Bible Verses for Sunday Service October 23, 2022
Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
Eclesiastes 3:1
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:.
Announcements:
Steve reminded us about Operation Christmas Child, the collection week, November 14-21. We will be packing Christmas Child boxes in Awana, the ministry of Samaritan’s purse. You are welcome to make financial contributions to this end. Alternatively, you can provide items to be packed in the boxes. Look for the list of items, and for the box in the foyer to place items.
Thanksgiving will soon be here, and so will our annual Thanksgiving Dinner, November 20. We will have dinner right after church on that day. Besides enjoying a good dinner, we will give thanks through singing and testimonies. Please invite your family and friends to join us.
We are pleased to report the between the donations made by the congregation and gifts offered by the church, ACTS international received a donation of $5000 to help with its mission to the unreached people of the world. We should give thanks for the privilege of hearing about this mission and sharing in it. Steve expressed the hope that this would not be the only time we are able to support it.
Sermon:
After our Missions interlude, Pastor returned to the lessons we can learn from the Old Testament, the Prophets, particularly Isaiah. Chapter 46 of Isaiah is warning on Idolatry, and Pastor preached on that Chapter in the message “The Folly of Idolatry.” He opened his sermon with an illustration to bring home his point. He told of Japanese animal scientists who were trying to help a particular breed of albatross back from extinction. By placing decoys on a beach, they hoped to bring the birds to nest so that they could look after them and facilitate breeding. For one albatross though the plan backfired. Becoming fixated on a decoy, this albatross refused a real mate. We can obviously learn here thinking of the chapter in Isaiah, do not be fooled by substitutes for God, those fake Gods, idols that distract.
Pastor chose to cover one main point with a couple of subpoints, the big idea being that we must remember the degree of personal involvement with an idol. To me, this seems like a very profound point. Satan always seems to blind us to the cost of idols, but it seems true that they require a lot of attention. Isaiah makes the point that animals hauling them around are under a burden, as are the Babylonians who worship them. Similarly, we might make an idol out of a hobby or job and find ourselves driven, under a burden to make money to support that hobby. For Montanans in summer we see a lot of big, expensive trucks hauling large 5th wheel trailers, that might in turn be pulling a boat. A lot of money needed to worship the false idol of recreation.
In Pastor’s subpoint he focused on this personal involvement by pointing out we are the bearers, and contrasting this with how thing work with the real God. We must consider Luke 12:16-21, the story of the rich man considering his fortune, and what to spend it on next. But, he is idly speculating as God required his life that very evening. We cannot serve two masters, money and God. In the old testament, these ideas are continually stated to the Jews, Deut 33:27 reminded them that God was their refuge. And in Psalms, 55:22 he reminded them about who is best at carrying burdens, the Lord. In the verses in this passage Isaiah reminds the people that God offers cradle through grave loving care. So we should count the cost of us bearing the burden. Putting this into the positive is Pastor’s second subpoint, with God, He is the bearer of the burden.
In closing Pastor chose to tell another anecdote that can illustrate our errors. He told of an old woman carrying a load of firewood on her back. A passing truck offered her a ride, which she accepted. But she stood in the truck with burden still on her back, thinking it was enough for the truck to take her, as if she was still carrying the load. Isn’t that a perfect picture of us sometimes, who fail to see our burdens and refuse to share them with the Lord, who is eager to unburden us. God is there for us. As the Psalmist said, let us cast our burdens on Him, and give up bearing idol burdens on our own.
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.
Lastly, if you would like to see all the services, you can find them here.
<