Blog posts by Joseph Thiessen

This is the first sermon I've posted from my church. It's been a couple of days since I heard it, so I won't do a full recap here.  Being raised in the church, and perhaps more so in the non-denominational charismatic, Rhema-type churches, verses 22-23 of Mark 11 has been co-opted to mean something altogether different than what I heard in this sermon. Mark 11:22-23 (ESV) And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ​‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Additionally, the verses in this sermon helped me to understand why Jesus cursed the fig tree, why he cleansed the temple, and that selling things in the temple was a provision set forth in the Torah. Being this cleared up so much confusion around these verses, I wanted to place this here in hopes that it will help you. The reading of scripture begins at 16:30 ...

At 27 years old, nearing the end of my college years, I followed my usual routine on Wednesday, June 18, 1997, and attended the youth group service at my church. As an assistant leader, along with another person close to my age, I helped wherever needed.   That night marked the beginning of extraordinary changes in my life. Looking back, many who were there would agree that God did amazing things during that time. However, as with many spiritual encounters throughout history, some lost their way and abandoned their faith. For me, this season remains a personal treasure. If God had ordained it solely for my benefit, it was still an incredible gift to my soul—one I will cherish all my days.   On this particular night, our youth pastor, Mark, felt led by the Holy Spirit to do something different. After the usual teaching time, he shared a message from Psalm 23. Although I don’t remember every detail of the teaching, the focus on the phrase from verse 5, “my cup overflows,” stood ...