Bible Verses for Sunday Service March 19, 2023
Ezekiel 36:26
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Psalm 119:114
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Announcements:
We will have choir practice right after service today. Please meet up at the front.
Our year of Awana is soon drawing to a close. We will recognize the clubbers for their hard work in their handbooks, and will be rewarding them with their book awards. We thank God for the great year He has provided. Awana awards night is April 5th at 6:30 to 8PM. Thank you to all the leaders and helpers who served.
Pastor is planning the traditional Easter Breakfast. As usual, we will meet for breakfast and have a short time of praise and worship as we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection. There will be a sign-up sheet so we can plan for numbers and the food.
On April 20, LaVie will host 321 Improv, a Christian improv group. Laughter will fill that night, along fun and prizes. Everyone is welcome, but it is geared towards youth ages 11-18. While it is a fundraiser for LaVie, SBC will receive free tickets for their youth groups. Pastor Jim needs to know by Feb 28 how many tickets to request. You can find more information on the church bulletin board.
Coming April 29th is a Ladies Luncheon, which will be a time of fellowship for women of all ages. Bring your family and friends. Soon, we will post a signup sheet.
Be sure to mark your calendars for our summer VBS coming June 5- 9. We look forward to an exciting week of ministering to children. VBS will run from 9AM to 11:45. As usual, we will need help. So please let Natasha know if you can give of your time that week.
Sermon:
For the sermon this week, Pastor preached on Luke 5:33-6:5, titling his sermon “Notable Differences.” Luke chronicles Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees who have started to critically compare themselves to how Jesus and his disciples behave. In this section, Pastor covered complaints about fasting, and eating grain gleaned from the field. An analogy from the recent past in the US, the zipper/hook & eye controversy, set the stage for Pastor’s exposition. Just like the Pharisees, some people in the US didn’t think the change to using zippers versus hooks and eyes to close garments was a good or beneficial change. But, that dislike is worldly, clinging to something that you know, and had nothing to do with God’s word.
Perhaps the most notable difference between the life of the Pharisees and Jesus’ followers was a joyful life. Fasting provided a ground for this complaint and illustrated the differences. God only provided in the Old Testament, one day of required fasting, the day of Atonement. But, the Pharisees believed more is better so fasted each week. Jesus explained that such fasting is not necessary. Moreover, he spoke of their joy, comparing it to that in a wedding. But, that joy sure illustrated the complaint about the contrast in demeanor between the two. Pastor also thought that joy further illustrated the genuineness of the disciples beliefs in Jesus. Our goal is to glorify God and enjoy Him. The disciples were doing something right.
Next, Pastor commented on the wine metaphor employed by Jesus, no new wine in old wine skins. One way of looking at that is the new way of Jesus is not mixable. It is not a patch for an old garment, but the provision of a new garment. Paul comments on this in 2 Cor 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Another way of stating this truth is negatively. It is not a choice to both, the old and new, but have one. And that new way is the only one, Jesus.
Lastly Pastor covered the Pharisees’ complaints about the disciples eating grain through reminding us that the Lord is unchangeable. And man made law will always bring a burden. God’s authority brings freedom. So, let his joy flow through us so we can be good advertisements for choosing the new. We don’t want to be sour legalists like the Pharisees, finding fault in anything new and criticizing.
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.
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.