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June 29th: God's Loving Insistence


    Third Sunday of Kingdomtide: Sometimes it seems that Jesus is harsh or insensitive with the people around him. This Sunday, we will be looking at why it might seem that way--how Jesus' love includes impressing upon us how extremely important his words and actions are. The sermon title is "God's Loving Insistence" using Luke 9:51-62 and 1 John 5:1-5.


    See you Sunday.


    Grace and Peace,

    Pastor Jim


    Luke 9:51-62


    A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus

    51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.  52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him;  53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.  54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”[a]  55 But he turned and rebuked them.  56 Then[b] they went on to another village.

     

    Would-Be Followers of Jesus

    57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  60 But Jesus[c] said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”  62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”


    1 John 5:1-5


    Faith Conquers the World

    5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ[a] has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.  2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  3 For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,  4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.  5 Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?









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    June 22nd: Accepting Help


      Second Sunday of Kingdomtide: Even the best people have bad days, but do we let our bad days get the best of us? Elijah was having a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day,” but he didn’t move to Australia, he got up and did as God directed him. Maybe we should too! This week we look at 1 Kings 19:1-15a to see what it has to say to us that can help us with life’s issues. Our message will be “Accepting Help.”


      See you Sunday.


      Grace and Peace,

      Pastor Jim


      1 Kings 19:1-15a


      Elijah Flees from Jezebel

      19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”  3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

       

      4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”  5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”  6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.  7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”  8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.  9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.


      Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

       

      Elijah Meets God at Horeb

      11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;  12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”  15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus."










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      June 15th: Our Companion


        Trinity Sunday and Fathers’ Day: On Pentecost Sunday, we talked about anticipating the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, but that was last week. As you seek to have a personal relationship with God, to whom do you turn? Maybe we miss out because we are seeking the wrong person! This week, we will turn to Romans 5:1-5 and John 16:4b-15 and hear a message about who we should be seeking as “Our Companion.”


        See you Sunday.


        Grace and Peace,

        Pastor Jim


        Romans 5:1-5


        Results of Justification

        5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand; and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.


        John 16:4b-15


        The Work of the Spirit

        “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.  5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’  6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.  7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate[a] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about[b] sin and righteousness and judgment:  9 about sin, because they do not believe in me;  10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;  11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

         

        12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.









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