Psalm 23

February 29, 2016

Opening Hymns:
381 Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh381.sht

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 23
23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

23:3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.

23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

Message:
This is the first scripture I remember memorizing. We didn’t need to memorize anything, but if we completed all the different tasks that the teacher had us do, we would win a prize… the prize was a small keychain Loon. I ended up being the only one in the small class who decided to do all the memorizations. The keychain was cute, I remember feeling so proud of myself for earning it. I found it just the other day as I was cleaning my room. However, knowing this psalm by heart has been much more valuable. Being able to live out the words of this Psalm is priceless.

I’ve met so many amazing people in my work as a nurse. I often find myself fortunate as I have been healthy most of my life, and haven’t needed to go through what so many of my patients have gone through. However, so many of them have taught me what true faith and bravery are. They teach me what it means not to want, and for all their desires to be met in the Lord.

One patient had lost her husband, and was now living with her grandson. Because of medical reasons she wasn’t able to do a lot of the things she loved to do. Through her stories I saw how she didn’t “want” for anything beyond than what she had. She always looked at the positive, and anytime my facial expression showed that I felt bad for her, she would shake her head and say “no, I’ve been so blessed”.

Another patient I had was dying of cancer. She was so brave, and worried more about her family and what they were going to do, then of her own situation. She had true faith in the Lord, and that faith carried through her final days. She lived out this Psalm in her life.

It is heartwarming to see so many beautiful examples of faith. As I’m fingering the keychain I realize that while it only took a small amount of work to memorize Psalm 23, it has taken a lot longer to truly understand it. I pray that in time I too will be able live out these words in my life.

 Time of Prayer
Dear Lord, teach us to love as You would have us love. Teach us to have faith in the good times and the bad. Teach us to love our enemies, and to see all the good that You have given us in our lives. Let us not focus on what our lives lack, but on what gifts we have. Help us to remember this Psalm, and let us see what it can mean for each of us in our own lives. Amen.


The Lord’s Prayer


Closing Hymn
650 Give Me Faith Which Can Remove http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh650.sht

May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.

Go in peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God

Offerings

February 28, 2016

Opening Hymns:
576 Rise Up, O Men of God http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh576.sht

Scripture Reading:

Hebrews 10:4-10
10:4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;

10:6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.

10:7 Then I said, 'See, God, I have come to do your will, O God' (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)."

10:8 When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),

10:9 then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

10:10 And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Message:
Reading this scripture feels so freeing. It seems impossible to comprehend the vastness of God’s love and His forgiveness. But I wonder if early Christians felt the same way. Many people at this point had been offering sacrifices for most of their lives. It must have been hard for them to hear that offerings weren’t necessary… and that it wasn’t what God had wanted.

Really, it must have felt like writing a long essay for school, or completing a big project, and learning that you didn’t have to do it at all. It doesn’t count toward your grade. No wonder the Pharisees and religious leaders of the time were so upset. Jesus brought a lot of changes, and we can often be creatures of habit. After all, sometimes we still can feel like we can do things to atone for our sins. When we feel the guilt from sin it is only natural to try to make ourselves feel better by volunteering, giving gifts, or fasting.

It is always good to apologize and make things right with our neighbors if we have done them wrong. It is also good to apologize to God, and ask for His forgiveness when we have sinned. Fasting, volunteering,  and giving gifts are all wonderful things to do; however, we must remember that ultimately God’s forgiveness is entirely a gift from God.

Time of Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for forgiving us when we sin. Let us go out and forgive others as You have forgiven us. Amen


The Lord’s Prayer


Closing Hymn
103 Immortal, Invisible, God Only wise http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh103.sht

May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.

Go in peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God

Outcasts

February 27, 2016

Opening Hymns:
185 When Morning Gilds the Skies http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh185.sht

Scripture Reading:
4:10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

4:11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?

4:12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?"

4:13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,

4:14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."

4:15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

4:16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back."

4:17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband';

4:18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!"

4:19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet.

4:20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem."

4:21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

4:22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.

4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

4:25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us."

4:26 Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."

4:27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?"

4:28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people,

4:29 "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?"

4:30 They left the city and were on their way to him.

4:31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something."

4:32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."

4:33 So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?"

4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.

4:35 Do you not say, 'Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.

4:36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.

4:37 For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.'

4:38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

4:39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done."

4:40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.

4:41 And many more believed because of his word.

4:42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world."

Message:
I am always filled with warmth and love when I read scriptures of people who would be rejected by society, being loved by Jesus. The women in this story has 5 husbands, and is now with a man who is not even her husband. I wonder how looked down upon and shunned she felt. In other stories we read about how Jesus healed people who had leprosy or demons in them. These were other outcasts, but not because of anything they did. However, we find a women whose behavior caused her social isolation. She truly must have been hard on herself as well.

But Jesus calls out to every outcast. He shows love, and reveals his truth to each of us. His kindness is not only to those who feel as though they’ve lived an upright life. We have all fallen short… we all sin. He has forgiven all of us, and He also shows us how to live. He now calls us to reach out to those who have been rejected.

Reach out to the outcasts in our society, and show them that there is love and forgiveness for everyone. Each of us have our own bullies that we’ve had to face. Through every phase of my life, as a child and an adult there have been people who look down on me. This scripture reminds me that we are all equally loved and forgiven. It also helps me keep my own pride in check so that I won’t look down on others either. After all, I have sinned too, and Jesus has forgiven us all.

Time of Prayer
Dear Lord, remind us that we are loved, when we feel hated or isolated. Remind us how to love others when we find ourselves thinking that we are above or better than anyone. Teach us how to walk in Your ways, and to lead people to Your love. Amen


The Lord’s Prayer


Closing Hymn
372 How Can We Sinners Know? http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh372.sht

May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.

Go in peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God