and our world. Glory to God!"
"The good news is with your baptism, whenever it was and however it was, you were baptized for a purpose in this world. John the baptizer made it clear his baptism was in water but the baptism to come in Christ Jesus was an emersion, a sprinkling, or a pouring of water AND THE HOLY SPIRIT."
"The Lord communicates to his people what is to be done, when it is to be done and in what direction they are to go. We are not left to our own plans or schemes for effecting our own purposes. THE LORD DOES AND WILL SPEAK TO US. That is good news!"
"It was the work of the shepherds, representing the many common folk throughout the ages longing for the coming of the Lord to deliver and save, who were told he had come, and he could be found. HE HAS COME AND HE CAN BE FOUND."
"The promise to Joseph was "What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." Despite what you see and what you feel, Joseph, what is planted in your betrothed is from God, what is disturbing your comfort and peace is a work of God. Sometimes this is what God does."
"When the Lord's silence is over and the proper time has come, we are made aware our prayers have been heard. When the silence is over and the proper time has come, the Lord shows himself to be with us."
"For those who don't know the Lord's answer and have yet to hear a confirming word for a prayer and a heartfelt request in his throne room, THIS STORY IS FOR YOU AS WELL. There's no reason to doubt your prayer has been heard."
"Every hour, every week, every season is full of opportunity to bring hope and peace and joy by giving testimonies and manifesting the miraculous in the lives of those who need new life in the name of Jesus Christ."
"Five were wise, and five were foolish. If we knew the day and the hour, things would be different. The coming of Christ appears to be delayed. The appearing of the Lord in our lives can happen any time. Are you ready for that?"
"Jesus transcended their here and now. No disease, affliction, demonic oppression could withstand his divine power. No religious corruption could distort his lessons of grace and mercy, power and love for all. JESUS HAS COME."
"There is more. We so often neglect worship as essential in a life of faith. We grow accustomed to not celebrating God’s goodness when things are well with us. We live content when we feel we’ve grasped the truths of Jesus, but there is empowerment for a life in God."
"The emperors of our days want from us what is already theirs. Our spiritual enemy wants WHATEVER HE CAN TAKE FROM US. Whatever is embossed, engraved, inscribed on our souls signifies who we belong to. After that Saturday night, mysteriously, powerfully, lovingly, I KNEW WHO I BELONGED TO."
"There've been those we've invited to share in such a feast. They, perhaps, didn't believe such a feast was possible or truly available to them. They didn't come, or they had other things to focus on other than an opportunity to share a place such as this with the King of glory who has inspired us to invite others in order to fill this banquet hall."
"The tenants rejected the will and their agreement with their landlord. That was true in the story. The builders reject a particular stone, as described in Psalm 118, but by the actions and will of God, that stone becomes a cornerstone. What might be rejected or cast aside, God accepts and makes amazing. THAT IS MARVELOUS."
"'The traitors to this nation and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God AHEAD OF YOU. You didn't believe John, but the tax collectors and harlots did. Even after you saw the display of the kingdom in changed lives you didn't change your minds and believe.'"
"Those who worked all day got the same as those who worked an hour. We think it's not fair. In the kingdom of heaven, in the reign of God, we are probably recipients of more generosity than we realize."
"Behave like God, just like we're supposed to understand it is God's perfect will to seek and find the lost, regain the one that got lost, we're supposed to forgive as God forgives. This isn't just performance, or good citizenship, or good church membership. It's mirroring our master."
"The crux of it all remains verse fourteen: "SO IT IS NOT THE WILL OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN THAT ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES SHOULD BE LOST." -- NO SEPARATION. Establishing, maintaining and reconciling relationships between God and God's people."
"We pick up from where we were last Sunday. From that time on, Jesus told his disciples he had to go to Jerusalem, be arrested, suffer, die, and rise from the dead. Peter, Rock, the one disciple who confessed first faith openly that Jesus was the Son of God, was also the one who first said that none of this must ever happen. First to say he believed then first to say Jesus should never suffer in Jerusalem and die."
"Again, we know who Jesus is. We learn who Peter becomes in this story. And we learn who we are by our belief in Jesus just like Peter's belief in Jesus as the Son of God. So, who are you? When we come to understand and believe who Jesus is, we are confronted with an understanding and a belief in who we are."
"Jesus responds to her with the cultural and religious prejudicial answer of the day: "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." All that Jesus knew in the moment was that this woman, this mother, was determined to get his attention and to get him to help her daughter. She was persistent. She was insistent and didn't care what she looked like or sounded like."
This story describes the realities of life (the boat battered by waves), our beginning of faith (the disciples saw him walking on the water and were terrified), the revelation of Jesus ("Take heart, relax, it is I - it's me; don't be afraid"), the confirmation of our Lord before us (He said to Peter, "Come out."), and the struggle to believe despite the storms of life.
Jesus told the disciples, "I discerned their illness, and they were healed. You discerned their hunger. You feed them." Jesus had compassion for them at the shoreline. We never hear of the disciples having compassion for the crowd when it was evening. Regardless, they don't need to leave. THEY HAVE ALL THEY NEED RIGHT HERE.
"So, what do we do in the meantime? What do we do living among doers of evil – we, the wheat, and them, the weeds? Good thing we have the words of Jesus."
"With the visitation of the Lord, the disciples were given/offered understanding. We have the potential to understand when we perceive our visitation, the Lord in our midst. The disciples are given understanding in the company of Jesus to the parable of the sower. This is an illustration of how WE can be given understanding."
"It’s depression and discouragement over what we haven’t seen manifested to our satisfaction that’s heavy and burdensome. The yoke and burden of doing good for the infant and the weary, for the broken and the troubled, in the name of Jesus, with the focus on the goodness of God, this yoke and burden is easy and light. Why? WE COME TO HIM FIRST."
"We share in a mission to bless in his name, to heal in his name, to bring light into darkness in his name. When we are welcomed to do so, Jesus is welcomed. In the moment, HE may look like you, HE may sound like you, HE may dress like you. You're not the one being received or welcomed. Our Lord and Savior is being welcomed, received, heard, experienced, showing signs of the coming of his kingdom into the life of the one you're loving in the moment."
"We are bound to live new lives in him and in relationship with all whom he loves. Unashamed of his name, we have a new life and new relationships in him. We can be ashamed of him at home or in the mission field. We can be fearless in saying his name and sharing the good news on the road or at home. Regardless, when his name and faith in him grows in us, EVERYTHING CHANGES."
They were given, empowered with authority over what beset the sheep without a shepherd because Jesus had compassion on them. They were given what the harassed and helpless crowds needed because JESUS COULDN'T REACH THEM ALL.
