A Question of the Heart

REFLECTION QUOTES

“The heart of the problem, is the problem of the human heart.”

~Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986), Canadian pastor and author

“We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives…inside ourselves.”

~Albert Camus (1913-1960), French philosopher, author and journalist

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart.”

~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), Russian novelist and Soviet dissident

“…what the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn’t direct the will. The mind is actually captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants.”

~Rev. Dr. Ashley Null, Anglican scholar

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”

~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) in his book Walden

“I don’t know if there’s a healthier way for two people to stay in love than to stop using each other to resolve their unfulfilled longings and instead, start holding each other slowly as they experience them.”

~Author Donald Miller in his book Scary Close

“To see the Law by Christ fulfilled,
To hear His pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child
And duty into choice.”

~William Cowper (1731-1800), English poet and hymn-write

SERMON PASSAGE

Mark 10:1-16 (ESV)

1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.