This week we discussed Zacchaeus. Vickie and I started the lesson by singing the song we learned when we were young, maybe you remember …

Zaccheus was a wee, little man,
And a wee, little man was he.
He climbed up in a sycamore tree,
For the Lord he wanted to see.

And as the Savior came that way,
He looked up in the tree,

And he said,”Zaccheus, you come down from there,”

For I’m going to your house today.
For I’m going to your house today.

… I will spare you the rest, but we sang as much as we remembered! The kids must have thought we lost our minds, but they listened quietly, and I know they will remember this lesson!

Zacchaeus was a tax collector; they were not liked because they would collect more money than the Roman government asked for and put the balance in their pocket. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, which meant that he was one of the best and probably very rich.

Jesus was passing through Jericho, and because he was so short, Zacchaeus climbed up a tree so he could see Jesus. Jesus saw him in the tree and told him to come down because he was going to his house today.

Why did Jesus choose to go to the home of a sinner to have a meal? Zacchaeus wanted to change his ways and asked to be forgiven.

How do you handle someone who has done you wrong and asked to be forgiven? Do you believe in second chances? With the help and guidance of Jesus, we can all learn that there is opportunity for second chances.

We all moved outside for our project. We made bird feeders out of pine cones. We found that birds love peanut butter with their seeds. It was a beautiful day and sitting at the picnic table and enjoying the sunshine made for a perfect day.

See you in church…

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.

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

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

Our story Sunday was one we could all identify with: Do you remember Jesus as he was traveling through Jerusalem going to the house of sisters, Mary and Martha? The custom of that day was that you prepare a meal for your visitors.

Martha was busy preparing the meal that they would serve Jesus. Mary, however, was sitting at the feet of Jesus to listen to his teaching. Martha was upset at Mary because she wasn’t helping. A woman sitting at the feet of a man was not socially acceptable at the time.

Martha was irritated thinking her sister should be more concerned with helping her prepare the meal, especially since their guest was someone as special as Jesus. Martha complained to Jesus, asking him to tell Mary to help her. Instead, Jesus tells Martha that she is worried and distracted by things that are not important. Mary has chosen what is important, to be close to Jesus and learn about God.

What would you do? We must realize that we all respond to Jesus in different ways. It does not mean that person is wrong. Each of us is called to follow Jesus in different ways.

Hopefully, we will see you at church Sunday.

Blessings