Bible Verse for Sunday Service Service August 11, 2024
Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is your dwelling place,[a]
and underneath are the everlasting arms.[b]
And he thrust out the enemy before you
and said, ‘Destroy.’
Announcements:
In honor of Calvin’s return with his dad, we will have cake to celebrate right after service.
Tom Berry preaches today as Pastor Jim and Gaylene are taking a week of vacation.
We will have a picnic at Huntley Park on August 18th, right after church. We will find a place under the shade of the trees, and enjoy a time together. Bring a dish or two to share and your lawn chairs. We plan on games like horseshoes and corn hole, as well as utilizing the playground for the children. Make plans to join us.
Awana begins in September, but it is not too soon to be considering helping in this ministry. We need a leader to help Sandy Schlosser with the Cubbies. Please talk to Sandy or Pastor if you have questions about helping with this preschool group. We can also use helpers for the other groups. We would like to have groups from preschool to teens again this year.
On August 28, we’ve planned a leaders meeting for Awana to get set up for opening night. Thank you to all who have volunteered to help again. We also need more help for each group.
Every year, we pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child in November. Now is a good time to be purchasing those items for the boxes. In the foyer, we provide a sign up sheet on the bulletin board. Please let us know what you could provide. Please talk to Natasha or Gaylene if you have any questions.
Special: “Jesus, Name Above all Names”
Jimmy Sutton blessed Shepherd Bible Church today with a story about a song he had wanted to sing for a while, Jesus, Name Above all Names. Originally, performed by Dean and Mary Brown, no performance track exists for this song. So, Jimmy turned a duet into trio. We were all blessed with this song. You can watch below, or by using this link on Rumble.
Sermon:
Tom Berry stood in for Pastor Jim who is on a well deserved vacation. Tom spoke on our response to God’s word filtered through his experience becoming a Christian. He introduced his idea by reminding us about the German fairy tale of the pot that would produce porridge upon command. Elijah experienced something similar, the jug of oil and flour in Zarapath. When he arrived he met a widow who expected to die due to the lack of food. But, God cared for her and her son because she believed His word spoken through his prophet Elijah.
Tom recalled how he was at a similar low spot early in his life. Real estate was busted and he had started in insurance, but was laid off. He hadn’t so far, and didn’t trust God. But He had a plan, the secret of His presence revealed to Tom through Psalm 119. Featuring an acrostic with its 24 verses, this psalm allows easy memorization. Tom focused on these verses that allowed him to learn to trust God in adversity. His response to the psalm and his past failure to heed God allowed him to see three responses to God’s word.
Like Tom found, the best scenario for a response to God’s word is to humbly accept it. Sometimes difficult, we must learn to trust Him. An example of the fruits of this is found in the story Tom related. A non-believing trader came upon an Indian who believed in the early days of America. While the trader ridiculed belief, the Indian pointed out that he would be the meal he was currently sharing in the absence of his belief.
Another response to God’s word is to pick and choose. You only have to look around to see those who don’t believe selectively picking a phrase of scripture to justify their secular beliefs. Politically, you see this in the opposition to the death penalty and abortion. But, we know God’s word does not change, and the only correct response is to be familiar with all of it. Such familiarity will enable you to respond Biblically when you deal with those who are misusing God’s word.
People in the last group are those who have never heard God’s word. Tom quoted some statistics on those who did not know what the Trinity was. Many college students have no knowledge of what the Bible says. Tom spoke on how he saw that in our country today.
In conclusion, Tom shared that we have been given the very words of life in the Bible. We should know them, and apply them to our lives. Particularly, if we are going through a rough patch were our faith is being tested. In these challenges God will use His Word to build your trust in Him.
Accessing the Service, Bulletin and Sermon Outline:
Here are the pages from the bulletin, click on the images below to see them full size:
With a guest speaker today, we do not have a sermon insert to provide.
If you would like a link to this service you can find it here. Perhaps you would like to share it with your friends. You could also share that link on social media, if you use any of the providers. We use Rumble, a safe alternative to Google’s YouTube.