John E. Sumwalt

Contents
What's Up This Week
"Self-Serving" by David O. Bales
"The Old Egyptian" by David O. Bales


Self-Serving
by David O. Bales
Psalm 112

Pastor Moen scooted aside his computer keyboard and grabbed a pencil. What he was going to write needed careful attention to every word, to the point of feeling what he wrote. He resolved to represent Jesus Christ and not to allow his negative feelings to overwhelm God’s grace. After a gaze at the ceiling with one last sigh of prayer, he began:

———

As God's people we have a choice to make about what sort of covenant we want to live with. In Jeremiah the Lord compares what the people received under divine leadership and guidance, and what awaits those who choose gods that are not gods. The author of Hebrews reminded the people of just how scary that whole Mount Sinai business was and how disastrous the results compared to the boldness in which we approach the living temple and the lamb of God.

“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.” (v. 13)

Good morning children of God,

I call you children of God because that is what you are. And we are going to talk about that in a minute. But first I am so glad you are here today. How are you? (children answer)

I’m going to tell you a made-up story, like Jesus did when he told parables.

The wedding season starts around Easter each year, heats up during June, July and August, begins to quiet down during September and is usually finished by October. It can become quite hectic if most Saturday afternoons of the three summer months are taken up with weddings, but they are usually fun to conduct and a real privilege for the priest.

1. Text

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.