Bible Verses for Sunday Service Aug 7, 2022
Jeremiah 31:3b
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Lamentations 3:25-26
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
Announcements:
Steve began our announcements with notice of a new event at the church, Ladies Prayer Time, which will begin on Thursdays at 1PM at Sandy Poynor’s home. Pastor suggested that prayer requests be written down in advance to save time for prayer. Please be prompt as it will be an hour of prayer, starting on time. You can visit after the prayer meeting.
Peacemakers’ annual conference runs August 18-21. This conference will help equip you to be a peacemaker in all aspects of your life, not just in church. This important ministry develops Christians’ relationship skills, including conflict resolution. The conference is held at the Double Tree in Billings. If you want to learn more about the Peacemaker ministries, you can go to rw360.org. The domain name stands for a 360 degree view, an all round view of Relational Wisdom. You can find information on the annual conference here.
VBS. No, not another one. But, a meeting on August 21st to evaluate the week in June, and to start planning for next year.
Although we don’t want to think about it, the end of summer is approaching, and so is the traditional end of summer picnic. Pastor suggests a potluck in Huntley park after church on August 28th. To make life simple, Pastor suggests coming to church on that Sunday as you would wish to go to the picnic, and then going directly to the park
AWANA begins on September 14th. Please be praying as to whether you should participate. Steve can attest to the fact he now enjoys his Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8 more now he volunteers.
Don’t forget Phil and Rosemary. Updates are posted on the meal website where you can also sign up to provide a meal, here. If you are baffled by technology, please let Gaylene know, and she will sign up for you.
Lastly, thanks to Donnie for his cleaning efforts in the church, both the carpet and the floors.
Sermon:
Returning to Acts, Pastor preached on “A Before and After Picture of Peter” using as his text Acts 4:13. In today’s preaching, Pastor endeavored to show something of the change in Peter, the leader of the church to the Jews in the first 12 chapters of Acts. In doing so, Pastor concentrated on how Jesus in picking Peter for this role, had picked someone with potential He could see, but that potential was unrealized.
Pastor introduced this idea by comparing how Jesus worked to how a baseball coach worked so we could understand the process. Jesus gave Simon Bar Jonah, Simon son of Jonah a nickname, Peter, which means Rock. Now it clear that Peter was very far from steadfast and rock like when Jesus called him when Simon was a fisherman. But, Pastor explained what Jesus was doing by analogizing to what the famous LA Dodgers coach Tommy Lasorda did. He pinned the nickname Bulldog on Orel Hershiser, a tentative minor league pitcher. By giving him such a nickname, he invited him to make that name real for himself. Jesus had done the same for Peter thousands of years earlier.
To illustrate the contrast for Peter, Pastor preached on two events in Peter’s early life illustrating how far from a rock he was. Firstly, Peter walking on water, coming to Jesus in the night, Matthew 14:23-33, illustrated that the waves made his faith waver. Pastor pointed out that Peter had ask to be commanded knowing that commands come with enabling power from Jesus to carry them out. But, after successfully walking on water, he became scared and lost his trust, his faith in Jesus’ ability.
A similar loss is illustrated by Peter’s brash words to follow Jesus to His death. As Jesus predicted, Peter denied Jesus three times before dawn that same night of his denial. This is a very strong contrast, showing that words are easy, but follow through is difficult. Matthew 26:31-35, 19-75
For the other side of the Peter, the “after” picture, Pastor started with what changed Peter, the breakfast of fish on the beach. John 21:15-17. The newfound forgiveness started Peter on the path to his eventual new character in the Lord’s service. Part of what brought the change home to Peter perhaps was the similar circumstances, both his last failure and his restoration were meetings over fires.
This restoration and the advent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost gave Peter a new found boldness to preach Jesus’s message in good way, a way true to it without false bravado. Acts 1:15, 2:14, 36. Peter’s first sermon on Pentecost illustrates Jesus faith in his potential to lead the new Jerusalem church was well placed. Jesus had accurately assessed his potential as a fisherman, to be his earthly leader, and be a great, fisher of men.
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.
Here is a video record of the service on Rumble, an alternative to YouTube.
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Lastly, if you would like to see all the services, you can find them here.