Matthew Burden's Blog, page 9

Sermon

  The Ascension of the Lord (Acts 1) (click here to listen or right-click to download)

The Evangeliad (29:17-19)

(Click here for an introduction and previous installments of the Evangeliad)
Section 29:17-19 (corresponding to Luke 16:22-24)
The angels bore Lazarus up to his rest--To Abraham's bosom, abode of the blessed.Some time thereafter, the rich man died too,And his body laid in an opulent tomb.
He went down to Hades, and suffering there,He lifted his gaze up, startled, and stared:For there from afar he Abraham saw,And Lazarus in the patriarch's arms.
'Father Abraham!' the rich man screamed out,'I'm burning down here, with flames all about!Have mercy on me, my pain and distress!Send me relief from the land of the blessed!
My mouth is so parched, my tongue withered up;Send down Lazarus with merely a drop--Yes, a drop of water from his fingertipTo lift my torment the tiniest bit!'

Photo of the Week

O Jesus, Saviour, grow in me, and all things else recede:To you my heart would nearer be, from sin be daily freed.Make this poor self grow less and less, and be yourself my aim;And through your grace, make me each day more worthy of your name.
- Johann Caspar Lavater

Quote of the Week

"Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little in comparison to eternal realities."
- Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Sermon

 Why Do the Nations Rage? (Psalm 2) (click here to listen or right-click to download)

The Evangeliad (29:14-17)

(Click here for an introduction and previous installments of the Evangeliad)
Section 29:14-17 (corresponding with Luke 16:19-22)
Then he said, "There was once a man of wealth,Who spent on vanities to please himself;He dressed in silk and wore the finest clothes,Having all life's pleasures, none of its woes.
And at the rich man's gate a poor man lived,Starving and parched, skin taut on his ribs;He lay in the dust, Lazarus by name,Begging for morsels of food every day.
He longed just to fill up his belly with crumbs,To lick them up like a dog in the dustUnder the table of the rich man's feast,But no one regarded his plight in the least.
He lay there in pain, covered in sores,Starving from hunger at the rich man's door.The dogs licked his sores and sat by his side;And deprived of all mercy, Lazarus died.

Photo of the Week

Flow on, Thou Fountain of my life,Through all the wilderness!Thou seest what will work for good,Thou knowest how to bless.Be praised in my joy, O my God,Be praised in my distress!
- adapted from a hymn by Anna Letitia Waring

Quote of the Week

“With Christians, a poetical view of things is a duty. We are bid to color all things with hues of faith, to see a divine meaning in every event.”
- John Henry Newman

Update

Apologies that I never got around to posting my normal schedule of content for the back half of the week here. I've been busy putting on a play with my school kids. The performance was last night, and I'm pleased to say it went really well!

Photo of the Week

 
Have you troubles and temptations that beset on every hand,Seeking to obstruct thy pathway to the better, brighter land?Then look up, O fainting pilgrim: Skies with clouds now overspreadWill be clear and bright tomorrow; light is shining just ahead.
- from a hymn by Charles Gabriel