I’ve just moved the website to a new server to handle the increased traffic the site has seen lately. Let me know if something isn’t working on the site (like if theres dead links or errors). I will be upgrading the backend also later today. Read the rest of this entry »
As We Gather:
Through the prophet Isaiah God calls His people to feast not only on physical food, but on His eternal promises made to David and — through David’s distant son Jesus — to all people in today’s Gospel Jesus uses bread and fish to teach His disciples about their work and to open the eyes of the hungry thousands thatHe is the answer to a deeper hunger — for God’s mercy and grace.
Bible Readings:
God promises true nourishment and an eternal kingdom in Isaiah 55:1-5. God’s promises are for all whom He calls in Romans 9:1-13. I our gospel lesson for today Jesus feeds 5,000 families while grieving the death of John the Baptist in Matthew 14:13-21. The sermon emphasizes living by faith, living beyond what seems reasonable to us. Satan will try to scare us out of our faith but we know from the bible that Jesus will never leave us and will care for us just like he cared and provided for the people who gathered to hear him in Matthew 14:13-21. Jesus cared enough about us to suffer the shame and defeat of death on a cross.
As We Gather:
Great are the promises of the power of God’s Word. “It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose” (Isaiah 55:11). It must be that way because “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7). The devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh resist God’s gracious Word as seed falling on hard, rocky, thorny ground (Matthew 13). But such is the power of the Gospel of Christ that it can turn hard hearts into good soil, rescue from the slavery of sin, and adopt us into the family of God. By his word we receive “the Spirit of adoption as sons” and are made children of God and heirs of the kingdom.
Readings
Isaiah 55:10-13 God’s plan cannot fail
Romans 8:12-17 Life with a future
Matthew 13:1-9, Matthew 13:18-23 The Parable of the good seed and the soil
Greetings!
Just wanted everyone to be aware of our upcoming Vacation Bible School on July 21 through 24, 2008.
Please share this information with family and friends!
Blessings,
Pastor Bruce
