Raul Christie is back from the Virgin Islands.
Joe Shaw and son Joseph were back in attendance today.
Julian Davila has moved back from San Antonio and will be attending school here.
Virginia Lawler was back at services today after being sick.
Kathy's dad, Travis Keese, is awaiting bone marrow test results.
Sharon Cagle has been out of town for several months and has come back early so her mom, Dot Miller, can be evaluated for a knee replacement procedure.
Next Sunday is Megan, Laura, and Nathan's last Sunday to be with us before they go to Texas A&M (College Station). Whoop!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Brandon
This is my "little brother" Brandon who has been attending. He has been helping me and Walker build our new chicken house.
Esteban, Jeff and Oscar
Two of our ESLI students who have been attending. Esteban for Bolivia and Oscar from Coloumbia.
Things Lost
Luke 15
There was a problem between Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees. The Scribes and Pharisees would have nothing to do with sinners… they wouldn’t even eat with them, but Jesus “received sinners and ate with them”.
Jesus uses this issue as a teaching opportunity to correct the thinking of the Scribes and Pharisees. He tells three stories; a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. These stories build on each other, the lost sheep is one of one hundred, the lost coin is one of ten and the lost son is one of two. There is a progression from mere possessions to our children, our own physical heritage.
The owners of the lost sheep and the lost coin searched for them diligently, not so with the father who had lost the son. He knew where the son was and knew what he was doing. It wouldn’t do any good to search for the lost son and bring him back. The son had to come back on his own.
The greatest rejoicing was when the son did come back. Certainly there was rejoicing for the sheep and the coin but for the son there was great rejoicing; the best robe, a ring, shoes, a feast, music and dancing. After all our children are the most precious things we have and are our greatest joy.
Jesus used these stories to illustrate to the Scribes and Pharisees how God feels about sinners. Jesus was looking for that which was “lost” God’s children who were lost in sin. They were precious to him. The “kind” of sin did not matter. The Scribes and the Pharisees should have also been looking for these lost ones but had lost sight of their mission and instead were prejudiced against them... they wouldn't even eat with them.
How about God’s people today? We must be about our Father’s business. Minimally that means rejoicing when someone turns to the Lord, but more importantly being involved in the building up of people so they don’t fall and “searching diligently” for those who are lost. Unfortunately a lot of people who are lost aren't very socially acceptable to us.
We need eyes that see like Jesus sees.
There was a problem between Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees. The Scribes and Pharisees would have nothing to do with sinners… they wouldn’t even eat with them, but Jesus “received sinners and ate with them”.
Jesus uses this issue as a teaching opportunity to correct the thinking of the Scribes and Pharisees. He tells three stories; a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. These stories build on each other, the lost sheep is one of one hundred, the lost coin is one of ten and the lost son is one of two. There is a progression from mere possessions to our children, our own physical heritage.
The owners of the lost sheep and the lost coin searched for them diligently, not so with the father who had lost the son. He knew where the son was and knew what he was doing. It wouldn’t do any good to search for the lost son and bring him back. The son had to come back on his own.
The greatest rejoicing was when the son did come back. Certainly there was rejoicing for the sheep and the coin but for the son there was great rejoicing; the best robe, a ring, shoes, a feast, music and dancing. After all our children are the most precious things we have and are our greatest joy.
Jesus used these stories to illustrate to the Scribes and Pharisees how God feels about sinners. Jesus was looking for that which was “lost” God’s children who were lost in sin. They were precious to him. The “kind” of sin did not matter. The Scribes and the Pharisees should have also been looking for these lost ones but had lost sight of their mission and instead were prejudiced against them... they wouldn't even eat with them.
How about God’s people today? We must be about our Father’s business. Minimally that means rejoicing when someone turns to the Lord, but more importantly being involved in the building up of people so they don’t fall and “searching diligently” for those who are lost. Unfortunately a lot of people who are lost aren't very socially acceptable to us.
We need eyes that see like Jesus sees.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Gored Slave
Zechariah was a prophet in the Old Testament who was inspired by God to encourage the survivors of the Babylonian captivity to complete the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.
In addition to encouraging them in the construction process he encouraged and warned them by revealing some things about the future… the coming of the Christ.
He reminded them of how they had rejected him as a Shepherd.
Zechariah 11:9-13,
“I will not pasture you. What is to die let it die… to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples… and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. And I said to them, if it is good in your sight, give me my wages but if not, never mind! So they weighed out 30 shekels of silver as my wages. The Lord said to me, throw it to the potter that magnificent price at which I was valued by them… “
Judah was the flock, Jehovah was the shepherd (ultimately). They rebelled against him and so he broke his covenant with them. Some of them realized their mistake and when the Shepherd allowed them to put a price on the value of his work they offered him 30 shekels of silver.
Exodus 21:32 says that if an ox gored a slave the owner of the ox was supposed to reimburse the owner of the gored slave 30 shekels of silver. The gored slave’s value was 30 shekels of silver.
That was the value Judah place on the shepherd work of Jehovah. Jehovah sneered with contempt at the value they placed upon him and threw the 30 shekels of silver to the potter.
In the future Jehovah would send them another shepherd… Jesus Christ. He too would be rejected and valued at the same level as a “gored slave”. Those 30 shekels of silver would go to buy the “Potter’s field”
In spite of Zechariah’s prophetic warning some things never change. Jesus Christ was valued at the same value as a gored slave.
Don’t let that happen today.
In addition to encouraging them in the construction process he encouraged and warned them by revealing some things about the future… the coming of the Christ.
He reminded them of how they had rejected him as a Shepherd.
Zechariah 11:9-13,
“I will not pasture you. What is to die let it die… to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples… and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. And I said to them, if it is good in your sight, give me my wages but if not, never mind! So they weighed out 30 shekels of silver as my wages. The Lord said to me, throw it to the potter that magnificent price at which I was valued by them… “
Judah was the flock, Jehovah was the shepherd (ultimately). They rebelled against him and so he broke his covenant with them. Some of them realized their mistake and when the Shepherd allowed them to put a price on the value of his work they offered him 30 shekels of silver.
Exodus 21:32 says that if an ox gored a slave the owner of the ox was supposed to reimburse the owner of the gored slave 30 shekels of silver. The gored slave’s value was 30 shekels of silver.
That was the value Judah place on the shepherd work of Jehovah. Jehovah sneered with contempt at the value they placed upon him and threw the 30 shekels of silver to the potter.
In the future Jehovah would send them another shepherd… Jesus Christ. He too would be rejected and valued at the same level as a “gored slave”. Those 30 shekels of silver would go to buy the “Potter’s field”
In spite of Zechariah’s prophetic warning some things never change. Jesus Christ was valued at the same value as a gored slave.
Don’t let that happen today.
Church News
We had a very encouraging service tonight (Wednesday). Walker designed the service and it was based on the song “Blest Be the Tie”. We had six different speakers who commented on various verses of the song (Glenn, Joey, Shane, David, Ken and Walker). In addition, we had songs that were relevant to the theme. I was very impressed with what the men had to say… it was very encouraging.
I remember the days at Parkway when we had preachers who preached Sunday morning, Sunday night and gave a short talk and offered an invitation on Wednesday night. How different it is now. In my opinion, the change in format is one factor that has led to the development of our men and the type of thought provoking comments that we heard tonight.
I remember the days at Parkway when we had preachers who preached Sunday morning, Sunday night and gave a short talk and offered an invitation on Wednesday night. How different it is now. In my opinion, the change in format is one factor that has led to the development of our men and the type of thought provoking comments that we heard tonight.
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