I am so grateful to the 16 people who promised to sponsor at least one pair of shoes for the Western Hills choir. We so far have received enough pledges to buy 35 pairs of shoes. What we can do now is get the 30 pairs plus buy new socks plus have a little bit left over for the expenses of the choir concert and the travel and the meals. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your generosity overwhelms me. We are so blessed to live in this community of believers at this time in our lives. My love to you all Mary.
Monthly Archives: February 2024
2409 – Does God Meddle?
Watch the full service on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
Acts 12:6-12 New International Version
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
Friday’s Word
The Truth Can Be Hard to Believe
I look at the evidence.
I look at what’s there and try to figure out what it means.
Take the story below—much like the one I told last week. Joel Harper is a well-known personal trainer who has appeared on Oprah, ABC News and PBS specials.
He rides a bicycle in New York everywhere he goes. One day he was late for a meeting and biking as fast as he could.
He saw, some 60 ft. in front of him, a father and a little girl. She looked about three. They were playing beside the bike path.
Let Joel tell his story:
“At the exact moment I reached them, the child darted in front of me. I could not stop or even slow down. I knew I would hit her.
But now—I don’t know how to say this.
I didn’t hit her.
My bike and I went through her body.
Just sailed through her body.
I felt I was floating. She went right through me. No one was hurt.
It was a physical thing, but it seemed spiritual.
I stopped to look back. The dad seemed in shock, as was I.
And I was too confused to go back and talk to him.
I know it sounds crazy. I hate to put it into words.
It is beyond words.”
Joel harper
I have other similar accounts. This is God working, but through the laws of nature.
Science tells us all matter exists as both particle and wave. In the wave state, matter is not solid.
Something like this took place in the resurrection. The dead body of Jesus dematerialized.
The burial cloth fell through the body.
The cloth lay flat on the burial slab. That’s the way the disciples found it.
The truth can be hard to believe.
It is still the truth.
Max’s Corner
For the Hearing Impaired
We have several people in this category.
The new blue-tooth headphones and the machinery to connect them to our sound system will cost $3,000. This is the estimate from our sound people at Stage4. (They installed both our sound system and our lighting.) We will begin inviting gifts for this purpose immediately—and when we have the $3,000, we will ask Chuy and his crew to do the work.
Breakfast
We are still looking for one or two people to do breakfast for two Sundays in the month. Winston will continue doing two Sundays. Mac and Faith Salfen will do one Sunday. Someone can take either one or both remaining Sundays.
Let me know.
And show up for breakfast this Sunday—10:30 to 10:55. (Finish eating before worship.)
This Sunday
Mary was scheduled to preach this Sunday, but her life is complicated now, with Anna, her daughter-in-law, in the hospital.
So, I will be back in the pulpit this Sunday.
Sermon: “The Wonder of It All.”
See you Sunday.
Second Sunday of Lent.
It will be Easter before we know it.
But to get to it, we must go through the cross.
God bless — MB
Mary’s Corner
Greetings in the name of the Risen Christ,
I listened to the service from Sunday as I always do so that I can continually critique and improve my ministry. Ironically, my sermon about scripture did not include me reading the text that was the foundational passage for the sermon. 2Tim 3: 14-17 says,
“Yet you must go on steadily in all those things that you have learned and which you know are true. Remember from what sort of people your knowledge has come, and how from early childhood your mind has been familiar with the holy scriptures, which can open the mind to the salvation which comes through believing in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the faith and correcting error, for re-setting the direction of a man’s life and training him in good living. The scriptures are the comprehensive equipment of the man of God and fit him fully for all branches of his work.”
(JB Phillips Interpretation)
This is the starting block for any rational discussion about sacred text. The other very important scripture is 2Peter 1: 20-21,
“But you must understand this at the outset, that no prophecy of scripture arose from an individual’s interpretation of the truth. No prophecy came because a man wanted it to: men of God spoke because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
(JB Phillips interpretation)
These passages are the result of Paul and Peter instructing the followers of Jesus Christ about what to do in the presence of false prophets. They have also been used, out of context, to refute any argument about the accuracy of scripture. We serve a God who loves us and forgives us and who does everything to be with us. At the same time, we have sanctified a book that doesn’t proclaim this simplicity of the Gospel in all of its passages. We have to read it, to dive deeply into its history and ours, and we have to question it at every turn: “Is what I am reading the true picture of the Christ?”
Anna is holding her own at the hospital. She is still critical, still fighting an overwhelming infection in her blood, lungs, and spine. God is watching over us and the care we are receiving is first-rate. I depend on the strength I receive from your prayers and love for me and my children. There are no words to adequately describe my gratitude.
Blessings, Mary
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