I hope the flooding in basements and side streets are minor for you today, though I have already heard otherwise from a few people.
Announcements
- Ash Wednesday service is this Wednesday, March 9 at 7:30pm. All are invited to come to worship as we start our Lenten journey and receive ashes to remember that we are human
- Council is meeting after worship this coming Sunday, March 13
- There will be a representative from Calumet at Bethlehem on Sunday to talk about Calumet. He will also be presenting some information about the camp to the council meeting.
Book of Faith Puzzler
Last week's question was "How many years did it take Solomon to build the temple?" According to 1 Kings 6:38 "[Solomon] was seven years in building the it." Congratulations to Tiina for winning this week's puzzler.
This week's question is: "On what mountain did the transfiguration occur? A) Mount Hebron B) Mount Tabor C) Mount Sinai D) The Bible doesn't say. If you know the answer, email me by noon on Wednesday to be entered into this week's drawing.
Yesterday's Sermon
You can read it here if you wish. How have you seen God in the majestic, the lowly and the mundane? Keep emailing and brining in your pictures of how you see God.
This Sunday's Worship
Serving this coming Sunday is: worship assistant- Ellen G, reader - Bob M-C, communion assistant - Anna H, Usher - Matt M, coffee hour host - The Hawley family. If you would like to serve as an usher, set up & clean up the altar or to provide meals for those in need, please let me know.
Also a reminder that Saturday is Daylight Savings time, so Spring Forward an hour on Saturday night!
Now onto the texts:
Before looking at the text for Sunday, I did want to discuss the gospel for Ash Wednesday which is Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21. Jesus tells us to participate in spiritual devotion in secret, to not show off what you are giving, how much you are praying, or how dedicated you fast. Lent is a time when many Christians either give something up (from food to Facebook) or take something on (volunteering, praying or scripture reading as a few examples). To start a new spiritual practice during Lent can be quiet rewarding as you realize either how much of your life is focused on what you gave up or how much your life is enriched by what you take on. I encourage you to start a new spiritual disciple during Lent if you so feel called and see how your life is changed by it.
Now onto Sunday. The first lesson is Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7, the story of Adam and Eve eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The idea of this being the fall of humanity did not develop until a few hundred years after Christ, and still today in Jewish interpretation on this reading it is a more positive account, because we as humans have both our good and evil selves in tension and conflict. How are your good and evil selves in tension with each other? Are you glad that you can see the difference between good and evil or would you rather live naively and not know the difference?
The second lesson is Romans 5:12-19. You might need to read through this a few times slowly as Paul logic is not always plain. I think the Celebrate summarizes this text nicely "Through Adam's disobedience, humanity came under bondage to sin and death, from which we cannot free ourselves. In Christ's obedient death, God graciously showers on us the free gift of liberation and life." Another idea would be to reread the text submitting "debt" for "trespass". How does being confronted by the idea that Jesus died for our sins makes you react? Have you been told this so many times you are now numb to it? Or is it something that is still shocking each time you hear it?
The gospel is Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days after his baptism, where he is tempted by the devil. Three times the devil tempts Jesus to prove himself as God's son, yet God just declared Jesus as the Son of God at Jesus' baptism. With the temptation of Eve when she gave in and Jesus' temptation when he does not, which do you hope to follow when you are tempted by sin? Which are you more likely to follow? What does it mean for us when we are not able to resist temptation?
Hope you all have a great week and see you Wednesday!
Pastor Becca
No comments:
Post a Comment