Bible Verse for Sunday Service April 14, 2024
Matthew 19:14
but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
Announcements:
On the occasion of the 50th wedding anniversary of Dan and Paula Weschenfelder, the family have invited us to the open house held today at the church between 1 and 3 PM. Help them celebrate this occasion.
Our ladies will have a fellowship luncheon on Saturday, April 27. Come out and enjoy a time of getting together for fellowship and encouragement.
We are look forward to an exciting to an exciting week of our upcoming VBS. We anticipate God using this week of ministry in the hearts and lives of children. However, to have God’s blessings we will be needing people and prayer. Use the insert as you pray and prayerfully consider how you may be able to serve. In next week’s bulletin, we will have insert that you can submit to let us know of your intent. Natasha Zabel is the VBS director. If you have any questions, please let her know.
Sermon:
Today, Pastor Jim spoke to us on Heb 11:29 and Exodus 14 in a sermon titled “Faith to Follow.” In this sermon, he covered the faith of God’s people as he encouraged them on their way to the promised land through a passage across the dry sea bed of the Red Sea. To illustrate the ideas contained therein, Pastor recounted a story of being blindfolded and being led on a snipe hunt as a boy scout. This “hunt” resulted in the hunters being abandoned in the woods. Now, this is a counter example. God never abandons us. But, sometimes our circumstances can give the appearance that God is not involved. Many times His purposes become clear in retrospect. Pastor explored this in three points.
Like the Israelites, we must have faith in diverted paths. We perhaps can see the shortest route between points A and B, but God does not choose to take us this way. In Exodus, God does not take the Israelites on the shortest path to the promised land. God of course has a reason for that. He chooses the path that benefits us best. In going through the Red Sea, God built the Israelites faith in Him, and secondarily brought glory to His name, then and for future generations who read about this event.
Next Pastor used these scriptures to talk about faith for blocked paths. When the Lord brought Israel to the Red Sea, it looked like He had boxed them. No way to move forward, and no retreat. Pharaoh’s forces in hot pursuit and on the rear flank. Israel’s response was terror, and a disbelief in the Lord’s goodness. But, Moses, who had faith, was able to get them to keep quiet with their grumbling. That respite from complaint allowed the Lord to show His glory by supernaturally opening a blocked path.
Lastly, Pastor spoke on the faith for forward paths. Once God showed the path forward for through the Red Sea on dry land, we need faith to advance on that path. We can recognize the who created that path, the presence of God in it. Moreover, we can see the power of God in it. And we should always be thankful for the providence of God in His provision of a way out of a situation that is blocked. We have a lot to learn from the Israelites experience crossing the Red Sea.
Pastor concluded by referencing some wise words from Hudson Taylor: If the Devil hems you in on all sides, you can always look up, you can always talk to God. Let’s remember the example of crossing the Red Sea, and these words as we encounter the paths of life.
Accessing the Service, Bulletin and Sermon Outline:
Here are the pages from the bulletin, click on the images below to see them full size:
If you would like to have the sermon outline, you can download it here, a pdf file.
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