Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Procrastination is something that we all have experience with, to one degree or another! There's a parable that Jesus tells of a man who invited people to a feast. There were three excuses given, and they speak to the different reasons as to why we procrastinate on doing the work of spiritual growth. What's interesting is what the man does next when nobody shows, and how it demonstrates what God does when we fail to get moving! You can watch here: https://youtu.be/OQndRZBMeWM
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I'm going to start this week's worship service looking at the "joys of heaven." I find that the teachings on what joys of heaven are compared to joys of the world are good to read, and read again and read again because it is so easy to get off track and get focused on something that just isn't important. There are good lessons here for young and old.
For the adults... there's an odd parable that Jesus tells in Luke 16, and it's known as the parable of the unjust steward. Unlike many other parables, the lesson isn't quite so clear and obvious so it has left a lot of people scratching their heads. In it, Jesus seems to condone dishonesty and shady business practices. But is that really the case? How do we make sense of this parable? https://youtu.be/e9BWE8CUXic
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This week's service is titled, "Freedom in Captivity." It would be easy to complain about this lock down, but it would be better for us to use this as an opportunity for personal growth. Throughout the Scriptures there are plenty of times people and nations are in captivity, and it isn't always bad for the captive. Sometimes we find the free aren't actually free. So let's take some time to make sure we use the current situation to our best advantage. You can watch here: https://youtu.be/aEqkATh6eqE
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Here's the worship service for Sunday: "A Lamp Unto My Feet." There are a lot of questions in the world today, and yet the Lord promises that His Word is like a lamp for our feet. He's not promising the bright light of the midday sun, He's promising to light things up just enough to show us our next steps. The end may not be revealed, but we can take comfort because we know each step is guided by the Lord. You can watch here: https://youtu.be/Cp0hhgV1798
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How many of you have had the concern about yourself that you're a hypocrite? Perhaps you've caught yourself thinking unkind things about somebody else, but instead of expressing those unkind things you actually smiled and were courteous despite your dislike for the person. Does that make you a hypocrite? Well, this week we're going to look at what hypocrisy is and observe the warning that Swedenborg gives us about the fate of hypocrites. You can watch here: https://youtu.be/Q0WhpAYAxt4
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This Sunday the service is titled, "Doing Right, but Still Miserable." Imagine this... you look at your life and you see that you're following God's rules. You don't steal, don't lie, don't cheat... but you're still not really happy. Why not? What is it that has to change? You can watch here: https://youtu.be/na5pBkH7x-4
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This Sunday the 2nd, we'll be having our regular worship service. For the kids the main point is going to be introducing them to the 12 disciples. I don't think I've ever really given them any special attention, so I'm thinking it would be good to do so. So I'll be teaching about them, making the main point that Jesus didn't call the local "experts" to be his followers, but He called people who were willing to listen no matter what their background was. For the adults we're continuing along with our series on the Acts, and we're focusing on the conversion of Saul with the general theme of how Providence works in ways that may seem counter-intuitive to us. You can watch this service here: https://youtu.be/WZ1d8TmkN8E
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For those of you interested in the Sunday worship services, here's a link to the service for this coming Sunday. Or you can wait until next Wednesday when I post the abbreviated video. https://youtu.be/nfYgTDzDJuI
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The last few weeks I've been doing what has turned into an unintentional series on the symbolism of men and women in the Bible. I'm going to do a wrap up on this for the service on Sunday, looking at the tension created between the "truth" of the male and "goodness" of the female. John writes that Jesus was full of "grace and truth." There is a tension between grace and truth as truth holds us accountable, but grace/love/goodness tells us that we're loved anyway. We need to have both in our life. We need the truth so we aspire for something more, and we need the hope of grace so our errors don't breed hopelessness. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/SCwV_cW3fUU
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Last week's worship service looked at women in the Bible that lead men astray, and how they are symbols for things in our life that we find attractive even if they aren't good.
This week we look at women that are healed by Jesus, and examine what it takes to heal our broken hearts.
You can watch the service live here on YouTube. https://youtu.be/xwLU3VYxdSk
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Are you looking for personal, practical meaning in the Bible? That's what I'm trying to provide. I believe that the Bible is a timeless document, and as such that the stories carry a deeper meaning to help us navigate life. Think of it this way, God is wanting to show you the future, and if you take these stories seriously, you can avoid the pitfalls, and craft a happy, content and worry free life for yourself.