"Traveling Mercies" Sermon Series

Dear Starmount friends,
This past Sunday we began a new sermon series entitled, “Traveling Mercies.” In last week’s sermon, I explained how this phrase was found in the journals of traveling missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They would write back home and give thanks for the “traveling mercies” granted to them by God as they made their way to remote locations around the globe.
Traveling may be a bit easier for us now days than it was in the late 1800’s. Perhaps that is why many of us do it with some frequency. We are in the middle of the summer travel season, which means that many of us are enjoying time away with our families at the beach or in the mountains. Time away from the busy rush of our everyday life is important, so I hope you will take every opportunity to enjoy the rest and renewal that a vacation can bring. May God grant you “traveling mercies” as you go.
The disciples were also a group of people on the move. This truth is what we discover as we read Mark 6. This chapter is the focus of our sermon series over the next 5 weeks. If you take a moment to read this chapter in the coming weeks, you will see that it is full of movement. Jesus sends out his disciples to spread the good news of the Gospel. Over 5,000 people come to Jesus and his disciples and they are fed in a miracle of abundance. While the disciples are on the sea, Jesus walks out ahead of them, no boat required! Finally, the people who have heard of the great works of this rabbi, come to bring their sick so that they might receive healing from Jesus.
In this chapter of Mark, nothing seems to stand still. Perhaps that is the case for most of us in our busy lives. I believe it is certainly the case for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ message of grace, reconciliation, and the coming of the Kingdom of God is one that is never stagnant. It moves, it pushes forward, it reaches out into new places and to new people. Therefore, if we wish to be faithful disciples and join in among those places where God is already at work in our lives and in our communities, then we too must be a people who are willing to be on the move.
.I hope to see you in worship in the coming weeks, where we will both pray for and give thanks for the “Traveling Mercies” granted to us by God.
In Christ,
Charlie Lee