"The Tower of Babel"
11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused[a] the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
Doesn't God seem vindictive and mean in this passage? He does if you don't understand what is really going on here.
1. This is after the fall of Adam and Eve, and part of their curse was that they weren't perfect anymore and couldn't do whatever they wanted. They had lost their free will.
2. They're plan was to reach all the way up to God. They thought they could reach God, but God is not someone or something to be attained or reached. God only reaches down to us.
3. They wanted to "make a name for ourselves". Their purpose for building this city and its tower was to make themselves out to be most important. There was no regard for God. They had lost all knowledge of God and were only thinking of themselves.
God isn't being vindictive. He isn't just messing with the people. This is all part of the fall. It is all part of what it means to be sinful human beings living in a sinful world.
There will come a day when the confusion of languages will cease. We had a glimpse of it at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the power to proclaim the Gospel in all of the languages that were present, fifteen different languages in all.
As we wait for that day to come, let us pray to God the Holy Spirit to remove whatever obstacles are in our way to proclaiming the Gospel, and when he removes those obstacles that we are ready, willing, and able to proclaim the Gospel as we are able.
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for that day of Pentecost when you gave the disciples the ability to proclaim the good news in the languages of the world! Give us the abilities we need to proclaim he good news to the people around us. Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Tues- Little Lambs 3 Graduation 6pm; Trustees Meeting 7pm
Wed- Little Lambs 4 Graduation 6pm; Choir practice 7pm
Thurs- Lutheranism 101 is postponed for the next two Thursdays. It will resume on May 26 at 7pm
Sat- Worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30; Kid's Sunday school 9:45; Voter's Meeting 9:45; Worship 11
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- John Pezold 11- Jacob Winn
Ushers- Charlie Figura, Jason Figura, Brett Nordwald, Erv Yoder
Altar- Set up- Don Hance; Clean Up- Sandy Robine
Elders- Sat- Randy Fischer; 8:30- Dave Winter; 11- Jim Rahn
Greeters- 8:30- Allan and Barb Dreyer; 11- Marv and Molly Hendershot
Lay Readers- Sat- Judy Koprowski 8:30- Jennifer Figura; 11- Stephanie Owenby
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Piano- Kathy Barrow
Projectionists: Sat- Kathy Fischer; 8:30- Dawn Sherman 11- Hannah Johnson
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YESTERDAY'S QUIZ: What words in Psalm 2 are about Jesus?
We have been blessed beyond measure in the United States haven't we? I want you to join me in making a global difference by releasing children from poverty through Christian education.
Instead of taking a week off and joining my fellow Lead a Child bikers who are riding the Fault Line across four states this year, I have decided to go solo and bike 1,000 miles locally and while on vacation by August 1 to raise funds for LeadaChild. Would you sponsor me so that I can raise funds to support this most worthy organization? In my opinion, there is no more worthy organization to support than LeadaChild!
LeadaChild provides educational assistance to over 26,000 children and shares the love of Jesus Christ with the students and their families! LeadaChild supports the poorest of the poor children through Christian education in the following countries:
Guatemala Chad Honduras Palestine Haiti Uganda
Gambia Ivory Coast El Salvador Nigeria Panama Nicaragua
Burma Ghana Chile Venezuela Bolivia Mexico
Liberia Uruguay Sri Lanka India Guinea Sierra Leone
Bangladesh Cambodia South Africa Togo Thailand
These students need your help to find a way out of poverty through Christian education and learn of the hope of Christ our Savior.
Please fill out your information below and send it with your check or donate online through the LeadaChild website: http://www.leadachild.org/bike
Every dollar makes a difference. Please give generously. Please remember all of the riders in your prayers! Thank you much for your support!
Biking For Kids Together,
Pastor Jeremy Klaustermeier
LeadaChild is a 501 C-3 non-profit organization and is a Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
