Jesus säd siene Jinja derch een Jlikjnis, daut see emma bäden sullen un nich mootloos woaren.

- Lukas 18:1

Aus de schreftjelieede Farisäa sagen, daut hee met de Taks- kollakjta un Sinda toop eet, fruagen see siene Jinja: Wuarom at hee met Takskollakjta un Sinda toop?

- Markus 2:16

Aus Jesus äaren Gloowen sach, säd hee to dän Jelämden: Mien Sän, die sent diene Sinden vejäft.

- Markus 2:5

15 Siet väasechtich, daut jie derch dit Läwen gonen aus kluake Menschen un nich aus soone, dee nich weeten, waut to de Sach jehieet. 16 Un nuzt de Tiet ut, wiels daut es eene schlajchte Tieet. 17 Siet veninftich un finjt ut, waut de Har von junt velangt.

- Efeesa 5:15-17

The main message of the sermon is that faith is not simply believing—it is trusting God enough to act on His direction. Pastor Johnny Marten encourages us to seek God’s guidance before making major decisions and, once we have discerned His direction, to move forward in faith even when we cannot see the outcome.

Peter’s response to Jesus in Luke 5 provides a powerful picture of this kind of faith: after working all night without catching anything, Peter says, “Because you say so, I will let down the nets.” His obedience resulted in an extraordinary catch.

The sermon also looks at Israel’s opportunity to enter the Promised Land. Fear of the obstacles caused many to hesitate, while Joshua and Caleb trusted that God would fulfill what He had promised. The message challenges us to consider whether fear, comfort, or our own understanding is keeping us from moving forward when God is calling us to take a step of faith.

Moving in faith does not mean acting on every desire or idea that comes into our minds. We are encouraged to pray, seek God’s will, test what we believe He is showing us, and trust His guidance. As 2 Corinthians 5:7 reminds us, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Are you facing a decision, opportunity, or step into something unfamiliar? Seek God’s direction, trust His promises, and be willing to move when He calls.

Forgiveness matters because people matter. Relationships are where life gets real, but relationships are also where pain gets real. The closer somebody gets, the more they can hurt, and the natural response is to push people away, get old and cranky, and decide a dog is safer than people. Forgiveness stands against that road because people, not stuff, carry eternal value.

Psalm 103 shows God as compassionate, merciful, slow to anger, and full of unfailing love. God removes sin “as far as the east is from the west,” not just a little ways down the road. The picture is two lines shooting away from each other forever. God does not keep sin nearby so He can pull it back out later.

Hebrews 10 grounds that forgiveness in Jesus’ one sacrifice, good for all time. Christ has made perfect those who are being made holy, and God says He will remember sins and lawless deeds no more. Grace does not leave room for people to crawl back into trying to atone for themselves. Christ has already done the work, so confession receives what His blood has already secured.

First John 1 keeps the door plain and open. Sin cannot be denied without lying, but sin can be confessed because God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse. God does not forgive because somebody finally feels bad enough or works hard enough. Christ looks at His people through His sacrifice, and His blood covers them like rose-colored glasses.

Matthew 18 turns the question around. Jesus tells the servant forgiven millions that mercy received must become mercy given. Forgiveness cannot stay at lip service, because Christ calls for forgiveness from the heart. Mercy is not based on whether the other person deserves it, because nobody comes before God deserving the mercy already received.

Ephesians 4 shows unforgiveness like a cancer. Bitterness starts when a person cannot think a good thought about somebody else. Rage and anger follow, then harsh words and slander, until evil behavior blows everything up. Kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness are the cure, and the earlier that cure gets applied, the less damage gets done.

Colossians 3 adds humility, gentleness, patience, and room for each other’s faults. Jesus’ upside-down kingdom does not call people to become doormats, but it does call them to separate the problem from the person. The problem may need confrontation, but the person remains God’s precious son or daughter. Forgiveness may take repetition, like making a new rut in the brain or getting a body worked back into place, but Christ can replace a stony, stubborn heart with a tender, responsive one

God is a good, merciful, gracious, loving God who loves to give new things. God gives new mornings, new days, new weeks, and new years, but Christ gives something far greater: a new birth and a new life. The new birth matters because no one inherits the kingdom of heaven without being born again. God also promises a new transformed body and a new heaven, yet the time for receiving and living out that life is now.

Time is short, and it does not belong only to the old. Scripture warns that life can end suddenly, whether at fifty-one, in youth, or at any moment nobody expects. Psalm 39 calls life a breath, and Psalm 90 says even seventy or eighty years quickly pass away. The question is not how many years a person assumes remain, but what that person will do with the time God has given.

The human heart has not changed, even though technology and knowledge have changed fast. Jeremiah calls the heart deceitful and desperately wicked, and human strength cannot fix that problem. Christ alone supplies the power that sinful people do not have in themselves. Salvation is still through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and the call remains the same: be born again, wake up, and redeem the time.

Ephesians 5 calls God’s people to live carefully, wisely, and according to the Lord’s will because the days are evil. Redeeming time means buying it up, and that costs something. Christ calls His people to take off dark deeds like dirty clothes, put on the shining armor of right living, and clothe themselves with His presence. Jesus Himself lived with that urgency, saying that He had to be about His Father’s business and that the fields were already ripe for harvest.

The heart must know Christ, not merely the head. The warning about missing heaven by eighteen inches presses the need for real transformation rather than religious words, good works, or a past profession without present fruit. Mistakes happen, but a settled lifestyle of sin should bring serious concern. A transformed heart seeks freedom, pursues help against bondage, and depends on Christ’s strength rather than personal willpower.

Paul’s example gives a way forward. Paul left past guilt, past grudges, and past victories behind him, pressing toward the goal in Christ Jesus. God’s grace does not merely demand harder effort. God’s grace teaches surrendered people to trust more, rely more, and choose nothing less than God’s best today, right where they live.

Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow so his disciples will always pray and never give up. The widow has almost nothing going for her: no husband, no son, no lawyer, no money, no power, and an unjust judge who does not fear God or care about people. Her persistency is the one thing she has, and she keeps coming with the same request: “Grant me justice.” The unjust judge finally gives her justice because she is wearing him out, but God is not like that judge.

God does not need to be talked into caring for his children. Christ uses the crooked judge to show that his people must demonstrate determination in faith. Prayer is expected in the life of a Christian, because Jesus says not “if you pray,” but “when you pray.” Christ himself gives the example by praying in the critical moments and in the everyday moments, even giving thanks before meals.

Prayer is communication with a good Father who loves his children and wants relationship with them all the time. God calls for praise, confession, thanksgiving, and petitions, because he wants his children to talk to him and hear from him through his Word and Spirit. Prayer grows as believers grow, yet childlike honesty must not be lost along the way. Children say things like they are, and honest prayer comes to God with that same open heart.

Prayer must never be exhausted. The widow’s repeated coming pictures a faith that does not quit after one request, one disappointment, or many years of waiting. Christ’s question at the end of the parable brings the matter home: when the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on the earth? Persistent prayer becomes an ongoing demonstration of faith, not a passive religious act. Prayer is active ministry, prayer until something happens, and a life of continuing to ask, seek, and knock.

Prayer is also effective. James says that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, and God’s children are called to pray with confidence in his promises. Christ says, “Ask and it will be given,” “Seek and you will find,” and “Knock and the door will be opened.” God answers in the right time and the right place, according to his will, but his children must pray seriously, with all their heart, believing what he has said.

Forgiveness belongs right in the middle of prayer. Christ says that anyone standing in prayer while holding something against another person must forgive, so that the Father may forgive. Prayer is not magic for trouble; prayer is the connection to God, the source and supply of every need. Prayer therefore needs an intentional time and place, removal of distractions and sin, right motives, faith, persistency, and grace-filled prayer for the church and its leaders.