MID-WEEK NEWS PLEASE REMEMBER IN PRAYER: Amy Mercer, Dan and Bev’s Daughter Ruth Lawson Janice Mitchell’s daughter, Charlotte Doug Mather’s Mom, Peg Tim Nordland’s grandmother, Elsie Bruce Burr – healing Pastor Mike Sperry Bob Peppel – Corry Manor John Adolphson Ben Bemis Tina Schwab Hannah Beason Doretta Fleet Danette Tucker Marian McClellan Dan Downey Peggy Paul SOMETHING NEW Beginning this week, the Lake Erie Breeze will be published on our Facebook page (under notes) as will as included in this weekly e-mail for your information. NEWSLETTER DEADLINE for the July Issue is TODAY. BIBLE STUDY GROUP Tonight at 7 PM. AA Meetings are now being held at our church on Wednesday evening beginning at 7 PM FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE NIGHT This week’s movie is Fireproof. Please join us at 6:30 in the Church Library. Stay for dessert and discussion following the movie. MISSION PROJECT FOR JUNE was Baby Bottle Boomerang. This campaign has now ended. If you haven’t returned your filled baby bottle to the church, please do so as soon as possible. SUMMER VBS Friday, June 20th from 3:00 – 7:00 PM at Mead Park. Looking for volunteers to help set-up and tear down the Big Blowup and Food machines. Those willing to set-up should be at the part by 2 PM. Those willing to help tear down should be at the park by 7 PM. If you can help with either or both of these activities, please let Pat McEldowney know. Sermon Cliff’s Notes Genesis 21:8-21 Matthew 10:24-39 On this second Sunday after Pentecost we are wrestling with two very difficult passages for western Christians to understand and put into practice in our everyday lives. Our Old Testament passage from Genesis examines the dilemma faced by Abraham when his wife Sarah asks him to send his son out into the desert to die. Since Abraham and Sarah had not produced any children, Sarah gave her Egyptian slave girl, Hagar, to her husband as a concubine so Abraham could have an heir. A son was born to Hagar and was named Ishmael which means “God has heard.” God blessed Abraham and Sarah with a child and he was named Isaac, which means “laughter.” Sarah observed the boys playing together during a feast that had been given in celebration of Isaac’s weaning (about 3 years old). Sarah became fearful and jealous concerning Hagar and Ishmael’s inheritance and asked Abraham to send them away. One can only imagine Abraham’s anxiety and distress over this request. God intervenes in Abraham’s struggles by assuring him that his son Ishmael would become a great nation, “But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring,” (v. 12-13). God also intervened in Hagar’s distress when the mother and boy ran out of food and water in the middle of the desert, “Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow,” (vv. 19-20). Ishmael’s descendants fashioned the Islam faith while the Jewish faith originated with Isaac’s descendants. Our New Testament passage in Matthew’s gospel is part of a “missionary discourse” our Lord was using to enlighten his disciples. Matthew uses these words of Jesus to instruct his fledging church how to proclaim the teachings of Christ in the middle of persecution. If outsiders persecuted Jesus then his disciples can expect the same type of violent treatment for preaching and teaching the Christian faith. Matthew also documents Jesus words concerning not allowing fear to hold his disciples captive but to boldly proclaim the teachings of the Lord to anyone who would listen. Jesus teaches not to fear human beings who could take our physical lives but to fear God who can destroy our body and our soul, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” (v. 28). Jesus continues to teach that we should testify concerning Christ and he would testify before God on our behalf. Matthew records Jesus words concerning our value system in regard to our affiliation with our family, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me,” (vv. 37-38). These words are extremely unsettling to those who maintain strong family relationships. We can visualize Abraham having this same reaction when Sarah asked him to send Hagar and Ishmael away into the desert. These two passages highlight our relationship with God in respect to our association with members of our own family. Once we come to realize how much God loves us, we can reconfigure our priority or personal values with respect to God and family, “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it,” (v. 39). We are called to love our family members but we are also called to love God more.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:11:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015