Thurs, Dec. 19, 2013

DEVOTION:  "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever.  Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.  For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men..."  Romans 1:24-27
 
And from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11   "Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
 
If you have been listening to the news the last 18 hours or been on Facebook for 5 minutes, you have probably heard or read about Phil Robertson, (the dad on Duck Dynasty) who said some negative things about homosexuality.  While he probably didn't say it all with tact with exactly the right words, what he said comes from Scripture.   Homosexuality is sinful according to God's Word.  It is not according to God's plan for His creation. 
 
I appreciate and am proud of the fact that Phil Robertson and many like him are able to stand up for what God says even in the midst of much opposition. 
 
That being said, what he said later about his statement rings even more true.  Here's what he said: "I myself am a product of the 60s; I centered my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior. My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together.  However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other."

 We need to call sin what it is according to Scriptures, not according to what we think about a particular sin, but according to what God says about it.  At the same time we need to call the Gospel what it is too and we need to do it VERY LOUDLY AND WITH JOY!
 
We are all sinners in need of God's grace!  let's treat each other as such, and love each other with the good news that Jesus, was born, suffered, died, and rose again all for us!!
 
Let us pray:  Lord God, help us to love all sinners as you have loved us, by calling us to repentance and forgiving us all day every day!  Amen.
 

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WEDNESDAY'S QUIZ: Who was Titus?  Titus was an early Christian, a missionary and a friend of St. Paul.  According to a later tradition he was a Bishop in Crete. (Great job Dianne!)
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THURSDAY'S QUIZ: How did Paul know Timothy?
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CALENDAR:
Sat- worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45
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THANK YOU TO ALL WHO CAME FOR SUPPER LAST NIGHT!!  We made $600!!!
A special thank you to he many who helped our board of outreach and evangelism (Molly Hendershot, Denise Schlesselmann, and Julie Donsky) serve and clean up!!  It was all worth it!
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17 DAYS TILL WE BEGIN THE STORY!!!!  HAVE YOU PURCHASED YOUR BOOKS YET? 
Kids 0-18 get their books for free!!  Adults pay $6 per book.
 
We will be starting at least one new The Story Study at 4pm on Saturday afternoons.  We may also be starting an evening Bible Study on Wednesdays at 7 (7:30 during lent) if there is enough interest. 
 
High School kids will have The Story Study at 5pm on Sunday afternoons. 
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ALL MEMBERS HAVE OFFERING ENVELOPES!!!
They are on the table in the narthex. 
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PRAYER REQUESTS:
WILMA WEIGLE as she continues to recover VERY SLOWLY from pneumonia and from complications after brain surgery.
 
Those going through cancer treatments:
Rick Spiniolas
Jonas Borchert (Don Nolte's grandson)
Jennifer- John and Mary Jo Fahrni's daughter
 
Those recovering from injuries and surgeries
Joyce Pietzschke- shoulder
Nancy Spiniolas- hip replacement
 
All of our servicemen-
Caleb Figura- Virginia
Danny Dreyer- Germany
Sam Hargrove- Alabama
David Mincemeyer- Colorado
Andrew Sherman (working as a military contractor in Afghanistan)
David Tate- Florida
Ryan Woolf- Colorado
Jon Rahn- Hawaii
Alex Walters- Guam
            
           

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