Readings for Sunday, September 15, 2013

Hello Everyone,

Remember: we are in the midst of a “Month of Invitation”. Have you invited someone to join you in church this week? Will you invite someone to church this week? If not, why not? Check out this great YouTube video:

How to Invite Someone to Church

Next week I will start a five part sermon series on baptism titled “Deep Well”. The five weeks will focus on Approach, Enter, Soak, Immerse, and Breathe.

Our readings for this coming Sunday are:

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 – The hot wind of God blow in off the desert as punishment to God’s people who are skilled in doing evil. All of creation flees and quakes before God’s anger. There is a glimmer of hope in verse 27: God will not make a full end of things. How does this understanding of God align with Jesus’ understanding of God? How can the differences be reconciled or can they?

Psalm 14 – Who are the “all” who have gone astray and are alike perverse? In this psalm it seems like those who abuse the poor and downtrodden are the ones who are this group. Perhaps verse 7 is the key: Israel’s enemies are the perverse and Israel is one who is poor.

OR
Exodus 32:7-14 – Moses in on the mountain with God. The Israelites are down below and have made the golden calf to worship. God tells Moses that they will be consumed but Moses argues that the Egyptians will laugh at God for that action. Moses then asks God to remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What does God do? God changes God’s mind.

Psalm 51:1-10 – A psalm of confession and a prayer for change and renewal. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”

1 Timothy 1:12-17 – This reading begins a seven week reading of First and Second Timothy. Three weeks of 1 Timothy and 4 weeks of 2 Timothy. Since I will start a sermon series next week we will only get this and the last readings. Like Philemon last week, the letters to Timothy are personal letters. Along with Titus, they are sent to a pastor trying to lead a church. 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus may or may not have been written by Paul because they differ in style from those letters known to have been his. In this passage, Paul gives thanks for redemption he has received from Jesus Christ.

Luke 15:1-10 – The parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. In the upside down world of Jesus’ parables the characters act in ways that shocked Jesus’ audience. No shepherd would leave 99 sheep unprotected to find 1 lost one. No one would gather together their friends so that they may celebrate the finding of one lost coin or one lost sheep. However, the finding of one lost sinner brings great rejoicing in the heavens.

Have a great week serving the Lord your God by serving others. And don’t forget to invite someone to church this week.