Do people confront demons today? Ask a drug addict, or someone who battles thoughts of suicide, or someone whose anxieties bring sleepless nights whether they “wrestle with demons.” We may not think of demons as personal “evil spirits,” but we still confront negative forces in life that tear at our soul.

In the gospels, Jesus repeatedly casts out demons. These gospel stories speak of the power of Jesus to bring about spiritual healing—rescuing us from all that would drag us down. They also speak of how Christ has the power to triumph over the larger demonic forces in our world, the forces of evil that make headlines every day.

We are invited to trust in Christ, so that His Spirit can work powerfully in and through us.

We may think of the world differently than people did in the first century, but we still wrestle with the same basic spiritual problems. Against all the dark clouds that would weigh on us today, we find the answer in Jesus Christ. May we put our faith in Christ, and find real hope for the future.

We are invited to trust in Christ, so that His Spirit can work powerfully in and through us. Share on X

Sunday’s Scripture Readings:
Mark 1:21–28
Matthew 17:14–18
Mark 5:2–17
II Corinthians 4:6–7

A photo posted by UMC of Kent, Ohio (@kentmethodist) on Apr 7, 2016 at 10:27am PDT

About the Author

Dr. David A. Palmer has been the senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of Kent since 1995. He has a B.A. from Wittenberg University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. A native of Wooster, Ohio, he has served three other churches in east Ohio before coming to Kent. He and his wife, Mavis, have three children.