Bible Verses for Service April 30, 2023
Psalm 95:13
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.
Announcements:
Today’s offering will be dedicated to the Capital Improvement Fund as it is the fifth Sunday in a month. Money in this fund goes towards improvements in the building, facilities and grounds.
Next Sunday is Fellowship Sunday and we will serve refreshments between Sunday School and Church.
Meleri Hofer invited us to her high school graduation and open house, which will be held from 2 to 5 PM at the Hofer residence at 8126 Wade St in Shepherd in good weather. If it rains, the open house moves to 7710 Spear Dr. The graduation ceremony is Sunday, May 21 at 11AM at the Shepherd School.
La Vie’s Baby Bottle Campaign, themed this year as “Change for Hope” runs from May 14 (Mother’s Day) through June 18 (Father’s Day). You can give online, but we will place a large baby bottle in the foyer where you can place your gift. The La Vie pregnancy center provides free and low-cost services to the women in our community. La Vie’s mission is “To empower individuals to embrace hope by providing loving, compassionate care for those facing unplanned pregnancies.”
In preparation for VBS, we will have a meeting May 24 at 6:30 to get organized for the week of VBS. We will go over the daily schedule and responsibilities of each position. If you are planning to help, please do all you can to be there.
Vacation Bible School, June 5-9. Theme: Keepers of the Kingdom. Please be sure to mark your calendars. We look forward to an exciting week of ministering to children. VBS runs from 9AM to 11:45AM. As usual, we need people to help so please let Natasha know if you can give of your time that week.
Sermon:
Staying in Luke, Pastor preached on Luke 7:36-50, “Dinner at Simon’s,” which describes the events at dinner given by Simon the Pharisee. That dinner was visited by an unexpected guest, a women who worked as a prostitute. However, the experience allowed Jesus to teach the Pharisee an important lesson about salvation, and being right with God through forgiveness of sins.
Pastor noted first that the occasion of a dinner to which Jesus was invited appears several times in the Bible, and twice in Luke. He had previously discussed the warm reception to Jesus at the dinner given by Levi the tax collector. Now in this second dinner offered by Simon the Pharisee, Jesus is again the invited guest. Before exploring what we can learn from this account, Pastor remarked on the fact that Jesus accepted this invitation. That acceptance shows that Jesus was willing to meet anyone to communicate His message. Unfortunately though at this dinner, Simon neglected Jesus, which Pastor discussed in more detail later in the sermon.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this dinner was the appearance of the uninvited guest. This seems strange to us today. How could an uninvited guest get into our homes for dinner? But, at that time, dinners were a public affair, open to all to see. Beyond simply being uninvited, the problem from Simon’s perspective was that she was a known prostitute. To Simon’s mind, she would provide a test of Jesus’ abilities as a prophet. Would he have knowledge of her, and treat her as unclean?
Rather than being troubled by her presence, Jesus was blessed by her for she provided the common courtesy neglected by Simon. She washed His feet and anointed Jesus with oil. This act of adoration was possible for her because she possessed what Simon rejected, a sense of personal sin. Her actions illustrated sorrow over her sin, and a recognition that she could find forgiveness with the Savior, Jesus. Simon on the other hand had no sense of his own sin, in fact he appears stuck in self righteousness.
Jesus, through His words to Simon, pointed this out to him in a powerful lesson that blessed the woman. He used a simple parable about debt and forgiveness that even Simon understood on the surface. Forgiveness of sins should result in love for Christ. And the person forgiven much, should and does love much. Simon didn’t believe he had anything to be forgiven, so loved little if at all.
In conclusion, pastor remarked that a natural out working of the sense of being forgiven is love of Christ that is shown in acts of worship. It is notable that Jesus’s final words to the woman were not about about her works, worship of him in washing his feet or anointing Him. Instead, His words addressed her faith. Thus Jesus demonstrates the perfect relationship between work and faith. Faith comes first, and with salvation and the forgiveness of sins. Gratitude for burden we all have of sin being lifted allows us to worship through acts, works, of adoration. Works naturally flow from a faith in our Savior.
Therefor, let’s all be very grateful for our salvation we received through faith in Jesus. Let’s work out that faith in acts of worship of Him.
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